Dear Friends and Parishioners,
Last Sunday, November 13th, 2022 a tragedy struck the heart of our community—
an unprovoked, senseless act of brutal murder of four University of Idaho students.
Ethan, Madison, Xana, and Kaylee were robbed of their lives and their dreams. Our
community of Moscow was robbed of its sense of safety.
We read/hear daily of mass murders across our country, and by degrees there is the
danger we will become used to them as the new normal. We cannot allow this to happen!
Our immediate response ought to be that we gather as a community to mourn the loss of
these four students, pray for them and their families, and reach out in solidarity to one
another. What makes us disciples of Jesus Christ is the compassion we show when
others are wounded.
We need to act now, not sometime in the future—to honor the youth who were
murdered, to comfort those on campus and in our neighborhoods who are living in fear,
and to pray that the person responsible for this heinous act will be found and prevented
from further acts of evil. We also need to pray for the courage to speak out forcefully
against violence of any kind, eliminating from our own thinking that violence is ever a
solution.
Saturday evening Mass, Friday morning Mass, and the Rosary on Monday morning
will be offered for the victims. Please join us to honor and remember Kaylee Goncalves ,
Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin.
—Deacon George