A Note From Father Eickhoff
June 1, 2025
Today the Church celebrates the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ to the right hand of the Father in heaven. This may seem to be a melancholy occasion to celebrate as we often think of how great it would be if Christ was present bodily here and now. However, the Opening Prayer to today’s Mass makes it clear why Christ needed to ascend to the Father:
Gladden us with holy joys, almighty God,
and make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving,
for the Ascension of Christ your Son
is our exaltation,
and, where the Head has gone before in glory,
the Body is called to follow in hope.
The text of the Opening Prayer gives to us two reasons why Christ needed to ascend to the Father. The first is that Jesus Christ, having taken upon Himself our human nature when He became incarnate, by returning to the Father takes our human nature into the glory of heaven. He does this not for Himself, but for us His brothers and sisters, who share with Him our human nature. By returning to the Father Christ uplifts our human nature in a way that could not be accomplished by any other means. This alone would be worthy of celebration, but as the Opening Prayer points out there is still another reason for rejoicing. The second reason is that Christ ascends to the Father to prepare the way for us, His disciples, to follow after Him into the glory of heaven. Jesus Christ is in this sense like a series of road signs directing us to our destination. We should always remember that as Christian disciples we should be yearning for our true home – the Kingdom of God – and we should be joyful that Christ shows us the way to reach that true and final home.
On a completely separate note I will be on vacation this week so there will be some alterations to the Mass and confession schedule. The weekend Masses will be held as normal next weekend (June 7-8). The Monday (June 2nd) and Wednesday (June 4th) daily Masses will be held as normally scheduled. There will Communion Services in place of the daily Masses on Tuesday (June 3rd) and Friday (June 6th). There will not be confessions on Wednesday June 4th. The normally scheduled adoration times on both Wednesday and Friday will be held as normally scheduled.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor