Beloved Family:
Understandably, at certain points of the year— Thanksgiving weekend being one of them—the company who manages and prints our bulletins, LPI, needs to go to print earlier than usual. Therefore, there is the potential that between the time that I write my column and the time parishioners are reading it, including online, events have taken place in the Church and in the world that the reader may find strange not to have been mentioned here. Thanks for understanding.
First, I want to mention that last weekend, eight young people from Saint Mary, accompanied by adults including youth minister Michaela, participated in the National Catholic Youth Conference out in Saint Louis Missouri. The event included a livestream with Pope Leo. I am sure that added a new dimension to the overall experience. Please pray that these young men and young ladies, and their peers in the parish and throughout the country, will continue to walk with Christ and allow him to be the King of their hearts!
This is a year where the weekend following Thanksgiving marks the First Sunday of Advent. With many traveling, it is possible that a considerable number of us will begin the season at worship with a faith community other than our own. I pray that wherever you are participating at Mass, it will be nourishing. A reminder that this year, the preaching of the Sundays of Advent will take a special approach (as noted in the Advent flier): what we refer to as “preaching the Kerygma,” or core message of the Gospel). Each weekend, one of the priests or deacons will preach at all the Masses of that weekend). For the sake of sequence, those absent for any of the four Sundays of Advent may want to check out the livestream, which is available on YouTube. Remember: we stream both the 8 am and 11 am Sunday Masses.
Several Catholic news outlets have recently been highlighting the situation of mass persecution of Christians in Nigeria. I offer the excerpt below, from ETWN. Bear in mind that it is over one year old and so does not reflect further incidents that have taken place since.
By Tyler Arnold Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 3, 2024 / 18:05 pm (CNA).
A new report has found that ethnic and religious violence in Nigeria has claimed the lives of nearly 56,000 people in the West African country over four years — and the victims were disproportionately Christian.
The report, published by The Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa, found more than 11,000 incidents of extreme violence from October 2019 through September of 2023. The violence left 55,910 people dead in 9,970 deadly attacks — as well as 21,621 people abducted in 2,705 attacks.
The total number includes civilian deaths, terror group deaths, and Nigerian Armed Forces deaths. Of the total deaths, 30,880 were civilians.
Of the civilians, at least 16,769 Christians were killed, 6,235 Muslims were killed and 154 adherents of traditional African religions were killed. The religions of 7,722 victims are unknown.
The proportional loss for Christians, however, was much higher in the states where the attacks occurred. In terms of state populations, the report found that Christians were 6.5 times more likely to be killed in the violence. Similarly, when accounting for state populations, Christians were 5.1 times more likely to be victims of abduction.
“Millions of people are left undefended,” Frans Vierhout, a senior analyst at The Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa, said in a statement.
“For years, we’ve heard of calls for help being ignored, as terrorists attack vulnerable communities,” he added. “Now the data tells its own story.”
Let His Peace be with you,
Fr. Stephen
