Archive for March 25th, 2023

Jesus says “Come to Me” — Funeral Homily for Clarence “Clancy” Mikl, 66

March 25, 2023

By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

On behalf of St. Paul’s and St. John the Baptist Parishes, I would like to extend our sympathy to the members of Clarence’s family. We will continue to remember him in our thoughts, prayers, and masses in the coming future. Whenever we gather as a community of faith to celebrate the Eucharist, whether it is a simple liturgy during the week or a more solemn celebration on Sunday, one thing we always do is to remember in a very special way, our faithfully departed and their families.

Clarence and Janice were married on December 3, 1977, and they had five children and ten wonderful grandchildren. He came from a large family and is also survived by his brothers and sisters. Clarence was a friend to everyone he met. He retired in 2019 after twenty years of working at Spectrum Industries in Chippewa Falls. He enjoyed hunting and fishing year around. He established “Da Famous Mikl Deer Camp” near New Auburn. He built himself a bunkhouse which he enjoyed in his retirement. He shared his love for the outdoors with his grandchildren, including hunting, camping, and showing them how maple syrup is harvested and made. He was a true American patriot, and a Packers, Brewers, and Badgers fan.

He was a member of St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Bloomer and the Knights of Columbus, and for many years was a Boy Scout leader. He was a handyman and taught his kids to fix their own cars and trucks, and to do other things as well. He loved being helpful, and was always willing to lend a hand in whatever was needed.

In the Gospel today, Jesus offers words of comfort. Anyone who is tired, disappointed or depressed can be lifted up by the comforting promise that Jesus will give you rest. We all have problems in life. These problems can be big or small, and make us sad and tired.

Whenever we lose a person who is dear to us, we are overcome with emotion. We are sad and confused. Here is the Good News. To all those who are alone and in need of someone to talk to, those who have no one, those who feel lost and lonely, Jesus can help. He says, come to me. Jesus is always there to help us, we are never alone.

While we are truly saddened over the passing from this life of Clarence, our faith reassures us that the sadness we are now experiencing will be transformed into joy because Clarence, like Jesus, has died, but he has died into Resurrection. Even now as we continue to celebrate his funeral liturgy, he is enjoying the fullness of God’s presence and will continue to enjoy that fullness forever.

In Jesus, we find total comfort.

Posted in Funeral Homilies, Homily | Leave a Comment »

Lessons for the Raising of Lazarus

March 25, 2023

5th Sunday of Lent
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

Eternal life begins now for those in a relationship with Jesus. Jesus is telling us that eternal life begins now for those who believe in Him. He tells us, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25–26)

The first reading today is from the book of Ezekiel, which tells us of God’s promise to put his Spirit within the people so they may live. Before this promise, the prophet Ezekiel, led by the Spirit, was taken into the plain where his mission was revealed to him. The passage is a prediction of the renewed life of the people of Israel after their exile from Jerusalem. The people seemed dead, their temple was destroyed, their land wasted, and their leaders gone. Ezekiel was told that through his gift of prophesying, God’s chosen people that had been exiled in Babylon for some time would receive a new Spirit that would give them new hope. They would be led to a new life in the land of Israel. God promises to put a new spirit in His people, which is a promise to give new life to them.

In the second reading of today, St. Paul continues talking about the resurrection. The life of the flesh is dominated by our human way of thinking, which has no future, it is the way to death. People who are living according to the Spirit have a life of grace. They have God as their center and are spiritually alive. Their faith gives them a future and a new life path. Therefore, St. Paul says that those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit.

Today’s gospel reading gives us two messages. First, it tells us that our living faith in Jesus will raise all our bodies in the final resurrection. Secondly, with the approach of Easter Sunday, we are called symbolically to resurrect ourselves from sin to grace by partaking in the sacrament of reconciliation. In raising Lazarus, Jesus showed His authority as the Son and showed His divine power. By raising him on the fourth day, Jesus proved that He is master over life and death, and he is able to bring all the dead back to life, the holy Patriarchs, the Jews, and even the righteous Gentiles from centuries before. To be raised from the dead means to be in a living, loving relationship with Jesus, who teaches us that resurrection and life are a call to be united with Him

There are a few lessons we can learn from today’s gospel. First, this miracle is an expression of love. Second, our faith is very important in any miracle God does for us. The third lesson is that everything is possible with Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Finally, Jesus is willing to help us no matter what it will cost Him. It does not matter how long we have been spiritually dead or away from Him. If we hear and obey His voice, He will restore life to our weak and mortal bodies through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is because Jesus has authority over life and death.

Posted in Holy Spirit, Homily, Resurrection, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Why Did Jesus Delay?

March 25, 2023

5th Sunday of Lent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

In 1582, St. Teresa of Ávila was journeying across Spain to establish new Carmelite convents. The rivers that season were so high that in some places the entire road was covered and obscured by water. It was clearly too dangerous to continue through those waters aboard the carriage, so Teresa and her companions advanced cautiously on foot, with Teresa leading the way. At one point, she lost her footing and fell down into the muddy water. Upon securing herself against the flowing current she exclaimed, “Oh, my Lord, when will you cease from scattering obstacles in our path?” Jesus replied to the mystical nun, “Do not complain, Daughter, for it is ever thus that I treat my friends.” And Teresa famously and dryly replied, “Ah, Lord, it is also on that account that you have so few!”

In today’s Gospel, Martha and Mary send word to Jesus about their ailing brother, Lazarus: “Master, the one you love is ill.” “Now,” St. John records in his Gospel, “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was.” Is not this a surprising twist? Because Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters he delayed departing for their village for two additional days. And by the time Jesus arrives in Bethany with his disciples, Lazarus has been four days dead in the tomb.

Martha and Mary each say to Jesus what they had likely already lamented to each other: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!” You can imagine their unspoken, anguished question: ‘You’ve healed others, you’ve helped strangers, so why didn’t you come to help us, your dear friends, when we needed you?’ When Jesus saw Mary weeping and those with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and Jesus wept. So the Judeans remarked, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?” And Jesus, perturbed again, went to Lazarus’ tomb to resurrect him.

Jesus had told his disciples days before, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” And when they mistook him as saying Lazarus was merely napping, Jesus clarified, “Lazarus has died.” So Jesus came to Bethany fully-intending to raise Lazarus from the dead. But what troubled Jesus and why did Jesus weep? Was he mourning for Lazarus? Imagine if you learned one of your friends had died this morning but you were also certain that you friend would be alive and well again just fifteen minutes from now. How much would you mourn? As much as Jesus was crying for Lazarus, I believe Jesus wept more so for Mary and Martha and those in the crowd. He weeps for them and for all humanity in all of history who mourn and struggle with fear, doubt, and pain because of the scandal of suffering and death in our world.

We naturally desire to live easy lives; to be untouched by hardship or losses. But Jesus desires far greater things for us than mere ease. Before they left for Bethany, Jesus told his disciples, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” These events were divinely permitted and intended for the greater glory of Lazarus and his sisters, too. Imagine if Lazarus had never gotten sick and died and been raised by Jesus — would we even know his name today? Instead, his story with Christ, his life because of Christ, has blessed the world, including us. Martha and Mary, through enduring this trial, were also blessed. Imagine the intensity of their faith in Christ and their courage in facing death after this experience. Jesus made these sisters a blessing for every generation to come.

Because Jesus loved Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, and St. Teresa of Ávila, he allowed all of them to experience trials. It is ever thus that he treats his friends. So be open to walking, to accepting, to trusting, Christ’s providential path for your life. Even if this journey may be harder than we would choose for ourselves, his path leads to better blessings and greater glory with Christ.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Homily, Jesus Christ, Redemptive Suffering, St. Teresa of Avila, Sts. Martha and Mary, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »