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Death & Resurrection — Funeral Homily for Judith “Judi” Schindler, 71

February 5, 2023

By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

The parish of St. Paul’s and I wish to extend our sincere sympathy to the family of Judith. It is always difficult to lose someone that we dearly love.

Believing in Jesus’ resurrection is the core of Christian belief. It is the basis of our Christian faith. There would not be Gospels without the resurrection. There would be no Christianity, Church, the Priesthood, or sacraments without the resurrection. There would be no hope without the resurrection.

We would not have the resurrection without the death of Jesus Christ. We don’t have flowers, fruits, or trees unless the seed is sown. The seed has to die in order to start a new plant. Therefore, St. Paul preached not only the resurrection but also the crucifixion of Christ.

St. Paul reminds us that death is not the end, it is only the beginning. Life is not over, it is only changed. In the Gospel of St. John, Jesus told us that He is preparing a place for us in heaven. Death is a doorway to a new life with God. Jesus accepted death and has given us the rewards of eternal life.

Our first reading today talks about the souls of the virtuous. That reading calms any fears about death for those who trust in God. What better place could we go after death than into the hands of God? What a beautiful way to describe God’s care for us. Do you remember when you were little and your parents held you in their arms? When we die, God will take us in His arms. We believe that God has taken Judith into His arms.

In today’s Gospel, we talked about the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Jesus came to earth to free us from our sins and grant us everlasting life with him in paradise. It is difficult to know how Jesus must have suffered during his passion and crucifixion. Even today, God brings good from the sufferings that people endure.

Judith and her husband, Norman were married on June 27th, 1970 at St. Jude’s Catholic Church in New Auburn. They were inseparable. she was an independent woman. She was a Eucharistic minister and a CCD teacher and a lot of other things. She worked as the food director for the Chetek schools for 34 years. She and Norman raised two sons, Cory and Jeff. They enjoyed spending time with their family. She was close to her sister Suzanne. She will be missed by many.

We thank God for Judith. We are grateful that she was catholic. Let us place her in the hands of our Blessed Mother. She understands our pain and suffering. May our God grant Judith eternal rest in His heavenly kingdom. May Her Soul Rest in Peace, Amen.

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

Zephaniah & the Beatitudes Call to Conversion

January 29, 2023

4th Sunday of Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Jesus’ Beatitudes are words of consolation and hope but they are also a call to conversion. Our first reading today comes from the Old Testament prophet Zephaniah who proclaimed God’s words in the land of Judah. Zephaniah denounced his people’s unfaithfulness, warning them:

“Near is the great day of the Lord,
near and very swiftly coming…
A day of wrath is that day,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and desolation…
A day of trumpet blasts and battle cries
against fortified cities,
against lofty battlements…
Because they have sinned against the Lord.”

Less than one lifetime after Zephaniah preached, Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians and Judah’s earthly kingdom fell.

Zephaniah denounced those rich in material things, who hungered for feasts and comforts, who thirsted for wines and pleasures, who fashionably clothed themselves in unrighteousness. These proud rich would not be satisfied. Zephaniah said, “They will build houses, but not dwell in them. They will plant vineyards, but not drink their wine…. Their wealth shall be given to plunder and their houses to devastation…. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them.”

However, Zephaniah’s strongest condemnations denounced the idolatry among his people. Some worshipped idols in pagan temples, while some bowed down on roofs to worship stars, and some bowed down to the one true Lord God but would swear oaths by other gods. Zephaniah notes some said in their hearts, “The Lord will not do good, nor will he do harm.” They lacked faith, and hope, and love for him in their divided hearts. But with unclean hearts, they would not see God.

Today we hear Zephaniah say, “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth… seek justice, seek humility; perhaps you may be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.” Then Zephaniah announces that the Lord “will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord: the remnant of Israel. …They shall pasture and couch their flocks with none to disturb them.”

In fulfillment of God’s word, in response to a Jewish revolt, the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem in 587 B.C. They tore down the city’s walls, systematically burned its palaces and houses, and destroyed the Jewish temple. Those Jews who had made war were either killed or deported far away to Babylon, along with everyone else their conquerors saw as a threat. Yet “they left in the land of Judah some of the poor who had nothing and at the same time gave them vineyards and farms.” Blessed were the meek, for they inherited the land.

Yet even before Judah was conquered and thousands of Jews were carried off to Babylonian exile, God promised them a future return to Jerusalem. The Lord foretells through the Prophet Zephaniah: “At that time I will bring you home, and at that time I will gather you.” Blessed would be those people who remembered to mourn the loss of God’s temple and holy city, for they would be consoled. Less than one lifetime after their departure, once that Babylonian empire had been conquered by a Persian empire, the Jews were allowed to return home.

The words of Jesus and Zephaniah and the stories of their people should give us pause today, for “near is the great day of the Lord” always. How are we using our great riches? Which desires do we feed? Do we mourn the evils that we see in the world? Unless we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we will never be satisfied. We might not worship golden idols or swear by pagan gods, but idolatry still exists today. If our priorities (as reflected by our finances, Sunday sports or vacations, worldly desires or addictions, or any other things) usurp our Lord from his rightful throne in our hearts, then our hearts are not yet so pure as he wills them to be.

“Seek the Lord… seek justice, seek humility… do no wrong and speak no lies.” Practice mercy and pursue peace. Christ offers you his strengthening grace. Blessed are they who heed what Jesus tells us gains his Kingdom.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Culture, Homily, Last Judgment, Money, O.T. Figures, Repentance, Salvation History, Sermon on the Mount, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Share the Gospel

January 15, 2023

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Victor Feltes

The message of the Gospel is simple:

1. We are created by an all-good and loving God.
2. But sin separates us from him.
3. So God has sent his Son to be our Savior.
4. Therefore, believe & repent, that he may save you.

St. John the Baptist proclaimed this Good News to sinners. John preached that God’s judgement is at hand (indeed, each of us only lives once, and after this life comes the judgment). And as John warned, “Every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. … [So] flee from the wrath to come.” After our harvest time, the “chaff” will “burn with unquenchable fire,” he said, but the Savior will safely “gather his wheat into his barn.” The reason why John came baptizing with water was so that this Savior might be made known. Christ is the one of whom John said, “A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.” After baptizing Jesus, John proclaimed him the sacrificial “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” saying, “Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.” Repent and believe in Jesus Christ, so that his sacrifice may save you.

Who will be saved? How many professed atheists, or Hindus, or Muslims, or Jews, or Protestants, or Orthodox, or Catholics will go to Heaven? Thankfully, perfect, final, Divine Judgement is not my job. My mission and your mission is the Great Commission. After his Resurrection, Jesus said, “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 I have commanded you.”

Baptism and the other sacraments are the ordinary (that is, normal) means through which Christ offers the grace necessary for salvation. Jesus established his Catholic Church as both the ordinary minister of these seven sacraments and as the one, reliable guardian of Christ’s teachings on faith and morals in a hostile, sinful world through the centuries. Our Lord Jesus Christ and his one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church are the ordinary means of salvation for the world. Your non-practicing or non-Catholic relatives, friends, and neighbors are called to more with Christ. Like St. John the Baptist, your witness can help others receive this gift.

Your non-Catholic or non-practicing family, friends, and close acquaintances know you, like you, and respect you. They rarely (if ever) see or hear me, but they frequently encounter you. So here are three ways you can draw them closer to Christ and his Church: by sharing your prayers, by sharing your stories, and by sharing your invitations.

Share your Prayers
It is important to pray for the conversion of others, but you can easily pray with them, too. Whenever someone asks you for your prayers, or even when someone entrusts their burdens to you, offer to pray with them then and there. The words of your prayer don’t need to be eloquent, just sincere. People are usually quite receptive to this and very grateful for it.

Share your Stories
Today’s Gospel reading is simply St. John the Baptist sharing the story of what he had experienced with the Lord. And through this testimony, more came to know and follow Jesus. What has the Lord done for you, how have you encountered him, what are your miracles and spirit stories? Don’t hide these highlight experiences of your life under bushel baskets; be humble enough to share them with others for their good.

Share your Invitations
Invite them to accompany you to Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, or our community events. Invite them to share in the life of the Gospel. Even if they decline, you will have planted a seed that may bear fruit someday. You and they were made for the fullness of God in Jesus Christ, and our hearts are restless until they rest in him.

In conclusion, here is your homework for this week: share a prayer, or a story, or an invitation with someone it could help – you may well save a soul.

Posted in Catholic Church, Faith, Homily, Jesus Christ, Last Judgment, Salvation, St. John the Baptist, Sunday Homilies, Witness | Leave a Comment »

The Kingdom in his Garage — Funeral Homily for John Schwartz, 81

December 2, 2022

By Fr. Victor Feltes

Many stories could be shared about John; as a friend or neighbor, as a father to six children, or as a husband to Vernetta, whom he married sixty-one years ago today. He did interesting work for both multinational businesses and local organizations throughout the years. And even after his final job concluded, his kids tell me “he never retired.” I wish to tell you today about one of the ways John kept himself busy.

Whenever he drove a load to the Bloomer Recycling Center he might return home with more stuff than he had left with. In what others had rejected as trash, John saw value. He often said, “Everything is fixable.” John took his found-treasures back to a four-car garage in the backyard of his home. His kids tell me, “When he wasn’t working, he was there…” working.

The interior of John’s garage featured cupboard cabinets; each one painted to match and labeled to indicate the tools, parts, or materials stocked inside. John’s garage was a warm place—in both senses of the word. Throughout the colder months, John used his wood stove to keep the inside temperatures around 75 or 80 degrees. And once hotter weather came, John would open up his garage doors, sit in the doorway with a toothpick between his teeth, drinking coffee and waiting for people to stop-by to visit.

He was happy to share his time and talents with them, generous in sharing his tools or efforts whenever asked. His children tell me John loved that garage, saying, “His garage is his kingdom.” All good things in this world reflect the goodness of our Creator and our Redeemer. The beautiful realities we see are icons of invisible realities. And so, John’s garage is a partial glimpse of the Kingdom of God.

Because of humanity’s sins and corruption, we were rightly condemned. But we were not to be rejected, left to be abandoned, forever. God continued to value us. He saw treasure in our trash. And Jesus came down to redeem us, intending to take us home. Christ is always working, and everything is fixable, because “all things are possible for God.”

Jesus prepares a special place for each of us. Enthroned in heaven, he opens the doors to receive us. His Father’s house is a very warm place—in both senses of the word. We must be prepared to stand in the intense fire of God’s all-holy presence and infinite love for us. Thankfully, Christ is generous in sharing with us his tools and helping graces, so that we may become perfect (truly “good enough”) through faith in him. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, about whom countless stories could be told, John and you and I can all be together in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Posted in Funeral Homilies, Heaven, Homily, Work | 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 »

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.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Homily, Last Things, Sunday Homilies | Leave a 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 »

A Trimmer of Trees — Funeral Homily for Gordon “Gordy” Weyers, 90

October 27, 2022

By Fr. Victor Feltes

For several decades, Gordy has loved trimming trees. Of course, there is much more to the man as a Catholic, a husband, a father, and a friend, but this is one of his curious quirks. Whenever Gordy saw outside his house a tree branch which was not right, he was highly-motivated to intervene. He would pull out his ladder and tree-cutting tool to go take care of that errant branch. Dot (that is, Dorothy) his wife of sixty-seven years would tell him, “Don’t climb the ladder,” but he would do it anyway.

Gordy began saying he wanted a new ladder but his kids kept trying to talk him out of this desire, hoping he would stop climbing at his age entirely. Yet by all accounts, his old ladder was very rickety, so eventually Dot said, “Get him a new ladder, because he’ll fall off the old one.” Dot would periodically look out the window to check on Gordy tree trimming on his ladder. Years later, she told him, “Good thing you never fell off!” He replied, “Oh, I fell off a few times, I just didn’t tell you.”

But here’s the thing: after Gordy’s trimming—however daring or reckless it may have been—his trees looked really good. Dot reports that “he never did anything that made them look bad.” Those trees became more perfect, more healthy and strong, more handsome and beautiful, by having been cared for and pruned by Gordy.

We often recall “the Lord is my shepherd,” but we less often reflect on how our God is a gardener. In the beginning, God created a perfect garden. And when St. Mary Magdalene first encountered Christ resurrected on Easter Sunday she thought he was the gardener. Jesus teaches, “I am the vine, you are the branches… and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.” And the Letter to the Galatians tells us that the fruits which the Holy Spirit grows in us include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We are like trees which God prunes to make us more perfect.

Now I imagine if gold were alive and aware it may not feel eager be purified in a furnace’s fire, and the pruning process might not be a lot fun for a tree. But the Book of Wisdom tells us, ‘as gold in the furnace, God proves us… before taking us to himself.’ And though parts of our trees (of ourselves) must die and some of our unsightly branches must be trimmed away, the Lord makes our souls more perfect, more healthy and strong, more handsome and beautiful, through his care and pruning.

Like Gordy with his trees, Jesus saw us outside of his Father’s house. He saw our branches were not right. And he was highly-motivated to intervene. Call it daring or reckless, but our Lord put his life on the line. Christ went up the tree of the Cross to trim our flaws and perfect us. And after death felled him, Jesus rose again.

He declares, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” To enter into heaven, we must be perfected in Christ’s love. So if any imperfections still remain in Gordy’s soul, we ask Jesus today to prune them away. And we welcome our Lord to continue trimming any errant branches within our souls as well.

Posted in Funeral Homilies, Homily, Jesus Christ, Purgatory, Redemptive Suffering, Salvation | 1 Comment »

Death is not the End — Funeral Homily for Robert “Bob” Sarauer, 84

October 16, 2022

By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

Robert “Bob” P. Sarauer’s death is not the end. We can still be united with him. We are gathered here around the table of Eucharist, around Jesus, and Bob too is gathered around the Lord. He is now closer to the Lord, enjoying a closer union with the Lord which we also hope to share in the future.

We have heard in the first reading the souls of the just are in the hands of God. What better place could we go after death than into the hands of God? What a beautiful way to describe God’s care for us. Do you remember when you were small and your parents took you up in their arms? You were in the arms of your parents. When we die, God takes us up in his hands. We are in the hands of God. We believe that God has taken Bob up into his hands.

The readings end beautifully, expressing the faith of someone who believes in God’s goodness and who therefore is not afraid to die.

They who trust in him will understand the truth,
those who are faithful will live with him in love.
For grace and mercy await those he has chosen.
(Wisdom 3:9)

Those who trust in him will understand the truth. Those who are faithful will live with him in love. When we die, we go to God’s love.

Robert “Bob” P. Sarauer, 84, passed away on Monday, October 10th, 2022, at his home surrounded by his loving wife Marlene, and family members. He was born September 2nd, 1938, in the Town of Cooks Valley and graduated from Bloomer High School in 1956. On September 8th, 1959, he married Marlene Bowe at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Tilden.

Bob was a kind and gentle man who was loved by all, he loved spending time with family and friends. He always thanked everyone and had a big smile that everyone will remember. Bob enjoyed playing cards and getting together with his former classmates. He loved to travel whenever he could, especially the Alaska trip and all his hunting trips, and was a lover of the Packers football team.

Bob was a farmer all his life and liked milking cows, raising pigs, and cutting wood. In the year 2000, he sold the farm to his son and continued helping with farm work until his health slowed him down. He was survived by his loving wife Marlene for sixty-three years, had three children, four grandchildren, six step-grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and ten step-great-grandchildren.

So we ask God to take Bob up in his arms, to pour his love, grace, and mercy upon him.

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A New, Joyful Day — Funeral Homily for Robert “Bob” Sobotta, 77

September 26, 2022

By Fr. Victor Feltes

It was the day after Bob’s nineteenth birthday and the day before he would marry Joann. Bob and Joann had met at a Pines Ballroom dance and now they were at The Pines Ballroom again, together with family preparing food for the next day’s festivities. They listened to the radio as they labored, and that’s how they learned what had happened at 12:30 PM that day in Texas. A short time later that same afternoon, the first report of grim news was followed by another: President John F. Kennedy was dead. It was Friday, November 22nd, 1963.

Presidential assassinations had happened before, first and most famously with President Lincoln. But it had been sixty-two years since the last murder of a president, when President McKinley was shot and died in Buffalo, NY in 1901, and few were still alive who remembered living through it. So Joann recalls how shocked everyone was that a president, America’s first Catholic president, was killed. They were all discussing it, stunned. They just couldn’t believe it, it seemed so unbelievable — and yet it was real, as real as death.

I asked Joann whether that mournful news, whether this national tragedy, soured their “Big Day”? No, she said, it was “just as joyful.” Bob and Joann awoke the next day and were married in the morning (as was the custom then) in a 9:30 AM Saturday wedding Mass at St. Peter’s in Tilden in the company of many loved ones, their family and friends. This was followed by a dinner at the Sundial Club and then a reception back at The Pines, a feast and a dance for them all. Bob loved to dance, polkas and waltzes in particular, and he enjoyed dancing with his new bride. Bob and Joann would happily share their next fifty-eight years together loving God, each other, and their family, friends, and neighbors, until Bob’s recent passing.

Death is sad and unsettling. Though common to history, it still remains shocking for us. But suffering and death are not the end of our stories. Though we mourn now, we will be comforted. We expect a new dawn, a new day, when the blessed friends of Christ – our King who dies no more – will awaken to celebrate his wedding feast with him. Jesus our Good Shepherd will spread the table before us, and the just shall dance with delight, and every tongue shall give praise to God. Though today we walk in the dark valley, the day we prepare for, the day we look forward to, the day that awaits us, will be full of joy.

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The Gift of Eternal Life ― Funeral Homily for Leonard & Jean Halfman

August 26, 2022

By Fr. Victor Feltes

Imagine if, one night in a dream, an archangel visited you. His incredible glory fills your vision and you are convinced he comes from heaven. He bears a message for you. “Behold,” he announces, “the Lord God has decreed that you shall never die.” Then the angel departs from you and you awake in the morning wondering what this means.

A few years pass and you notice nothing unusual. You wonder if you might have imagined it. But a few more years pass and you realize that you’re not aging. A decade passes, and then another, but your age remains the same. If anything, you seem a little bit younger, while you see your friends and relatives grow older. You delight to be healthy and able to join them for their good times and you are grateful you can be there for them in their hard times. Eventually, you attend all of their funerals. You mourn their passing, but your life still contains joy.

Through the years, you make new friends. Perhaps you marry, or remarry, and have many children. You collect new hobbies, go back to school to earn degrees, and start careers in various fields. Eventually, you explore other regions of the world, learn new languages, and experience the best of other cultures. Your unending lifetimes would fill centuries, and your centuries might span millennia, but the longing within you would remain unfulfilled.

Your eyes may be filled by beautiful sights, your mouth may be filled with delicious tastes, and your ears may be filled with lovely sounds, but you would become envious of those who die because this world’s good things cannot fully satisfy. God places within us a natural wariness of death, and this is healthy and good. (If human beings failed to take proper care of themselves—if we were naturally apathetic towards survival—how could God’s purposes be accomplished in our lives?) But after having lived for multiple lifetimes, the blessing of earthly immortality would feel like being left out, left behind, like a curse. You would envy those who get to experience what’s next, while you continue to wait, with great impatience, for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

This funeral is unique in all my years of priesthood. Never before have I celebrated a Mass of Christian Burial for more than one person at once. And thankfully, today’s double funeral does not follow a horrific tragedy, such as a family’s fatal car crash or a double murder. Leonard and Jean lived longer lives than most people: eighty years and seventy-seven years respectively. And they lived fuller lives than most people, with strong Catholic Faith which they imparted to their children through fifty-six years of marriage.

Though a quiet, introverted pessimist was paired with a talkative, extroverted optimist, together they reflected Christian excellence to the world – feeding others through an extraordinary dairy herd, and supporting and caring for the sick and dying. Both endured physical sufferings, realizing along the way that the brain is a bodily organ which can require a physician’s help as much as any other. And finally, after sharing a lifetime together, their earthly lives came to natural ends less than ten weeks apart from each other. Despite living only one lifespan each, Leonard and Jean did not see their coming deaths as tragedies. I am told by their children, “In their own way, each experienced joy when they realized that they were nearing the end of this life and entering eternal life, and they were ready to go.”

Jesus says, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink… ill and you cared for me…” The Book of Wisdom says, “Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself. In the time of their visitation they shall shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble…” So while there is naturally some sadness today, we do not mourn a tragedy but rejoice in a triumph. As St. Paul said: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? … Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”

Posted in Funeral Homilies, Homily, Last Things | 1 Comment »

Are you Friends with Jesus?

August 21, 2022

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

How many friends do you have on earth? When was the last time you counted them? It’s not the same as the number of Facebook friends you have. Each of us have many acquaintances, but fewer friendly acquaintances, and still fewer true friends. What is it that makes you and your friends friends? Are you friends with Jesus and how can you tell?

Luke’s Gospel relates a parable which foreshadows that not all will die as friends of Christ. The Lord Jesus is the master of the house and he plainly warns us that after he has arisen and locked the door, many will stand outside knocking and saying, “Lord, open the door for us… We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.” But he will answer, “I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!” In the parallel passage to this which appears in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus cautions us, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven… I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you.’” Seeing many figures from the Old Covenant and from around the world saved, reclining at table, and feasting in the kingdom of God, those kept outside will be angry and grieved, wailing and grinding their teeth, at having squandered their chance to enter.

But doesn’t Jesus say elsewhere: “Knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened”? That is true for us during this lifetime, but at the moment of death one’s eternal fate is sealed. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ.” (CCC #1021) We must come to Jesus. Jesus says, “I am the gate…. No one comes to the Father except through me… Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Now is the time to approach him and befriend him for our salvation. We know that he loves us, but are we friends with Jesus?

When I was growing up, I thought about how many friends I had. I wondered, “Who counts as a friend?” I came up with a test: my close friends were those who could invite me to their house for supper with their family, or whom I could have over to eat with mine, without it being strange. With most of my grade school peers such invites would have felt weird, but with my handful of friends it felt fine. Eating with other people has been a sign of fellowship since ancient times. This is partly why Jesus calls us to Mass, to this meal together with him and the family of God. What greater dinner invitation could we receive than this?

Yet, simply eating with our Lord does not guarantee our closeness. During his public ministry, Pharisees invited Jesus to dine with them while regarding him with suspicion, and recall what those locked outside in the parable say to our Lord: “We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.” Merely being present for these activities does not automatically yield a close friendship with Christ. At every Mass, Jesus’ Word is taught and his Body and Blood are consumed, but friendship with Christ is about more than just coming to church. So how can we be closer to him?

I recognized my boyhood friends in those whom I would visit for meals and whom I would likewise welcome to dine with me. Jesus invites us to visit him in the Eucharist but desires that we in turn would invite him to our homes. In the Book of Revelation, Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.” How can we invite Jesus inside? How do we receive him into the places where we live?

Jesus knocks upon the door of our souls and hearts and minds each day, and through daily prayer we let him in. Open the door to him by prioritizing your relationship with habits of devotion. Be a gracious host to your great guest and make him feel at completely home, listening to his voice and fulfilling all his requests. Seek to serve the Kingdom of Christ and embody his righteousness as a saint like him. Reject your sins and love like him, for Jesus says, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” Jesus knows we’ll mess up sometimes, but Christ’s true friends will strive to be his close friends.

Posted in Heaven, Hell, Homily, Jesus Christ, Last Judgment, Last Things, Mass, Narrow Door, Parables, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Choose the Narrow Gate

August 20, 2022

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

Salvation is a past, present, and future event. We were saved from the bondage of sin when we were baptized as children or adults. We are being saved in the present, when we cooperate with God’s grace by loving others as Jesus did, by sharing our blessing with the needy, and being reconciled with God daily through His forgiveness of our sins. We will be definitively saved when we hear the loving invitation from Jesus, our Judge, at the moment of our death when we hear Him say, “Good and faithful servant, you were faithful in little things enter into the joy of your Master.”

Today’s first reading about the prophesy of Isaiah, we hear about the return of God’s people to Jerusalem. It is an assurance that God will fulfill His promise to His People. God will soon fulfill his promise of restoring us to Himself. He will do this to show His saving power. God has the purpose for this gathering, this is for the glory of his name. In other words, every work he does has the remote aim of giving Him Glory. In addition to gathering us unto Himself, God will also make us his ambassadors to other nations.

Today’s second reading from the letter to the Hebrews gives us the “narrow gate” theology. The road less often taken and the gate less often chosen are the paths of God’s discipline. The pain and suffering Christians experience are the parts of God’s discipline given in love. We are being disciplined by our afflictions, strengthened to walk that straight and narrow path – that we may enter the gate and take our place at the banquet of the righteous. The experience is similar to that of a child being disciplined by loving parents who desire only to help him grow, mature, and become responsible.

In the Gospel, Jesus answers a very difficult question, “Lord, will there be only a few saved?” His response was very simple, “Try your best to enter by the narrow door.” Jesus affirms that God wants all persons to enjoy eternal life. But he stresses our need for constant fidelity and vigilance to His commandments throughout our lives. Thus Jesus reminds us that, even though God wants all of us to be saved, we all need to work at it. Entry into God’s Kingdom is not automatically granted. Jesus came to bring God’s love and freedom to the whole world. The message of his Gospel is that there is not a single person, people, nation, race or class which will be excluded from experiencing the love and liberation that God offers.

We need to make wise decisions and choose the narrow gate. God allows us to decide every day what road we will walk down and what gate we will choose. He encourages us to choose His way and His life. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me,” this means a consistent denial of self for the steady follower of Jesus.

We need to cooperate with God’s grace every day, by choosing the narrow way and the narrow gate of self – control of our evil tendencies, evil habits, and addictions. God gives us divine strength to practice self – control. We are enabled to love others, see the face of Jesus in them, and share our blessings with them. The Holy Spirit guides us through the narrow way in daily prayer, bible reading, and reception of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist.

Posted in Chrisitian Virtues, Christian Perfection, Homily, Last Things, Narrow Door, Parables, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

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