saint FRancis xavier parish October 2, 2016

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1 saint FRancis xavier parish October 2, 2016 Santandercito, Cundinamarca, Colombia - photo Matt Holland, S.J. Stir into flame the gift of God... ~ 2 Timothy 1:6 Our Mission Statement St. Francis Xavier is a Catholic- Jesuit parish ignited by the Eucharist To Pray, Serve, Do Justice, and Love.

2 Mercy the Divine Name of God I am smelling autumn in the air in the mornings. Autumn has such a striking capacity to access my soul the smell of the earth; the diminishing brightness of the daylight; the leaves changing color and then letting go. Mine is an autumn soul, which becomes in this season a longing for something that I know not what until I remember MERCY. The quality of mercy is not strained: It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. Tis mightiest in the mightiest (Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1) I was asked recently if I have learned something new about mercy, as a result of my commitment to embrace the purposes of the Year of Mercy announced on 8 December 2015 by Pope Francis. I have begun to learn that at least I will claim - some clues that will give you a way of seeing how God is teaching me. I say clues because that is what they are for me right now. They are inner suggestions given me by which I feel that God is trying to teach me what I understood less well. Clue #1 Mercy is a proper noun, which in grammar is: a noun that designates an individual person, place, organization, animal, ship, etc., and is usually written with an initial capital letter. (Oxford English Dictionary) A regular noun mercy is the name of a thing that we can have, or not have; or which may serve as the subject of a verb or as its object. A proper noun designates, in this case, a divine Person a quality of a person. Mercy is one of God s names. A human person may, through grace, encounter God personally, and experience Love (the principal name of God) as mercy. In this sense, mercy is a way that we experience God when our broken-heartedness, or confusion, or selfdisappointment, or fear, or our outright sinfulness, is how we are experiencing ourselves when we turn towards God. We know God as Love in the mode of mercy who, in its most privileged manifestation to us, is Jesus Himself. 1 Timothy 1:16 (J.B. Phillips) I realize that I was the worst [sinner] of them all, and that because of this very fact God was particularly merciful to me. This is why Shakespeare writes that mercy is foremost a quality of person Tis mightiest in the mightiest. Such a person is mercy-full without having to think about it. And as Shakespeare also remarks, in such a person mercy is not strained. That is, mercy is neither selectively offered to one person but not to another, nor can a person be forced to be merciful (notice the two-fold meaning of to strain ), because from such a person Mercy flows love in the mode of mercy. 2

3 Clue #2 Love and Mercy are the Divine Names of God that are dearest to us who know God in Jesus Christ Have I been such a long time with you, returned Jesus, without you really knowing me, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14:9, J.B. Phillips) When we have really gotten this insight and made it our own, we speak of God s unconditional love as something to which we can testify, because we have experienced God as God is. Such is the ground of our sure and certain hope. We ground our Hope on who God is, not on the possibility that God will, or will not, be offering us mercy when, and only if, we ask it of Him. But a person does not have from God this unconditioned love because that person has learned how effectively to earn it, how successfully to entice God habitually to grant it him or her. No. Instead, a person may come to know God profoundly enough that he or she begins to grasp that God is Love, is Mercy. God is unconditionally Himself; God freely and magnificently does Who He is. Clue #3 Someone who is Mercy is not in the business of deciding, in some particular case, whether or not to be merciful to someone. And this fact is of enormous importance when trying to understand God, as well as people we know who are Christ-like. We must cease our efforts to perform for God in ways that will make God decide to be merciful to us! So much of what people call Christian spirituality is rooted in this fundamental misunderstanding of God Christians seeking effective ways (!) to persuade God to grant us mercy. What, instead, is proper for us to mean when we ask God to be merciful to us is that we ask to have an experience of God Himself as God is that is so compelling and real that simultaneously we feel/know/ are convinced that God is Love and especially for us earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7) is a tender and majestic Mercy. Peregrinus, I recall the intractable confusion inside of which the elder son of Luke s famous Parable in chapter 15 wanders so unhappily. He figures that love and mercy are things that he has learned to deserve from his father by performing activities intended habitually and effectively to persuade his father to give them to him. Luke 15:29 (NRSVCE) Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command. But in thinking in this way he fundamentally misunderstands his father who is love and mercy, and as a result profoundly misconstrues the relationship his father has with him. How poignant that the father is he who must now figure out how to persuade his son that his love and mercy is not a thing! But he was furious and refused to go inside the house. So his father came outside and called him. (Luke 15:28, J.B. Phillips) Love and mercy in this father are qualities of his personality; a kind of person he is a person the younger son has just met moments before; a person the elder son must yet meet. May God s names of Love and Mercy continue to seep into our hearts so we might find our true identity. Pastor ~Please consider sharing your story with us. 3

4 SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER ~~ MISSOULA, MONTANA 420 West Pine Street, Missoula MT, , sfxmissoula.com October 2, 2016 The Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Prayers May --- Jennifer Beausoleil, Karen Tabish, Teresa Heinze, Fred Fortune, Dan Caplis, Vern Welter, Hazel Gagnier, and Diane McCue-Hollinger rest in peace in Our Lord s Loving arms. Collections for Sunday, September 25, 2016 Envelopes $ Loose: $ Aid $ Mainteance $ Poverello $85.00 Thank you for your generous giving! Please pray for peace in Colombia Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin will visit Cartagena, Colombia to mark the signing of a long-awaited peace agreement between the Colombian government and FARC rebels. (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC). The deal is intended to end a 52-year conflict in the South American country. It will be signed Sept. 26 in front of a large group of diplomatic delegations and then submitted to a popular vote by the Colombian people Oct. 2. Since 1964, as many as 260,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in Colombia s civil war. The Marxist FARC rebels and the Colombian government have been engaged in peace talks in Cuba since OFFICE HOURS: Monday-Thursday 8:30 am - 4:00 pm Friday 8:30 am - 4:00 pm stfrancisxavier@sfxmissoula.com Phone: Fax: Weekend Liturgies Saturday ~~~ 5 p.m. Sunday ~~ 8 am, 10 am, and 6 p.m. Weekday Liturgies Monday - Friday ~~ 8 am Confession -Saturday ~~ 3:30-4:30 p.m. or by appointment Eucharistic Adoration Wednesday & First Friday ~~ 8:30 am - Noon on Facebook at St. Francis Xavier Church, on and on Instagram at sfxmissoula. Follow all the events, news, and photos of life here at St. Francis Xavier. Our next Baptism preparation class will be on October 9th from Noon until 3:00 pm. Please contact the parish office to register. Coffee & Doughnuts Come and visit with your fellow parishioners following the 8:00 and 10:00 am Masses. Please consider assisting in this ministry. ~ Catholic News Agency St. Francis Xavier Parish will often use parishioner likeness in print, video, website or in social media sites for the purpose of sharing our church community with others. 4

5 Seasons of Hope Bereavement Group to Begin If you are in need of consolation after losing a loved one, this Christ-centered faith sharing group is for you. It meets for six Wednesdays beginning October 19. Prayer, scripture, faith sharing, and fellowship begin at 12 noon. For more details, pick up a brochure or call Kelly Baby-sitters Needed We are looking for babysitters who would be willing to help out young mothers who are interested in the Bible Study led by Father Perry but are unable to attend with young children. If you love kids and would like to help, the groups meet on Thursdays 10-11:30 am and Thursday evenings 7-8:30pm. Please contact or me at kscariano@sfxmissoula.com. Thank you for your kindness in advance. Kelly Scariano RN, LCSW October 2, 2016 Religious Education Dates October 2nd - Sunday School- 9:00 am- Loyola Bldg. 9th - Sunday School -9:00 am- Safe Environment-Loyola CLOW- 10:00 Mass Youth Group- 7:15 pm- Loyola Bldg. 16th - Sunday School- 9:00 am -Loyola Bldg. Confirmation Class- 3:30 pm - Reidy Hall Youth Group- 7:15 pm Loyola Bldg. 18th - 1st Rec. Prep.- 6:30 pm -Reidy Hall 23rd NO SUNDAY SCHOOL - 4 day weekend NO YOUTH GROUP 30th - Sunday School- 9:00 am- Loyola Bldg. Mass Intentions for the Month of October, 2016 Mass Scriptures for the Month of October, 2016 Saturday 10/1 Sunday 10/2 Monday 10/3 Tuesday 10/4 Wednesday 10/5 Thursday 10/6 Friday 10/7 Saturday 10/8 Sunday 10/9 Monday 10/10 Tuesday 10/11 Wednesday 10/12 Thursday 10/13 Friday 10/14 Jo Worden Jerome Steyee Ilene Reineke For the People* Sheila Combo Mr. & Mrs. Peter Facinelli* Rose Dewing & Turah Bethune Linda Cronk Dewey Campbell For the People* Mercedes Cookie Velasco Jean Rago Bob Beausoleil Mr & Mrs. Larry Daly* Bob Beausoleil Antonio Tirrito Bob Beausoleil Mass Stipend Suggested Mass stipend is $20 tax deductible... only the intangible value of prayer... 5 Saturday 10/1 Job 42:1-3, 5-6, St. Therese Ps. 119 of the Child Jesus Luke 10:17-24 Sunday 10/2 Hab. 1:2-3; 2:2-4 27th in Ordinary Time Ps Tim. 1:6-8, Luke 17:5-10 Monday 10/3 Gal. 1:6-12 St. Francis Borgia Ps. 111 Luke 10:25-37 Tuesday 10/4 Gal. 1:13-24 St. Francis of Assisi Ps. 139 Luke 10:38-42 Wednesday 10/5 Gal. 2:1-2, 7-14 Ps. 117 Luke 11:1-4 Thursday 10/6 Gal. 3:1-5 Luke 1 Luke 11:5-13 Friday 10/7 Gal. 3:7-14 Our Lady of the Rosary Ps. 111 Luke 11:15-26

6 October 2, 2016 The Twenty - Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Holy Family House Blessing of Animals Please join us following the 10:00 am Mass Today! Sunday, October 2nd in honor of the feast of St. Francis Assisi as we bless the creatures who have been a blessing to us. God our Father, almighty and merciful, You sent Your Son Jesus, Your living Word, to save the human race by His life, death, and resurrection, and You send Your Holy Spirit to inspire and accompany Your pilgrim Church on earth. With confidence, we pray for the Society that bears the name of Jesus: Grant the 36th General Congregation openness to hear your Spirit so that we may live for the greater glory of your name, faithful to our history and the example of the saints who have gone before us. Give us the spirit to serve beneath the banner of the Cross on behalf of Your Church, a profound love for the world You have created and entrusted to Your people, the grace to see with Your eyes the beauty and suffering of our sisters and brothers, hearts that beat in union with Your heart, loving You and serving You in all things. We ask all this through Jesus, the Savior who sets us free. AMEN Mary, Mother of the Society of Jesus, intercede for us. All you Saints of the Society, pray for us. Open House Please join us for an open house Today! Sunday, October 2nd from 11 am 1 pm as we kick off Holy Family House, a parish sponsored solution to temporarily house homeless families as part of our 2016 Lenten Project. Holy Family House will work in collaboration with the Missoula YWCA Gateway program, and is part of a larger effort to provide shelter for the 30 families who are reported homeless in our community on any given night. The house is located at 510 West Spruce Street, and we will walk over together after Mass. Refreshments will be served. Come and find out how you can make a difference and live our your faith or call Pam in the parish office for more information. Gentle Winds The sounds of the Backyard Recorder Consort will fill St. Francis Xavier Parish with music spanning five centuries on Thursday evening, October 20 at 7:30. Locally renowned members of the quintet Lawrence Duncan, Jo Ella Hug, Nancy Seldin, Katherine Skinner and Sarah Weber join with St. Francis to help feed the hungry in our community with this concert to benefit the Missoula Food Bank. We are suggesting a donation of $20, but any amount is welcome. We will also be taking donations of food. Follow us on Facebook for details and upcoming events. 6

7 The Social Outreach Commission in collaboration with Parish Health and Wellness presents, as part of our mental health awareness project: The First Annual Fall Film Series 1. What About Bob? Richard Dreyfuss stars as a successful psychotherapist who loses his mind after one of his most dependent patients, a manipulative, obsessively compulsive, hilarious character played by Bill Murray tracks him down during his family vacation. From 1991, Comedy Rated G Thursday, October 6 th at 7 pm in the Parish Center* 2. The Soloist is a biography which stars Robert Downey Jr as a Los Angeles journalist who befriends a homeless Juilliard-trained musician, brilliantly played by Jamie Foxx, while looking for a new article for the paper. From 2009, rated PG13 for language. It won a Prism award for a feature film on mental health and Jamie Foxx was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. Thursday, October 27 th at 7 pm in the Parish Center* 3. A Beautiful Mind Russell Crowe stars in this 2001 film about John Nash, a brilliant but asocial mathematician, who accepts secret work in cryptography, when his life takes a turn for the nightmarish. Rated PG-13 for intense thematic material, sexual content and a violent scene. Winner of 4 Academy Awards. (Due to this film s rating, childcare will be provided upon request.) Thursday, November 10 th at 7 pm in the Parish Center. Refreshments will be served. *A discussion will follow with the director of NAMI Missoula. Please call Pam at for more information. 7