St. Francis Xavier www.xavierbrunswick.org, 912-265-3249

August 26, 2018 Living Out Marriage I call today’s second reading the “sore rib” reading. Husbands nudge their wives in the ribs and say, “Honey, did you hear that reading? You are supposed to be subordinate to me!” Let’s take some time to examine this reading. In 2018 the idea of a married couple, their unity and equality is strong, perhaps even more so than 50 years ago. But what was the status of marriage back at the time when Paul wrote this? A woman had no legal rights, she was the husband’s possession. A Jewish man would thank God that he had not been made a Gentile (non-Jew), a slave or a woman (Barclay). That might be hard to fathom but, even in the progressive USA, when did women gain the right to vote in the USA? Only in 1919 –less than 100 years ago! So when Paul writes "Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ" this was revolutionary! St. Paul begins his exhortation by exhorting married couples to be subordinate to one another. In marriage the man is not better the wife nor is the wife better than the man. They did not marry to be a slave to the other. They mar- ried to love one another and serve one another. Man and woman are created in the image of God. There is equality in marriage that calls for mutual respect. Christianity calls for leadership in the image of Jesus – servant leadership. "Wives should be subordinate to their husband as to the Lord." Paul goes on to say the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. This gets our attention. Does the husband have control over everything? "Get me a beer. Bring me my slippers." Is this the type of relationship Paul is speaking of? No! There is a God-given role that the husband has to govern, provide and protect his family. It is not a call to Lord- ship but to service. Christ is the head of the Church. How did he exhibit leadership in this role? Remember the Last Supper. The Apostles were alone with Christ for the Passover meal. Normally a slave would wash the feet of the guests. None of the Apostles would stoop to this office so Christ put on a towel and washed their feet. Christ led the church by serving the church. The husband takes leadership in the family by taking responsibility for the family and serving the family. St. Paul calls wives to be “subordinate”, while some translations read “submissive.” What do they mean? What does this words mean? Subordinate is literally to put oneself under the order of. Submission is to put oneself under the mission of. For a wife to be submissive, the next question becomes what is the mission of the husband to which she must submit? The mission is clear, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her…"To make this more clear he exhorts husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. How much did Christ love the Church? He gave up his life for her. What a tremendous call! This is the tremen- dous love to which husbands are called! To love their wives by making sacrifices for them, even to the point of laying down their lives for them. Paul says, "So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies." This is a great challenge! Very often women feel uncomfortable when this reading is proclaimed. In fact, there is a shorter version that leaves much of the passage out. The truth is that when this reading is properly understood it should make the men quite un- comfortable! Why? Because it places the highest calling on them – to love their brides as Christ loves the Church. What a calling! Husbands and wives are called to lay down their lives for one another. Let's be honest. This will not take place in a glorious moment of martyrdom. It takes place in daily relationships. It takes place as you make decisions not as "I" but as "we." It takes place as you discuss the future together and learn to compromise so that your dreams and the dreams of your spouse are merged. How can we speak of laying down our lives for our spouse if we are not willing to make small sacrifices for them. Men, the football season is upon us. How many of us are willing to make sacrifices for our wives and children in this area to spend quality time with them? Isn’t it tempting to spend large parts of our weekend with the remote in our hands? Wives, can you make sacrifices between what you want and what you need so that there will be peace in your family budget? These are the day to day areas where spouses are called to love one another. The net result of St. Paul’s teaching is that a married couple provides the image of Christ’s love for His Church – the Groom giving his life for the Bride. Priests, religious and single people should be able to look at married couples and say, “See how they love one another!” Married life is not always easy. Family life is not always easy. But we are all on a journey to be with God forever. It is an arduous journey but God has a plan for us. Anything worth attaining is never easy. We want to reach heaven and be with God forever. We want our children to be there with us. By focusing on God's Word and living it in our life we can reach that goal. We say with Peter today, "Lord, you have the words of eternal life." -Fr. Tim McKeown Mass Schedule Our Priests will be on their annual spiritual retreat from Sept Saturday 3 to 7. We will have a 7:00 a.m. Mass the morning of Sept. 3 5:00 p.m. SFX and we will have School Mass the morning of Friday Sept. 7 7:00 p.m. (on Jekyll) Teens in the Spirit will meet beginning September Sunday (SFX) 8:30 a.m. 5, 5:30 to 7:30 pm in Xavier hall. Thirteen to 17 year 11:00 a.m. old teens are invited to come join us. We are also 6:00 p.m. in Spanish looking for college students willing to help out with the group. If interested email Marisol at [email protected] Weekday Masses Mon. - Noon (Chapel) First Friday Adoration is scheduled for September 7th Tues., Wed. & Thurs. in the Church from 2 to 8 p.m. Please sign-up for a 7:00 a.m. (Chapel) one hour slot. Sign-up sheet is located on the back ta- Wed. 7:00 p.m. (Church) ble. First Saturday Mass at 8:45 a.m. September 1st. Fri. 8 a.m. (Church) The Council of Catholic Women would like to invite the Reconciliation: ladies of the parish to our first meeting September 10, Church Saturdays 6 to 7:20 pm in St Anne’s room. We gather for a meal 4:00 - 4:30 p.m. and join together in prayer at each of our meetings. Sunday “Got Life Questions? 7:45 - 8:15 a.m. (Or by appointment) Rite of Christian Initiation (R.C.I.A.) might just be for you!” RCIA is for someone who:

Is interested in becoming Catholic St. Joseph Chapel Was never baptized (Please go to the main office for code) Was baptized in another Christian denomination Monday - Friday Perhaps you desire to satisfy a doubt. Maybe you would like to explore 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. the wisdom of Jesus. St Joseph Chapel Whatever your quest, you are welcome to journey with others who gath- First Friday er in a comfortable group setting. Adoration Please contact Deacon Larry Guyer at 912-265-3249 ext. 14 if you have any questions. First meeting is September 10 from 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. 2:00 - 7:00 p.m. Holy Hour PARISH SCHOOL OF RELIGION (PSR): PSR meets Sunday 7:00- 8:00 p.m. Mornings during the academic school year, 9:30 – 10:40am, for chil- First Saturday dren Pre-K - 8th Grade. If you have not registered yet, please come 8:45 a.m. over to the school and we will help you get your child registered for this new year. Call Deacon Larry-DRE-265-3249, X14. A Letter from Riley for Soles for Souls “O God, hear our prayer and let our cry come unto You. Bless our Dear St. Francis, Diocese of Savannah with many vocations to the priesthood, diaco- Thank you for all your help. Thank you so much for all the pairs nate, of shoes that you have kindly donated. They will be appreci- and religious life. Give the men ated very much. and women You call the light to understand Your gift and the love Thank you, to follow always in the footsteps of Your priestly Son. Riley Letson Amen.”

Narthex Update This past week the following work was started:  Metal stud framing  Demo at brick wall of the gym St. Francis Xavier is the charter organi-  Build brick mock-ups of the two brick samples we zation for Boy Scout Troop 207 and have received. Cub Scout Pack 207. The unit number  Gas Light will install new service to Sanctuary 207 has been a Scouting staple in Brunswick for over 50 years, and we Each year we are asked to give to the Bishop’s Annual Ap- are proud to call St. Francis Xavier peal. This goes to the Diocese of Savannah for expenses that home! We are seeking young men to the parish does not pay. One of the main expenses is the edu- join us. Boys in first through fifth cation of our seminarians. We are one of the parishes that grades are invited to sign up for the most directly benefits from the seminarian program. This year Cub Scout program, and boys in mid- we were assigned Fr. Chris Hassel after he completed semi- dle and high school would be welcome nary. Last year we were served by Deacon Patrick May during to join Boy Scouts. If you're already his pastoral year. Our parish target this year is $57,285. involved in a different unit, we'd love Thus far we have raised about $40,000 of our total. We to have you join us. Both the troop have had 91 of our 671 families participate. If you have not and pack will kick off their new year made a pledge please take an envelope from the pew. You can either put it in the collection basket or mail it directly. Please programs in the coming weeks. If memo your checks St. Francis Xavier so we are sure to get you're interested, or have questions credit for it. Thank you! about the program, please contact Chris Sadowski at 912-399-0907 Medjugorje or [email protected]. For those who would like to receive a monthly message from Medjugorje Collections for: from our Marian Prayer group they August 18 & 19 are available on the back table or $ 9,989.94 you may sign up for a monthly email BAA Total 2018 at: [email protected] $ 40.058.08

August 26, 2018

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Linda Mock Forsyth David Higbee Richard Brunegraff Michael Mleko Mass Intentions Vera Borkowski Jackie Maassen Saturday, August 25 Savannah Jones Bradley Huffman 5:00 p.m. t Dennae Hughes Shelby Jones Frances & David Nohrden 7 p.m. t Ken Olashuk Jason Runyon Kathy Poliwka (At Jekyll United Methodist Church) Roman Shaefer Daisy Rodriguez Paul Shaefer Lucille Nichols Sunday, August 26 Bill Schellman Judy Perry Majka 8:30 a.m. Don & Diane Heinecke (Flowers) Wyatt Kersey Steven Gentzle 11a.m. t Mary, Effie & Preston Blanchard Andrew Robson Jr. Tanner Posey 6:00 p.m. Our Parish Family Burgess-Erwin Margo Harper Niko Cousins Jennifer Myers Monday, August 27 Jerry Hayward Helen Berry Brandon Cleghorn Noon t Hal Brown Sheila Ledford Gertrude Roberts Margaret Young Sr. Kathleen J. Tuesday, August 28 McMenamin Emory Young 7:00 a.m. t Jesus & Emiko Diaz Sr. Mary A. Curran Terry Cox Linda Royster Arlene McDowell Dixon Wednesday, August 29 Evelyn Harper Pam Gallagher 7:00 a.m. t Emmett Lott Duke Wilson David Bailey 7 p.m. Echeverria-Dominguez Families William Waddell Wanda Hand Patricia Clark John & Jan Mistisshen Thursday, August 30 Phillip Hand Alicia Neu Bailey 7:00 a.m. Souls in Purgatory Marion Lenz Carol Papia Lydia Gorman Kathy Rogers Betty Blouin Pierce Rogers Friday, August 31 Les Wall Lisa Panknin 8:00 a.m. t Jeannie Brown Susan Layman William Panknin Mary Steele Jimmy Clements Saturday, September 1 Jerry Ehlman Derek Canas 8:45 a.m. t Gene & Carol Ehlman (Anniv.) Joyce McPhee Miguel Martelli 5:00 p.m. Homitz Family Janice Guyer 7 p.m. t Sandee Coddington (Flowers) Timothy Tindall Let us pray for all those in (At Jekyll United Methodist Church) Kevin Murphy the military and police force both active and retired. Sunday, September 2 8:30 a.m. t Jack & Jeanne O’Donnell th 150 Anniversary News 11a.m. t Wes Schroer Save the date! Bishop Hartmayer will join us to cele- brate our 150th with a special 11:00 a.m. Mass on 6:00 p.m. Souls in Purgatory Sunday December 2. We are reaching out to priests who have served here to come back and join us.

Response to Abuse Crisis Fr. Tim McKeown Diocese of Savannah Twenty six years ago I left my job as a coach and teacher to enter seminary. The call to the Priesthood is different than a job, it is an entire commitment to serve God with your whole life. One gives up the promise of having one’s own family in order to serve God’s family. And there is great reward in it. To be a spiritual Father to thousands and to be called “Father” is both gift and responsibility. These past four weeks have been a difficult time for the people of God and for faithful priests. We learned of accusa- tions against Cardinal (now McCarrick) of Washington. Many sordid tales and details were revealed and he resigned as a Cardinal in the Church. This past week the Grand Jury Report on six dioceses in Pennsylvania came out. Once again we were buffeted with facts of abuse and, more shockingly, cover up by bishops and administrators. To think that these men who had the trusted position of Father of the flock abused little ones and that some bishops who shepherded the flock did not protect the flock but indeed allowed further harm to occur is despicable. Jesus himself said, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” To read some of the stories from Pennsylvania that go back seventy years cause several emotions in me: revulsion, horror, anger, sadness. As a priest I think of the word traitor. To be entrusted with peoples’ lives as a shepherd and to actively hurt and betray the sheep is to be a traitor. Columnist Rod Dreher writes: In Dante’s Inferno, the deepest level of Hell is reserved for traitors. The reason for this is that Dante lived in a time and place where cities were at war with each other. Cities like Florence, Siena, and others surrounded them- selves with walls, and closed the gates at night so people could sleep in peace. Traitors were an existential threat to those cities. If they unlocked the gates at night while everyone was resting in shared trust, all would be lost. Shared trust was the thing that made common life possible. Traitors were a mortal threat to that life.

What can we do going forward? First and foremost we must pray for all the victims. No doubt victims of sexual of- fense carry the wounds with them for all of their lives. We need to be sure they are supported in every way possible. We must act. We must make sure that these abominations do not continue into this present day. Certainly there has been much change in the Church since the scandal but the change needs to continue. Cardinal DiNardo, Presi- dent of the USCCB stated, “We are faced with a spiritual crisis that requires not only spiritual conversion, but practical changes to avoid repeating the sins and failures of the past that are so evident in the recent report.” It is time for us to say, no more! Enough! We already have zero tolerance policies in place. We need priests and bish- ops who are committed to lives of holiness. Those who choose to live otherwise should be subject to the full weight not only of Church law but of civil law. When Jesus saw iniquity he dealt with it. We can think of the moneychangers in the Temple. St. John records, “He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area…” and St. John records further, “His disciples recalled the words of scripture, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” Brothers and sisters, I know you have zeal for the Lord’s House because you are here today, after three weeks of bad news in the Church you have still come to Mass. The Apostles didn’t quit because one of the twelve was Judas, who handed Jesus over for Crucifixion. They doubled down, went out and preached the Gospel. There have been priests and bishops who continued to hand Jesus over for Crucifixion by their actions in these past decades and we are all too familiar with their stories. It is not time for us to quit. It is time for us to double down. It may involve some cleansing of the Temple. One of the causes of the crisis that have been proposed is formation in seminary. While that may well be the case from 40 or 50 years ago the criticisms that I have heard do not resonate with my 26 years’ experience as a seminarian, priest, vocation director and seminary administrator. I attended Franciscan University, Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary and the North American College in Rome. I found faculty and classmates that were committed to Jesus Christ and His Church and who inspired me to be a better disciple and priest. My years in seminary were some of the best and most inspiring years of my life. Those friendships and experiences have continued into the priesthood. Most of you have met our seminarians and new priests. I can truly say they are being formed in a holy and holistic environment. They want to be men who make a difference today and in the future. Cardinal Dolan of NY exhorts us: Our God can make good out of evil. He proved that most dramatically on that first Good Friday. It surely feels as if we are experiencing another Good Friday today. Fortunately, we know that the darkness of Good Friday did not have the last word, and that the light of Easter Sunday was not far behind.

May all of us be part of the change. On Monday night August 20 we will hold a Holy Hour in the church to pray for vic- tims of sexual abuse and for all cleansing that needs to happen. If you would please join me as we call upon our Blessed Mother, Mother of the Church as we say, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen!” This was given by Fr. Tim McKeown the weekend of August 18-19 Parish Activity Contacts Membership Adult Bible Study, Joe & Linda Kirby…………….267-9359 To be a registered member of the Altar and Environmental Care, Diane Lott……….223-1261 parish is to have a sense of belonging Bereavement, Ann Buebel………………………..265-3249 to a family. Newcomers are requested

CCW, Marisol Soler …………………………….264-6805 ext. 12 to register at the church office soon after arrival to meet the staff and learn Culture of Life, Rose Lodise…………….…….…...264-4121 about your new parish. In the time of Greeters, Ginger Dorcas…………..……………....275-8492 family sickness, death or special need, Knights of Columbus, Bill Schuster……………….266-6779 parishioners are asked to notify the Religious Ed., Larry Guyer ……………………..…265-3249 ext. 14 Church office. If requested, Holy Com-

Religious Articles Shop, Rose Lodise……..……...264-4121 munion will e brought o anyone desiring to receive the Eucharist but are unable St. Monica Society, Peggie Cash…………….…....264-5458 to attend Mass for serious reasons. St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store…………...….…....262-6027 Parish Council, RoseMary Jones Church Office at [email protected] Most Rev. Gregory John Hartmayer, OFM Conv. 405 Howe St., Bishop of Savannah Brunswick, GA 31520 912-265-3249