by Bishop Raymond A. Lucker
Diocese of New Ulm

Since the recent tornado, the Parish of St. Peter in St. Peter has been meeting for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist at the First Lutheran Church in that community. The Lutheran congregation has graciously offered hospitality. Whenever two religious communities are that close there will be an inevitable deeper understanding and respect for each other and each others traditions. The First Lutheran church is a fine facility with a beautiful open space in the church itself with a large pulpit for the traditional Lutheran emphasis on the word of God, an altar, and even a communion railing.

I went there a short time ago for the celebration for the sacrament of Confirmation in which we believe that Jesus sends the Holy Spirit so that we might be witnesses to our faith in our daily life and in the transformation of society.

It was a wonderful celebration with active participation, good music, and a lively flow in the celebration. The people of St. Peter are trying to bring their lives back together again and are grieving over the many losses suffered in the storm. Clean up is being done, homes are beginning to be repaired and rebuilt, but much still needs to be done. The church itself is unusable and decisions need to be made on rebuilding involving much discussion and consultation.

The people of Comfrey too are struggling to rise out of the ruins and to look forward to a new future. The farm people of the country in between also suffered heavy damage to their homes and businesses, especially many around the community of Searles.

One thing really struck me as I was about to begin the celebration of confirmation at St. Peter. I was standing in the vestibule of the church greeting the young people before beginning to form a procession. Over the doorway leading to the church itself was a sign printed in bold letters giving a mission statement of First Lutheran Church. It said, Mission of First Lutheran - making disciples for Jesus Christ through worship, education, service and fellowship. It was so clear and brief that one could not help but be struck by it. Every time a person enters the church they are reminded of why they are there.

This statement of mission could be adopted by any Catholic parish. A mission statement is a declaration of our purpose and forms the background for goals and objectives, action plans, and budgets. What is more important for us than following the directive of Jesus to make disciples of every person and do that through worship, educational programs, service to others, and the building of community.

I have often urged every parish to spend time in their parish councils, committees, and staffs in developing a clear written statement of purpose which would be so clear and simple that every member of the parish would be able to recite it without any difficulty. The mission statement of First Lutheran is a good place to start.

We will have a wonderful opportunity this year to participate in the national assembly of Pax Christi, the Catholic peace organization which will be held at St. Johns University in Collegeville from August 7-9. Since it is relatively close, I would urge as many people as possible to take advantage of this opportunity to gather with others from all over the country who are interested in non-violence, reconciliation, and peace. I am the Minnesota president of Pax Christi and our state group is serving as host for the assembly. I know from past experience that if you go you will meet some wonderfully dedicated people who are committed to Catholic social teaching and the consistent ethic of life.

I recently joined with a group of bishops in writing a joint pastoral letter on the morality of nuclear deterrence. Fifteen years ago the Catholic Bishops of the United States wrote their famous pastoral letter, The Challenge of Peace. In that we gave acceptance to the notion of nuclear deterrence only on the condition that it leads to progressive disarmament. We said the use of nuclear weapons against population centers is evil. The threat to use them is also wrong and therefore even to possess them and to continue to aim them at targets around the world is wrong. We said that in order to justify possessing nuclear weapons we have to be actively pursuing plans to eliminate nuclear weapons entirely. But, we as a country are not doing that.

In recent months we have been told that the United States is setting up a whole new program to expand our nuclear weapons complex aimed at continued research and developing and testing nuclear weapons well into the next century. The United States shows no intention of moving forward with progress to disarm and certainly no commitment to eliminate these weapons entirely. We believe we need to raise a clear, unambiguous voice in opposition to the continued reliance on nuclear deterrence.

I am convinced that possessing nuclear weapons is evil and we must do everything possible to change our government policy.

I will be in Rome during the first part of June making my required every five year visit to the Holy Father and the sacred tombs of the apostles. This will be my sixth such visit to the threshold of the apostles as a bishop. I always find it to be an inspiring experience, especially since the Holy Father invites each of us to his office for a short personal visit and has us come in small groups to the apostolic palace for dinner. The discussion and exchange during those times is wonderful. We will also offer Mass with the Pope and receive from him a formal address made not only for the bishops in our group but for the whole church in America. I will report more about this upon my return.

June, 1998