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Gaudete Sunday

December 11, 2022

3rd Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

The third of Advent is called “Gaudete” Sunday and it means “Rejoice.” As we wait for the birth of our Savior, we need to rejoice. I am wearing rose-colored vestments to be joyous. It is a day of celebration as we look forward to the birth of our Savior. Our readings today invite us to be happy because the promised messiah is coming. We are thankful to god for the savior who has come, who is present, and who promises to return.

In our first reading this Sunday, the prophet Isaiah tells us to be joyful because God himself is coming to save his people. He says to us, “Courage! Do not be afraid, look your God is coming.” Our God is a generous God and has lots of good things for us. He can do all of the miraculous healing that we have read about in the Bible. There will be much rejoicing when our Savior comes, for whom we have waited so patiently. We cannot imagine the joy that will fill our hearts. Our sorrow and sadness will be gone and the future is bright with lots of prospects for us.

When we are children we get excited with anticipation before our birthdays, Christmas, and other special occasions. Waiting can be very difficult when something wonderful is going to happen. A good example is a farmer, he plants the crops and patiently waits for the time of harvest. In the second reading St. James reminds us of the promises of Christ and tells us that we need to be patient until the lord comes. As human beings, we know it is difficult to be patient when we are eagerly waiting for something. “Do not lose heart, because the Lord is coming soon.”

In today’s Gospel, the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled through Jesus Christ. John the Baptist who is in prison, his longing for Christ keeps him full of hope in the midst of suffering. He lives with the expectation that he will see the glory of the lord, the splendor of our God. John hears of the miraculous deeds that Jesus is performing and wonders if he is the Messiah. Is it possible that someone can make the blind see, the lame walk, and the deaf hear? He is even bringing the dead back to life. Is this the one he has been waiting for all of his life? We too have been waiting for him all of our life.

Therefore this season, God and the Holy mother church in their wisdom have arranged our journey in such a way that there is a brief moment of joy and refreshment on Gaudete Sunday, the middle point our Journey. Let us rejoice, enjoy, and be refreshed for the rest of the journey ahead of us.

We need to learn how to survive a faith crisis. John the Baptist even after having had a direct encounter with Jesus, the messiah, had his doubts about Jesus and his teachings, we can have our crisis of faith. It is up to us to learn our Faith and ask the Lord to remove our doubts.

Go and tell others what you see and hear. We rejoice at the thought that Jesus is going to be reborn in our lives, increasing in us his gifts of love, mercy, forgiveness, and service during this Christmas season. Share your gifts with others. We need to open our hearts and God will transform our lives if we are patient and place our trust in God. The message of Advent is that God is present among us, every day. We must prepare our hearts to welcome him.

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

Hope, Joy, & Salvation

December 11, 2022

3rd Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

On Friday afternoon, while Fr. Chinnappan offered the funeral Mass for Dr. John Eberle, I drove to McDonnell high school in Chippewa Falls to hear sacramental Confessions with several other area priests. Before everyone else arrived, I was able to spend some time with Fr. Paul Hoffman, whom I had not seen for a while. He heard my Advent confession and afterwards I asked him about what he had been reading lately. Fr. Paul has previously told me that his senior priest status allows him read more theology books like he has desired, to learn more about God before he ultimately departs to go to him. One of the questions Fr. Paul has been pondering lately is, “What will bring them back?” That is, what will bring the younger generations back to church?

I am now almost 42 years old, and I am among the youngest people at most Sunday Masses. This is a troubling trend. Young adults today usually do not believe they need the Church. Many disbelieve they even need Jesus Christ’s salvation. What could change this outlook? What might bring them back? The answer which occurred to me was: “Real Hope.”

As the culture continues to abandon the wisdom it has inherited from Christianity, the consequences of foolishness and sin will become increasingly clear. It will be seen in the sickness of society and felt in the pain of peoples’ personal lives. A life without true meaning or purpose in a world “with no hell below us and above us only sky” is an emptiness full of suffering. Where can people discover real hope—hope in something within this world and yet beyond this world? This real hope is found in Jesus Christ and his Catholic Church.

After our first round of hearing confessions from students and staff in the gym, we priests got a bit of a break, so I walked over to see Fr. Bill Felix and Fr. Brandon Guenther. We chatted a bit about Bishop Callahan, who was hospitalized with an illness this week, Then I asked them a question: “What are you thinking about preaching this weekend? I’m still looking for ideas.” Fr. Felix said, “Well, there’s always the obvious: Joy.” (“Oh, of course,” I thought. This Third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday and in Latin, “Gaudete” means “Rejoice.”)

Fr. Felix said the great thing about joy is that we can have it even when many things in our lives are bad. Happiness depends upon what happens, but joy does not and so it endures. To press this idea, I asked them in so many words how someone can feel joy when things are crummy? The answer given by both priests was: “Hope.” Fr. Guenther added, “Joy without hope is just optimism.” This reminded him of an old, witty observation: “An optimist is a happy fool. A pessimist is an unhappy fool. But someone with hope (real hope) is not a fool and will one day be happy.”

We then returned to our confessionals to hear the older students’ confessions. Some people come to Confession after many months and confess rather superficially, but I was edified by hearing these teenagers confessed. Unlike many young people of their generation, their earnestness, honestly, and striving after God and his holiness were evident. I expect Christ’s Church to struggle in the coming decades, but our Faith is far from dead. Christian hope produces joy and manifest joy shines out. It shines out in the darkness of this world, drawing others to Jesus Christ and his Church. Our Lord lives and we possess a real hope. So let your Christian hope generate joy in you, and your joy will help save souls.

Posted in Chrisitian Virtues, Culture, Faith, Homily, Hope, Joy, Salvation, Sunday Homilies | 1 Comment »

Prepare for Christmas

December 4, 2022

2nd Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

On my way to Bloomer, I see pretty lights in windows and houses, in the trees, and even Christmas trees through windows. The streets in Bloomer and the stores are beautiful as well. We are preparing for Christmas. St. John the Baptist is also telling us to prepare for the coming of Christ. All the pretty decorations are getting us ready externally for Christmas, so we must prepare ourselves internally.

Sin entered into the world through Adam and Eve. In the beginning, God was already preparing to send His Son for our salvation. “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed.” (Gen 3: 15) God knew our weaknesses but loved us so much that He did not want to lose us.

God prepared Joachim and Anne for the birth of our Blessed Mother. Her Immaculate Conception occurred in their later years, but their faith in God was strong, and they prayed for a child. God was forming them.

Mother Mary was free from original sin as part of God’s plan for the redemption of humanity. The Blessed Mary was living an ordinary life as a young girl and did not know man. The Angel of the Lord appeared to Mother Mary and said “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1: 30) Through their conversation, the Angel of the Lord prepared Mother Mary to receive Jesus. God was preparing her.

St. Joseph was a just man and he was betrothed to Mother Mary. Before they came together she was found to be with child. He did not want to cause her any shame or embarrassment and planned to send her quietly. “The Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary for your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” ( Matthew 1:20) When Joseph awoke, he knew that he was OK to take Mother Mary as his wife. God was preparing him.

In Luke, we have the prodigal son, who collected all his inheritance from his father and left home. He squandered all of his wealth. A great famine arose in that country and he had nothing. He realized that he needed to go back home and ask for his father’s forgiveness. “Father I have sinned against heaven and before you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servant’s.” (Luke 15:19) The prodigal son prepared himself to meet his father.

Zacchaeus was a rich tax collector. He wanted to see Jesus. “He ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way.” (Luke 19: 4)He was not embarrassed by climbing the tree in spite of his high position in society. Zacchaeus prepared himself to meet Jesus.

We prepare ourselves for so many material things in life, like for school tests, for our jobs, for parties, for marriages, for building homes, and for raising children. We are so busy getting ready for Christmas with gifts and decorations. More important than these are our spiritual needs.

St. John the Baptist asks us to prepare a way for the Lord and make his paths straight. What does this mean for us today? When people heard John speak, they confessed their sins and were baptized. An important part of our Advent Journey is acknowledging sins and confessing them. Let us not forget to prepare a place in our hearts to welcome Jesus!

God made sure to prepare for the birth of Jesus Joachim and Anne, Mother Mary and St. Joseph for their roles in the Incarnation of God’s only begotten Son. The prodigal son and Zacchaeus had to focus their lives towards God and His Mercy. These are all internal preparations to meet the Lord. What are your internal preparations? If you have not started, maybe it’s time for you to prepare to meet the Lord.

Posted in Homily, Salvation History, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

The Allegory of the Jordan River

December 4, 2022

2nd Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Preceding Jesus’ public ministry, St. John the Baptist appeared preaching in the Judean wilderness. People from Jerusalem, all Judea, and the Jordan River region were going out to see him. John said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” The crowds regarded him as a prophet and were being baptized by him as they acknowledged their sins. Like a bath which cleanses one’s outer self of dirt and odor, John’s baptism was an appeal to God for an inner self cleansed from sin. John’s ministry prepared for Jesus Christ and foreshadowed Christian baptism. The Jordan River in which John baptized embodies an allegory whose symbolism remains important for us today.

The fresh waters of the Jordan River originate in the north from the living Sea of Galilee, a large lake full of fish and ringed by trees. The Jordan’s waters flow south and come to one of either two notable ends. Most of the river’s water just goes with the flow. It flows downhill (as all rivers naturally do) ultimately descending seven hundred vertical feet. These waters remain on the edge of the Promised Land without entering in. And at the end of their journey, they empty out into the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest place on the face of the earth. After the river drains there, the water has nowhere else to go. As it evaporates to nothingness, the water leaves behind trace amounts of salt which over many, many millennia has made that sea ten times saltier than the oceans. In this oppressive saltiness, no plants nor fish can live. The Dead Sea is thoroughly dead.

Some of the Jordan River’s water, however, does not simply go with the flow downhill. This water escapes the fate of the Dead Sea, by giving itself to the Promised Land. This water enables life and generates fruit among many trees in an otherwise arid place. Jeremiah the Prophet writes of a tree planted beside the stream: “It does not fear heat when it comes; its leaves stay green. In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still produces fruit.” And the 1st Psalm likewise says: “a tree planted near streams of water… yields its fruit in due season; its leaves never wither.” These baptismal waters are willed by God to give life and bear fruit for the Promised Land.

Most of John the Baptist’s contemporaries were convinced he was a prophet, yet the Jewish religious leaders disbelieved. When John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he admonished them: “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance! … Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire!” It would not be enough (for them or us) to just say the right things and go through the motions. Our faith and repentance must be real, producing of good fruit.

As the life-giving Sea of Galilee is the River Jordan’s source, so God above is the source of every spiritual grace and good thing in creation here below. Having received Christian baptism, we can respond in one of two ways on this life’s journey. In this world, we can go with the natural flow of things, descending more and more, ending in the dead abyss without entering the Promised Land. But that is not Jesus’ will for us. As G.K. Chesterton once observed: “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.” Jesus wills for us to cooperate with him, to be changed, and to change the world around us. So believe in the Lord, acknowledge your sins and repent, and bear good fruit with Christ. What is one area — just one thing — one habit or virtue, you can acknowledge today and grow in throughout this Advent season with the grace of God?

Posted in Faith, G.K. Chesterton, Homily, Parables, Repentance, Salvation History, St. John the Baptist, Sunday Homilies | 1 Comment »

“Keep Watch!”

November 27, 2022

1st Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

Today we begin the season of Advent. The Church invites us to be ready and prepared to receive the Lord. The word Advent means waiting. The 1st Sunday of Advent gives us the warning to be watchful, waiting, and prepared.

The Titanic was the world’s largest ship when it was built. It was considered unsinkable. During the night of April 14–15, 1912 it struck an iceberg, ripping a three–hundred-foot hole in the ship. The crew received many warnings that they were speeding into an ice field, but the messages were ignored. The crew was preoccupied with dinner menus and other unimportant matters. They disregarded the danger of the weather and there were not enough lifeboats on board. It sank in two and a half hours killing 1,513 people. Sometimes we believe that our ‘ship’ is unsinkable, our life is all well planned, and the unthinkable can never happen to us. We need to pay attention to the warning signals.

Jesus is coming again and He is coming whether we are ready or not. Today’s Gospel tells the story of what happened in the time of Noah. In the days leading up to the flood, people were very naughty, not keeping the commandments and they did not care. They did not heed the warnings of God. God sent the flood. Only Noah and his family were safe inside the Ark. Everyone else was destroyed by the flood. No one knows when the end will come, ONLY GOD KNOWS!

Jesus gives us another example “Two men will be in a field; one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding their meal; one will be taken and the other will be left behind.” Jesus then says to his listeners: “Stay awake! You do not know the day your Lord is coming. Be sure of this, if the owner of a house knew when a thief was coming, he would be watchful and prepared. You also must be prepared. The Son of Man is coming when you least expect it.”

To be ready means to be awake. It means that we live in the present moment with God. Always be aware of His presence in our life. Everything we do, work, rest, eat and drink, we give glory to God. Today we celebrate the Sunday of Hope in God, and His Son, Jesus Christ, through whom God has promised to save and redeem us.

What is the pattern of your life? Do you share your time, talents and love with your family, your neighbor or even people you do not know? if we choose to do these things, we are preparing to welcome Christ. Shouldn’t we pray every day Lord, Show me someone today with whom I am to share your love, mercy, and forgiveness. St. Mother Teresa said, “Whatever you do in your family, for your children, for your husband, for your wife, you do for Jesus.” Every night let’s ask ourselves, where have I found Christ today? The answer will be God’s Advent gift to us that day. By being alert and watchful, we will be getting an extra gift: Christ Himself.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Homily, Last Things, Repentance, Second Coming, St. Mother Teresa, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Ready for Christ’s Coming? Then & Now

November 26, 2022

1st Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Our season of Advent has now begun — a season of Christian preparation. Throughout Advent, we the Church are getting ready in two different respects: we are preparing to celebrate and commemorate the historical birth of Christ at Christmas and, at the same time, we are preparing for the day Jesus will return to this world in unveiled glory. In today’s Gospel, Jesus recalls the story of the days of Noah’s Ark, in which a few were prepared for the flood and saved while most were unprepared and swept away. “So too, you also must be prepared,” Jesus tells us, “for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Will we be prepared for the day of Jesus’ return? How well prepared and open were people for Christ’s first arrival and what can their examples teach us?

Local shepherds of Bethlehem were the first to hear of Christ’s birth on Christmas. An angel of the Lord appeared to them and said, “[B]ehold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy… a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord!” Now these shepherds were working, keeping night watch over their flock. They could have claimed they were too busy to accommodate Christ into their schedules. Instead they said, “Let us go… to see this thing… which the Lord has made known to us!” They went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and their Lord lying in the manger.

Sometime later, word of Christ’s birth came to King Herod in Jerusalem, but he did not welcome this good news into his heart. This man loved to reign in his own domain and did not wish to share control. So the king sent soldiers to kill the children who could be Jesus. King Herod refused to change for Christ.

Where had Herod learned of Christ’s birth? Through Magi from the east who came to Jerusalem in good faith expecting to find the newborn king of the Jews. “We saw his star at its rising,” they said. They came with their gifts to honor him. Now most had missed the important sign from heaven (they were focused on other things) but the Magis’ attentions were not distracted, and based on what they saw, they acted. They too found the Lord amidst his Holy Family.

The examples of the shepherds, King Herod, and the Magi show us ways of either being ready and open for Christ or not. So ask yourself this Advent, will I allow work and responsibilities to crowd out my time for Jesus, or will I be like the shepherds who came to him and his Holy Family with joy? Will I cling to my own control, my wealth and my sinful pleasures like King Herod did, or will I offer and sacrifice these things to Christ? Will be distracted by the many diversions of this world and overlook what really matters, or will I be attentive like the Magi to act for the Lord?

At the start of this Advent season, St. Paul tells us, “You know the time; it is now the hour for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand.” Let us prepare to celebrate and commemorate the historical birth of Christ at Christmas, while at the same time preparing for the day Jesus will return to this world in unveiled glory.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Homily, Last Things, Saintly People, Salvation History, Second Coming, Sunday Homilies, The Magi, The Shepherds | Leave a Comment »

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

November 20, 2022

By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

Many years ago, Mohandas Gandhi the great Hindu religious leader in India wanted to overthrow the British Empire through love not violence. Christianity has not failed. It’s never been tried. As we celebrate this Feast of Christ the King, we need to follow Jesus peacefully.

What’s wrong with calling Jesus the King? A king is identified three ways: power, wealth, and force. With Jesus none of this is true. The power of kings is to control people and be the boss over them. His apostles James and John wanted the honor to be seated at the right and left hand of Jesus. Jesus was upset and rebuked them saying that the power of Jesus is to love and be a servant to all people.

The kings of this world are identified with wealth, they have more than they could possibly ever need. They draw money from everyone even the poor and build up their own prosperity. There is an incident in the Gospel where a young man asks Jesus “what must I do to gain everlasting life?” Jesus says, “Keep my commandments.” He replies, “I have done that from my youth.” And Jesus says if you want to truly be perfect to follow me now, go sell everything you have. Give it to the poor then come and follow me. The wealth of Jesus is His people especially the poor. He loves all of us and wants best of everything for us.

The kings of this world want to have superior dominance and control in this world. They will even go to war to get their ways. Jesus rejected all violence. While Jesus was praying in the garden of Gethsemane, the soldiers came to arrest Him. One of the disciples drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Jesus said put away your sword. Jesus healed the servants’ ear. Jesus rejected violence. Those who want to live by the sword die by the sword.

Human kings follow the ways of the world, not the ways of Jesus. So it’s really a contradiction to think of Jesus as a king of this world. We think of the aspects of earthly kings: power, wealth and force and try to make that the way of Jesus. If we are going to follow the way of Jesus, live Christianity, don’t talk about it. Gandhi says “it has never been tried, it has not failed, it just has not been tried.” Each of us is called now to try to live the way of Jesus, really change according to his ways and his thoughts.

Is not this one of the reasons why we and the church and everyone throughout the world are fascinated with Pope Francis, the Bishop of Rome. When he was elected the first thing he did was bow and seek the blessing of the people. He wants to be our servant. In a short time after he was elected, he went to visit the prison, knelt down and washed the feet of the prisoners. He’s showing time after time how he reaches out to the poor, the vulnerable, the way Jesus did. We rejoice in it because it’s clearly the way of Jesus and that’s what we are called to do.

The kings and rules of this world want to dictate and control everyone. The kingship of Jesus is different from the kings of this world. He loves, forgives, accepts, and He rules over us with mercy and compassion. We are all equally important to him.

Posted in Homily, Jesus Christ, Peace, Politics, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Faithful Through the End

November 14, 2022

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

A devout, Catholic man came to a priest for advice. He had been coming to the church for some thirty years. He estimated he had listened to over three thousand sermons but couldn’t remember any of them. He felt that he was wasting his time and also the priest’s time. The priest thought about it for a short while and then asked the man. “How long have you been married?” the man responded he had been married forty-two years. The priest then asked what were his memorable meals during his marriage? The man replied that he couldn’t remember any specific meals that his wife prepared, but they certainly nourished him or he wouldn’t be healthy. The priest then replied that definitely all those sermons he had listened to were nourishing his soul because he keeps coming back to the Church.

Today’s first reading from the Prophet Malachi addresses the problem of why evildoers prosper and just people suffer. What is the value of living a just and pious life when the irreligious people look down on the observance of the Law? The prophet tells them that the end of the world and the judgment will be terrible for the evildoer but joyful for the faithful. For those who have based their lives on being loyal to the Truth and have spent their lives in the service of God, and sought the well – being of their brothers and sisters, the sun of righteousness will shine out with healing in its rays.

In the second reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians, we hear that those people unwilling to work, should not eat. Here St. Paul commands and exhorts in the Lord to do their work quietly and earn their living. St. Paul gives them his own example to show how he toiled day and night to earn his livelihood and never to expect anyone to take care of him. Even though he ministered and worked for the people of God, he lived by his own hard work.

The Gospel today begins with Jesus commenting on the Temple of Jerusalem, a temple which was one of the great wonders of the ancient world. It was the heart and center of all Jewish life; the very symbol of God’s presence among them. Yet Jesus tells his hearers, “All these things you are starting now, the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another, everything will be destroyed.”

Jesus warns his followers not to be deceived. The Christian life is to focus on the here and now and that will require strength and faith. The world will continue with wars and insurrections and there will continue to be natural disasters. The teaching of Jesus must help us not to live in fear and anxiety regarding the future. Rather, we are to focus on the present time, today, here and now. Jesus promises his followers if they bear sufferings for Christ’s name they will earn true life, the eternal life of Heaven.

During life we need to continue to listen to sermons, read the Bible, pray the Rosary, and read the lives of the saints to help us to nourish our souls. We know that we need to work hard in this life for ourselves and others. The sufferings in this life will help us to gain eternal life with God. We must have faith that God is always with us. In our life we go through lots of problems and difficulties, but we also have joy. But our joy will not end here. It will go on forever with God in Heaven.

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Minutes from a Demonic Meeting

November 13, 2022

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Once upon a time, an unknown number of years ago, there was an important meeting of demons. Amidst hell’s fires and shadows, with putrid smoke hanging in the air, the demonic hierarchy plotted their next strategy for how to mislead humanity. Since the rebel angels cannot hurt God directly, they tempt and attack those he loves, hoping to corrupt and dominate us. When the Lord Jesus comes again to rule the earth with justice, the demons do not want us to experience his healing rays; they want us to burn and suffer like themselves.

As the demons met and brainstormed schemes, one of them suggested, “What if we try deceiving them that there’s no such thing as evil?” The chairman, after pouring out a stream of insults, said, “The humans will never believe that! Do you think that we can pit person against person, nation against nation, souls against our Enemy above, without them noticing the sadness, sufferings, envies, jealousies, impurities, rivalries, hatreds, resentments, injustices, murders, and cruelties which follow? Humans see proof of evil in nearly every headline! They are reminded something is wrong with their world whenever their alarm clocks ring, their toes get stubbed, or their weather is less than perfect! You’ll have to do better than that!”

Then another demon dared to suggest, “What if we deceive them that there is no such thing as goodness?” The chairman spewed abuse at that one and said, “The humans will never believe that either! Our Enemy above has littered their world with too many beauties and blessings to count! They have this inherent desire for happiness that our Enemy has built into them! Everything they do is in pursuit of something they perceive as somehow good! Is anyone here not a useless fool?”

Finally, one of the chairman’s most cunning underlings proposed another strategy, an idea which was immediately welcomed with cruel smiles by the malevolent assembly. This dangerous demon said, “Let us deceive the humans that there is no need to hurry.”

In every generation, there has been Christians who believed that their generation would be the last. In his Second Letter to the Thessalonians, St. Paul admonishes some idlers, freeloaders, and busybodies living there who have quit their labors because they assumed the Lord was returning very soon. Personally, I do not expect the second coming of Christ to happen in the very near future since it remains legal to be a Christian throughout so many regions of the world. There are grave evils on this earth, including in our country, but the final attack of hell against Christ’s Church in the final days should be far worse than this. Yet whether or not Christ’s return is imminent, we must always ready to go to him. We do not know when he will return, nor do we know when any of us will die. But the certainty of our coming encounter with Christ should not make us afraid but motivate us to prepare.

Rather than being idlers and busybodies, neglecting our spiritual growth and enthralled by our distractions, let us get busy treating the most important things as the most important things. If you knew with certainty that you would die three months from today, how would you begin living differently? Would you pray more every day? Would you go to confession and Mass more often? Would you crush your lingering vices? Would you work harder to do good works? Would you forgive your enemies? Would you show more love toward God and the people around you? Thinking seriously about what you should you do differently knowing you are going to die is a good place to start in living more intentionally for Christ, with your eternal goal in mind. Do not believe the demonic deception that there is no need to hurry, for your last day is closer than it was yesterday, and it may be much closer than you think.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Homily, Repentance, Satan, Spiritual Warfare, Sunday Homilies | 1 Comment »

Be Not Afraid, Be Well-Prepared

November 5, 2022

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Today we see the Sadducees come forward and put a question to Jesus, but who were the Sadducees? They were a Jewish religious group less popular than the Pharisees but in some ways more powerful. The Sadducees were the party of high priests, aristocratic families, and wealthy merchants, and they were well-represented among the members of the Jewish high council, the Sanhedrin. Theologically, unlike Pharisees, the Sadducees only accepted the first five books of the Bible as scripture: that is, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These five books are called the Torah (the Law) or the Pentateuch. The Sadducees denied the inspiration of all the other Old Testament books and only accepted religious beliefs which they thought were contained in those first five books.

The Sadducees did not believe in life-after-death nor in eternal punishments or eternal rewards hereafter; and they saw no scriptural evidence for the idea of a resurrection of the dead. Therefore, to challenge Jesus, they pose a hypothetical question about the resurrection involving a woman who had multiple husbands, a question they think will lead him to a ridiculous conclusion. In response, Jesus explains that life and love in the coming age are far more mystical than they imagine. But today I want to highlight the end of Jesus’ answer.

The Sadducees were hobbled by having accepted a truncated faith less than the fulness of all God had revealed (as is the case with most Christians today). Jesus desired to show them that life-after-death is proclaimed by God, but he had to do so using evidence they would acknowledge. So Jesus cites an event from their own accepted Book of Exodus. Jesus says: “That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

Jesus highlights how at the Burning Bush the Lord did not identify himself to Moses by saying, “I was the God of Abraham, I was the God of Isaac, and I was the God of Jacob.” The Lord declares, “I AM the God of your fathers,” because even though their bodies had perished long before their souls remained alive to God. Jesus teaches that those who have died still live and that the dead will rise again, just like the Christ rises from his tomb in both his soul and body.

This time of year, throughout November, we remember in a special way those who have died. On November 1st, we celebrate all saints now in heaven. On November 2nd, we pray for all those who have died and whose souls continue being purified in Purgatory so as to be made perfect for heaven’s glory. In this fall season, as our trees’ leaves fade and fall and our farmers’ fields are harvested, the Church is nearing the end of our liturgical year (which begins anew with Advent). And the focus of our readings at Mass in these final weeks turn toward the last things, including death.

Unless Jesus Christ returns in glory first, each of us will die one day. And if we die, our bodies will one day rise again. In light of these facts, how should we live and prepare to die? Many people avoid thinking about death because it makes them feel so uncomfortable. Like a child who closes their eyes in order to be invisible, some choose not to consider their own death all. However, this strategy does not change reality and creates a grave risk of dying ill-unprepared.

Do not be spiritually unready; you probably have less time left than you think. So believe in our Lord and be converted, do what is right and reject your sins. For instance, stop skipping Sunday Mass and Holy Days of Obligation. If we do not wish to worship and obey God he will honor that decision… forever. So repent and do his will.

Do not neglect or postpone receiving Christ’s sacraments, Confession, the Eucharist, and the Anointing of the Sick. Even if it is possible to reach heaven without the Last Rites (including the Apostolic Pardon, Viaticum, and Extreme Unction) why would you risk foregoing these graces? Be well-prepared to die.

Throughout this month of November pray for the souls of the dead, befriend and ask help of the saints above, and grow closer to our Lord Jesus Christ through his sacraments. Jesus says, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again. So do not be afraid of death; instead, be well-prepared.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Homily, Last Things, Repentance, Salvation, Sunday Homilies | 3 Comments »

He is not God of the Dead, but of the Living

November 5, 2022

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

My first funeral as a priest was for a baby who was two weeks out of the womb. How does one talk to the family? They are a devout, Catholic family, but they asked, why is God allowing this? I listened to them and cried with them. I later responded to them by saying that when I ask why I look at a crucifix. Why did God allow His own son to die? Our salvation and redemption come from the cross. Through the death of that baby, God wants to say something to us; resurrection is what comes out of Christ’s death.

When God revealed Himself to Moses in preparation for bringing His people out of Egypt, He called Himself “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (Exodus 3:6) When God told this to Moses, centuries had passed after these forefathers had died. However, God acknowledged their existence even after their death. Though the verse did not specify the resurrection of the dead, it implied their survival after death.

Today’s first reading describes a Jewish family, consisting of a mother and her seven sons, who refuse their king’s command to eat pork, forbidden as “unclean” by Jewish Law. Because of their obedient Faith in God, they endure suffering and accept martyrdom. During their torture, three of the brothers speak, and each of them finds strength in the belief that he will eventually be raised and rewarded by God.

The second reading encourages the Thessalonians, who were waiting for the second coming of Christ, to trust in the fidelity of God who would strengthen their hearts in every good work and word.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is challenged by a group of Sadducees concerning the resurrection of the dead. Just before this, Jesus had been challenged by Pharisees and Scribes, whether to pay taxes to Caesar or not. Jesus had dealt effectively with them and reduced them to silence. Again they raised a question this time about the imaginary story of seven brothers marrying one woman, and their relationship with each other in the next life. Their question in the Gospel is certainly an insincere and impossible example, they want to ridicule a belief in the resurrection.

Posted in Homily, Last Things, Moses, Resurrection, Sunday Homilies | 1 Comment »

Three Strengths of Saint Zacchaeus

October 30, 2022

31st Sunday of Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

The Jews in Jericho looked down on Zacchaeus (and not just because he was short). He was a tax collector regarded as a sinner. When Zacchaeus chose his occupation he knew his neighbors would despise him. Even if he had never extorted or cheated anybody, he still would be resented for serving the unpopular political powers ruling over Israel. It’s easy to imagine him being insulted and shunned by the Jews in his territory. He needed a thick skin to do his job, caring little about what others thought of him. He was not only a tax collector but a chief tax collector, and this made him a very wealthy man. Yet his riches did not fulfill him. He was searching for something more than money and this led him to Jesus.

“[Zacchaeus] was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way.” Now apart from tree trimmers and deer hunters, when was the last time you saw a grown man sitting in a tree? It’s something children do, and Zacchaeus likely looked ridiculous in the eyes of the unfriendly crowd below. But “when [Jesus] reached the place, [he] looked up and said, ‘Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.’ And he came down quickly and received him with joy.”

When the crowd saw this they began to grumble, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner!” But Zacchaeus stood there and said to Jesus, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” As a wealthy man, Zacchaeus came to know how great wealth disappoints. He had developed significant detachment from his wealth, which allowed him to give up half (and perhaps much more than half) of everything he owned. And Jesus declared to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

Zacchaeus had these three strengths helping him to find and follow Jesus: firstly, his honest acknowledgement of his dissatisfaction in this world; secondly, his indifference towards what others thought of him; and thirdly, his healthy detachment towards his riches. Why was he “seeking to see who Jesus was?” Why was he so joyfully eager to host Jesus at his house? Because Zacchaeus could admit that he was dissatisfied, with himself and what this sinful world offers, and he believed that Jesus could help him find salvation. Zacchaeus had developed a thick skin as a tax collector. He did not care about others’ mockery, gossip, and dim opinions about him. This allowed him to climb that tree to see Jesus even if others might laugh at him as a fool. And Zacchaeus’ healthy detachment concerning riches allowed him to be generous and fulfill justice with his wealth, as our Lord wished him to do.

Let us take stock of ourselves from the example of St. Zacchaeus. Can you admit where you are not yet fully the Christian you are called to be and then present yourself to Jesus? Are you dissatisfied enough with this unjust world to hope and act for more than the status quo, to sacrifice for this world’s betterment while longing for a world to come? Are you willing to be unapologetically Catholic before others; a person, for example, willing to pray before a meal at a restaurant even if someone might see you; a Christian who does not allow others’ opinions prevent you from being openly faithful to Jesus Christ and his Catholic Church? And are you detached enough from your wealth to generously share it and serve justice with it boldly, as our Lord would have you do? In what ways is Jesus calling you to go out on a limb for him?

Posted in Christian Perfection, Culture, Homily, Jesus Christ, Sunday Homilies, Zacchaeus | 1 Comment »

Our Divine Physician

October 22, 2022

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Jesus tells us a story of two men who go up to the temple to pray. One is a Pharisee, a group with a reputation for holiness. The other is a tax collector, a profession associated with injustice. The Pharisee, entering the temple courtyard, walks to a more prominent place and speaks 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. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.” Jesus presents this Pharisee as an example of someone convinced of his own righteousness and despising of everyone else.

The tax collector, in contrast, stands at the distant edge of the temple court, keeps his eyes cast down, and beats his breast (an ancient sign of contrition) praying, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” The Pharisee exults himself while the tax collector humbles himself before God. And Jesus tells us the tax collector went home justified, reconciled with God, while the Pharisee did not.

Imagine going to the hospital clinic for your annual check-up. Sitting there in the waiting area, you glance discretely at the other people around the room. Your secret thoughts become filled with observations and guesses at what ailments brought them there. “I’m in much better health than these people,” you think to yourself with pride. Then your name gets called. The doctor greets you, you sit down, and asks if you are having any issues with your health. “No, nothing’s wrong” you say, but that’s not true.

Awhile back, you cut your hip on an exposed piece of jagged metal, and your concealed wound is not healing. It’s been oozing a smelly, yellow fluid and the skin all around the wound is swollen, red, and painful to touch, but you’ve been mostly able to ignore it. Either embarrassed at your injury or oblivious to the danger, you say, “I’m fine,” and leave without presenting this infection to your physician who has the ability to heal you.

In a sermon about Jesus’ story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, St. Augustine once preached:

“How useful and necessary a medicine is repentance! People who remember that they are only human will readily understand this. It is written, ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ The Pharisee was not rejoicing so much in his own clean bill of health as in comparing it with the diseases of others. He came to the doctor. It would have been more worthwhile to inform him by confession of the things that were wrong with himself instead of keeping his wounds secret and having the nerve to crow over the scars of others. It is not surprising that the tax collector went away cured, since he had not been ashamed of showing where he felt pain.”

Do the sins of others bother you more than your own? Do you know what your sins are? Are you contrite for them? When was the last time you went to Confession? Will you present your infected wounds to our Divine Physician and then follow his prescription for your good health?

Posted in Christian Perfection, Homily, Medicine, Parables, Repentance, St. Augustine, Sunday Homilies | 2 Comments »

Hands Lifted up to Heaven

October 16, 2022

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

After God’s people, the descendants of Israel, crossed the Red Sea in the Exodus, an army of Amalekites came to battle them in the Sinai desert. So Moses instructed his servant Joshua: “Pick out certain men, and tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle. I will be standing on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” The next day, while Joshua led Israel’s soldiers in fighting the foe on the battlefield, Moses stood upon an adjacent hill along with Aaron and Hur.

“As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight.” Moses wielding this staff at God’s command triggered the plagues in Egypt, parted the Red Sea, and now brought Israel’s victory on the battlefield. But this raises a reasonable question: why would God condition his people’s success in combat upon an old man holding a piece of wood above his head? Moses lifting up this staff of God was a sign for God’s people which preserved them from a spiritual disaster.

God knew that if Israel had won apart from this sign they would have ascribed the victory to themselves. “We won this battle because we’re so smart, and strong, and brave! Maybe we don’t need God’s help after all.” Such pride in their success could be their downfall, in this life and the next. So instead, through the sign of an up-lifted staff, the Lord showed Israel, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains [with] me and I [with] him will bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”

Similarly today, our Lord desires us to pray without ceasing for the good things we want or need. Otherwise, if and when his blessings come, we shall attribute these things to mere luck, coincidence, or to our own personal abilities, with no growth in our relationship with God. He is the source from whom all good things come. By asking and then receiving, we come to see and know the Lord is near and cares for us. And in the end, that is the most valuable gift of all.

God not only wants us to know and to love him, he desires us to glorify us as well. God is all-powerful, omnipotent, he could do everything without us. But by God accomplishing his will through us, as he did with Moses, the Lord makes us more like himself and causes us to share in his glory.

Holding the staff of God in his hands throughout the day made Moses’ hands and arms grow tired. (If you cannot understand why, try holding an object above your head for just ten minutes sometime.) When Moses’ body grew tired, his friends came to his aide. “They put a rock in place for him to sit on. … Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, [one on his right and the other on his left,] so that his hands remained steady till sunset.” With this help from his friends, Moses kept his arms raised-up and God’s people prevailed against their foe. All of this was a foreshadowing of greater things to come.

On Good Friday, when Jesus was condemned to death, he took the cross into his hands and carried it to the top of a hill. There his hands were nailed to the wood above his head. And Jesus was not there alone. All four Gospels note he was crucified between two others, “one on his right and the other on his left.”

Our Lord was mocked as he hung for hours upon the Cross: “Are you not the Messiah? … If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” But in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus had said, “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…?” Christ had the power to come down from the Cross, but if he had done that—if Jesus had released his hands from the wood—if he had refused to die for us, how would we have been saved from our enemies, sin and death?

Love kept Jesus on his Cross: love for his friends gathered nearby. love for the criminals on his right and left, and love for you and me. Consider what a precious consolation it was for Jesus in his suffering to have his Mother Mary, John the Beloved, and Mary Magdalene there supporting him. “But,” Jesus asks, “when the Son of Man comes [again], will he find faith on earth?” Will Jesus return to a world where everyone imagines they can get along just fine without him?

Let us continue being God’s humble people, recognizing our dependence on him. Let us ask of him our wants and needs so that we can know and experience his blessings. Then we shall share his deeper friendship and share in his great works, increasing in his likeness and increasing in his glory. By relying on God and the holy friends and loved ones his providence places near to help us, we shall share in our Lord’s great victory.

Posted in Exodus, Homily, Jesus Christ, Moses, Passion, Prayer, Second Coming, Sunday Homilies, Typology | 2 Comments »

Our Great Prayer

October 9, 2022

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Deacon Dick Kostner

Want to get to heaven? Jesus says obey the Commandments, the two greatest being love God with all your heart, soul and mind and the second, love your neighbor as yourself. Before Jesus returned to the Father he gave his followers a third commandment: “Love as I have loved you!” Love requires intimacy. It requires knowing someone’s very make up and for us humans, their faults and deficiencies and yes acceptance of those deficiencies because of their God given right of free will. It is not an easy task when you realize that people we love are going down the wrong road which will lead them to problems and maybe even death. True love requires we accept their right of choice even if its wrong our only real weapon against a bad choice being made by someone we love, is “Prayer.”

Prayer allows us to be intimate with both God and intimacy with others who we are praying for. I believe it was St. Paul who said we need to be in constant prayer to God 24/7. It shows God that we are obeying His two great commandments and Jesus’ third commandment, “Love as I have loved you.” So our next challenge is to learn how to pray every awaking hour of every day to God for our challenges and for help and guidance for those we love. What are the words of prayer? In today’s Gospel Jesus gives us a supernatural and a kind of magical word of prayer. It is easy to remember and it can transform and heal. This word of Prayer will always be heard by God and responded to by God and the Body of Christ. It is simple but bares the power of God, the word is “THANKS.”

You folks may not know this but your deacon is not very mechanically gifted. When I attempt to fix something it many times is not successful and can also result in a repair job at the doctor’s office and maybe even a new tattoo not made with ink but rather stitch’s. I can remember working at one of my rentals one morning and while trying to drive a stake into the hard ground with a hammer I missed the stake I was driving and smashed the web between my thumb and finger. Blood was all over but I was lucky to be across the street from Dr. Rosenbrook’s house and I ran to him who proceeded to take me into his kitchen and clean and stitch my wound. With age comes wisdom and now before attempting to do even a simple task I pray for safety and upon completing the task always say the prayer of thanks to God for a safe completion of that task. That pretty much covers hourly prayers for my weekend “Honey-do” projects.

Our Gospel today has Jesus instructing his readers that a “thank you” is the greatest gift we can give to God for help he provides for his faith followers. Many times we get so caught up in having been answered by God with his gifts that we forget to give thanks, for his help and miracles. Its a quick prayer but a very important prayer. When we forget to give thanks during the week God gives us another chance to say “Thanks” on Sunday by celebrating the Eucharist with the Body of Christ. “Eucharist” (in Greek) means “giving thanks.” It’s a time for us to gather as the family of God and reflect upon the grace gifts we have received the previous week. The little miracles society calls coincidences. Little things that show up out of no where, and which are many times opposed to the laws of nature that make us realize the supernatural presence of God within our lives, within our very being and existence.

Let me share with you my last encounter with the power and presence of God and the supernatural. I recently did a funeral service for a gentleman who had just died who had lived his life with a mental illness and who had been dependent on his family and friends his whole life. His name is Robbie. I did not personally know Robbie and learned about his life when his Aunt said a few words before we ended the Service. She told about a man who loved his family very much as well as the people who cared for him at the facility he lived in. She talked about how one of the caretakers would take him to Mass every Sunday and how thankful he was to have so many people who cared for him. She told the story about how Robbie and his siblings had taken him to an outdoor concert one summer day and how it began to rain at its conclusion and how they held hands running and following one of his brothers who had a flashlight trying to find their car and how they all laughed and so enjoyed the event, even though they were soaking wet when they finally found their car. After her comments I told the family and friends of Robbie that I now knew who to blame for the thunderstorm we were experiencing at the time Robbie’s funeral service. They laughed and thought I was just cracking a joke but I had a feeling that I had just done another funeral service for a saint I did not even know until that day.

As Matt (the funeral director) and I drove to the cemetery in Cornell with the crowd of family and friends of Robbie following us, Matt commented how wet it was going to be to do the committal service and I made the comment, “That will be up to Robbie!” He gave me a funny look and said he had a bunch of umbrellas in his car. When we arrived at the cemetery it was still raining and Matt told me to sit in the car until the casket was placed. I wondered if I had drawn the wrong conclusion as I held my book close to me as I went to the crowd to begin the service. I opened my book to begin and three drops of rain fell on it and then the rain stopped completely. I grinned and said to myself, “thanks Rob.” After the prayers I told the crowd that I believe Robbie was telling them that he was alright and thanked them for their attendance. I don’t think they realized that they had just experienced the spiritual presence of their brother as one of God’s chosen. (And I did say “Thank you Lord” for this experience!)

Posted in Gratitude, Homily, Sunday Homilies, Supernatural Phenomena | 1 Comment »

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