September 28, 2025: Meeting the Missionary Moment

Dear Parishioners of Our Lady of Divine Providence,

As we conclude the month of September, we begin a new year of sacramental prep, religious education, and faith formation. I am excited and proud of our young people preparing for confirmation. Soon we will also begin preparing more young people to receive their first confession and Eucharist. Please join in prayer for our precious children, that their faith may be eternally strong. The youth group is growing, and our dedicated volunteers and catechists are impressive. We could always use more, so please contact Randi Hom, Director of Evangelization, to volunteer!

Liturgically, this month we celebrated the Exaltation of the Cross, the memorial of our Lady of Sorrows, and a devotional practice called the Ember Days, which are days of prayer and penance for vocations and for the growth of the Church. The Bible tells us that we build up the Church by sharing in Christ’s sufferings, and the papal encyclical On the Mystical Body of Christ exhorts the lay faithful that the Church will only be alive and holy to the extent that they pray and do penance. We can do so best by uniting ourselves to Our Lady of Sorrows, the Marian devotion to which the month of September is dedicated.

To those who are devoted to her, Our Lady of Sorrows promises to give them all the graces they need, convert family members who have left the faith, and create peace within families. She teaches us to sorrow properly over the darkness and confusion of the world, and to unite ourselves to Christ’s Cross to give spiritual birth to souls. Let us remember that those who mourn are blessed!

Also in the month of September, we rededicate ourselves to honoring the memory of the victims of terrorism on September 11, 2001. Indeed, this whole summer, we have seen and grieved too much darkness and sorrow in the world. In response, it is our responsibility to be and bring the light, which is the radiance of truth. Violence erupts when we abandon truth, because truth is the foundation for dialogue. Charlie Kirk’s martyrdom prominently testifies to the power of the truth to overcome darkness. The darkness hates the truth and will try to destroy it, but it always rises again. Kirk is just the highest-profile victim of the truthlessness of our culture; the list this summer includes many who died in our place: Larry Henderson, Sarah Milgrom, Iryna Zarutska, Harper Moyski, and countless Christians whose names we do not know, forgotten by the world, especially in Nigeria.

Let us never forget their sacrifice. Let us re-dedicate ourselves with renewed devotion and vigilance to the proclamation of Truth. When we live according to the truth, our parishes will be revitalized, and we will be truly free. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sound mind.

Let me leave you with a message from the Archbishop, with whom the priests and parish leadership met this month: We must “meet the missionary moment.” We must reimagine what it means to be the Church, meeting the new needs of our day, which is marked by darkness and a lack of faith. The Church must look different now than it did in the past. But the transformative process of Beacons of Light will produce vibrant parishes in the end.

This process of renewal and revitalization will involve radical change for rebirth. As we mourn for the darkness of the world, we can rise with the light and begin to live for the truth.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Henry Hoffmann