Archive for the ‘Christian Perfection’ Category

God Was With Them

August 30, 2025

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Wednesday’s awful attack at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis is terrible and heart-aching. Such an evil occurring in our region of the country, to a place of Catholic faith and learning like our own, hits extra close to home. And whatever prudent proposals should follow, we are moved to pray fervently for these victims and everyone impacted. This week we witnessed some combination of mental illness, demonic influence, and chosen evil at work. If demons had no role in this atrocity, then their bad fruits are indiscernible in this world. St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians that our true adversaries are not flesh and blood—fixation on the hatred of other humans is a snare for the soul. Our struggle is with “the evil spirits in the heavens” who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

The tactics of demons are various but perhaps their foremost temptation is a repetition of history’s first temptation. The lie behind Satan’s suggestion to Adam and Eve that they eat from the forbidden tree to become like gods was: “You can’t trust God because he doesn’t really love you.” This is the point I wish to speak to, for this week I saw reactions to the attack on these innocents like this one online: “They were literally praying when they got shot. Praying doesn’t work.” The shooting at the Annunciation School Mass reportedly began during the Responsorial Psalm, which (if they were reading the same psalm we were at our parish that morning) included these lines: “Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence where can I flee? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I sink to the nether world, you are present there.” Does their suffering such evil mean that the Lord was not with them and for them at that church?

On Wednesday, my thoughts went to chapter two of the Book of Wisdom. You might not be familiar with its passages, since this Old Testament book is found in Catholic and Orthodox canons of Scripture but not included in most Protestant bibles. I encourage you to read the entire second chapter yourself, but I will excerpt from the text here. It begins by observing how the Wicked, “not thinking rightly, said among themselves: ‘Brief and troubled is our lifetime; there is no remedy for our dying, nor is anyone known to have come back from the underworld. For by mere chance were we born, and hereafter we shall be as though we had not been…”

The Book of Wisdom says the Wicked who think life is pointlessness and hopeless resolve to enjoy pleasures to the fullest and to exploit whomever they wish. They say, “Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are here, and make use of creation with youthful zest. Let us oppress the righteous poor; let us neither spare the widow nor revere the aged for hair grown white with time. But let our strength be our norm of righteousness; for weakness proves itself useless.” Then from here the text goes on, at much more length than I am sharing, describing the Wicked’s hatred towards a holy person:

“‘Let us lie in wait for the righteous one, because he is annoying to us; he opposes our actions, reproaches us for transgressions of the law… He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of God. Let us see whether his words be true… For if the righteous one is the son of God, God will help him and deliver him from the hand of his foes. With violence and torture let us put him to the test… Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him.’ These were their thoughts, but they erred; for their wickedness blinded them, and they did not know the hidden counsels of God;  neither did they count on a recompense for holiness nor discern the innocent souls’ reward.”

This Old Testament prophecy clearly applies to Jesus, but not merely to him but his martyrs as well. I cannot tell you what specific goods will come from Almighty God permitting particular evils to occur but we know, in the words of St. Paul to the Romans, “God works all things together for the good of those who love him.” On Good Friday, the murder of the Messiah was incomprehensible to his disciples and friends, but just forty hours later, with the resurrection of Jesus, they began to better understand that mystery at the center of our Christian Faith. Like in today’s Gospel parable, Jesus went to the lowest place, but the Lord of Hosts saw and said to him “My friend, move up to a higher position,” and now he enjoys a most-honored seat in heaven and the esteem of all his companions around the Eucharistic table.

Our waiting to behold God’s full reversal of this world’s evils will likely last much longer than just three days, but we will endure in faith, hope, and love, praying and working and worshipping and journeying with Jesus Christ. We approach God’s Kingdom and we will press on to join the countless angels in festal gathering; and God the judge of all; and the spirits of the Just, the saints made perfect; and Jesus, the mediator of our new covenant; and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of history’s first martyr, Abel. God was with them and he will be with us too.

The Smallest Psalm

August 24, 2025

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

In the 1993 comedy drama “Groundhog Day,” Bill Murray plays a cynical Pittsburg weatherman assigned to cover the Groundhog Day festivities held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. There he becomes trapped inside a mysterious time loop, reliving the same day over and over. At first he indulges in sensible pleasures, then he darkly despairs, but eventually he starts growing in wisdom and virtue until he becomes a man worthy of his good and beautiful TV producer, played by Andie MacDowell. Each day was the same, but over time they began to change him for the better. The same thing can be true with the formal prayers we say.

Though it is a very good thing for us to speak to our heavenly friends in our own words, offering traditional memorized or pre-written prayers is valuable as well. How do we know? Because God inspired and gave his to people an entire collection of such prayers known as The Book of Psalms. He knew these 150 prayers would be prayed over and over, in both the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, teaching us and transforming us in our relationship with him. And it is important that we strive to learn and grow, so that we may enter through the narrow gate of Jesus Christ and be saved. Daily prayer and weekly Mass are among the God-given disciplines which yield (in the words of the Letter to the Hebrews) “the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by [them].

Now imagine if you were Almighty God and you wished to compose a tiny psalm for the human race. What would you write about? Whom would you feature and what themes would you highlight? In the responsorial psalm for today’s Holy Mass we see how God answered. Short prayers can be great prayers. Psalm 117 is just two verses, only four lines long, the shortest psalm in the Bible:

Praise the Lord, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever. Hallelujah!

In this psalm’s original context, God’s chosen people are calling out to the Gentiles, the nations beyond Israel, urging them to praise the Lord. The psalm begins and ends with appeals to praise the Lord for Hallelujah (or Alleluia) are Hebrew for “Praise the Lord!” Why should the God of Israel be praised, honored, celebrated, and loved? The psalm’s second half provides an answer: “For steadfast is his kindness toward us, and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever.” And God’s goodness, his real and steadfast love, endures for us in this age of the Church. As St. John writes in his first New Testament letter: “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. … We love because he first loved us.”

And here’s a final lesson from this small psalm: Psalm 117 is evangelistic. It calls all everyone from everywhere to enter into full communion with God’s people and himself. Has anyone outside of your household become Catholic through your influence? It helps if we try. If we are called to produce a harvest “a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold,” then we could expect to have at least a handful of such people in our lifetime. Catholics sometimes feel intimidated at making invitations, thinking they lack the right words. But Psalm 117 show that the message can be simple: “You should to worship with us here, because Christ’s mercy and blessings in his Catholic Church have changed my life.” The Sunday morning classes for becoming Catholic called OCIA (formerly known as RCIA) are starting soon. Who could you invite to come along with you? Please help them enter Christ’s house through the narrow gate.

True Christianity Cleaves

August 16, 2025

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Jesus asked his disciples, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” Why does he say this? Is he not the one whom Isaiah called the “Prince of Peace”? The Prophet Zechariah foretold: “Behold: your king is coming to you… humble and riding on a donkey… He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim, and the warhorse from Jerusalem; the warrior’s bow will be banished, and he will proclaim peace to the nations.” But this Kingdom of unending worldwide peace has not yet fully come and will not arrive until Christ’s Second Coming.

Jesus told his apostles, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you,” but he added, “because you do not belong to the world… the world hates you. … In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Jesus wished to dispel his followers’ presumptions about immediate peace on earth and warned them of future conflicts. He said, “You will hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for these things must happen, but it will not yet be the end.” Jesus also warned his disciples of future religious persecutions because not everyone, even amongst his own people, would accept him as the Christ. “From now on,” Jesus said, “a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three.” “Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.” “You will be hated by all because of my name,” Jesus said, “but whoever endures to the end will be saved.

You have probably heard both ancient and modern stories about people who suffered and sacrificed a great deal in order to be a Christian or to join his Catholic Church. We are surrounded by great a cloud of such witnesses: like St. Paul the Apostle, St. Edmund Campion St. Kateri Tekakwitha, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. John Henry Newman, and many other saints. When we hear of a household divided—three against two or two against three—on account of Christ, we might imagine a family at odds due to some accepting Jesus and his Church while others remain atheists, pagans, Muslims, Jews, or non-Catholic Christians. This sometimes happens, yet Jesus absolutely insists that we love him most of all and follow him no matter what. He says, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” If you have been considering becoming a Catholic Christian, I urge you to take the next step and learn more this fall by enrolling in parish OCIA classes (formerly known as RCIA).

Though we typically imagine persecution coming from people outside our faith, resistance can come from our co-religionists as well. The Prophet Jeremiah and those who were persecuting him in today’s first reading were all Old Testament Jews professing to follow the same God and same faith. Yet those who mistreated Jeremiah were opposing God’s will. This can happen inside of a Catholic household as well. What if some family members understand the necessity of worshipping and thanking God every Sunday at Mass while others in the family are unwilling to prioritize him? What if one spouse wants to live in accord with God’s will about the marital embrace, virtue, love, and human life, but the other spouse wants to contracept? What if children want to explore possible priestly or religious vocations but their parents resist what may be God’s will saying, “We want grandchildren”? What if some family members treat our religion like merely “fire insurance,” hoping the Lord won’t mind us doing whatever we prefer, while other members are on fire for the Lord?

Jesus said, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” He wants us to be on fire for him, aflame with the Holy Spirit, shining light with a warm inner peace which this troubled world cannot take away. If that uniquely describes you in your household, pray for your family members, love them, and keep modeling and advocating for what is right and good. If that does not describe you, then pray for a more fervent heart and obey the voice of Christ challenging your conscience. Realize you cannot clear a six foot charism using only three foot hops.

Life Eternal — Funeral Homily for Ronald “Ron” Woolever, 75

August 6, 2025

By Fr. Victor Feltes

We are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord.” That is what St. Paul writes about himself and the Christians at Corinth in our second reading. But is this true for us today? Would we rather leave the body and go home to the Lord?

Imagine if you could have endless more years of this life on earth. Would you wish for that? Pondering such a wish you would be wise to reflect upon the burdens of bad health. The coming of such crosses in the later years of life makes many people more open to the next life. Ron endured poor health but he is freed from that burden now.

But suppose you could live an endless life on earth free from all illness and pain; the next thing you might consider is the prospect of outliving everybody you know now, as well as everyone you would ever know. Even with our well-founded hope for Heaven, where all friends of God will be reunited, the temporary separation between us and our dearly departed causes sadness in us who remain behind. It is okay to mourn at Ron’s passing, though we do ‘not grieve like those who have no hope,’ for we have hope in him who said “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.”

But imagine if each person on earth were granted pain-free immortality; the next thing to consider is what life in that world would be like. After Adam and Eve sinned at the tree they were deprived of the fruit of another—the Tree of Life—lest they eat of it and live forever in their unhappy fallen state. Even if scientists were to develop a treatment to eradicate all pain and all death, moral sickness would remain untreated in many human souls. Endless life without Christian conversion would create a hell of moral evils on earth. Ron’s love for Jesus and our Catholic faith led to his deep devotion to the Holy Eucharist and St. Paul’s Parish. He hungered and thirsted for holiness, and our holy religion helped him to go deeper, change, and grow with God in his grace.

Now suppose if everyone on earth were forever freed from pain and death and sin, to live peacefully together on earth forever—what would life in that world be like? Ron delighted in many things in our world. Beyond family and friends, there were monster trucks and parade floats, old cars, new movies, and countless good things more. But after living in our world a few decades, which is far less time than millennia, we can think to ourselves, “These things are nice but is this really all there is?” Every heart contains a God-shaped hole which can only be fully satisfied by the infinite beauty, goodness, and love of the Holy Trinity. Understanding this changes how we see our lives in this world (which we must not cling to) and our future deaths (which we must not grasp at) until the Lord finally calls us home to be with him. Jesus tells his disciples, “I am going to prepare a place for you… [and] take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.”

Therefore,” St. Paul writes, “we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.” Pray for Ron’s soul, that he may now enjoy the endless bliss of Heaven. And let Jesus Christ be the good and loving Lord of your life so that you may enter eternal life, for ‘no one comes to the Father except through him.’

Can One Man Save A City?

July 27, 2025

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

This morning, I believe I should preach to you about the City of Sodom and the City of God, about the importance of Christ and the importance of Confession. In today’s first reading, Abraham intercedes with the Lord concerning the possible destruction of Sodom. Abraham asks: ‘Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty? Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city; would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it? What if there are five less than fifty innocent people? Will you destroy the whole city because of those five? What if only thirty are found there? What if there are no more than twenty? What if there are at least ten there?’ The Lord replies that if there are fifty, or forty-five, or thirty, or twenty, or even ten innocent people in the city of Sodom, for their sake “I will not destroy it.” But the city of Sodom was destroyed, and God does not lie, so we know that there was not ten innocent people in that city when it was destroyed. Abraham stopped at ten, but suppose if he had pressed on further? Imagine if Abraham had asked the Lord, ‘What if one innocent person is found there? Will you spare the city?’ Could one righteous man have saved the city?

In the fifth century A.D., St. Augustine wrote of two cities: the City of Man and the City of God. These cities exist side by side extending throughout the earth with every human person belonging to one city or the other. The City of Man embraces sin, with pride, ambition, greed, lust, hated and immorality reigning. But the City of God is led by the Lord, with Christian love and virtues lived in an alliance with Jesus Christ. To which city do we belong?

St. Paul told the Christians in Ephesus, “You are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God.” This citizenship was bestowed to us through baptism, as St. Paul teaches in our second reading: “You were buried with [Christ] in baptism, in which you were also raised with him…. And even when you were dead in transgressions… he brought you to life along with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions….” In Jesus Christ, an innocent man is found among us at last. The Son of God became one of us so that on his account our city may be spared. Yet to benefit from his righteousness, we must continue living close to him.

Baptism forgave our past sins, but Jesus teaches us to seek that our new sins be forgiven. He told his disciples, “When you pray, say… Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins…” Realize that all wrongdoing is sin but not all sin is mortal (or spiritually fatal) and know that forgiveness can require more than just a prayer. As St. John writes in his First Epistle: “If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.” If you have sinned, you should pray to God for mercy and grace. But if you have sinned gravely, you should also seek out Confession. This is a sacrament Jesus Christ has given us for the forgiveness of grave sins after baptism.

Your priests care deeply about this sacrament and we are at your service, at both announced times and upon request. Considering how many people are in our parishes, it concerns me that we are not busier with confessions than we are. You bathe every day. You probably take out garbage every week. The practice of monthly confession, even absent grave sins, is good spiritual hygiene for your soul and helps you live closer to Christ. If you wander away from the City of God into the City of Man, come to Confession for a rapid to return home. Please allow our Lord to show you his mercy.

8th Grade Graduation Homily

May 23, 2025

By Fr. Victor Feltes

Each year, our La Crosse Diocese surveys all its Catholic school eighth graders about their religious views and attitudes. In order to encourage sincere responses these surveys are anonymous, but schools do receive a report indicating what percentage of its students affirmed various statements. Following this year’s assessment, we received word that our eighth graders had some of the most faithful answers in the entire diocese. For instance, 100% of you ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ with these statements (among others):

• I believe that God knows and loves me personally.
• Sin offends God and harms me.
• There is a heaven and hell.
• It is important for me to be with God in heaven.
• Living a faithful life is the path to becoming happy and fulfilled.
• I am proud to be a Catholic.
• Belonging to the Catholic Church is an important part of my relationship with Jesus.
• I believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist.
• I am willing to speak up to defend my faith.
• I have a duty as a Christian to help those in need.
• I believe that God has a calling or vocation for every person.

Jesus told his students, his disciples, “I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.” St. Paul’s School exists so that the joy of Christ and his Church might be in you and your joy may be complete. Your teachers and I—all of whom could probably be making much more money doing something else somewhere else—are at this school to help gift to you the great treasures of Christianity, so your responses give us joy. Your answers also reflect something of the good influence and priorities of your parents, for they have made sacrifices to send you to this school and 100% of you agree that you ‘enjoy spending time with your family.’ I wished to begin my words to you young people tonight with this praise, but now I must also share a word of warning, challenge, and calling.

Jesus gave his disciples this important message: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” Graduating from our school and entering another leaves behind the close, sheltering Christian community of this school. Even if you go on to enroll in a Catholic school, your faith will be challenged. Remember that Jesus loves you and that you must remain close to him.

You will remain in his love if you keep his commandments. He commands us to pray daily, to worship at the Eucharist on Sunday, to approach him in the Sacrament of Confession as needed, to always be striving to grow in faithful friendship with him. If you are doing this, keep it up. If you neglect this, pick it up. Simon Peter was very fond of Jesus but his triple failure during the Passion of Christ caught him by surprise. Realize that you are called to be faithful friends of Christ even in a hostile world. Give us joy and make us proud. Jesus loves you. Remain in his love. If you strive to love him and keep his commandments, you will remain and live in his love.

Love Like Christ

May 19, 2025

5th Sunday of Easter
By Fr. Victor Feltes

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works.” In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways through prophets (like in the previous psalm) validating his words with saving miracles. But at the beginning of this present age he spoke to us through his Son, through whom he has worked the greatest miracles of salvation.

We bow before the wonder of the Incarnation, that the Divine Person through whom all things were made would become man in the womb of the Virgin Mary and be born among his creatures. We are blessed that Jesus has revealed to us his way of Christian living, not only through the wisdom he preached but through his lived example. And greatest of all, we have access to peace, hope, and joy because of his willingness to suffer, die, and rise for us. Pause to consider where you would be if not for Christ’s love for you.

Now, Jesus gives us a new commandment: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Now this love we are called to is not mere emotion. Oftentimes love is a warm, fuzzy, pleasure, but love will not always feel good. And this love we are called to is more than intellectual. The demons know that Jesus is Lord, but that does not save them, because they do not love him. We are called to love as Jesus has loved us.

This means we are called to love everyone like he does, the good and the wicked, our friends and foes. What this looks like will vary in life’s various circumstances, but we must will the good for everyone. And willing the good for others must lead to action. We are finite beings and cannot do everything for everyone all the time, but as St. James taught in his New Testament letter: “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” And these loving works we are called to will not always feel good, but as Saints Paul and Barnabas preached: “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” Jesus entered his Kingdom’s glory through painful trials, and so must we.

For the sake of the joy that lay before him, [Jesus] endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.” Supreme happiness also awaits Christ’s faithful followers as well. In his Revelation, St. John sees a New Heaven and a New Earth and a New Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven from God. “Behold,” John writes, “God will dwell with the human race… and will always be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.”

Jesus Christ loves us. He offers us his peace and joy and has placed his hope before us. And Christ calls us to love like him by loving him and remaining close to him, for apart from him we can do nothing. Our Christian life begins with Baptism, but must continue with daily prayer, Sunday Mass, regular Confession, a life of true discipleship. You must remain close to—or return to—his grace to enter the Kingdom of God. Remember Christ’s love for you, hold onto his hope, peace, and joy, and love everyone as he has loved you.

Consolations In The Passion

April 12, 2025

Palm Sunday
By Fr. Victor Feltes

We rightly recall Christ’s sufferings during his Passion but have you ever meditated upon his consolations?

When Jesus went out to pray and await his betrayal at the Mount of Olives, his disciples followed him. Their flesh was weak but their spirits were willing, and in that dark hour he was glad not to be alone. Jesus also had constant recourse to his Father. Though not all of his prayers were immediately granted, he knew his Father always heard him.

When Pilate condemned Jesus, they led him away but made Simon of Cyrene help carry his Cross. That was a welcome relief in his weakened condition. A large crowd followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and cried for him. Those women felt powerless, but their expressions of devotion strengthened him.

Once they had crucified Jesus, one of the condemned men mocked him but the other honored Christ, expressing saving faith in him. Jesus could behold his sacrifice already bearing fruit. Standing by his Cross were his mother and his beloved disciple, and “all his acquaintances stood at a distance, including the women who had followed him from Galilee” witnessing these events. And he saw them there for love of him, and it consoled him.

Therefore, if Jesus during his greatest suffering received some consolations, then in our trials we should not be ashamed to ask for help and comforts too. Jesus’ disciples were not perfect and they sometimes let him down, but the presence and support of his friends helped him to press on. So pray to God for consolation, invest in your personal relationships, and stay close to your Christian community. If you are going to pick up your cross daily and follow Christ in his sufferings you must also share in his consolations.

Difficult Decisions? Look to the Star

March 15, 2025

2nd Sunday of Lent
By Deacon Dick Kostner

Our gospel this weekend tells of another Epiphany, the “Light of Christ.” Jesus has just disclosed to his disciples that his death is near. He needs to get away from the World and so he invites some of his friends Peter, James and John, to take some time off and follow him to the top of a mountain and pray for support from the Father for him to conclude his ministry vocation as savior of those he loves. His friends do not yet understand that he must die and rise from the dead to complete his assignment. But Jesus gifts them with a look at who he really is. They witness him talking to two Saints Moses and Elijah two Old Testament heroes. Showing them that he is the fulfillment of the Torah. Then they witness his glorified body turning into the bright Light of Christ and they begin to realize that he is not just their fisherman friend but also hear the Father call him his son who commands them to “listen to him.

Jesus is the great teacher and we, like the disciples are called to “listen to him,” and to follow his directions, actions, and words, and to teach the same to the children of God. Jesus gives us directions today on how we can be successful and fruitful disciples. First, we need to pray for help. Prayers seem to be more successful if we pray on “Holy Ground.” Where do we find that? Some, find it on a mountain like Jesus found it. Some find it in a Church where the Blessed Sacrament resides. But for many it lies where ever you go to when you need help and direction from God through prayer. For me that is usually near my garden or a place that I can witness the Father’s creatures and creations. A place of reverence and quiet wonder of creation. Sometimes it is my chair where I write my homilies and reflect on Scripture writings. Bottom line is the whole world can and is “Holy” if you find yourself thanking God for where you can find peace to talk to Him.

Next, Jesus tells us to invite family and friends to join you and maybe provide some help and support from them when you are confused or suffering through an event you need to get through. My favorite place to view this is at a funeral liturgy. Remember Jesus works through and with his followers, who he calls His earth Body, His Church.

Finally, remember that Jesus has respect for suffering, and in this life, it is a very important element of faith, for it requires us to admit we need his supernatural strength to overcome and turn suffering into redemptive faith in and through his power to bring about an end to suffering through Easter Sunday and bring about our glorified eternal life with him in heaven.

Transfiguration can happen to us when we are called by God to commit to a vocation call from Him. At RCIA/OCIA class we talked about special events we have experienced in our lives and I shared with the class one of my special and fearful events that occurred to me when we were asked to purchase for ourselves an alb, a white vestment which I believe is related to our baptismal vow to be priest, prophet and king,.  It was to be used by us for leading parish  prayer events after we had completed our two years Lay Minister class some twenty-nine years ago. Barb, had me trying on several albs at a store in La Crosse and after she found one that she thought looked best on me she told me to go over to the mirror to get my take on the one she had picked. I walked over to the mirror glanced at the alb ,which I thought was fine, and then I looked up and fear overtook me. The face I saw in the reflection was not some one that I knew. I said to myself “who is this person?” This is not the person I grew up with. I did not share this with Barb until a week or so later. A few days after the happening while having a beer with my best friend I confessed my experience to my best friend telling him that I think God has something planned for me that I have not yet thought about. I asked him what he thought about the event and where I should go from here with this new person I had met in the mirror. He grinned at me and said, “I think you should get to know this new person and that you should go for it!” You all know the ending.

P.S.: The guy I grew up with is still with me, and the new guy and him are now good friends.

Passing the Marshmallow Test

March 9, 2025

1st Sunday of Lent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

A young child is brought into an empty room and seated at a table. On the table is a plate with a single yummy marshmallow. An adult explains that if the child waits fifteen minutes to eat the treat, one more yummy marshmallow will be given. Will the child eat one treat now or enjoy two treats later? Versions of this experiment are known as the Marshmallow Test. Studies of the Marshmallow Test have varied in their findings about how much this predicts a child’s future academic and social success. But in every test, a person faces a free choice: to either grasp at an easy thing, or to resist temptation and obtain something better. The temptations of Jesus in the desert were a high-stakes test which our Lord passed and we can learn from.

During Jesus’ public ministry, when “unclean spirits saw him,” St. Mark records they would fall down before Jesus and shout, “You are the Son of God!’” But St. Luke records how Jesus “rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.” The title “Son of God” was thought a reference to the Messiah, Christ, or Anointed One spoken of in the 2nd Psalm. During the Temptations in the Desert, the devil may or may not have known that Jesus is divine, but the devil’s questions show he at least strongly suspected that Jesus was the Christ, the prophesized King of the Jews: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread. … I shall give to you all this power and glory… All this will be yours, if you worship me. … If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from (this roof ledge of the temple).” With each temptation, the devil was placing before Jesus an easy way to become a flawed Messiah.

Like the forty days of Moses atop Mount Sinai, Jesus ate nothing for forty days in the desert and he felt hungry. By suggesting that he tell stones to become bread (possibly against God’s command that he fast) the devil was enticing Jesus to be a materially-focused Messiah. Yet “man does not live on bread alone.” Giving everybody bread without saving their souls would doom the whole world to death. Instead, Jesus obeys his Father, and goes on to change bread into his Flesh for the life of the world. By suggesting that Jesus worship the wicked “Prince of this World” the devil was enticing him to grasp at worldly power like evil lords, kings, and emperors. Instead, Jesus establishes a Kingdom in this world not of this world and reigns now as our uncorrupted, holy, righteous King. By suggesting that Jesus jump off from the height maybe the devil sought to fool him into presumptuously ending his own life, or maybe he wanted Jesus to be a Messiah who would refuse to die so he could never be the Lamb of God whose sacrifice takes away the sins of the world. Instead, Jesus is obedient unto death, even death on a cross, winning for himself and for us a resurrection to glory. Each time, Jesus resists the temptation, refusing the easy evil way but obtaining something better for himself and others.

Our daily temptations may not be so dramatic as Jesus’ in the desert, but we frequently face similar tests. When you are tempted to sin, consider the cost and opportunities lost. If you choose to throw rocks through your windows, if might be fun in the moment but you will lose money and time repairing them. And that money you would have used for a nice meal or clothing or some other good thing will instead be spent on panes of glass. If you choose to sin, it will cost you; not only in the pains which follow but also in the goods things you fail to obtain. When the devil would lead you down the smooth and easy path, call out to the Lord and trust Jesus enough to take the path that Christ has shown you. We see the greater things Christ’s faithful obedience ultimately brought himself and others. Patiently endure in order to see the victories it leads to in this life and the next life, in this world and the world to come. Remember the Marshmallow Test and pass the test before you.

Holy Guides Are Needed

March 1, 2025

8th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Lovingly correcting someone who is in moral or religious error is a good thing to do. As St. James writes in his New Testament Letter, “If anyone among you should stray from the truth and someone bring him back, he should know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” Your fraternal correction could save a soul. Like a father who disciplines every son he acknowledges and delights in, addressing another’s faults in an appropriate way is an expression of our love for them.

Last Sunday, we heard Jesus say: “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.” But understand that Jesus is not teaching indifference towards error and sin; he is commanding us to love sinners despite their wrongs. And loving others, always willing their good, will sometimes mean discussing their faults with them. As St. Paul teaches the Galatians, “[I]f a person is caught in some transgression, you who are spiritual should correct that one in a gentle spirit, looking to yourself, so that you also may not be tempted.” Is there someone the Lord desires you to call and bring back from the error of their way?

This Sunday, Jesus teaches that if we are going to see and correct the errors of others we must also see and correct what is wrong in ourselves. Jesus asks, “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.” It is a good thing to help remove splinters from others’ eyes if we can, but if our vision is poor, or we are in a worse condition ourselves, then our intervention may cause more harm than good.

Why do we notice splinters in our neighbors’ eyes but fail to perceive wooden beams in our own? Because it’s easier to complain about others than to examine and reform ourselves. By criticizing rude people and know-it-alls, the holier-than-thou and the impious, bosses, co-workers, customers, political leaders and religious leaders, relatives, neighbors, and strangers, we can feel better about ourselves without improving ourselves or the world in any way. Being prone to criticizing others is spiritually dangerous, because the person for whom I have the greatest responsibility and whom I have the greatest influence to change — that is to say, myself — ends up feeling righteous while ignoring my own flaws. However, a holy season is at hand for us to examine ourselves and grow.

Lent, which always seems to sneak up on us, starts this week. This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. Who will guide you through this important time of personal conversion? Jesus asks his disciples, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?” St. Luke notes that this is a parable, indicating that Jesus’ observation has a deeper meaning. Jesus’ illustration contains a spiritual teaching. Each of us, where we are blind, need a guide who has clear sight. Where can we find guides to lead us? Jesus Christ and those conformed to him are trustworthy guides for us.

Jesus says, “No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.” Disciples of Jesus Christ are called to become saints like Christ. This means we can learn from Jesus and his saints this Lent.

I suggest conversing with Jesus every day in prayer this Lent. You can just talk to him in your own words and listen for his replies within you. Sometimes the words you receive will be so true and good, insightful, and beautiful that you know they come from him. This Lent, you can also read or listen to the Gospels, especially if you’ve never read them before. You can encounter the words and person of Jesus there.

St. Paul wrote, “Be imitators of me as I imitate Christ.” This Lent you can also grow in holiness with a saint. Choose a saint as your patron for Lent, or ask that a saint would present themselves to you for this role. Learn about your saint online, or from a book, or a film. Read a saint’s writings, learn from their example, pray prayers that they prayed, and ask daily for the help of his or her prayers.

Prepare a spiritual plan for this Lent, so that the good tree you are may bear better fruit and the store of goodness in your heart may increase to fullness. This will make you a better witness and guide to sinners as you grow as a saint in the likeness of Christ.

Loving Everyone, Our Enemies & Ourselves

February 23, 2025

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Jesus never promised that we would not have enemies. Jesus says, “You will be hated by all nations because of my name. … No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. … If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. … Woe to you when all speak well of you,” for false prophets were treated in this way. But “blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.” Thus were true prophets and servants of God treated. The faithful will encounter enemies in this world, yet Christ commands us to love everyone.

He says to his disciples: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” You will have enemies, but you must love them. Love sometimes has warm, fuzzy feelings, but not always. This is because love is choice, a choice to will the good of the other. You will not always like everyone, but you must always love everyone.

Jesus tells us, “To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.” Our love of enemies, however, does not mean we must permit grave harms to be done to ourselves or others. This is reflected in the examples Jesus cites. Losing one’s cloak and outer tunic would not leave someone naked, since people in those days also wore an inner tunic. And a slap on the cheek in those days—unlike a stab in the chest—wounds one’s dignity more than one’s long-term health.

We should oppose and resist grave evil, but we must not be undone by the sins and slights of life. Jesus wants us to be magnanimous, large-souled; merciful and forgiving others’ trespasses and debts, generous and giving to those who ask of us, patiently loving people and doing for them what we would have others do for us. Pray for those who mistreat you, bless those who curse you, and do good to those who hate you. Then you will be loving them like Jesus has loved us.

God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Be like God, who is generous and kind and merciful towards the ungrateful and the wicked. Then your reward will be great, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, for you will be godlike, children of the Most High. St. Paul declares, “Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.” Then, as St. John writes, “we shall be like [God], for we shall see him as he is.” “God is love,” and to become like God it is important that we love and forgive like him. We must also extend this love and forgiveness to ourselves.

A person who believes that God can love and forgive everyone but themselves is singling themselves out as somebody super-extra special. Remember that our Lord is much more concerned with your future than your past. To Christians who are too hard on themselves, I suggest this thought experiment: Imagine somebody just like you, with the same past, the same strengths and weaknesses, the same loves and desires. What would you think of that person? Could you be friends with that person? How would you treat that person? If kindly, then love yourself like your neighbor. If God loves you, you should also love yourself. If God has forgiven you, you should also forgive yourself. And since God loves everyone, you should love everyone too.

Why Bread & Wine

February 17, 2025

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

This Sunday, our seven week exploration of the sacraments culminates and concludes with the Most Holy Sacrament, the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Source and Summit of the Christian life. It is called the Breaking of the Bread, the Lord’s Supper, our King’s Heavenly Banquet, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. It is the Bread from Heaven, the Bread of Angels, the Bread of Life; the antidote for death and the medicine of immortality. This sacrament is the Holy Sacrifice, our Holy Communion, the Most Holy Eucharist. After this homily, following our profession of the Creed and our prayers of the faithful, gift-bearers will carry up bread and wine along with water and our Sunday collection. Why did our Lord in his divine wisdom choose bread and wine for use in a sacrament, for this greatest sacrament? There are many reasons.

One reason is that the Last Supper was a Passover meal, and Passover meals featured unleavened bread and wine with a sacrificed lamb. The Passover celebrated how the angel of death harmlessly passed over the homes marked with the blood of the lamb, freeing God’s people from Egyptian slavery to Pharaoh, and enabling them to journey toward the Promised Land. The Eucharist frees us from slavery to Satan, sin, and death, enabling us to enter heaven and the new Creation, passing over unharmed into freedom and new life.

During the exodus, God’s people ate flakes of Manna in the desert. This Manna resembled and was called bread from heaven strengthening and preserving them on their journey. Jesus proclaims himself the new Bread from Heaven: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Jesus changing water into wine at Cana reveals Christ can transform one thing into another. And Jesus’ multiplication of loaves shows that he can multiply something so that a multitude can partake of it. These miracles foreshadow how Jesus changes bread and wine into himself so that all of us can receive him in the Eucharist.

Daily bread” and wine were staple foods for Gentiles and Jews in the ancient world. Psalm 104 says God gave “wine to gladden the heart of man,” and “bread to strengthen man’s heart.” Though wine was more commonplace in those days, it was a symbol of special rejoicing as well. Jeremiah noted how people typically tread grapes with “shouts of joy,” and Ecclesiastes observed “wine gives joy to the living.” A feast of bread and wine combines the humblest of common foods with the peak of luxurious royal drinks. Likewise, the Eucharist unites the ordinary and extraordinary, our earthly everyday combines with the height of heavenly celebration.

Wheat and grapes grow on every continent on earth besides Antarctica, making these sacramental ingredients available to people throughout the world. God provides the raw materials, fruits of the earth and vine, to be worked by human hands into the bread and wine we offer the Lord God of all Creation. We are called to serve as his faithful stewards. Christ then takes our works and makes them still more bountiful. He does this in this sacrament and also throughout our lives.

The processes for making bread and wine reflects the Passion of Christ. Wheat is beaten, ground, and pummeled. Grapes are crushed, drained, and outpoured. They suffer along their way to God-honoring sacrificial glory.

The baked bread resembles human skin and red wine resembles human blood. And at the words of Consecration these things really become Jesus Christ through and through—his Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity; living, whole, and undivided—with only the outward appearances of bread and wine remaining. To symbolically separate the Body of Christ from his Precious Blood is a symbol of death. And their reunion within us is a symbol of resurrection. Christ is truly risen in history and risen in us. As Jesus says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”

This sacred sacrifice is also a communal meal. The Eucharist which unites us to Jesus Christ unites us to one another in him. As St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

Finally, consider how instead of coming to us as a frightening fire, Jesus Christ comes as non-threatening food. He says, “Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my Body… Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my Blood…” It is very important that we approach him lovingly and reverently, in a state of grace, but Jesus urges us to partake of him. Christ’s desire is for us and him to live as one, to become the Body of Christ you receive in this Most Blessed Sacrament.

The Gift of Holy Orders

February 9, 2025

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

The seven sacraments of the Catholic Church are sensible signs instituted by Christ to gift us his grace. Sometimes the sacraments are powerfully moving experiences but a person can also receive graces and be transformed by them without feeling anything extraordinary. It is possible, for instance, for a baby sleeping in its mother’s arms to be born again through baptism without waking up. It is possible to hold the God of infinite glory upon your tongue in the Eucharist while being totally distracted with a wandering thought. From modern science, lethal amounts of radiation — though invisible — can kill you. From the sacraments, God’s graces can give you life even when you do not feel them. Ministers of the sacraments typically do not feel divine power flowing in or out from them, like Jesus at the healing of the hemorrhaging woman. However, I believe I felt the moment that I was ordained a priest.

Fifteen years ago, I was ordained a priest of Jesus Christ at our cathedral in La Crosse. The Sacrament of Holy Orders, which can ordain a man first a deacon, then a priest, and then a bishop, is celebrated through a bishop’s laying of hands and consecratory prayer. I had not studied the words of the ritual beforehand but I knew going in that my ordination would occur by the end of that consecratory prayer, and I wondered if there would be some moment before the “amen” when I would be ordained.

The prayer’s first ten sentences recount the Old Covenant priesthood, the high priesthood of Jesus Christ, and the priesthood of his apostles. God declares his people to be a priestly people, since all of us are called to offer spiritual sacrifices and help sanctify the world. But from this multitude, God has called certain men to be ministerial priests to serve him and his people.

Then I heard Bishop Listecki say these words: “Grant we pray, Almighty Father, to these, your servants, the dignity of the priesthood; renew deep within them the Spirit of holiness; may they henceforth…” and when he said “henceforth,” I began feeling a pleasant but unsettling wooziness. The words which followed were: “may they henceforth possess this office which comes from you, O God…” I felt the effect of those words.

There is one eternal priest, Jesus Christ, the source of all priesthood. He is the true priest, with all others being merely his ministers Jesus chose apostles to be his first New Covenant priests. These men then appointed and ordained through the laying of hands bishops, priests, and deacons to serve, sanctify, and shepherd the Church—an apostolic line of authority which endures to this day. In Jesus Christ, priest, prophet, and king, these ministers are called to lead worship, teach truth, and pastorally lead. Though history’s greatest and holiest woman who has ever lived was in their midst, Jesus and his apostles never ordained the Virgin Mother Mary nor any other female, and the Church lacks the authority to ordain women today. Men and women are equal in dignity, but a man is not a woman and a mother cannot be a father.

Priests, however faithful or unworthy, act in the person of Christ. Without them, we would not have the Eucharist, or Confirmation, or Anointing of the Sick, or the sacramental forgiveness of sins. Without the successors to St. Peter and the apostles, the pope and the bishops, the Magisterium of the Church whose definitive teachings are protected by the Holy Spirit from error, we could not know our one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Faith with certainty. How lost we would be without shepherds for our flock! Such is the importance of the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

Last week, when I asked different people what I should preach about this sacrament, more than one said to mention the importance of praying for priests. It is important to pray for more vocations to the priesthood, but these folks meant praying for the priests we have, for their holiness, endurance, and fruitfulness. Pray for your bishops, priests, and deacons, both the ones that you like and the ones that you don’t. St. Paul asked that “supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings” would be offered “for all in authority, that we may lead quiet and tranquil lives in all devotion and dignity.” Pray for your clergy that they may more effectively aid you and many to grow into saints in this world and one day reach heaven.

A man who thinks Jesus may be calling him like he called Simon Peter, James, and John in today’s gospel, should earnestly explore this vocation, since priesthood is likely the greatest mission, duty, and life he could ever pursue. In the words of St. John Vianney, “The priest continues the work of redemption on earth… If we really understood the priest on earth, we would die not of fright but of love… The Priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.”

The Gift of Confirmation

February 2, 2025

Feast of the Presentation
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Forty days after Jesus’ birth, Joseph and Mary took him up to Jerusalem to offer the sacrifice required for a firstborn son. Jesus had been conceived through the Holy Spirit, but that was not the Spirit’s only activity in the world. The Holy Spirit revealed to a devout and righteous man named Simeon that he would encounter the Christ during his lifetime. On the day of the Presentation, the Spirit moved Simeon to come into the temple and enabled him to recognize the Christ when he saw him. Then Simeon took Baby Jesus into his arms and spoke words of prophecy which the Spirit inspired in him. There was also a prophetess there, an 84-year-old widow named Anna who never left the temple but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. The Spirit enlightened her too, to draw near and meet the Christ, and she spoke about the child to all. Through the Holy Spirit these servants of God, St. Simeon and St. Anna, were witnesses to Christ and filled with knowledge, courage, and joy. The plan of God was not to keep this gift of the Spirit limited to a few, but to grant him to many.

When the Spirit came down on Pentecost Sunday, St. Peter recalled the Old Testament prophesy of Joel: “‘It will come to pass in the last days,’ God says, ‘that I will pour out a portion of my Spirit upon all flesh. … Indeed, upon my servants and my handmaids I will pour out a portion of my Spirit in those days…” The Holy Spirit is poured out in the Sacrament of Confirmation which, together with Baptism and Eucharist, is necessary for the completion of our baptismal grace.

At Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove, and “drove” and “led” him out into the desert for forty days before commencing his public ministry. The Old Testament had foretold that the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon the Christ or Messiah, titles which both mean “Anointed One.” Jesus was quoting the Prophet Isaiah when he declared in the synagogue at Nazareth, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me.” Old Covenant priests, prophets, and kings were inaugurated through anointing with oil. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit as our New Covenant Priest, Prophet, and King. And Christians are anointed with that same Spirit through Baptism and Confirmation to participate in Christ’s identity and mission.

In our Latin rite, a person celebrates Confirmation typically sometime after the age of reason, but in danger of death it is even given to newborns. The ordinary minister of Confirmation is the bishop, our successor to the apostles, though Catholic priests can be granted the authority to validly confirm when needed. A person is confirmed when the minister laying his hand on his or her head and anoints the forehead with a blessed oil called chrism while saying, “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.” Chrism is made of olive oil plus a fragrant sap called balsam. This gives chrism its perfumed scent, such that the anointed Christian — to use the words of St. Paul — bears “the aroma of Christ.”

One of my memories from the evening following my Confirmation by Bishop Burke in Eau Claire’s Zorn Arena was feeling great joy. When I wondered at its source I thought, “Oh yeah, the Holy Spirit.” Joy, love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity are among the Spirit’s fruits. And wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord are numbered among his gifts.

In the ancient world, oil was a sign of abundance and joy, as at harvest time. It was used for cleansing both before and after baths. The injured used oil to heal wounds and soothe bruises Track and field athletes and wrestlers used it to limber their limbs. And it gave radiant beauty to both men and women’s skin. The Holy Spirit, in addition to the generous gifts he gives and fruits he brings, purifies us from sin and vice toward perfection, heals our past wounds and soothes our daily bruises empowers us to prevail over temptation and opponents, and gives us the beautiful glory of a more than natural goodness.

By the sacrament of Confirmation, you are more perfectly bound to the Church and enriched with a special strength. This sacrament is not an ending but a new beginning. After Confirmation you are, as true witnesses of Christ, more obliged to bravely spread and defend our Faith by word and deed in the world. If you were never confirmed within the Catholic Church, do not neglect this sacrament. Ask me about how you can receive this gift. And if you have already received the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, sincerely and lovingly ask him for his greater gifts and fruits. Like the fire passing atop candles, one to the next, God the Holy Spirit is not diminished by being more widely shared and spread. The child Jesus grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. By the Holy Spirit, God desires to do greater things with you.