Fratelli Tutti

Fratelli Tutti is Pope Francis’ 2020 encyclical. Like Laudato Si’, it is inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, it takes its title from a saying of St Francis’ in Italian, and its English subtitle, On Fraternity and Social Friendship, is more than it at first seems. This isn’t a letter about the need to have dinner parties and stay in touch with friends. This is a teaching about the fraternity of all, the rights of migrants, the duty to welcome strangers, and the importance of justice for all. It’s a good study for Lent. It calls for sacrifice in the name of justice.

Fratelli Tutti is based on the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together that Pope Francis and The Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb wrote and signed in Abu Dhabi in 2019. They declared that “God had created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and has called them to live together as brothers and sisters.”

While he was writing this letter, the pandemic broke out. The Pope commented:

---

---

"For all our hyper-connectivity, we witnessed a fragmentation that made it more difficult to resolve problems that affect us all. Anyone who thinks that the only lesson to be learned was the need to improve what we were already doing, or to refine existing systems and regulations, is denying reality." There will be more about Fratelli Tutti in the coming weeks.

Congratulations and thank you to Sam Lawrence on agreeing to chair the Social Justice Commission! If you’ve got a little Angry Jesus (to borrow Father’s phrase) in your heart around issues of racism, please see Sam’s appeal on the next page.

Second, we need someone with a modest familiarity with computers to help Nicole run our livestream equipment. This is crucial. At a time that we’re running only one Mass and that only 20% full at best, the livestream is our best way to keep our parish vibrant. If you are able to watch Mass on your computer, you are computer savvy enough to help. Contact Nicole at nicoles@st-therese.cc

And last, there is a vegetable garden behind the Parish Center that was begun by a school parent for a lifeskills class at the St. Therese school. Unfortunately, he has now moved out of town, opening the opportunity for someone to continue the garden to support St. Mary’s Food Bank. If you’re interested, please contact me at jvrussell85@gmail.com

Collections July 1 - March 3, 2021 $285,986

Where we need to be:                    $268,827

Last year at this time:                      $261,070