A Note From Father Eickhoff

January 8, 2023

Today marks the closing of the Season of Christmas in the Catholic Church.  And so, I think it is very proper that I recognize everyone in the parish who helped the people of St. Anne Parish experience a joyful and holy Christmas Season.

There are a great many people to thank.  Honestly, to simply list them all would take more space than this bulletin article has (or to do so would require the use of very small print).  Therefore, I want to spell out the various groups of people who aided St. Anne Parish this Christmas Season.

As Christmas Season worshippers enter the church the very first thing that they notice are the wonderful decorations: the Christmas creche with the Christmas trees and the flowers surrounding it; the sanctuary with more Christmas trees and flowers; the tabernacle flanked by flowers; and the Christmas tree perched high up above the sanctuary (I don’t know how that got up there). For all these decorations I want to thank the volunteers who planned out where they would go and set them up.

The Christmas Masses would be lacking in proper auditory splendor without the efforts of the singers and musicians who so generously volunteered their time not only during the Christmas Masses, but also in the practice sessions before the Masses.

The efforts of so many people help make the Christmas Masses a more festive experience.  I need to especially bring to your attention the lectors who proclaimed the Word of God; the Eucharistic Ministers who helped the priests and deacons to bring the Body of Christ to all the people who came to worship God; the Ushers who helped guide people (sometimes people who had not been to church in quite a while) to places in the pews; and the altar servers who ministered at the altar during the Christmas Season.  Many of the Altar Servers were serving as for the very first time this Christmas.

Finally, I want to thank the deacons and the staff of St. Anne Parish for all their assistance to the parish and to myself during this Christmas Season.

Addendum

It is the tradition and practice of the Catholic Church that every new pastor in a parish be formally installed as the pastor.  It has taken some time, but we have finally worked out the date with the Bishop’s office for the installation.  Bishop Hicks will be here to formally install me as the pastor of St. Anne Parish on Sunday, January 29 at the 11am Mass.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor