Pastor's Corner
Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time W/E 08/30/25-08/31/25
As I sit to write this letter, word has reached me from the Internet that yet another mass shooting has taken place, this time this morning at 8:30 a.m. at the Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We bow our heads in sadness and prayer for the victims, the majority of whom were children attending Mass on the first day of school at that parish. Two of the victims, both children, have died. Police have reported that the deceased children were sitting in the pews praying when a deranged gunman fired guns through the windows of the church and at the children. No words can express the horror and evil of such an act upon innocents, and we are left simply to bow our heads in hope for their rescue by God. As we pray each week for an end to gun violence, it does not seem to have an effect, but rather we are left to mourn those who are the victims of such and to pray for a speedy recovery for those, many children, who were injured. May those who have died be brought to the heavenly banquet of which Jesus speaks in this week's gospel. "Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." Saint Michael, pray for and protect children everywhere.
God Bless, Fr. Joe