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 April 12, 2026
Dear brothers and sisters,
In the gospel reading today we find the disciples locking themselves into a room because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Even though Mary Magdalene had come to them from the empty tomb announcing, “I have seen the Lord,” this was not enough to overcome their fear. What had been done to Jesus could be done to them? Which led to their hiding in self-imposed confinement? The turning point came when the risen Lord himself appeared to them behind their closed doors and helped them over their fear. He did this by breathing on them the Holy Spirit, filling them new energy and hope, freeing them from fear and releasing them to share in his mission. “As the Father sent me, so am I sending you,” he said. In the power of the Spirit they came to life and went out from their self-imposed prison and bear witness to the risen Lord. This is the picture of the disciples that Luke gives us in the first reading today. He describes a community of believers, the church, witnessing to the resurrection both in word and by the quality of their living.
We can all find ourselves in the situation of those first disciples locked in their hiding place. Any combination of the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” can water down our commitment to following the Lord. Like the disciples in the gospel reading, we can be tempted to give up on our faith journey. The will to self-preservation can prevent us from doing what we are capable of doing with the Lord’s help. The wounds we carry from earlier, failed initiatives make us hesitate to try again. Even when someone seems full of enthusiasm and hope like a Mary Magdalene, we shrug it off. We let them get on with it, while we hold back and stay safe. The gospel reading today suggests a way out of our self-imposed confinement. If Magdalene makes no impact on us, the Lord will find another way to enter our lives and to fill us with new life and energy for his service. No locked doors, nor even locked hearts, can keep him out. He finds a way to enter the space where we have chosen to retreat and he empowers us to resist what is holding us back. He does require some openness on our part; at the least some desire on our part to become what he is calling us to be. The risen Lord never ceases to recreate us and to renew us in his love. Easter is the season to celebrate the good news.
Just as the disciples were unmoved by the hopeful enthusiasm of Mary Magdalene who announced, “I have seen the Lord,” so Thomas was unmoved by the witness of the disciples who said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” Thomas, it seems, was an even harder nut to crack than the other disciples. He is one of those people who insist on certain conditions being met before he makes a move, “Unless I see..” As he had done with the other disciples, the Lord took Thomas on Thomas” own terms. He accommodated himself to Thomas” conditions, “Put your finger here..” The gospel reading today implies that the Lord meets us wherever we are. He takes us seriously in all our fears and doubts. The Lord is prepared to stand on our ground, whatever that ground is, and from there he will speak to us a word that is suited to our own state of mind and heart. We don’t have to get ourselves to some particular place in order for the Lord to engage with us. He takes himself to where we are, wherever it is a place of fear or of doubt. We might pray this Easter season for the openness to receive the Lord’s coming into the concrete circumstances of our own lives, so that we too might say with Thomas, “My Lord and my God.” We might also pray that, like the Lord, we would receive others where they are, rather than where we would like them to be.
親愛なる兄弟姉妹の皆様、親愛なる兄弟姉妹の皆様、
今日の福音書では、弟子たちがユダヤ人指導者たちを恐れて、部屋に閉じこもっていた様子が描かれています。マグダラのマリアが空の墓からやって来て、「主を見た」と告げたにもかかわらず、それだけでは彼らの恐怖を克服するには不十分だったのです。イエスにされたことが、自分たちにもされるのではないか？ その恐れが、彼らを自らを閉じ込めるような隠遁へと追いやったのです。転機が訪れたのは、復活された主ご自身が、閉ざされた扉の向こうから彼らに現れ、その恐れを乗り越える手助けをしてくださった時でした。主は彼らに聖霊を吹きかけ、新たな力と希望を満たし、恐れから解放して、ご自身の使命に共に参加させるために彼らを解き放たれたのです。「父がわたしを遣わされたように、わたしもあなたがたを遣わす」と主は言われました。聖霊の力によって、彼らは生き返り、自ら課した牢獄から出て、復活された主を証しするようになりました。これが、今日の第一朗読でルカが私たちに描く弟子たちの姿です。彼は、言葉と生き方の質の両方によって復活を証しする、信者たちの共同体、すなわち教会を描いています。
私たちは皆、隠れ家に閉じこもっていた最初の弟子たちと同じような状況に陥ることがあります。「運命の無情な矢や石」が重なり合うことで、主に従うという私たちの決意は薄れてしまうことがあります。福音書の弟子たちのように、私たちも信仰の旅路を諦めてしまいたいという誘惑に駆られることがあります。自己保存の欲求が、主の助けがあればできるはずのことを妨げてしまうのです。過去に失敗した試みから抱えた傷は、再挑戦することを躊躇させます。たとえマグダラのマリアのように熱意と希望に満ち溢れている人がいても、私たちはそれを軽くあしらってしまいます。彼らに任せておき、自分たちは一歩引いて安全な場所に留まるのです。今日の福音朗読は、私たちが自ら課した閉じこもりから抜け出す道を示しています。もしマグダラのマリアが私たちに何の影響も与えなかったとしても、主は私たちの生活に入り込み、御奉仕のための新たな命と活力を注ぎ込む別の道を見つけてくださいます。鍵のかかった扉も、ましてや閉ざされた心も、主を締め出すことはできません。主は、私たちが自ら退避したその場所へと入り込む道を見つけ出し、私たちを縛りつけているものに対抗する力を与えてくださいます。主は私たちに、ある程度の心を開くことを求めておられます。少なくとも、主が私たちに求めておられる姿になりたいという願いは持っていなければなりません。復活された主は、御自身の愛の中で私たちを絶えず新たに創造し、刷新し続けておられます。復活祭は、この良き知らせを祝う季節なのです。
「主を見た」と告げたマグダラのマリアの希望に満ちた熱意に弟子たちが動じなかったのと同じように、トマスもまた、「私たちは主を見た」と告げる弟子たちの証言に動じなかった。トマスは、他の弟子たちよりもさらに頑なな人物だったようだ。彼は、「自分の目で確かめるまでは……」と、ある条件が満たされるまで動こうとしないタイプの人物だった。主は他の弟子たちに対してそうされたように、トマスに対しても、トマス自身の条件に合わせて接された。「ここに指を入れてみよ」と、主はトマスの条件に合わせられたのである。今日の福音朗読は、主が私たちがどこにいようとも、そこに会いに来てくださることを示唆している。主は、私たちのあらゆる恐れや疑いを真剣に受け止めてくださる。主は、その場所がどこであれ、私たちの立場に立ってくださる用意があります。そしてそこから、私たちの心や精神の状態にふさわしい言葉を語りかけてくださいます。主が私たちと関わってくださるために、私たちがわざわざ特定の場所へ行く必要はありません。主ご自身が、たとえそれが恐れや疑いの場所であっても、私たちのいるところへ来てくださるのです。このイースターの季節、私たちは、主が私たち一人ひとりの具体的な生活状況の中に入ってくることを受け入れる心を開くよう祈りましょう。そうすれば、私たちもトマスと共に「わが主、わが神」と告白することができるでしょう。また、主のように、私たちが望む場所ではなく、その人がいる場所そのもので、他者を受け入れることができるよう祈りましょう。
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/
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.
We will not have weekday Masses , Tuesday, April 15th to Friday, April 17th due to repairs at St. Francis Xavier Chapel. Sorry for the inconvenience.
First Saturday Devotion: Sorry, we will not have First Saturday Devotion in April due to Holy Week. First Saturday Devotion will resume on May 2, 2026, at 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
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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. .