IN MY BIBLE, I highlight verses that resonate with me, that inspire, that uplift and offer hope. Those include Jeremiah 29:11. It reads: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. In faith communities, this specific scripture is often directed to youth, who are our future.
On Wednesday morning those words written by the prophet Jeremiah were shared by Matt DeBoer, principal of Annunciation Catholic School in south Minneapolis, following a mass shooting at the adjacent church. The shooter fired from outside through stained glass windows into the church, killing two students and wounding 18 others, including three parishioners in their eighties. All were attending a back-to-school morning Mass.
“NEVER AGAIN”
This act of gun violence is nothing short of horrific. No one can deny that. Fletcher, 8, and Harper, 10, are dead. Seven others were critically injured, taken to a level 1 trauma center. All are expected to survive. The level of pain and grief and anger, yes, anger, we are feeling collectively in Minnesota right now is palpable.
In all the media coverage I’ve watched and read, I keep circling back to Principal DeBoer and his message at a late Wednesday morning press conference hours after the shooting. He shared the school’s Jeremiah 29 based theme for 2025-2026 of “a future filled with hope.” Hope happens to be one of my favorite words, but not one I personally relate to a mass shooting. Yet on Wednesday morning, the principal called for all of us to look to the future with hope, because we can’t change the past. I listened. I heard. I heard him say, “Never again.” I heard DeBoer ask us to commit those two words to our speech pattern. “Never again.”
And I heard, too, his call for action as he referenced this African proverb: When you pray, move your feet.
As the day progressed into evening vigils, I continued to watch television coverage. Clergy led a prayer service at the Academy of Holy Angels, a nearby private Catholic high school that Annunciation students often attend beginning in ninth grade. In a message also themed to hope, Archbishop Bernard Hebda mentioned the broad support received from those of all faiths—Protestants, Jews, Muslims… And from Pope Leo XIV. I would expect nothing less. We are all hurting.
Another vigil followed at Lynnhurst Park. As I watched television coverage begin, I focused on the diverse crowd. A young girl seated on the ground clutching a teddy bear. A priest in a wheelchair. Attendees sheltering flickering candles with their hands. People in bright orange t-shirts emblazoned with “Protect Minnesota.” Photographers working. A woman in a black tee with the simple word, “Enough,” and a slash drawn through a circled gun. Instrumental music played—”Bridge Over Troubled Water”—setting an introspective mood.
“WE NEED TO…”
And then the line up of speakers stepped up, addressing the crowd. The mood at this vigil was decidedly different. This gathering focused on a call to action in oftentimes fiery and emotional speeches by politicians and local leaders calling for stronger gun laws. In all the thoughts shared, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan’s message rose to the top for me. While she spoke the usual “You are not alone” and “Enough is enough,” here’s the one soundbite that sticks with me: “We need to love our babies and our children more than our guns.” That bears repeating. “We need to love our babies and our children more than our guns.”
On this, the morning after the murder of two children and wounding of 17 others at Annunciation Catholic Church less than an hour from my Faribault home, I reflect on Flanagan’s words. And I think of my own two elementary-aged grandchildren starting the new school year on Tuesday. I want them to feel, to be, safe. I want this gun violence to end. As the mayor of Minneapolis said, his is “a city united in grief,” which must now become “a city united in action.”
I hold hope that perhaps this time something will change. I understand that gun violence is complicated, that it involves addressing the root causes of such violence. Yet, if not for the guns—three used in the Minneapolis shooting—two children would still be alive.
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This story has been updated to include the first names of the two children killed in the shooting. Their names were released late Thursday afternoon. The number of injured has also been updated to 18.
© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
I have been crying off and on all morning. This love affair with guns has got to stop. I know it’s much more complicated than that – we also need to pay attention to caring for people’s mental health and basic needs. But let’s start with putting down the damn guns.
Well stated, Kathleen. I agree with you 100 percent.
❤ I watched him speak yesterday at the school, along with the governor and the principal and religious leader. I was overwhelmed and moved by listening and even more so. by watching them and their humanity and how they were each overcome. it is a shared humanity and one that our hearts cannot begin to process. that is what moved me to find the picture of my own grandchildren who, years ago, took part in a community march with my daughter and I, to stand for children, from one child to another and against guns. it really hit me hard to see that his had been 8 years ago and nothing had changed, it had only become more frequent
Humanity was evident among all who spoke yesterday. Powerful, powerful words for all of us. Thank you for marching with your family against gun violence.
One cannot fathom the heartlessness required by those who insist guns ae more important than children. Madness. Anyway, I am glad you found community in the midst of such horror.
I don’t get it either, Michael, this obsession with gun ownership for “protection” or whatever, the “whatever” being what happened at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis.
In 1999 I was flying into Denver when the announcement came that there had been an “incident”, the airport wouldn’t be “normal”. That was Columbine. The airport and week following were far from “normal”. Quite sure, MN will not be normal forevermore. There is Sandy Hook Promise and Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence, I read reps from the Teachers is here. Assault guns must go away, the Second Amendment needs amending. I’ve forwarded/shared your column several times. Thank you.
You’re welcome and thank you for sharing my post. Something needs to change.