Weekly Message
from Fr. Eli

October 11, 2026

Dear Parishioners,

      The first encounter night will be this coming Wednesday. Note that the k-5 students meet at 3:30-5 for their regular class this Wednesday. This will be the standard. Then dinner at 5:30 and adoration goes from 6:15-715 pm. This meal and encounter night is open to anyone, and parishioners are encouraged to come.

    This Thursday (Oct 22nd) at 6 pm we have a Mass at St Joseph for families who have lost a child, whether it was a miscarriage a still born or death occurred after birth. We want to pray for you and your families, even if it’s been years since it happened, we invite you to come and pray together. 

     The clergy of diocese of Duluth and the diocese of Crookston will gather on Oct 26-27 for a joint meeting, therefore there will be no daily Mass at the parish on Tuesday the 27th.

     This year the Solemnity of All Saints falls on a Sunday (Nov 1st). So, this will take the place of the 31st Sunday in ordinary time. 

     Thank you for praying for the St Joseph project. The marble altar items we were concerned about should arrive soon if not already here by the time this goes to print. We continue to make good progress. I am grateful for your help and support. We are still planning to have our dedication Mass Monday December 14th at 5:30 pm. Please mark your calendars. 

     We will be moving into the second part of our stewardship campaign. We started by inviting you to take part in the life of the parish through your time and talent. Now we will be inviting you to consider how you support the mission of your church with your treasure. We will be inviting each household to consider how you help us meet our needs. Thank you for all the ways you have supported us and the mission. I encourage you to pray about how you are participating. If you are already doing what you can that’s great. If not, then you can take time to consider increasing your financial contributions. Again, thanks for all who already giving to the parishes.

     You perhaps heard that there might be a public live stream of a federal execution occurring in our nation. What are we to think of this? While the church has accepted that in theory the death penalty may be necessary in some societies. In the modern era she has asked the question of whether it is necessary in today’s time. It is a different question to consider whether making a display or spectacle of an execution is a good thing. Understandably there does need to be proportionate consequences for crimes that are serious. In the Old Testament, the death penalty was often used or enforced. This was in a society that didn’t have a prison or even a jail system in place. However, Jesus introduces a more nuanced understanding of how to look at punishment. Even after Jesus began his church the Christian world still resorted to capital punishment in societies that were ruled by Christian rulers. The understanding was that the state had the right to put someone to death when it suited the common good and deterred crimes. The punishments of the Middle Ages and up into the modern era were often severe. The

Church often permitted these executions or punishments but would offer a chaplain to the condemned in hopes that they would be able to confess their sins and repent of any wrong. In our modern world, there doesn’t seem to be that same idea of cooperation between the state and the church. Rather the state makes its decision apart from any church. This makes some sense in a secular society.

     No doubt there is disagreement on what deserves punishment and how severe the punishment should be. But what concerns me is the nature of publicly displaying death as something to be watched. It was not an uncommon thing even a hundred years ago to see public executions in our country. Now, I think it should be asked, is this a good thing. What purpose does it serve? Are we becoming more like those who perpetrate the crimes by seeming to take a vengeful outlook on how we dole out punishment? What would Jesus do? How would he approach this question. I think it’s necessary that we ask ourselves and accept that we seem to be straying from what Jesus would tell us to do.

In Christ,
Fr. Eli