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Sunday, April 15
Cancelled:
- Children’s and Cherub choirs for 11:30am Mass
- Children’s and Youth Ministry
- MN Sinfonia Concert
Saturday, April 14
The Archdiocesan Confirmation scheduled for April 14 has been cancelled. Participating churches will be rescheduled and questions should be directed directly to the individual parishes.
St. Vincent de Paul Outreach Ministry is cancelled for Saturday morning, April 14.
The Engaged Couples Retreat from 1pm - 5pm has been cancelled. The Marriage office will be forthcoming with alternatives.
The Downtown Festival rehearsal at Westminster Presbyterian Church to take place on Saturday morning, April 14 has been rescheduled for Sunday, April 15 at 5pm. It will still take place at Westminster.
Sanctuary Supporting Congregation: Listening Sessions
Basilica volunteers and leaders will hold a conversation with parishioners on the call to support our neighbors through becoming a Sanctuary Supporting Congregation and how it is different from a Sanctuary Congregation.
Sanctuary Supporting Congregation: Listening Sessions
Sunday, April 15, Following 7:30, 9:30, 11:30am and 4:30pm Masses
Saints Ambrose/Teresa Room, Ground Level
The Basilica parish community is committed to accompany, serve, and defend immigrants in our community. We co-sponsor refugee families, partner with Advocates for Human Rights, and support families seeking asylum. We are also following the call of our Pope to offer support to those who rely on the protection of DACA to avoid deportation. Come to learn more about The Basilica’s commitment to this ministry supporting people who face deportation. For more information, call 612.317.3477.
The Basilica of Saint Mary welcomes all to celebrate Holy Week and Easter, March 29 through April 1, 2018. The vibrant beauty and tradition at The Basilica will draw over 5,000 people for the sacred celebrations.
Parishioners are invited to nominate excellent candidates to represent Christian Life and Learning to the Parish Council by April 6.
Parish Council members serve as an advisory group to the Pastor and assist with strategic planning, creation of effective communication structures, policies and procedures, and educating parishioners about biblical stewardship.
Complete this online form or contact Terri Ashmore for more information.
Learn more about Parish Council.
Health care providers and trainees, churches, and others are being forced to participate in abortions or provide coverage for it in their health care plans. Federal conscience laws prohibit such coercion, but these laws continue to be violated—mostly because they don’t provide victims with the ability to defend their rights in court.
The Conscience Protection Act of 2017 (H.R. 644, S. 301) would address loopholes in current laws and provide victims with the right to sue in court. Congress will decide soon (most likely during the week of March 12) whether to include the Conscience Protection Act in must-pass government funding legislation. humanlifeaction.org
- Pray that Congress enacts the CPA, and activate prayer warriors, chains, and groups.
Intention: We pray that Congress will include the Conscience Protection Act in the Fiscal Year 2018 funding bill.
- Call and email your U.S. senators and representatives and forward the action alert to others. Members of Congress can be reached by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121.
https://www.humanlifeaction.org/take-action?vvsrc=/campaigns/49865/respond
From Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz:
"Increasing and fierce attacks on conscience rights regarding abortion cry out for an immediate remedy. Nurses and other health care providers and institutions are being forced to choose between participating in abortions or leaving health care altogether. Churches and pro-life Americans are being forced to provide coverage for elective abortions—including late-term abortions—in their health care plans. Opponents and supporters of abortion should be able to agree that no one should be forced to participate in abortion. Congress must remedy this problem by enacting the Conscience Protection Act now as part of the FY 2018 funding bill.
We call on all the faithful to pray and to act by emailing and calling Congress in the coming week especially on Monday, March 12 with the message that enacting the Conscience Protection Act is urgently needed to protect Americans from being forced to violate their deeply held convictions about respect for human life. Your calls and emails to your Members of Congress really do make a difference, so please act now to protect conscience rights!"
St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) Coin Banks are available in the church throughout Lent. Your financial gifts truly make a difference in people’s lives and 100% percent of every dollar you donate goes back to help someone in need locally. During Lent, please take a coin bank, fill it, and bring it back on Holy Thursday.
Last year alone, your donations to SVdP Ministry:
- Helped 286 families keep their housing and prevented them from homelessness.
- Provided bus cards or gas vouchers to more than 4,000 people to help them get to work, school, or appointments.
- Offered a meal and practical and spiritual support to 900 participants in our Pathways life-skills programs.
More information on our St. Vincent de Paul Ministy.
Currently, nearly two million young people who qualify as Dreamers are anxiously waiting for lawmakers in Washington, D.C. to come up with a bipartisan bill ahead of the March 5 deadline, when protections for DACA youth expire.
Archbishop Hebda has asked all people of good will to call their federal lawmakers on Monday, February 26, and urge them to move forward with debate on legislation to provide relief to Dreamers – those young people who were brought to the U.S. by their parents without proper documentation. For more information, vistit the Archdiocesan website.
The season of Lent is a time for reflection and meditation on the meaning of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. The sacred Psalms offer a beautiful, prayerful Lenten devotion in word and song.
Join us Fridays in Lent for Mass at 6:00pm and Stations of the Cross at 7:00pm.
Thank you to those who shared their gifts to create the video:
Johan van Parys: Director of Liturgy & Sacred Arts Liturgy
Walter Tambor: Contemporary & World Music, Piano
Julia Vikesland: Cantor, Parishioner
Jonathan Vikesland: Video Filming/Editing, Parishioner
Basilica Welcomes Transfer of Memory Exhibition
Immediately upon hearing Jesus’ call, Andrew, Simon Peter, James, and John left their boats and nets to follow Him. But in modern times it can be more confusing for us to heed Jesus’ call. We are surrounded by more distractions, more messages, and more noise. In the cacophony of texts, emails, advertisements, and social media posts which make up our daily lives, it is hard to find enough stillness to hear and discern God’s call.
Yet we must remember “God is not the wind or the earthquake or the fire. God is the gentle blowing” (1 Kings 19:12). It is our human challenge to be still and attentive enough to hear God. Basilica Young Adults group member Sunoh Choe recognizes to this challenge, saying “we live in a time with diversity of thought, differing lifestyles, competing priorities, and plenty of distractions. Life has more purpose when we incorporate ‘spiritual food’ into our lives.”
ENGAGEMENT OF YOUNG ADULTS
A 2014 Religious Landscape Study by Pew Research Center study shows growing rates of religiously “unaffiliated” people, most noticeably in the young adult demographic. Some estimates state US Catholic confirmation rates (typically between ages of 16-18) are less than half that of baptisms (often at birth or early childhood).
Because The Basilica is a recognizable landmark in the midst of a bustling urban center, it has long been a popular parish for young adults. Currently 21% of our parish members are between the ages of 23 and 37, commonly known as Generation Y or Millennials.
The Basilica intentionally reaches out to members in this age group to deepen engagement for many reasons. Young adults are constantly reshaping and redefining our secular world. Their perspectives and needs must be considered in our parish community as well. To paraphrase our vision statement from the prophet Jeremiah, in their well-being we will also find our own.
Basilica pastor Fr. John Bauer cites Saint John Paul II’s urging to “open wide the doors for Christ” as a reason The Basilica dedicates resources toward ministry for young adults. In his invitation to World Youth Day, Pope Francis recently told young people, “God is also watching over you and calling you, and when God does so, he is looking at all the love you are able to offer.”
BASILICA YOUNG ADULTS
Basilica Young Adults (BYA) is a Basilica group for social activities and service for people in their 20s and 30s. A visit to their web page or their social media page shows a dizzying array of opportunities each week varying from bible studies, speaker events, and sandwich making for our neighbors in need to sand volleyball and happy hours. The group’s coordinator and Basilica staff member Ben Caduff says there is intentionally “a spectrum of opportunities with something for everyone and a wide variety of on-ramps to participation.”
Rooted in the variety of BYA activities is a focus on religion and spirituality. “The Basilica attracts a diverse group of people in backgrounds, careers, skills, personalities, and stages of faith,” Choe observes. “The group recognizes the personal faith journey each person is on, and everyone is welcome,” adds Caduff. “People can feel comfortable getting more involved.”
Members say authentic relationships are a key difference between BYA and other non-religious social groups. BYA member Grace Kane explains, “within our one triune God we can see how relationship is integral to faith.” Core to all BYA events is the invitation for attendees
to grow in their faith and their relationship with God and Jesus. Participants share a common yearning for authenticity and actively living out their faith, even if they are still seeking answers. Kane defines relationship in this context as “being open, receptive, attentive, and loving.”
This focus creates a unique sense of welcome, community, and belonging because, as BYA member Kyra Knoff notes, "two or more are gathered." In one another they find a group of people intentionally building strong relationships with each other, with God, and with their Catholic faith. Despite modern technology which can promote impersonal communication, BYA members heed the Gospel call to real face-to-face relationships.
Full article BASILICA Magazine, Fall 2017, page 22
by Melissa Streit
www.mary.org/sites/default/files/assets/files/2415-2482-basilica-magazine-fall-2017.pdf
The award-winning BASILICA magazine is sponsored by The Basilica Landmark, a 501(c)(3) corporation whose mission is the preservation and restoration of the historic Basilica of Saint Mary and it campus. BASILICA is published twice a year (spring and fall) with a circulation of 20,000.
For advertising information please contact Peggy Jennings.