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The Deaths of Lazarus

April 6, 2025

5th Sunday of Lent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

God does not do bad things, for “God is not subject to temptation to evil” and “what he hates he does not do.” However, God is all-knowing and all-powerful. There is nothing knowable that God does not know, and nothing good and doable that he cannot do. Therefore, when a bad thing happens, God has allowed that to happen. Yet we also “know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him.” We see these truths reflected in today’s Gospel reading.

God clearly permitted Lazarus to fall ill. And when Jesus received the urgent message from Martha and Mary that their brother was sick, he remained in the place where he was and allowed Lazarus to die. “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” So why did Jesus not come earlier, when he was told “the one you love is ill.” Or why did Jesus not heal his friend Lazarus’ sickness from a distance, like he cured the centurion’s servant or the royal official’s son? Jesus says the dying and rising of Lazarus was “for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it,” and “that you may believe.”

Earlier in his public ministry, Jesus had raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, having told mourners that the little girl was “asleep.” But that resurrection miracle was performed privately, shortly after death, and with strict orders to its witnesses that no one should know of it. By publicly raising Lazarus from the tomb in the presence of a crowd, Jesus manifests his power not only to heal the sick but to restore the dead to life.

Picture this: One moment, Lazarus was ailing and fading out of consciousness on his deathbed. The next thing he knows, he wakes up wrapped in bandages inside of a cave, and comes out toward the light at the sound of his friend Jesus’ call. His sisters would have filled him in on what he missed when he was dead.

The Gospels tell us Lazarus later attended a dinner with Jesus the day before Palm Sunday at the house of Simon the Leper. Martha served the meal while Mary took costly perfumed oil and poured it on Jesus’ head as he reclining at table. “A large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus… And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.” After Holy Week, the New Testament tells us no more of what happened to Lazarus. But we can imagine what it was like, years after Easter Sunday, when Lazarus died again.

Knowing that Jesus died and was risen, and having personally experienced death and resurrection himself, must have given Lazarus great peace even during his final passion. Consider Martha or Mary watching their brother die once more; having to burying him again. There would naturally still be sadness and ache in that parting, but I imagine the sisters would feel different this time: ‘We know he will rise in the Resurrection on the Last Day. Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life who has come into the world, and whoever believes in him, even if they die, will live.’ Our brother Jesus died and has risen from the dead “for the glory of God” and “that you may believe.” Knowing and embracing this reality changes our life and how we face death. Do you believe this?

Last week, April 2nd, marked the twentieth anniversary of the passing of Pope St. John Paul the Great. And if you are like me, having witnessed how he lived and died, is inspiring. Pope John Paul’s famous motto was “Be not afraid!” In this, of course, he was quoting Christ who frequently said, “Be not afraid!” “Be not afraid,” Jesus tells us, “If you believe you will see the glory of God.”

Posted in Courage, Homily, Hope, Jesus Christ, Last Things, Resurrection, Salvation History, Sts. Martha and Mary, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

The Living Water Jesus Gives

March 23, 2025

3rd Sunday of Lent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Jesus tells the woman at the well, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” What is this water he speaks of? The Samaritan woman, initially either humoring him, mocking him, or believing him, replies to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” She seems to be imagining literal, physical water. The disciples likewise thought Jesus spoke of literal food when they returned from town and heard him say, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” They asked one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” But Jesus clarified, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work.” So what is the “living water” Jesus wants to give?

Later in John’s Gospel, he gives us another clue. Jesus stands up in the temple area and exclaims, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’” Jesus announces this during the last and greatest day of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, a celebration of God’s forty years of care for his people during the Exodus. And that context is significant. When the Hebrews entered the Sinai Desert, they were thirsty and cried out for water. So the Lord commanded Moses to strike a rock with his staff, miraculously causing water to flow for the people to drink and live. St. Paul the Apostle would later reflect that the Hebrews “all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was the Christ.” Jesus Christ is our source of life. He pours out his living water so we may spiritually survive our pilgrimage through the desert of this world and happily enter the Promised Land of the life to come. Where do we find this living water with Jesus? Three places come to mind and the three are intertwined.

Christ’s water of life first comes to us in baptism. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission….” This sacrament is called “‘the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit,’ for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one can enter the Kingdom of God.” St. Paul teaches that we who were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. He writes, “We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.” Baptism connects us to Jesus’ Passion, Death, and Resurrection. We also encounter the water of Christ from the Cross.

On Good Friday, when the Roman soldiers “came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his spear into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out.” Jesus nourishes us with himself in his Eucharist so that he remains in us and we remain in him as constant companions. Knowing of his sacrifice nourishes our souls as well when we consider how Jesus does these things for love of us; both dying for us once on the Cross and then giving us himself from this altar today. We encounter the living water of Christ in baptism and from the Cross, but John’s Gospel tells us of a third way.

When Jesus stood up in the temple area and exclaimed, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink,” St. John’s Gospel notes Christ “said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive,” adding “There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” To be clear, the Holy Spirit is an eternally existing divine Person and St. Luke’s Gospel shows us that the Holy Spirit was active in the world even before the birth of Christ, yet through Jesus’ victory every Christian is now made into a temple—an enduring dwelling place—for the Holy Spirit within them. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’” He said this in reference to the life-giving and refreshing Holy Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive.

Sharing in Christian Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit who guided Jesus, we drink of the living waters of Christ. A person who drinks natural water will be thirsty again, but Jesus says whoever drinks the water he gives will never thirst. With Jesus, on our pilgrimage through the deserts and trials of this world, our hearts can be refreshed and satisfied through the gift of God.

Posted in Exodus, Holy Spirit, Homily, Jesus Christ, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Difficult Decisions? Look to the Star

March 15, 2025

2nd Sunday of Lent
By Deacon Dick Kostner

Our gospel this weekend tells of another Epiphany, the “Light of Christ.” Jesus has just disclosed to his disciples that his death is near. He needs to get away from the World and so he invites some of his friends Peter, James and John, to take some time off and follow him to the top of a mountain and pray for support from the Father for him to conclude his ministry vocation as savior of those he loves. His friends do not yet understand that he must die and rise from the dead to complete his assignment. But Jesus gifts them with a look at who he really is. They witness him talking to two Saints Moses and Elijah two Old Testament heroes. Showing them that he is the fulfillment of the Torah. Then they witness his glorified body turning into the bright Light of Christ and they begin to realize that he is not just their fisherman friend but also hear the Father call him his son who commands them to “listen to him.”

Jesus is the great teacher and we, like the disciples are called to “listen to him,” and to follow his directions, actions, and words, and to teach the same to the children of God. Jesus gives us directions today on how we can be successful and fruitful disciples. First, we need to pray for help. Prayers seem to be more successful if we pray on “Holy Ground.” Where do we find that? Some, find it on a mountain like Jesus found it. Some find it in a Church where the Blessed Sacrament resides. But for many it lies where ever you go to when you need help and direction from God through prayer. For me that is usually near my garden or a place that I can witness the Father’s creatures and creations. A place of reverence and quiet wonder of creation. Sometimes it is my chair where I write my homilies and reflect on Scripture writings. Bottom line is the whole world can and is “Holy” if you find yourself thanking God for where you can find peace to talk to Him.

Next, Jesus tells us to invite family and friends to join you and maybe provide some help and support from them when you are confused or suffering through an event you need to get through. My favorite place to view this is at a funeral liturgy. Remember Jesus works through and with his followers, who he calls His earth Body, His Church.

Finally, remember that Jesus has respect for suffering, and in this life, it is a very important element of faith, for it requires us to admit we need his supernatural strength to overcome and turn suffering into redemptive faith in and through his power to bring about an end to suffering through Easter Sunday and bring about our glorified eternal life with him in heaven.

Transfiguration can happen to us when we are called by God to commit to a vocation call from Him. At RCIA/OCIA class we talked about special events we have experienced in our lives and I shared with the class one of my special and fearful events that occurred to me when we were asked to purchase for ourselves an alb, a white vestment which I believe is related to our baptismal vow to be priest, prophet and king,. It was to be used by us for leading parish prayer events after we had completed our two years Lay Minister class some twenty-nine years ago. Barb, had me trying on several albs at a store in La Crosse and after she found one that she thought looked best on me she told me to go over to the mirror to get my take on the one she had picked. I walked over to the mirror glanced at the alb ,which I thought was fine, and then I looked up and fear overtook me. The face I saw in the reflection was not some one that I knew. I said to myself “who is this person?” This is not the person I grew up with. I did not share this with Barb until a week or so later. A few days after the happening while having a beer with my best friend I confessed my experience to my best friend telling him that I think God has something planned for me that I have not yet thought about. I asked him what he thought about the event and where I should go from here with this new person I had met in the mirror. He grinned at me and said, “I think you should get to know this new person and that you should go for it!” You all know the ending.

P.S.: The guy I grew up with is still with me, and the new guy and him are now good friends.

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

Passing the Marshmallow Test

March 9, 2025

1st Sunday of Lent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

A young child is brought into an empty room and seated at a table. On the table is a plate with a single yummy marshmallow. An adult explains that if the child waits fifteen minutes to eat the treat, one more yummy marshmallow will be given. Will the child eat one treat now or enjoy two treats later? Versions of this experiment are known as the Marshmallow Test. Studies of the Marshmallow Test have varied in their findings about how much this predicts a child’s future academic and social success. But in every test, a person faces a free choice: to either grasp at an easy thing, or to resist temptation and obtain something better. The temptations of Jesus in the desert were a high-stakes test which our Lord passed and we can learn from.

During Jesus’ public ministry, when “unclean spirits saw him,” St. Mark records they would fall down before Jesus and shout, “You are the Son of God!’” But St. Luke records how Jesus “rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.” The title “Son of God” was thought a reference to the Messiah, Christ, or Anointed One spoken of in the 2nd Psalm. During the Temptations in the Desert, the devil may or may not have known that Jesus is divine, but the devil’s questions show he at least strongly suspected that Jesus was the Christ, the prophesized King of the Jews: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread. … I shall give to you all this power and glory… All this will be yours, if you worship me. … If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from (this roof ledge of the temple).” With each temptation, the devil was placing before Jesus an easy way to become a flawed Messiah.

Like the forty days of Moses atop Mount Sinai, Jesus ate nothing for forty days in the desert and he felt hungry. By suggesting that he tell stones to become bread (possibly against God’s command that he fast) the devil was enticing Jesus to be a materially-focused Messiah. Yet “man does not live on bread alone.” Giving everybody bread without saving their souls would doom the whole world to death. Instead, Jesus obeys his Father, and goes on to change bread into his Flesh for the life of the world. By suggesting that Jesus worship the wicked “Prince of this World” the devil was enticing him to grasp at worldly power like evil lords, kings, and emperors. Instead, Jesus establishes a Kingdom in this world not of this world and reigns now as our uncorrupted, holy, righteous King. By suggesting that Jesus jump off from the height maybe the devil sought to fool him into presumptuously ending his own life, or maybe he wanted Jesus to be a Messiah who would refuse to die so he could never be the Lamb of God whose sacrifice takes away the sins of the world. Instead, Jesus is obedient unto death, even death on a cross, winning for himself and for us a resurrection to glory. Each time, Jesus resists the temptation, refusing the easy evil way but obtaining something better for himself and others.

Our daily temptations may not be so dramatic as Jesus’ in the desert, but we frequently face similar tests. When you are tempted to sin, consider the cost and opportunities lost. If you choose to throw rocks through your windows, if might be fun in the moment but you will lose money and time repairing them. And that money you would have used for a nice meal or clothing or some other good thing will instead be spent on panes of glass. If you choose to sin, it will cost you; not only in the pains which follow but also in the goods things you fail to obtain. When the devil would lead you down the smooth and easy path, call out to the Lord and trust Jesus enough to take the path that Christ has shown you. We see the greater things Christ’s faithful obedience ultimately brought himself and others. Patiently endure in order to see the victories it leads to in this life and the next life, in this world and the world to come. Remember the Marshmallow Test and pass the test before you.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Homily, Jesus Christ, Salvation History, Spiritual Warfare, Sunday Homilies | 2 Comments »

Holy Guides Are Needed

March 1, 2025

8th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Loving Everyone, Our Enemies & Ourselves

February 23, 2025

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why Bread & Wine

February 17, 2025

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Gift of Holy Orders

February 9, 2025

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Gift of Confirmation

February 2, 2025

Feast of the Presentation
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Forty days after Jesus’ birth, Joseph and Mary took him up to Jerusalem to offer the sacrifice required for a firstborn son. Jesus had been conceived through the Holy Spirit, but that was not the Spirit’s only activity in the world. The Holy Spirit revealed to a devout and righteous man named Simeon that he would encounter the Christ during his lifetime. On the day of the Presentation, the Spirit moved Simeon to come into the temple and enabled him to recognize the Christ when he saw him. Then Simeon took Baby Jesus into his arms and spoke words of prophecy which the Spirit inspired in him. There was also a prophetess there, an 84-year-old widow named Anna who never left the temple but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. The Spirit enlightened her too, to draw near and meet the Christ, and she spoke about the child to all. Through the Holy Spirit these servants of God, St. Simeon and St. Anna, were witnesses to Christ and filled with knowledge, courage, and joy. The plan of God was not to keep this gift of the Spirit limited to a few, but to grant him to many.

When the Spirit came down on Pentecost Sunday, St. Peter recalled the Old Testament prophesy of Joel: “‘It will come to pass in the last days,’ God says, ‘that I will pour out a portion of my Spirit upon all flesh. … Indeed, upon my servants and my handmaids I will pour out a portion of my Spirit in those days…” The Holy Spirit is poured out in the Sacrament of Confirmation which, together with Baptism and Eucharist, is necessary for the completion of our baptismal grace.

At Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove, and “drove” and “led” him out into the desert for forty days before commencing his public ministry. The Old Testament had foretold that the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon the Christ or Messiah, titles which both mean “Anointed One.” Jesus was quoting the Prophet Isaiah when he declared in the synagogue at Nazareth, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me.” Old Covenant priests, prophets, and kings were inaugurated through anointing with oil. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit as our New Covenant Priest, Prophet, and King. And Christians are anointed with that same Spirit through Baptism and Confirmation to participate in Christ’s identity and mission.

In our Latin rite, a person celebrates Confirmation typically sometime after the age of reason, but in danger of death it is even given to newborns. The ordinary minister of Confirmation is the bishop, our successor to the apostles, though Catholic priests can be granted the authority to validly confirm when needed. A person is confirmed when the minister laying his hand on his or her head and anoints the forehead with a blessed oil called chrism while saying, “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.” Chrism is made of olive oil plus a fragrant sap called balsam. This gives chrism its perfumed scent, such that the anointed Christian — to use the words of St. Paul — bears “the aroma of Christ.”

One of my memories from the evening following my Confirmation by Bishop Burke in Eau Claire’s Zorn Arena was feeling great joy. When I wondered at its source I thought, “Oh yeah, the Holy Spirit.” Joy, love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity are among the Spirit’s fruits. And wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord are numbered among his gifts.

In the ancient world, oil was a sign of abundance and joy, as at harvest time. It was used for cleansing both before and after baths. The injured used oil to heal wounds and soothe bruises Track and field athletes and wrestlers used it to limber their limbs. And it gave radiant beauty to both men and women’s skin. The Holy Spirit, in addition to the generous gifts he gives and fruits he brings, purifies us from sin and vice toward perfection, heals our past wounds and soothes our daily bruises empowers us to prevail over temptation and opponents, and gives us the beautiful glory of a more than natural goodness.

By the sacrament of Confirmation, you are more perfectly bound to the Church and enriched with a special strength. This sacrament is not an ending but a new beginning. After Confirmation you are, as true witnesses of Christ, more obliged to bravely spread and defend our Faith by word and deed in the world. If you were never confirmed within the Catholic Church, do not neglect this sacrament. Ask me about how you can receive this gift. And if you have already received the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, sincerely and lovingly ask him for his greater gifts and fruits. Like the fire passing atop candles, one to the next, God the Holy Spirit is not diminished by being more widely shared and spread. The child Jesus grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. By the Holy Spirit, God desires to do greater things with you.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Feast Day Homilies, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Homily, Presentation, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

The Importance of Confession

January 25, 2025

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Vision of Christian Marriage

January 18, 2025

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Great Gift of Baptism

January 11, 2025

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
By Fr. Victor Feltes

As with the Jewish boys who received the rite of circumcision on their eighth day to enter the Old Covenant, the early Church gave the rite of baptism as a free gift for even newborns to enter the New Covenant. Unlike those of us who were baptized as babies, my friend Elena remembers her baptism from when she was nineteen years old.

She says, “Right up to the night (of that Easter Vigil in 2007), I was still partially afraid that God would strike me down when the baptismal waters touched me. I wanted so much to belong to him but half-thought that maybe he didn’t want me. I thought, ‘If he wanted me in the Church, why didn’t he have me born in a Catholic family?’” Full Christian initiation is accomplished through three sacraments: first, Baptism which is the beginning of new life; Confirmation which is its strengthening; and Holy Eucharist which nourishes the disciple with Jesus’ Body and Blood for transformation in Christ. Elena received all three sacraments that night, “and then after,” she says, “I could hear him in a whole new way (not like a voice but like thoughts that you know come from him). And I knew I was his and that he wanted me.”

Through baptism, by being buried and rising again from the waters, we mystically enter the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are united with him as a member of his Church, members of his Body, members of his Bride. Through water and the Holy Spirit, we are “born from above” and “born again.” We become adopted children of God the Father and new temples of the Holy Spirit. Baptism forgives all our sins, indelibly changes our souls, bestows us graces enabling close relationship with God, and makes us sharers in the mission of his Church as priests, prophets, and kings in Christ. Jesus commands us to “go… and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that [he has] commanded [us].” Baptism opens the door to the other sacraments. It is the gateway into God’s Kingdom for salvation.

Jesus says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the opportunity to ask for this sacrament. God has bound salvation to his sacraments, yet he himself is not limited by his sacraments. His Church teaches that unbaptized martyrs, catechumens seeking baptism, and those who are ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and his Church but who seek the truth and do the will of God in accordance with their understanding of it can be saved through a baptism by blood or desire instead of water. How many are saved through these baptisms of desire? We don’t know. We do know that our clear salvific mission is the Great Commission Jesus gives us.

As St. Peter preached at Pentecost: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit!” Ordinarily, only deacons, priests, or bishops should baptize people by pouring, sprinkling, or immersion while invoking the Holy Trinity. However, in an emergency situation, anyone can baptize; simply intend to do what the Church does when it baptizes and pour water on the recipient’s head while saying “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

This Sunday, we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. Though sinless, he voluntarily submits himself to John’s baptism intended for sinners in order “to fulfill all righteousness.” By his own baptism, Christ connects himself with the baptized so the baptized can be united to Christ. Once Jesus was baptized, while he was praying, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in visible form like a dove. And the voice of God the Father came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

My friend Elena recalls that after her baptism, “I had this almost euphoric joy for almost a whole year that nothing could touch. I remember some religious sisters I’d met just after my baptism warning me that would fade. I didn’t believe them, but they were right. Hard times came and it got more difficult to hold onto that joy. But I think that joy is what we’ll experience in heaven and I hold onto that hope now.” Our own baptisms may have been many years ago and perhaps we have no memories of that day at all. But the effects of baptism do not depend on our feelings. Remember who you are in Christ. The voice of the Father calls out from heaven for you to hear him: “You are my beloved one, my beloved child, and in you I delight.”

Posted in Baptism of Jesus, Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Salvation, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

The Gift of Anointing

January 4, 2025

Feast of the Epiphany
By Fr. Victor Feltes

With Father Aro away in India for his annual vacation and spiritual retreat until February 12th I plan to celebrate all of our Masses for several weeks to come. This gives me a rare opportunity to preach with an ongoing theme. So over the next month and a half I will preach about the seven sensible signs instituted by Christ to give us his grace. These effective rituals entrusted to his Catholic Church through which we receive divine life are called the Sacraments. It is important for us to learn about these holy gifts of God so that we may benefit from them to the fullest. This Sunday, we begin with the final sacrament that many Catholics receive.

The Magi, upon entering the house of the Holy Family in Bethlehem, “saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” These gifts pointed ahead to Christ’s Passion. Gold, for Christ is King. Frankincense, for he would offer God a pleasing sacrifice of himself. And myrrh, for his body would be anointed with this substance for his burial. The Holy Family was being hunted by King Herod, but God provided these gifts for his holy ones so they could escape the dangers of death and be saved. (That gold and those tradable goods were assets for the Holy Family in Egypt.) Through the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, God provides for his holy ones as they face the threat of death. You are more precious to God than gold. Your sufferings can be united to Christ’s and offered up to heaven as a redemptive sacrifice. And the anointing of your body can better prepare you for either your recovery or your passing.

St. Mark records in his Gospel how the apostles “anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.” And St. James instructs the 1st century Church in the New Testament letter which bears his name: “Are there any who are sick among you? Let them send for the priests of the Church, and let the priests pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.” James writes that “the prayer of faith will save the sick persons, and the Lord will raise them up. And if they have committed any sins, their sins will be forgiven them.” Whenever you begin to be in danger of death from illness, or from the frailty of old age, or because of an upcoming major surgery, the time for Holy Anointing has certainly already arrived. Call your priest, because he is unlikely to learn of your need unless you tell him. The hospital will not automatically contact us and only a priest can anoint you.

The priest will come and pray for you, silently laying his hands on your head. Then he will take some blessed oil and apply it in the shape of a cross on your forehead, saying “Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit.” Then he will anoint the palms of your hands in the same way, saying “May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.” You can receive this anointing again either if your condition greatly worsens or if you recover and become seriously ill again later. When a priest believes it is likely to be the last time you’ll be anointed he will also give The Apostolic Pardon, Viaticum (or Holy Communion), The Litany of the Saints, and the Final Commendation as additional “Last Rites.”

This sacrament gives strength, courage, and peace. It forgives your sins, if you were unable to obtain it through the Sacrament of Confession. And it unites you to Christ’s Passion to participate in his saving work, helping you offer redemptive sufferings like St. Paul describes to the Colossians: “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the Church.” Sometimes this sacrament helps restore you to health, otherwise it prepares your soul to pass over to the next life.

Do not refuse or put off this sacrament. God is not an enemy like King Herod whom you should flee and hide from. Do not deprive yourself or loved ones by waiting too long to request holy anointing. Like gold given to an important person, like frankincense for offering holy sacrifice to God, or like myrrh to prepare us for the end of life, the Anointing of the Sick is a precious holy gift.

Posted in Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Last Things, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Life Lessons From A Holy Family

December 29, 2024

Feast of the Holy Family
By Fr. Victor Feltes

The Holy Family went up to Jerusalem each year for the feast of Passover. Once, when Jesus was twelve years old, as they were leaving the city at the end of the festival, the Boy Jesus stayed behind without his parents knowing it. Whole communities would pilgrimage to and from these feasts together, so Joseph and Mary had assumed Jesus was walking with others in the caravan during that first day journeying on the road back to Nazareth. But then, perhaps when it was time to share a meal or set up camp for the evening, his parents could not find him. They would have asked all of their relatives and neighbors about the last place they had seen the boy and realized that he had not been with them for hours. Joseph and Mary would soon return to Jerusalem and find Jesus alive and well on the third day. In this difficult episode for the Holy Family, there are lessons for us today.

Jesus had the best parents in all of human history. His adoptive father was a great saint and his mother was filled with grace. And yet, one time, they lost track of their only child for three days. This shows us that sometimes we can try our hardest and things will still go wrong (at least in our own eyes). We can always choose to put forth our best effort, but we cannot control every outcome. Remember: Just because something goes wrong, even painfully wrong, does not necessarily mean that we have sinned. The Blessed Mother was sinless and yet she lost her Son.

When we are little, our parents might seem perfect. As we grow up, we are disappointed to see their imperfections. But as we advance in wisdom and age becoming adults ourselves, we better understand human weakness and limitations. This does not erase people’s flaws and sometimes grave faults, but it can help us have more mercy for people, including forgiving our parents and ourselves.

After three days, Joseph and Mary found Jesus in the temple, “sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” Jesus shows us that we can learn things even from imperfect people. Jesus’ parents were astonished when they found him, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” Like holy figures in the Old Testament before her, Mary questions the Lord about the things she does not understand.

Being twelve years old, Jesus was years beyond the age of reason. He must have known his parents would be concerned after he concealed his plans from them. But the Sinless One does not offer an apology. Instead, he asks them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” It is a mystery why it was God’s will for Jesus to remain in Jerusalem. Even after his reply, his parents did not understand what he said to them. But he returned home with them to Nazareth and was obedient to them as he advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man. Blessed Mother Mary kept this episode in her memory, remembering its stressful beginning and joyful end, and pondering its meaning in her heart.

The things which happen in our lives, like the circumstances of our upbringing or the crises that come our way, will not always make sense to us. But we can learn and grow from all these things, and become more holy families because of them, for “God works all things for the good of those who love him.”

Posted in Blessed Virgin Mary, Feast Day Homilies, Finding in the Temple, Homily, Jesus Christ, Marriage and Family, Parenting, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Imitate The Visitation

December 21, 2024

4th Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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