This weekend we will celebrate World Mission Sunday. Pope Francis invites the entire Church to support mission dioceses in Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and parts of Latin America and Europe, where priests, religious and lay leaders serve the world’s most vulnerable communities. Please keep the Pope’s missions in your prayers and be generous in next week’s collection for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.

Every October, the Diocese of San Jose asks that each Parish make an accounting of the number of people who attend Sunday Eucharist. If you notice someone walking up and down the aisle during Mass with a pencil and paper in hand— that's what they're doing! We are grateful for their assistance.

Taking home and washing and ironing sacristy linens approximately 6 times per year (1 time every other month). For more information, please contact Maria Garcia at mlgarcia5@sbcglobal.net or 408.799.0598

“Too many Californians are struggling with mental health and emotional well-being challenges. Peer-to-peer support is a proven way of helping people stay healthy and get the help they need. The California Peer-Run Warm Line is an important resource for so many people, and I’m thrilled we were able to get it funded,” said State Senator Scott Wiener.

Grand Prize ($30,000) - Anita Espino & Jose Sambrano Second Prize; ($1,000) - Dr. Ron Mancuso; Third Prize ($500) - Poly Palamuttam; Bonus Bundle Winners First Prize ($1,000) - Rosa Garcia; Second Prize ($700) - Huyen Symanksi; Third Prize ($500) - Robert Dias

You are invited to join Deacon Andre on a Farmworker Reality Tour in Watsonville on Sunday November 3, from 3 to 7 pm. We will listen to stories of immigrant farm workers to better understand their journey, visit a migrant camp, and share a meal with a local family. Please contact Deacon Andre at asobczyk@dsj.org to sign up.

It is a legacy society comprised of Catholic women and men who understand the call to proclaim the Gospel, to build up the Church and to serve our sisters and brothers with the love of Christ. In doing so, they have made a commitment to name their local parish (St. Francis of Assisi), as beneficiaries of a gift in their will or trust, retirement account or life insurance policy

A profound expression of gratitude to all those who participated in our Talent Show, helped with set up and take down, sold raffle tickets, took part in the Blessing of Animals, attended all of Saturday festivities, enjoyed our Casino Night, and joined in celebrating the Eucharist on our patronal feast. We truly shared of our many blessings as one community of faith under the patronage of St. Francis of Assisi.

I'd like to briefly let you know about a life-saving prayer project that will take place here in San Jose from September 25 to November 3. I'm hoping that you will be able to join us as we unite with many other cities for a peaceful, prayerful, simultaneous pro-life outreach - 40 Days for Life. We pray that this effort will mark the beginning of the end of abortion.

"Here is our rule," Francis said— as simple and as impossible as it may have seemed: “Live by the Gospel. Francis took the Gospel so literally that he made one of the brothers run after a thief who stole Francis’ hood. “Here, take his too!   In one famous story, Francis preached to hundreds of birds about being thankful to God for their wonderful clothes, for their independence, and for God's care. The story tells us the birds stood still as he walked among them, only flying off when he said they could leave.

Twenty-Two years ago, Bishop Pierre DuMaine canonically established the Mission of St. Francis of Assisi to the status of a Parish. According to Canon Law, a Parish is The Code of Canon Law defines the parish as “a definite community of the Christian faithful established on a stable basis within a particular Church; the pastoral care of the parish is entrusted to a pastor as its own shepherd under the authority of the diocesan bishop”

Soon after the birth of my son Charlie*, who has Down syndrome, a visitor asked whether he was “mild, moderate, or severe”—referring to his level of cognitive impairment. I was shocked. In my arms I held my beautiful baby boy, who defied easy categorization. It’s like looking at stained glass from the outside: the colors look dark, and you can’t see the figures. But inside, with the sun shining through, the effect can be brilliant.

St. Francis wasn't a priest, had no power or possessions, and yet he was able to save the world from falling apart.

Facing the eastern sunrise splendor, St. Francis of Assisi Chapel stands, On the hill shining, impressive, A beautiful creation. Thank You, O Lord. Strengthen us, lead us, Illuminate our way to inaugurate our vision, your gift with gratitude, we humbly pray. Thank You, O Lord. Rejoice community, get ready, Respond to our Lord's call, To the prayer of St. Francis. Be an instrument of peace, Sow hope, faith, light, joy, love. For it is in giving that we receive. Thank You, O Lord.

Next Sunday, there will be a second collection to reduce our $2.3 million-dollar parish debt. At the conclusion of the prior fiscal year, due to the generous donors to the Shine the Light campaign, we made a $200,000 principal payment. he sooner we pay off this debt, the more funds we will have available to support other vital services in our growing parish. Thank you for your generosity.

The month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary. According to an account by fifteenth-century Dominican, Alan de la Roch, Mary appeared to St. Dominic in 1206 after he had been praying and doing severe penances because of his lack of success in combating the Albigensian heresy. Mary praised him for his valiant fight against the heretics and then gave him the Rosary as a mighty weapon, explained its uses and efficacy, and told him to preach it to others.

Thank you to all those who joined in supporting our Blood Drive ministry. We collected 61 units of productive blood last Saturday which could help as many as 183 people in our community and the greater Bay Area, many who depend on blood components for their very lives.

We are so grateful for the sacrifices you make so that the work of St. Francis of Assisi Parish may continue to impact the lives of so many. Parish Goal: $185,000; Pledges: $271,831 – Paid: $229,811 Anticipated Refund: $87,824. Please keep making your regular payments. When all our pledges have been paid, St. Francis of Assisi will use our rebate to reduce parish debt and fund continuing improvements to our parish facilities. Thank you for your support of Bishop Cantú and our local Church.

An old man gets an urgent phone call from his wife while driving home. "Herman, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on the freeway. Please be careful!" Herman replied, "Dear, it's not just one car. There's hundreds of them!"   If you are like me, you probably can’t stand it when people don’t have a sense of urgency, can’t stand it when people seem to be completely complacent about things that might demand a more aggressive or “hurry-up” approach. In a certain sense, all three of our readings today address the problem of complacency—at least when it comes to our spiritual lives, our moral lives, our lives of faith. 

Recently, I had the opportunity of attending the Young Catholic Professionals Conference in Dallas, Texas. The main focus was practicing the presence of God, so I would like to share with you some of the things that I learned about inviting God more into our lives. Many of us tend to compartmentalize our faith, making us Catholics only one hour a week—when we go to Mass. But God is waiting for us to notice Him, He wants to bless us infinitely and shower our lives with love and meaning, but we have to let him. You see, many times we get so caught up in the busyness of our lives, that we forget to invite God.