Archbishop Bernard Hebda led a rite of reparation at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday, December 6, restoring the building for worship months after two students were killed in a shooting.
A rite of reparation is a special Mass celebrated by the local bishop after a church building is desecrated by "seriously offensive acts," including violence.
Mass has not been celebrated in the church building at Annunciation since August 27, the third day of the school year. That day, an alumnus of Annunciation School attacked the all-school Mass shortly before 8:30 a.m., firing rounds into the church building.
The shooter ended his life before the police arrived on the scene.
Two Annunciation students, 10-year-old Harper Moyski and 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel, were killed, and 15 other children were injured. Additionally, three elderly members of Annunciation Church were injured.
A chaos no one could have imagined
While the Mass with the rite of reparation was not open to the media, Archbishop Hebda's notes for his homily were released by The Catholic Spirit, an archdiocesan publication.
“We know all too well what happened here, however, on the morning of August 27. This safe haven, this place of refuge, this foretaste of the order of the heavenly kingdom, was disturbed by a chaos that no one could have imagined,” said the archbishop. “It’s for that chaos that we’ve come together to engage in this act of penance and reparation this day."
The Annunciation Parish community "will never forget what happened that day and will forever remember with great love Harper and Fletcher, whose beautiful and inspiring lives were cut short as they and fellow students gathered for the Eucharist,” he said.
There was an "outpouring of love and mutual support" in the three months since the shooting.
“The sorrow understandably lingers, but there’s a Christ-centered resilience here that is remarkable — and praise God — it’s been contagious."
“Today we gather penitentially for this rite of reparation in the hope of restoring the order that Christ desires for his Church, his family. We cannot undo the tragic loss of Fletcher and Harper, but we can communicate to the world that we recognize that the power of God is far in excess of any evil; that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more."
“We cannot let Satan win, and we, by God’s grace, reclaim this space today for Christ and his Church.”
It is unknown when Mass will resume in the parish building at Annunciation Catholic Church.
