Xavier Knoll, Franklin, Wisconsin
Xaverian Missionaries – Midwest Mission Center
4500 Xavier Drive – Franklin, WI 53132
(414) 421-0831
Office: 8 am-4 pm (Mon-Fri)
franklin@xaverianmissionaries.org
Xavier Knoll Mission Festival 2024
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…it makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” —Melody Beattie
Every year we embark on a journey to raise awareness about the missions and the needs of the people for which we work. The missionary nature of the church requires us to look beyond our comfort and look at those who live around us. We have grown accustomed to fixing our eyes to our own needs, wants, and likes; but the mandate of Jesus is clear: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” This commissioning requires us, not only to look for the material needs of people but also that we may ensure a mutual enrichment in the knowledge of God.
We continue to hold the Xaverian Festival because it allows us to keep alive a missionary spirit that goes beyond ourselves. We want to continue to share our faith with those who do not yet know Christ.
I want to take this opportunity to say: “Thank You.” Without all your help and support we would not be able to continue our mission. This year we had a rainy Saturday. This rainy condition brought comments of “The weather does not cooperate,” but it also brought comments like, “Tomorrow will be great.” Guess what? It was a great Sunday! God is good, and, through His blessing and your generosity, we had a successful festival. Thank you for making it happen.
Thank you once more for supporting us in this endeavor. With the grace of God and your help, I hope we will gather again to celebrate our faith and increase our desire to spread the Good News of salvation and to help those in need. Many blessings!
Fr. Alex
Lay Xaverian Missionaries: The Call of Mission in All Lifestyles and Ministries
For some years we have been toying with the idea of developing a Lay Xaverian Missionary group with people who want to learn more about the Xaverian Spirituality and the Xaverian Style of Mission. Finally, we were able to offer two sessions on “Missionary Disciples: The Xaverian Way.” During the first session, I shared the basics of who is and what a Lay Xaverian does, while during the second session, Don and Sharon shared how the Xaverian charism has guided them through their lives.
It has been a fruitful experience, and we hope, with the grace of God, to continue to explore the legacy of Saint Guido Confroti, the founder of the Xaverian Missionaries.
We will gather again for a session on Monday, April 29, 2024, at 8:15 am at Xavier Knoll.
Medical Mission in El Salvador
Some months ago, I was invited to participate in a Medical Mission. I was not sure if I would have the time to do it, but after managing dates and seeing possibilities, I accepted the invitation. I am glad I was able to participate in it; just to see the energy and dedication of those 48 people who were my companions was incredible. They worked long hours and dedicated the best of their skills to helping people. Of course, I guess that for most of us, the experience of being with people enriched us, we gained far more of what we could offer. This is not to diminish the effort and the work, but I guess all of us got transformed by the simplicity of life and faith of those whom we were serving.
The cherry on the top of the cake was to have the opportunity to visit the tomb of Saint Oscar Romero. Like by many and despised by many others, I guess we must go beyond our world. He, by the grace of God, gave his life as a testimony of his faith and transformation. Remember, being a martyr is a vocation that not all of us are willing to take on. Therefore, for me, it was a great opportunity to see the tomb of someone that I learned as a kid, to be executed because of his faith. It is always great to be in the presence of martyrs!
View a video and more pictures on Fr. Alex’s Facebook page.
Young Adult Retreats
Last November four of us gathered together to answer the question: “How could we help the Hispanic Young Adults of the Milwaukee Archdiocese?” This question came after we shared time with the office of the Hispanic Ministry. Pondering about it and thinking about what we could do, we came up with a proposal in conjunction with the Archdioceses of Milwaukee Office for Hispanic Ministry, we could kick off an effort to help the development of Young Adults with a retreat.
After much planning, finally, the retreat took place on March 22-23 at Saint Patrick, Racine. I was a pilot retreat that hopefully will be replicated in other parts of the archdiocese, helping us to recruit young adults who in turn will become the ministers for their peers with the help and formation from the Arch.
It was a great experience. The young men and women who took part in it were so open to sharing their faith that they made this opportunity a pleasant celebration of faith.
