The Bonds of Faith Remain Strong and Vibrant

April 1, 2020
Dear Friends in Christ,
I continue my weekly letter to you - our parishioners and friends as we experience together a new and challenging reality brought on by this global health crisis. The United States has been hit hard, as we now have the most confirmed cases of Coronavirus in the world. National leaders have begun preparing citizens that the next 2-3 weeks may be particularly difficult. Minnesota, Wisconsin and many other states are under stay safe at home orders. United in faith with all of you, I ask you to join me in prayer for all those suffering from the effects of the Coronavirus and for a mitigation of the crisis here and throughout the world. All of you remain in my prayers during this challenging time.

Here at Our Lady of Lourdes, the bonds of our faith remain strong and vibrant, amidst this time of physical separation. We are a community united in Christ and united in faith and we will emerge from this crisis a stronger and more compassionate community. Having been called to embrace a particular charism of healing – inspired by our patron – Our Lady of Lourdes – our community has a special role to bring healing to our wounded Church and world now, and in the aftermath of the pandemic. Below, I outline several steps we are taking at Lourdes to remain connected in prayer, connected to you, and in service of those who are suffering most acutely on the margins of our society.

Prayer and Communications – Many Lourdes parishioners have deepened their prayer at this time. There are great resources available on our Lourdes website – lourdesmpls.org. I encourage you to pray the Stations of the Cross this Friday and to enter into the many other forms of prayer available to you, including on-line rosaries and devotions.

Signs of Faith – In this time of physical distancing, small signs of our connectedness and faith are very important. Last weekend, we lit a candle near the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in church that will be a sign of our personal and collective prayer as Catholics. Fred Schilling had the good idea of lighting our small pine tree with blue lights to signal our prayers through St. Mary, our Mother in Faith. Nancy Casey had the good idea of placing signs of hope and faith on our parish campus that will inspire parishioners, neighbors, and friends.

Church Opened for Prayer – Beginning today and throughout the month of April, the Church will be open Monday – Friday for personal prayer from 2 – 4 p.m. The attendance will be closely monitored so that no more than 10 people are in the church at any given time. We ask you to abide by social distancing while you are in the church. I thank Fred Schilling and other neighbors who are working together to make this important opportunity happen.

Staff Connecting with Parishioners – Beginning this week, staff began calling parishioners of the parish to check in to see how you are doing and to offer our pledge of support and prayer. If not available for the call, staff will plan to leave a message. Thank you to Mary Asp for organizing this outreach and to our staff who are making this important connection via phone.

Live Streamed Masses – Beginning this Sunday, we will live stream our Palm Sunday Mass at 10:00 a.m. on our parish website. Information for Holy Week schedule is forthcoming. Confessions will continue to be heard Saturday afternoon 3:00 – 3:30 in the courtyard throughout the month of April.

Financial Support and Outreach – The crisis has posed a significant financial challenge for the parish as decreased Sunday giving has made meeting our commitments very difficult. We are launching a new United in Faith appeal to help close our growing financial gap and to fund our ongoing mission and paid staff. This includes Text to Give, EFT and other ways to give. At the same time, the parish remains committed to helping those most in need – the poor and marginalized. To that end, financial support has been extended to our Tijuana Mission and others suffering on the margins.

This is a time of heightened anxiety for all as we navigate these uncharted waters of global unhealth and its attendant effects. As Pope Francis said beautifully last Friday in St. Peter’s Square, Jesus, our incarnate Lord, is in the boat with us. Stay safe, stay well, stay connected and know that God loves you.
United in Christ,
Fr. Daniel Griffith