St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church Mass Schedule Saturday 5:00 p.m. SFX 7:00 p.m. (on Jekyll)

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1 Mass Schedule Saturday 5:00 p.m. SFX 7:00 p.m. (on Jekyll) Sunday (SFX) 8:30 a.m. 11:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. in Spanish Weekday Masses St. Joseph Chapel Mon. Tues. Thurs. Fri. 7:00 a.m. Wednesday 8:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m. Reconciliation: Church Saturdays 4:00-4:30 p.m. Sunday 7:45-8:15 a.m. (Or by appointment) St. Joseph Chapel (Please go to the main office for a key) Monday - Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. St Joseph Chapel First Friday Adoration 2:00-7:00 p.m. Holy Hour 7:00-8:00 p.m. First Saturday 8:45 a.m. St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church

2 St. Francis Xavier Staff Rev. Timothy McKeown, Pastor ext. 11 Rev. Chris Ortega Assoc. Pastor ext. 12 First Communion Saturday, May 6th at 5 p.m. Ann Buebel Office Manager ext. 0 Maggie Shafer Director of Finance ext. 16 Rev. Mr. Larry Guyer, Director of Religious Education ext. 14 PERMANENT DEACONS Rev. Mr. Ntungwa Maasha Rev. Mr. Larry Guyer ext. 14 CHRISTIAN FORMATION CENTER 1116 Richmond Street Brunswick, GA Juan Perez-Valdes, Hispanic Ministry ext. 11 Marisol Soler, Fam. & Youth Ministry ext. 12 Joe Sechkar Dir of Liturgy/Facilities Maint. ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CATHOLIC SCHOOL 1121 Union Street Brunswick, GA Dr. Terry Mermann Principal Lori Carden, Office Manager Maggie Shafer Director of Finance Ext.16 The Religious Articles Shop will be open after the masses. It is located in the Christian Formation Center (2 story building next to the Church). Please place the hymnals in the rack in the horizontal position with the binder (title) showing. This will help prevent bending and folding. Please place your bulletin back on the tables as you leave, if you are not taking it with you. Thank you! On the tables at the main entrance of the church we have children's pages for children ages (6-10) focusing on today's Gospel. Confirmation Mass Monday, May 8th at 6 p.m. All are invited.

3 Divine Mercy Sunday Catholics know how to do penance. We know about fasting. We know about making sacrifices. We have just come through 40 days of penance where people have done everything from rising early for prayer to giving up chocolate ice cream. Catholics also know how to celebrate. Easter is a season to rejoice. We put our penance aside and celebrate! Today completes the octave of Easter. It is much too big a mystery to be contained in one day. We celebrate it for 8 straight days and then we remain in the Easter season for a total of 50 days. Today is the second Sunday of Easter and in 2001 was proclaimed by Pope John Paul II to be Divine Mercy Sunday. This proclamation was based on the revelations given to a cloistered Polish nun named Faustina. WHAT IS MERCY? The Etymology of mercy is from misericordis which means opening one s heart to wretchedness (Name 8). Jesus told St. Faustina, Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy My heart rejoices in this title of Mercy. Proclaim that mercy is the greatest attribute of God. All the works of my hand are crowned with mercy (Divine Mercy Diary #301). Let us imagine a blazing hot furnace, with flames leaping out of it. This furnace burns 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This is an apt image for the love of God for you. The heart of God is on fire with love for you. How powerful is God s love? St. Faustina was told when receiving Communion Your minor faults will disappear in My love like a piece of straw thrown into a great furnace (Diary#156) We sometimes have a hard time accepting this. We sometimes focus more on the justice of God than on the mercy of God. Jesus told St. Faustina, Before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy (Diary #83) Pope Francis has said, God forgives not with a decree but with a caress (The Name of God is Mercy xii). Jesus too goes beyond the law and forgives by caressing the wounds of our sins (The Name of God is Mercy xiii). John XXIII said at the beginning of Vatican II, The Bride of Christ prefers to use the medicine of mercy rather than arm herself with the weapons of rigor (The Name of God is Mercy 6). The message of The Divine Mercy is simple. It is that God loves us all of us. And, he wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy. I'm sure many of you have seen the image of Jesus as Divine Mercy. His arms are open towards us and there is blue and red light emanating from his side. This represents the blood and water that flowed from the side of Jesus as we heard in our second reading from St. John. When Jesus appeared to Faustina he appeared as Divine Mercy. He gave repeated images to Faustina of his mercy and forgiveness. He said his heart was a blazing hot furnace. All of our sins were as a handful of straw. If we would simply take them and throw them into the furnace of love they would be quickly extinguished. Jesus' mercy was as wide as the ocean. Our sins were as a handful of sand that a child throws into the ocean. The ocean quickly absorbs it. That is the incredible mercy of Jesus. Through these revelations people began to focus more on the love of Jesus than the vision of God the stern schoolteacher. Sometimes we retain the image of an angry God. Very often we are our own worst enemies. When we sin, instead of hastening to confession, we beat ourselves up. Sometimes we give up going to confession saying, "I am a terrible person. God must hate me. What's the use?" Jesus knew that the key to peace is through the forgiveness of sins. Nothing destroys our peace as much as sin. But when we come to Jesus in confession and come face to face with our poor choices He can heal us. We say Jesus I chose this. I am sorry. Please forgive me. And Our Merciful Lord forgives us. Why is Easter such a time of celebration? Yes, it is a celebration of eternal life, but it is also a celebration of forgiveness. Jesus forgave the Apostles who deserted him. Jesus will forgive us. No matter how bad your sin, Jesus will take you back. That is where true peace is.

4 Prayer List for April (All Names will be refreshed on the 30th) Anna Hardwick Socorro Helean Georgia Burgess-Erwin Tilly Johnson Moira Kaluzienski Huong Thi Phan Gertrude Roberts Sara Fryar Richard Brunegraff Maria Zambon Donal Brunegraff David Higbee Gloria Quinones Byron Bankston Charlotte Cornelius Peggy Lee Farrar Vera Borkowski Elizabeth Wendell Judy Perry Majka Dick Guerin Kathleen Koreski Benjamin Koreski Billie Lou Henjum Zoe Yawn Manuela Rocha Leslie Kaufman Michael Mleko Jr. Steven Gentzle Buddy Vazquez Steven Gentzle Savannah Jones Barbara Elliott Jim Layman Wyatt Kersey Steve Williams Pat Ragsdale Frances Nohrden Venus Gines Kathy Poliwka Bradley Huffman Carmen Zuba Maria Borrego Michael Rafolski Vicky Hancock Jane Rafolski Jackie Maassen William Wilson Our sons and daughters in military service St Francis Council of Catholic Women will meet May 1st at 6 p.m. All women of the parish are invited! St. Francis Xavier Catholic School will have an opening for a middle school math teacher and a religion teacher for the school year. Georgia Teacher Certification is required. Please send letters of interest and resume to: St. Francis Xavier School 1121 Union Street Brunswick, GA This September we will begin Financial Peace University with Dave Ramsey. It is a course that helps with financial planning and peace. If you would be interested please contact Ann at the office at or annbuebel@bellsouth.net. Financial News Collections for April 15th & 16th $ 16, Priest s Retirement $ 3, Holy Land $ 1,218.00

5 April 23, 2017 Divine Mercy Mass Intentions Saturday April 22 5 p.m. t Paul Roberts 7 p.m. t Cardinal Raymond Burke (At Jekyll United Methodist Church) Sunday April 23 8:30 a.m. t Lucille LeMieux 11 a.m. t James Powell/Attilio Tozzi 6 p.m. Our Parish Family Monday April 24 7 a.m. Forward with Faith Tuesday April 25 7 a.m. Communion Service Wednesday April 26 8 a.m. No Mass or Service 7 p.m. Communion Service Thursday April 27 7 a.m. Forward with Faith Friday April 28 8 a.m. Forward with Faith Saturday April 29 5 p.m. t Louise Lazarou 7 p.m. t Maria Zagami (At Jekyll United Methodist Church) Sunday April 30 8:30 a.m. Our Parish Family 11 a.m. Council of Catholic Women 6 p.m. t Fr. Paul Burkort, S.M. Teen s in the Spirit A summer mission experience right here in our community is scheduled for June This is open to all high school students from incoming 8 th to 12 grade. We are partnering with the city of Brunswick and St. Williams Church for this event. Adult volunteers are also needed. To learn more about this call Marisol at extension 12 or by to sfxcym05@gmail.com Please note the Mass changes: April 25th, April 26th, and April 28th. Fr. Tim & Fr. Chris will be at the Clergy Conference Monday through Friday. Please contact the office if you are in need of a priest.

6 Our Forward With Faith Total is now $ 904,190. We have had 166 of our 630 families participate. We are now reaching out to our school parents. We hope to reach a total of 1.5 million and then by using some of our savings and taking prudent loans start on the 3 million renovation of school and church. Loving Father, You sent St. Francis Xavier to preach to the nations. You call us also to be missionaries in our own way. Help us to build and strengthen our campus so that we may share Jesus with the people of Coastal Georgia. Like, St. Francis Xavier, may we be people of prayer and may we share You with those we meet. We thank you for blessing us with a Parish and a School. May we seek Your will to further your work. Bless us with a sense of unity, a spirit of cooperation, and a generous heart as we face the responsibilities and challenges of this undertaking. We believe our goals are rooted in Your Word and in Your Work. May we nourish each other in faith, support each other in our temporal needs, and renew our Church in the pattern of Your own Household. Amen. Blessing of the Fleet Festival from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. May 13th. Fleet blessing 2 p.m. at Sidney Lanier Park. Our Lady of Fatima Celebration May 14th at 11 a.m. The Knights of Columbus will host a blood drive on Sunday, April 23rd from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. in Xavier Hall. Please consider giving a pint of your precious gift of life to others. Your donation will remain in the local community. Scheduling an appointment will ensure your time is respected. The Knights of Columbus will provide the volunteers needed for service. For questions, please call Dave Robson at

7 Parish Activity Contacts Adult Bible Study, Joe & Linda Kirby Altar and Environmental Care, Diane Lott Bereavement, Ann Buebel CCW, Rose Browning Communion Ministers, Ann Buebel Culture of Life, Rose Lodise Greeters, Ginger Dorcas Jekyll Island Catholic Ladies, Eleanor Daniel Knights of Columbus, Bill Schuster P.S.R., Larry Guyer ext. 14 RCIA/Sacramental, Larry Guyer ext. 14 Religious Articles Shop, Rose Lodise St. Monica Society, Peggie Cash St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store Parish Council, RoseMary Jones at Most Rev. Gregory John Hartmayer, OFM Conv. Bishop of Savannah Membership To be a registered member of a Parish is to have a sense of belonging to a family. Newcomers are requested to register at the Church Office soon after arrival, to meet the staff and learn about your new parish. In the time of family sickness, death or special need, parishioners are asked to notify the Church office. If requested, Holy Communion will be brought to anyone desiring to receive the Eucharist but are unable to attend Mass for serious reasons. Please call Ann Buebel at ext. 0., her at annbuebel@bellsouth.net or come by to schedule your masses. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.