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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.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Jesus Christ, Passion, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

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.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Feast Day Homilies, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Homily, Presentation, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

The Great Gift of Baptism

January 11, 2025

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
By Fr. Victor Feltes

As with the Jewish boys who received the rite of circumcision on their eighth day to enter the Old Covenant, the early Church gave the rite of baptism as a free gift for even newborns to enter the New Covenant. Unlike those of us who were baptized as babies, my friend Elena remembers her baptism from when she was nineteen years old.

She says, “Right up to the night (of that Easter Vigil in 2007), I was still partially afraid that God would strike me down when the baptismal waters touched me. I wanted so much to belong to him but half-thought that maybe he didn’t want me. I thought, ‘If he wanted me in the Church, why didn’t he have me born in a Catholic family?’” Full Christian initiation is accomplished through three sacraments: first, Baptism which is the beginning of new life; Confirmation which is its strengthening; and Holy Eucharist which nourishes the disciple with Jesus’ Body and Blood for transformation in Christ. Elena received all three sacraments that night, “and then after,” she says, “I could hear him in a whole new way (not like a voice but like thoughts that you know come from him). And I knew I was his and that he wanted me.”

Through baptism, by being buried and rising again from the waters, we mystically enter the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are united with him as a member of his Church, members of his Body, members of his Bride. Through water and the Holy Spirit, we are “born from above” and “born again.” We become adopted children of God the Father and new temples of the Holy Spirit. Baptism forgives all our sins, indelibly changes our souls, bestows us graces enabling close relationship with God, and makes us sharers in the mission of his Church as priests, prophets, and kings in Christ. Jesus commands us to “go… and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that [he has] commanded [us].” Baptism opens the door to the other sacraments. It is the gateway into God’s Kingdom for salvation.

Jesus says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the opportunity to ask for this sacrament. God has bound salvation to his sacraments, yet he himself is not limited by his sacraments. His Church teaches that unbaptized martyrs, catechumens seeking baptism, and those who are ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and his Church but who seek the truth and do the will of God in accordance with their understanding of it can be saved through a baptism by blood or desire instead of water. How many are saved through these baptisms of desire? We don’t know. We do know that our clear salvific mission is the Great Commission Jesus gives us.

As St. Peter preached at Pentecost: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit!” Ordinarily, only deacons, priests, or bishops should baptize people by pouring, sprinkling, or immersion while invoking the Holy Trinity. However, in an emergency situation, anyone can baptize; simply intend to do what the Church does when it baptizes and pour water on the recipient’s head while saying “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

This Sunday, we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. Though sinless, he voluntarily submits himself to John’s baptism intended for sinners in order “to fulfill all righteousness.” By his own baptism, Christ connects himself with the baptized so the baptized can be united to Christ. Once Jesus was baptized, while he was praying, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in visible form like a dove. And the voice of God the Father came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

My friend Elena recalls that after her baptism, “I had this almost euphoric joy for almost a whole year that nothing could touch. I remember some religious sisters I’d met just after my baptism warning me that would fade. I didn’t believe them, but they were right. Hard times came and it got more difficult to hold onto that joy. But I think that joy is what we’ll experience in heaven and I hold onto that hope now.” Our own baptisms may have been many years ago and perhaps we have no memories of that day at all. But the effects of baptism do not depend on our feelings. Remember who you are in Christ. The voice of the Father calls out from heaven for you to hear him: “You are my beloved one, my beloved child, and in you I delight.”

Posted in Baptism of Jesus, Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Salvation, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

The Gift of Anointing

January 4, 2025

Feast of the Epiphany
By Fr. Victor Feltes

With Father Aro away in India for his annual vacation and spiritual retreat until February 12th I plan to celebrate all of our Masses for several weeks to come. This gives me a rare opportunity to preach with an ongoing theme. So over the next month and a half I will preach about the seven sensible signs instituted by Christ to give us his grace. These effective rituals entrusted to his Catholic Church through which we receive divine life are called the Sacraments. It is important for us to learn about these holy gifts of God so that we may benefit from them to the fullest. This Sunday, we begin with the final sacrament that many Catholics receive.

The Magi, upon entering the house of the Holy Family in Bethlehem, “saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” These gifts pointed ahead to Christ’s Passion. Gold, for Christ is King. Frankincense, for he would offer God a pleasing sacrifice of himself. And myrrh, for his body would be anointed with this substance for his burial. The Holy Family was being hunted by King Herod, but God provided these gifts for his holy ones so they could escape the dangers of death and be saved. (That gold and those tradable goods were assets for the Holy Family in Egypt.) Through the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, God provides for his holy ones as they face the threat of death. You are more precious to God than gold. Your sufferings can be united to Christ’s and offered up to heaven as a redemptive sacrifice. And the anointing of your body can better prepare you for either your recovery or your passing.

St. Mark records in his Gospel how the apostles “anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.” And St. James instructs the 1st century Church in the New Testament letter which bears his name: “Are there any who are sick among you? Let them send for the priests of the Church, and let the priests pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.” James writes that “the prayer of faith will save the sick persons, and the Lord will raise them up. And if they have committed any sins, their sins will be forgiven them.” Whenever you begin to be in danger of death from illness, or from the frailty of old age, or because of an upcoming major surgery, the time for Holy Anointing has certainly already arrived. Call your priest, because he is unlikely to learn of your need unless you tell him. The hospital will not automatically contact us and only a priest can anoint you.

The priest will come and pray for you, silently laying his hands on your head. Then he will take some blessed oil and apply it in the shape of a cross on your forehead, saying “Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit.” Then he will anoint the palms of your hands in the same way, saying “May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.” You can receive this anointing again either if your condition greatly worsens or if you recover and become seriously ill again later. When a priest believes it is likely to be the last time you’ll be anointed he will also give The Apostolic Pardon, Viaticum (or Holy Communion), The Litany of the Saints, and the Final Commendation as additional “Last Rites.”

This sacrament gives strength, courage, and peace. It forgives your sins, if you were unable to obtain it through the Sacrament of Confession. And it unites you to Christ’s Passion to participate in his saving work, helping you offer redemptive sufferings like St. Paul describes to the Colossians: “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the Church.” Sometimes this sacrament helps restore you to health, otherwise it prepares your soul to pass over to the next life.

Do not refuse or put off this sacrament. God is not an enemy like King Herod whom you should flee and hide from. Do not deprive yourself or loved ones by waiting too long to request holy anointing. Like gold given to an important person, like frankincense for offering holy sacrifice to God, or like myrrh to prepare us for the end of life, the Anointing of the Sick is a precious holy gift.

Posted in Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Last Things, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Life Lessons From A Holy Family

December 29, 2024

Feast of the Holy Family
By Fr. Victor Feltes

The Holy Family went up to Jerusalem each year for the feast of Passover. Once, when Jesus was twelve years old, as they were leaving the city at the end of the festival, the Boy Jesus stayed behind without his parents knowing it. Whole communities would pilgrimage to and from these feasts together, so Joseph and Mary had assumed Jesus was walking with others in the caravan during that first day journeying on the road back to Nazareth. But then, perhaps when it was time to share a meal or set up camp for the evening, his parents could not find him. They would have asked all of their relatives and neighbors about the last place they had seen the boy and realized that he had not been with them for hours. Joseph and Mary would soon return to Jerusalem and find Jesus alive and well on the third day. In this difficult episode for the Holy Family, there are lessons for us today.

Jesus had the best parents in all of human history. His adoptive father was a great saint and his mother was filled with grace. And yet, one time, they lost track of their only child for three days. This shows us that sometimes we can try our hardest and things will still go wrong (at least in our own eyes). We can always choose to put forth our best effort, but we cannot control every outcome. Remember: Just because something goes wrong, even painfully wrong, does not necessarily mean that we have sinned. The Blessed Mother was sinless and yet she lost her Son.

When we are little, our parents might seem perfect. As we grow up, we are disappointed to see their imperfections. But as we advance in wisdom and age becoming adults ourselves, we better understand human weakness and limitations. This does not erase people’s flaws and sometimes grave faults, but it can help us have more mercy for people, including forgiving our parents and ourselves.

After three days, Joseph and Mary found Jesus in the temple, “sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” Jesus shows us that we can learn things even from imperfect people. Jesus’ parents were astonished when they found him, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” Like holy figures in the Old Testament before her, Mary questions the Lord about the things she does not understand.

Being twelve years old, Jesus was years beyond the age of reason. He must have known his parents would be concerned after he concealed his plans from them. But the Sinless One does not offer an apology. Instead, he asks them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” It is a mystery why it was God’s will for Jesus to remain in Jerusalem. Even after his reply, his parents did not understand what he said to them. But he returned home with them to Nazareth and was obedient to them as he advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man. Blessed Mother Mary kept this episode in her memory, remembering its stressful beginning and joyful end, and pondering its meaning in her heart.

The things which happen in our lives, like the circumstances of our upbringing or the crises that come our way, will not always make sense to us. But we can learn and grow from all these things, and become more holy families because of them, for “God works all things for the good of those who love him.”

Posted in Blessed Virgin Mary, Feast Day Homilies, Finding in the Temple, Homily, Jesus Christ, Marriage and Family, Parenting, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

3 Things I Didn’t Know About Christmas

December 24, 2024

Christmas Eve
By Fr. Victor Feltes

O holy night! Christmas has come! Jesus Christ is born! Tonight we celebrate and hear the story again of his world-changing birth. And though it is a familiar story, we all still have things to learn from it. For example, do you know what swaddling clothes are? “Mary wrapped her Son in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.”

When I was younger, I didn’t know what swaddling clothes were. Maybe because “swaddle” sounded like “squalid” and I had seen the inside of messy barns, I imagined they were dirty pajamas. It’s actually an ancient and modern practice to use cloth to wrap up infants’ arms and legs tightly to their bodies. This is called “swaddling,” and babies enjoy it — it reminds them of the warm close comfort of the womb.

Another thing I didn’t know when I was younger was what a manger is. I assumed the manger was the stable because whenever someone would point out a “manger scene” what I always noticed was the big wooden barn. The shelter in Bethlehem where Jesus was born was actually more like a cave. But regardless, a manger is not a barn; it’s an animal feeding trough that holds dry feeds, like grain. So Mary wrapped up Jesus in swaddling clothes and laid him in a feed box.

These are interesting details, but why does St. Luke mention them? The details do reflect the humility of our Savior and King. Our Lord could have arranged providence instead to have himself born inside a palace with wealth, but he chose to enter into our human poverty and discomfort. But there is another reason why St. Luke notes these things: they foreshadow what would come later.

One day, decades after Christmas, assisted by another Joseph, the Blessed Mother Mary would wrap her Son’s body with cloths and lay him down inside another borrowed cave. And it is fitting that on Christmas night Jesus’ body was placed inside of a feedbox for grain, for he would go on to offer his full self as food for us, as Bread for the life of the world. It’s all connected and the beginning contains the end. Christmas leads to Holy Week, and Holy Week gives us the Faith, the Church, the Holy Eucharist.

A third and final thing I misunderstood when I was younger was when the Magi (or “Wisemen”) really arrived in Bethlehem. Having followed ‘the Christmas Star,’ I assumed they showed up on Christmas night. The Magi actually came later, sometime between forty days and perhaps two years after Christmas. We know this because Joseph and Mary did not yet have the Magi’s gift of gold to buy a sacrificial lamb for the Presentation at the Temple. And King Herod, in his attempt to kill Baby Jesus in Bethlehem, ordered the death of all the baby boys “two-years-old and under.” The Magi responded to Christ’s birth and came after Christmas. They entered the house of the Holy Family and they came with gifts.

It is good that we are gathered for this holy night. Jesus has called you here to be with him and to be with us. But like the Magi, we all are also called to respond to his birth by coming after Christmas. This is the house of his Holy Family, and we must honor and adore him, bearing for him the gift of ourselves. Jesus’ wish this Christmas is for you, and each of us need him. Christmas, Easter, the Holy Mass; the Faith, the Church, the Eucharist; the past, the present, eternity; they’re all connected here, in Jesus Christ. Behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy! A Savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord. So come, let us adore him!

Posted in Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Nativity, The Magi, Typology | 1 Comment »

The Subtle Spirit

December 9, 2024

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
By Fr. Victor Feltes

I would like to highlight certain stories about three people: Mary, Paul, and Caiaphas. First, consider the Blessed Virgin Mary. We celebrate how she was created by God, conceived entirely free from the wounds of original sin. Throughout her existence, she has been filled with God’s grace. She is the holiest woman who has ever lived. And yet, she was shocked that an angel would ever visit her. “Hail, full of grace,” announced the Archangel Gabriel, “The Lord is with you,” but she was greatly troubled at wondered at his greeting.

Next, consider St. Paul the Apostle. No human being has written more books of Sacred Scripture than he. These Pauline texts are usually letters written to particular Christian communities and they contain the particularities one finds in personal letters. For example, in the final chapter of his Letter to the Romans, Paul greets at least twenty-three persons by name. Now St. Paul believed that he was doing the Lord’s work, but if Paul had known the letters he was writing would go on to be as venerated and as widely read as the Old Testament’s books, I doubt he would have written, ‘Say Hi to Prisca and Aquila for me.’

Finally, consider Caiaphas. So many Jews were coming to believe in Jesus that the chief priests and the Pharisees convened and said, “If we leave him alone all will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation!” Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” John’s Gospel notes, “He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation….”

The High Priest Caiaphas was speaking prophesy but did not realize it. St. Paul the Apostle was writing inspired scripture but did not realize it. The Blessed Virgin Mary was living as the holiest of all women but did not realize it. They show us that the Holy Spirit is so agile, intelligent, and subtle that he can act through us without our realizing it.

Now, it is essential for us to remain in Christ, devoted to prayer and his Sacraments. Otherwise, the Holy Spirit will achieve his purposes in spite of us, as with the High Priest Caiaphas. But if you love our Lord, if you strive to please Jesus Christ, if you are open to doing the will of God, be encouraged and take heart. The Holy Spirit is working through you more profoundly than you realize.

Posted in Blessed Virgin Mary, Christian Perfection, Feast Day Homilies, Holy Spirit, Homily, St. Paul | 2 Comments »

Jesus Christ Is King

November 24, 2024

Solemnity of Christ the King
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Today’s psalm says: “The Lord is King, in splendor robed… Your throne stands firm from of old… Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed…” The Old Testament prophets agreed. Isaiah said “the Lord is our King, it is he who will save us.” Jeremiah said our God “is the living God, the eternal King.” And Zephaniah said “the King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst.” At the center of human history, when Jesus Christ is born among us, he comes as King as well.

“Behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the newborn king of the Jews?’” And when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the crowd cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel!” Pontius Pilate unknowing proclaimed this truth when he had a sign placed above Christ’s head on the Cross: “This is Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” This Sunday, we celebrate that our Lord Jesus Christ is King of the universe now.

After his Resurrection, when Jesus appeared to his apostles on a mountain in Galilee, he told them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me” and he gave his Church our Great Commission to spread his Kingdom, reassuring us, “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” This raises a challenging question for us: why is Jesus not visibly doing more now? All power in heaven and on earth has been given to him, so why is he not making more things happen?

His disciples wondered about this, too. Before the Risen Jesus ascended into Heaven, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the Kingdom to Israel?” He answered, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Kingdom of God is among us, and Jesus calls us to work with him to spread it and deepen it, everywhere in everyone.

But why doesn’t Jesus just force everything to be better? As God, he is omnipotent. He has the power to do all possible things. But one thing he cannot do is to force someone’s free “No” into a free “Yes.” When Jesus returns in unveiled glory, coming upon the clouds and flanked by his angels in full-force, humanity’s time for decision will be over. That day will bring the Last Judgment and sin will no longer be given any quarter. After that, there will be only God’s Kingdom and the outer darkness. Now is the time for freely choosing.

Do we desire God’s Kingdom? Around 1000 B.C., the elders of Israel came to the Prophet Samuel asking, “Appoint a king over us to rule us like other nations.” Samuel was displeased they said, “Give us a king to rule us,” but he brought the matter to the Lord in prayer. And the Lord replied: “Listen to whatever the people say. You are not the one they are rejecting. They are rejecting me as their king.” And during Christ’s Passion, Pilate asked the crowd, “Shall I crucify your king?” The chief priests answered for the mob, “We have no king but Caesar.” They were rejecting the Lord as their King. When we pray “thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven,” do we really mean what we are saying?

When Pilate asked Jesus if he was a king, Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate then responds with a line which today’s Gospel reading cuts off. Pilate dismissively replies, “What is truth,” and then turns his back on Truth himself, and walks away. If you desire Jesus as your Savior, you must let him be your Lord.

Advent begins next Sunday—our annual season of preparation for the coming of the Lord. Here are three wise steps for a better Advent. First, his decrees are worthy of trust. Which of his words will you neglect no more but specifically begin putting into practice? Make yourself a short list. Second, make an Advent Confession, for a fresh beginning, a new infusion of grace. And third, pray every day, for you cannot thrive without him. The saints worked wonders in this world by following Christ and doing his will. So can you. The Lord is in your midst. He is the living God, our eternal King. And if we will let him, it is he who will save us.

Posted in Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Jesus Christ, Last Judgment, Last Things, O.T. Figures, Second Coming, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Are You Sinning Against The Holy Spirit?

June 9, 2024

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Jesus says, “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” This teaching makes some people mistakenly believe they are beyond forgiveness from somehow sinning against the Holy Spirit. What then is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? It is good for us to know, lest we fall into despair.

Let’s look at the gospel context. Having heard of his miraculous healings, many people came to Jesus. The crowds were so great that Jesus and his disciples could not even eat, and Jesus soon needed to preach from a boat so as not to be crushed. Jesus was curing the sick and casting out demons, but the scribes who had come from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons!”

Jesus dismantles their accusations as nonsense. “How can Satan drive out Satan,” he asks. “If I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people [your exorcists] drive them out?” Then, since they had said “he has an unclean spirit,” Jesus declares, “Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”

St. Athanasius observes that when the scribes and Pharisees credit “the works of God to the Devil… they have judged God to be the Devil, and the true God to have nothing more in His works than the evil spirits. … When the Savior manifested the works of the Father, raising the dead, giving sight to the blind, and other such deeds, they said that these were the works of Beelzebub. They might as well say,” Athanasius concludes, “that the world was created by Beelzebub.”

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is so deadly because it professes goodness and its Source to be evil. And if I declare Goodness “evil” how will I come to be reconciled to God? St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that “the sin against the Holy Ghost is said to be unpardonable by reason of its nature, in so far as it removes those things which are a means towards the pardon of sins.” A blasphemer against the Holy Spirit is blinding himself to the Light, yet St. Augustine encourages us “we should despair of no man, so long as Our Lord’s patience brings him back to repentance.”

It is spiritually deadly to denounce goodness as “evil.” Christians, however, profess faith in God as good and in Jesus Christ as our Savior. This makes a Christian unlikely to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. The dangerous error which we Christians are more likely to commit is in calling sinful evils “good.” Even while Christians claim Christ as Savior they sometimes deny his Lordship.

Jesus’ enemies did not want what he preached to be true. What he taught was challenging each of them to change. So they sought reasons to reject what he was teaching. Still today, we can rationalize sinfulness too, devising excuses to do what we want, refusing to repent, sometimes even reaching the point of celebrating shameful deeds as our pride. Willfully remaining in sin is a very serious thing so Jesus—who loves us—calls us to conversion.

In the gospels, we often see Jesus being gentle with sinners but hard on hypocrites. The Pharisees criticized him for being “a friend of sinners.” Jesus, in turn, denounced the Pharisees, saying, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’” So what is the difference between mere sinners and hypocrites?

Hypocrisy is more than just failing to live up to your professed morals, as all of us have done. The Greek word for “hypocrite” meant “actor” or “stage performer.” Hypocrites are farther off the narrow path than struggling sinners because hypocrites are only pretending to care about sin while ignoring the sins they have.

How can I distinguish whether I am a hypocrite versus a sinner striving to be faithful? One good sign is whether or not I am going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If I am complacent with my sins, if I have given up on spiritual growth, if I am refusing to convert for Christ, I won’t go to Confession. Adam hid after he sinned in the Garden of Eden. When the Lord called to him and asked “Where are you,” God was not ignorant of behind which trees the man was hiding. He calls out to us too, hoping we will come out to him.

What if you’re unaware of your sins? Then review a good, thorough examination of conscience to enlighten you. Are you well aware of your sins? Then come to Christ with a contrite heart to start a new beginning in the confessional. I hope that you will choose to meet our Lord Jesus there, for the only sinners he cannot forgive are those who refuse to repent.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Feast Day Homilies, Holy Spirit, Homily, Repentance, Sunday Homilies | 3 Comments »

We Become What We Eat

June 3, 2024

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ – Corpus Christi
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

The Eucharist is the greatest sacrament of the Catholic Church. In the Eucharist, Christ is present for the assembly, in his words but above all, in the bread and wine transformed into his Body and Blood for his people. During his life on earth, Jesus expressed his love, especially for those who were rejected and unloved in society, he shared meals with them. For the Jew, shared meals were signs of acceptance and friendship. They invite only friends and important people, but not sinners and tax collectors. Jesus was challenging their tradition, eating with sinners, and making friends with those who had no friends. He was showing them respect and love, and drawing them into the family of God.

In the Old Testament, God worked great wonders for his people. He brought them together, led them through the desert, fed them with bread from heaven, freed them from slavery, and guided them through vast and dangerous lands. In the New Testament God brought us together through Jesus Christ. Jesus taught us how to walk in the light, and freed us from sin and its stain. Through Jesus Our Father feeds us, and the food we eat will give us life forever. He is the Father’s gift to us. Jesus told us that he and the Father are one, and if we see him, we see the Father.

When we celebrate the Eucharist, we are celebrating a meal to which all are invited and made to feel at home. God loves us so much that he wants to be with us and wants us to be with him. When we love someone, we want to be with him or her always. God desires to be with us in the most complete way possible. God became physically present in the person of Christ, the true God and true Man. The presence of God in the form of bread and wine is made available to us on the altar at Mass and preserved there for our nourishment and worship. Jesus gave us his Body and Blood so that he might live in us and become life for the world.

This is what happens in the Eucharist. God not only speaks his words to us. He enters into us. He takes possession of our hearts, minds, and bodies. He becomes one with us. He wants to make us one with him. Eating the Body of Christ and drinking his blood is the greatest moment of intimacy that can exist between God and us.

We become the body of Christ when we receive Christ in the Eucharist. From here, we start our mission, through our bodies, we carry Christ to others. It is our tongues which now speak the Good News to those longing to hear it. It is our feet now that Christ uses to walk the extra mile with people and seek out those who have gone astray in life and lost their way.

The Eucharist ends with a sending on Mission: “Go in Peace to love and serve the Lord.” We have to carry the Eucharist into the world. Just as the Lord has become our food, giving himself completely to us, so, too, we must give of ourselves for the sake of the world. We must become sources of nourishment for the world, as Christ has become a source of nourishment for us. Let us today approach the Eucharist with a more lively faith in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and we shall experience therein God’s saving power and transforming love.

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What did Jesus Sing at the Last Supper?

June 1, 2024

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ – Corpus Christi
By Fr. Victor Feltes

The Last Supper was a Passover meal. Jesus says so when he instructs two of his disciples, “Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.”

The disciples found the upper room following the sign of a water jar. At the start of Jesus’ public ministry in Cana there were six stone water jars. As his ministry comes to its climax, there is a seventh water jar. The number seven symbolizes “fullness” or “completeness” in the Bible, like the sum of seven days is the completion of one full week. At the wedding feast of Cana, Jesus changes water into wine. At the Last Supper, Jesus changes bread and wine into himself.

“While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take it; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, [and] said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many….’ “Then,” St. Mark writes in his gospel, “after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” St. Matthew recounts the same detail: “Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

This presents a mystery: what hymn did they sing at the Last Supper? Would you be curious to know what lyrics Jesus was singing on the eve of his Passion? Since the Last Supper was a Passover meal, we have a well-founded answer to that a question. For thousands of years, the Jewish people have traditionally sung Psalms 113 through 118 at the ritual Seder meal for Passover. So Psalms 113 through 118 were very likely psalms which Jesus prayed at the Last Supper.

This Sunday’s responsorial psalm consists of passages from one of these, Psalm 116. Contemplate Jesus saying these words:

“How shall I make a return to the Lord
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the Lord.

Precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.

To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
My vows to the Lord I will pay
in the presence of all his people.”

Jesus is the Son of Mary, “the handmaid of the Lord.” He offers up the cup of salvation which contains the gift himself, a gift offered up to God the Father and offered up for us. The Jewish rabbis taught that all temple sacrifices would end with the coming of the Messiah or Christ except one: the thanksgiving sacrifice. In Greek, the word “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving.” Today across the nations, from the rising of the sun to its setting, the Holy Mass is Christ’s enduring thanksgiving sacrifice.

St. Luke notes how at the Last Supper, “when the hour came, [Jesus] took his place at table with the apostles and said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you…’” Jesus spoke this to the apostles yet he speaks these words to us as well. The Last Supper, the Cross, the Holy Mass are all mystically joined as Christ’s one great sacrifice for all. Jesus Christ is really present, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, in his Holy Eucharist, and he eagerly desires to share this Passover feast with you.

Posted in Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Jesus Christ, Last Supper, Real Presence, Sunday Homilies | 1 Comment »

The Most Holy Trinity

May 26, 2024

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

Today we celebrate one of the greatest mysteries of our Christian faith, the Holy Trinity. This celebration reminds us that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are working together. No amount of philosophical debate or scientific research can fully explain it. We must see a mystery only with the “eyes of faith.” Celebrating this great feast, we ponder what it means for us that God is “Trinity.” in the Bible God reveals himself as a relational, loving, and compassionate God. He reveals himself to his people through his servant Moses, proclaiming his name and his essential qualities: “The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.”

God is our Father, a loving and compassionate Father; he is the creator and giver of all life. All the good comes from him and through him. In him, through him, and with him all things exist. He is the one who cares, the one who waits for the Prodigal son to return and forgives completely and immediately. He is the father of truth, the Father of love, and compassion, and the Father of justice.

God communicates his love not in an abstract way, but in Jesus. His saving love is made most evident in the sacrificial Death of Jesus on the Cross. Jesus did not come into the world to condemn us but to save us. God the Son as a human being we can see, hear, and touch. Jesus Identified himself with the weak and the ordinary people. Though he is God, he emptied himself took human nature, and lived with us, so that he might open for us the way to true and unending life.

God created the plan of salvation, Jesus put the plan into action, and the Holy Spirit implements it in our daily lives. The Holy Spirit is the invisible force that allows us to accept Christ and what he did for us. The Holy Spirit allows us to walk with God along the straight and narrow path in our new relationship. The Holy Spirit reminds us of what Jesus did on earth. The Holy Spirit is infinite and indefinite. It can be everywhere and with everyone all of the time.

Since our baptism, we share in the love and relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a very special way. We were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Through our baptism, God adopted us as his sons and daughters. Therefore, we are caught up in the love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Let us respect others and ourselves because we are created in the image and likeness of God. Let us have the firm conviction that the Trinitarian God abides in us, that He is the Source of our hope, courage, and strength, and that He is our final destination. Let us practice the Trinitarian relationship of love and unity in the family relationships of father, mother, and children because by baptism we become children of God and members of God’s Trinitarian family.

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Three Pillars

May 26, 2024

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Sacred Scripture proclaims, “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created (us); male and female he created (us).” And our Catholic Faith teaches the divine image is present in every human person. The image of God also shines forth in the communion of human persons, communion in the likeness of the union of the Trinity’s Divine Persons among themselves. We are finite and sinful while God is infinite and perfect, yet we reflect his image and likeness in many ways: as individuals, as families, and as the Church of Jesus Christ.

Each one of us, made in God’s image, “possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone.” Like God, we can know things, choose freely, and love. Like God, we can fashion things beyond ourselves, we can enter into relationship with others and reign over Creation. One psalmist in the Book of Psalms asks God: “What is man that you are mindful of him, and a son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than a god, crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him rule over the works of your hands, [and] put all things at his feet.” These words proclaim the glory of human persons, but also foretell the coming of Christ, who called himself “the Son of man.” Jesus Christ reveals to us that which was veiled yet always true before: God is not the solitary oneness of a single person but a unified oneness in three eternal Persons. This revelation of the Trinity opens our eyes to how the image of God is reflected among us not only individually but communally, such as in a family and as in the Church.

In the beginning, when God created the first human person, he saw that it was not good for the man to be in utter solitude. So, perhaps because it was the bone closest to his heart and core, God brought forth the woman from the man’s rib, ‘bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh.’ This is a reflection of God where, “God from God, Light from Light,” the Son is eternally begotten of the Father. God the Father lovingly gives all that he is to the Son and God the Son gives himself back as a total gift to the Father. And from this mutual self-gifting love, the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds. This is likewise reflected in marriage, where a husband and wife gift their whole selves to each other and a third distinct person can proceed.

Jesus Christ the Bridegroom founds the Church as his Bride, unites us in her and makes us fruitful, yet even though he makes us one he does not make us all the same. There are more than a billion Catholics spread across the earth. We have different strengths, cultures, and treasures, “different gifts according to the grace given to each of us.” No one of us mere creatures completely manifests the infinite goodness of God. But united together as his holy Church, our diversity of goods more fully reflects God’s glory.

God has created mankind in his image; in the image of God he has created us. So reverence each and every human person he has made, honor the holiness and fruitfulness of marriage, and celebrate the plethora of goodness present in the Church. For all of these are God’s creations, pillars of Christian civilization, and each one reflects the glory of our Triune God.

Posted in Adam and Eve, Catholic Church, Creation, Feast Day Homilies, Holy Trinity, Homily, Marriage and Family, Sunday Homilies | 1 Comment »

Holy Spirit Unites Us

May 18, 2024

Pentecost Sunday
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

Pentecost was a game changer. Just look at the behavior of the disciples before and after Pentecost. Before the descent of the Holy Spirit, the early Christians were timid and afraid. After the coming of the Advocate, they were fearless even to death. Before the death of Jesus, He said, “When the Counselor comes, whom I shall send you from the Father, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; and you also bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:26-27) After the reception of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the disciples fearlessly bore witness to Jesus despite the cost.

Pentecost is an ongoing celebration of the gift of God’s Spirit, who is always with us, inseparable from believers. The fire that was ignited in the hearts of the disciples gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem continues to enflame in the hearts of all who have been gathered together here today. The Church is our upper room where we come together in communion of faith and love. The disciples gathered behind closed doors because they were uncertain about the future and were too frightened to publicly proclaim the risen Lord. Without a doubt, we have a lot in common with the first disciples.

Let us look at the Apostles, some of them were fishermen, simple people accustomed to living by the work of their hands, but there were also others, like Matthew, who was an educated tax collector. They were from different backgrounds and different social contexts, and they were from different names like Hebrew and Greek. In terms of character, some were meek and others were strong and excitable. They all had different ideas and emotions. They were all different. Jesus did not change them. He felt their difference and now he unites them by anointing them with the Holy Spirit. The union comes from the anointing at the Pentecost; the Apostles understand the unifying power of the Spirit. They see it with their own eyes when everyone, though speaking in different languages, comes together as one people, the people of God.

Let us focus on ourselves, and what it is that unites us, what is the basis of our unity? We too have our differences, for example, opinions, choices, and sensibilities. What unites us are our beliefs and morality. But there is much more, our principle of unity is the Holy Spirit. He reminds us that first of all, we are God’s beloved children, all the same, in this and all the differences. The Spirit comes to us, in our differences and difficulties, to tell us that we have one Lord Jesus and one Father and that for this reason, we are brothers and sisters.

Like the disciples after Pentecost, it is our job to bear witness to the Gospel. In humility, when we cooperate, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit will come alive and assist us in carrying out this mission. May God the Holy Spirit inspire every one of you until the day you hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21)

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Welcoming the Holy Spirit

May 18, 2024

Pentecost Sunday
By Fr. Victor Feltes

On Pentecost, about one hundred and twenty people, including the Blessed Virgin Mary and the apostles were together in the upper room. There on this day, the third Person of the Trinity “appeared to them as tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them,” and “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Yet this was not actually the first time Mary or the apostles had encountered the Spirit.

In response to Mary’s fiat, to her saying “Let it be done to me according to your word” at the Annunciation, the Holy Spirit descended to conceive the Christ Child within her. And we hear in today’s gospel how on Easter Sunday evening Jesus visited the apostles in the upper room, exhaled on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” So Mary and the apostles had each received the Holy Spirit before, sort of like us on this Pentecost Sunday.

We received the Holy Spirit at our baptisms, and received him again at our confirmations, and we can always encounter him anew. Since the Holy Spirit is an infinite Divine Person we can always receive more from him. So how can we receive the Spirit and his gifts more abundantly? Here are three ways:

First, ask for the Holy Spirit and his gifts in prayer. Prior to Pentecost, Jesus’ disciples had been praying for nine days—the Church’s first novena. They prayed to receive the promised Gift of the Father of which Jesus had spoken, to be “clothed with power from on high.” The disciples’ Pentecost joy and courage, the manifested miracle of speaking many languages, and that day’s three thousand conversions won were all fruits of the Holy Spirit in answer to their prayers.

A second way to welcome the Holy Spirit is to prepare a place for him. At Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit descended upon him in the likeness of a dove. Offer the Holy Spirit a hospitable place to land with you. If we are combative towards a dove or simply being too noisy, the bird will not approach us or stick around for long. So renounce all hostility towards God and cultivate peace within your house that his peace may rest on you. In other words, renounce your sins and go confession, and focus more on quieting your soul and dedicating time to daily prayer.

A third way to be touched and changed by the Holy Spirit is to expect and watch for his influence. The Holy Spirit descended on Pentecost in the likeness of fire. Fire transforms everything it touches. It causes other objects to radiate heat like itself, to shine like itself, to become fire like itself. If you ask for the Holy Spirit and his gifts and you are open to his influence, watch with eager expectation for him to inspire, empower, and transform you.

Back in my college days, one afternoon I was lying on my bed praying rather apologetically to the Holy Spirit. I said, ‘Holy Spirit, you’re like the most neglected Person of the Trinity. You’re just as much God as the Father or the Son but we direct much more prayer and worship to them than you. And when we do pray to you it’s because we want something, but you’re not just some divine vending machine. I’m sorry.’ Then I heard in my mind these words: “I am gift.” Now whenever you possibly receive a heavenly message, it is wise to check its truth in light of true Catholic teaching, since God will not contradict himself. So I considered that statement seemingly from the Holy Spirit: “I am gift.”

From all eternity, God the Father gives all that he is to his Son and the Son gives himself back as a total gift to the Father. And from this mutual exchange of self-gifting love, the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds. The Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit to earth as a gift to sanctify and transform us so that we may participate in the life of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit rejoices to be gifted. He is gift. And when we ask for his gifts we are inviting his presence—for how could his gifts be manifested someplace where he is not? So from this I concluded the Holy Spirit does not begrudge us asking him for his great and holy gifts.

On this Pentecost Sunday, what gifts do you desire of the Holy Spirit? Pray for his powerful presence, like Mary and the apostles did. Turn away from sin and cultivate quiet peace, offering a welcoming place for the Holy Spirit to land. And watch with eager expectation for the transforming effects of the Spirit’s fiery influence.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Feast Day Homilies, Holy Spirit, Homily, Pentecost, Sunday Homilies | 1 Comment »

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