Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
As we near the end of the month of May, we give thanks in a special way to Mary, the mother of God and our mother, for all her care for us. May crownings, first Communions and graduations have been a part of this month. We are blessed indeed. Holy Mother of God, pray for us!
Mary will again be a focus of the church on May 31, thereby ending our observance of the month of Mary. We will celebrate the feast of the of Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this day we commemorate Mary’s visit to her cousin, Elizabeth, as illustrated in Luke.
“Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth,” Luke 1:39-40
Mary’s response to Elizabeth is the famous Canticle of Mary or the Magnificat. Priests, deacons and many of the lay faithful who pray the Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours pray these words of the Magnificat each day: “My soul proclaims the glory of God.”
May the sentiments of this prayer always be in our minds and hearts. Like Mary, we thank God for all the blessings that come to us.
Some of you may remember two years ago on May 28, I sent my mandatory letter of retirement to the Holy Father on my 75th birthday. Pope Francis has not yet selected my successor and I continue to have the honor of serving as your bishop for a little while longer. Continue to pray for me and our next bishop, whoever he may be.
I am looking forward to the first days of June in the church. On June 1, I have the privilege of ordaining Jake Rosenmeyer to the order of deacon. This Whittemore native has been studying at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary outside of St. Louis, Missouri. He will be ordained a transitional deacon, meaning that he will serve as a deacon as he continues studies at the seminary with the intention of being ordained a priest in June 2025.
Please pray for Jake and all our seminarians. I recently accepted two more fine men as diocesan seminarians. May God continue to bless them.
On June 1 and 2, we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, also known as the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This has been celebrated in the church since the 13th century. We focus on the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist, present in body, blood, soul and divinity in what appears to be ordinary bread and wine.
As Catholics, we take the words of the Lord to be true, “This is my body…This is my blood,” the bread and wine are transformed into Christ’s body and blood, his living presence among us.
Many of our parishes will offer a eucharistic procession for Corpus Christi to show the world our belief in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I encourage all the faithful to participate in your local eucharistic procession if your parish has one.
Many of you may know that I have been in need of an ankle replacement. I have scheduled the surgery for June 5, and will need to spend several weeks recuperating. Please keep me in prayer during my surgery and recovery.
May the Lord continue to fill you with peace and joy. Enjoy these almost summer days!
Your brother in Christ,
Bishop Walker Nickless
Diocese of Sioux City