A Note From Father Eickhoff
October 20, 2024
First, I want to offer my congratulations to all the recently confirmed youth of the parish who received the Sacrament of Confirmation from Bishop Conlon this past Monday here at St. Anne Church. Confirmation is really one of the sacraments of initiation in the Catholic tradition along with baptism and as such is a necessity, not an optional, part of the spiritual life. So often the Sacrament of Confirmation is seen as “Catholic graduation,” where in reality it is part of the very first step in living the Catholic faith. So, in receiving this sacrament these youth are being fully equipped by the Holy Spirit of God to live as Christians in the world.
In addition, I want to thank all the volunteers in the Religious Education Program who helped prepare these youth for this sacrament. When I write of the volunteers, I mean all the volunteers no matter which religious education grades they assist with. The volunteers who help with the earliest grades have helped prepare these youth as well as the volunteers who assist in the confirmation program. I also want to thank the sponsors and families of the youth who have done much to bring their children to this point in their lives. I also hope that all of you will thank the liturgical volunteers who assisted at the Confirmation Mass as artists, musicians, singers, altar servers, lectors, and Eucharistic Ministers. They did good work in helping to bring about a reverent Confirmation Mass here at St. Anne. I am pleased to pass along to all of them Bishop Conlon’s appreciative remarks made to me afterwards that St. Anne Parish conducted a well-organized Confirmation Mass. Finally, I want to thank the staff members of the Religious Education Program for all the hard work they put into their vocation of preparing the youth of the parish to live as Christians.
On a different topic I wish to draw your attention to the upcoming Solemnity of All Saints on Friday, November 1st. This is a Holy Day of Obligation. Masses will be held at 7am, 12pm, and 7pm. This Solemnity is held to honor those holy men and women who are by God’s grace saints of God but are unknown to us here in this life. These are the saints who don’t have special days set aside for them in the Church calendar or books written about them or movies or shows made about their lives. Rather these are the quiet saints who lived lives of holiness on earth that were unnoticed by the wider world but were noticed by our Father in heaven.
Also, on Saturday, November 2nd is the Feast of All Souls. A special Mass to remember and pray for the faithful departed will be held at 10am. In this Mass we will pray before God that those men and women who have died may through God’s grace be freed from all stain of sin and swiftly raised to a place among the saints in glory forevermore.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor