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Holy Guides Are Needed

March 1, 2025

8th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Loving Everyone, Our Enemies & Ourselves

February 23, 2025

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted in Chrisitian Virtues, Christian Perfection, Divinization, Forgiveness, Homily, Jesus Christ, Love, Mercy, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

A Happy Death — Wake Homily for Lois Petska, 75

February 17, 2025

By Deacon Dick Kostner

I recently posted on Facebook an article from Dr. Pamela Prince Pyle, “a board-certified doctor of internal medicine, chair of the board of Africa New Life Ministries in Rwanda, Museum of the Bible Woman of Legacy, speaker, and author of the book Anticipating Heaven: Spiritual Comfort and Practical Wisdom for Life’s Final Chapters, which released on January 7th, 2025. She indicated that her vocation centered around comforting people who were on their death bed. She tells the story about an elderly lady who she visited with as she lay on her death bed barely able to speak and how she was questioned by this lady on the condition of her health. She broke down telling her that her death was near. The lady grabbed her hand, smiled and said, ‘Don’t worry I am going to have a happy death, please talk to and prepare my family for it.’ It caught her by surprise because she had never heard anyone refer to death as a ‘Happy event.’ She said the lady had been preparing for and looking forward to seeing Jesus and all of her deceased family and friends again. Upon reflection the doctor came to the conclusion that happiness and death are not in opposition with each other to people who are grounded in their faith.”

Tonight, we are celebrating the life of a gal who was full of faith in God and family and left us suddenly without warning. Barb and I grew up with and were friends with this special person and I believe her quick exit from this life could be interpreted as God bestowing upon Lois the gift of a quick entry to God’s world. A place where she can celebrate her faith with her family and friends who also were people of great faith. People who always had their eyes focused on heaven and their Creator knowing that death was but the key to the door of heaven for those who called Jesus their brother while living out their vocation of love of God and neighbor while here on earth.

Barb and I were close friends with Fr. Hugh and many a nights he would swing by and enjoy a drink with us and just talk. I remember one night when he said he was ready to “move on.” He had told us that he was dying and that he was tired of living so long and having to be the one to bury all of his friends and family. It was time to join his friends and family and leave behind earthly pain and suffering.

Our Gospel this evening tells his disciples and us to not spend all of our efforts accomplishing only earthly treasures. If we want the reward of heaven it requires us to live out our lives in love of God and neighbor. A few years ago the deacons had a young priest tell us to be prepared. When we are young we don’t think about death. We feel bullet proof. He said you talk yourself into putting off things of heaven thinking just maybe you will be the first to get a pass from experiencing death. That ain’t going to happen! As Jesus tells us tonight, “You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

I think this was what Lois would have said if she had known she was being called home. And like the dying lady told Dr. Pyle, I believe she is telling us: “Don’t worry, I have had a happy death, please, prepare my family and friends for it.”

Posted in Funeral Homilies, Homily, Last Things | Leave a Comment »

Why Bread & Wine

February 17, 2025

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted in Exodus, Homily, Last Supper, Mass, Passion, Real Presence, Sacrifice, Sunday Homilies, Typology | Leave a Comment »

The Gift of Holy Orders

February 9, 2025

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted in Homily, Salvation History, Sunday Homilies, Supernatural Phenomena | 1 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 Importance of Confession

January 25, 2025

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Jesus came back to his hometown, stood up in the synagogue, and read this proclamation from the Book of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me… to bring glad tidings to the poor… liberty to captives… recovery of sight to the blind… to let the oppressed go free and proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Then he sat down and declared to all, “Today, this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” Imagine if the people of Nazareth had replied, “That’s nice, Jesus, but you’re not talking about us.”

What if the Nazareans had been like the Laodiceans in the Book of Revelation and said, “‘Glad tidings to the poor’? We are rich and affluent and have no need of anything!” What if they had said like some Jews in John’s Gospel, “‘Liberty to captives… Let the oppressed go free’? We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”? What if the Nazareans had said like some Pharisees in John’s Gospel, “‘Recovery of sight to the blind’? Surely we are not also blind, are we?”? Jesus might answer those at Nazareth who said such things with words he spoke elsewhere in Scripture: “You say, ‘I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,’ and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.” Consider the danger of you or me denying our need for the sacraments Christ offers.

You may have heard of the Precepts of the Church. I like to think of these rules as prescriptions for medicines which Mother Church absolutely insists her children take for our spiritual health. The Third Precept listed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church may strike some people as odd: “You shall humbly receive your Creator in Holy Communion at least during the Easter season.” Why is this a rule? Part of the First Precept of the Church already requires us to attend Mass every Sunday and holy day of obligation, so what is the purpose of this requirement? The reason for this command and why it seems strange to us is because Catholics in the past received Holy Communion much less frequently than we do today. Scripture passages from St. Paul suggest why.

Our post-Vatican II lectionary, the book of readings we use at Mass, incorporates more of Scripture than was read at Mass previously. However, our lectionary does not include the final portion of the 11th chapter of St. Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians. Sometime in the 50’s A.D., the Lord’s Supper and the community meal accompanying it were being abused at Corinth. The Christians there were forming factions and showing favoritism; while some went hungry others got drunk. St. Paul recounts to them how Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper and then he writes these warning words: “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying. If we discerned ourselves, we would not be under judgment; but since we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.”

Around 1264 A.D., the great theologian St. Thomas Aquinas composed the Lauda Sion hymn, which is our sequence for the Feast of Corpus Christi and includes these verses about the Holy Communion: “Both the good and bad receive him, but with different effects in them: true life or true destruction. It is death to the wicked, but life to the good. See how different is the outcome though each receives the same.” And still today, Christ’s Church teaches that “a person who is conscious of grave sin is not to… receive the Body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in [which] case the person is to remember the obligation to make an Act of Perfect Contrition [which arises from a love for God above all else, and] which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.”

Jesus came to forgive our sins and he does this through his Church. On Easter Sunday evening he appeared in the Upper Room and said to his apostles, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” This is a gift, a power, a sacrament, our Lord has entrusted to his Church. The Second Precept of the Church commands “you shall confess your (grave) sins at least once a year.” And, similar to bathing or exercising, going to Confession more than only once a year is very good for you. If there is an occasion at Mass when you ought not to receive our Holy Lord in the Eucharist, then approach the priest or deacon at Communion time with crossed arms to receive a blessing, or else remain in your pew, and form a plan to go to Confession. Our parishes have regular Confession times, but you can also call a priest to schedule one yourself. Our Communion lines are long while our Confession lines are short because many people do not know their own sins.

In today’s first reading, Ezra the Priest reads the Old Covenant to the Jews who have returned to Jerusalem after their Babylonian Exile. Ezra read the “Book of the Law” to the assembly from a wooden platform from daybreak to midday and by the end people were sad and weeping. They mourned when they realized they had not been keeping God’s commands, but Ezra encouraged them not to despair: “Rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!” Review an Examination of Conscience such as this one (which lists various sins and vices you should review, along with the Precepts of the Church and step-by-step instructions for going to Confession.) Among both young and old, I have seen people having their sins forgiven in Confession experience amazing joy.

As in all of the sacraments, Jesus awaits to encounter you in the confessional. Do not doubt his love; his mercy and goodness and power to forgive and help you there. Jesus Christ would give liberty to captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed, and lead us to a better future. Today, may this Scripture be fulfilled through your hearing.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Confession, Homily, Real Presence, Sunday Homilies | 1 Comment »

The Vision of Christian Marriage

January 18, 2025

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

“God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” When God’s Old Covenant people only knew of God’s oneness, they may have assumed we only share in God’s image by our freewill, our intellect, and our rule over creation. But Jesus reveals to his New Covenant people that God’s oneness is not mere solitude but a unity of persons sharing one divine nature – the Holy Trinity. The Father eternally begets the Son, while the Son eternally gifts himself back to the Father, and from their love the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds. And in the beginning in the Garden of Eden, from Adam’s side close to his heart, Eve is fashioned — the woman of his dreams, his equal in dignity, sharing one human nature. And from their self-gift to each other, another person (children) can proceed. A family or loving community reflects a fuller image of God than an individual alone.

The human body speaks a language. In the one-flesh union, a man and woman’s bodies express a total gift of self to each other, open to enduring love and open to new life. This embrace says, “I give myself to you freely and completely for the rest of our lives. In the sight of God and neighbor I pledge my love for you and promise to will the very best for you.” When an occasion of this act does not match what the language of the body is saying, it is a lie, a sin, and often feels impure. But when what is being said matches the reality, then it is true, pure, and holy. Indeed, for Christian couples it seals or renews their covenant in the Sacrament of Marriage.

God made marriage before the Fall and created it good, but after the Fall the relationships between men and women have been impacted by sin. Since then, their unity has been threatened by discord, spirits of domination, selfishness, infidelity, jealousy, and conflict which can even escalate to hatred and separation. To prevail over sin, man and woman need the help of God’s grace which in his infinite mercy he never refuses them. The Sacrament of Marriage connects couples to Christ’s grace to create new holy families. Indeed, Christ the Bridegroom’s earthly mission was a courtship leading to a marriage with children.

Jesus’ first recorded miracle was performed at the wedding feast of Cana. “There were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,” and his public ministry began by transforming those Old Covenant waters into wine. In Sacred Scripture, six is a number of imperfection and incompletion while seven is a number of completion and perfection. And there is a seventh jar in the Gospel of John: “[On the Cross,] aware that everything was now finished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I thirst.’ There was a jar filled with sour wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, ‘It is finished (or fulfilled, complete, consummated)’ And bowing his head, he handed over the Spirit.”

Jesus is the New or Second Adam who, naked at a tree with the New Eve, proves faithful to God. Jesus enters the deep sleep of death, and from his side, from his heart, water and blood pour forth, the water for baptism and Blood for the Eucharist from which the Bride of Christ is fashioned. This bride, the Church, is fruitful in bearing, nurturing, and forming her children. The Old Testament foreshadowed this, like in our first reading from Isaiah: “As a young man marries a virgin, your builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you.” And at the end of Scripture in the Book of Revelation it is declared in heaven: “Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.”

The Sacrament of Marriage taps into the mystery and power of this loving union of Christ and his Church. In Ephesians 5, St. Paul writes how husbands and wives should love each other, with wives respecting their husbands’ leadership and husbands serving their brides like Jesus loves us. And Paul says in conclusion, “This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church.” Twenty years ago this year, when I was still a seminarian I attended my cousin’s wedding. Around the time when the bride and groom exchanged their vows, they were gazing in each other’s eyes, holding hands, and smiling. Then, without anything visibly changing, my perception shifted, and for several seconds I saw in them Jesus Christ marrying the Church. Now I hesitate to share this story because it might be like when someone talks about an “awesome” dream they had which fails to impress or translate for others. Yet I mention it all the same in hopes that, in addition to seeing the importance of being sacramentally married in the Church and being open to God’s will in bearing and raising children, you may have the vision to see your marriage in a new, real, more spiritual and mystical way.

Posted in Homily, Marriage and Family, Sunday Homilies, Wedding of Cana | 1 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 »

Doing The Lord’s Work — Funeral Homily for Sylvan Rothbauer, 87

January 6, 2025

By Fr. Victor Feltes

There is much more to life than work, but human work goes back to the beginning. Even before the Fall of Man, “the Lord God then took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.” Adam toiled tending plants and animals with Eve. Sylvan worked very hard farming his whole life alongside Leona.

He began with a herd on a dairy farm, but later purchased another farm in Tilden on which he grew crops and raised animals. His daughter tells me he taught his three children everything they know about farming. He gave them chores to do growing up, and “some of them were not so fun,” but they were helpful.

He and his wife of sixty-four years did everything together. They went to Mass here at St. John’s together, vacationed with the children to a cabin up north, and would gather the whole family together, especially for Christmas Eve. And when Leona eventually fell ill, Sylvan became her full-time caretaker, humbly cooking and cleaning and laundering for her for the first time.

St. Paul describes Jesus Christ as the New Adam, the “second” or “last Adam.” He writes that, “The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. …. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.”

Jesus the Good Shepherd began with one flock, but then purchased more fields and creatures through his blood, sweat, and tears. We are his people, the sheep of his flock, the children of the Father. He teaches us everything we must know to produce good fruit. The chores that he gives us are not always fun, but they support the work that he is doing and help us mature into saints like him. He humbly serves his beloved bride, feeding, cleansing, and clothing her, and he delights to be with her; on earth around this altar, in the joyful house above and away from here, together with his whole family.

The stories of our lives find their greatness in Jesus Christ’s story. Pray for Sylvan, so that his likeness to Christ may reach its full completion. And with faith in our Lord Jesus, do the holy work which will lead to your glory.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Funeral Homilies, Homily, Jesus Christ, Work | 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 »

Imitate The Visitation

December 21, 2024

4th Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

When Archangel Gabriel informed the Virgin Mary that she would conceive the Son of God, the last recorded thing he told her was: “[B]ehold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Notice how the angel does not tell Mary what to do with this final bit of news. Yet soon after in response, likely encouraged by the Holy Spirit, “Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.”

St. Luke records that “Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.” Luke’s Gospel contains details about the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, and Jesus’ early years which are not told in the other Gospels, including things upon which Mary “pondered in her heart.” Now how would you know what someone pondered in their heart unless they told you? This suggests that the original source for the stories in the first chapters of Luke was the Blessed Virgin Mary herself.

At the Visitation, at least four persons are brought together: Elizabeth, with John the Baptist at least twenty weeks along, and Mary her kinswoman, with Jesus who was perhaps only days old within her. Although Mary believed in what was spoken to her by the angel, she may not have known how far his words had been fulfilled. If that is the case, then the first person on earth to recognize and herald the presence of Christ Incarnate was another unborn child.

The angel never commanded Mary to make the journey, but she wanted to be there for Elizabeth. For about three months, apparently until the circumcision and naming of John eight days after his birth, Mary was there to help and support Elizabeth around the house and through her first delivery. Elizabeth, in turn, was an encouragement and help to Mary, sharing Spirit-inspired words, like “blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb,” and offering wise advice, such as whether and how Mary should reveal the news of her pregnancy to Joseph. Unborn Jesus and unborn John depended upon their mothers for life itself, yet even these little ones were helpful as well. John’s tiny leaping kicks confirmed to Elizabeth what the Holy Spirit was revealing to her, while the grace of the Son of God was mystically supporting them all. They were called to community and to help and accept help from each other. We are called to help and accept help from one another sharing community in this parish as well.

When I was in seminary, we would gather for meals at round tables in the refectory (or cafeteria). We ate from plates and bowls on top of dinner trays. Sometimes at the end of meals, my fellow seminarians would offer to take up others’ trays to the dishwasher racks. I would gladly accept the offer and thank them for it. However, occasionally when I would offer to take up other seminarians’ trays, someone might adamantly refuse. So I would ask, “How come it’s okay for you to take up my tray but not okay for me to take up yours? Come on, allow me to merit with God from doing some good deeds too!” Mary and Jesus, Elizabeth and John, were all together and helpful to each other. Christians are called not only to serve but to be humble enough to accept and even seek out kindness and help from others.

The providence and grace of God led to the beautiful mystery of the Visitation. This week, God will draw many people to our church for the first time in a long time. Joyfully greet our guests, like Elizabeth welcomed Mary. Like little John the Baptist, express excitement that they are here. Invite them to be with us and be present yourself, at Sunday Mass, as part of our Parish Council of Catholic Women or our Knights of Columbus, in the That Man Is You men’s group, at parish meals or at activities, like my next Trivia Night this January. You have nothing to lose from this, while others have much to gain. And please prayerfully consider creating community events for our parish yourself. Would you like to start a Bible study, or a Catholic video series, or a book or movie club, or host an after-Mass social? Talk to me about whatever you have in mind because I desire your rewarding work to bear much good fruit. Blessed are you who believe that the Lord could do great things through you.

Posted in Blessed Virgin Mary, Homily, Jesus Christ, St. John the Baptist, Sunday Homilies, Visitation | Leave a Comment »

Rejoice, The Lord Is Near – Have No Anxiety At All

December 14, 2024

3rd Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

A story is told of an old American Indian speaking to his young grandchild seated at his feet. “Inside of me there are two wolves,” the grandfather explains. “One of these wolves is virtuous: patient, kind, chaste, generous, forgiving, and loving. But the other wolf is vicious: angry, cruel, lustful, greedy, unforgiving, and hateful. These wolves are battling within me in a fight to the death.” The child asks, “Which wolf is gonna win, Grandpa?” The grandfather replies, “The one that I feed.”

One bit of encouragement I often give in the confessional concerns the ideas, feelings, memories, or temptations which enter people’s minds. When people confess to having had bad thoughts or temptations, I ask, “Did you will them? Did you choose them? Did you welcome them? Did you say ‘Yes’ to them, or did you resist them?” Unhelpful thoughts and feelings can come to us against our will. We only sin or merit when we engage our will to accept or reject them. A saint is not someone who never feels temptation but someone who, even when tempted, choses what is good and true and loving. If we do not realize this, we will believe every temptation we think or feel is a sinful defeat when it is merely a call to battle.

Some people think temptations only attract us to pleasures, to set us up for a fall. However, some temptations draw us downwards, to grumbling, bitterness, unhappiness, and despair. In today’s second reading from the Letter to the Philippians, St. Paul presents an antidote. He says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” A person rejoices when they have gratitude for the present and the past and have hope for the future.

Our days may be very challenging but even amidst our sufferings we have much to be grateful for. We can always find a reason to complain. (Somebody with nothing to complain about could even choose to complain about that!) But most of our complaints are completely unnecessary. Instead, count your blessings—perhaps literally on your ten fingers—especially in hard times, and remember that you have great cause for hope in good things to come. When I replace pointless complaining with rejoicing my blessing cup is no longer empty but full enough to overflow for others. Because of this, St. Paul says, “Your kindness should be known to all.”

Another of our common unpleasant temptations is to anxiety. One of the things Jesus says most in the Gospels is “be not afraid!” Realize that worry (which is the natural fruit of fear) is worthless; concern is enough. If I were totally unconcerned about this homily then I would have prepared nothing to say. But if I had been worried about this homily there would still be just as much work to do but with added stress besides. What can you do when you are showing proper concern and you are doing your part but still feel the burden of anxiety? St. Paul provides this prescription: Remember that “The Lord is near.” So “have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

We are called to zero anxiety, “to have no anxiety at all.” When you’ve done what you can, you can refer the rest to God. Lift up your prayers and petitions with a thankful heart. And then, even if nothing visibly changes in the situation immediately, the peace of God which surpasses our understanding will guard and protect your heart and mind from pointless worry. The Lord is near. Give thanks and rejoice. Have no anxiety at all. For the Lord is with you, fighting on your side in the battle.

Posted in Chrisitian Virtues, Christian Perfection, Homily, St. Paul, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

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