Archive for July 11th, 2022

God Close to Us

July 11, 2022

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

Today we celebrate the God who is close to us both in His Word and in our neighbor. As the image of the unseen God, and as the Good Samaritan, Christ is close to us in all circumstances of life. So, the church asks us to acknowledge the presence of God both in his Word, and in our neighbor. Jesus teaches us through the parable of the Good Samaritan that God’s grace comes to us in all forms and through all kinds of people.

The first reading taken from the Book of Deuteronomy is one of the most consoling and joyful words given to the people. It was time for Moses to take leave of his people as he could not reach the Promised Land. He says to his people God is our life, hear the voice of God from the Law and to keep His Commandments, He tells them God is very near to them in the neighbors we shall encounter each day. When we act as neighbor to them, we act as neighbor to God Himself.

The second reading is from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians. It tell us about the divinity of Jesus and that Jesus is the image of invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. All creation was in Him, through Him, and for Him. Since all is created in and through him, Christ is the center of Unity. Jesus is the full revelation of God, it is this Jesus who lives in us and in our neighbors. We love Jesus when we love our neighbors.

In today’s Gospel, a scribe asked Jesus a very basic religious question, “What should I do to inherit eternal life?” In answer to the question, Jesus directs the scribe’s attention to the Sacred Scriptures. Love God and express it by loving your neighbor.

God could be found in his Word which is close to him. To love God therefore is to love his Word. The Word of God is personified in the Good Samaritan in today’s gospel. The word of God is Jesus himself, who speaks to us, and Jesus who is ever close to us like the Good Samaritan.

The Gospel also presents to us another way through which God is close to us. That is, in our neighbor. As a humble master, he is always available to us in simple ways and things. He is close to us in the scriptures, in the poor, in the just, in the pious, in the marginalized, in the sick, and in the weak. Like the Good Samaritan, if we search for God in these, we will find Him. The Good Samaritan saw God in the victim, and so was moved to help him.

The Good Samaritan represents those who seek Christ in the weak, wounded, and the poor. He represents those who are mindful of their neighbors and those who are wounded. Also, he represents Christ who is always quick to come to our help when we are weak, despised, and abandoned. He is ever ready to help us to recover from our injuries, and He is so close to take care, and to heal us.

We have one life and we do not get another one. So live your life praising God and if you fall astray, always run back to Him because He will always welcome you with open arms. Use the gifts He has blessed you with to serve others. Do not live your life wasting away with the temporary happiness of life, find permanent happiness in living out the virtues and serving others. God loves us so much that He gave us this life.

Posted in Good Samaritan, Homily, Love, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Essential Conversation — Funeral Homily for Marcel Sobotta, 86

July 11, 2022

By Fr. Victor Feltes

Marcel’s family moved here to Bloomer when he was just three years old. And back then, starting out, the only language he knew was Polish. Marcel had to learn how to speak English here, partly from his friends, who reportedly taught him how to say useful words like “potato.” Consider how essential practicing this new language was for his life. How isolated would his more than eighty years of life on earth have been, if Marcel had never practiced such conversation?

About Marcel, Beverly and their children have shared many memories. Of his love for his wife and kids, grandkids and great grandkids. Of his delight in farming and gardening. Of his work ethic at the dairy and driving school bus. Of his raising the beagles and rabbits. Of his joy in fishing and hunting in God’s creation. Of his frustration with The Green Bay Packers. But the particular aspect which stood out to me most is what his family shared about Marcel’s life of prayer.

Marcel prayed at every meal time and prayed every single night. He would kneel down by his bedside and was not ashamed to let his children see it. In fact, he taught his children to do the same. They tell me he was very faithful to God. Prayer, it seems, was a constant throughout Marcel’s life. When I visited him with Beverly, just days before he died, to give him the Holy Eucharist and the anointing for the sick, he joined us in the prayers as he was able, and he was happy. Marcel had learned and practiced the language of prayer.

Prayer is simply a conversation with our friends in heaven. Prayer is how we talk to God. And through the important practice of prayer, a Christian becomes more and more conformed to Christ and shares in his blessedness. The Christian who prays recognizes their poverty in spirit, that they need God. The Christian who prays will mourn the evils of this world, for Jesus will share with them his heart, and there is much to mourn. The Christian who prays meekly asks the Lord to intervene with his wise solutions, for “man’s wrath does not accomplish the righteousness of God” and “his ways are above our ways.” The Christian who prays increasingly hungers and thirsts for righteousness, within themselves and others, for Christ calls us all to be holy saints. The Christian who prays grows merciful, because they know they have received great mercy. The Christian who prays is clean of heart, desiring one thing, God, above all. And the Christian who prays is a peacemaker, nurturing peace within themselves and for all around them.

Connected to Christ in daily prayer, we no longer live an isolated human life, cut off from deeper meaning and purpose, settling for small potatoes. Our Lord has a purpose for you and has prepared a feast for you. Jesus says in the Book of Revelation, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come to him and dine with him and he with me.” Behold, he stands at your door and knocks. He knocks at the door of your soul, and prayer is how you open the door to him. Blessed is he who opens that door, for consolation, the Kingdom, and the vision of God await. May we learn this valuable lesson from Marcel’s lived example.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Funeral Homilies, Homily, Saintly People, Sermon on the Mount | 1 Comment »