Congratulations Graduates! Happy Feast Day of the Ascension of the Lord!
Congratulations Graduates!
Happy Feast Day of the Ascension of the Lord!
Congratulations to our 2026 Northwoods Catholic Community Graduates! It is time to celebrate their accomplishments of more than a decade of hard work, dedication, and perseverance. Now, it is a turning point in their lives. I am sure, seniors, you are full of dreams and plans for the future. Teachers, parents, family, and friends will look at you with a question: what is next? What are you going to study? What do you want to become? Some of you have already decided, and some are not sure yet.
Whether you are going to college, entering the workforce, joining the military, joining the priesthood or religious life, or are unsure of the next step, we are here to offer a prayer for you for encouragement and support. We want to thank you for your faith and witness. Wherever you go, please join the faith community there. Most of the campuses have Mass; if not, there will be a Catholic church nearby. When you come home from college, please don’t forget to come to your spiritual home and celebrate faith with us. There is a community of faith waiting to see you. Today we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, which reminds us of the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our day-to-day lives and of the mission Jesus entrusted to us: living the faith and giving witness to the Gospel.
On the 7th Sunday of Easter, we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. God the Father sent his only begotten Son to reveal the Father’s love and mercy for humanity. He was born in Bethlehem, the house of bread, and was laid in a manger where animals were fed, lived in Egypt as a refugee, lived thirty years of silent life, and finally three years of public ministry, and its culmination was his suffering, crucifixion, death, and resurrection.
During the forty days of Easter, Jesus walked with his disciples and prepared them for Pentecost and future mission before his Ascension. The first reading (Acts 1:1-11) gives the account of the Ascension. The Gospel (Matthew 28:16-20) records Jesus' great commission to the Apostles and this promise of being with them always. Acts 1:9 and Mark 16:19 say that the Ascension of the Lord culminates with his heavenly enthronement at the right hand of the Father. The Ascension took place on Mount Olives. In the first reading, we read, “A cloud took him from their sight.” In the Bible, the cloud represents the divine presence. We can see references in the Book of Exodus 13:21; Isaiah 63:11; Daniel 7:13. Acts 7:56 Stephan said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
The first reading tells us that while they were looking on, "He was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight" (Acts 1:9). The great Spanish poet Fray Luis de León captures the sentiments of the disciples with these famous lines: "Holy Shepherd, are you leaving your flock in this deep, dark valley, alone and in tears, whilst you break through the pure air into the state of immortality?” Jesus never leaves us alone. In the Gospel after the great commissioning, Jesus said to the apostles, “I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
Jesus departed from them, and he pledged his future return. The same cloud that took him away will bring him back to retrieve the saints destined for glory (1Thessalonians 4:14-17). Daniel talks about his vision, “I saw coming with the clouds of heaven. One like a son of man” (7:13). In the Gospel of Matthew 26:64, Jesus had told the high priest, “From now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’” Christ’s kingdom began with his coming, is now present in the Church, and will be fulfilled when he returns in glory. Jesus entrusted the Church to the Apostles and asked them to continue the mission with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
New Pastor for Northwoods Catholic Community: REV. RAJANNA BIRUSU, Parochial Vicar for the cluster parishes of St. Peter the Fisherman, Eagle River; St. Albert, Land O’Lakes; St. Mary, Phelps; St. Kunegunda of Poland, Sugar Camp; and St. Theresa, Three Lakes, is named Parochial Administrator for the cluster parishes of St. Anthony de Padua, Park Falls; St. Francis of Assisi, Fifield; and Immaculate Conception, Butternut.
I, Fr. SHAJI JOSEPH PAZHUKKATHARA, will be going to St. Patrick, Hudson (Parochial Vicar). The changes will be in effect on July 1, 2026. I am grateful for the fourteen years here in Northwoods Catholic Community. Thank you!