A Note from Father Eickhoff

August 7, 2022

This week I have just a couple of notes for the pastor’s bulletin article.

The first notification is that the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is Monday, August 15.  This solemnity is normally a Holy Day of Obligation.  However, since August 15 this year is on a Monday the bishops of the United States have decided that this Solemnity is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year.

The grumbling sound you can hear through the printed page of this bulletin is the audible expression of my opinion of declaring a Holy Day of Obligation of the Church to be void simply because it occurs on a Monday.  Really, if the solemnity is not important enough to always be a Holy Day of Obligation regardless of what day it lands on then it should not be a Holy Day of Obligation.  Declaring a Holy Day of Obligation to only “sometimes” be in effect makes a mockery of the entire definition of the word “obligation.”  In any case the decision is not mine to make and so the Solemnity of the Assumption is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year. However, Masses will be said for the Solemnity at 8:00 AM and 7:00 PM here at St. Anne on Monday, August 15.

The second notification is that adoration of the Blessed Sacrament has restarted here at St. Anne.  Adoration will be held on Wednesday evenings between 7:00 and 8:00 PM in the parish chapel and on Friday mornings between 8.30 and 9:00 AM in the church.  I encourage you to come and spend time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.  In today’s Gospel the Lord reminds us to be watchful for His coming.  So often we become forgetful that Jesus Christ will indeed return and that we will have to make an accounting of our lives to Him.  Hence the warning by Jesus that the master will return in the “second or third watch” – in other words in the middle of the night – rather than at a time when we are expecting things to happen. Spending time in prayer before the Lord is a good way to recommit ourselves to remaining faithful to His teachings and watchful for His return in glory.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stephen Eickhoff