St. Francis Xavier Conference of SVdP is hosting the Back to School food drive to benefit our local food pantry. The collection will be this week, September 14-20.

Fr. Scott is looking for some volunteers to help serve lunch and dinner (which is being provided by caterers) and clean up on September 21 and 22 for the Diocese of Madison Priest Assembly that will be hosted here at St. Francis Xavier. Lunch volunteers are needed from 10:30am to 1:00pm and dinner volunteers are needed from 4:30pm to 7:30pm (approximately). We are looking for 3-4 volunteers for each of these meals. All volunteers will be required to follow certain safety precautions given COVID-19 (i.e., wearing masks, gloves, etc.). Sign up online or call the parish office to help out! Your help is greatly appreciated!

Check out this short video to learn more about St. Augustine and reflect on how you seek joy in your life. As we prepare for a new faith formation season, it is also time to consider the importance of helping our children form a relationship with Christ.

We are excited to announce that we will be offering in person faith formation classes for grades K-9 beginning the week of October 4. Bishop Hying recognizes that the formation of the whole person in the knowledge and practice of Christian discipleship is accomplished most effectively in person and so encourages each parish to offer in person formation. We invite your children to participate with us in sessions at the parish so that we may continue to be your partners in passing our Catholic faith on to your children. Many safety measures are being put in place to keep everyone as healthy as possible

Come and See. Jesus extends this invitation to a couple of disciples in the first chapter of John's Gospel, and He continues to extend that invitation to each of us today. It is an invitation to friendship with Him which is where we find our deepest meaning and joy in life. I invite all parishioners to consider sharing the gift of their own friendship with Jesus with the youth who will be participating in our faith formation sessions this year! Don't worry if you feel like you 'don't know enough to be a catechist' - simply sharing your own joy and faith in Christ with our youth is a great gift, and we'll give you plenty of tools and support! Check out the video from Bishop Hying to hear his own thoughts on how important it is to have people step out in faith to be catechists. If you are interested in being a catechist or have questions, please contact Marc Laudonio, Director of Faith Formation at marc@sfxcrossplains.org or 608-798-2975. Thank you!