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Humility & Service

November 5, 2023

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

This week’s readings offer a clear invitation to all of us to be humble and give loving service to God and others. To help us reflect on the readings and understand their context, let us recall some of the history of Israel. God the Father gave the Law through Moses and appointed him the Law’s official teacher. Moses handed his responsibility to Joshua, Joshua transmitted it to the elders, and the elders passed it down to the next generation. From them, the scribes and Pharisees received the Law, and the authority to teach and interpret it to His people. Their duty is to interpret the true meaning of the Law to his people.

In the first reading, then, God expresses his personal love towards Israel. However, the people of Israel did not respond to his divine love. Both the people and the priests had become prideful. For this reason, God was angry with the people of Israel at the same time, they had also become sinful in their lives, walking away from the righteousness of the Lord.

We have a different example in St. Paul, who, in our second reading today tells us his description of his humility among the Thessalonians, that he was a caring and dedicated leader. He tells them that he worked day and night while preaching the gospel. He was not trying to impress them or gain anything from them. Thus, he was giving to people not simply human words but the words of God. St. Paul is truly a great example, putting into practice what Jesus teaches today: “The greatest among you must be your servant.”

In today’s gospel, Jesus affirms the leadership of Pharisees and Scribes. He tells His disciples to obey and respect them but not to follow their example. What they say is true so follow them, but in practice, they are misusing their authority for the sake of their selfish advantage. So, do not imitate their example. Authority is entrusted to us by God not to dominate or exploit others but for humble service to others. The Scribes and Pharisees had lost sight of this.

On the other hand, Jesus and Mother Mary are two great examples of humility and service. Mary said to the angel Gabriel, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) When Mary consented to become the mother of Jesus, she ran the risk of being stoned to death because that was the penalty for an unmarried mother. Therefore, Mary, in her humility and desire to serve God. Mary is a model of humility and service for us. She is a model of giving and not counting the cost.

Jesus is our other greatest model of humility and service. In Gethsemane, in prayer, Jesus let go of his human will and submitted to the will of his Father. “Not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) Crucifixion was the form of the death penalty for common criminals at that time in the Roman Empire. Jesus was executed as a common criminal. He knew that this was the sort of death that awaited Him. However, through his death, he won life for us all. The Son of Man came to serve, not to be served.

Humble people are happy because they accept themselves for who they are – children of God. They are willing to learn and willing to serve. Are you a humble person?

Posted in Chrisitian Virtues, Christian Perfection, Homily, Humility, Service, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Call No Man “Father”?

November 5, 2023

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Today’s gospel understandably prompts a question. Jesus says, “Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in Heaven.” So why are Catholic priests called “Father”? Some non-Catholic Christians object to calling Catholic priests “Father” and abstain from doing so. However, I have never witnessed anyone similarly object to using the title “father” for their own beloved, male, biological parent. Jesus also says, “Do not be called ‘Rabbi,‘” and “Rabbi” means “Teacher,” yet every Christian school is staffed by “teachers.” Does Jesus intend us to take his words here literally or is he teaching us something deeper?

It is good to use Sacred Scripture to interpret Sacred Scripture, since the Holy Spirit inspired every passage and, rightly understood, God’s Word will not contradict itself. When we read the New Testament we see many men referred to as fathers. The 1st Letter of St. John says, “I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.” St. Paul writes in his Letter to the Romans about “our father Abraham” and “our father Isaac.” The Holy Spirit also inspired St. Paul in his 1st Letter to the Corinthians to call himself a spiritual father to those Christians. He writes, “Even if you should have countless guides to Christ, you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” St. Paul similarly says in his Letter to Philemon, “I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become…” So we see that it can be fine to call some living or deceased men fathers. It can even be good to call yourself someone else’s father. So what does Jesus mean to warn us about by teaching, “Call no one on earth your father”?

Today’s gospel says Jesus was speaking to the crowds and his disciples about the authority and the flaws of the scribes and the Pharisees. In the ancient world, teachers would teach seated. For instance, Jesus sat down to give his Sermon on the Mount and sat in Simon Peter’s boat to preach to people gathered onshore. Ancient rulers reigned from chairs called thrones, so Christ is now “seated at the right hand of the Father.” Jesus said the Jewish scribes and the Pharisees had “taken their seat on the chair of Moses.” Before the establishment of the Church they apparently possessed legitimate authority to teach. “Therefore,” Jesus said, “do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice.”

Jesus noted these teachers’ lack of concern for others: “They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them.” He noted their vain egotism: “All their works are performed to be seen. … They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’” Instead of this, Jesus teaches us: “The greatest among you must be your servant.”

We who are fathers, or teachers, or who have any role of authority must remain humble. We are not flawless or perfect. We are not the Lord, our God. We are not given authority over others in order to serve ourselves. Jesus says, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Resemble Jesus Christ in this and your reward will resemble his. Christians must also remember that our fathers, our teachers, and all people in roles of authority on earth are not perfect. Even if they are trying their best, they are not the Lord, our God. Even popes, preserved by the Holy Spirit from teaching errors “ex cathedra,” can still misstep as shepherds in their words and actions.

A faithful leader is a great blessing; promoting truth, and love, and righteousness within their sphere of influence. That is why it is so important for each of us to be good servant-leaders. But we must not make idols of ourselves or others, as if we were perfect, this world’s savior, or the source of every good. We have only one such Good Teacher. We have only one such Father, in Heaven. And we have only one such Master, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is worthy of our absolute trust and devotion.

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Love God & Neighbor

October 29, 2023

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

Love is a universal as well as an eternal value. Without it, we will all cease to exist. In the words of Saint Paul, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” (1 Corinthian 1:1–2) Love is not only a feeling, it is also an action. It must be seen by serving God and others with our time, talent, and treasure. In short, the proof of love is service.

The readings today clearly remind us how God expresses His love for us. Often, God shows His love for us through the people that enter our lives. Truly, we love God when we sincerely love our brothers and sisters. Our first reading, from the book of Exodus, explains the second greatest commandment: loving one’s neighbors as oneself, especially the underprivileged. The chosen people of Israel should remember that once they were aliens in the land of Egypt. Just as God loved them, protected them, and treated them kindly, it is now their turn to protect others and treat them with kindness. By doing these things they become human in a society rooted in the religious concept of loving God and in loving their neighbor.

In the second reading, St. Paul invites the Thessalonians to live the life of example. He tells them to imitate him as he imitates Jesus Christ. To live one’s Christian life, it is necessary to become imitators of God. Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a sacrifice to God. St. Paul acknowledged that through persecution, the Thessalonians persisted in their living Faith by receiving the word of God with joy.

In the Gospel, a man asks the Lord: “Which is the greatest commandment?” This is a very good question, but the man is not actually interested in gaining new knowledge. He asked the question to test Jesus. Jesus responded with two answers: love God and love your neighbor. How do we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind? Loving God means making God our number one priority in our life. Our entire being must be directed towards God. This means that everything that we think and do must give honor to God.

Our love for God is meaningless unless we love our neighbor. The scripture explains, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brothers and sisters, whom they can see, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” (1st John 4:20) Let us, therefore, pray that God who loved us first will continue to melt and mold our hearts so that we will really love Him back and love our neighbor.

Mother Theresa and Fr. Damien are examples for us to imitate in how we can love God and love our neighbor. She expressed her love for God by serving the poorest of the poor, and the most abandoned people in the society. Fr. Damien expressed his love for God by caring for the lepers of Molokai. Towards the end of his life, he even became a leper himself.

Jesus gave us a new commandment. “Love one another as I have loved you.” As Christians, we have to imitate Jesus in our love for one another. Thus will the world know we are Christians. “This is how all will know that you are my disciples if you have a love for one another.” (John 13:35)

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Our Greatest Moral Act

October 29, 2023

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Victor Feltes

Prior to his passing in 2011, the British author and journalist Christopher Hitchens was famously an atheist. In a June 2007 speech he said, “…I have a wager that I put to the religious… And you may be interested to know that I’ve tried it with everyone from the guy who founded Bush’s faith-based initiative… to various Baptist pastors, a Buddhist nun, a rabbi, a Charismatic Catholic, various pastors on radio and television, all up-and-down the country, no-not yet an answer from them. It’s simple: you have to name or cite a moral action performed or a moral statement made by a believer that could not have been made by an atheist. That’s all you have to do, and it cannot be done.” What moral thing can a Christian do that an atheist cannot?

Pastor Mike Winger is an Evangelical Christian in California who was watching footage of Christopher Hitchens and heard him pose this question in a debate, as he often would. Pastor Mike paused the video, sat and thought, “How would I answer that? …What is a moral thing a Christian could do that an atheist can’t do?” “And then,” he says, “it hit me—the most important moral thing that anybody can do: loving God. Like it doesn’t occur to the atheist, or even many Christians that were debating Christopher Hitchens, that loving God—the most important moral imperative of the universe—is something an atheist cannot do. So the atheist is deprived of the highest moral imperative that a Christian or a human is made for. That’s a big deal.”

Indeed, Jesus cites this as the greatest commandment: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” God is worthy and deserving of such love. He is our Creator, the source of our life and of every good thing we enjoy. And he not only deserves our gratitude but is worthy of our praise, for God is not merely good but the very essence of Goodness and Love. This divine love and goodness for us is best revealed to us through Jesus Christ.

The modern world neglects the love and worship of God. Many disregard the greatest commandment yet attempt to keep the second, which is, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But what is authentic love and the genuine good? Many lust and call it love. Many steal and call it justice. Many murder and call it mercy. Not all loves are love, and without God love and goodness are harder to know and fulfill.

Many assume that God is unnecessary, that we can get on fine without him. Yet, in the words of the Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes on the Church in the modern world, “Without the Creator, the creature vanishes.” This is true in two ways. First it is literally true, because without God, whose essence is Existence (or Being), none of us creatures could continue existing. It is also true in another sense, since without our Good Creator who loves us, the objective value and importance of the human race vanishes.

The atheist scientist Carl Sagan once observed, “We’re made of star stuff.” Indeed, natural science indicates that the carbon atoms and all the other heavy elements inside our bodies were formed long ago inside of stars. It might at first feel inspiring to hear we are made from “stardust,” but Carl Sagan also said “there are maybe 100 billion galaxies and 10 billion trillion stars.” Does the material universe care when a trillion stars fizzle out? Natural science forecast the eventual, permanent death of every star. Apart from ourselves as a part of the universe, does the universe care what we do or what happens to us? Even if we are stardust, we are still dust which returns to dust through death. However, nature is not all there is.

Our supernatural God—who is above all, before all, behind and beyond all—loves and treasures each of us. Good and evil are not merely opinions from human preference, but objectively grounded eternally in him. And God would have us live with him forever, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Much of the modern world enjoys the fruits of Christianity without acknowledging its Tree. But how is this sustainable? What becomes of human dignity if we are insignificant cosmic accidents? What becomes of human rights if nothing is really right or wrong? What becomes of human meaning and purpose if nothing survives death? Christianity’s blessed fruits, our dignity, rights, meaning and purpose, come from Christianity’s Holy Tree. This Tree is Christ and his Holy Cross.

Jesus Christ and his Cross are not mere myths but revealed in actual history. They bridge heaven and earth, east and west — uniting humanity with God and human beings with each other. They teach and enable us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to truly love our neighbors and ourselves. In Jesus Christ we have real hope and love which does not pass away. So let us worship God, for this is our highest calling, our greatest moral act, the source and the summit of our Christian life.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Culture, Homily, Human Dignity, Jesus Christ, Reverence, Science, Sunday Homilies | 3 Comments »

God & Government

October 22, 2023

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

We generally hate to pay taxes, dues, and tithes. The rich and the poor both complain about taxes. We pay taxes to the government because the government maintains the infrastructure we enjoy and provides security for us. We are expected to contribute for other purposes, such as education and social services. However, we might forget that it is in the world of God that we live, move, and have our being: God is the universal King whose Kingdom does not have boundaries.

While we give respect to our president, we give honor, glory, and worship to God because He is the source of all power. The image of Caesar or the image of great men and women is found in our money, but the image of God is found in the souls of each one of us. The president, the prime minister, and every leader of the state belong to God.

The first reading teaches us about the relationship between God and Cyrus. He was the Persian king who conquered the Babylonians, who had taken the Israelites into captivity. Even though Cyrus did not know God, God worked through him. Talking to Cyrus through the prophet Isaiah, God says, “It is I who arm you, though you know me not, so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun men may know that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, there is no other.” (Isa 45:5-6) When the time came, King Cyrus allowed the Israelites to return home and he helped them to rebuild their temple. A very powerful king falls under the providence of God. God is working through him.

In the second reading, St. Paul, who was of course a great missionary, along with his friends Silvanus and Timothy, gives thanks to God for the Christians in Thessalonica. He tells the Thessalonians, the role of the Holy Spirit in their missionary work. “For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and much conviction.” (1st Thess 1:5)

We know that Jesus the Son of God came into this world with a mission. Part of that mission was to teach us the truth about our relationship with God. In today’s Gospel, we see that Jesus was aware that the Pharisees and the Herodians were trying to trip him. Jesus gave the perfect answer to their difficult question. Jesus makes it clear that both political and religious obligations can be legitimately met. Paying taxes does not compromise one’s duties to God. Nor does serving God exempt one from civil responsibilities.

As Christians living in the world, we must respect our civil authority because in this way we cooperate with God’s plan. We give to Caesar by honest payment of taxes, voting in elections, serving in the military, obeying the law, and participating in public life. At the same time, we belong to God. We are celebrating World Mission Sunday today; it is our duty to preach the Good News to his people. This, too, is part of God’s plan.

The greatest way that we give back to God is to offer ourselves totally and completely for the service of God and our neighbor. There is nothing as great as offering ourselves to him who gave himself for us. God is generous to us, He gives us everything—even His own Son, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.” How generous are we to God?

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“Whose Image?”

October 22, 2023

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

The Pharisees saw Jesus as an enemy and plotted to entrap through his own words. They sent their followers to him along with some people allied with Herod, the local puppet-king installed by the Romans. If Jesus were to tell people not to pay Roman taxes, King Herod could have him arrested and even executed for sedition. After attempting to soften Jesus up with praises, their trap is set: “Tell us… what is your opinion? Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”

Jesus knew their ill intent. He knows the minds and hearts of all. Jesus loves an honest questioner, because those who seek the true and the good are actually seeking him. But insincere questions like theirs, seeking excuses to condemn or dismiss Jesus, understandably displease him. “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites,” Jesus says, “Show me the coin that pays the census tax.” They hand him the coin and he asks, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they reply.

Which Roman coin were they considering? The gospel’s original Greek text tells us that it was “a denarius” bearing Caesar’ likeness and title. This coin, popularly known as “the Tribute Penny,” was most-likely one minted by Emperor Tiberius throughout his reign (14 A.D.–37 A.D.). It depicted a profile of the emperor’s face with the text “Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the Divine Augustus.” The reverse had an image thought to be the emperor’s mother, Livia, depicted seated and holding a laurel branch in the likeness of Pax, the Roman goddess of peace.

(It is interesting how that ancient pagan empire was led by a king who professed being the son of a god and honored his mother, a woman linked to peace. Of course, I do not think this means Christianity—with Christ our King, the Son of God, with his holy mother the Queen of Peace—is false, some mere imitation of paganism. I see this as another example of how the demons knowingly and sinful men unknowingly parody true reality in order to take the place of God, grasping at what belongs to him. Yet, God permits these evils in our world in part to prepare minds and hearts to turn to Christ, the King of all.)

What was the value of that silver Roman denarius coin? It was the standard, one-day wage for day laborers in the first century. How much is one of them worth today? Searching online, I found this webpage selling “Tribute Pennies” for prices between $700 and $1,650. Their accompanying images show their varying degrees of wear, yet even though these coins may have been lost for many years, each one still recognizably bears Caesar’s image.

When they handed Jesus one of these ancient coins, he asked them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” When they replied, “Caesar’s,” Jesus said, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” Beyond that historical context, besides any political theories of the relation of Church and state, Jesus is telling us something important through this gospel today.

In whose image are we made? Whose likeness do we bear? By what title are we known? “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them…” And we are proud to bear the name and title of “Christian.” Always remember: even if you have ever been mistreated or neglected, or have been worn-down by your chosen sins, even if you have been lost for years like one of those Roman coins, you still bear the likeness of our Creator and have enduring, precious value. You belong to God; give yourself to him.

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God’s Invitation

October 14, 2023

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Chinnappan Pelavendran

Jesus used various parables to explain the concept of the kingdom of God. The parables show us that it is God’s will that all people be saved and He offers to humanity the gifts of salvation. The readings today, including the Gospel parable, invite us to accept God’s invitation with joyful hearts. The word of God challenges us to examine our own response to His call. God extends to us the greatest invitation we will ever receive: come to the feast, come to the banquet of eternal life. Sooner or later, each one of us has to give Him an answer. “Yes, I am coming,” or, “No, I will not come.” The choice is ours.

In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah invites us to have a glimpse of heaven. Our loving God has a plan for each one of us; the Lord of Hosts will prepare for all people a banquet of rich food. He will remove the mourning veil; He will wipe all tears from our eyes. No sadness or pain, only celebration in the heavenly banquet. Today’s Responsorial Psalm presents God as the Good Shepherd who nourishes, leads, and protects His flock. In the second reading, St. Paul advises the Philippians to have trust in the power of and goodness of a providing God, who, in Jesus, has invited us to participate in the Heavenly Banquet.

In the Gospel, we hear that the King, who is God the Father, gave a feast for his son’s wedding. Jesus is the groom wedded to the Church. The Church is the Bride of the Lamb. For this wedding, the king sent His servants, that is the prophets in the Old Testament, to invite people to the wedding but they would not come. The chosen people were not living according to the covenant. As a result, the king sent his troops, to destroy those murderers and burn their city. This could be a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem. Then the king gave an order to invite everyone whom they found on the road because those who were invited were not worthy. The chosen people rejected the invitation, but a huge number of non–Jews, the Gentiles, came to Jesus and had faith in Him.

Those absentees are not necessarily sinners; they are generally engaged in legitimate work, not sinful activity. One goes to the farm, another to his business. These are necessary and useful occupations. Sometimes what keeps us away from the joy of the kingdom is not sin but our preoccupations with the necessities of life. To be serious with our job is a good thing, but when our job keeps us away from attending the Lord’s Supper, it has become an obstacle to our faith.

To be a participant in the kingdom of God is a privilege as well as a responsibility. The responsibility is to accept the invitation and to undergo change in our lives. It is a change from self-centeredness to God-centeredness, from hatred to forgiveness, and from greediness to sharing.

The celebration of the Holy Mass is called ‘heaven on earth,’ a foretaste of the heavenly banquet. Before Communion, we hear the words; this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the Supper of the Lamb. This is not only an invitation to receive the body and blood of Jesus in Holy Communion. It is also an invitation to the eternal wedding feast in heaven.

God wants everybody to be saved. He invites everyone to His feast. Therefore, let us always say “Yes” to His invitation, and clothe ourselves with the garment of love, so that we may worthily enter the eternal joy and glory of Heaven.

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It Don’t Get Any Better Than Mass

October 14, 2023

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Deacon Dick Kostner

Why should we attend Mass on Sunday? Our Scripture readings tell us why. Our First reading from Isaiah tells us that we will feast on rich food and choice wines; it goes on to say that death will be destroyed through the love of God for his children and the sacrifice of his sons earthly life, for our salvation. Our Responsorial Psalm prayers tell us that we need not fear evil because of our faith in Jesus; ‘only goodness and kindness will follow us all the days of our life.‘ Our Second Reading has St. Paul tells us that we will be well fed and living in abundance, God will fully supply whatever we need through his son Jesus. And our Gospel parable story outlines God’s desire for our attendance for the wedding feast of Jesus to His Church, and the sharing of His ministry of love with His Church, his earthly body represented by the works of his faithful followers. All this reminds me of the Old Milwaukee Beer commercial of a group of guys sitting around a campfire, enjoying each others company and sipping on a cold and delicious and proclaiming, “It don’t get any better than this!”

Our Gospel discloses to us that God is persistent in his invitation to us to join this wedding feast. It acknowledges that although everyone is welcomed some will decline the invitation for they have better things to do. Some will even ridicule the invitation as they need to tend to their business but the king does not give up and opens his invitation to the whole city but some even killed his servants who invited them. The parable story tells us at some point God will withdraw his invitation and they will no longer be admitted or allowed to participate in the wedding feast.

We all live busy lives but we must remember that our earthly life will someday end. The choice is ours to make for God will never force his kindness and love upon us. As Fr. Victor told us a few weeks ago, the Holy Mass is the place where heaven and earth meet. It is the place where we are fed and provided with the food of salvation which will allow us to live forever in the kingdom of God. We feed our bodies daily in order to experience life. We many times fail to realize that we are more than body we also possess within us the spirit of our creator. The spirit part of us also needs to be fed. It is at the celebration of the Mass that the spirit within this family is fed and nourished in order to provide for us peace of everlasting life with our Creator. It is the time and place for us to give thanks to God for all the gifts he has bestowed upon us and all he asks is that his children show appreciation for those gifts by joining him for the wedding celebration of eternal life between Jesus and his Church. I know that there are many reasons why people have abandoned the invitation from Jesus to attend Mass. It might be that you don’t like the priest; or the Mass is boring; or the homily is too long. Or there is a Packer game on.

Last week my friend Lloyd, at our That Man Is You class, gave me copy of something a Bishop had said in one of his homilies and Lloyd said, “Deacon, you need to use this in one of your homilies.” When a “Church Elder” tells me this needs to be shared I know the Spirit is at work helping me speak to his people so here it is Lloyd:

“A pastor asked an older farmer, decked out in bib overalls, to say grace for the morning breakfast: ‘Lord, I hate buttermilk,’ the farmer began. The pastor opened one eye to glance at the farmer and wondered where this was going. The farmer continued, ‘And Lord, you know I don’t much care for raw white flour.’ The pastor once again opened an eye to glance around the room and saw that he wasn’t the only one to feel uncomfortable. Then the farmer added, ‘But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I do love warm fresh biscuits. So Lord, when things come up that we don’t like, when life gets hard, when we don’t understand what you’re saying to us, help us to just relax and wait until you are done mixing. It will probably be even better than biscuits, Amen.’”

Jesus gives us an open invitation to join him for the Holy Mass so please come and share his invitation with others to witness heaven and earth coming together to give give thanks and watch Jesus “do the mixing.” As the boys around the campfire proclaimed, “It don’t get any better than that!”

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God Expects Fruits From Us

October 8, 2023

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

The last three weeks, our gospels have been about vineyards. Two weeks ago, we had the Parable of the Laborers in the Marketplace. The Good Employer called people to work in his vineyard throughout the day. Last week, we had the parable of the two sons who were called to work in their father’s vineyard, one said ‘No’ but went. The other said, ‘Sure’ but did not go. This week we have another vineyard story, the story of the evil tenant farmers who tried to steal the vineyard from their Master, even putting his messengers to death and finally putting his son to death.

Naturally, Jesus taught His disciples and the people about God’s mercy, compassion, love, and forgiveness. However, in today’s readings, we see something different: rejection and destruction. God loves his people. There is no doubt about it. At the same time, God expects fruits from his people.

The kingdom of God is often referred to with images from everyday life. Today’s readings use the image of the vineyard and wine to understand God’s relationship with his people. The vineyard is a familiar symbol of Israel, God’s chosen people. The Lord had done so many good things for Israel: He worked on the land, planted a vineyard, put walls around it, built a watchtower, and did other good things. He did all this in expectation of a fruitful harvest. The result was the opposite; the land produced bad fruits and wild grapes. The chosen people of Israel were brought out of slavery by the Lord to a land flowing with milk and honey. God did everything for His people and rightly expected them to produce fruits of righteousness and to be witnesses to unbelievers. But they gave him fruits of sin, iniquity, corruption, immorality, wickedness, and rebellion. Therefore, God took away his protection and let his vineyard be trampled by other nations. This prophecy was fulfilled when the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquered Israel.

Jesus uses the same image in today’s Gospel. The landowner represents God. The tenants represent the religious leaders who were given the responsibility to take care of God’s people and help them bear good fruit. See the great opportunities the vineyard owner offered to the tenants, and how they wasted the opportunities and expressed ingratitude. God does not simply punish his people immediately but patiently and mercifully waits. The servants suffered at the hands of religious leaders, and his own people killed Jesus. One might think that the death of Jesus would lead to man’s destruction. Instead, it has led to our redemption. The rejected stone becomes the cornerstone.

God has abundantly blessed this world with many gifts, especially natural and human resources. It would be wonderful if we all used God-given natural resources and our human talents as prudent and faithful stewards. While we are working, we should not forget the greed and selfishness of the tenants, which turned against the owner of the vineyard. We need to remember always that God is the absolute owner of this world and everything in it. We are only His tenants and, at the end of our lives, we are expected to give an account of our stewardship to Him.

As we are in the month of the Rosary, may today’s Gospel lesson help us make a firm resolution to reject pride and greed. As we pray the Rosary, may we imbibe the values of humility and love, and be constantly assured of the Blessed Mother’s protection and assistance as we journey toward our eternal home.

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Three Parables About God’s Vineyard

October 8, 2023

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Victor Feltes

For a third Sunday in a row, we hear Jesus telling a parable featuring a vineyard. First, there was the parable about the generous vineyard owner who hired more and more laborers throughout the day and paid them all the same amount. Then, there was the tale of a father who asked his two sons to go and work in his vineyard. Today, Jesus refashions the Prophet Isaiah’s allegory (which we heard in our first reading) into a story about a vineyard owner’s wicked tenants. In these parables, Jesus tells us what “the Kingdom of Heaven” is like.

His stories prefigure how the Gentiles would join the Jews as the people of God’s Kingdom. For example, like vineyard workers called late-in-the-workday, God calls the Gentiles long after he called the Jews, yet both are offered the same wage of salvation. The wayward, Gentile, pagan peoples were like the son in the parable who at first denies his father but later changes his mind and faithfully serves him. And the religious leaders of the Jews were like those wicked tenants who betrayed the vineyard owner, mistreated his messengers, and ultimately murdered his son. Because of this, those leaders’ roles of leadership were taken away and given to others in Christ’s Church to produce more fruit for God.

Gospel parables are profound, inspired stories which contain more than one true meaning. Jesus’ vineyard parables not only describe what the Kingdom of God is like for groups of peoples but for individual persons as well. For instance, Jesus’ Parable of the Generous Landowner teaches us that it is not too late for a sinner to repent, answer God’s call and serve him now, while it is still day. His Parable of the Two Sons teaches us that doing the right thing is better than merely saying the right thing. Faithful obedience to our Father God means actually following through. And today’s Parable of the Wicked Tenants teaches us that even those who labor or have authority in God’s vineyard must act justly towards God and his servants. Blessed are those who respond to the Lord, profiting of the precious opportunity he has made possible for us.

Jesus’ parables foreshadow peoples entering God’s Kingdom from all lands. Today, we can see this realized in his Church. Look at us, Americans in Wisconsin, with a pastor of German ancestry ministering alongside a priest from India, and all of us worshipping the God of Israel together. Jesus Christ, the stone rejected by the builders, has become the cornerstone of a new Temple made of living stones, people from every land. By the Lord has this been done and it is wonderful in our eyes.

The Prophet Isaiah once proclaimed a song of his friend concerning his vineyard: “A vineyard on a fertile hillside. He spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines (to make it fruitful); within it he built a watchtower (to protect it), and hewed out a wine press (to delight in its fruits).” Isaiah’s friend was the Lord God, whose vineyard was Old Israel, which contained the cherished plant of his people. Jesus Christ’s Church, his Bride, is the New Israel; not defined by soil or blood but open to all people. God protects her, makes her fruitful, and delights in her. He delights in us and makes us one. This is Jesus Christ’s desire for every person in our world. May the whole world come to know Christ in his Church and know the peace of God.

Posted in Catholic Church, Generous Landlord, Homily, Isaiah, Jesus Christ, Parables, Sunday Homilies, Two Sons | Leave a Comment »

The Obedience of the Third Son

October 3, 2023

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

A friend of mine was a social worker for twenty long years. All of a sudden, he became a funeral director. I wanted to know why he changed his mind by leaving a good job and becoming a funeral director. He said he spent ten years trying to change John, but he is still an alcoholic. He spent three years trying to solve Charles and Susan’s marriage problems, but they ended up getting a divorce. Later, he tried to turn one of his friends from drugs, but he is still an addict. Now, at the funeral home, when he straightens them out, they stay straight!

We feel happy when someone obeys us, but at the same time, we do not want to obey anybody. Often we forget obedience is a virtue. The parable of Jesus this Sunday is about the two sons and their obedience. The first son said “No,” but later he changed his mind; he did the father’s will. The second son said “Yes,” but later he did nothing. The meaning of this parable is clear; the Jewish leaders were people who said they would obey God but then did not. The tax collectors, sinners, and prostitutes said “No” to God, but after listening to the teaching of Jesus, changed their lives. This is what the prophet Ezekiel pointed out in the first reading, “But if the wicked turn from the wickedness they did and do what is right and just, they shall save their lives, since they turned away from all the sins they committed, they shall live, they shall not die.” (Ezekiel 18:27–28)

After listening to this parable you may have a question; which of them should we follow? I cannot say that one is better than the other, the two sons caused pain and sorrow to their father. The one caused pain at the beginning and the other one at the end. Neither of the two sons brings joy to the father. The answer comes from today’s second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we follow neither the first son nor the second son. Rather, we follow the third son, the one who said “Yes” and obeyed His heavenly Father even unto death. He is Jesus Christ.

Jesus is our model for obedience to the Father’s will. Jesus obeyed His Father completely, emptying himself, taking the form of a slave, by accepting death on the cross. Because of this obedience of Jesus, God the Father exalted Jesus above every name, at the name of Jesus the knees of heaven and earth will bend, and every tongue will confess Jesus is the Lord. Jesus our Lord and Master achieved victory by humbling himself to His Father.

Today we all must examine ourselves, and evaluate how faithful we are to the promises we made. When we were baptized, the priest asked us in the name of Christ, “Do you renounce Satan? And all his works? And all his empty show? Do you believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth? Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered death, and was buried, rose again from the dead, and is seated at the right hand of the Father? Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection of the body? And life everlasting?” For all these, we said, “I do!”

As a priest, I have to examine myself and see how faithful I am to the Lord, and to the promises I made to Him during my ordination. Those who are married, how faithful are you to your spouse and to the Lord, and to the promises you made to them in the presence of God? Let us listen to the voice of God in every moment of our life, and obey it.

Posted in Homily, Jesus Christ, Sunday Homilies, Two Sons | Leave a Comment »

The Parable of Two Sons, Jesus Christ & Us

September 30, 2023

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

The father in Jesus’ parable has two sons. He tells the first, “Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.” That son refuses but later changes his mind and goes. The father comes to the other son and gives the same command. That son replies, “Yes, sir,” but does not go. When Jesus asks the chief priests and elders which son did the father’s will, they answer, “The first.” Were those Jewish leaders correct? Yes and no.

Yes, it is true that it is better to do the right thing than to merely say the right thing. Nevertheless, it is a father’s will that all his children would do both, obeying in word and deed. In Jesus’ parable, neither son did the father’s will perfectly. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, is perfectly faithful to our Father. “However many are the promises of God,” the Letter to the Hebrews tells us, “their ‘Yes’ is in him.”

Jesus enters our world saying, “Behold, I come to do your will, O God.” Though he was in the form of God, he emptied himself and humbly took the form of a servant, assuming our human nature to his Divine Person. He was perfectly obedient to the point of death, even a death by crucifixion. Through Jesus’ obedient, faithful, loving response to his Father’s will, God has exulted him highest among us. We too have said yes to God’s will and given him our word, but we have not been obedient to that same degree.

Many here have vowed before God, ‘I, take you, to be my spouse. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.’ I pledged a similar self-gift on my deaconate and priestly ordination days. And any Catholics who are not in either of these sacramental vocations promise and pledge a gift of themselves when receiving Jesus in the Eucharist. At the turn of the fifth century, St. Augustine noted that when you approach to receive the Holy Eucharist at Mass “you hear the words, ‘The body of Christ’ and you reply ‘Amen’. Be then a member of Christ’s body, so that your ‘Amen’ may accord with the truth… Be then what you see, and receive what you are.” Our Heavenly Father has called to do works of love in our various states of life and we have said, “Yes, sir,” but we have not always done it. Yet there is encouragement for us in today’s gospel.

Jesus notes how tax collectors and prostitutes had not done the will of God preceding the preaching St. John the Baptist. They had disobeyed God’s commands but, through believing, changed their ways and were now entering the Kingdom. Through believing in Christ we also can change. We cannot do it alone, but we were never expected to. Consistently invite Jesus Christ to live his perfect obedience, his intense love, his holy life in you. Then, becoming more like him, you will share more greatly in his exulted glory.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Homily, Jesus Christ, Parables, St. Augustine, Sunday Homilies, Two Sons | Leave a Comment »

God is Just & Generous

September 25, 2023

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

Generosity is the attitude of sharing whatever we have. God is Just as well as generous. When God created the world, He created everything by His words. When He created human beings, “God created man in His image, in the divine image He created him, male and female He created them.” (Gen 1: 27) God so loved the world, that he gave His only son to redeem the world. God expresses Justice and generosity, through His creation and redemption of the world.

In the first reading, we see another generous act of God: He invites His people to forsake their wicked ways and return to Him. They should not have any fear because God is very generous and forgiving, and he will forgive the sins of repentant sinners. God is always near His people as a loving Father.

Today’s parable of the landowner is also a good reminder of God’s generosity. The landowner hired laborers for his vineyard at different times of the day. However, at the end of the day, everyone received the same, daily wage. Those who were hired first complained, but the landowner proved himself just and generous. From the beginning, the landowner was clear: he agreed with those who were hired first regarding the wages. At the end of the day, he gave them the promised wage. While the first ones worked longer hours compared to the others, they were given a just wage. To the others, the landowner chose to be generous.

The context of today’s gospel is that St. Matthew was writing to the Jewish Christian community, who saw Jesus as the fulfillment of the Jewish prophecies. Some of them thought that salvation was only for the Jewish people. The truth Jesus gives to the Jewish community is this: God’s gift of salvation is offered to everyone. God will give all his children the same gift of salvation. Jesus said the prostitutes, murderers, and other sinners would be saved ahead of the religious leaders because they repented while the Pharisees and scribes continued to be hypocrites. One who repents would receive the fullness of salvation.

God has a perfect plan for your life. If others have more than you, it does not mean that God loves you less. God loves each one of us equally. In the parable, the landowner (representing God) says, “My Friend, I am not being unjust to you.” Jesus is our friend and He is not unjust to us. Think of parents and their children, parents have a different relationship with each child and special love and concern for the physically or mentally challenged. God is greater than any parent and shares His love and concern with His people, especially sinners. It is our task to listen to Him when He invites us to the vineyard.

It is never too late. It is never too late to turn to the Lord. It is never too late to be welcomed by the Lord. It is never too late to leave sin and be welcomed by the mercy of Jesus. Jesus told the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard that we have just heard. The Lord continues to go out to the marketplace every hour to invite people to His vineyard.

Learn the simple lesson in today’s scripture readings. Allow God to be God in all things that happen in our lives. When things are not working as we planned, let God be God in that situation. Trust in God, and let Him do the rest. God is compassionate and generous to us. May we also learn to share our time, talent, and treasure in His vineyard.

Posted in Generous Landlord, Homily, Justice, Mercy, Parables, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Controversial Mercy in the Vineyard

September 23, 2023

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

The landowner in Jesus’ parable recruits workers throughout the day. He goes to the marketplace at dawn, at nine, at noon, at three, and at five, hiring laborers each time and sending them to work in his vineyard. At the end of the day, he pays his longest laborers one silver denarius coin (the wage to which they had previously agreed) but he surprisingly also pays even his briefest employees the same amount. When some grumble at this, the boss replies, “My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? …Am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?” Why did the employer risk this HR controversy? Why did he wish to pay the later workers so generously? The Old Covenant gives us insight into his motivation.

God commanded in the Book of Leviticus, “Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.” Then the Book of Deuteronomy explains why: “On each day you shall pay the servant’s wages before the sun goes down, since the servant is poor and is counting on them.” Now, if this vineyard owner had promptly paid his one-hour workers proportionally less than his full-day workers, that’s equal pay for equal work. But he pays all of them the same full wage because he is acting mercifully. He understands that his servants are poor, that their families are poor, and that they depend upon this pay for their daily bread. Rather than letting them go hungry, he generously provides. We see expressed throughout the Scriptures God’s special care and concern for the poor and the vulnerable, and our God calls us to be like himself.

Still, we can feel the grumblers’ grievance when they complain: “These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat!” And yet, those last-hired laborers were trying their best. They report that they were standing idle in the marketplace all day simply because nobody had hired them. Assuming they aren’t lying, these workers were not lazy, just unlucky. They came when they were called and received an equal reward.

In this parable, our Lord is the landowner, we are his laborers, and our payment is heaven. This parable presents hope for the unconverted. Though your days may have been wasted up to now, you can still heed our Lord’s calling and receive his merciful generosity as your reward. It may be your final hour, but do not despair and walk away forever. Answer Christ’s call. Believe, repent, and be saved.

For Christians who feel that they have labored hard and long for the Lord, I wish to address a bitter temptation you might be feeling: “If those who repent on their deathbeds get to go to heaven too, why shouldn’t I sin and just repent later?” For starters, this attitude is dangerously presumptuous. You do not know the final hour when the sun will set on your life. You may never get around to repenting before facing your eternal judgment. Furthermore, your repentance must be sincere, and God cannot be fooled.

And finally, do not imagine that the grass is greener away from Jesus. Yes, laborers in Christ’s vineyard must bear burdens and heat, yet those outside the vineyard are not at rest. They stand all day in the uncomfortable marketplace, spiritually impoverished, without true purpose, and anxious about their future. Remember that living a life apart from Christ is no paradise.

Jesus’ challenging parable about the generous landowner and his vineyard workers reminds us of God’s special concern for the poor and of our calling to practice the same. It reminds us of God’s incredible mercy and the need for all of us to answer his call to repentance. And it reminds us of God’s loving generosity, that he is all-good, and deserving of all our love.

Posted in Generosity, Generous Landlord, Homily, Mercy, Parables, Salvation, Sunday Homilies | 1 Comment »

Forgiveness 77 Times?

September 18, 2023

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Deacon Dick Kostner

Today’s gospel lesson has Peter questioning his friend Jesus as to how forgiving he must be with others. The answer Jesus gives him is the answer our heavenly Father gives to each and every one of us and that is “always.” We are to forgive others just as many times that we would ask God to forgive us for our failings in life. Peter, the first Pope of our faith, seems to think that he is without fault or at least he feels that “seven” would be a reasonable number of times that humans should be allowed to be forgiven. But Peter will soon learn that God will always forgive us for our human weakness if we approach him with a contrite heart when we stumble and disappoint our creator.

Jesus answers Peter with a parable story to help him mature into a worthy disciple. He uses a king to represent his Father in heaven to display what is required to receive forgiveness from God for our failings. We must be sincere and contrite when we ask God and others for forgiveness. Is that not what is required for us to receive forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation? But the king and God expects more of us than that as the parable continues. The servant in today’s story is forgiven by the king and his debt is erased, at least so he thinks. But now comes the kicker, when he is asked for forgiveness from a debt a fellow servant owes him, his answer is “no” and he has the man arrested and put in prison.

The forgiven servant soon finds out that the king requires of him and of us that when we receive forgiveness of our failings from God that we are to extend the act of forgiveness to all who approach us and ask to be forgiven if they approach us with a contrite heart. If we do not do this we can expect to be corrected by the king, by God, when we meet him in person at the conclusion of our life here in this world.

Recently, I presided over the marriage of a young couple and I told them things that I had learned from my fifty-plus years of marriage to Barb. One of the first things I shared with them was the fact that although they might think that their new spouse is perfect in every way, that this is a myth for we are all humans and as Father Tom would always say, “We have feet of clay.” Humans by their nature, have weaknesses and all of us will display our weaknesses during our lives here on earth. God knows this, and that is why he forgives us seventy times seven. When this happens, we will realize that we are not perfect and that we will need to ask for forgiveness. This holds true especially in married life. What makes this especially beneficial in a marriage is that our spouse has the obligation to try their hardest to prepare their spouse for the heavenly kingdom. That means to tell them and show their spouse that they are not perfect and that sometimes they will need to realize this and approach forgiveness with a contrite heart. Marriage helps us learn to be a forgiven person so that we can extend that forgiveness to not only our spouse, but also to our children, friends, and even strangers who have offended not only us but our heavenly Father.

I want to thank my wife, Barb for being a good wife and for all the times that she has pointed out to me that I am not perfect. My only concern is why she always grins when she corrects me. I guess that it must just be what a good wife of fifty-plus years is called to do.

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

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