St Francis Xavier Chapel "Maryknoll" Japanese Catholic Center, 222 S. Hewitt Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Formerly known as "Maryknoll"
Mission Statement
We of Saint Francis Xavier Chapel, as members of the Body of Christ, are called to announce in word and in deed the Good News of the Lord Jesus, through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
We recognize our community's call to holiness based on mutuality, reciprocity, and interdependence and its ministry focusing on Japanese Catholics while also welcoming all in our greater community.
Fr. Doan Hoang's Message for December 7, 2025
Dear brothers and sisters,
People wondered about John the Baptizer. They had reasons to be surprised by him. He came from the desert. He did not work; he did not own anything; he did not eat bread made by human hands; he did not drink wine pressed from the grapes. He ate nature as it fell from God’s hands: locusts, snails, and honey. He did not use an ounce of textile; he was dressed in a camel’s skin, with leather girdle made of another skin.
His teaching was remarkable, too, because it was hard-hitting and one-sided. He called his public – people who, after all, showed sufficient goodwill to come to be converted – a brood of snakes. He announced without any hesitation that, as far as he was concerned, God’s judgment was very near, and everybody would be cut down like a tree and thrown in a fire that would never go out. He maintained that everyone should change his life, and quickly, without hesitation – policemen, soldiers, and housewives.
He was not clear about what would happen to those who converted. He was clearer on what would happen to those who would not. Their future would be God’s wrath, God’s anger, God’s fury, and God’s vengeance. John’s message was a message of doom. It could hardly be called: “good news!” But John was right in the old way, according to the Old Testament pattern. With John, the Old Testament closed! Jesus made the different very clear.
John lamented; Jesus rejoiced. John sang a funeral hymn, Jesus an alleluia verse. John refused to eat bread; Jesus broke his bread. John refused to drink wine; Jesus changed all the water in the kitchen into wine. John dressed in a camel’s skin, Jesus in a customized shirt without a seam. John warned; Jesus invited. They were, in fact, so different that they started to wonder about each other. John sent his disciples to Jesus to ask him: “Are you really the one?” Jesus answered: “You, John, are the greatest of the Old-Timers, but the smallest of the New-Timers is greater than you!”
Dear brothers and sisters, something new started two thousand years ago already! That is the Kingdom of God, and we all are invited into that Kingdom. That is the Kingdom of the new era, and we invited not only to profit passively from it, but also to build it.
親愛なる兄弟姉妹の皆様、
人々は洗礼者ヨハネについて疑問に思いました。彼らは彼に驚かされる理由がありました。彼は砂漠から来ました。彼は働きませんでした。彼は何も所有していませんでした。彼は人間の手で作ったパンを食べませんでした。彼はブドウから搾り出されたワインを飲まみませんでした。彼は、バッタ、カタツムリ、ハチミツなど、神の手から落ちた自然的なものを食べました。彼は一つの小さな繊維をも使用しませんでした。彼はラクダの皮を着ており、革のガードルは別の皮でできていました。
また、彼の教えは驚くべきものでした。彼は一般市民、つまり、回心するのに十分な善意を示した人々を、ヘビの群れと呼びました。彼は、気になる限り、神の裁きは非常に近く、誰もが木のように伐採され、消えることのない火を投げられると、ためらいなく示しました。彼は人生を変えるべきだと主張しました。誰もが、警官、兵士、そして主婦が改心べきと言いました。
彼は改心した人々に何が起こるかについてはっきり示していませんでした。彼はそうしなかった人々に何が起こるかについてより明確でした。その人々の未来は、神の怒り、彼らの復讐を恐れているようになるでしょう。ヨハネのメッセージは運命のメッセージでした。 「良い便り！」とはほとんど言えませんでしたが、旧約聖書のによれば、ヨハネは昔のやり方で正しかったのです。ヨハネと共に、旧約聖書は閉じられました！イエスはその違いを非常に明確にされました。
ヨハネは嘆きました。イエスは喜びました。ヨハネは葬儀の賛美歌を歌いました。イエスはアレルヤの詩。ヨハネはパンを食べることを拒否しました。イエスは人々のためにパンを割った渡して与えました。ヨハネはワインを飲むことを拒否しました。イエスは台所の水をすべてワインに変えました。ヨハネはラクダの皮を着ました。縫い目のないカスタマイズされたシャツを着たイエス。ヨハネは警告しました。イエス様が招待されました。実際、彼らは非常に異なっていたので、お互いについて疑問を抱き始めました。ヨハネは弟子たちをイエスに送って尋ねました。「あなたは本当に望まれてきた方ですか？」イエスは答えて、「ヨハネ、あなたは旧約聖書による最も偉大な人物が、新約聖書による最も小さい者なのです。」
親愛なる兄弟姉妹の皆さん、二千年前に何か新しいことがすでに始まっていました！それが神の王国であり、私たち皆は、その王国に招待されています。それが新しい時代の王国であり、私たちはそれからただ利益を得るだけでなく、それを構築することも求めて、招待されています。
in-church masses Schedule
Sunday: 8:30 a.m. Japanese Mass
10:00 a.m. English Mass
Saturday: 5:00 p.m. English Vigil Mass/
HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION:
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
Monday, December 8, 2025, Mass: 12:05 p.m.
PLEASE NOTE THE NEW DAYS FOR WEEKDAY MASSES
Weekday Masses are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 12:05 p.m.
Weekday Masses are subject to change due to funerals or illness.
First Saturday Devotion: 9:00 a.m., Mass followed by Rosary and Divine Mercy. Confessions are available after the Mass.
Donations
Thank you for your continued support! We are grateful to all who donate to SFXCJCC. We are open for weekend and weekday Masses. And are slowly opening our facility to our ministries and groups.
We are still in need of your financial help! Would you please continue making your Sunday Collection contributions or donating to St Francis Xavier Chapel?
You can mail checks to the office:
SFXCJCC
222 S Hewitt Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
To donate by credit card, click the button below.
Get Involved
Are you passionate about what we're doing? Let us know! We are always looking for volunteers to help us make our vision a reality. We'll help you find a way to volunteer that best suits you. We're excited to have you join the team!
Thank you!
Whether you help through monetary donations, volunteering your time, or spreading our mission through word-of-mouth, thank you. We couldn't accomplish our goals without the help of supporters like you. .