Continuing to unpack Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s 2022 pastoral letter, parish staff, religious orders, clergy and others from across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis gathered Feb. 20 for a formation day at Pax Christi in Eden Prairie.
During the formation day, Archbishop Hebda highlighted what is on the horizon for the continued implementation of his letter “You Will Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room.”
The archbishop’s letter came out of archdiocesan-wide listening sessions on the archdiocese’s pastoral needs, which culminated in a two-day 2022 Archdiocesan Synod.
Three major priorities came out of the Synod: creating small group ministry in every parish; educating people on the beauty, form and meaning of the Mass, with special emphasis on the Eucharist; and forming and inspiring parents as the first educators of their children in the faith.
Ministry in the first two priorities is well underway, Archbishop Hebda shared with those gathered at Pax Christi. Small groups, particularly under a model of relational evangelization known as the Parish Evangelization Cells System, will continue to be of great importance in bringing people closer to one another and driving the success of future initiatives of the faith, the archbishop said.
Parish and archdiocesan efforts are fostering a greater understanding of the Mass, an effort that began in July 2024.
Quickly approaching year three of implementing the pastoral letter, Archbishop Hebda said, it has become clear that preparing and supporting parents for their ministry in faith to their children should be a two-year process.
Perhaps it will be called “year 3A and year 3B, or year three and year four,” the archbishop said.
A Blue Ribbon Commission on Parents as Primary Educators formed in November 2023 issued its recommendations several months ago, on time and in detail, Archbishop Hebda said. It is significant, important and it comes with suggestions that will be heeded, the archbishop said. Among the recommendations: Spend an entire year reclaiming Sunday as the Lord’s Day.
This summer — perhaps in July, probably for the July 12 feast of Sts. Zélie and Louis Martin — a second, shorter pastoral letter will be released, focusing on parents, their children and faith, the archbishop said. At the same time, efforts will begin to reclaim Sunday as the Lord’s Day and will be followed by more specific resources and initiatives for parents beginning in July 2026, Archbishop Hebda said.
“That gives all of you in parish ministry a year to get up to speed and to figure out how it is that you’re going to be implementing (more) beginning in July of 2026,” he said.
Archdiocesan Synod 2025
On the eve of Pentecost June 7, a second Archdiocesan Synod with about 500 people representing parishes, ministries and others will be held to discuss initiatives for the years following July 2026-June 2027, the archbishop said. It will be a one-day Synod, unlike the 2022 two-day gathering.
“We’ll focus on the propositions that weren’t chosen at the Synod the last time that we gathered, but that were very significantly supported at that time. We’ll use that to know what it is that we want to focus upon,” the archbishop said.
As was the case last time, the Holy Spirit will be at work in people’s hearts, he said, adding, “where our God of surprises makes his presence known is often in the responses.”
Prayerful day
What Archbishop Hebda called the “late-breaking news” — the now two-year effort to focus on parents forming their children in the faith and a pastoral letter on that subject this summer — was one portion of the day at Pax Christi.
The day started with Mass and a homily from Bishop Kevin Kenney that encouraged slowing down and being present with people in Christ. Parish and archdiocesan staff had time to meet in small groups to discuss their ministries, and Father Steven Hoffman, pastor of St. Peter in Mendota and a member of a healing ministry in the archdiocese, spoke on the healing power of the Eucharist.
“When I realized how many times healing is mentioned (in the Mass), I’m going, ‘What the heck am I doing? I need to come to Mass with a different disposition, a different hope, a different faith,’” Father Hoffman said as part of his remarks.
Prayers for deliverance from sin, for worthiness through Christ to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist and for peace are all prayers for healing, Father Hoffman said.
Mortal sins must be confessed in the healing sacrament of confession, but venial sins that can keep people back from a fuller union with Christ can receive healing in the Mass, he said.
In the Lord’s Prayer, also prayed at Mass, are pleadings for release from sin and deliverance from evil of all kinds, Father Hoffman said.
“Then, ‘in your mercy, keep us free from sin,’ — not just praying for the freedom from sin and sinful habits, but also healing our attachment to sin, the affection that forms from sin, and the weaknesses that sin can leave behind, which make us more vulnerable to future sin,” he said.
Father Hoffman’s presentation was followed by adoration of the Eucharist, prayer teams to support individual petitions, confession and Benediction.
