Event, postponed due to pandemic, altered; six priests honored on jubilees
Story by Reagan Scott
LINCOLN (SNR) - This year’s Chrism Mass was celebrated Thursday, June 11 at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln.
The celebration, during which Archbishop George Lucas blessed and consecrated the sacred oils used in the sacraments, was very different from previous years as only the priests of the Lincoln Diocese and a few other guests were present, sitting 6 feet apart in every other pew.
While they weren’t able to attend in person due to continued safety measures for the COVID-19 pandemic, the lay faithful of the diocese had the opportunity to watch the Mass live online.
Editor's Note: view video of the Chrism Mass or a slideshow of photos
While the Diocese’s Chrism Mass was originally scheduled to be celebrated in Holy Week April 6, Pope Francis gave permission for dioceses around the world to postpone their Chrism Masses for a later date, when it would be safer for people to gather together.
During the Chrism Mass, Archbishop Lucas blessed the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of Catechumens and Chrism, in addition to consecrating the Chrism, which can only be consecrated by a bishop. All three oils will be used in the celebration of the sacraments in the diocese throughout the coming year.
The Chrism Mass is also important in that it serves as an opportunity for the priests of the diocese to renew the vows they made during their priestly ordinations and to celebrate priests observing milestone anniversaries since their ordinations. This year, six priests are celebrating jubilees.
During his homily, Father Troy Schweiger, pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Lincoln, spoke to the way the pandemic has altered so many things, and the impact it has had on priestly ministry.
“When all of us were not able to have public Masses I’m sure you shared in my pain,” he said. “Never, from the time I was ordained, would I imagine not being able to celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass with my people, to share with them the wonder of Christ’s love in the Eucharist.”
He said that while the pandemic has taken so many things away, it forces people to focus on what is essential, and encouraged his fellow priests to be more intentional in sharing the stories of God’s grace working in the lives of their people.
“I pray you join me today in a humble and profound prayer of gratitude for this amazing gift that God has deigned to call us to, unworthy though we are, the gift of our priesthood,” he said.
Emeritus Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz - 60 Years
Bishop Bruskewitz was born in Milwaukee and was ordained a priest in Rome on July17, 1960. As he celebrates 60 years of priesthood this year, he is grateful for God’s kindness and goodness to him.
“It’s been a marvelous experience beyond my expectations,” Bishop Bruskewitz said. “I was very delighted to be a parish priest and a diocesan priest.”
Bishop Bruskewitz spent time serving as an assistant pastor in parishes around Milwaukee before leaving to undertake graduate studies at the Gregorian University in Rome. He received his doctorate in Dogmatic Theology in 1969.
Bishop Bruskewitz spent many of his priestly years in Rome where he worked for a department of the Holy See, the Congregation for Catholic Education, for 11 years. He would then go on to become the pastor of St. Bernard Parish in a suburb of Milwaukee for 12 years before being named Bishop of Lincoln.
Bishop Bruskewitz has been retired for the past eight years and said he enjoys having the time to study and pray.
Reflecting on the experiences that he’s had- having the privilege of knowing previous popes, getting to witness many canonizations of saints in Rome including St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and being in attendance at the closing of the Second Vatican Council, Bishop Bruskewitz said that all of these experiences have impacted him, and he was happy as a priest.
Father Patrick O’Byrne - 60 Years
Father O’Byrne, a native of Cork Country, Ireland, realized that he was being called to the priesthood while attending Catholic boarding school. He said that the priesthood surrounded his life at the time, and the vocation dawned on him during his time there.
After attending seminary, Father O’Byrne made the decision to become a missionary priest to the United States since there were so many priests in Ireland at the time.
Father O’Byrne spent time in Hastings and at Bishop Neumann in Wahoo, and received a coaching degree from Kearney State in the 1970s. For his work promoting athletics for girls following the implementation of Title IX, he was given an award eight years ago.
In an interview for his 55th jubilee, Father O’Byrne said that he enjoyed working with the young people and visiting the sick in hospitals.
Now retired in Millstreet, Ireland, Father O’Byrne remembers his 47 years in Nebraska fondly.
Msgr. Robert Roh - 55 Years
Msgr. Roh grew up attending Mass at Ss. Peter and Paul Parish in Abie and was inspired in his vocation by a number of priests, including his pastors and Bishop James Casey, who encouraged him through his years in the seminary in Atchison, Kan. and the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C.
Msgr. Roh served at St. Paul and Bellwood and Ss. Peter and Paul in Falls City. He served as pastor and superintendent of Sacred Heart School there for decades before retiring following his 50th anniversary of ordination and was honored for his service to the school last October.
In August 2015, Bishop Conley blessed and dedicated the Roh Activity Center at Sacred Heart School in honor of his service to the school.
In a previous interview, Msgr. Roh said the ability to hear confessions brought him much joy in his work as a priest.
Father Jeffrey Eickhoff - 25 Years
Father Eickhoff was born in Pennsylvania but his parents, native Nebraskans, returned to the state when he was 2. He grew up in Omaha and attended Gross Catholic High School before enrolling at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
While he’d first thought about becoming a priest in the seventh grade, and again in high school, it was after two years at UNL, where he was involved at the Newman Center, that Father Eickhoff entered the seminary.
Father Eickhoff’s first assignment following his ordination was as an assistant pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln and sophomore religion teacher at Pius X High School.
He would spend three years teaching at Pius, two years at St. Joseph and one year as assistant pastor at North American Martyrs Parish before serving one year at St. Joseph Parish in Colon and St. Mary’s in Cedar Bluffs, while teaching at Bishop Neumann High School.
In 1999, Bishop Bruskewitz had just opened St. Gregory the Great Seminary and wanted Father Eickhoff to teach there. Father Eickhoff studied in Rome from 1999 to 2002 and received his license in philosophy. Since then, he’s been at the seminary, where he now serves as the rector.
“My 25 years have turned out different than what I had imagined… but God had a better plan than I did,” he said. “The great surprise has been the spiritual fatherhood I’ve experienced, especially as rector at the seminary. I’m very thankful for the blessings I’ve received.”
Father Robert Matya - 25 Years
Father Matya grew up in Cedar Rapids, Neb., and attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and was very much involved at the Newman Center before leaving UNL to work full-time at Gallup.
Father Matya thought about being a priest for the first time when he was around 10 years old and couldn’t get the thought to go away. He entered the seminary at 25.
Following his ordination, Father Matya was at St. Cecilia Parish in Hastings for two years and taught at Hastings St. Cecilia before moving to the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln and teaching at Pius X High School for a year.
Father Matya has been at the Newman Center ever since serving as pastor and director, in addition to serving in his role as the Diocesan Vocations Director.
Father Matya said that it’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since he was ordained.
“I’ve always had a beautiful respect and love for the priesthood, but now that I’ve been a priest for 25 years, I understand more profoundly what a gift it is,” Father Matya said. “There’s so much joy in the priesthood.”
Father Matya said his priesthood has given him a deeper sense of gratitude about his life, and that God would call him to this vocation.
“I’m not deserving in any way, but I’m very blessed,” he said. “I’ll do my best to continue to serve as a priest of Christ until he calls me home.”
Father Troy Schweiger - 25 Years
Father Schweiger was born in Milwaukee and moved to Lincoln at the age of 13. He wanted to get to know people before starting school at Pius X High School and signed up for a trip to Worlds of Fun that his parish was hosting.
During the trip, he saw a side to the priest chaperones that he’d never seen before, which opened his eyes to the fact that maybe he could be a priest. After his second year of college at UNL, where he was involved at the Newman Center, Father Schweiger entered the seminary.
Father Schweiger has spent the years since his ordination as an assistant pastor for two parishes, a pastor for St. Ann Parish in Shubert, St. Joseph Parish in Colon and St. Mary in Cedar Bluffs and St. James Parish in Mead.
He has also served as a guidance counselor at Sacred Heart School in Falls City, the principal for Bishop Neumann and the superintendent for Hastings Catholic Schools. He is currently serving in his role as pastor for St. Patrick Parish in Lincoln.
He said that every assignment has had its moments of struggle but brought great joys as well.
He said, “In some ways it feels like it’s only been a couple years since I was ordained, and in other way it’s hard to remember a time when I wasn’t a priest… I thank God every day for the gift he’s given me.”
