I want to wish you a blessed Christmas Octave and a Happy New Year.

I pray that this newsletter finds you, your families, and friends healthy and happy.

This has been for me personally, as I am sure it has been for you, one of the most challenging years in recent memory. We have the situation with COVID-19 and it's continued impacts on the physical, emotional, spiritual, and financial well being of loved ones, friends and neighbors.

This year also saw the civil unrest and rioting in the Twin Cities and around the nation after the death of George Floyd. 

This has also been a unique time to serve my first year as your Area Chair. I knew there would be a lot to learn in this new role.  I was looking forward to working closely with more of our members on new ways to serve our masters the sick and the poor, as well as being able to be together in community for spiritual growth. I often feel I have accomplished very little in this first year. 

Given the aforementioned, at times throughout this year I have grown weary and things have felt a bit hopeless, but then I step back and I thank Our Lord for bringing me to the Catholic Church (I am coming up on the 10 year anniversary of my confirmation). I thank him for the nightly Rosary we have been doing as an area since March 19th. I thank him for all of you that have been so helpful and kind to Susan and me beginning in my year of formation to now. I thank him for the wonderful works our members do to help those in need. I realize amidst the immense challenges of this year and the year to come that I am so greatly blessed to have been called to the church and our Order.

I look forward to serving and being with all of you in 2021. Our community needs us more than ever to be the face of Christ to those in need as we live out our Charism. 

In closing, I recently found a small, simple tin plaque my grandmother gave me when I was 10, it reads "Jesus Never Fails".  In those moments when I start to feel down and weary, I look at that plague, which sits on my desk, and remember that the light of Jesus Christ always overcomes the darkest of hours and I am comforted. I pray that his light shines brightly on you and your families and gives you comfort and peace in 2021.

God Bless, 

 

Ivan Posthumus, KM

Minnesota Area Chair

Order of Malta, American Association

The American Association sponsors a safe and secure Pen Pal Program for prisoners, run by the Minnesota Delegation. This provides members and friends a means to live out Christ's call to "visit the imprisoned" from the comfort of our homes and on our own time schedule.

 

Pen Pals commit to writing no less than one letter a month for no less than one year to an inmate assigned to them.  Pen Pals send their letters direct to inmates using a pseudonym and our innocuous P.O. Box as the return address.  Inmates write to you using your pseudonym and mail their letters to our P.O. Box and we in turn forward letters to you.  And the process repeats.  

 

Full details are available here. Document #2 contains an application we hope you will complete and return.  Other documents include letterhead, sample letters, tips for writing effective letters and more. 

 

If you find yourself with a little extra time, we have hundreds of inmates waiting to connect.  Most will someday be released and what we do now will have a profound impact on their return to our communities.  While up to 65% of released inmates nationwide return within 3 years, those who have someone who cares about them while they are serving their time, return at a rate of less than 5%.  That's not 5% lower than 65%.  That's less than 5% total return!  Can you be present to someone in need of a Pen Pal? 

We join our prayers to the prayers of the greater church the world over that God may pour out his grace upon His people, and bolster us in these difficult times. To that end, our Area is hosting a nightly rosary at 6:30 pm, except for Sundays, over Teams. Please join us as you are able. 

Sodality of St. John the Baptist, headed by our own Robert J. Hanten, KCHSJ, KM, organizes regular food packing events for the benefit of local needs as well as communities abroad. Events usually run from 7:00 to 8:30pm and are followed by a social gathering. Event details are posted to our area website calendar here.