Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

Oct 3

On October Fourth we celebrate our founder, St. Francis of Assisi. He was born in the late 12th
Century and died on October 3, 1226. He was a mystic and a poet and because of a very profound experience of the Lord instructing him, “Rebuild my church, which you can see is in ruin.” He changed the western world. Some might say that may be an exaggeration, but others have claimed that St. Francis’
non-violence posture and embrace of poverty, humility, and the equality of all people, regardless of social status, challenged the rigid structures of feudalism. His call for an egalitarian society that respected all people, including the lepers, was, frankly, revolutionary for that time.

St. Francis walked to Egypt in 1219 to meet with Sultan
Al-Kamil in an attempt to end the Fifth Crusade. We have St. Francis to thank for the proliferation of Christmas nativity sets. He was the first in recorded history to have organized a live nativity scene in Greccio, Italy, in 1223. In 1224, St. Francis was the first person to have received the stigmata during a mystical experience with a Seraphic
angel. I know I am incredibly biased, but I do think it is safe to say that he is one of the most popular saints in Christendom. He was canonized in less than two years after his death by Pope Gregory IX on July 16, 1228.

If you would like to dive deeper into the mystery of the person we know as Francis of Assisi, please come to a listening session for Building with Living Stones. More information is in the bulletin.

Spaghetti Dinner

St. Francis would not mind us sharing space with a spaghetti dinner. He was Italian! The Spaghetti Dinner was once again, fantastic! I think it was the largest crowd yet. The meal was delicious, the music delightful, and the company of so many good people was truly wonderful.

A great thank you to Lorri & Joe D’Orsi for once again feeding the multitudes. They said they would not turn anyone away, and they did not! A special thanks to Kay Hedrick for providing many of the desserts. Thank you the great kitchen crew: Phil Cariello, Frank Dunlap, Stephanie Garafalo, Kay Hendrick, Sr. Pat McNiff, Bob & Patty Sattler, Leon Slezak, and Marlene Volaric. If hell is really like a fiery furnace, I really don’t want to end up there. That kitchen was HOT. God bless all of you for creating a great meal in the midst of a fiery furnace.

Thank you to our servers who walked their feet off making sure we all had enough to eat. Thank you Kathy Bailey, Al D'Souza, Marie Doyle, June Finn, Frank Formichella, Gerry & Joe Hummel, Katherine Kelly, John & Susan La Pilusa, Frank Rapp, Kathy Reinbold, Patrick & Susan Schipper, and Bill & Lisa Tyson.

Thanks to Bethel Arsenal, Barbara Formichella, and Joan Rap, who helped with the Gift Raffle table. Many items in the gift raffle were handcrafted by Lorri D'Orsi. The Heimlich’s donated the scarecrow, and the beautiful wreath was from Barb Formichella.

To the 50/50 Raffle hawks, Sydney Marks and Fr. Matt Ryan thank you and thanks to Sr. Pat Klemm, Jean Romeo, and Joan Sawicki who were sitting at the hat check table and kindly registering our guests as they entered. Michael Corliss, once again, provided us with great entertainment. Thank you, Michael.

And thank you to the St. Francis Spaghetti Dinner team: Amy Marks, Michelle DiBella, Astrid Befumo, Karen Acker, Richard Engebretsen (photography), Jessie Wirtz, and Justin Minor from our maintenance team. Thanks to all of our maintenance team for their continued dedication and hard work.

Car Raffle

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Car Raffle drawing. This year’s winners are:

Claire Steimle, Ocean, NJ: 2025 Honda Civic Sport
Sarah Mueller, Long Beach Township, NJ: 2025 Honda HR-V
Chick Veasey, Beach Haven West, NJ: 2025 Nissan Altima SR AWD
Marjie Carnevale, Beach Haven, NJ: 2025 Nissan Rogue SV AWD
Louis Beckerman, Watchung, NJ: 2025 F-150 XL Regular Cab 4x4

Thank you to the merry band of faithful friends who helped process the raffle books once they were returned to the parish office. Applause of great gratitude is necessary for the work of Sydney Marks, for inputting all entries into our database, and to Cheryl & Rich Krzaczyk, Rosemarie Kunz, Peggy Talbot, Arlene Padova, Ann Rodier, Marlene Siegle, Stephanie Garofalo, Janice Hritz, Amy Marks, and Marlene Volaric for writing the names and addresses on all the books sold online or mailed in AND for preparing each book for the drawing.

Thank you, Arian Selmani from Keel Agency, for all the support you have given us with our online sales and social media advertising. They say it takes a village… I don’t know about that, but I will take this parish, any day! Thank you one all for all you do to make St. Francis of Assisi Parish & Center such a great place to be! If I inadvertently missed someone, my apologies. Please do let me know.

Wishing everyone Peace and All Good on the Feast of St. Francis Weekend!

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