Dear People of God,
We are living in extraordinary times. Taking direction from our governor and especially our bishop, the Pastoral Council and I have decided to resume public Sunday Masses on Sunday, June 7. (Please check elsewhere in this bulletin for our summer Mass schedule.) The one caveat is that, as of now, on June 7, we can only have our churches ⅓ full. Other measures of social distancing and sanitation will be in place by that time. Please look for what those are and abide by them. I you have any questions or concerns, please contact me or Marcie. The Masses will continue to be streamed even on and after June 7 as there will be many people who can’t or don’t want to come. Bishop Quinn’s suspension of the obligation to go to Sunday Mass will continue indefinitely. So if you are 65 or older you are strongly encourage NOT to come to Mass. If you are immunocompromised, you are strongly encouraged NOT to come to Mass. If you feel unsure or unsafe, you are invited to stay home. However, if you want to come, if you want to receive Jesus, our Savior, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist, please come.
This Sunday we celebrate The Ascension of our Lord. I won’t complain (as much) as I have in past years. But Ascension is traditionally on Thursday, 40 days after Easter. However, in our diocese we celebrate it on Sunday. If you have been reading the daily Mass readings, Jesus has been talking about His need to go to the God the Father so that He can send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit. We hear about Jesus return to God the Father in the first reading. It says He was lifted up and a cloud took him from their sight. As the disciples stared at the sky, two angels say, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
After 2000 years, sometimes it is hard to believe that Jesus will come back. We should not let time make us lazy. Jesus could return at any moment. Are we ready? Have we done what He asks of us? In the Gospel Jesus instructs HIs disciples to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Have we strived to share to Gospel with others? To make disciples for the Kingdom of God? We have the fullness of Truth. We have the Truth that sets us free; that gives us eternal joy. It is not a first a set of doctrines or rules, but a Person, the Person of Jesus Christ.
May God bless and keep you,
Father Vogel
Father Andrew Vogel's Blog 