Christmas Mass Times

Page 2 December 18, 2011
Letter from Luke Burgis, Seminarian
Dear St. Francis of Assisi Community,
Thank you for your generous Christmas gift and for all of
your prayers this semester. I am specifically putting part of
your Christmas donation toward an Adopt-a-Family
shopping trip that my class of Pre-Theology seminarians is
doing this weekend. Since you have adopted me, I am able
to adopt someone myself. Please pray for us, though – when
seven seminarians go to Walmart together to shop for
cooking supplies and bedding, it is quite an adventure!
I thank God for you all every day, and I continue to pray for
St. Francis of Assisi and the entire diocese of Las Vegas. I
was particularly moved with emotion when I saw the video
for the new church and school that debuted at the parish
festival. Wow! The Holy Spirit is working powerfully in our
community. I suppose that when the Lord wants a church
built, the church gets built (and the school along with it).
As for me, this semester flew by, and it was filled with
many graces and blessings. I am fortunate to have met so
many other men who are traveling the same road as I am.
These first two years, I am primarily studying philosophy
and participating in a lot of spiritual formation activities. My
Saturdays are generally free, though, so I was able to get a
surfboard and wetsuit donated to me from a friend in Los
Angeles, and my plan was to try to take up surfing on
Saturday mornings next semester (we are only 20 minutes
from the ocean); however, a fellow seminarian has
convinced me that Great White sharks love seminarians, and
he cited some pretty dreadful statistics, so my board may
just be gathering dust in my dorm room unless I am able to
conquer this fear! On a more serious note, I will be spending
one day a week serving at a Youth Correctional Facility in
Ventura next semester, which is a ministry that I am greatly
looking forward to.
Thank you again for being such gifts to St. Francis and to
me in my continued discernment. Please continue to pray for
all of the seminarians for Las Vegas – that we may be
priests one day after the Lord’s own heart. It is only
through yours prayers that I am here. Please pray especially
for my fellow St. John’s seminarian Deacon Samuel
Martinez in the coming months as he prepares for ordination
to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ.
Your grateful seminarian,
Luke Burgis
P.S. I hope Fr. John and Fr. Steve have settled their gardenweeding
quarrel by now.
Dear SFA Community,
I want to wish you well these
coming days of the Advent of Our
Lord. As you know from past
experience, our Masses on
Christmas day are quite full and
busy. I ask that each of us to
personally “Welcome the Stranger
Among us!” We can do this in
various ways. For example, please introduce yourself prior
to Mass to any one who may sitting around you and
welcome them to St. Francis of Assisi. We all can be
ministers of hospitality. Although the mindset can be that
ALL strangers are only “Christmas and Easter Catholics” or
not part of this community, everyone who comes to Mass is
here to give praise to God for His gift of the Incarnate
Son….we are all members of the universal Catholic Church.
We can reflect the Light of Christ to them, by simply
welcoming them and letting them know we are happy they
are here. May I suggest not judging the situation wrongly,
because a lot of people who join us are relatives and friends
who come to Las Vegas and Henderson for Christmas
vacation to be with family who live here.
Another way to welcome them, is to help them with the
New Translation and the changes to the Mass dialogue: [i.e.,
open a Missallette, share it with them, hand them a prayer
card and help them to follow along]. Doing these simple
and little charitable acts, truly represent the Spirit of
Christmas and being good witnesses to Jesus Christ Our
Incarnate Lord and Savior.
I am truly grateful that you plan to join us for the
Celebration of Christmas here at St. Francis of Assisi. As
Christmas is the season for family, I ask each of you to
follow the directions of the ushers as they try to seat all who
come to share in the Blessed Christmas Liturgies. As many
of you may remember from last year, some of the Masses
like 4:00 p.m. December 24 th , and 12:00 Midnight and 11:30
a.m. on December 25 th were quite full while other Masses
were less full like the 8:00 p.m. on December 24 th , and the
7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on December 25 th . Whichever
Celebration you choose to join in, please remember to
welcome the stranger in our midst.
If you are travelling to another place during this week,
please travel safely and may the Lord guide you on your
journey to be with your family and friends, and may the
Lord guide you all safely home to us. May God the Father,
God the Son and God the Holy Spirit bless each you. May
His blessings descend upon your families during these
coming days and Merry Christmas!
Fr. John