A PARISH IN AND FOR THE CITY
Did you know that each month the Pope identifies a specific monthly intention for which Catholics and all people of good will can pray and work? For years the Apostleship of Prayer (www.popesprayerusa.net) has helped to promote unified prayer among the faithful. When we pray for the Pope’s intentions we are in communion with our Shepherd and the Church throughout the world.
I was profoundly struck reading Pope Leo XIV’s August intention which speaks to the beauty and urgency of our parish’s particular mission. Here it is: “For evangelization in the city.” Let us pray that in large cities often marked by anonymity and loneliness we find new ways to proclaim the Gospel, discovering creative paths to build community.” How significant this intention is today!
Having spent time during sabbatical in cities such as New York, Newark, San Francisco, Rome, London, Leeds, Florence, Bari and Zagreb, I have a fresh appreciation for how timely this intention truly is. Urban life everywhere is broken and in turmoil. This is not primarily due to politics, as we might imagine, but due to many factors including moral stagnation and the ever-present allure of technology, convenience and comfort. As I return to NE Minneapolis I realize that our city too is marked by such anonymity, isolation, fragmentation and profound loneliness even though the population density is high. We often do not truly know our neighbors and without knowing them we cannot love them. Our cities stand in need not just of economic development but renewal, rebirth, renaissance.
We have a mission to be concerned for our neighbors, especially those who do not know the Gospel or the gift of the authentic community of the Church. Our fellowship in Faith is not just ours but to be shared. We must, as Pope Leo asks us, discover “creative paths to build community” which while not easy or comfortable is necessary.
The good news is that a steady flow of people are finding our parish. Even the so-called ‘urban explorers’ who have recently been damaging property around the Holy Cross campus trying to enter the school building or church are being drawn, albeit unknowingly to find the Christ’s hidden Sacramental Presence. Many have joked since the CBS news story this past week that I would only be too glad to give them a church tour! Let’s pray that they can truly discover what they’re looking for.
While in Rome I visited the Church of Santa Sabina with Fr. Justus. We had Mass together in the cell of the 16th century reforming Pope St. Pius V who is the patron of Fr. Justus’ new parish in Cannon Falls where he will be installed as Pastor on August 23. After the Mass we also visited St. Dominic’s cell and discovered a fresco of three friars: St. Francis, St. Dominic and the holy Carmelite Bl. Angelo. Our tour guide pointed out that they lived in the 13th century, the age of the rise of cities. In complimentary ways they answered the needs of their day: the Franciscans answered urban poverty through voluntary poverty, the Dominicans the rise of the Universities through engagement with culture, and the Carmelites responded to urban distractions and dissipation with an insistence on prayer.
How beautiful to remember that the Church’s mission is always to a particular place and time. Let’s pray for Pope Leo’s August intention and realize how tied it is with our parish mission. You can find upcoming monthly intentions of our Holy Father here: https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2026
United in mission with Christ,
~Fr. Howe, Pastor