Sunday masses at 8:30, 11:00, and 1:00 will be live streamed to Facebook and then posted to the St. Francis YouTube page. 

And now for the mass readings: 
Isaiah 55:6–9
Psalm 145:2–3, 8–9, 17–18
Philippians 1:20–24, 27
Matthew 20:1–16

A Reflection from Scott Hahn: (StPaulCenter.com) 

The house of Israel is the vine of God, who planted and watered it, preparing the Israelites to bear fruits of righteousness (see Isaiah 5:7; 27:2–5).

Israel failed to yield good fruits and the Lord allowed His vineyard, Israel’s kingdom, to be overrun by conquerors (see Psalm 80:9–20). But God promised that one day He would replant His vineyard and its shoots would blossom to the ends of the earth (see Amos 9:15; Hosea 14:5–10).

This is the biblical backdrop to Jesus’ parable of salvation history in today’s Gospel. The landowner is God. The vineyard is the kingdom. The workers hired at dawn are the Israelites, to whom He first offered His covenant. Those hired later in the day are the Gentiles, the non-Israelites, who, until the coming of Christ, were strangers to the covenants of promise (see Ephesians 2:11–13). In the Lord’s great generosity, the same wages, the same blessings promised to the first-called, the Israelites, will be paid to those called last, the rest of the nations.

This provokes grumbling in today’s parable. Doesn’t the complaint of those first laborers sound like that of the older brother in Jesus’ prodigal son parable (see Luke 15:29–30)? God’s ways, however, are far from our ways, as we hear in today’s First Reading. And today’s readings should caution us against the temptation to resent God’s lavish mercy.

Like the Gentiles, many will be allowed to enter the kingdom late—after having spent most of their days idling in sin.

But even these can call upon Him and find Him near, as we sing in today’s Pslam. We should rejoice that God has compassion on all whom He has created. This should console us, too, especially if we have loved ones who remain far from the vineyard.

Our task is to continue laboring in His vineyard. As Paul says in today’s Epistle, let us conduct ourselves worthily, struggling to bring all men and women to the praise of His name.

Please pray for healing and special needs for the following requests.

·       Healing for David Drake

·       Gayle -  Donna and Tommy

·       For all the sick and for caretakers

·       Bob Reuter and family in this time of loss

·       Soul of Carole Ann Reuter to rest in peace

·       Geri – healing of multiple myeloma

·       Adam Chedister – terminally ill

·       Jewel and Andrea Aquarian

·       Gary Radcliffe –  cancer

·       Jerry Rousseau – leukemia

·       Catherine protection from evil and salvation to know Jesus

·       Elizabeth, college student in quarantine - COVID 19

·       Tommy – withdrawal from pain medication

·       Jack – terminal COPD, near death

·       Mary

·       Pat Pierce; healing of all sick

·       St. Francis of Assisi Parish

·       John Lena – pancreatic surgery

·       Jim Halloran – pancreatic cancer

·       Andrea Larsen

·       Padre Raul Quesada

·       Bill and children

·       All priests and bishops to be close to God and true to their callings

·       Our nation, America for healing and to become one nation under God

·       President Trump

·       That God-centered people be elected on all levels of government and God’s power sweep across America.

·       Delores: for my nieces to know God and for my daughter to be approved on an offer of land. 

Fr. John Riccardo and the team of the Detroit-based non-profit apostolate ACTS XXIX are calling for a National Day of Prayer and Fasting on September 24, 2020.  

Words from Fr. Riccardo: 

"Looking at all that's happening in our country right now, it seems we're in need of a lot of things. Policy and law are crucial, to be sure. But as important as these are, they can't fix the root problem. The real problem of American culture today is that our hearts are messed up. Only God can fix the human heart, and He loves doing that.  

This is not about politics or any particular social movement or even the November election. This is about asking for God's mercy on our nation and for the healing of our hearts - all of our hearts, starting with mine."

Fr. Riccardo's hope is that the entire country, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and all people of good will, would set September 24 aside as a true holy day, forego food until dinner, and pray for the conversion of hearts.  For more information, visit actsxxix.org

We will pray a rosary after the morning mass on Saturday, September 24 as part of the National Day of Prayer and Fasting. 

All life is precious and made in God's image. Join others as we stand up for the unborn and their mothers at this year's Blairsville Life Chain on October 4th. Life Chain is the largest pro-life peaceful witness in the world. Over a thousand cities and towns across the US and Canada have participated each year, standing and publicly praying for an end to abortion and healing for those who have suffered from it. St. Francis of Assisi parish and many of our brothers and sisters in Christ from other area churches will participating. Please join us at Hwy 515 and 76 on October 4th from 2:00-3:00. Signs will be provided. For more information, contact Jeannine Murphy at 706.745.4590.  

As many of you know, Theresa and Bill McLaughlin will be leaving our parish after 20 years for Suwannee, GA to be closer to family. They have graciously allowed me to live in their Mother-in-Law house for three years. I have three ministries here and I love the area. I would like to stay, God willing. If you know of a space to rent that is private, please let me know. God bless you!