Dear Parishioners,

This week we have our first faith formation Group Night. What is Group Night you ask? It is a night set aside for different groups of people to meet at the parish or even off site if it works better. These groups are focused on the faith in some way. It could be a bible study, a book group, a discussion group, a prayer group… each group will have a different focus and feel because these groups are led by different people with their own interests. This is a way for you as parishioners to take some responsibility and have some creativity of how you want to grow in your faith.

If you haven’t signed up for a group, or you want to start a group, there is still time to do so… in fact, as we go through this year, there might be a desire to start a group that meets on these ‘Group Nights’ once a month on Wednesdays. I encourage you to explore that idea. If you want to start a group, you can come up with an idea and let us know. Depending on how you envision people joining the group, we can help funnel people to your group or help people learn about your group. I am imagining that this will take some time to unfold. As I have said a few times, this is a learning process for all of us. We are really beginning and it is very exciting.

Just in case you haven’t received a copy of the Parish Newsletter, you can pick up a copy at church. The newsletter has a calendar in it that will help you know when we have ‘Formation night’ (class night for students), ‘Encounter Night’ (adoration night, for anyone), ‘Group Night’ (for the different established groups to meet). All of these nights take place from 6:15-7:30 PM on particular Wednesdays of the month. See your calendar for particulars. The one exception is Group Night, because each group is free to setup their own meeting time. We encourage the 6:15-7:30 PM time if it works because others will be meeting at that time which may make it easier. However, each group will function differently and so you need to be in touch with that group to know exactly when and where they meet. If you have a question about a group, you can get in touch with parish office and we

will try to help you: 218-546-6559.

Here is a little update on the SJ building project. Originally, we were told the stain glass windows would be coming out of the current SJ church in September, now we have been told it will happen mid-October. So we have another month or so of the windows. Once the windows are taken out, I am told they will leave the clear glass that is on the outside. So we will simply have clear windows. It will be kind of different I imagine. The Church structure should start taking shape in these next weeks. The slab has been poured and it won’t be long before they lay the first layer of blacktop. Please continue praying for the project.

I want to continue inviting people to join the OCIA process which begins Oct. 23rd at 6:30 PM. This is the process by which a person who is interested in knowing more about the Catholic Church can do so. It is a program specifically designed for those who want to become Catholic or at least are trying to discern that question. But it is open to anyone who wants to learn more about the Catholic faith. If you know someone who may be interested, get them in touch with me.

In talking with people in our parishes, I get a sense that many of you are really feeling impacted by the violence we are seeing in our country… There have been many shootings, many apparently politically charged acts of violence… and some seemingly random acts of violence. This is quite troubling, and I think we can find ourselves feeling anxious or upset by it all. What is contributing to this cultural climate of violence? There’s probably lots of factors. We have lots of mentally unstable people who are not being assisted. People who used to be helped by close-knit family structures are often falling between the cracks as the family structure of our society has been stressed and broken in many instances. We have a divided nation

politically where people have really divergent ideas of how we should fix the problems we see, and which ones should be prioritized and how we prioritize them. We have online a great deal of information being pushed through social media or other outlets that enflames anger, rage or a sense of injustice. There can be a sense of helplessness, or that the problems are too big to deal with in peaceful ways. These and other factors are creating a culture where violence is becoming more prevalent.

What is the path back to a calmer and more peaceful society? I think it will take time. This cultural struggle we have now has been fomenting for many years. It won’t just go away. It is as though our society is sick, and the virus has infected us. We are seeing the effects, and often only reacting to those effects rather than treating the cause. We as a society have created this environment, like it or not. To change, we need to address the issues. To address the issues, we need to understand what they are and what has led to them. Not everyone is in agreement on this which is part of the challenge. I think as we continue to see these violent outbursts, we will need to continue talking about it and trying to come to a common understanding of what the path forward is. Otherwise, we will continue to experience the division and collapse of the social agreement we all operate under.

In Christ,

Fr. Eli