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You Can Ask Jesus Your Questions

December 13, 2025

3rd Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

St. John the Baptist, despite his continued imprisonment, had heard about the works Jesus was doing and sent two of his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” John was no pushover, not some reed swayed by the wind, but from this question we can gather that while John sat in Herod’s prison some doubt arose about whether Jesus was their long-awaited Messiah.

Notice how Jesus reacts to the question. He does not lose his temper or condemn them for asking. He gives them a helpful response: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” In other words: “Report to John my mighty works for these show that I am the Messiah of whom Isaiah wrote (e.g., ‘Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing.’) How I accomplish my purposes may appear strange, but remember that a person who takes no offense at me is blessed.” Jesus was patient with people who asked him questions in good faith.

Nicodemus did not want to be seen in public with Jesus. That’s why Nicodemus approached him at night. But Jesus still engaged with his questions. The Samaritan woman at the well may have first thought the man speaking to her was weird, but Jesus invited her probing questions. And the rich young man who asked Jesus about the way to eternal life wasn’t quite ready to fully commit to following Christ, but Jesus looked at him, loved him, and gave personalized responses. Despite their flaws, they asked Jesus questions in good faith and Jesus answered them. What Jesus does not like is questions asked in bad faith.

When the Pharisees would set traps for him, Jesus knew their ill intent, saying, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?” He knew they were just looking for ways to condemn and reject him. And when Jesus appeared before King Herod during his Passion, Herod questioned him at length because he had heard about him and hoped to see him perform some sign. But when Jesus gave him no replies, Herod treated him with contempt and mocked him and sent him away. Wicked Herod was merely curious about Jesus and uninterested in repenting of his sins. We should not test God like the Pharisees and Herod did. Jesus delights, however, in genuine seekers and is pleased to answer them.

“Whoever asks, receives,” and “whoever seeks, finds,” though the answer might not be instantaneous. Job, while doing nothing wrong, questioned for some time before the Lord answered him. Sometimes our answer is already readily available through Christ’s Church, and we should listen to him through her. But sometimes God, who is supremely brilliant and creative, will answer us through different avenues (though without contradicting himself). Sometimes his answer will come during prayer, or maybe through something we providentially see or hear, or perhaps through a friend or a stranger.

What are your questions for the Lord? I encourage you to ask him and keep your eyes and ears and heart open. If you’re seeking the truth and not seeking excuses; if you’re looking to love and serve Jesus better, pay Christ the compliment of approaching him as the One who knows all things and loves you. Blessed is the one who does so.

Posted in Discernment, Homily, Jesus Christ, St. John the Baptist, Sunday Homilies, Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

Heralding the Best Path

December 7, 2025

2nd Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

St. John the Baptist taught his hearers that the time had come for them to take action and change course. St. Matthew writes it was of John the Baptist the Prophet Isaiah spoke when he foretold of “a voice of one crying out in the desert,” saying, “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed…” So what is this imagery about?

In ancient times, preceding a king’s journey somewhere, a messenger would be sent ahead to announce how people should get ready for the royal arrival. One practical task was to improve his road: removing rocks, filling potholes, and smoothing ruts. For the coming of the King of kings, Isaiah even envisions lowering mountains and raising valleys to form a straight and level highway. John the Baptist calls everyone to reevaluate our priorities to better prepare the way for encountering Christ.

An angel of the Lord had announced to the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, that John’s mission had an intergenerational component. John was to “turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.” St. John, inspiring adults to seek the very best for children and to form them in godly ways, would “turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.” Today, I wish to inspire you to do the same for children now through our St. Paul’s Catholic Grade School.

We have an excellent Catholic school. For our most recent reaccreditation, administrators from four other Catholic schools thoroughly evaluated us and told us: “You have a beautiful school.” “[It’s] welcoming, faith-filled, and charming!” “[It’s] filled with excellent educational instruction.” “[There are] high expectations.” “The students are so well-mannered.” “[And there are] great relationships between teachers and students.” And all of them agreed, “We wish we could work at your school.”

Our highly-qualified teachers can provide one-on-one attention in a wholesome environment more like a family than a factory. And we have great young people who positively influence each other. Our reinvigorating new principal, Mr. Brad Cody, has been struck by our students’ respectfulness and politeness, noting how in all his time here he has yet to hear any student swear. Our behavioral expectations, our academic expectations, and our moral expectations are not found in many other schools today. St. Paul’s devoted teachers and substitutes who have taught in both worlds can attest to the differences in our Catholic school.

God and Christ’s teachings are not excluded here. We have daily prayer, weekly Mass, Confession, and seasonal devotions. Our students get to know Catholic clergy beyond just at Sunday Mass, like when we eat our excellent school lunches with them at their tables. Our littlest ones enjoy the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, which introduces Christianity to them in an engaging way on their level. And while people of all faiths are welcome at our school, the Catholic Faith is taught and lived.

Our 4K through 8th grade Catholic school prepares the way for the Lord without the rocks, ruts, and pitfalls found in other paths; a smooth and straight road for children to get to know Jesus Christ and walk forward with him together. So if you or your acquaintances have school-aged children, please work to get them enrolled here in 2026. Make a call, take a tour. School Choice makes tuition free at higher incomes than you would think. But even families who don’t qualify can receive grants and scholarships we offer, so do not imagine cost to be an obstacle. In addition to recruiting for our great school, I invite you to join our work in person. We could always use more playground supervisors, substitute teachers, or helpers in the library, office, or classrooms.

It’s not so much that our Catholic school has a mission, as our Catholic mission here in Bloomer has a school. Please help prepare the way for our Lord, make straight our children’s paths, by supporting our St. Paul’s Catholic School.

Posted in Childhood, Christian Perfection, Homily, St. John the Baptist, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Two Stories of Conversion

November 29, 2025

1st Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

At the beginning of this Advent, I would like to tell two stories of conversion. In the spring of 1521, while defending the city of Pamplona, Spain a 30-year-old soldier got his right leg fractured by a French cannonball. He would spend the next several months healing in his family’s castle. Convalescing in bed, day after day, he became extremely bored and asked for some adventure stories to read about knights and ladies. He liked those kinds of stories, but they didn’t have any of those in the house. His sister-in-law provided him a book about the life of Christ and another book of short stories about famous saints.

Sometimes he would read and reflect on what he read. Other times, he would daydream about worldly things. He would pause and consider, “What if I were to do what St. Francis or St. Dominic did?” And other times he would fantasize about being a heroic knight and wooing a certain royal lady in another land who was high above his station.

When he reflected on these worldly fantasies he felt intense pleasure; and whenever he stopped, sometimes hours later from weariness, he felt dry and depressed. Yet whenever he imagined living the rigorous sort of life the saints had lived, he not only experienced pleasure during such thoughts but felt great joy afterwards as well.

Eventually, he noticed this difference and realized how thoughts of one kind left him sad while the others filled him with joy. This was an important moment in his discernment, for he would go on to embrace God’s call to become a saint: St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Sin disappoints us, but goodness (though difficult) yields peace and satisfaction. We are attracted to our sins. Sins would not tempt us if there were no hope for pleasure, relief, or temporary gain from them. But after sinning, if our consciences are well-formed, we feel guilt and regret. What we have done or failed to do harms ourselves and others. And apart from the damages caused, sin squanders opportunities for better things. Yet God continues lovingly calling us back to repentance and conversion.

In the year 386, a 32-year-old man felt very drawn to Christianity but felt enslaved to his sins. It was as if the temptations he loved and despised were whispering, ‘Are you going to part with us? Do you really think you can live without these pleasures forever?’ But another voice had him imagine the smiling multitude of saints who had lived before him. That sweet voice seemed to say, ‘You can do what these men and women did, but none of them did it by themselves. The Lord God gave it to them. Why do you try to stand by your own strength, only to fall over and over again? Cast yourself on Christ and don’t be afraid. He won’t flinch and you won’t fall. Cast yourself on him without fear, for he will accept and heal you.’ Yet he was still torn; desiring chastity, but not yet.

His turning-point moment came sitting in a garden outside his house. With tears he asked, ‘Why do I keep delaying until tomorrow? Why not now? Why not end my uncleanness this very hour?’ Yet he still lacked the strength. Then he heard a child from the house next door, chanting over and over, “Pick it up and read it; pick it up and read it!” He opened the Bible beside him to a random page, finding Romans 13:13-14, part of today’s Second Reading:

“Let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.”

Upon reading those words, his heart was infused with a light of certainty and all the gloom of doubt vanished. By this God-given grace, the life of the man we now know as St. Augustine of Hippo began to change.

This Advent, I encourage you to heed Jesus’ warning to “stay awake” and “be prepared,” like the saints before us. Identify your vice and call upon Christ, come to Confession and change your habits, to begin anew in the saintly life he calls you to. Open your arms to receive this gift, his gift, for Christmas.

Posted in Homily, Saintly People, St. Augustine, St. Ignatius of Loyola, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Our Crucified King

November 23, 2025

Solemnity of Christ the King
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Our English word “Excruciating” comes from the Latin words for “Cross” and “Torment.” The Romans did not invent crucifixion, the Persians and the Greeks practiced it first, but the Romans more widely used the method. It was an easy way to execute people very visibly, horrifically, and slowly as a warning example to others. Typically, when the Romans crucified someone, they would place a sign above the condemned person’s head to indicate why they were being killed. St. John’s Gospel records that Governor Pilate put a sign on Jesus’ Cross written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. You sometimes see the initials “INRI” atop crucifixes. This represents the Latin phrase “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum,” the charge against our Lord. That is, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” He was killed because of who he was and who he is: Jesus the Christ and the King of the universe.

Of course, the people who killed him did not believe this. They thought he was deluded or a fraud. Hence, the triple call for him to save himself and prove them wrong. The Jewish rulers sneered and said, “Let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.” The Roman soldiers jeered and called out, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.” And one of the criminals reviled him by saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.” Could Jesus have saved himself from his crucifixion?

St. John’s Gospel quotes Jesus before his Passion saying, “No one takes (my life) from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father.” And St. Matthew quotes Jesus later declaring in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels? But then how would the Scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must come to pass in this way?” So Jesus possessed the power to escape the Cross, but that was not the will or plan of God, which the Eternal Son was party to from the beginning. Jesus assumes “our bone and our flesh” to achieve our reconciliation as a descendant of David, “making peace by the blood of his Cross.” Perhaps the Holy Trinity could have inspired less painful prophecies to achieve our redemption and forgiveness of our sins, but Christ’s crucifixion is what they chose. They chose this path to win our love.

Matthew and Mark’s Gospels suggests that the Penitent Thief (traditionally known as St. Dismas) had derided Jesus, too, at first. But seeing the extraordinary way Jesus acted, hearing the things he said, all while crucified, won over that man’s mind and heart. ‘This man has done nothing criminal and this is how he dies? He truly knows my suffering and this is how he lives. This is the Christ I want to be allied with.’ St. And Luke quotes him saying, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

That movement saved the man’s soul, and we enjoy the benefit of understanding Jesus Christ even better than him. St. Paul writes that God “proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Be moved by this manifestation of God’s great love. Submit to Jesus Christ as your King so that he may be your Savior and one day we may all be with him in Paradise.

Posted in Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Jesus Christ, Love, Passion, Redemptive Suffering, Salvation, Salvation History, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

The River From The Temple

November 9, 2025

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
By Fr. Victor Feltes

This Sunday, the Church throughout the world celebrates the dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, which turns 1,701 years old this year. While St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City is more famous, the Lateran Basilica is the pope’s cathedral, the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Rome. This is why the Lateran Basilica is called “the mother and head” of the hundreds of thousands of Catholic churches around the world. Even if we had to go forward without any of these beautiful buildings, we could still practice our Catholic Faith through celebrating the Sacraments and offering our lives and prayers to God. But for Jews during much of the Old Testament, only one building was their place for sacrificial worship and considered God’s holy dwelling place on earth. In today’s first reading, the Prophet Ezekiel is taken by an angel to that Jewish temple in Jerusalem.

Of this vision, Ezekiel writes: “I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the façade of the temple was toward the east; the water flowed down from the southern side of the temple, south of the altar.” Ezekiel records that trickling water flowing through the gates of the temple and out of the city into the east, somehow becoming a river. The angel declares, “This water flows… and empties into the sea, the salt waters [of the Dead Sea], which it makes fresh. Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh. Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.” Ezekiel’s mysterious vision of this miraculous river which purifies and renews, producing abundant life, is a prophesy which finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ and his Church.

In today’s Gospel, when Jesus forcefully clears out the animal sellers and money-changers from the temple area, the Jews ask him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” And Jesus answers, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews were incredulous at hearing this and said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years and you will raise it up in three days!?” But, as St. John the Gospel writer notes in the text, Jesus “was speaking about the temple of his Body.” After Jesus had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that Christ had said this and understood its significance.

On Good Friday, when the soldiers saw that Jesus was already dead on the Cross, one of them “thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out.” Today, physicians affirm that the traumas of Jesus’ Passion and death could cause red and clear fluids to build up in his chest around his heart, resulting in “blood and water” flowing out when the spear was withdrawn, just as St. John witnessed. Do we know into which side of Jesus’ body the spear entered — was it Jesus’ left side or his right side?

Recall how Ezekiel saw the water flowing out in his vision: “The façade of the temple was toward the east” and “the water flowed down from the southern side of the temple, south of the altar.” If Jesus on the Cross faces “east” like the front-face of the Jewish temple, then water coming down from the “south side of the temple (of his Body)” would be flowing from Christ’s right side. And 2,000-year-old forensic evidence may actually confirm this detail. The Shroud of Turin, which appears more likely than not to be an authentic image of Jesus’ body in the tomb, after accounting for the image’s mirror-reflective nature, shows a wound in Christ’s right side. St. Augustine and other Church Fathers recognize flowing from Christ’s side the water of baptism and the blood of the Eucharist. In the beginning, Adam was put into a deep sleep and God fashioned a bride for him from the rib of his side. Jesus Christ on the Cross, asleep in death, has his Bride the Church fashioned from his side through his Holy Sacraments. And when the nations are one day assembled before Christ the King, for the Final Judgment described in Matthew 25, it is the sheep gathered to his right side who will be saved.

Now that trickle from Christ’s side is become a mighty river of grace; purifying and renewing, generating abundant new life in whomever and wherever it flows. Faithful Christian people and places which grow close to that river and are fed by its waters shall endure and produce good growth, healing, and nourishment. We are blessed to enjoy this beautiful church, but wherever we worship our true temple and center of grace prepared for us by divine providence across millennia is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So with awe, reverence, gratitude, and love, let us turn to him and draw near to his Eucharistic sacrifice.

Posted in Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Passion, Sunday Homilies, Typology | Leave a Comment »

A Vision of the Saints in Heaven

November 1, 2025

Solemnity of All Saints
By Fr. Victor Feltes

On this All Saints’ Day, let us consider what we can look forward to living as saints in heaven one day. But first, how does one get to heaven?

At the moment of death, our immortal souls will separate from our mortal bodies and go immediately to our particular judgment. There we will be judged according to our faith and deeds in Christ, based upon our connection to Christ and our love of God and neighbor. Then our personal punishment or reward will begin: either immediate and everlasting damnation, or entrance into the everlasting blessedness of heaven —either immediately or after the purifying process of purgatory. One day, the dead will arise and the saints will experience a new heavens and new earth in their glorified resurrected bodies. But for now, the saints only experience heaven through their souls (with the Blessed Virgin Mary being a notable exception). When someday, by the grace of God, we are saints in heaven, here are some things we will enjoy.

One thing to look forward to is probably having a perfect memory. A colleague of the genius mathematician and physicist John von Neumann writes “one of his remarkable abilities was his power of absolute recall. …Von Neumann was able on once reading a book or article to quote it back verbatim; moreover, he could do it years later without hesitation. …. On one occasion I tested his ability by asking him to tell me how A Tale of Two Cities started. Whereupon, without any pause, he immediately began to recite the first chapter and continued until asked to stop after about ten or fifteen minutes.” If this is possible with a frail human brain, how much more knowledge could our unhindered souls retain?

Another perk of being a saint in heaven is great ease in doing whatever is best. When in the unveiled presence of God, “we shall see him as he is,” and discerning God’s will should be easy. And our perfected virtues will make it easy to do what is good and right, for we shall be “pure, as he is pure.”

Another extraordinary blessing in heaven is having innumerable friends. In St. John’s vision of heaven he beholds “a great multitude which no one could count from every nation, race, people, and tongue.” Every saint in heaven has become an incredible person perfected in Christ’s beatitudes and love. There will be no lack of time to get to know people and with your perfect memory you’ll never forget anyone’s name or stories.

Yet the greatest joy in heaven is the beatific vision of God. Sometimes people worry the restful reward of seeing God and worshipping him forever will be dull. Don’t worry, heaven will never be boring. Every good and beautiful thing in Creation which you have ever delighted in has its origin in God who is supremely good, beautiful, and delightful. You have yet to fully exhaust the joys to be experienced in just one culture in one country in one century of human history, so do not imagine you will exhaust the joys to be found in our infinite God.

These are things to look forward to someday in heaven, but on this All Saints’ Day I wish to remind you that the saints in heaven know us and love us now. Yesterday, an online friend shared with me a beautiful story about the intercession of the saints and he has given me permission to share his story with you.

In January of 2018, his father suffered a massive heart attack at home. In the Emergency Room, they were able to restart his heart, but there was almost 100% arterial blockage and likely serious brain damage from the lack of oxygen. Some of the best doctors in the world could do nothing more to help. So the next day, all the family gathered to share final moments as they withdrew the mechanical life support. My friend writes:

I remember sitting in the room, in the cardiology unit there, praying my brains out for a miracle, as he lay dying. Just focused on nothing else but praying, praying, praying. Eyes closed, focused on nothing else. Praying, praying, praying for some miracle. And then I suddenly wasn’t in the hospital room anymore.

I was sitting on a bench in what to me appeared to be a huge football stadium, or more like a Roman circus (those long chariot tracks), stretching further in each direction than I could see (even the opposite side was so far away I couldn’t see it). And every seat was filled with people, all dressed differently (though most of them were in robes, in the section I was in), and all praying in different languages.

Their prayers collectively seemed like a buzzing, or the sound of a waterfall, because they were individually indistinct—countless voices all praying at once. But it was clear that each one of them were praying, non-stop, for me, my dad, and for everybody in the world.

And it was in that instant that it was told to me that I could stop praying—(“Look, all these Saints have the whole ‘praying for your dad’ thing covered for the moment…”)—and use the few moments my dad had left with us to just be with him, hold his hand, tell him that I love him and say goodbye to him. So that’s what I did. And I’m very grateful to this day that I did.

Why was my friend’s vision of the saints set in a long racetrack stadium? I recognize in this a reference to the Letter to Hebrews, which says, “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.” So be sure to befriend the saints and call upon them, because they know you, and they love you, and they eagerly want you to join their number.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Feast Day Homilies, Heaven, Homily, Last Things, Saintly People, Sunday Homilies | 1 Comment »

How The Pharisee Fell Short

October 26, 2025

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

When the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable went up to the temple, he stood and spoke this prayer to himself: “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector.” And yet, Jesus tells us that this Pharisee did not go home justified, or righteous in God’s sight. Why is that?

When the Pharisee said ‘I am not like the rest of humanity — I am not greedy, dishonest, or adulterous…’ was it true that he had conquered sin? Very likely not. Psalm 130 rhetorically asks, “If you, O Lord, should mark our iniquities, who could stand?” And the Gospels record Jesus criticizing the Pharisees repeatedly, saying things like “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil.” But assuming this Pharisee quietly spoke his prayer to himself in a way which no one else could hear, why would he lie? Maybe he believed everything he said.

When we compare ourselves to others, like this Pharisee compared himself to the tax collector, we can imagine the great faults of others make our own faults unimportant. But just because somebody else is ten billion dollars in debt doesn’t mean that I am solvent. My own debts still remain. Some people accuse and make much of others’ sins because they are projecting at others what they dislike in themselves. It is much easier to condemn the faults in others than to change the faults in me.

Another phenomenon common to people and cultures is to condemn a person or group for the problems of the day. Sometimes, these are merely scapegoats for shifting blame. At other times, particular persons really are at fault and should be corrected or stopped. But we should not imagine that we can banish, purge, and kill our way to earthly paradise. Even after the Great Flood in Genesis, sinners disembarked from Noah’s ark. As the Christian Russian dissident and winner of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, famously wrote: “If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

The Pharisee’s heart was probably not so pure of sin as he thought. He needed Jesus Christ to cleanse and heal and change it. But imagine if it really were true that the Pharisee was unlike the rest of humanity; not greedy, not dishonest, and not adulterous. Why then did this Pharisee not go home justified before God? What more did he lack?

Our Gospel tells us Jesus addressed today’s parable “to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.” The Pharisee looked down on that tax collector and despised him with contempt. Greed, dishonesty, and adultery are hateful things, but Jesus forbids us from hating anyone. Jesus says you will be hated, you will have enemies, but he commands you to “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.” If there is ever people you may be hating, be sure to pray for them (since you cannot pray for someone — willing their good — and hate them at the same time). Otherwise, when you die and you see someone whom you hate on the other side of the pearly gates, you might refuse to enter into Heaven.

Without ever denying right and wrong, without ceasing to share the truth, we must remain humble as sinners living among sinners. ‘For whoever exalts himself amongst others will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.’ That’s some food for prayerful thought today as we stand to pray in this temple and go back to our homes in the world.

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

Strength For Your Mission

October 20, 2025

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Deacon Dick Kostner

Our readings for this Sunday provide us with a way to restore our bodies when we are too tired to continue. Our first reading from the Book of Exodus has Moses engaged in a battle with an enemy of Israel. Moses tells his commander not to fear the enemy, for he will ensure success in the mission by holding his hands up to God and praying for help. The battle goes well until he becomes tired of holding his hands up, and when he lowers them, the enemy prevails. With the help of two men to hold his hands up, they are then successful. The lesson for us here is that when we become tired and unable to go on with a task, we need to look to and pray to God, who will provide us with friends to help give us the support we need to be successful.

In our second reading from the Letter of Paul to Timothy, we find that Timothy has grown tired of trying to teach others. Paul reminds him that God has given him the tools to be successful in his vocation and that all he has to do is request strength through prayer and have patience with others for God to help give him the strength to continue and be successful.

Finally, in our Gospel from Luke, Jesus teaches his disciples through a parable to pray always when they feel overwhelmed and weary, for it is through a higher power that they will be able to find relief and success in their vocation in life. Sometimes, it will seem like God has ignored your prayers, but through persistence, God will grant support to be successful in the mission assigned to them.

We have all received from God his “wish list” for living out our life in this world. The problem is that because of the gift of freewill, God only suggests to us what would make him happy with how we actually live our lives. It is up to us to either listen and respond to his wish list for us or to spend our short time here on earth as we want and desire to live it. I have found that in most cases, when God suggests that I do something, many times I feel he has asked the wrong person for that job. Fear steps in, and the guy with horns reinforces my fears and tells me that I am right and that God has made a mistake.

I can remember when I was in my last year of Deacon Formation, before I would be ordained, I asked my friend Fr. Frank Corradi if he would be my Sponsor and Director for that last year. He looked at me, and I saw a “deer in the headlights” look in his eyes. I could tell he was trying to come up with a reason why he couldn’t oblige me, but God stepped in, his eyes softened, and he agreed.

One of the first things he directed me to do was to spend time that summer with a parishioner of his who had been diagnosed with cancer and was dying. He told me that it would be good for me to experience what the last days of someone’s life are like. Now, you need to realize that I was always afraid of death and wanted to get it out of my mind. I had even drafted a will for myself that said I did not want my wife to have any funeral for me and that I wanted to be buried within twenty-four hours of death. My thoughts were that this would make it easier for Barb and my son. The quicker, the better for everyone. Well, now it was my turn to have “deer in the headlights” eyes for Fr. Frank. What goes around comes around. I gulped hard and said, “OK.”

I spent every Tuesday morning that summer getting to know “Bill” and his wife (not his real name). We would have coffee together, and I would do a Communion Service for him and his wife. We got to be good friends, and one day I received a call from his wife telling me that he had died. She asked if I would do the Wake service for him, which I did. It was that assignment that Fr. Frank gave me that changed my way of thinking about death. I learned that people of faith are seldom afraid of death and that funerals are necessary for people to say, “Goodbye and see you later.”

My advice to you folks is that when you are asked by God to do something for him, and you bear those “deer in the headlights” eyes, just gulp hard and say, “OK!” (P.S.: God usually will surprise you with a “thank you” gift.)

Posted in Homily, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

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 »

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 »

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