There are no Religious Education Classes this weekend. We hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday! 

+In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit +

You are who we hold in our hearts this day as we come to this
sacrifice with praise and thanksgiving for Your goodness, kindness,
and unconditional love for us.
Heavenly Father,
Help us, as we enter this new year, to prepare for Your coming.
Help us to sweep clean the sinfulness of the past year. Help us to
remove the cobwebs in our hearts and minds that have misdirected
our lives. Give us the grace, we pray, to persevere and strengthen
our resolve to serve and love only You. Give us the grace to rid
ourselves of misguided desires and to desire only the precious gift
of the Holy Eucharist.

+In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit +

With the words of consecration at Mass, the whole of Christ is truly present-Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity-in the appearance of bread and wine fulfilling what Jesus said at the Last Supper: 

"This is my body" and "This is my blood". Accept Jesus' words because He is the truth and came into the world to testify to the truth and Pope Paul VI wrote the following unalterable Church doctrine: 

"The presence is called real...it is the substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present." 

It is sad, however, that there are a good number of Catholics who reject transubstantiation, even though it has been a Church teaching from the outset. The good news is that the highest number who believe are those who attend Mass at least once a week recognize that the Eucharist is not just symbolic, but it is Christ Himself which we receive, just as Pope Paul VI state so clearly. 

Now for the question of who may distribute this beautiful gift from Christ. 

There are two categories of those who may distribute the Holy Eucharist, and they are (1) the obvious, namely the clergy, our ordained ministers, and (2) those who have been designated Extraordinary Ministers, and trained to distribute the Eucharist at Mass, to those in hospitals, and to the sick or homebound who are unable to attend Mass. 

It is very important to recognize that no matter whether it is the ordained or extraordinary ministers who distribute the Eucharist, it is Christ Him- self we are receiving...the Christ who was consecrated during Mass by a PRIEST...to fulfill Jesus' words at the Last Supper, those unalterable words: 

"This is my body!"..."This is my blood!" 

Only those who are not in state of mortal sin may receive the Eucharist. 

God bless... Deacon Loris 

Advanced Giving is still active! If you would like to support our Youth programs here at the Parish, you can follow the link to donate!

https://atlanta.igivecatholic.org/organizations/st-francis-of-assisi-church-8eb43ddd-0b4d-4e4e-8e8d-3d98f95bb0de.

A copy of this week's bulletin can also be found on our parish website on the home page.

Any questions about flocknote? Need help updating your information or being added/removed from groups? Please email communications@stfrancisblairsville.com for assistance!