A Note From Father Eickhoff

March 31, 2024

Happy Easter! Sing praise to our God and rejoice this day. Christ is risen!

Easter Sunday marks the end of an extraordinary week for Christians. Our emotions swing wildly from highs to lows to a surging high during this week. It begins with Palm Sunday and the great celebration of Jesus’ entry into the royal city of Jerusalem as He is met with cheering to welcome Him. We continue with a high note as Christ institutes the Holy Mass, the ordained priesthood, and the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday. Then we crash as Christ is arrested, tried, and unjustly condemned to death on Good Friday. We spend the next day in sorrow until we come to that astonishing moment when the disciples find the empty tomb and hear the word of the angel that Christ is risen from the dead at Easter.

Everything in the church today is meant to help us celebrate with joy. We hear the music proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus. We see the festive decorations that proclaim the victory of God. We smell the incense that symbolizes the prayer of Jesus Christ that brings about the forgiveness of our sins. We taste and touch the Holy Eucharist that is truly the body and blood of the risen Lord. We are meant to celebrate this day. So rejoice and sing praise to God not just today, but for days to come.

I want to thank all the people of the parish who have contributed to preparing the church for this Easter celebration. There are great numbers of people to thank so I must go over everyone by their ministries. First, I would like to thank the deacons of St. Anne Parish for their continued service to the church. Next, I want to thank the members of the music ministry for all their hard work this past week. Then, I want to thank the ministers of Communion, the Lectors, the Ushers, and the Altar Servers for all their assistance this past week with all the multiple Masses and services. I also want to thank the members of the art and environment committee for their continuous work this past week in beautifying the church for each day during Holy Week which is quite a big job since each day during Holy Week requires its own scheme of decoration. Finally, I wish to thank all the people of St. Anne Parish for their support of the parish and their coming together to worship Jesus Christ in this time of celebration.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor

 

Some early Protestants refused to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas saying that Christ’s birth was of no great importance and its celebration overshadowed Easter. Instead, they put all their emphasis on the resurrection of Christ at Easter. Those early Protestants were not entirely incorrect. The celebration of Christmas both some four hundred years ago and today often seems to be celebrated with greater passion than Easter. Think of all the effort that goes into decorating homes, streets, and stores around Christmas time. Think of the great sums of money that goes into purchasing gifts at Christmas. Think of the abundance of songs, shows, and movies that center around Christmas. Now think of how many songs, shows, and movies in our society focus on Easter. Now think of the relative poverty of decorating that goes into our homes, streets, and stores at Easter. We do put more emphasis in secular society on Christmas than we do for Easter.

I don’t want to sound as if I am seeking to cancel Christmas. By no means! Christmas is a wonderful day of celebration for all the right Christian reasons. It marks the beginning of the ministry of Jesus Christ and of our salvation. However, Easter is the payoff that makes the celebration of Christmas worthwhile. To skip Easter and only celebrate Christmas is to put everything about our Christian Faith in reverse. Or to use an old saying: “putting the cart before the horse.”

The relative poverty of societal celebration of Easter makes it more important for us as Christians to celebrate the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ with great joy in our homes and in our parish. This is the week in which our Savior Jesus Christ took our sins upon Himself and wiped them away. This is the week in which our Lord gave to us the Holy Mass and the Holy Eucharist that we might be strengthened and enriched during our  lives on Earth. This is the week in which we are reconciled to God and given the hope of everlasting life. This week we celebrate the great and amazing act of salvation which turns us human beings from lost and forlorn sinners who were separated from the Creator of the Universe to children – sons and daughters – of our heavenly Father who is now present not in some faraway place, but within our very hearts, minds, and souls.

So please come out and celebrate your salvation by coming to church to worship and praise God during this sacred time of Holy Week. Pray to God within your homes and give thanks to Jesus Christ for His sacrifice upon the cross for our salvation. Rejoice this week with uplifted heart and be of good cheer to everyone you meet in the street, in your workplace, in your school for this is the week in which we Christians must celebrate greater than any other.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor

 

The Season of Lent is fast coming to an end. Next Sunday will be Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week which is the most important time of the year for us Christians. There are many things happening in the parish during the upcoming two weeks and I am going to list the highlights for you here:

  • You can bring your old palms to the church next weekend for proper disposal. Look for baskets by the front doors to the church.
  • Each day of the Triduum (that is Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday) and Easter Sunday is of great importance to the Christian faith. I greatly encourage you to come to as many of the liturgies of Holy Week as possible.
  • Holy Thursday:
    • 8am Morning Prayer in the church. Clergy and religious promise to pray what is called the “Liturgy of the Hours” every day as part of their vocation. The Liturgy of the Hours are five separate times (called hours, but more like 5 -15 minutes) of prayer spaced throughout the day that are meant to be the entire day with prayer and praise of God. The Liturgy of the Hours is not restricted to clergy and religious. Indeed, all Christians are encouraged to pray all or some of the hours as their circumstances permit. If you want to see what the Liturgy of the Hours is like, come to Morning Prayer during the Triduum.
    • Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7pm. This is the Mass during which we thank God for the institution of the Holy Eucharistic, the Holy Mass, and the ordained priesthood.
    • Adoration of the Holy Eucharist from the end of Mass until midnight.
  • Good Friday:
    • 8am Morning Prayer in the church.
    • Service of the Lord’s Passion at 3pm. Although we have communion this is not a Mass. In fact, this is the only day of the entire year in which holding a Mass is forbidden. At this service we recall the suffering and death of Jesus for our salvation. The 3pm time is an ancient tradition that corresponds to the time of the death of our Lord.
    • Stations of the Cross at 7pm.
  • Holy Saturday:
    • 8am Morning Prayer in the church.
    • 12.30pm Blessing of Easter Food in the parish hall.
    • 7.30pm Easter Vigil Mass. This is the liturgical high point of the entire Church year, and it is the Mass in which new adult Christians receive the sacraments of Initiation such as Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist.
  • Easter Sunday:
    • Masses at 7.30am, 9.15am, and 11am.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor

 

 

 

 

 

We are now at the half way point of Lent and it can sometimes seem that when we are spending our time during this season of penance pondering our faults and failures that our entire life becomes dark and dreary. When we focus so much of our time thinking of everything that we have done wrong it can become difficult to recall that we are not meant to be in darkness forever. It is for this reason that the Church gives us during the Season of Lent this special Sunday that is meant to be a light of hope on the horizon for us. We are meant to remember this day that Easter is coming soon and with it the forgiveness of our sins and the clearing away of all the grief and sorrow that our faults and failures have built up within us. The most visible sign of this special day is the rose-colored vestments that the clergy wear this day. However, the readings at today’s Mass also point this out. Consider the First Reading from the Second Book of Chronicles which describe the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the Israelite people. It certainly is saddening to listen to or to read. However, the passage ends with the future hope of the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. This peek of future hope after great despair is true for us as well.

I would like to point out that our Lenten preparations for Easter continue in the parish. If you have not yet taken the time this Lenten Season to prepare your soul and spirit to welcome the resurrection of our savior there is still time. I suggest taking the time in your busy daily and weekly schedule to pray. There is a wonderful opportunity to pray coming up later this week on Saturday, March 16 between 2pm and 5pm. St. Anne Parish will be holding a special afternoon of Eucharistic Adoration in the church on this day and time. During this time the church will be open for prayer, and we will have periods of silence, periods of reading from the writings of the saints, and periods of music. You can come to all or part of the afternoon of adoration. The Sacrament of Confession will also be available from 2.30pm to 4.30pm this day.

You can also join us for the Stations of the Cross held every Friday evening during Lent at 7pm here in the church.  This is another opportunity for prayer both for yourself and to join with your fellow parishioners in walking with our savior in spirit as He carried the cross for our salvation.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor

 

A little while ago I was asked “what is my dream for St. Anne Parish?”

My fondest dream is a bit grandiose.  I imagine a vast crowd filling St. Peter’s Square in Rome one hundred years in the future.  A hundred thousand, no two hundred thousand people cheering for joy and giving praise to God on the occasion of the canonization of a new saint of the Catholic Church.  I hear the name of this newly recognized saint of the Church announced and a description of her holy and heroic life proclaimed to the people.  This account of her life begins with her Baptism at St. Anne Catholic Church in Oswego, IL.  It continues with how she attended Religious Education classes in her parish; how she received her First Communion at St. Anne Parish; how she received the Sacrament of Confirmation at St. Anne Parish.  The biography continues with how her famed virtues of faith, prudence, and courage were nurtured and developed in the parish she grew up in.  It is a wonderful dream.  I think that every pastor hopes that one day future generations of Christians will draw hope and inspiration from the holy life of a saint that began her faith life in his parish.

There are other dreams that are not so dramatic, but equally important.  It is not the dream of great spectacle or fame or earthly acknowledgement.  Rather it is the dream that every day a parishioner of St. Anne Parish, faced with a difficult decision that would lead him away from Jesus Christ, will choose the path that leads to Christ even if it is the more challenging path because of some word that he heard at Sunday Mass or some moment of inspiration that came to him at prayer at St. Anne Church.  It is the dream that a kindly word or generous deed from a parishioner of St. Anne Parish towards a co-worker, a neighbor, or a stranger will spark within that person a desire to know for themselves the person of Jesus Christ who inspires such kindness in His followers.  It is the dream of deeds done in the name of Christ that will not appear in any earthly history book but are known and forever praised before the judgement seat of God.

My dream for St. Anne Parish is one in which Christians are encouraged and aided by the grace they have received from God’s sacraments to become better disciples of Jesus Christ in this world so that they will take up the place that God desires for them in the world to come

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor

 

During this season of Lent we strive to be better disciples of Jesus Christ.  This often takes the form of taking more time to pray, reflecting upon how we are living our lives, and seeking the Lord’s pardon for the times we have failed to follow God’s teaching.  There are several opportunities here at St. Anne to carry out these goals.

Praying before the Blessed Sacrament is both a holy activity and one that helps to bring disciples together.  Here at St. Anne we have adoration of the Eucharist every Wednesday evening between 7pm and 8pm in the chapel.  The chapel is located just off the Joachim Center doors by the RE office.  Every Wednesday evening a number of men, women, and children come together to pray before the Blessed Sacrament both silently and in common together.  If you have never prayed before the Blessed Sacrament before there is literature available to help.  Or, you can bring along any sort of prayer aid that you might have been waiting for the right moment to use, but just haven’t found the time.  Adoration is also held on Friday morning between 8.30am and 9am in the church.

There will also be a special three hour period of adoration later this Lent on Saturday, March 16th from 2pm to 5pm that you can put down in your calendar.

Confession is also a great way to truly live out our lives as Christian disciples. There will be a special confession service on Sunday, March 3rd beginning at 4pm in the church.  A large number of priests are coming to help hear confessions.  Confessions are also heard on Wednesday evenings from 7pm to 8pm and on Saturday afternoons from 3.30pm to 4.30pm.

Another form of prayer is the Stations of the Cross.  During the Stations of the Cross the Christian disciple is encouraged to imagine themselves walking alongside our Lord Jesus as He carried His cross through the streets of Jerusalem to His death.  This can be a powerful example of prayer as we become witnesses to the sufferings of our Lord who endured His torments for our salvation.  The Stations of the Cross are prayed every Friday during Lent at 7pm in the church.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor

 

The Gospel today states the watch phrase for the entirety of the Season of Lent:

“The Kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

This phrase has two parts that we need to keep in mind.  The first part reminds us that God is always near to us.  Not only in the sense of God being everywhere throughout creation, but also that the time when God will be revealed in all His might and splendor is coming near.  True, we do not know exactly when that time will be.  God works on His own schedule, not our schedule.  However, it will come and every day, every hour, brings that time closer to fulfillment.  And, when that time comes, we – God’s creation – want to be ready to be part of His kingdom.

That leads us to the second part of the watch phrase for Lent.  How do we become ready to become part of the Kingdom of God?  Christ gives us the answer.  First, we must cast aside our sinful ways that are foreign to God’s goodness and teachings.  All of the sinful attitudes and actions that are within us or come forth from within us must be swept out.  This is the repentance portion of the watch phrase.  Next, having swept out the vices and sins from within us we must replace them with the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who has come to free us from the power of sin and death.

This second part is difficult.  It is painful and hard to make an honest account of our actions and habits and see where we have harmed ourselves, our neighbors, and our relationship with God.  A serious review of our actions will reveal many mistakes we have made; whether they be intentional or made through callousness.  Yet, it must be done if we are to truly repent for our actions and ask the Lord for forgiveness.  Having sought the Lord’s forgiveness and resolved to change from our former ways we next need to replace those former ways with God’s ways.  From the Word of God, Jesus Christ, we learn what God’s ways are and so we seek not only to follow them, but also to make them a part of who we are.  This is what we should be striving to do during the Season of Lent.

During the Season of Lent there are numerous opportunities to go to the Sacrament of Confession which is necessary to the repentance portion of the Lenten watch phrase.  Confessions are heard every Wednesday evening 7pm-8pm and every Saturday afternoon from 3.30pm-4.30pm.  In addition, there will be parish confessions on Sunday, March 3rd beginning at 4pm when there will be several priests present.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor

 

Later this week the Season of Lent will begin with Ash Wednesday on February 14.  Lent is a penitential season in which we recall with sorrow our sins; we reflect on how our sins have harmed ourselves, our family and neighbors, and our relationship with God; and how our sins made the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ necessary in order to bring about the forgiveness for our sins and the restoration of our relationship with God. During this Season of Lent, we do more than just “recall” or “remember” our sins and our griefs.  We also undertake concrete physical actions that help to reinforce our sense of sorrow for our sinful actions.  For Christians, our experience of God is not just one of the mind, but it is also an experience of the body as well. Fasting is an excellent example of how physical actions can reinforce our interior mental life with God.

Fasting gets its power from the fact that food is one of the good things of the earth.  We human beings are meant to enjoy the food we eat.  Sure, we could consume a bland but sufficiently nutrition rich paste to obtain the calories and nutrition we need to continue living, but who would want to do that on a regular basis?  Food is for us both a source of substance for continued living and a source of joy as well. Furthermore, like the other good things of the earth, food is meant to be a constant reminder of the greater joys of the Kingdom of God.  In other words, if we in the here and now look forward with great anticipation to a delicious well prepared steak dinner imagine how much more we should look forward to the greater joys of being with God forever.

Sometimes we become forgetful of the future joys of the Kingdom of God.  We can also become enamored with the things of earth and cease hoping for the better things to come.  Therefore, it is a good practice to once in a while deny ourselves the good things of the earth such as food for a short time.  This is done so that we might learn to set aside the good things of the earth when necessary so that we do not risk losing the better things of the Kingdom of God.  While we are fasting we should keep in mind how our attachments to the things of the earth has led us into sin and separation from God.  We should commit ourselves during our fasting to remembering how we should dedicate our lives not for our comparatively short time on earth, but for eternal life in heaven.

During Lent Catholics practice fasting on two days: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  On these days the practice of the Church is that the most that should be eaten is one regular meal and two smaller meals that do not equal a regular meal.  You are free to eat less if you so desire.  These practices are not binding on children, the elderly, the sick or injured, or anyone else for whom fasting may create a danger to their health.  Also during the Lent season Catholics abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor

 

I hate change.

There I said it.  Our modern society loves to talk about the wonders of “change” and while I do very much like technological advancements, when it comes to the people around me, I like things to stay the same for as long as possible.  It is for this reason that I was very saddened when Jan Mirani, the longtime Business Manager of St. Anne Parish, announced to me that she will be leaving her position at the end of March.

In the year and a half since becoming pastor of St. Anne Parish I have grown in my appreciation in the sheer breadth of knowledge about the parish that Jan has and in her dedication to the life of the parish.  Her knowledge of the parish ranges from where the keys that turn on the gas line to the kitchen stoves are kept to the family history of parishioners from thirty years ago. Her dedication to the parish can be best described by her coming early every weekday morning to open the church for morning Mass in every kind of weather or by her taking phone calls from funeral homes on weekends to quickly handle requests for funeral Masses.  And these are but a handful of examples that I am sure many people here at St. Anne can add to with just a few moments of consideration.

This is not yet the time for goodbyes.  As stated above Jan will be here for two more months. However, it is not too soon for all of us to offer our thanks and appreciation to Jan for her years of service to our parish.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor

 

There are a few items that I want to bring to your attention today.

The first is that the final numbers of the past year’s Catholic Ministry Annual Appeal have come in and I am glad to report to you that the people of St. Anne Parish were very generous in supporting the appeal.  Our goal last year was $109,300.  The actual amount that was received was $133,493. Since 70 percent of the money raised over the goal amount is rebated to St. Anne Parish our parish also gained $16,935 from your generosity.  As you have seen and heard, the 2024 Catholic Ministry Annual Appeal is now beginning and I hope you will be just as supportive of it this year as you were last year.

The second item is that the 2025 Mass intention book will open on February 7, 2024.  This is earlier than in previous years since the 2024 Mass intention book is almost completely filled. Mass intention requests must be submitted in writing. Please mail to: PO Box 670, Oswego, IL 60543 or email: stanne@stanneparish.org.  Please include in your request:

  • Date/Time you would like (since there is only one intention per Mass, we cannot guarantee that the date you wish will be available.)
  • Name of the who the Mass is for.
  • Name of who the Mass is requested by.
  • If a card is needed, we will mail it to you or to the person you would like to be notified. Please provide the full address. The card can also be picked up in the office.

There is a $10 offering for a Mass. A check can be mailed to the parish office or you may use the EGIVING on the parish website (click on the “Support Us” button on the bottom of the webpage) and choose the fund “Mass Intentions.”  https://giving.ncsservices.org/App/Giving/ncs-1474

This year we are instituting a ten Mass intention limit for the 2025 Mass intention book.  This is being done to ensure that Masses are available for new intentions.  While we only accept one intention per Mass that one intention can be for two or three close family members (such as parents or siblings) or for all the deceased members of a family.

Finally, I am happy to report that Fr. Dan is continuing to improve and that he is able to receive visitors.  His new permanent address is:

St. Patrick Residence
1400 Brookdale Road
Naperville, IL  60563

His room assignment is still in flux so you will have to check in at the front desk.  Also he is not accepting phone calls at this time.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor