The Catholic Spirit - October 9, 2025

From left, Melody and Tam Nguyen of St. Columba in St. Paul light candles at the start of the annual Candlelight Rosary Procession from the Minnesota State Capitol to the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul Oct. 3. The two married at St. Columba Sept. 27. Melody has been coming to the procession for years with her family, while Tam was participating for the first time. The rosary prayed during this year’s procession was offered for Annunciation church and school in Minneapolis, following a fatal shooting there during an all-school Mass. Bishop Kevin Kenney, who went to Annunciation Catholic School, led the rosary. Also, Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics around the world to pray the rosary every day of October for peace.

BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS Liturgical volunteer Maureen Bourgeois with her dog, Grayson, take part in the opening procession of the blessing of the animals Oct. 5 at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. Similar blessings took place in parishes across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and elsewhere as one way to honor the Oct. 4 feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, known as the patron saint of animals and ecology.

CATHOLIC

Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Oct. 3

“Practicing Catholic” radio show included Kate Soucheray, a columnist for The Catholic Spirit, on how parents can be more involved in their child’s presence on the internet and social media. The program also included Mackenzie Hunter, a social media influencer, about what it means to evangelize in the digital age. Listen to interviews after they have aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.

The Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC) is urging people to reach their state lawmakers to encourage them to pass school safety funding for all students public, nonpublic, charter or tribal schools. In its Oct. 1 Catholic Advocacy Network Newsletter, the MCC said the current law allowing public school districts to levy at $36 per student for public school students only is unacceptable. The conference has argued in the past for equal funding for all students for school safety. Its latest request is for $100 per pupil for all students, regardless of where they attend school. The MCC’s effort comes in the wake of the Aug. 27 fatal shooting at Annunciation church and school in Minneapolis, and as the Minnesota Legislature considers a special session to address gun violence and school safety.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda urged prayers for the victims and others impacted by a fatal church attack Sept. 28 in Michigan. In a statement issued the same day, the archbishop also prayed for “an end to senseless violence around the globe.” The attack happened during a church service at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Four people were killed and eight others were wounded at the church located on the outskirts of Detroit in the Diocese of Lansing. In his statement, Archbishop Hebda noted that the regional leadership of LDS “extended their sincere condolences and prayers to the faithful of this Archdiocese in the aftermath of the shooting at Annunciation Church, expressing their closeness to us at that challenging time. Today, we were saddened to learn of the tragic shooting that took place at one of their chapels in Grand Blanc, Michigan,” the archbishop said. “I will be promising them our prayers for those who were killed, as well as for those who were injured, their families, and all who were present in that House of Worship. Please join me in praying for them and for an end to senseless violence around the globe.”

Aim Higher Foundation held its 13th annual gala Sept. 27 in downtown Minneapolis. Called Night of Light Celebration, this year’s event raised a record $1.3 million, surpassing last year’s $1.18 million. A record 750 guests attended the gala, more than last year’s attendance of 660. The foundation provides scholarships to students in kindergarten through eighth grade at Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. This year, Aim Higher is serving 2,900 students, which represents more than 15% of all K-8 students. This is an increase of 400 students from the previous school year.

Retired priest

authorized to return to ministry

The Catholic Spirit

Father Michael Ince, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has been authorized to return to ministry after being on a leave of absence since May 2022, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said in a news release Oct. 3.

The leave followed an allegation of clergy abuse involving a minor dating back to the 1980s, the archbishop said. Following archdiocesan protocols, the allegation was reported to local law enforcement and reviewed by the appropriate county attorney’s office, which declined to pursue prosecution.

With law enforcement’s permission, the archdiocese’s Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment (OMSSE) conducted an internal investigation. The archdiocese’s Ministerial Review Board (MRB) reviewed the matter, and it was determined that the allegation was unsubstantiated. The MRB recommended that Father Ince be permitted, in collaboration with the OMSSE, to return to public ministry in his retirement. Father Ince’s current personal situation and past circumstances were reviewed during the process.

Archbishop Hebda said he concurred with Paul Iovino, director of the OMSSE, who agreed with the recommendation. The archbishop’s full statement was posted to the archdiocese’s website at tinyurl.com/ymjhzjjd.

Father Ince, 89, was ordained in 1964. He began his ministry with assignments as an assistant priest of St. John the Baptist in Hugo, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin in Bloomington and Immaculate Conception in Columbia Heights, where in 1972, he was named vicar econome.

In 1974, Father Ince was assigned as assistant priest of Holy Spirit in St. Paul. In 1976, he was assigned as assistant priest of St. Agnes in St. Paul until 1991, when he was named pastor of Holy Trinity in Waterville and parochial administrator of St. Andrew in Elysian, ministering to both parishes. He retired from active ministry in July 2021.

FROMTHEARCHBISHOP

ONLY JESUS | ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA

‘Go and make disciples of all nations’

World

Mission Sunday — celebrated this year on Oct. 19, during both the Jubilee Year of Hope and our archdiocesan 175th anniversary year — invites us to rediscover our ecclesial identity as a missionary people. This year’s theme, “Missionaries of Hope Among the Peoples,” inspired by Romans 5:5, reminds us that the hope poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit is not something to be stored away — it is meant to be shared.

When thinking about World Mission Sunday, many of us think primarily about an annual collection to support the Church’s missionary work. The collection is one of the tangible ways that we, as a local Church, are able to support The Pontifical Mission Societies (TPMS). I am honored to serve on the board of TPMS USA. As I have learned more about their important work, I have come to know that the collection, and our prayers, are crucial.

Perhaps nowhere is hope more urgently needed than in the 1,124 mission dioceses and territories where the Church is still young, often poor, and where Christians are sometimes actively persecuted. In these places, the presence of a missionary is not simply symbolic — it is a lifeline. It brings both spiritual nourishment and the assurance that the body of Christ remembers them.

In our Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, this mission is part of our very foundation. When Father Lucien Galtier first named the little chapel of Pig’s Eye “St. Paul,” it was the

beginning of a missionary Church in our region. Archbishop John Ireland, too, embraced the missionary identity by sending clergy and laity far beyond our state to proclaim the Gospel.

That missionary impulse is still alive today. “You Will Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room,” our 2022 pastoral letter, emphasized that “the Church doesn’t have a mission — the mission has a Church.” Everything we do as a Church must be tied to Jesus’ great commission, carved in Latin on the façade of our Cathedral: “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

Our annual October commemoration of World Mission Sunday is helpful not only in thinking about the work done overseas, which is essential, but also in reflecting on how we are called to be missionaries right here in the Twin Cities.

We really have to be missionaries in the sense of bringing others to Jesus. Taking care of physical needs is part of that, but we want to make sure we’re also addressing spiritual needs. That’s where the Pontifical Mission Societies come in, and that’s where our generosity and our prayers help. The World Mission Sunday collection allows us to spread the Gospel of Jesus and to bring people to Christ and his sacraments.

Our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV knows this firsthand. Having served for many years as a missionary before his election to the Chair of Peter, Pope Leo has reminded us that the Pontifical Mission Societies are “the primary means of awakening missionary responsibility among all the baptized.”

He has called us to foster a spirit of missionary discipleship and an urgency to bring Christ to all people. That

‘Vayan y hagan discípulos a todas las naciones’

El Domingo Mundial de las Misiones, celebrado este año el 19 de octubre, durante el Año Jubilar de la Esperanza y nuestro 175 aniversario arquidiocesano, nos invita a redescubrir nuestra identidad eclesial como pueblo misionero. El tema de este año, “Misioneros de la Esperanza entre los Pueblos”, inspirado en Romanos 5:5, nos recuerda que la esperanza infundida en nuestros corazones por el Espíritu Santo no es algo para guardar, sino para compartir.

Al pensar en el Domingo Mundial de las Misiones, muchos pensamos principalmente en una colecta anual para apoyar la labor misionera de la Iglesia. Esta colecta es una de las maneras tangibles en que, como Iglesia local, podemos apoyar a las Obras Misionales Pontificias (TPMS). Es un honor para mí formar parte de la junta directiva de TPMS USA. A medida que he aprendido más sobre su importante labor, he llegado a comprender que la colecta y nuestras oraciones son cruciales. Quizás en ningún otro lugar se necesita esperanza con más urgencia que en las 1124 diócesis y territorios de misión donde la Iglesia aún es joven, a menudo pobre, y donde los cristianos a veces sufren persecución activa.

message is especially relevant in this Jubilee Year dedicated to hope.

Even though we may not all be called to serve as missionaries in foreign lands, we are all called to support that crucial work of the Church. I know that many of you are very generous when missionary bishops, priests and sisters visit our parishes. I likewise am always inspired by the missionaries from our archdiocese who serve abroad.

Father Greg Schaffer and the other archdiocesan priests who have served in Venezuela are heroes in my book. When I hear about their work, and that of the many lay faithful and consecrated women and men from our archdiocese, often in places where people have never even heard the name of Jesus, I am humbled. Preaching the name of Jesus and telling people about God’s mercy is always a real gift. As we celebrate our history of 175 years, we should remain attentive to the needs of the Church in those places where the faith is more recent, growing and striving, and we need to support that growth.

Each year on World Mission Sunday, the Church invites each of us to pray, give and witness. Our contributions help train seminarians and catechists, build chapels and medical clinics, and provide essential outreach in places where the Gospel is still taking root. For that reason, I invite every parish and every family in our archdiocese to renew our commitment on Oct. 19 to the Church’s global mission. Let us give generously, pray fervently and remember that through our shared efforts, we truly can become Missionaries of Hope Among the Peoples.

May the Holy Spirit guide us in this mission and may our hope in Christ be a light for the world.

En estos lugares, la presencia de un misionero no es simplemente simbólica: es un salvavidas. Aporta alimento espiritual y la seguridad de que el cuerpo de Cristo los recuerda. En nuestra Arquidiócesis de San Pablo y Minneapolis, esta misión forma parte de nuestra propia fundación. Cuando el Padre Lucien Galtier nombró por primera vez la pequeña capilla de Pig’s Eye “San Pablo”, marcó el comienzo de una Iglesia misionera en nuestra región. El Arzobispo John Ireland también abrazó la identidad misionera, enviando clérigos y laicos a lugares más allá de nuestro estado para proclamar el Evangelio. Ese impulso misionero sigue vivo hoy. “Serán mis testigos: Reunidos y enviados desde el Cenáculo”, nuestra carta pastoral de 2022, enfatizó que “la Iglesia no tiene una misión; la misión tiene una Iglesia”. Todo lo que hacemos como Iglesia debe estar ligado a la gran comisión de Jesús, grabada en latín en la fachada de nuestra Catedral: “Vayan y hagan discípulos a todas las naciones”.

Nuestra conmemoración anual del Domingo Mundial de las Misiones en octubre es útil no solo para pensar en el trabajo que se realiza en el extranjero, lo cual es esencial, sino también para reflexionar sobre cómo estamos llamados a ser misioneros aquí en las Ciudades Gemelas.

Realmente tenemos que ser misioneros en el sentido de acercar a otros a Jesús. Atender

OFFICIALS

Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis:

Effective September 22, 2025

Deacon Jose Luis Rodriguez Alvarado, assigned to exercise the ministry of permanent deacon at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Columbia Heights. This is a transfer from his current assignment to the Church of the Risen Savior in Burnsville.

Deacon Christopher Vance, assigned to exercise the ministry of permanent deacon at the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi in Lake Saint Croix Beach. This is a transfer from his previous assignment to the Church of Saint Mary of the Lake in White Bear Lake.

Effective September 26, 2025

Reverend Edison Galarza, granted incardination to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Father Galarza was formally a priest of the Congregacion de Missioneros Oblatos de los Corazones Santisimos, and has been serving as pastor of the Church of the Sacred Heart in Saint Paul since 2020.

Deacon Gregory Miller, granted incardination to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Deacon Miller was formally a deacon of the Archdiocese of New York. Deacon Miller has been serving as permanent deacon at the Church of Saint Joseph in Waconia since 2020.

Effective September 29, 2025

Reverend Michael Tix, assigned as pastor of the Church of Saint John of Vermillion, the Church of Saint Mathias of Hampton, and the Church of Saint Mary of New Trier, while retaining his other assignments as vicar general for the Archdiocese and chaplain for the Academy of the Holy Angels. Father Tix was previously serving as parochial administrator of these same parishes.

las necesidades físicas es parte de ello, pero queremos asegurarnos de que también atendemos las necesidades espirituales. Ahí es donde entran en juego las Obras Misionales Pontificias, y ahí es donde nuestra generosidad y nuestras oraciones ayudan. La colecta del Domingo Mundial de las Misiones nos permite difundir el Evangelio de Jesús y acercar a la gente a Cristo y a sus sacramentos. Nuestro Santo Padre, el Papa León XIV, lo sabe de primera mano. Tras haber servido durante muchos años como misionero antes de su elección a la Cátedra de Pedro, el Papa León nos ha recordado que las Obras Misionales Pontificias son “el principal medio para despertar la responsabilidad misionera entre todos los bautizados”. Nos ha llamado a fomentar un espíritu de discipulado misionero y la urgencia de llevar a Cristo a todas las personas. Este mensaje es especialmente relevante en este Año Jubilar dedicado a la Esperanza.

Aunque no todos estemos llamados a servir como misioneros en el extranjero, todos estamos llamados a apoyar esa labor crucial de la Iglesia. Sé que muchos de ustedes son muy generosos cuando obispos, sacerdotes y hermanas misioneros visitan nuestras parroquias. De igual manera, siempre me inspiran los misioneros de nuestra arquidiócesis que sirven en el extranjero. El Padre Greg Schaffer y los demás sacerdotes

arquidiocesanos que han servido en Venezuela son mis héroes. Cuando escucho sobre su labor, y la de los muchos fieles laicos y consagrados de nuestra arquidiócesis, a menudo en lugares donde la gente ni siquiera ha escuchado el nombre de Jesús, me siento honrado. Predicar el nombre de Jesús y hablar a la gente de la misericordia de Dios es siempre un verdadero don. Al celebrar nuestros 175 años de historia, debemos estar atentos a las necesidades de la Iglesia en aquellos lugares donde la fe es más reciente, creciente y pujante, y debemos apoyar ese crecimiento.

Cada año, en el Domingo Mundial de las Misiones, la Iglesia nos invita a orar, dar y dar testimonio. Nuestras contribuciones ayudan a capacitar a seminaristas y catequistas, a construir capillas y clínicas médicas, y a brindar una ayuda esencial en lugares donde el Evangelio sigue creciendo. Por eso, invito a cada parroquia y a cada familia de nuestra arquidiócesis a renovar nuestro compromiso el 19 de octubre con la misión global de la Iglesia. Donemos generosamente, oremos con fervor y recordemos que, mediante nuestros esfuerzos compartidos, realmente podemos convertirnos en Misioneros de la Esperanza entre los Pueblos.

Que el Espíritu Santo nos guíe en esta misión y que nuestra esperanza en Cristo sea una luz para el mundo.

SLICE of LIFE

Former abortion worker speaks

Ramona Trevino addresses those gathered Sept. 24 during the kickoff of 40 Days for Life at Planned Parenthood in St. Paul, which runs through Nov. 2. Trevino is a former manager of a Planned Parenthood facility in Texas who left the organization to become a pro-life advocate. She shared her story at the 40 Days for Life gathering in St. Paul and offered encouragement in the efforts to pray for an end to abortion. Since 40 Days for Life began in 2007, campaigns have taken place in more than 1,000 cities in 63 countries, according to the organization’s website. Data on the website also noted 25,795 babies saved, 275 abortion workers who quit and 182 abortion centers that have closed. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

celebrating

in faith and thanksgiving

With heartfelt gratitude, we recognize the members of CCF’s Legacy Society!

Your perpetual financial support for the parishes, schools, and charities in our local Catholic community has a positive, real impact. You inspire us.

Today and forever, thank you.

To learn more about CCF’s Legacy Society, call 651.389.0300 or visit ccf-mn.org

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IVC event with Jesuit priest Father Boyle aims to highlight healing and belonging

By Rebecca Omastiak The Catholic Spirit

Attendees of an event in St. Paul this October, hosted by the Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC) Twin Cities, are invited to reflect on the ways love can heal and create places of belonging.

The Oct. 23 Evening of Gratitude at St. Thomas More in St. Paul is an opportunity “to come together in gratitude for (God’s) presence in our lives” and to “seek to address areas of social conflict in our community, learn more about IVC opportunities, (and) assist in funding the IVC efforts in our area,” said Steve Hawkins, director of the IVC Twin Cities. This year, Father Greg Boyle — a Jesuit priest and the founder of the Los Angelesbased nonprofit Homeboy Industries — will deliver a keynote address titled “The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times.”

IVC Twin Cities hosts the annual event each fall. Headquartered in Baltimore, IVC is a nationwide nonprofit rooted in the teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The organization aims to serve in various ways through its volunteers, who are retired and soon-to-be-retired men and women.

Hawkins said in an email that the IVC advisory council began a discussion in January about the annual fall event and what topic to cover. Hawkins said a council member had recently read Father Boyle’s latest book, “the subtitle of which is ‘The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times’ and we decided that would be our focus.”

“We didn’t know then that Father Boyle would be able to present or that our community would be suffering from the tragedies that have occurred here since then,” Hawkins said. Hawkins said Father Boyle last spoke at IVC Twin Cities’ Evening of Gratitude in 2017. He also gave a presentation at St. Thomas More in 2018.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Father Boyle founded Homeboy Industries in 1988 during his ministry at Dolores Mission Church, as a response to gang violence in the neighborhood.

Now, according to its website, Homeboy Industries is the “largest gang intervention,

rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world, welcoming thousands through our doors each year.” The nonprofit offers services for former gang members including case management, education, workforce development, and mental health and legal services. Homeboy Industries has 12 social enterprises — including a bakery, cafe, catering service, and dog grooming service, among others — to offer various forms of employment.

As a result of his ministry, Father Boyle has received the California Peace Prize and has been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, then-President Barack Obama named Father Boyle a Champion of Change and in 2024, then-President Joe Biden awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2017, Father Boyle received the University of Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal — established in 1883, it’s the oldest honor given to American Catholics whose work “has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the Church

and enriched the heritage of humanity,” according to Notre Dame. Homeboy Industries was also the recipient of the 2020 Hilton Humanitarian Prize, which acknowledges worldwide nonprofits aiming to ease human suffering.

Father Boyle travels to speak internationally and is the author of several books, including his series “Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion,” “Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship,” and “The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness.” His latest book, “Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times,” was published in 2024 and presents themes of community, compassion and hope that Father Boyle will touch on in his Oct. 23 address.

“His (Father Boyle’s) premise is that everyone is unshakably good — no exceptions. We all belong to each other — no exceptions,” Hawkins said. “That, versus: Not everyone is good and not

Father Boyle: ‘Put one loving foot in front of the next’

By Rebecca Omastiak

The Catholic Spirit

Father Greg Boyle a Jesuit priest and the founder of the Los Angeles-based nonprofit Homeboy Industries spoke with The Catholic Spirit ahead of a keynote address he will give during the Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC) Twin Cities’ Evening of Gratitude Oct. 23 at St. Thomas More in St. Paul. The following has been lightly edited for clarity.

Q In your most recent book, you write: “We must include every single person in our circle of belonging.” Can you share more about this and what you also call “cherished belonging”?

A We have two overriding principles that we embrace at Homeboy (Industries). One is that everybody’s unshakably good, no exceptions, and we belong to each other, no exceptions. So, we’re always trying to create a community of kinship such that God might recognize it and (we’re) always trying to galvanize our imagination to see a circle of belonging and then imagining nobody standing outside that circle. The idea is to bridge any distance that may exist between us. How do we ensure that there is no daylight separating us?

The truth of the matter is, if those were our two principles, which are soaked with the marrow of the Gospel, then I suspect we would not be so divided. And so, the hope is that we would obliterate, once and for all, the illusion that we are separate, that there’s an “us” and a “them.” The truth is, it’s just us, there is no “them” out there. And so, we want to align our hearts with the heart of the God of love, we want to pursue kinship with all our being.

Q You write about your conversations with members of Homeboy Industries in your books. How have these interactions shaped your view of the healing power of love and cherished belonging?

A For 40 years, I’ve been walking with gang members; they’ve taught me everything of value. They’ve certainly taught me about compassion, and the power and the strength there is in loving kindness. And I stand in awe, rather than in judgement, at what these young men and women have had to carry. They’ve pushed me to want to see with the eyes of love.

You know, a homie (a friend, connected with Homeboy Industries) emailed me the

everyone belongs.”

During an IVC Discover Purpose Through Service information session in March, Father Boyle said that “Mother Teresa talked about the reason that we don’t have peace is because we’ve forgotten that we belong to each other.”

“In fact, the reason we don’t make progress is because we hedge our bets, we think not everybody is good and we think not everybody belongs,” Father Boyle said. “And so, it actually hinders us from putting the next loving foot in front of the next.”

Father Boyle suggested that joy can be found in “exquisite mutuality,” “where there’s no daylight that separates us. And then you discover, more and more, that separation is an illusion and that we’re called into each other’s presence and to belong to each other.”

This “exquisite mutuality” can be found through serving with the right intention, Father Boyle suggested. “If (I) go to the margins to make a difference, then it’s about me,” he said. “But if I go to the margins so the folks there make me different, then it’s about us. And when it’s about us, it’s eternally replenishing; you never burn out.”

Father Boyle recalled an email he had recently received from a friend connected with Homeboy Industries; at the end of the email, this person had written: “Today, I’m going to surrender into the arms of God and then choose to be those arms.”

“(I)t’s choosing to be those arms, not in a way that fixes, or rescues, or saves, but in a way that holds,” Father Boyle said. “If we are to choose to be the arms of God, in whose arms we surrender, ... our task is to soothe each other, and to comfort each other, and to somehow alleviate this shared sense of anguish that cuts across every human being.”

Hawkins said he hopes a simple message from Father Boyle will reach the roughly 700 people IVC Twin Cities hopes will attend the Evening of Gratitude on Oct. 23: “Love trumps hate.”

Learn more about the event and register online at tinyurl.com/b7sbbd7r

other day and he ended the email by saying, “Today, I will surrender into the arms of the God of love and then choose to be those arms.” And that’s the whole thing. You receive the tender glance, then you become the tender glance. You notice the notice of God and then you become that notice in the world. Homeboy has taught me that, in the men and women — the brave folks who walk through our doors have always taught me that.

Q You reflect on these interactions in your writing in a way that says to me that you’re always learning from the people you encounter.

A I’m always learning from them. I am learning something every day still. I still jot notes. I don’t think they’ll end in a book, but they find their way into a homily anyway.

Q I’m also reflecting on the earlier reference you made to the email that you received and surrendering into God’s loving arms, then becoming those arms in the world. When it comes to loving in divided times, how would you encourage people to pray?

A I think it’s always trying to connect to the

presence of God, making God’s presence known every day. You just have to take the time. It’s kind of an alignment, where you’re lined up with the things that matter, like inclusion and non-violence and unconditional loving kindness and compassionate acceptance.

That same homie that I was talking about (earlier), we reflect every morning on the (daily) readings and then we write reflections — we get up very early in the morning. He runs a place called God’s Pantry, which is a food distribution center for the poor. He wrote me this morning, we were going back and forth, and one of his emails said, “Love is always the next thing to do.” And I thought that was pretty perfect because we’re always saying, “Well, what do we do now?” Or, “What do we do next?” And I thought, yeah, love is always the next thing to do. That kind of puts first things recognizably first. I’m just going to put one loving foot in front of the next. It’s kind of like Mother Teresa’s thing: We’re not called to do great things, we’re just called to do small things with great love. It’s small steps and it’s one foot in front of the next.

Video, music production Luminiscence to debut in US at Basilica of St. Mary

By Rebecca Omastiak

The Catholic Spirit

A production that has captivated crowds in cathedrals across Europe — including in France, Germany and Spain — is making its United States debut at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis this month. Held indoors, the Luminiscence production will feature a 360-degree video projection onto the Basilica’s walls as narration provides the church’s history in Minneapolis. Accompanying the projection and narration will be a live choir, organ and instrumental music.

As the Basilica looks to 2026, when it will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its designation as the first U.S. basilica, Father Daniel Griffith said excitement is building for Luminiscence’s kickoff event in the U.S.

“We’re excited to welcome Luminiscence to The Basilica of St. Mary, opening our doors to everyone and inviting them to experience the sacred in a new way,” Father Griffith, pastor of the Basilica, said in a statement. “At a moment when many are searching for deeper meaning, this immersive storytelling experience offers a unique path to reflection, connection and a renewed sense of community.”

Luminiscence’s visuals are displayed through a process called video mapping: Imagery is projected onto surfaces — in this case, the Basilica’s walls, floor and ceiling — so the projected visuals align with the space’s contours and highlight the architecture. The production does include strobe lights, according to organizers.

According to organizers, there will be

three types of musical performances as part of the production: a live choir and orchestra version, a live choir version, and a recorded music version. The music will include selections from Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Grieg, Faure, Schubert, Vivaldi, Verdi, Smetana, Mussorgsky, and SaintSaëns, among others, organizers said.

The narration will open with the history of the laying of the Basilica’s cornerstone and construction before moving into the history of the parish up to the present day and a view toward the future, organizers said.

Luminiscence’s opening night at the Basilica is Oct. 31 and the production runs through mid-February. Tickets can be purchased online and are available both on certain weekdays and weekends. People of all ages are welcome to attend and there are various discounts for those under the age of 18, students, seniors, military members, larger groups and families. Each production runs just under an hour, according to organizers.

Romain Sarfati — co-founder of Lotchi, the multimedia group behind Luminiscence that is known for combining technology and storytelling in its largescale productions — said the production is an opportunity to experience these landmark sites, including the Basilica, in a new way.

“By blending light, sound and narration, we invite audiences of all ages and backgrounds to not just see sacred spaces, but to feel them, offering a fresh, universal perspective on history and memory,” Sarfati said in a statement.

LUMINISCENCE INFORMATION

Dates: Oct. 31 through mid-February 2026

Where: Basilica of St. Mary, 1600 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55403

Tickets and Other Information: Tickets for Luminiscence are available both on certain weekdays and weekends. Learn more about the event and purchase tickets online at luminiscence.com/minneapolis

Archdiocesan employee visited 9 parishes in Archdiocesan Passport Adventure

By Josh McGovern

The Catholic Spirit

In Vinny Lopiano’s home was a diorama of St. Joseph of the Lakes in Lino Lakes, made of card stock, with a small model of the church’s pastor, Father Bill Deziel, also made of card stock. Lopiano gave the diorama to Father Deziel Oct. 3 when he visited the parish for the second time.

Lopiano, 21, has a hobby of making churches out of cardstock. Before making them, he visits a parish, takes photos and remembers little details.

“It used to be when he was 8, he used to make them quickly,” Kathleen Brophy Lopiano, Vinny’s mother, said. “At one point I had, like, 30 of them in the living room. … We were attending St. Joseph in West St. Paul, and this one day (Vinny) decided to make one as big as the dining room table. And so, it covered the whole table. … Before we threw any away, we were saving all of them. And literally, they were two and three deep in our entire family room or living room. You couldn’t walk. The entire living room was covered.”

Vinny Lopiano is known for his love of churches in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. When he’s not ushering at his home parish of St. Peter in Mendota, he enjoys going to Mass at other churches. He loves the beauty of each individual church, especially the variety of liturgies and music.

“When I went to St. Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center on Saturday night, we did the Nicene Creed. When we went to Pax Christi in Eden Prairie Sunday night, we did the Apostle’s Creed,” Lopiano said about the differences among churches in the Twin Cities. “My parish always does the Nicene Creed. … Pax Christi had screens to project the songs, but St. Alphonsus didn’t. … Pax Christi didn’t have any kneelers. St. John Neumann in Eagan didn’t used to have any kneelers, but they finally got them in only three years ago.”

Laura Haraldson — associate director of Synod implementation and pastoral accompaniment for the archdiocese — said this was the hope of the Archdiocesan Passport Adventure, “(t)o see the beauty that is different in every church that you enter but is still the same in our faith.”

The Passport Adventure began May 17 as a fun challenge for people across the archdiocese to celebrate the archdiocese’s 175th anniversary and experience the faith in new ways by visiting seven parishes they had never seen before. The archdiocese’s

PLEASE TURN TO PASSPORT ADVENTURE ON PAGE 8

Hope, healing highlight prayer service and Mass 1 month after Annunciation shooting

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit

Sharing hugs, tears and smiles, more than 150 people gathered on the lawn outside Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis for a morning prayer service Sept. 27.

Led by Principal Matthew DeBoer, as well as the pastor, Father Dennis Zehren, and teachers and others in the Annunciation community, the 40-minute gathering at 8:30 a.m. marked exactly one month since a shooting at the church during an all-school Mass killed two students and wounded 21 other people.

At 10 a.m., Archbishop Bernard Hebda presided and Bishop Michael Izen and numerous priests concelebrated a Memorial Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul for the two students who lost their lives — 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski — and their families, and to pray for healing for the students and families of Annunciation school and parish.

“A special word of welcome to our Annunciation community,” Archbishop Hebda said in opening remarks. “I realize there are so many things going on in your lives. I am delighted that you would take time to join us as we offer this holy Mass, as we mark 30 days, this one month’s time, (since) the tragedy. ... You know the whole archdiocese has been praying fervently throughout these days. In many ways, people might say they’re all prayed out. I see many of you who (have been) at the daily rosary at Annunciation at 9 p.m. I know you’ve been offering your prayers.”

At the prayer service, DeBoer spoke about the Merkel home as a place of hope and joy, and a day in August that Fletcher’s mother, Mollie, told him about. DeBoer described girls from the school with their “softball arms” flinging water balloons at boys from the school who were playing basketball in the Merkel’s backyard, “shooting hoops, probably shooting a lot of bricks, if I know those boys as their former coach.”

“It turned into this beautiful back and forth,” DeBoer said. “She shared a video with me this week. The end of the video is Harper and Fletcher breaking open the balloons right over their heads to see who is more wet. We have to remember that joy. We have to remember that light,” the principal said.

Many at the prayer service and at the Mass wore one of two recently-made Annunciation T-shirts, one bearing the word “Hope” on the front with the words “Together we heal” on the back, the other with “Joy” on the front and “Be the light” on the back.

Lydia Kaiser, 12, who suffered a gunshot wound on the left side of her head, was at the prayer service with members of her family. Harry Kaiser, her father and Annunciation’s gym teacher, said his daughter passed all cognitive, speech and physical tests so she was discharged from the hospital without any therapy referrals, though the family will continue to monitor her recovery. Lydia said she was back in school at Annunciation, which has been resuming classes in stages since Sept. 16.

Many in the Kaiser family, including Lydia, also attended Mass at the Cathedral. Her mother, Leah, spoke through tears afterward about the support her family has received.

“I am just incredibly grateful that I am part of this Catholic community that is called Annunciation,” Leah Kaiser said. “It has brought this community together in

prayer with the archbishop and all of his loving words. Our beautiful pastor, Father Zehren, and his just amazing homily. ...

“There are no words to express how much hope and love has just covered this whole dark event in our family and our community, in our daughter,” Leah Kaiser said. “All of us are suffering. But it is very clear that the light and the love are dominating everything.”

In his homily (see page 20), Father Zehren thanked those gathered and “all of the good and faithful followers of Jesus around the world” who have lifted the Annunciation community in prayer.

“You have been such a source of strength, such a source of comfort to us all, that we pray that that same comfort of Jesus would now return back to you,” Father Zehren said. “As St. Paul writes, you have sown generously, may you also reap generously the great comfort of Jesus that you have shown us. May you come to know that, too, in your hearts.”

Father Zehren said that in raising Fletcher, Harper and others in prayer, “we too, could be raised up to a little greater faith, a little greater hope. And it’s true, it’s the case that when we commend somebody to heaven, then heaven more becomes our home. We understand better where we’re supposed to be heading. And when we commend our loved ones to God, then God becomes more real for us.”

Sophia Forchas, 12, who was in critical condition for two weeks with head injuries from the shooting, has been recovering in a way her family has described as nothing short of miraculous.

Father Zehren said he has been praying the words “talitha koum” for Sophia, which means “little girl, arise,” and are the words Jesus spoke in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark as he raised a girl from the dead.

“And it’s true that when one is raised up, we all get raised up a little more,” Father Zehren said. “And it’s been wondrous,

miraculous, to see how Sophia has been raised up. And every time we hear good news, how she takes another step and is raised up a little higher, we too are raised up a little higher to know the wonders of God working in our midst.”

Noting the gift Fletcher and Harper were to the community when they were alive, Father Zehren said they point to an aspect of being childlike in the eyes of Jesus, that of “just being lovable.”

“Children are just so cute and lovable,”

Father Zehren said. “It’s been fun listening to the stories of Fletcher and Harper and how lovable they were. Fletcher’s mother says that Fletcher was the ‘fletchiest Fletcher that ever fletched.’ It sounds like he was such an outpouring of life and love as little boys can be. And Harper, I hear, was a perfect mix of sweet and spicy, and she was

full of life, too. They were just so lovable. And so, to become childlike means that we should try to be more lovable.”

“Sometimes I see somebody, and I think, ‘I don’t think that guy even wants to be loved the way he’s being,’” Father Zehren said. “Can we just try to be a little more lovable so that it’s easier for people to love us? What a gift of a childlike spirit that would be.”

Father Zehren closed his homily by noting that Annunciation’s school has reopened and is “humming again. We’re gathering together for Mass. Sometimes we wonder, how did we get here? But we know it’s been the loving arms of our God lifting us and carrying us all the way. Thanks to your support and prayers working through the body of Christ in our midst.”

PASSPORT ADVENTURE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

Office of Discipleship and Evangelization created booklets people could use to chronicle their visits. Some parishes created stamps for visitors. Pilgrimages looked different across the Twin Cities. Golden Opportunities, a group for empty nesters and retirees at Our Lady of Grace in Edina, visited Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis as a group before getting lunch at a local deli. On Oct. 10, members of St. Nicholas in Elko New Market will take a bus to visit three parishes: the Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Louis King of France and Assumption, all in St. Paul. This is the second passport pilgrimage by St. Nicholas parishioners. The first was Aug. 14, with a bus ride to the Basilica of St. Mary, St. Maron and St. Constantine, all in Minneapolis.

The Holy Spirit is moving in the archdiocese, I truly believe that. You have to kind of just look for it. What is happening in our Church right now?

How is my experience of my faith different today than it was maybe five years ago?

How might it become different? … I find it (to be) a very exciting time.

Laura Haraldson

When the Passport Adventure started, Lopiano visited nine parishes around the Twin Cities. During the summer, he visited Assumption, St. Thomas More, St. Pascal Baylon and the Cathedral, all in St. Paul; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings; Our Lady of Lourdes; St. John Neumann in Eagan; St. Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center; and Pax Christi in Eden Prairie.

Lopiano not only participated in the Passport Adventure — he also helped get it off the ground. As an office assistant at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul, Lopiano said he has his dream job. He helped create the passport design and the QR codes.

Haraldson said Lopiano is a living witness to the faith.

“He’s just such a beautiful example of a very young man who loves his faith and loves his archdiocese and acts on that love,” Haraldson said. Lopiano works with Haraldson on various projects.

She said he told her once that he watches livestreams of Masses at different parishes.

“He didn’t need the passport to participate in different liturgies, since he was doing it via livestream,” Haraldson said.

A few years ago, after Lopiano had success on a school test, he and his dad, Sal, visited Lumen Christi in St. Paul as a reward. Vinny asked to visit a church that wasn’t St. Peter.

“This particular day, we ran into a friend of ours, and after Mass, we would chat with him, and he said, ‘What are you doing here? How come you’re here?’” Sal Lopiano said. “And we explained to him that (Vinny) got to pick where he got to go to Mass. And (their friend) says, ‘Wait, let me get this straight. Are you telling me the reward for good behavior for Vin was not, like, an iPad or ice cream. It’s going to Mass?’ The look on his face, this incredulous look on his face, was hysterical.”

On Oct. 12, the Archdiocesan Passport Adventure will officially conclude with ice cream socials after the 8 a.m., 10 a.m., and noon Masses at the Cathedral. Archbishop Bernard Hebda will preside and participate in the social time. Bishops Kevin Kenney and Michael Izen will also be at the Masses and socials.

Haraldson said activities on the lawn will include cornhole, chalk and other activities for children and adults. Karol Coffee in St. Paul will provide coffee and hot chocolate. Ice cream will be provided by Mik Mart Ice Cream in St. Paul Park. Both Mik Mart and Karol Coffee are Catholic-owned businesses.

Vinny Lopiano said his favorite aspect about working at the archdiocese is the people. He’s looking forward to the ice cream social.

“It will be fun to get to know people,” Lopiano said. When asked if he loves the people of the archdiocese, Lopiano said, “I do!”

The events Oct. 12 will be an opportunity, Haraldson said, for people to share with Archbishop Hebda what they thought of the Passport Adventure.

“The Holy Spirit is moving in the archdiocese, I truly believe that,” Haraldson said. “You have to kind of just look for it. What is happening in our Church right now? How is my experience of my faith different today than it was maybe five years ago? How might it become different? … I find it (to be) a very exciting time.”

Lopiano’s favorite church is St. Pascal Baylon.

“The saint it’s named after was born on Pentecost, and he died on Pentecost. Pentecost is my favorite feast day,” Lopiano said. “It’s the Sunday before summer starts.”

But also, it was his favorite feast day because as a child he loved the music and the prayers of Pentecost.

“I’m gonna say maybe it was that,” Lopiano said.

NATION+WORLD

US bishops’ pro-life chair on ‘moral hierarchy’ of life, Durbin award and the worrisome celebration of political violence

By Lauretta Brown OSV News

Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)’s Committee on Pro-life Activities, spoke with OSV News Oct. 1, the first day of Respect Life Month, about maintaining hope in a culture with a widespread disregard for human life and why abortion remains the preeminent issue in the “moral hierarchy” of life.

Bishop Thomas told OSV News that he saw the month in the context of the Jubilee Year of Hope since “life is a sign of hope in a world of darkness and a world of violence and the culture of death.”

He also weighed in on the decision by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., not to receive a “Lifetime Achievement Award,” scheduled to be presented in November by Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich. The award was for his work on immigration issues and had met with significant opposition from several U.S. bishops due to the Catholic senator’s longstanding public position in favor of abortion.

“The first thing I would say is, thanks be to God that Sen. Durbin had the right conscience and the right understanding to turn down the award,” Bishop Thomas said. “I would say that definitively, and I’m very grateful that he made that decision.”

He referenced Pope Leo XIV’s comments on the matter hours prior to Durbin declining the award. The pontiff said Sept. 30, “someone who says ‘I’m against abortion’ but says ‘I’m in favor of the death penalty’ is not really pro-life. Someone who says that ‘I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants who are in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”

“So they are very complex issues, and I don’t know if anyone has all the truth on them,” the pope continued, “but I would ask first and foremost that they would have respect for one another and that we search together both as human beings, in that case as American citizens or citizens of the state of Illinois, as well as Catholics, to say that we need to, you know, really look closely at all of these ethical issues. And to find the way forward as a Church. The Church teaching on each one of those issues is very clear.”

Bishop Thomas said in response, “he says these are complex issues, but at the end of the interview — I don’t know if you saw, some of the things I’ve seen, they’ve cut it off — but at the end, he said, but clearly, the Church’s teaching is very clear on these issues.”

“So, I think there is a hierarchy of truths, and I think we have to be able to go back to that question of the vulnerable,” he said. “There’s no question that people across the board are vulnerable, but who are the most vulnerable? Those are the innocent and completely vulnerable little children in the womb who cannot defend themselves. So, you know, if you are for immigration, that’s one thing. But if you are promoting the ... direct killing of infants in the womb, I would say that that’s a very grave matter.”

He pointed out that the award Cardinal Cupich planned to give Durbin was from the Office of Human Dignity and Solidarity and “to give a lifetime achievement award for human rights and solidarity — certainly immigration, care for those immigrants is important — but to completely ignore the reality of the stance of abortion that the person holds in a public forum as a Catholic, I think it would be almost impossible for reasonable people to be able to justify the two.”

He said he has observed “a continuing downslide” into “disregard for human life” that St. John Paul II once termed “the culture of death.” He sees that “now playing out even more vividly”

on issues that included the “rising rates of abortion and assisted suicide; the killing of innocent school children, even at prayer; the mistreatment of our immigrant sisters and brothers as they endure an environment of aggression; and political and ideological violence inflicted against unsuspecting victims.”

Regarding “the mistreatment of our immigrant brothers and sisters who are vulnerable, especially if they’re enduring an environment of aggression,” Bishop Thomas said, while “the Church has never and will never call for open borders,” the Church “does call for treating men and women who are our brothers and sisters in a human way that respects their human dignity. And that call is across the board, no matter what color of their skin and no matter what language they speak.”

Among other issues, Bishop Thomas highlighted the growing “political and ideological violence” in the U.S., saying, “we don’t have to look further than the brutal assassination of Charlie Kirk.” He added that it was a “grave” problem that “people would celebrate his death.”

To Catholics discouraged by the rising rates of abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision holding that the U.S. Constitution does not confer a right to abortion, Bishop Thomas referenced the words of St. Paul that “hope does not disappoint,” adding the reminder that “we’re not a people of despair, we’re not a people who do not have the one reason for our hope and that is the person of Jesus, who is our hope in his very person.”

He highlighted the Walking with Moms in Need and Project Rachel ministries as just two examples of the Catholic Church reaching out to those most in need with “love, compassion and mercy.”

Bishop Thomas encouraged Catholics to invoke St. Joseph in the USCCB’s nationwide prayer for an end to taxpayer funding of abortion every day throughout October. He also referenced the committee’s partnership on a Respect Life Month novena with the Hallow app taking place Oct. 22 to 30. He called the novena “a great gift” hoping to reach many with a different bishop each day leading the prayer.

CARDINAL CUPICH’S RESPONSE

Cardinal Blase Cupich issued a statement Sept. 30 that Sen. Dick Durbin D-Ill., had decided not to receive a “Lifetime Achievement Award” scheduled to be presented in November at the Chicago archdiocese’s “Keep Hope Alive” celebration.

“While I am saddened by this news, I respect his decision,” Cardinal Cupich said in his statement.

“But I want to make clear that the decision to present him an award was specifically in recognition of his singular contribution to immigration reform and his unwavering support of immigrants, which is so needed in our day.”

In his statement, Cardinal Cupich said in his 50 years as a priest, he has “seen the divisions within the Catholic community dangerously deepen. These divisions harm the unity of the church and undermine our witness to the Gospel. Bishops cannot simply ignore this situation because we have a duty to promote unity and assist all Catholics to embrace the teachings of the church as a consistent whole.”

HEADLINES

Pope Leo XIV condemns the “rise of antisemitic hatred,” Manchester synagogue attack. Pope Leo XIV decried “the rise of antisemitic hatred in the world,” particularly as evidenced by “the terrorist attack in Manchester,” England, Oct. 2, an attack that killed two men. The attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism. The attacker, who was killed by police, drove a car into a crowd of people and stabbed the two Jewish men. Pope Leo condemned the attack in his remarks before praying the Angelus prayer Oct. 5 with visitors and pilgrims who had just attended his Mass in St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of Migrants and the Jubilee of the Missions. Speaking just days before the second anniversary of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel and Israel’s massive military attack on Gaza, the pope told the crowd that he continues “to be saddened by the immense suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza.” However, he said, “in recent hours, in the dramatic situation in the Middle East, some significant steps forward have been taken in peace negotiations, which I hope will achieve the desired results as soon as possible.”

Pope Leo’s first apostolic exhortation will be released Oct. 9. Vatican Media footage showed Pope Leo XIV signing the text of his first apostolic exhortation Oct. 4. Expected to focus on poverty and the poor and titled “Dilexi Te” (“I Have Loved You”), the exhortation will be released Oct. 9. Footage of the pope signing the text in the library of the Apostolic Palace showed the first page of the Table of Contents in Italian with chapters dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, “The cry of the poor,” “Ideological prejudices,” “God chooses the poor,” “Jesus, the poor Messiah,” “A church for the poor,” “The true riches of the church” and more.

Pope Leo XIV calls rhetoric from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump meeting with generals “worrying.” Pope Leo XIV expressed concern about rhetoric used by Trump and Hegseth shortly after their Sept. 30 meeting with top U.S. military officials. Hegseth called a rare, last-minute gathering at the Quantico base in Virginia, calling in senior U.S. military officials stationed all over the globe. During the meeting, Hegseth who uses the moniker “secretary of war” since Trump signed an executive order on Sept. 5 adding the “Department of War” as a secondary, ceremonial title for the Department

of Defense said, “The only mission of the newly restored Department of War is this: warfighting, preparing for war and preparing to win, unrelenting and uncompromising in that pursuit” for the sake of peace. In comments to reporters at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo said, “This way of speaking is worrying because it shows an increase in tension, and also this vocabulary of changing the Minister of Defense to the Minister of War. Let’s hope it’s just a way of speaking.” Trump also spoke, adding he wanted the military to quell “the enemy within,” referring to several U.S. metropolises as “unsafe.” Msgr. Stuart Swetland, a moral theologian and former U.S. Navy officer who is president of Donnelly College in Kansas City, Kansas, told OSV News he thought that suggestion from Trump is likely also why the pope found the event’s rhetoric “worrying.” He noted U.S. law and tradition has “a very limited use of the military domestically,” so broadening its domestic use is “problematic.”

President Trump peace plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is met with cautious optimism and skepticism. President Donald Trump released a 20-point peace plan to end the Israel-Hamas war Sept. 29, which was met with cautious optimism from some world leaders including Pope Leo XIV and skepticism from others as it remained to be seen whether Hamas would accept the agreement amid increasing international concern about humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip. During a White House visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said the plan could be a “historic day for peace,” but said that if Hamas did not accept the plan, Israel “would have my full backing” to “finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas.” Trump told reporters Sept. 30 he would give Hamas “three or four days” to respond to his proposal. The plan, in part, calls for an immediate ceasefire and for Hamas to release all its remaining hostages within 72 hours, living or dead. Pope Leo XIV told reporters Sept. 30 at Castel Gandolfo, “It seems that it is a realistic proposal.” He expressed hope that Hamas “accepts it in the established timeframe.” The White House plan states Gaza would “be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” supervised by an international “Board of Peace” chaired by Trump. The plan also left the door open to “a credible pathway to Palestinian selfdetermination and statehood.”

651-329-1264 suejohnson@goodcorealty.com

Why St. Thérèse continues to inspire believers today especially those who suffer. More than 125 years after her death, St. Thérèse of Lisieux is once again capturing hearts as her relics begin a U.S. tour. Known as “The Little Flower,” the French Carmelite nun died at just 24, but her “little way” of trust and love has made her one of the most beloved saints in modern Catholicism. Carmelite Father Jan Maria Malicki told OSV News that St. Thérèse wasn’t a saint of sugary devotion, “but a mystic who embraced spiritual darkness and suffering with radical faith. Her path to holiness wasn’t through grand gestures, but through quiet fidelity patience, prayer and love in the hidden moments of daily convent life. Declared a doctor of the Church in 1997, St. Thérèse’s message remains deeply relevant: true faith matures in darkness and does not depend on feelings. “It is a demanding path, not spectacular, but radically evangelical,” Father Malicki said. Her life reminds us that holiness is possible in the ordinary and that love, even in secret, changes the world. “Parents, workers, students, the sick, the elderly everyone can follow her path,” he said. “Her genius was showing that everyday life is the place of sanctity, and that faith grows strongest not in ease, but in quiet fidelity.”

Pope Leo XIV will declare St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the Church on Nov. 1. Pope Leo XIV announced he will proclaim St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the Church Nov. 1 during the Jubilee of the World of Education. Speaking after Mass Sept. 28 for the Jubilee of Catechists, the pope said St. Newman “contributed decisively to the renewal of theology and to the understanding of the development of Christian doctrine.” The Dicastery for the Causes of Saints had announced July 31 that Pope Leo “confirmed the affirmative opinion” of the cardinals and bishops who are members of the dicastery “regarding the title of Doctor of the Universal Church which will soon be conferred on Saint John Henry Newman, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Founder of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri in England.”

President Trump orders prosecutors to seek the death penalty when it’s available for D.C. homicides. As President Donald Trump directed top prosecutors to increase the number of death penalty cases sought in the nation’s capital by bringing federal charges, Catholic opponents of capital punishment said the practice causes more

harm than justice. The Sept. 25 memo from Trump, addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, told them to seek “the death penalty in all appropriate cases where, following full examination of the evidence and other relevant information, the applicable factors justify a sentence of death.” Trump told them to “pursue Federal jurisdiction with respect to cases involving crimes committed in the District of Columbia for which the death penalty is available under Federal law.” At a Sept. 26 panel discussion co-hosted by Catholic Mobilizing Network, a group that advocates for the abolition of the death penalty in line with Catholic teaching, and Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, at the 2025 National Catholic Conference on Restorative Justice in Atlanta, panelists said the practice violates human dignity. The Catholic Church’s official magisterium opposes capital punishment as inconsistent with the sanctity of human life, and advocates for the practice’s abolition worldwide. Elizabeth Bruenig, a staff writer at The Atlantic who has extensively covered capital punishment, said during the panel that there are a number of problems with the practice, including the “arbitrary” way it is applied, particularly in how it is applied disproportionately to African American offenders.

Pope taps an Italian canon lawyer for the top position at the Dicastery for Bishops. In the first major appointment of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV chose an Italian expert in canon law to succeed him as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Archbishop Filippo Iannone, 67, has led the Dicastery for Legislative Texts since 2018 and will begin his new role Oct. 15, the Vatican press office announced Sept. 26. Pope Leo, as Cardinal Robert Prevost, led the Dicastery for Bishops and the pontifical commission from early 2023 until his election as pope in May. The dicastery coordinates the search for candidates to fill the office of bishop in most of the Latin-rite dioceses around the world and makes recommendations about their appointments to the pope. It also deals with setting up, uniting, suppressing dioceses, changing diocesan boundaries, setting up military ordinariates and ordinariates for Catholics who have come from the Anglican Communion.

CNS and OSV News

World Mission Sunday is October 19

The Catholic Spirit

Established by Pope Pius XI in 1926, World Mission Sunday is celebrated every year on the second-to-last Sunday of October — this year, Oct. 19. It is the day when Catholics around the world unite through prayer, collections at Masses and other means to support the missionary work of the Church through the Pontifical Mission Societies.

The Center for Mission represents the Pontifical Mission Societies’ efforts in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and manages World

Mission Sunday donations. The global collection directly supports the 1,124 mission territories where the Church is young, struggling or persecuted. As stated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, on this day, every parish, in every diocese, in every country, joins in prayer and giving to ensure that missionaries can continue their vital work building churches, forming priests, supporting catechists and serving communities in need. It is all the Church for all the world.

This issue of The Catholic Spirit highlights the universal Church’s missionary efforts in India, Venezuela and closer to home with the Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver in St. Paul.

The theme for this year’s World Mission Sunday is Missionaries of Hope Among the Peoples, set by the late Pope Francis in keeping with this Jubilee Year and its theme Pilgrims of Hope.

Small parish communities in India foster spiritual, social, material support

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit

During a recent visit to the Twin Cities from the Kerala region in southeastern India, Father Jose Navez Puthenparambil shared photos of the new, white church building consecrated in June for his parish there.

Built by its 160 families, St. John the Baptist church in Kottayam is one representation of the parish. But the families themselves, divided into seven parish groups known as Basic Christian Communities (BCCs), are the parish’s true foundation, said Father Jose, who from 2003 to 2005 served as associate pastor of Epiphany in Coon Rapids.

With their old church damaged beyond repair by years of flooding, members of the parish’s BCCs, who take turns preparing the church for Sunday liturgies, built a more floodresistant church on the same one-acre site, with the help of funding from a Minnesota nonprofit, he said.

While in Minnesota over the summer months, Father Jose gave mission appeals at Christ the King and St. Thomas the Apostle, both in Minneapolis, and at St. Timothy in Blaine for his parish and the Diocese of Vijayapuram, considered among the poorest in Kerala.

In 1990, the first BCCs formed in Kerala, which is home to India’s largest population of Christians. The groups have been transforming one parish congregation after another into a “community of communities,” said Father Jose, adding that this is an especially hopeful sign during this Jubilee Year in the Church, with its theme Pilgrims of Hope.

“In a crowd (of parishioners) we don’t know each other,” said Father Jose, who also serves as chancellor of his diocese of 90,000 Catholics.

“Whenever we come for Mass, we see and hear the Mass and go away,” he said of the challenges the BCCs help meet. “But we don’t see each other. We don’t care for each other. We don’t know even the name of the person who stood just near us.”

Though the BCCs in India are larger and organized by family and neighborhood, they have in common with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ parish small groups the goal of helping parishioners form relationships with fellow Catholics to pray and share Christian life, Father Jose said. For the past two years, archdiocesan small groups have sought to enrich Catholics’ faith and parish relationships using a Parish Evangelization Cells System (PECS) practice of prayer and sharing.

Many Catholics in the Vijayapuram diocese live in

ride Feb. 2, 2019.

taught much. But in the family units, there are teachings and discussions. Then they can ask questions and know the answers. So, faith becomes more personal for them. Jesus says: Whenever you gather together in my name, I am there in your midst.”

The BCCs are modeled after the early Church in the Acts of the Apostles, when members gathered as one mind and shared resources, Father Jose said.

Jesus dividing a crowd of 5,000 into groups of 50 before multiplying the loaves and fishes also inspired the forming of BCCs, he said.

In addition to BCCs, the Vijayapuram diocese’s Social Service Society is helping parishioners overcome poverty and improve housing in all 84 parishes and 115 mission stations, Father Jose said.

poverty, with insecure housing exacerbated in recent years by severe flooding in the region. Many are Dalits — historically marginalized communities in India — who often have limited opportunities for employment and government assistance, Father Jose said.

Growth of the BCCs is helping St. John the Baptist parishioners with their temporal as well as spiritual needs, Father Jose said. If any of the 20 families in each small community has a problem, the entire community comes together to help, Father Jose said.

Like the PECS small groups, St. John the Baptist BCCs gather regularly in each other’s homes for prayer and spiritual study, and to discuss challenges and successes, he said. Community lay leaders track needs and assign members to help, said Father Jose, who visits the BCC meetings monthly.

BCC members attend Sunday Mass at the parish church, which has enlivened parish liturgies, he said. Members also grow spiritually at their community meetings, he said.

“If we only (gather for) the Sunday Mass, we are just hearing maybe a homily for 10 minutes,” Father Jose said. “We are not

A partnership with the We Share Program, a nonprofit started in Minnesota in 1999 by Dave and Kathy Rennie of Holy Family in St. Louis Park, has provided funding to help the diocese in India build hundreds of family homes, churches and other facilities, including a home for children with intellectual disabilities that is scheduled to open early next year, Father Jose said.

An Arizona couple, Jason and Joanna Benedetti, now legally manage We Share, Kathy Rennie said.

In their BCCs, St. John the Baptist parishioners prayed and planned for seven years to build their new church, Father Jose said. They had to get permission to build from Hindu and Muslim neighbors, some of whom now also pray in the church, he said.

The Vatican’s Synod on Synodality, a three-year listening and dialogue process that began in 2021, emphasized the Church’s need for participation, mission and communion, Father Jose said. Catholics working together in BCCs are evidence of synodal communion, he said.

“We are becoming communion where we know each other and care for each other and we are united in God’s love and grace,” Father Jose said.

Archdiocesan priest is a witness to hope at Venezuelan mission

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit

Many elderly and vulnerable Venezuelans living near the Jesucristo Resucitado mission parish in Ciudad Guyana couldn’t flee with their loved ones from the distressed South American country during its recent wave of emigration.

Now, they struggle to survive, not only lacking food and care, but hope, said Father Greg Schaffer, 60, a priest in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis who has served at the archdiocese’s mission in Venezuela for 28 years.

The native of St. Paul’s East Side estimated that 85% of Venezuelans may now experience hunger. A quarter of the population, mostly younger people, have left the country seeking better living conditions and up to this point, few have been sending money back to Venezuela, Father Schaffer said.

Amid this hardship, Father Schaffer continues to bring hope through the sacraments and, as much as possible, material assistance.

“The people really need hope,” he said, noting that with unemployment at 73% in the northeastern port city, domestic violence, delinquency, malnutrition, alcoholism and prostitution are growing problems for its almost 1 million residents. With continued currency devaluation, they can’t live on their pensions, Father Schaffer said.

during the war continue to inspire Father Schaffer, who faces unrest and other problems in Venezuela.

“As a priest, you have to be dependent on God,” he said. “You’re dependent on your family, your friends, and then you’re also dependent on the people you serve, especially in a cross-cultural situation. You have to listen to the people and (Msgr. Schaffer’s) big focus in his ministry was responding to the express(ly) felt needs of the people.”

Ordained in 1994, Father Schaeffer first served at Presentation in Maplewood before his 1997 assignment to Jesucristo Resucitado.

“They come (to the mission), they turn to their faith for hope,” he said. While 90% of Venezuelans are Catholic, a sizable percentage don’t practice the faith and the mission’s social programs bring Christ to people in the area through material assistance, Father Schaffer said.

The Jesucristo Resucitado mission formed in 1970 when the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis partnered with the now-Diocese of Guyana in response to Pope St. John XXIII’s 1959 directives to assist mission dioceses, according to the archdiocese’s website. In the partnership’s more than 50 years, many priests, sisters and lay volunteers from the archdiocese have served at the mission.

Like the Twin Cities, Ciudad Guyana’s municipality consists of two cities divided by a river. On the western side, Puerto Ordaz contains most of the industry and shipping while San Félix, where the mission is located, is older and less affluent, Father Schaffer said. Although Ciudad Guyana is Venezuela’s fastest growing area, almost 20 years of socialist reforms have resulted in stifled production and job loss, despite the country’s oil and other resources, he added.

Father Schaffer and an associate priest provide for

spiritual needs with seven weekend Masses — two in the mission’s church and five in chapels located in Ciudad Guyana barrios.

The mission operates three soup kitchens that, with archdiocesan financial support, serve weekday lunch to 160 people, mostly seniors and families, but “it’s just a drop in the bucket,” he said. The mission’s parish center includes a medical clinic, dental office and classrooms for catechesis and vocational training. The mission also partners with local organizations in running a home for abandoned and homeless boys.

Father Schaffer said the mission is building a hospice center but needs another $100,000 to complete it.

“I’m not here to help people leave the country,” he said. “I’m here to try to bring hope to the people (who) are here … now. The hospice center is something important” in letting people who lack other support know “God’s unconditional love while they finish their time here on Earth.”

Father Schaffer learned about missionary priesthood from his late uncle, New Ulm Msgr. Gregory Thomas Schaffer, who during visits to Minnesota told stories about serving at his diocese’s mission parish in San Lucas Tolimán in Guatemala.

His uncle served and later was pastor of San Lucas Tolemán from 1963 until his death in 2012 — through most of Guatemala’s 1960 to 1996 civil war, Father Schaffer said. His uncle’s reliance on God, courage and care for his flock

Along with serving as pastor since 2000, he is vicar general of the 20,000-squaremile Diocese of Ciudad Guyana, which has 2 million Catholics. By contrast, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis serves under 1 million Catholics and covers 6,000 square miles, he said.

Flowing out of Father Schaffer’s primary mission of bringing people the sacraments is love of neighbor, including service provided by parishioners who live in poverty.

On Saturdays, 80 laypeople volunteer in the mission’s St. Vincent de Paul chapter to visit the sick and bring food to patients at a public hospital that lacks resources to feed them.

“When the people don’t have money, they’re still called to live out the Gospel,” Father Schaffer said. “Sometimes that means visiting somebody or sharing with your neighbors the food you do have, or the medicine you do have in your house.”

Father Schaffer said he’d like to finish his priestly ministry and be buried in Venezuela. But if he is asked to return to serve in Minnesota, he’d want to continue being a witness of hope to the poor.

“Sometimes I’m overwhelmed when I come home and I go to (a grocery store), and I see all this food back to the ceilings,” Father Schaffer said. “I think of the people in my own parish who go through the trash just looking for food. I can’t get that image out of my head sometimes.”

Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver offer support for worldwide missions

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit

Sister Anna Dinh and the four other Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver who make up the international congregation’s St. Paul community are from Vietnam, India and Africa, countries and regions to which the Church has sent missionaries to evangelize for centuries.

But as the sisters serve mainly in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis rather than overseas, they are reminded that mission work isn’t only serving directly in the mission field, but also in being “missionaries of hope,” through prayer and action behind the scenes, said Sister Anna, 60, who is serving her second term as the St. Paul community’s superior.

Especially during this Jubilee Year of Hope, the Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver “choose to see light even in moments of darkness — and (help) others do the same” as they raise awareness and funds and produce multi-lingual communications for the Church’s worldwide evangelization efforts, Sister Anna said.

“Wherever we are, we can live out our mission,” said Sister Anna, describing the St. Paul community and the roughly 245 other sisters in the Rome-based congregation who serve in 26 countries and consider prayer the “heartbeat” of their apostolate.

“Every task we’re entrusted with is part of God’s will for us. … Missionary work is not just about location — it’s about presence, purpose and obedience,” Sister Anna said.

The Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver were founded in 1894 by Blessed Maria Teresa Ledóchowska, a Polish nun who felt called to support the sharing of the Gospel with Africans. She named the new community after the 16th-century Spanish Jesuit priest, St. Peter Claver, who sought to alleviate the suffering of African slaves who had been transported to South America. He often met them at or near the ships that brought them, and he is believed to have personally baptized about 300,000 individuals.

Blessed Maria, whose 50-year beatification anniversary was celebrated locally by the sisters on Sept. 20 at Transfiguration in Oakdale, believed the congregation’s charism was similar to the roots of a tree: essential to its growth but unseen, Sister Anna said.

“We are a voice for missionaries, animating others about the needs of missions around the world,” she said. “We don’t have our own mission territory, but we support others spiritually and financially in their efforts. Our congregation is international, and we believe we can be missionaries wherever we are.”

Sister Anna’s own vocation was hidden as she grew up in Saigon City in southeast Vietnam, which in 1975 became part of Ho Chi Minh City after the country came under

Sister Anna Dinh addresses volunteers and friends who have supported the ministry of the Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver during a gathering at the community’s chapel in St. Paul on July 6, 2024. Behind Sister Anna is an image of Blessed Mary Theresa Ledochowska, the foundress of the congregation.

MISSIONARY SISTERS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

Communist rule.

When Sister Anna was 18, her parish priest suggested religious life. As she learned about it, she said she found her heart drawn to becoming a religious sister.

A few years later in 1987, Sister Anna’s family immigrated to Toronto, Canada. After searching unsuccessfully for a few months for a Vietnamesespeaking religious community, she attended a Vietnamese Mass where she met a Vietnamese Missionary Sister of St. Peter Claver visiting Toronto from St. Paul.

Finding hope in meeting a sister who spoke her language, she visited the St. Paul community and at the end of 1990, entered the novitiate. Since 2003, Sister Anna has served in St. Paul. She said she has come to appreciate all four seasons, after adjusting from Vietnam’s tropical climate.

The sisters’ local support for international mission work includes producing regular communications for benefactors, offering mission information and updates and funding appeals, Sister Anna said.

With the help of extern members — lay supporters of the sisters’ apostolic work and other volunteers — the sisters organize an annual spring plant sale at their St. Paul convent, with proceeds supporting approved missionary projects.

They also host monthly Mass and recollection for extern members and assist with catechism classes at the Vietnamese parish of St. Adalbert in St. Paul.

Other outreach includes welcoming Catholic school groups to their convent and hosting Nun Runs for young women discerning religious and consecrated life, Sister Anna said, noting that all the visits “offer a glimpse into our daily rhythm of prayer, service and joyful community living.”

As the sisters help the missions without being present at overseas mission sites, Catholics in the archdiocese and throughout the Church can support the work in their daily lives by intentionally praying and offering their joys and sufferings for missionaries and mission work, along with living their own faith boldly and sharing resources, Sister Anna said.

“It begins with recognizing that their everyday gifts, resources and passions are powerful instruments for global impact,” she said.

Each day as she leads her St. Paul community members, Sister Anna seeks to nourish their hope and prayer, first by her example of trusting God through daily challenges.

“I remind them that our mission is not just about what we do, but how we do it,” she said. “All for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls, with hearts anchored in Christ and eyes fixed on his promises.”

FAITH+CULTURE

Pope Leo: Migrants, refugees are often models of hope and faith

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

The joint celebration of the Jubilee of Migrants and the Jubilee of the Missions is an opportunity to remind all Catholics that the duty to welcome and assist migrants is also part of each person’s obligation to share God’s love, Pope Leo XIV said.

“Brothers and sisters, today a new missionary age opens up in the history of the Church,” the pope said Oct. 5 during a Jubilee Mass in St. Peter’s Square with tens of thousands of migrants and missionaries from around the world.

For centuries Catholics have thought of missionaries as people who leave their homelands and set off for distant lands to minister with people who live in poverty and do not know Jesus, said the U.S.-born pope who served for decades as a missionary in Peru.

“Today the frontiers of the missions are no longer geographical, because poverty, suffering and the desire for a greater hope have made their way to us,” Pope Leo said.

“The story of so many of our migrant brothers and sisters bears witness to this: the tragedy of their flight from violence, the suffering which accompanies it, the fear of not succeeding, the perilous risk of traveling along the coastline, their cry of sorrow and desperation,” he said. “Those boats which hope to catch sight of a safe port, and those eyes filled with anguish and hope seeking to reach the shore, cannot and must not find the coldness of indifference or the stigma of discrimination!”

Discussing similar themes, Pope Leo met Oct. 2 with participants in a conference in Rome titled Refugees and Migrants in Our Common Home, organized by the Augustinian-run Villanova University in suburban Philadelphia.

At the meeting, the pope said migrants and refugees often are “privileged witnesses of hope through their resilience and trust in God” as they maintain their strength while seeking a better future, despite the obstacles they encounter.

The Vatican dicasteries for Promoting Integral Human Development and for Culture and Education and the U.S. bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services were among the co-sponsors of the conference, held Oct. 1-3, just before the Jubilee of Migrants and the Jubilee of Missions Oct. 4-5.

Pope Leo encouraged participants to share migrants’ and refugees’ stories of steadfast faith and hope so that they could be “an inspiration for others and assist in developing ways to address the challenges that they have faced in their

own lives.”

The pope also returned to a theme he had mentioned in September when discussing migration — the “globalization of powerlessness.”

Overcoming the widespread sense that no one can make a difference “requires patience, a willingness to listen, the ability to identify with the pain of others and the recognition that we have the same dreams and the same hopes,” Pope Leo told the group.

Before the conference, Villanova held the official launch of its Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration, which promotes programs of scholarship, advocacy and service to migrants at the university and with the local community.

Pope Leo praised the project’s goal of bringing together “leading voices throughout a variety of disciplines in order to respond to the current urgent challenges brought by the increasing number of people, now estimated to be over 100 million, who are affected by migration and displacement.”

Michele Pistone, founder and faculty director of the institute, told conference participants that she was inspired by Pope Francis, who called on universities to do more teaching, research and social promotion with migrants and refugees.

“Now, Pope Leo XIV is again asking us to become missionary disciples working to reconcile a wounded world,” Pistone said.

Sister Norma Pimentel — a Missionary of Jesus and executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in Brownsville, Texas — said, migrants “are missionaries of hope to us, because their presence with us honestly sanctifies who and where we are.”

People who fear migrants and refugees or are convinced they are migrating just to take jobs from citizens need to take the time to actually meet a newcomer, Sister Pimentel said. Then, “they will stop seeing them as somebody that is invading my space, but rather as somebody who I have the opportunity to be able to show the presence of God.”

She has the same message for U.S. President Donald Trump or any political leader, she said: “Please come and see them. Please see their faces. Please see these families that are directly affected by your decisions and your laws and how you feel you must proceed to be as president.”

Addressing the conference Oct. 1, she said that “in a world marked by fear, division and uncertainty, we are invited to be people of hope, pilgrims of hope, of that hope which comes from our trust in the Lord. It is a living force, one that shapes how we see others, how we act and how we respond.”

Pope asks everyone to pray the rosary for peace throughout October

By Catholic News Service

Pope Leo XIV asked Catholics to pray the rosary each day in October for peace.

The pope made his request at the end of his weekly general audience Sept. 24 and the day after he said he had spoken again with the pastor of Holy Family Church in Gaza City, the only Latin-rite Catholic parish in Gaza.

“Thanks be to God everyone in the parish is fine,” but the Israeli strikes “are a little closer,” the pope told reporters in Castel Gandolfo Sept. 23 before heading back to the Vatican after a day’s rest. The parish is offering refuge and assistance to hundreds of Gaza residents.

Britain, Canada and Australia formally recognized Palestinian statehood Sept. 21, joining the Holy See and more than 150 countries that already had done so. Asked if that could help the situation, Pope Leo told reporters it “could help, but at this moment there really is no willingness to listen on the other side, so dialogue is currently broken.”

Regarding Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine, Pope Leo said that “someone is

seeking an escalation, and it is continually becoming more dangerous.”

What is needed, he said, is to “halt military advances” and come to the negotiating table.

At the end of his audience Sept. 24, Pope Leo noted that October was approaching and that with the Oct. 7 feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Catholic Church traditionally dedicates the whole month to praying the rosary.

“I invite everyone to pray the rosary every day during the coming month — for peace — personally, with your families and in your communities,” he said.

The pope also invited Vatican officials and employees to pray the rosary together every October evening at 7 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica.

And he invited everyone to St. Peter’s Square Oct. 11 to pray the rosary together “during the vigil of the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality, also remembering the anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council,” which began Oct. 11, 1962.

Marquette poll: Americans worry about political violence, but see few solutions

By Kate Scanlon OSV News

A large majority of Americans said political violence is a big problem, but sharp partisan differences persist on who they see as responsible, a new Marquette Law School national survey found. It was released Oct. 1, the same day the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released a pastoral reflection calling on Americans to recognize each other’s human dignity and reject political violence.

Recent instances of political violence include the Sept. 10 targeted killing of Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder, as well as two assassination attempts against Trump, but also the targeted killings of Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, and the firebombing of the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, which is being investigated as the attempted murder of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Marquette conducted its survey of 1,000 adults nationwide Sept. 15-24 in the aftermath of Kirk’s assassination.

An overwhelming majority (89%) said political violence is always unjustified and 58% said it is always unacceptable to be happy about the death of a person they oppose.

A combined majority said political violence is either “a very big problem” (38%) or “a moderately big problem” (38%).

Just 19% of Americans called political violence “a small problem,” and only 4% said it was not a problem.

Asked which is a bigger problem, 27% of respondents said left-wing violence, while 22% said right-wing violence. But 51% of Americans said both are an equal problem.

Both respondents who identified as Republicans and those who identified as Democrats were similarly likely to blame the other side of the aisle for escalating political violence: 57% of Republicans said left-wing violence is the bigger problem and just 3% said right-wing violence is more of a problem. Meanwhile, 50% of Democrats

said right-wing violence is the bigger problem, while just 4% said left-wing violence is the bigger problem.

Independents were more likely to place equal blame on both sides, with 87% saying they see left and right-wing violence as an equal problem, and just 4% saying the left is a bigger problem, and 9% saying the right is the bigger problem.

Meanwhile, the Jesuit school’s poll also found Americans are “pessimistic” about reducing intense political conflict and violence. Thirty-one percent of respondents said they think a path to reducing such instances can be found, but 69% said the country is so divided that they think the conflict and violence will escalate. A majority across the board — 63% of Republicans, 72% of independents, and 73% of Democrats — believe political violence will increase.

The same day the survey was released, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB, released what the conference called “an invitation for reflection” to mark the fifth anniversary of “Fratelli Tutti,” Pope Francis’ encyclical letter on fraternity and social friendship, in which he condemned political violence.

“I ask every American to reflect on the value of every human life. I beg you to see Christ in every person, even those whose politics you oppose,” Archbishop Broglio wrote.

He called for all Americans to examine their consciences, recognizing that “decent people of every political persuasion continue to fall victim to this deadly trend,” and to take concrete actions to mend a wounded society.

The USCCB also said it would provide Catholics with a variety of resources to help implement the vision of “Fratelli Tutti” on its fifth anniversary, available at its website usccb.org. This includes information on its CivilizeIt initiative, the “Fratelli Tutti Study Guide,” resources on Catholic social teaching and the corporal works of mercy.

FDA approves new generic pill for abortion

By Kate Scanlon OSV News

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a new generic form of mifepristone — a pill commonly, but not exclusively, used for early abortion — drawing criticism from prolife advocates. It marks the second time a Trump administration has approved a generic form of the pill.

On Sept. 30, the FDA notified Evita Solutions that its generic version of mifepristone was approved, despite previous suggestions from FDA and Department of Health and Human Services officials that mifepristone would undergo a review.

The move was met with condemnation by former Vice President Mike Pence, who wrote in a post on X, “The Trump Administration’s approval of a generic chemical abortion drug is a complete betrayal of the pro-life movement that elected President Trump.”

Pence previously advocated for the Senate to reject Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Catholic and scion

of the famous Kennedy political clan, as HHS secretary in part due to his views supporting legal abortion. Kennedy was ultimately confirmed to the role.

Pence argued the approval of the drug should prompt Kennedy’s resignation.

“Earlier this year, I opposed RFK’s nomination because he was unfit for the role and particularly over the concern that he would expand access to abortion, as he has done today,” Pence wrote.

“President Trump must immediately reverse this decision. RFK must resign and give President Trump the opportunity to appoint a new Secretary of HHS who will protect the sanctity of life,” he said. “The fight for life continues.”

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., a close ally of Trump, also expressed surprise in his own comments on X.

“FDA had promised to do a top-tobottom safety review of the chemical abortion drug, but instead they’ve just greenlighted new versions of it for distribution,” he said. “I have lost confidence in the leadership at FDA.”

Childhood unplugged: Faith and adventure first

By Christina Capecchi

For The Catholic Spirit

Andrew and Coreen Wagenbach are intentional parents with six kids, no TVs and a giant camper. “We don’t want a TV to be the center of our home,” said Andrew, 40, who belongs to St. Michael in Stillwater and works as the director of Catholic family life at St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony. “The center of our home is our prayer space.”

The kids maintain regular chores and are homeschooled, except for the oldest, a 15-year-old student at St. Agnes School in St. Paul.

Q Andrew, tell me about your childhood in rural Durand, Wisconsin.

A The Chippewa River that flows into Lake Pepin was my backyard. Every spring it would flood, and we’d bring the canoe to the bottom of the hill behind our house and canoe all over the place. We’d go over the neighbor’s fence and check out his cows.

We’d build forts in the woods and pretend we were in the military, under attack. In the winter we’d cross-country ski all around. When it snowed, we’d make train tracks with snowshoes and then use pieces of wood as our train. I have so many real memories that don’t involve technology. We were outside all the time.

Q It’s almost like time slows down.

A You live according to the natural cycle of the world. When you’re camping, when it’s dark, you light a bonfire or you go to bed. The sun rises and you get up. It’s like the liturgical calendar, which we try to live according to our faith. The seasons help us live according to what God planned for us. When you’re outside, you’re living in the moment. You’re living right now — you’re throwing the football or going for a walk, it’s this step and that step, not that meeting tomorrow.

Q And thanks to your new camper, you can immerse yourself in nature all over the place!

A It’s our mobile cabin: an old Jay Flight that’s 35 feet long with a bunkroom in the back and a queen bed in the front. We painted a lot of the inside and put in different light fixtures and

wallpaper to make it very cabin-y.

Q Your oldest four kids are all boys. What have you learned about raising boys?

A Our culture says boys are supposed to sit and be quiet. That’s not the reality. They have so much energy. We put a ninja course in the rafters of our basement, and we put wrestling mats in for Christmas one year — we padded the whole room, floor to ceiling, and they’re roughhousing and swinging on stuff. My boys want to go out with their grandpa and use a chainsaw and cut a tree down. I want to raise well-rounded men who don’t always have to hire someone to fix something that breaks at home. I feel like they could do it themselves if they watched a few YouTube videos.

If we beat the passion out of them so they finally stay in line, that’s not the point. God gave them gifts and talents and abilities, if they can use them and point them toward the Lord — those are the saints you’re going to hear stories about in years to come.

Q How do you get by without a TV?

A It is hard. I think the hardest issues for parents today are TV or screen time, whether

to give kids phones and how to handle sports. What are you going to let them consume? We didn’t want the temptation of a TV. We have a computer where the kids can watch shows. We make sure there are no commercials or ads.

With sports, we have six children. (Am I) going to let every single one be in three sports? Youth sports today are not made for family life. They’re good at personal formation, but they isolate. This summer we did baseball for our oldest and youngest boy and with just two involved, we had baseball every night.

Q Right! And that’s only one third of your kids. What’s the solution?

A The solution is families play sports together. One of my best memories is when we had a family with seven children over and we went up to the baseball field and we played wiffle ball together. Families doing pick-up games together or joining family-friendly leagues where they’re actually thinking about what mom and the other kids are doing while the dads are coaching. And (at) the end, you could all have a picnic together.

The other thing is I’ll just tell the coach at the get-go that our family comes first and there will be a number of practices or games our kids will miss. We partnered with a few other families for ride sharing.

It’s tough even when they’re young. But if your child is going to play a sport in high school, you literally don’t see them. I wish all Catholic schools would band together and not have practices, games or homework on Wednesday or Sunday to save those nights for faith formation.

Q The JPII quote in your email signature caught my eye: “The future starts today, not tomorrow.” What does that quote mean to you?

A It means that heaven is the goal, and I can’t wait till tomorrow to start striving today for the person I want to become so I can be that

person I need to be to be allowed into the beatific vision, the perfect relationship with the Lord. The greatest trick the devil pulls is one, to make people believe he doesn’t exist; and (two), to convince people that they should start tomorrow.

Q How do you try to be a man of action?

A I was a huge procrastinator in high school and college. My wife calls me out on that. It’s a blessing. She’s a thoughtful, forward thinker. Now I try to look forward to the whole of the week and identify my top two or three priorities and then make a list of what has to be done. I’m trying to be driven enough. If I don’t do something today, I might miss an opportunity to actively respond to the momentary needs of the Holy Spirit. I try to have an openness to what the Lord wants of me. My plan is not as good as the Lord’s.

It’s amazing to see how the Lord is faithful even in our unfaithfulness. He’s consistent in our inconsistencies. The Lord does the work, if we’re open to it. We have to be flexible when God calls. What are you going to say? No? If the goal is heaven, what could be more important than what the Lord is asking you to do in this moment?

Q In your job, do you get to see evidence of God at work?

A Yes! There’s this kid I met at my last parish, where I ran formation. He came to multiple camps from sixth through 12th grade. I remember him well, but I hadn’t seen him in five, six years. He called me up to tell me a crazy story of how he’s been an atheist, and he went through addiction and now he’s sober, and he’s realizing that when he found the greatest joy and peace in his life was when he was in adoration. We had such a good conversation. I offered to go to confession with him. I told him there’s just one step back into the Catholic faith, it’s the door of the confessional. Decide to go to confession and then start living right.

Q What do you know for sure?

A I know that I’m loved by the Lord. I know that I’m blessed immensely, and that my goal is heaven, and that without seeking heaven, there’s not much point to everything else that I do.

In ‘Biking for Babies,’ cyclists put 36,000 miles on the road for the Gospel of life

By Zoey Maraist OSV News

The more Amanda Nolan thought about it, the more objections flew into her mind.

I’m not equipped for this, she told herself. It’s so outside my comfort zone. It would disrupt my whole life. It would take such a physical toll on my body.

Nolan was contemplating whether she should embark on a six-day, 600-mile bike ride to fundraise for pregnant women in need.

But she quickly realized that in a small way, these thoughts were like the ones a woman in a crisis pregnancy might experience. In solidarity with them, she decided to truly live out her pro-life beliefs by joining Biking for Babies.

“I want to fight against my own and our culture’s complacency and show the world in this dramatic way that we’re here” for parents in need, she told OSV News.

Since Biking for Babies’ founding in 2009, 255 young adult missionary bikers have pedaled over 36,000 miles all over the country, raising a total of $2.03 million for 158 pregnancy resource centers in the U.S., according to the organization’s 2024

annual report.

Bikers receive spiritual and physical coaching before embarking on their cross-country journey along one of several different routes. On the journey, they’re accompanied by other riders and a support crew. They sleep in churches, in host families’ homes or even in pregnancy resource centers. In the end, each rider’s partner pregnancy center receives more than $4,000 on average.

The goal of Biking for Babies is to strengthen the spiritual lives of the riders and crew members, to spread the pro-life message and to raise awareness of the tangible aid pregnancy resource centers provide, Nikki Biese, the group’s executive director, told OSV News.

“Our riders die to self and sacrifice their bodies for the larger cultural renewal that we seek for these women and their children,” she said.

The organization hopes to recruit more riders next year, which will allow them to support more centers, explained Biese.

Nolan, a 30-something from the Boston area, wasn’t even a biker when her mom sent her information about the charitable cycling group. Training for the

ride and biking from Portland, Maine, to Philadelphia was very challenging for the novice.

“But that was the beauty of it,” Nolan told OSV News. “So much of the mission is entering into sacrifice intentionally, so that you can offer it for women in unplanned pregnancies.”

Nolan said she was gratified to learn how many people were willing to support her ride financially, especially knowing how underappreciated and misunderstood pregnancy centers are in New England.

“People that I wouldn’t have (expected to) embrace a pro-life mission supported my ride once they (learned) that what we’re really trying to do is help women have actual choices,” she said.

Nolan was partnered with the Mother of Life Center in Providence, Rhode Island, and she was the first missionary partner who was able to visit the center, said Richard Lafond, Mother of Life Center’s communications and development facilitator. And then she kept coming. She attended the center’s cookout and annual gala. She and her sister even stepped in to help run the center’s Spring Rose Sale fundraiser when Lafond was dealing with

the death of his mother-in-law.

“Amanda has made a huge difference for us and she’s been an inspiration to our supporters,” he told OSV News. “The extent to which she has given is, I think, even beyond what she’s aware of.”

Financially, Mother of Life uses the funds it receives from Biking for Babies toward its operational costs and to buy the more expensive baby items such as strollers and car seats, in addition to onesies, diapers and bottles.

“The demand is high and we want to serve as many as we can,” said Lafond.

But in addition to offering needed funds, Biking for Babies provides a tremendous Christian witness, Lafond said. He recalled how, on one night of the journey, the center was able to host a few riders.

“When the cyclists visited us, they had just cycled 93 miles and then they were up at 5 a.m. the next day to go on another 80-some-odd miles. How is this possible without the grace of God working within them?” he said. “(I) see these young adults coming up the road in these yellow (Biking for Babies) jerseys and my heart just soars.”

FOCUSONFAITH

SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER TROY PRZYBILLA

Growing in gratitude to God

The lesson in this Sunday’s readings is gratitude. Only one out of 10 lepers returned to thank Jesus for healing him. For this show of gratitude, he was praised by Jesus and healed from a lot more than his leprosy. Jesus told him, “Stand up and go, your faith has saved you.”

This man’s gratitude revealed his faith. We hear that he returned glorifying God in a loud voice and fell at the feet of Jesus. His faith not only saved him from his physical illness of leprosy, but it also saved him from his spiritual illness of sin.

The same can be true for us if we live lives of gratitude to God.

Our gratitude reveals our faith, which has the power to heal us both physically and spiritually.

Studies have shown that people who are grateful are healthier. This makes sense because grateful people have less stress. They have less stress because they’re not focused on all the negative things in their life and in the world. Instead, they choose to focus on the positive

things in their life and in the world for which they’re grateful.

I read about a woman in Australia who, upon the counsel of a religious sister, decided to focus on one thing each day for which she was grateful. She took a picture of this one thing each day. This small intentional act of gratitude each day had a huge impact on her life. It allowed her to see things that she never noticed.

She always thought that her husband was unromantic. But one day she took a picture of him serving dinner — that was the thing that she was most grateful for that day. But she noticed something more. She noticed that the biggest piece of dessert was on her plate. This opened her eyes to the fact that the biggest piece of dessert was always placed upon her plate. She recognized that this was her seemingly unromantic husband’s way of showing his love for her.

She also felt like her vocation as a mother was a thankless job. But as she took pictures of her children holding out their hands to her, she realized how much she was needed by them.

During this year-long “project,” she found herself being lifted out of the sad rut of ingratitude

FAITH FUNDAMENTALS | FATHER MICHAEL VAN SLOUN

and found herself with a new appreciation for the small joys that bring great meaning.

She experienced what the leper experienced, and her life was saved through gratitude.

Because gratitude has the power to save our lives, it’s essential to cultivate this virtue in our lives because it doesn’t come naturally.

Parents who repeatedly remind their children to say “thank you” know how hard it is to cultivate the virtue of gratitude.

But it’s not just children who have to work at it. Adults need to work at it as well. I find it interesting that one out of the 10 lepers returned to thank Jesus. I think this reflects the ratio of grateful and ungrateful people in the world.

In other words, we all need to learn and work at being grateful.

As we practice gratitude, we too will find that our lives will change because our attitude has changed. But more important, as we grow in gratitude to God, we will find that our faith grows as well because we are being healed of an even greater sickness than leprosy: ingratitude.

Father Przybilla is pastor of St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony.

Biblical foundations of the ordained priesthood

Editor’s note: This is the 15th column in a series on the priesthood.

The ordained priesthood finds its roots in sacred Scripture in both the Old Testament — which prefigures the priesthood — and the New Testament, which traces the establishment of the priesthood.

Eucharistic Prayer I, the Roman Canon, mentions three who offered sacrifice: Abel the just; Abraham, our father in faith; and the high priest Melchizedek. Abel brought an offering to the Lord, one of the best firstlings of his flock, and the Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering (Gn 4:4). Abraham bound his son Isaac and put him on top of the wood of the altar and was prepared to slaughter his son (Gn 22:9-10), and his faith showed that he feared God (Gn 22:12). Melchizedek, a priest of God, brought out bread and wine and offered them to God (Gn 14:18). All three made offerings that were pleasing to God, and they prefigure ordained priests who offer the sacrifice of the Mass.

The priesthood of Aaron and his sons, the service of the Levites, and the institution of the 70 elders also prefigure the ordained priesthood of the New Covenant (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1541). God told Moses to ordain Aaron and his sons as priests to serve God, and the ordination rituals are described in Exodus 29:4-9 and Leviticus chapter eight. Moses “poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head, thus consecrating him” (Lv 8:12). “Moses likewise brought forward Aaron’s sons” (Lv 8:13). Then they offered sacrifices (Lv 8:14-36).

The Levites are members of the tribe of Levi, one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Not all Levites were

KNOWtheSAINTS

All three made offerings that were pleasing to God, and they prefigure ordained priests who offer the sacrifice of the Mass.

priests, but only the descendants of Aaron (Nm 3:10). It was their duty to carry the ark of the covenant, be in attendance and minister to the Lord, and give blessings in his name, as described in Deuteronomy 10:8. The priests were set aside for religious duties: to care for the meeting tent, the sanctuary, and its furnishings (Nm 1:50-53; 3:21-38), and to teach the law (Dt 33:10).

The 70 elders also prefigure the ordained priesthood. God directed Moses, “Assemble for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know for true elders and authorities among the people” (Nm 11:16). God continued, “I will take some of the spirit that is upon you and will confer it on them” (Nm 11:17). “As the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied” (Nm 11:25), and as the elders prophesied, priests speak in God’s name.

Jesus himself instituted the ministerial priesthood at the Last Supper when, after he offered the bread, his body, and the wine, his blood, he instructed his Apostles to “do this in memory of me” (Lk 22:19; see also 1 Cor 11:2425), and with his words, Jesus, the great high priest (Heb 4:14), commissioned his Apostles to continue his ministry as his priests.

There are other instances when Jesus commissioned his Apostles to serve on his behalf. When Jesus named his 12 Apostles, he did so that “he might send them forth to preach and to have the authority to drive out demons” (Mk 3:14-15; see also Mk 6:7), and “to cure every disease and every illness” (Mt 10:1). After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to the Apostles and said, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (Jn 20:21). To equip them for their ministry, Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the holy Spirit” (Jn 20:22), and then he commissioned them to forgive sins (Jn 20:23). Finally, before Jesus ascended to heaven, he told his Apostles, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mt 28:18). To carry out their mission, Jesus bestowed on them a share of his power, so they could “Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them … teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). Through the sacrament of holy orders, priests share in the mission that Christ entrusted to the apostles (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1565).

Father Van Sloun is the director of clergy personnel for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

ST. LUKE (d. c. 84) Early historians said this author of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles was born to a pagan family in Antioch (Turkey) and converted to Christianity. According to Paul’s letters and Acts, he was a doctor and Paul’s companion during his later journeys and imprisonment in Rome. Luke’s New Testament writings in Greek were for gentiles, extending to them the salvation promised to Israel. He is the patron of physicians and surgeons and, because of a legend that he painted a Marian icon, of painters. His feast day is Oct. 18.

DAILY

Sunday, Oct. 12

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

2 Kgs 5:14-17

2 Tim 2:8-13 Lk 17:11-19

Monday, Oct. 13

Rom 1:1-7 Lk 11:29-32

Tuesday, Oct. 14

Rom 1:16-25 Lk 11:37-41

Wednesday, Oct. 15

St. Teresa of Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church

Rom 2:1-11 Lk 11:42-46

Thursday, Oct. 16

Rom 3:21-30 Lk 11:47-54

Friday, Oct. 17

St. Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr Rom 4:1-8 Lk 12:1-7

Saturday, Oct. 18

St. Luke, evangelist

2 Tim 4:10-17b Lk 10:1-9

Sunday, Oct. 19

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ex 17:8-13

2 Tim 3:14—4:2 Lk 18:1-8

Monday, Oct. 20

Rom 4:20-25 Lk 12:13-21

Tuesday, Oct. 21

Rom 5:12, 15b, 17-19, 20b-21 Lk 12:35-38

Wednesday, Oct. 22

Rom 6:12-18 Lk 12:39-48

Thursday, Oct. 23

Rom 6:19-23 Lk 12:49-53

Friday, Oct. 24

Rom 7:18-25a Lk 12:54-59

Saturday, Oct. 25

Rom 8:1-11 Lk 13:1-9

Sunday, Oct. 26

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sir 35:12-14, 16-18

2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18 Lk 18:9-14

BRIDGING FAITH | DEACON MICKEY FRIESEN

Missionaries of hope in the footsteps of St. Paul

As we mark the 175th anniversary of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis this year, we get to honor our history, our patron and our own place in the Holy Spirit’s continuing mission of this local Church.

In the months ahead, I will write a series of reflections on how we truly do walk in the footsteps of St. Paul. The missionary journeys of Paul in the Bible find echoes in the history of mission in our archdiocese, which is named after St. Paul and can illuminate our own missionary discipleship today. At the end of this year of reflections, there will be a missionary pilgrimage to Greece and Turkey in the footsteps of St. Paul in September 2026. More information on the pilgrimage can be found in a link to this column as it appears on The Catholic Spirit website, thecatholicspirit.com.

Paul’s three missionary journeys are chronicled in the Acts of the Apostles. He followed in the footsteps of Peter and the early Apostles who recognized the Holy Spirit leading them beyond the Jewish world. The same Spirit that revealed to Peter that “God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34) inspired Paul to proclaim Christ to the gentiles. In fact, it is at this point that he gave up using his Hebrew name, Saul, and started to go by his Greco-Roman name of Paul. Paul was not a name that came from his conversion. Rather, Paul is the name that people in the Greco-Roman world would recognize.

Paul began his mission with an intent to bring Christ into their world — to use their language and adapt to the situations of those he was evangelizing. As he said in his first letter to the Corinthians, “To the Jews, I became like a Jew … to the weak, I became weak … I have become all things

The footsteps of the missionary spirit of Sts. Peter and Paul inspired the first missionary pilgrims who planted the Church in Minnesota. The mission parish of St. Paul was named as a complement to the original mission parish of St. Peter in what is now Mendota. Father Lucien Galtier founded the new community down the river and reflected, ‘the name of Paul is generally connected with that of Peter and with the gentiles. … I called it St. Paul. Henceforth, we could call him our protector, and for apostolic life could I desire for a better pattern?’

to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:20-23). In the same way that Peter recognized the Spirit opening the Church to the world, Paul adapted the Gospel message to be effective and relatable in the communities he missioned.

The footsteps of the missionary spirit of Sts. Peter and Paul inspired the first missionary pilgrims who planted the Church in Minnesota. The mission parish of St. Paul was named as a complement to the original mission parish of St. Peter in what is now Mendota. Father Lucien Galtier founded the new community down the river and reflected, “the name of Paul is generally connected with that of Peter and with the gentiles. … I called it St. Paul. Henceforth, we could call him our protector, and for apostolic life could I desire for a better pattern?” It was Peter’s inspiration and Paul’s pattern of enculturating the Gospel in mission that

TWENTY SOMETHING | CHRISTINA CAPECCHI

Music,

inspired the early missionary priest, Father Augustin Ravoux, to dedicate himself to learning the language and ways of the Dakota Sioux people, to open up ways of communicating the Gospel in spite of the counter weights of forces threatening the Dakota people off their land and creating animosity with European immigrants. He produced a book of prayers and a catechism titled, “Wakantanka Tiik e Tanku” or “The Path to the House of God.” Father Ravoux suffered great difficulties in walking this path on the frontier of St. Paul.

The mission of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has often been impacted by waves of newcomers coming from many shores, many languages and ways of life. Drawing on the spirit of opening the heart of the Church to the world and enculturating the Gospel message is still needed. The Shrine of the Nations, located in the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, features patron saints of ethnic

like mercy, streaming down the river

It began as a low hum on the horizon, barely perceptible. Then a pulsing rhythm rose from the river — the brass and beat of a live band drifting through the humid summer air. The Capitol was coming.

The steamboat curved along the Mississippi River like a grand dame entering a ballroom — confident, luminous, utterly composed. Lights blinked along her decks. A calliope sang out, bold and cheerful, steam puffing into twilight. She rounded the bend at Pickerel Lake and made her way to downtown St. Paul, her paddle wheel churning a white froth behind her.

She was a showpiece of her time — multi-tiered, whitewashed, trimmed with gingerbread woodwork and glowing lanterns. At 280 feet long, she was the largest sternwheel passenger steamer on the

mighty Mississippi — a floating ballroom where couples danced and romanced. Fate Marable led his band through lively two-steps and bluesy waltzes. Songs like “Frankie and Johnny” and “When the Saints Go Marching In” filled the air. A young trumpeter named Louis Armstrong blasted his horn toward the river.

Up on the bluffs, porches stirred to life. Screen doors creaked open. Neighbors leaned against railings, drawn to the music that swelled and swung — jazzy, syncopated, alive. Trombone. Saxophone. Clarinet. The sound carried, echoing off the limestone and lilacs. It wasn’t just background. It was an invitation. You could feel the music in your chest. It stirred the river. It stirred something else, too.

Those who heard it from above would never forget it — the surprise of music rising from the water, unexpected and unearned. The Capitol began its circuit in the 1920s and continued into the 1930s, the height of the Great Depression, reminding

riverside residents that some gifts are free, and the simplest pleasures are often the sweetest.

One of those residents was Mary Ellen Flynn, a redheaded girl in St. Paul — my grandma. The Great Depression had forced her family to relocate, shuttering their general store and leaving behind their beloved small-town community in Beardsley to move into her grandparents’ house in St. Paul. It was a time of loss, uncertainty and role reversals. Grandma’s mom found a job before her dad did. Grandma remembers being home with him, doing the dishes side by side before their evening rosary.

There, on the bluffs of the Mississippi, my grandmother heard The Capitol and felt God’s nearness — music, like mercy, streaming down the river. She didn’t know then that music would soothe and sustain her for many decades to come.

Soon she would land on a piano bench and discover an ability to play songs by ear. The skill would serve her the rest of

groups from Europe who settled the area, and serves as a reminder that the work of Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, continues through every age. The Church still calls us to live in the spirit of Acts to make Jesus known and loved by accompanying, loving and serving those who still come here. As St. Paul learned and taught, “We are many members, but one Body in Christ” (1 Cor 12:12).

On this World Mission Sunday, we renew our commitment to live with the same missionary spirit that animated Sts. Peter and Paul and the hope that sent missionary pilgrims to the place we know as St. Paul. We still need living bridges of faith to proclaim the good news of Christ to each generation and to be missionaries of hope to all nations.

Deacon Friesen is director of the Center for Mission, which supports missionary outreach of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He can be reached at friesenm@archspm.org.

her life — as a kindergarten teacher, as a mother of six, as a Girl Scout troop leader, as a widow fending off loneliness, as a volunteer, as a neighbor, as a 95-year-old great-grandmother today.

Her upright Kohler and Campbell piano anchors our extended family, one point in the living-room triangle it forms with the fireplace and picture window. We gather around it for holidays and birthdays, Grandma perched on the piano bench, plucking out spirited marches and patriotic hymns, Christmas carols and “Peter Cottontail.”

Like her Catholic faith, music has always been a balm. “Throughout my long life,” Grandma said, “I have been guided and protected by an amazing God, who has loved and understood and forgiven me every step of my journey.”

God reached her wherever she was and however he could — in the classroom, in the kitchen, even on the river, curving around the bend and pulsing in her heart.

Capecchi is a freelance writer from Grey Cloud Island.

Creating new traditions this holiday season

I realize the holiday season is weeks away, but I want to propose a challenge for all Catholics in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The challenge is to begin talking and thinking about traditions families can develop between Nov. 30, the first Sunday of Advent, and Jan. 6, the Epiphany.

The new tradition: Refrain from shopping on Sundays, attend morning Mass together and spend the day as a family. Think about cutting back on all holiday shopping.

After Mass, go to a coffee shop and sit together for a half hour, simply to enjoy each other’s company. No rushing and no phones allowed.

The tradition could include cutting back on sports on Sundays and deciding to go to a movie or engage in some other activity that everyone can enjoy. One thought: Visit a Christmas tree farm and cut down your own tree.

The tradition could be choosing a different museum in the Twin Cities to visit each Sunday, then going home for dinner and talking about favorite parts of the visit. Don’t purchase anything at the museum store in favor of learning about and enjoying what the museum has to offer. If a gift springs to mind, add it to a Christmas wish list.

ALREADY/NOT YET | JONATHAN LIEDL

The tradition could be, if the weather is cold and snowy, to be outdoors on Sundays. Go sledding at a favorite hill or skating on a lake.

The tradition could be to invite members of your extended family, or friends, to Sunday night dinners, with a game night afterward.

The new tradition could be Christmas caroling with other families, printing out the words to favorite songs to make it easy to participate, and making a final stop at the house for cocoa and cookies.

Another idea: Start today and have everyone earn money, or save money, to

The sin that shrinks the soul

Presumption is a funny sort of sin.

Most sins are about having a disordered relationship with some other object. Gluttony, for instance, involves eating food in a disordered way; hate consists of not willing the good of another person as we ought to; and sloth is failing to do one’s duty. Presumption, by contrast, is the sin of having a disordered relationship with our sin.

The definition of presumption that I’m most familiar with is an attitude that takes God’s mercy for granted, thereby downplaying the gravity of sin or the importance of making amends for it. Presumption, on this account, leads one to think that they will be forgiven without truly being repentant. A classic example is choosing to sin on the basis that one can just go to confession after the fact. This is nothing short of an abuse of God’s mercy. Presumption certainly includes this element. But during Bishop Andrew Cozzens’ recent talk at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana (which I call the crossroads of American Catholicism, because everyone seems to pass through), the sin of presumption was addressed from a different angle: namely, not just as a sin against God’s mercy, but as a sin against hope.

As Bishop Cozzens articulated, the

adopt a family for Christmas. Provide gifts and a meal and go shopping together.

As new traditions form, children can witness the fun their parents have together, which will provide a living witness to the importance of laughing, relaxing and playing with one another. It will be important to keep the new traditions within budget, set low expectations, and include time for interesting, unplanned events that might arise.

Traditions hold families together. They can create wonderful, life-giving memories of holiday seasons. What if you started this

month to plan new traditions that can bind your family together for years to come?

Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist emeritus and a member of St.

ACTION STRATEGIES

• Think about traditions to create for the Advent and Christmas seasons.

• Include everyone in the family.

Instead of fostering magnanimity, the sin of presumption fosters something else: pusillanimity, or ‘smallness of soul.’ It is a denial not only of our vocation to greatness, but also of God’s power to transform our lives. Because while God of course is always extending us his mercy, he is also reaching out to transform our humanity to its full potential.

supernatural virtue of hope involves not only humility, or the recognition of our complete dependence upon God, but also magnanimity. That’s not a word we use a lot, but the “magna” part of it should be a hint (i.e., think “magna carta” or “magna cum laude”).

In short, magnanimity means being “great souled.” To be magnanimous means to strive for excellence. It means not being content with mediocrity. And in the spiritual life, being magnanimous means cooperating with divine grace to root out sin from your life so you can be the person who God made you to be.

Think of Mary’s bold “fiat” — “let it be done” — in response to God’s invitation to be the mother of God. Or St. Ignatius of Loyola’s exhortation to his fellow Jesuit, St. Francis Xavier: “Go forth and set the world on fire.” Or Pope Benedict XVI’s famous message at his inaugural homily in 2005: “The world offers you comfort, but

you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.”

These are all instances of magnanimity, which St. Thomas Aquinas defined as a quality that “makes a man deem himself worthy of great things in consideration of the gifts he holds from God.”

But the sin of presumption cuts magnanimity off at the knees. It not only presumes of God’s mercy without the need to repent, but it also implicitly denies that God is calling each of us to greatness. Instead, it makes us content to accept our mediocrity — and not in a humble way. One who is indulging in presumption may think something like, “My attachment to sin is too strong, and God is merciful anyway, so there’s no need for me to try to grow in virtue. I’m good as is.”

Sound lame? It is. Instead of fostering magnanimity, the sin of presumption fosters something else: pusillanimity, or “smallness of soul.” It is a denial not only

of our vocation to greatness, but also of God’s power to transform our lives. Because while God of course is always extending us his mercy, he is also reaching out to transform our humanity to its full potential. As St. Irenaeus once said, “The glory of God is man fully alive.”

Presumption, on the other hand, keeps us content with mediocrity. It makes us like the Israelites who preferred the convenience of slavery in Egypt to enduring the hardships of the desert on the way to the Promised Land.

We have been made for so much more than the lackluster indifference of presumption. St. Paul put it best in a Sunday reading from earlier this month: “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather of power and love and selfcontrol.”

That’s the spirit of magnanimity. And it contains within it the antidote to presumption: remembering — and recommitting — to the fact that God has made you for greatness and is pouring out his graces upon you to help you get there.

Liedl lives in South Bend, Indiana, and is senior editor for the National Catholic Register.

WHY I AM CATHOLIC

BY ALEX HARMS

My journey started over 20 years ago. I married my wonderful cradle Catholic wife, Gretchen, and I stayed a mix of Lutheran and Advent Christian. This allowed me to keep one foot in Catholicism and one foot out. I enjoyed the men’s camping trips, Mass every Sunday, and volunteering at my kids’ Catholic school in Webster, where all five kids went.

But when it came to taking time out of my day to help educate and coach the kids on Catholicism, I bowed out and found something else to do. Super weak!

On our October 2024 “Man Up” camping trip, one of these fine, youngish men asked me a simple question: “If you believe in all the miracles of Jesus Christ, then why not in the Eucharist?”

That question lit a fire in me. Even though I had weakly answered it many times before to others, I felt I needed to be more educated. I’m not an avid reader normally. I first grabbed “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist” by Brant Pitre. A man who would eventually become my sponsor had given it to me at least a couple years prior. He planted that seed and it just started seeing light. Understanding the significance of the

Eucharist was my biggest hurdle and I took that on directly. I left my selfish belief that I can understand everything with my five basic senses and that anything that didn’t conform, just couldn’t be.

I started reading like I had just learned how all over again. I worked through books by Madrid, Kelly, Hahn and Vogt, among others. These authors were aligning the puzzle pieces for me, and the typology lessons tying the Old and New Testaments together were great.

I joined an Exodus 90 fraternity in January 2025, and we started on (presidential) Inauguration Day. As everyone else thought the world was crumbling, we were being built up. One week in, I was listening to a “Pints with Aquinas” podcast with guest Devin Schadt on the way to work and it smacked me right in the face. To be the father my kids needed, I needed to make the decision that all this reading and all the coaching I received so far was really supporting something. I was in tears in the parking lot at work. I drafted an email to our priest, Father Michael Rudolph, about wanting to jump into the OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) program that was already running. Before sending,

I surprised my wife by having her read the email, “just to make sure it was worded correctly.” She realized what I was saying and she was ecstatic. We both were.

OCIA class a day later was awesome as I sat next to a buddy of mine and his wife. Another buddy’s wife is the religious education director. Family is everywhere I look.

I was welcomed into the Catholic Church on Divine Mercy Sunday this year and I haven’t looked back!

Harms, 46, and his wife, Gretchen, are parishioners of St. Nicholas in Elko New Market. They have two boys and three girls ages 7, 10, 13, 16 and 18 who all go or have gone to Holy Cross Catholic School in Webster. Alex works in IT and is a substitute bus driver for Holy Cross. Gretchen is a physician’s assistant and also a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd teacher at Holy Cross. They enjoy traveling the state and rooting for all of their kids’ sport teams.

“Why I am Catholic” is an ongoing series in The Catholic Spirit. Want to share why you are Catholic? Submit your story in 300-500 words to CatholicSpirit@archspm.org with subject line “Why I am Catholic.”

CALENDAR

PARISH EVENTS

Spirit and Fire Oct. 10: 6:30-8:30 p.m. at St. Rose of Lima, 2048 Hamline Ave. N., Roseville. We invite the Holy Spirit to come and dwell with us. The evening opens with a testimony or teaching, followed by a time of adoration with worship music and the opportunity for prayer ministry and confession. tinyurl. com/58u7ja9v, 651-357-1215

Fall Festival Oct. 12: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Holy Name, 3637 11th Ave. S., Minneapolis. Pancake breakfast, children’s games, country store, Eat Street, homemade ice cream, popcorn and root beer floats, plants, bingo, beer garden, pull tabs, raffle, silent auction and live music with the Jugsluggers Band. churchoftheholyname.org

St. Pascal’s Men’s Club Booya Oct. 12: 10 a.m. at St. Pascal, 1757 Conway St., St. Paul. Drive-thru sales only in the Conway Street circle until empty. No personal containers. 48 oz. containers sold for $20. Proceeds benefit St. Pascal Regional Catholic School and parish needs. Come quickly, it sells out fast! stpascals.org

Treasure Hunt aka Church Rummage Sale Oct. 15-18: at Sacred Heart, 4087 W. Broadway Ave., Door #8, Robbinsdale. Great opportunity to donate gently used clothing, household items and collectibles. Contact rusinkocarol@gmail.com or call 612-2425807. shrmn.org

Holy Childhood Rummage Sale Oct. 16-17: at 1435 Midway Parkway, St. Paul. Household, clothing, jewelry, books, puzzles, small furniture, vintage. holychildhoodparish.org/events/ rummagesale

Agape Meal for Those with Significant Loss Oct. 18: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at 2055 Bohland Ave., St. Paul. The day will include Mass, lunch and a presentation by Gene Scapanski titled “What does it mean when Jesus

ABORTION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which works to elect pro-life candidates to public office, said in a statement, “This reckless decision by the FDA to expand the availability of abortion drugs is unconscionable.”

“These dangerous drugs take the lives of unborn children, place women and underage girls at serious risk, empower abusers, and trample the pro-life laws enacted by states across the nation,” she said.

Dannenfelser, who is also Catholic, argued that “Secretary Kennedy said the Biden administration ‘twisted the data to

says: ‘Blessed are those who mourn?’” Cost: $15. tinyurl.com/2m67rtru

Southwest Deanery Council of Catholic Women Oct. 23: 5:30 p.m. at St. Patrick, 7525 Dodd Road, Faribault. The evening includes food, a speaker from Cross Catholic Outreach and an opportunity to purchase chances for fabulous prizes. Admission will be items for the Box of Joy Christmas boxes, toys, clothing, school supplies and other practical items.

WORSHIP + RETREATS

Women’s Autumn Weekend Retreats

Oct. 17-19: at 16385 Saint Francis Lane, Prior Lake. Pray among 60 acres of secluded nature with trails, gardens, a pond, a labyrinth, and outdoor Stations of the Cross, spiritual direction. franciscanretreats.net/calendar-1

Andrew Dinner Oct. 14: 6-8 p.m. at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center, 777 Forest St., St. Paul. Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Bishop Michael Izen, Bishop Kevin Kenney and Father Mark Pavlak, vocations director, invite men discerning the priesthood, ages 16-50, to attend. The evening includes prayer, dinner and conversation. 10000vocations.org

Wave of Light Oct. 15: 7-8 p.m. at Epiphany, 1900 111th Ave. NW, Coon Rapids. A candlelight ceremony dedicated to remembering and honoring babies lost to miscarriage and stillbirth. For questions, contact the parish at 763-755-1020.

Memory Care Mass (formerly Dementia Friendly Mass) Oct. 23, Dec. 11: 1:30-2:30 p.m. at St. Mary of the Lake, 4741 Bald Eagle Ave., White Bear Lake. A special Mass for people living with dementia, family members and their caregivers. The Mass is shorter in length and held in the chapel. Hospitality and fellowship after Mass. stmarys-wbl.org

bury one of the safety signals.’ Secretary Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Makary assured Congress and the American people they would conduct a thorough review given credible evidence of the harm inflicted by these drugs. The prompt completion of the review is made more urgent given this approval to flood the market with a cheap abortion drug.”

“The FDA must, at a minimum, immediately reinstate the commonsense safeguards that were in place during President Trump’s first term,” she said.

The Evita Solutions generic is the second approved generic pill for mifepristone. The first generic pill for abortion — from

Archbishop’s Discernment Retreat

Oct. 24-26: at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 S. First Ave., Buffalo. This annual discernment retreat is for men who are juniors in high school through age 24, do not have a college degree and are interested in the priesthood. 10000vocations.org

SPEAKERS + SEMINARS

Fall Sidewalk Ministry Training Seminar Oct. 21: 7-9 p.m. at Holy Family Catholic Church, 5900 West Lake St., St. Louis Park. Prayer, literature and words of truth in love outside local abortion facilities. Presented by Pro-Life Action Ministries. To register: gary.gillet@plam.org or 651-797-6366. tinyurl.com/yjwcyff6

Called to Witness: Living the Gospel in Public Life Oct. 23: 6:30 p.m. at Mary, Mother of the Church, 3333 Cliff Road E., Burnsville. In today’s complex political and cultural landscape, how are Catholics called to engage in the public square? Maggee Hangge from the Minnesota Catholic Conference will present on how to promote a consistent ethic of life. mmotc.org

OTHER EVENTS

Service of Remembrance: For Those Who Lost a Child Before Birth Oct. 11: 10 a.m. at Resurrection Cemetery, 2101 Lexington Ave. S., Mendota Heights. Registration is required. tinyurl.com/497uhdhn

ONGOING GROUPS

Restorative Support for Victims-Survivors Monthly: 6:30-8 p.m. via Zoom. Open to all victims-survivors. Victim-survivor support group for those abused by clergy as adults first Mondays. Support group for relatives or friends of victims of clergy sexual abuse second Mondays. Victimsurvivor support group third Mondays. Survivor

GenBioPro — was approved in 2019, during the first Trump presidency.

Prior to Evita Solutions’ announcement, GenBioPro claimed to have cornered twothirds of the U.S. market for mifepristone.

In comments posted on X, Kennedy said, “The Biden administration removed mifepristone’s in-person dispensing rule without studying the safety risks. We are filling that gap.”

Kennedy said he and FDA Commissioner Martin Makary last month sent a letter to state attorneys general “pledging to review all the evidence — including real-world outcomes — on the safety of this drug. Recent studies already point to serious risks

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CHIROPRACTOR

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FINANCIAL PLANNERS

Win-A-Key to Unlock Your Retirement Income http://www.yourretirementkeys.com/ Susan Wieneke financial advisor SJBG

CALENDAR submissions

DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. We cannot guarantee a submitted event will appear in the calendar. Priority is given to events occurring before the issue date.

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Peace Circle third Tuesdays. Support group for men who have been sexually abused by clergy/religious fourth Wednesdays. Support group for present and former employees of faith-based institutions who have experienced abuse in any of its many forms second Thursdays. Visit archspm.org/healing or contact Paula Kaempffer, outreach coordinator for restorative justice and abuse prevention, at kaempfferp@archspm.org or 651-291-4429.

when mifepristone is used without proper medical oversight.”

Kennedy claimed the FDA “only approved a second generic mifepristone tablet because federal law requires approval when an application proves the generic is identical to the brand-name drug.”

Approved by the FDA for early abortion in 2000, mifepristone — the first of two drugs used in a medication-based abortion — gained the moniker “the abortion pill.” However, the same drug combination has been used sometimes in recent years for miscarriage care, where an unborn child has already passed, a situation that Catholic teaching would hold as morally licit use.

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MORTGAGE LOANS

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Residential Mortgage Lending in MN & WI Conventional, FHA and VA NMLS #422758 Christopher.Burr@rcu.org 651-202-1367

PAINTING

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THELASTWORD

Father Zehren: Grateful for prayers as Annunciation heals from fatal shooting

The Catholic Spirit

Father Dennis Zehren, pastor of Annunciation in Minneapolis, delivered the homily at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul for a Sept. 27 Memorial Mass for the victims, their families and others impacted by the shooting exactly one month earlier at Annunciation’s church during an all-school Mass. Father Zehren expressed gratitude for the community’s support, and he noted that praying for others can bring greater faith and hope to everyone including those doing the praying. He prayed for the two students who lost their lives, Fletcher Merkel and Harper Moyski, and for the injured, including Lydia Kaiser and Sophia Forchas. A story about the Memorial Mass is on Page 7. The homily follows, lightly edited for length and clarity:

May the comfort of Jesus be with all who have gathered here today, all the good and faithful people, followers of Jesus all across the archdiocese. May the comfort of Jesus be with Archbishop (Bernard) Hebda and Bishop (Michael) Izen and all my brother priests and deacons, all of the good and faithful followers of Jesus around the world.

You have been such a strength, such a source of comfort to us all, that we pray that that same comfort of Jesus would now return back to you. As St. Paul writes, you who have sown generously, may you also reap generously the great comfort of Jesus that you have shown us. May you come to know that, too, in your hearts. My name is Father Dennis Zehren. I am the pastor at Annunciation parish and school. This past month at Annunciation has been a stark reminder of that old maxim that when one suffers, we all suffer. We have been so blessed, so grateful for all of the ways you have helped us to carry the sorrows, that you have been drawing near to those families who have been grieving and injured and wounded. We’re so grateful for the ways that you have helped us carry this cross and draw near to the presence of Jesus in the midst of our suffering.

But we also know that the converse of that maxim is true, that when one is raised up, then we all are raised up. And so that’s where we fix our sights now. We have been praying that Fletcher and Harper be raised up, be raised up above all of the sorrows and darkness and sin of this world, that they would be raised above and transcend it all. And as they are raised up, that we too could be raised up to a little greater faith, a little greater hope. And it’s true, it’s the case that when we commend somebody to heaven, then heaven more becomes our home. We understand better where we’re supposed to be heading. And when we commend our loved ones to God, then God becomes more real for us. We hear God’s voice more clearly in our own lives. We understand God’s mission in each one of our lives. So, as we pray that Harper and Fletcher are lifted up, we pray that we also would be lifted up in that mission. And we pray the same thing for Sophia, that she would be raised up from that hospital bed and from those physical therapy tables.

Talitha koum, that’s what I’ve been praying for Sophia, talitha koum. It comes from the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, where Jesus raises that little girl from the dead. Talitha koum, which means “little girl, arise.” And it’s been wondrous, miraculous to see how Sophia has been raised up. And every time we hear good news, how she takes another step and is raised up a little higher, we too are raised up a little higher to know the wonders

of God working in our midst. Times like this will always be difficult. Times like this, we begin to think about things we’ve never thought about before. Maybe we ask questions that we’ve never asked before. We feel emotions we’ve never felt before. We remember things we haven’t thought about for a long time. Times like this are difficult, but it’s also times like this that we experience the presence of God in ways that maybe we’ve never experienced before. God is truly in our midst and working wonders among us. We’re so grateful for your cooperation (in) answering the call of Jesus in your own lives.

Our second reading came from the First Letter of John that reminds us that we are all God’s children now, and Jesus is always inviting us to become like children. We certainly have had no shortage of insight this past month to consider what that means as we watch the children at Annunciation, as we reflect on the lives of Fletcher and Harper and Sophia. We’ve been gaining some insight of what Jesus means, that we are all to become like children. Maybe one aspect that we could reflect on is how the gift of a child is always fresh. It’s always new. It’s something that we should not neglect to reflect on, that Harper and Fletcher will always be young. They will never grow old. That’s not an insignificant thing, that we have this gift in our life that just will never grow old, we’ll never grow tired of it, in this world where we face everyday things that just weary us. We read in the news about other acts of violence. We hear all of the divisive rhetoric

to love one another. But we also have an obligation to make ourselves as lovable as possible so that it’s easy for others to love us.

How often can we say that we’re trying to make ourselves more lovable? Sometimes I see somebody, and I think, “I don’t think that guy even wants to be loved, the way he’s being.” Can we just try to be a little more lovable so that it’s easier for people to love us? What a gift of a childlike spirit that would be. Maybe another final aspect to reflect on as we reflect on the lives of the children is to consider one of the greatest experiences of childhood, and that’s the experience of falling asleep in the car and waking up in your bed.

Maybe you remember that from your childhood. You’ve been on a long road trip. You fall asleep in the car before you know it, and your eyes open. There you are in your comfortable bed. And that question starts to rise up in your heart: How did I get here? But then you don’t even finish the question because you know how you got there. It was the strong arms of your father. The strong arms of your parent lifted you out of that car and brought you to a place of rest.

and the nastiness, and we just say, “I’m so tired of it. I’m so weary of it all.” There’s so much that just wearies us.

But to have that gift in our life that will never grow old, what a precious gift that is. I was ordained a priest in 2004 right here by Archbishop Harry Flynn, and he was known for repeating, “I will never get tired of saying, the body of Christ, the body of Christ, the body of Christ. If I say that a thousand times a week, I will never grow tired of saying that.” I think you all know what that’s like. To have that gift of God in our lives. It just never grows old. We never get weary of it. We come to Mass; we don’t get tired of it. It keeps refreshing us and lifting us up. The word of God never grows old for us. There’s always something new. So that gift of Harper and Fletcher points us to that in this world that tries to weary us. It’s that gift that will never grow old, and we cling to that.

Maybe another aspect of being childlike in the eyes of Jesus is just being lovable. Children are just so cute and lovable. It’s been fun listening to the stories of Fletcher and Harper and how lovable they were. Fletcher’s mother says that Fletcher was the fletchiest Fletcher that ever fletched. It sounds like he was such an outpouring of life and love as little boys can be. And Harper, I hear, was a perfect mix of sweet and spicy, and she was full of life, too. They were just so lovable. And so, to become childlike means that we should try to be more lovable. There was a theologian from the 12th century, William of Saint-Thierry, who once said we all have an obligation

And that’s how I’ve been imagining Harper and Fletcher, that they fell asleep in the church that day. And when their vision was restored, maybe they asked themselves, “It’s so beautiful. How did we get here?” But they didn’t even have to answer that question because they knew that it was the strong arms of God that lifted them above all of this and is bringing them to a place of rest. So, can we experience that a little more in our lives? That’s what we’ve been experiencing at Annunciation this past month. We started out as such a place of sorrow and tragedy. Now we look at it, we’re in a different place.

And all of the blessings that have come to us, school is open and humming again. We’re gathering together for Mass. Sometimes we wonder, how did we get here? But we know it’s been the loving arms of our God lifting us and carrying us all the way. Thanks to your support and prayers working through the body of Christ in our midst. So, we continue on our journey. We continue focusing on the mission. And I often remind people that we all have to die before we die. There’s just no other way to do it. Dying should not be something we reserve for the final moments of our life. Every day, we should be laying down (our) lives for Jesus and for one another. Every day, we should be saying, “Here I am, Lord, take me as you will.” Every day, we should be saying, “Jesus, I trust in you.” Every day, we should be listening for that voice of Jesus so that one day when he calls each one of us finally home, we can say, “I know that voice. That’s the voice of my savior. Here. I’m not afraid. I will follow him,” and he will bring us safely home.

It’s so blessed to be with all of you here in this archdiocese on that mission. And together, we will continue to pray and we will continue to trust. We will continue to come back to this gift that never wearies us, never grows old. We continue to trust. Until one day soon, we can all be reunited again in one place where all our tears will be wiped away and the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to us will be revealed.