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Pray Without Ceasing

October 18, 2025

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Once upon a time, the pope summoned his Vatican chauffeur. When his driver had brought the car around, the Holy Father confided, “Ever since I got elected pope, I have sorely missed not driving anymore. Please, sit in the backseat and let me take the wheel.” The chauffeur reluctantly agreed and the pope was beaming with joy. But soon the Holy Father accidentally went the wrong way down an empty one-way street and got pulled over by City of Rome police. An officer approached their vehicle intending to write them a ticket, but after a brief chat he soon returned to his partner waiting in the squad car. His partner asked, “What, no ticket? Who’s riding in that limo?” “I don’t know, but whoever it is he must be really important—the pope is his chauffeur!”

Jesus (although in a much sounder, wiser way than this) also speaks from the lesser to the greater. This classic mode of rhetoric argues that something true in a smaller case is surely true for the larger case as well. For example, Jesus says a “person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.” Elsewhere, he points out: “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. … So do not be afraid, [for] you are worth more than many sparrows!” And on another occasion, Jesus tells us: “If you, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him!”

Jesus argues from the lesser to the greater in today’s Parable of the Unjust Judge. This bad judge does not care about justice. He neither fears God nor respects any human being. However, we see a widow wear him down to give her what she rightfully asks for through her dogged persistence. Jesus says, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.” If a wicked judge with a heart of stone will eventually give in to a poor, weak widow, then, as Jesus argues, “will not God secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.” Unlike that unjust and indifferent judge, God is just and cares about us deeply, so we ought to ask God for good things and keep asking without becoming weary.

Our Sunday lectionary reinforces this lesson in today’s first reading. During the Exodus, when the Israelites entered a battle against the Amalekites, Moses climbed a hill overlooking the battlefield carrying the staff of God that had split the Red Sea. As long as Moses held that wooden staff raised above his head, Israel had the better of the fight. But whenever Moses let his tired arms rest, their enemy had the better of the fight. This scene prefigures Jesus’ crucifixion upon the hill of Calvary, where Christ’s arms upraised on the wooden Cross bring victory over our enemies. Just as Jesus had support from John the Apostle and the Virgin Mary and others at the Cross, so Moses had Aaron and Hur supporting his arms until the day was done and the battle was won. So who can support you in the battle of prayer? I can recommend spiritual allies divine, angelic, and human.

How often do we lack motivation to pray or, once beginning to praying, lack enthusiasm, inspiration, or insight? “We do not know how to pray as we ought,” but if we ask the Holy Spirit himself to help us to pray he will come to the aid of our weakness. Each of us is also accompanied by at least one sinless, loving, brilliant, and powerful guardian angel tasked by God to help us be saints. Ask your guardian angel to help you pray more faithfully and fervently. And finally, we have fellow Christians to help us. There are saints in heaven to intercede for us and people around us to pray with us, encourage us, and help keep us accountable. Ask the Holy Spirit, your guardian angels, other Christians to help you pray better.

Jesus expresses the necessity for us to pray always without becoming weary. St. Alphonsus Liguori, a doctor (or great teacher) of the Church, believed enduring in prayer is key to our salvation. St. Alphonsus said: “He who prays is certainly saved; he who does not pray is certainly damned. All the saints in heaven, except infants, were saved because they prayed; and all the damned in hell were damned because they did not pray, and this is their greatest torment to see how easily they could have been saved, had they prayed, and that now the time for prayer is over.” Jesus asked whether when he comes again he find faith on earth? If we keep on praying, he at least will find us faithful.

Posted in Homily, Persistent Widow, Sunday Homilies, Typology | Leave a Comment »

Imitate What They Contain — Funeral Homily for Mary Jo Meuli, 83

October 14, 2025

By Fr. Victor Feltes

Mary Jo lived with a special devotion to our spiritual mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and she looked forward to journeying beyond death to be with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Besides coming to Holy Mass and helping bring Christ in Holy Communion to others, Mary Jo prayed the Holy Rosary daily, sometimes several times a day, growing her in her Christian likeness to Jesus and Mary. When a person picks up the practice of the Rosary for the first time, much of one’s attention is focused on tracking the beads and remembering the prayers. But with more experience, the words and the beads can drift to the background, clearing a place for meditation on its Holy Mysteries.

These twenty mysteries of the Rosary help us reflect upon joyful, luminous, sorrowful, and glorious episodes from salvation history. Mary is a firsthand witness to about three-fourths of these events. So for instance, we can contemplate Jesus with Mary at the Nativity and hold the Baby Jesus in our arms. We can consider how much Jesus loves us to become incarnate as one like us, and be moved to love him in return. We can stand with Mary at the Crucifixion, at the foot of Jesus’ Cross, and share in her compassion for her Beloved Son. We can behold Jesus’ heroic virtues in his sufferings for us, refusing to spare himself, and resolve to do hard things for him in return.

Prayerfully meditating upon the Rosary helps us to become more like Jesus and Mary. The same is true with the Beatitudes. Who is poor in spirit, relying completely on God? Who mourns and meekly, non-violently, hungers and thirsts for what is right? Who is merciful and clean of heart? Who promotes peace, yet is persecuted for the sake of righteousness? Jesus and Mary and the saints are like this, and we are called to be like them. As St. Paul our patron says, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” so that we may “conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.” And God will help us do so, if we give him our “Yes.”

In her final season of living with illness, Mary Jo told every new doctor she met: “I’m ready.” And thirteen years to the day after her husband Allan’s death, she passed on as well. Pray for Mary Jo’s soul, in case any impurity remains within her gold, so that as a perfect offering God may take her to himself. And learn from her example, for blessed are those who grow in the likeness of Jesus and Mary and the saints, ‘for their reward will be great in Heaven.’

Posted in Blessed Virgin Mary, Christian Perfection, Funeral Homilies, Homily, Jesus Christ, Rosary, Saintly People | Leave a Comment »

Two Lessons from the Ten Lepers

October 12, 2025

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

I want to highlight two lessons from this Sunday’s Gospel which could greatly bless your life and soul. When ten lepers meet Jesus at the edge of a village, they keep a respectful distance from him. (Their skin disease made them religiously unclean and people feared them as being contagious.) The lepers shout out: “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” Jesus sees them and tells them, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” (The Old Covenant had a ritual for declaring lepers clean involving a physical inspection by a priest and a sacrifice.)

So the ten depart as they are commanded to by Christ and as they are going their skin diseases are cleansed. Notice how the lepers were not cleansed right away—they were not healed the moment Jesus spoke to them. They were going when they were healed, maybe miles away from Jesus when it happened. In this miracle, they were healed while walking in obedience.

Many blessings in our faith are only experienced once we step out in obedience. First we do what Jesus asks of us, in response to his grace which goes before and follows after us, and then we see its fruits in our lives. As you read this list of examples, which one or two are meant for you to add into your life?

• Daily prayer
• Consistent Sunday Mass-going
• Keeping Sunday rest
• Generous tithing
• Forgiving enemies
• Staying sober
• Volunteering
• Practicing chastity
• Being open to life
• Living more simply
• Regular confession
• Eucharistic adoration
• Going on a spiritual retreat or pilgrimage
• Entering a seminary, convent, or monastery
• Attending weekday Mass
• Praying the Rosary

Embracing one or two of these according to God’s will shall bless you and your loved ones. This Sunday’s Gospel story also suggests another valuable lesson.

One of those ten lepers happens to be a Samaritan, and once he realizes he has been healed, he goes back to Jesus. Glorifying God in a loud voice, he falls at Jesus’ feet and thanks him. Jesus says in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he tells the newly cured man, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”

Jesus informs us that all ten lepers were cured. But consider this: eventually, each of those lepers died. Even if it was many years later from some cause of death other than a skin disease, every one of them died. Their healings were a great thing, but not the most important thing. The Samaritan’s healing produced in him great gratitude toward Jesus Christ and God the Father. He eventually lost the gift of good health, but his relationship with God could endure forever.

Some people only pray to God when they need something. But for Christ to fix our problems without us engaging in deeper relationship and gratitude towards him profits us little. Do not be one of those who are locked outside the door to whom the Master of the House will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.” It is good for us to say, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us,” like the ten lepers did. But let us always remember gratitude and relationship with the Giver of all good gifts.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Gratitude, Homily, Jesus Christ, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

The Seed of Faith & Bearing Fruit

October 4, 2025

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Once upon a time, a pastor prayed to God, “Lord, please let me win the lottery.” This pastor was not a greedy person—he planned on giving almost all of the winnings away—he just really, really wanted to win the lottery. He prayed for weeks and weeks and when nothing happened he became frustrated with God, “Lord, why haven’t you let me win?” And he heard the voice of God reply, “You have to buy a ticket.” Having Christian faith is like having that ticket, it makes possible the blessings which follow.

Without faith, the complex beauty and order of this universe are dismissed as merely incredible coincidences. Without faith, supernatural miracles can be rationalized away. Without faith, a person will not seek after God for they do not believe he is real and good. As the Letter to the Hebrews says “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

In today’s Gospel, the apostles ask of the Lord: “Increase our faith.” Jesus replies, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this [deeply-rooted] tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” When I was a boy and I read this verse I felt discouraged because “My faith is not even the size of a tiny seed!” But Jesus intends this teaching as an encouragement; he’s saying that even a little faith can achieve a lot!

Sometimes people in Confession confess to lacking trust in God. I point out that if a person trusted God perfectly they would be a perfect person, so it’s a common human problem. Trusting God has been our primordial human problem since the Garden of Eden. Yes, faithfulness can be challenging, but you do believe in God.

There was a time in college when I attended Mass without approaching for Communion because I feared that I did not have enough faith to receive the Lord in the Eucharist worthily. After weeks of this worry, it came to me in prayer that “people who don’t believe in God don’t spend time worrying about whether or not they believe in God—that’s something only believers do.” In retrospect, my worry was rather silly, since so much of how I was living my life would not make sense without faith in God. I bet the same is true for you who freely came to Mass today. Why else would you be here?

Realize that having faith is different than having feelings. You can have great faith both when your heart is joyful and when it’s torn with sorrow. Whatever one may be feeling, faith choses to respond faithfully in trusting love. Notice when the apostles ask the Lord to increase their faith how Jesus does not rebuke them for it. They are asking for a good thing. Like greater humility and greater love, increased faith is a gift God is always eager to give.

Although your faith could be strengthened, do not imagine that your faith is too feeble to do anything now. Scripture says faith can uproot trees and move mountains. Faith has worked miracles, changed unjust laws, and converted nations. Jesus wants you to know that even the tiny faith you have can work great good for you and those around you. So pray for more faith and resolve to act in faith more often. There are great jackpots to be won, but you have to buy a ticket.

Posted in Faith, Homily, Mustard Seed, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

The Last Things

September 27, 2025

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Last week, the season of fall officially began. Soon we will see the leaves fade and fall and many living things will enter a long, deep sleep. Imagine how much we would despair seeing the skeletons of trees in the wintertime if we did not remember the new life to come in spring. Like our falling asleep at night and reawakening in the morning, the changing of the seasons foreshadow our dying and rising again in Christ.

Last week, there was also an online rumor that all Christians would be taken up into heaven last Tuesday. Though, once again, no one really knew the day nor the hour. We Catholics do not believe in “The Rapture”— that true Christians will one day vanish from the earth while unbelievers are “left behind” for years. This idea was only imagined for the first time in 1830, which is discrediting in itself. We faithfully await Christ’s return to call forth the living and the dead, but his coming will be visible to all. “For,” Jesus says, “just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.”

In this Sunday’s Gospel, we hear Jesus’ story about a rich man and a poor man. The poor man is named Lazarus but the rich man goes unnamed. “When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.” St. Augustine suggests that God “kept quiet about the rich man’s name because he did not find it written in heaven.” St. Jerome reproaches the rich man saying: “You have five brothers: sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch…. Since they were the brothers you loved, you could not love your brother Lazarus…. These brothers of yours loved wealth and they had no eye for poverty.”

Unless Jesus Christ returns during our lifetimes, each of us will experience death before facing an eternal judgment. But some people completely avoid thinking about their own deaths. They are like to my late aunt who wouldn’t go in for annual health checkups because she feared what the doctor might tell her. Yet by contemplating “The Last Things” (Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell) we can become more confident and well prepared for what is to come.

Though God fashioned us for everlasting life, we experience death as a result of human sin. However, because of Jesus’ Passion and sacrificial death, we can unite our sufferings to his to advance his mission of salvation in this world and increase our glory in Christ. Our bodies will undergo natural decay, eventually returning to the dust from which they were made, but our souls are everlasting. At the moment of death, our immortal souls separate from our mortal bodies. Our earthly remains remain on earth to await our Resurrection, but our souls go immediately to our particular judgment.

Then we will be judged according to our faith and deeds in Christ. Remember that what will matter in the end is our connection to Christ and our love of God and love of neighbor. Then our personal reward or punishment will begin: an entrance into the unending blessedness of heaven—either immediately or through the purifying process of purgatory, or else immediate and everlasting damnation. These are the weightiest matters in the world, but I do not want you to ever feel burdened or discouraged.

Do you recall how in The Lord of the Rings the dark lord Sauron created a ring into which he poured his cruelty, malice, and will to dominate all life? This ring would slowly corrupt its bearer and resize itself to fit its wearer’s finger. Whenever Frodo wore it, Sauron would see and hear him immediately and send his ghostly servants after him. Gandalf warned Frodo to remember “the Ring is trying to get back to its master. It wants to be found.”

Now consider our Good Lord of Light. He poured his mercy, kindness, and grace into you at baptism to give you abundant life and bring you into the glorious freedom of the children of God. God’s gifts adapt to their recipients; from the simplest small children to fully-grown-up geniuses, and they sanctify us over time. With the Christian identify you bear you can call on our Lord at any time, and he will see and hear you and send his angels for you. Jesus Christ is striving to bring you to our Father. So if you ever wander off, remember that they want you to be found.

Be faithful to daily prayer and the sacraments, especially Confession and Holy Mass. Live your one and only life with and for our Lord Jesus Christ. And always be well prepared to journey from this world, eager for your reward and the many joys which await us in the next season to come.

Posted in Homily, Last Things, Parables, Rich Man & Lazarus, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Stewardship Sunday & The Hug

September 22, 2025

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Deacon Dick Kostner

Today Jesus gives to us a new parable to ponder and think about. God gives to his followers the responsibility of being the body of Christ, a visible flesh and blood team of his to carry out the 11th Commandment Jesus gave us to “love as he has loved us.” His parable story tells us that one of his stewards was cheating and was caught. He was called to account for his dealings and knowing that he would lose his job he gave gifts of his master’s assets to debtors owing the master in hopes that the debtors would give him a place to stay after he lost his job. He was in a sense providing for himself and his future.

The master, instead of condemning his actions, commended the steward for acting prudently and taking action to provide for his future welfare. Once again Jesus tells us to spend our life doing things that will gain us a place to stay with him in heaven after our earthly life ends. Things that will give us a high place in heaven and a room to be proud of at the Father’s house. The responsibility is great for all of us to be good and faithful stewards of God’s heavenly assets. But why does God ask for our help in building the Kingdom of God here on earth?

I am reminded of a story that Fr. John Heagle told our Parish during a talk on Stewardship many years ago. He is the brother of Larry Heagle the song writer of the Wood Tick Song we all enjoy listening to every spring. He told the story of attending a party at his Nieces house one evening. His Niece had a young daughter and had sent her to her upstairs room to go to bed before the party started. After the party got going, the child came downstairs and told her mother she could not get to sleep and that she was afraid. The mother took her upstairs but after the third time she came down, the mother was getting impatient with her and said, “Why are you afraid? Don’t you know that God will protect you?” The child looked at her and finally said, “I know Mama that God will protect me, but sometimes you just need to have someone with ‘skin on’ to feel safe.”

God knows that as humans we sometimes need to have someone to grab a hold of, someone with skin on to give us a hug and get us through our difficulties of life. The solution was to send his son, Jesus, a divine human being, to teach us and help us get through the crosses of life. And when Jesus went up to heaven to join the Father, Jesus gave us His Church, to be the Steward for His children who need someone to grab a hold of when the crosses of life get too heavy for us to carry it alone.

Recently I had one of our Parishioners stop to thank me while I was smoking pork roasts to serve people who work at the Pavilion. She knew that I had been praying for her to come back to our parish as her attendance at Mass has been missed by our Parish family. She said, “I just can’t believe that a Deacon, would be praying for me to come back to Church!” I told her that she was missed not only by me but by other Parish members, and that I pray for all people who have left and for one reason or another not come back to join us, to give thanks at Mass, for all the gifts we have received. She thanked me again and said, “Can I ask one more question? Can I have a hug?? I told her sure, but I probably smell like smoke.” We hugged and I told her that I hope to see her at Mass at St. Paul’s soon.

As humans, we all will encounter difficulties in life but one thing is for sure, we all need to seek help from a higher power to get through difficult times. We have all witnessed and seen how suicides have sky rocketed in the last few years. And I am sure that the Church Parishes in our world have seen a drop in church attendance especially in younger adults. People need their Church, and God, a higher power, to overcome depression. Priests continue to be in short supply for many communities. Many are saying that the answer for the priest shortage is caused by priests not being allowed to marry. If you want my opinion on that I believe that priests would not be able to take on any more responsibility than what they now have. They have more than enough people to care for without adding a spouse and children to the list of people they care for. Yes, a spouse can and is support for her husband. And yes I would miss my wife keeping me proper, like telling me I have holes in my tee-shirts or that my socks don’t match, or I am getting too “heady” with my homilies, but I also know that priests already have an army of gals in any parish they serve at, that will take care of any problems pastors run into trying to be successful in their chosen vocation. I believe that’s why God gifts women with what I call extra Holy Spirit to take care of our deficiencies.

Back to the rise in suicides. Young and old alike, my take is that cell phones and Zoom will never be able to compete with or replace a good hug from a steward mentor of Christ, in helping us get through and overcome all the challenges of life. And for that I say: “Amen!”

Posted in Homily, Stewardship, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Lifted Up & Exalted

September 13, 2025

Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross
By Fr. Victor Feltes

During their long Exodus journey, the Hebrews once again began rebelling, despising God and his servant Moses. They even sinfully complained about the Manna bread God was providing for their survival in the desert saying, “We are disgusted with this wretched food!” So God sent venomous serpents—or perhaps he merely lifted his shield of protection around their camp—resulting in many getting snakebitten and dying. So the people repented and pleaded with Moses, who prayed to the Lord. The Lord then commanded Moses to fashion a bronze serpent and affix it to a pole so that whoever looked at it would live. Moses and the Hebrews did not realize this at the time, but that bronze serpent on a wooden pole was a symbol pointing ahead to Jesus Christ who would die for our sins on his wooden Cross so that we may live.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus uses the same Greek verb to declare, “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” And the inspired author notes, “[Jesus] said this indicating the kind of death he would die.” But this same Greek word for “lifted up” or “exulted” appears again later to recount Jesus’ Ascension and heavenly enthronement. The Book of Acts says, “God exulted/lifted up [Jesus] to his right hand as leader and savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” “Jesus, exulted/lifted up to God’s right hand, received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured it forth….” This is what I want to highlight: how the first lifting up of Jesus leads to the second; his exultation on the Cross leads to his exultation in heaven.

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, endured our human suffering and death, even death on a cross. And because of this, God greatly exalted him, and bestowed on him a heavenly glory above any other glory. The early Christians fully believed in Jesus’ death by crucifixion, but they did not depict Jesus on the Cross in sacred art for several centuries. This was partly due to persecution but also because crucifixion still remained so scandalous, horrific, and shameful in their culture. This Sunday, we celebrate the Exultation of the Holy Cross and I want you to behold Christ crucified. Too many are turned away from him—the God who suffered, died, and rose for them—and we see where their dark paths lead. But the message I feel moved to preach to you who have kept your eyes on Jesus and walked with him for years is to understand that our crosses lead to glory.

Each of us is going to suffer in this world and—unless Jesus Christ comes back first—each of us will taste death. But just because you suffer greatly does not necessarily mean you are being punished for doing something wrong like the Hebrews in the desert were. And suffering does not mean that you are not loved by God. (Jesus Christ was perfectly good yet God’s Beloved Son was murdered.) And when you suffer, no matter how incomprehensible or unjust the pain, realize where you are: on your Cross with Jesus Christ. Whatever you endure with him advances his mission of salvation in this world and increases your heavenly glory, for it conforms you to himself. St. Peter wrote, “Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as if something strange were happening to you. But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly.” Whatever may happen, let nothing deprive you of your Christian peace or purpose and never forget the incredible love that our God has for you and everyone.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Redemptive Suffering, Salvation History, Sunday Homilies, Typology | Leave a Comment »

Unconditional Alliance

September 7, 2025

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

At the Last Supper, when Jesus told his disciples “one of you will betray me,” all of them replied “Surely, it is not I, Lord,” except for Judas. Judas answered, “Surely it is not I, rabbi (or teacher).” Jesus Christ must be more than merely our teacher. He insists on being our supremely-loved Lord. He told the crowds following him: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Does Jesus really want us to be hating our loved ones? It would be strange for him to command that we love our enemies yet hate our families. Parallel Gospel passages prove Jesus is actually forbidding us from preferring anyone or anything to him, even our loved ones or our own lives. He must be our number one.

The Lord is like the conquering king in today’s parable; the King of kings and Lord of lords who has a rightful claim on everything. He made everything, sustains everything, and without him nothing finds true fulfillment, for he is Goodness itself. He marches toward our petty kingdoms with vastly greater forces. Can anyone successfully oppose him? No, only to our own destruction. So while his hosts of angels for the Day of Judgment are still far away, we should seek his peace terms, welcoming his offered covenant. The Lord seeks our unconditional surrender. He says “anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” We must place everything we have and everything we are at his disposal. But his goal is not to destroy us like enemies or to dominate us like slaves but to have us as his siblings and friends. He says, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Ask yourself and seriously consider, “What am I holding back from him, keeping me from greater faithful love and fruitfulness?”

Entering into Christ’s covenant is only the beginning. A tower (like the one in Jesus’ parable) is not finished by merely laying the foundation. Towers in Old Testament times symbolized security. They allowed you to see your enemies approaching and then to hole up behind high, thick walls safe and secure in an easily defended position. However, a half-finished tower was of little use, except as an object of mockery as onlookers remarked: “This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish!” Some Christian disciples begin following Jesus, laying a foundation, but then abandon the project, like the people mentioned in John 6:66. They say, “This saying is hard; who can accept it” and no longer accompany him, going off to do their own thing. After many of Jesus’ disciples left him after the Bread of Life Discourse at Capernaum, he asked his apostles, “Do you also want to leave?” And Peter answered, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

We must build brick-by-brick, floor-by-floor, day-by-day, even amidst construction setbacks, until our tower of faithfulness is finished at the end of our lives. But we must not labor all by ourselves, like the builders of the Tower of Babel did, failing to reach heaven. Of ourselves, we do not have enough resources to reach completion. We must receive the Lord’s support. As Psalm 127 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, in vain do the workmen labor.” Our prayer should be that from Psalm 90 today: “May the gracious care of the Lord our God be ours. Prosper the work of our hands for us! Prosper the work of our hands!” This is your part: let the Lord Jesus Christ be your true Lord, and do not be too proud to call upon our Savior’s constant help.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Homily, Jesus Christ, Parables, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

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.

Posted in Homily, Parables, Redemptive Suffering, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

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.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Homily, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

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.

Posted in Homily, Marriage and Family, Sunday Homilies, Unity | Leave a Comment »

Greet Him At His House

August 9, 2025

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Today’s Gospel is first and foremost about the Second Coming of Christ and our judgment on the Last Day. Jesus Christ, who called himself the Son of Man, said that in the End Times “the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” The Book of Revelation agrees: “Behold, [Jesus Christ] is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him… ‘Behold, I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to his deeds.’” “But of [the timing of] that day and hour,” Jesus says, “no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (The Son of God is divine and therefore knows everything, but in his humanity Jesus apparently did not know the date or was not supposed to reveal it.) Could Jesus Christ return during our lifetime? Of course. But even if Christ returns a thousand years from now we should still heed his warning to be prepared today, for we do not know the day and hour of our deaths when he will judge our souls and deeds.

Jesus’ parable about the returning master and his servants suggests another secondary interpretation. Consider the story’s details. The master has come from a wedding. He comes to his own house. He wants his servants to be there, ready to greet him. And in response he will “have the servants recline at table and proceed to wait on them.” And “should he come in the second or third watch” (when it is darkest and most inconvenient) and find them present, attentive, and well-prepared, those servants will be greatly blessed. So where is the Lord Jesus’ house to which he returns? Where does he want his servants to be present and pleased to see him? Where would he have his faithful servants rest, partake in a meal served by him, and receive his blessed rewards? This church is his house. We are his servants. And Jesus wants us to meet him here for a meal. Our Lord arrives here joyfully from a wedding. He wedded the Church to himself two thousand years ago. And the Holy Mass extends that mystery throughout time and space to here and now. Indeed, ‘blessed are those called to the wedding supper of the Lamb’ and who are here and ready to greet him.

Yet, for too many people, the precious time of Sunday Mass is an hour when they do not expect the Son of Man to come. Despite our many scheduled weekend Masses, they still do not attend. Others show up out of obligation or custom or habit, but fail to be attentive. Perhaps they do not yet believe—despite Scripture, ancient teaching, and centuries of miracles—that Jesus Christ is truly present in the Holy Eucharist. Or perhaps they do not yet realize that they are not mere spectators at Holy Mass but offering a sacrifice with the priest and the whole community, the eternal offering of the Son to the Father, through which everything united to Christ is raised up to heaven and grace and blessings are poured down to earth in return.

Be present and be vigilant. Distractions will come to anyone who is committed to regular Massgoing and daily prayer, but do not be discouraged by the times your thoughts accidentally wander. Every decision to turn your attention back to the Lord is another act of love and devotion. Sometimes those so-called distractions are actually things the Lord wants you to pray about or offer up to him. Ask the Holy Spirit and he will help you to pray as you ought, to gird your loins with reverence and light your lamps with faith and be like servants who are glad and blessed upon their master’s return from a wedding.

Posted in Homily, Jesus Christ, Last Things, Mass, Parables, Second Coming, Sunday Homilies, Unwatchful Servant | 1 Comment »

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.’

Posted in Christian Perfection, Feast Day Homilies, Heaven, Homily, Last Things | Leave a Comment »

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.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Confession, Homily, Mercy, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Catholic Diversity In Unity

July 3, 2025

Solemnity of Saints Peter & Paul
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Today, I wish to speak to you about Saints Peter and Paul, vocations, the Catholic Church and the Churches in her, and two aspects of the Holy Mass. This homily will be a bit longer than usual, but each of its parts are interesting. Saints Peter and Paul shared many similarities but manifested in different ways:

🔸 Both were personally called by Christ to become apostles; Peter quite early during Jesus’ public ministry, but Paul rather late, after Jesus’ Ascension.

🔸 Both beheld Jesus in his transfigured glory; making his friend Peter feel ecstatic, but making his persecutor Paul go temporarily blind.

🔸 Both preached the Gospel; Peter primarily to the Jews, but Paul particularly to the Gentiles.

🔸 Both taught the Faith; Paul the Pharisee was highly-educated, but Peter the uneducated fisherman was not.

🔸 Both experienced weakness; Peter in conquering his passions, but Paul by enduring “a thorn in the flesh.”

🔸 Both were martyred by the Roman Empire in Rome; Peter was crucified upside-down, but Paul the Roman citizen was beheaded.

That Saints Peter and Paul whom we celebrate this Sunday shared one Faith, one Lord, and one calling, and yet manifested these differently in their faithful lives. We also see this in the Catholic Church today. Peter and Paul were called to be apostles. Today, some are called to be bishops, priests, or deacons. Others are called to be consecrated male or female religious. Many more are called to the vocation of holy marriage. Others live out their baptismal mission and call as single persons or consecrated virgins. Which of these ways is the greatest way to live a Christian life? The greatest, most glorious, most fruitful path for you is the one Christ has called or is calling you to. Your life may look differently than others’, even amongst people living out the same vocation, but you can still be living a faithful, fruitful Christian life.

We belong to Christ’s Catholic Church. The word “Catholic” comes from Greek, meaning “universal, worldwide, (or) all-inclusive.” The Catholic Church, established by God for all people and places in this present age, unites humanity in our diversity, but even within our unity we see legitimate variety. Did you know that the one Catholic Church contains 24 Churches with apostolic roots and varying liturgical traditions practiced in full communion with the pope? The largest of these Catholic Churches is the Roman Catholic Church, to which we belong along with more than 98% of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics. About 18 million other Catholics are in Churches in full communion with Rome; the three largest being the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (mainly in Western Ukraine), the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (mainly in India), and the Maronite Church (mainly in Lebanon). Our one Faith differently celebrated. (Other Churches called the Orthodox Churches have nearly 300 million members put together, with valid priests and bishops and all seven sacraments like us, yet they are not in communion with the pope. Pray for our reunion. The gap between us is less than any Protestant group.) There is even legitimate variation within the Holy Mass of our Roman Catholic Church. I wish to highlight two examples: one in how one receives the Eucharist and another in how the Eucharist is celebrated.

The early Church Fathers mention the Eucharist being placed upon communicants’ hands. Other Communion customs also existed but Communion in the hand was explicitly described. For instance, St. Cyril in Jerusalem and St. Theodore in Turkey instructed the faithful to lay one hand over the other to create a throne (for both saints declare one is about to receive a King) cupping one’s palm to receive “The Body of Christ” and answering “Amen.” St. John Chrysostom observes how a communicant’s hands “hold [the Eucharistic Sacrifice] but for a time.” He writes, “Oh! What a marvel! What love of God to man! He who sits on high with the Father is at that hour held in the hands of all…” And St. Basil the Great records “in the church, when the priest gives the portion, the recipient takes it with complete power over it, and so lifts it to his lips with his own hand.” These and the writings of other Church Fathers show that receiving Communion in the hand existed in the Early Church.

However, though Communion in the hand is allowed today, the many-centuries-long tradition of receiving Communion on one’s tongue is also permitted, either standing or kneeling. Some find receiving our Lord on the tongue strengthens their reverence and devotion; acknowledging the glory of their Great Guest, extending the red carpet of one’s tongue for him to enter under one’s roof through the doors of one’s lips, humbly receiving this priceless Gift of pure grace. After next summer’s church renovation, once there is more space in front of these steps to our sanctuary, I plan to place a kneeler in the center-front as an option, as you may have seen offered already at churches in Chippewa Falls. How you receive our Lord, standing or kneeling, on your hand or on your tongue, is for you to personally discern, since they each option is permitted for you by the present liturgical rules of the Church.

The next legitimate Mass option I would like to explain pertains to the celebrant leading the congregation. Since the Second Vatican Council, the most common way priests have celebrated Mass is versus populum, or “towards the people.” Yet the much-longer-practiced custom has been for the priest and the people to face (literally or symbolically) towards the east together, or “ad orientem.” Like the Jews used to pray towards the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, the writings of the Church Fathers show the early Christians prayed toward the east. St. Clement of Alexandria writes “prayers are made looking towards the sunrise in the east.” And Origen notes: “…Of all the quarters of the heavens, the east is the only direction we turn to when we pour out prayer…” Tertullian records that Christians facing east to pray caused some non-Christians to mistakenly believe we worshiped the sun. But the Christians praying toward the sunrise saw a symbol of Christ rising from the dead and of his promised return to earth in radiant glory one day. Throughout the centuries, even in churches which were not built to face east like our St. Paul’s Church, the priest and the people faced the same direction (or “liturgical east”) together. However, since the 1970’s the prevailing custom has been for the priest to face the congregation.

The Catholic Church approves both versus populum and ad orientem as valid options, and these two ways of celebrating the Mass emphasize different truths. Celebrating versus populum, toward the people, emphasizes the horizontal aspect, the communal meal. And the Holy Mass is indeed a meal, a memorial of the Last Supper, where Jesus Christ and his disciples gather at his table. Celebrating ad orientem, toward the east, emphasizes the vertical aspect, the sacrificial offering. And the Holy Mass is indeed a sacrifice, a memorial of the Cross, where Jesus Christ is offered up for us from his altar.

I experienced my first ad orientem Mass when I was still in seminary. The celebrant was a visiting alumnus and priest of our diocese, Fr. Derek Sakowski. I remember fearing that I would hate the Mass being said that way because I often dislike changes. (For instance, our seminary once changed the toaster in the dining hall and—even though I almost never used the old familiar toaster—I was annoyed when they had replaced it with a new one.) Fr. Sakowski said the same English prayers as at other Masses but watching him celebrate that Mass ad orientem, facing us when speaking to us and facing God when praying to God, I found it surprisingly beautiful and it made a lot of sense. When weekday Massgoers at St. John the Baptist Parish first experienced Mass ad orientem more than five years ago, the attendees reported positive experiences similar to mine.

I mention all this because I would like our weekday Massgoers to experience ad orientem in at least a few Masses this July and hear their feedback. After Vatican II, when Mass facing the people became the prevailing custom in the Church, pastors often introduced that liturgical change abruptly, without consultation, and without adequate explanation. It was jarring, and many lay people were bewildered and hurt. I do not wish to repeat such mistakes going in the opposite direction. Nothing will change without thorough consultation and consensus support. At the end of such a dialogue at St. John the Baptist’s Parish, one weekend Mass changed and the other stayed the same and today everyone seems happy or content with that. Our Faith, our calling, and our Lord are one, even as our faithful lives will manifest them differently. We are Catholic. So in essential things, unity. In non-essential things, liberty. And in all things, charity—that is, love.

Posted in Catholic Church, Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Mass, St. Paul, St. Peter, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

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