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Sunday, August 31, 2025
Hello folks,
The Lord be with you all!
As this bulletin goes to print, we have heard about the deadly shooting of school children while attending Mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. Amidst the numerous acts of violence against innocent people, this one feels close to home because of it happening at Mass and at the beginning this new academic year. We meet the tragedy with humility, not being able to understand it. I pray for those who died, and for the comfort and consolation of their families and friends. I pray also for those who have been traumatized by the tragedy: for their healing. I pray also for the shooter that he might have had a moment of repentance before his death, and for his family who will surely struggle and suffer greatly over all this too. I urge you all to join me in praying for a grace of conversion of heart and mind for anyone who would harbor such violent tendencies. We always pray for the conversion of sinners, because the Lord does not want the sinner to die but to turn back to Him and live. The Lord suffered and died a horrible, violent death because of my sins, because of our sins. Let us pray that we might turn to Him with our whole hearts and finally be instruments of His healing love in a broken and confused society.
I hate to switch to the more regular things that I had intended to write about in this column, but let me briefly mention that the plan for moving back into the Church at Saint John’s is on track. Following the 9am Mass on Sunday, September 7, we will move the altar and tabernacle and some other items back into the church, and we will probably want some help from those attending Mass.
The Collaborative brunch will go ahead as planned the following Sunday (September 14) following the 9am Mass. We are still distributing (free) tickets for those who believe they will be in attendance. We are also still enrolling volunteers to help. Some jobs might be for ten minutes, others for much longer. Please check the website for more details. If considering volunteering, remember that it is more important to go to Mass than to help with the brunch! Some help is outside of Mass time, and people who will have to prepare during the 9am Mass will hopefully attend another Mass that weekend (perhaps on Saturday evening or the 7:30am). Last year’s event was great, and this year we will have the additional joy of seeing several improvements to the church at Saint John’s.
I am postponing until next week the further discussion of vocations that I mentioned last week would be coming in these weeks.
The tragic events in Minneapolis remind us that we never know “the day nor the hour” when we shall be called forth from this life. In the Gospel today, the Lord simply instructs us to spend our riches or time on “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” (think of who is in genuine need of your help in our day), and “you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Let’s try to take His Word to heart and live as He shows us.
God bless,
Father Maher
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