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 Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2026
Dear brothers and sisters,
In the gospel of John, you heard Jesus repeated again and again, “I am the bread, I am the life. I come from the Father, I have seen the Father. I was sent by the Father,” and so on and on. It seems a mysterious, deep, difficult, and endless discussion. It is a type of discussion we have all experienced, though at another level, from time to time in our lives.
For example, you are standing in front of your daughter, beautiful one who comes home very late from discos and parties at which there are all kind of people you do not know, that you have no relations with. You talk and talk. You weep and you implore. You tap all your experience, you fall on your knees and you say: “If only I could let you know what I know. If only I could let you experience what I experience. If only I could let you taste the gall of life that I have tasted. If only I could let you feel the bitterness I have felt!”
This is how Jesus talked to his disciples at such the time when he said, “Eat my flesh and drink my blood, … for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” He knew only his type of life - loving, forgiving, community building, taking children as your first issue, simple, nonviolent, always ready to dialogue, never hardened God-fearing, and human respecting – could save this world and human kind from disaster.
He pleaded: “Please feel my feeling. I come from on high. Eat my bread and drink my water. East my flesh, and drink my blood.” He pleads with us such as he pleaded with his disciples to change, to see the need for conversion. Think about Jesus pleading in his time, but more relevant still, try to understand how he would plead now, right here in Los Angeles and everywhere in this world.
We should eat him, we should drink him. This is, of course what we do during the Mass. But it is as if we are not serious about him at all. We fragment him to nothing and we reduce his drink to a drop of wine. When eating his bread, we should feel what we do. We should be obliged to eat a whole loaf here on the spot eucharistically, so it becomes an arduous, difficult, and felt task, in order we might turn into him. That is what we need, and this world needs, too. It is what he knew so very well.
Fr. Doan
親愛なる兄弟姉妹の皆様、
ヨハネの福音書において、イエスが「わたしはパンであり、命である。わたしは父から来た者であり、父を見た者である。わたしは父によって遣わされた」などと、繰り返し語っておられるのを耳にされたことでしょう。それは、神秘的で深遠、難解かつ尽きることのない議論のように思えます。しかし、それは私たち全員が、人生のどこかで、別の次元ではありますが、時折経験してきたような議論の一種なのです。
例えば、あなたは娘の前に立っています。その美しい娘は、あなたが知らない人々、あなたとは何の関係もない人々が集まるディスコやパーティーから、とても遅く帰宅してくるのです。あなたは話し続け、泣き、懇願します。あなたはこれまでの経験のすべてを振り絞り、ひざまずいてこう言う。「もし、私が知っていることをあなたに伝えられたら。もし、私が経験したことをあなたに体験させることができたら。もし、私が味わった人生の苦味をあなたに味わわせることができたら。もし、私が感じたあの苦さをあなたに感じさせることができたら！」
イエスは、そのような時に弟子たちにこう語られました。「わたしの肉を食べ、わたしの血を飲みなさい。……わたしの肉はまことの糧であり、わたしの血はまことの飲み物だからです。わたしの肉を食べ、わたしの血を飲む者は、わたしの中に住み、わたしもその人の中に住むのです。」 イエスは、愛し、赦し、共同体を築き、子供たちを最優先とし、質素で非暴力的であり、常に対話に開かれ、決して心を硬くせず、神を畏れ、人間を尊重する――そのようなご自身の生き方こそが、この世界と人類を破滅から救うことができると知っておられた。
イエスはこう懇願された。「どうか私の思いを感じてほしい。私は高き所から来た。私のパンを食べ、私の水を飲め。私の肉を食べ、私の血を飲め。」彼は弟子たちに求めたように、私たちにも変革を求め、回心の必要性を悟るよう懇願している。イエスが当時懇願していたことを考えてみてほしい。しかし、それ以上に重要なのは、今、ここロサンゼルスや世界のあらゆる場所で、彼がどのように懇願するかを理解しようとすることだ。
私たちは彼を食べ、彼を飲むべきだ。もちろん、これはミサの中で私たちが実際に行っていることである。しかし、それはまるで私たちが彼に対して全く真剣ではないかのようだ。私たちは彼を無に砕き、彼の飲み物を一滴のワインにまで縮めてしまう。彼のパンを食べるとき、私たちは自分が何をしているのかを感じなければならない。私たちはここで、その場ですぐに聖体としてパン一斤を丸ごと食べなければならない。そうしてこそ、それは苦しく、困難で、身にしみるような務めとなり、私たちは彼へと変容することができるのだ。それこそが私たちに必要なことであり、この世界にも必要なことなのだ。それは、彼が誰よりもよく知っていたことである。
ドアン神父
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/
***IMPORTANT***
On Sunday, May 31st, and Sunday, June 14th, we will only have one bilingual (Japanese/English) Mass.
The 8:30 am Japanese Mass will be canceled on Sunday, May 31st, and Sunday, June 14th, only
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:
First Saturday Devotion is on the first Saturday of each month, 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
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. .