Dear Parishioners, 

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. In some parts of the world, the Ascension is celebrated on Ascension Thursday (which is exactly 40 days after Easter Sunday and the Resurrection) and in other places this feast has been transferred to Sunday to make it a greater celebration. Whenever we celebrate this day, we realize that we are only days away from Pentecost Sunday.

Of course, the Apostles didn’t know that they were anticipating Pentecost Sunday and the gift of the Holy Spirit. In their minds and hearts, they were still sorting out the celebration of Easter Sunday and what had just happened at the Ascension. It didn’t make sense to them that Jesus had left them a second time.

Yet each one of these days became a stepping stone to the next level of faith. If Jesus had not done it this way, introducing these events and days one at a time (Easter, the Ascension, and Pentecost), the Apostles, and in fact any one of us, would have been overwhelmed. When we step back, and view this 2,000 years later, it makes a bit more sense why it had to happen this way. 

As we celebrate Ascension, we see how faith is truly a lifelong process. We discover that our faith is something that we have to work on each day. It’s not automatic, nor should it be taken for granted. Faith needs to be a part of the daily “ins and outs” of life. 

Yesterday, one of our seminarians became one step closer to becoming a priest as he was ordained a transitional deacon. As we say a prayer of thanksgiving today for Hector Albeiro Saldarriaga Cavadid, thank you everyone for your support of our seminarians through the Bishop’s Annual Appeal. Your support helps create the future of our diocese so that the work of the Church can continue. 

We continue to get closer to finishing our goal for this annual appeal. If you still have not turned in your pledge card, or pledged online at the Diocese of Kalamazoo, please help our St. Catherine parish support the work of the Church in this way. As I have mentioned earlier, if we exceed our goal this year, the money will come back to the parish to help pay down our loan debt for the renovations and additions to the church building that we finished 20 years ago.

Thanks for reading!

Fr. Mark