St. Francis / Middle School Retreat

10-08-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Dan Connealy

Happy Sunday!

We are a week into October and I can’t believe it. Time has flown quickly since I’ve been and I’ve been grateful for every moment. Thank you for welcoming me back to Flagstaff so warmly. As October gets going we have much to look forward to. This past week on the 4th we celebrated the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, our patron. St. Francis was very special to me before I was first assigned here.

In the summer of 2012 I spent a month living in Assisi studying Italian. It was a great gift for me to be in such a beautiful town. The hotel I lived in was right between the Basilica of St. Francis and the Basilica of St. Clare. Early in the morning when the churches first opened I would often go pray at their tombs before the crowds arrived. Hopefully our parish will be able to organize a pilgrimage to Italy next fall and get to visit these wonderful saints.

This week please keep in your prayers our SFdA middle schoolers who will be on retreat from Monday to Wednesday. Every year our school students go on retreat, some of them just for a day, but our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders go on retreat for two nights to Lost Canyon outside of Williams. Please pray for them each day that they will receive the many gifts God wants to pour out on them.

Have a great week and know of my prayers!