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Greet Him At His House

August 9, 2025

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Today’s Gospel is first and foremost about the Second Coming of Christ and our judgment on the Last Day. Jesus Christ, who called himself the Son of Man, said that in the End Times “the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” The Book of Revelation agrees: “Behold, [Jesus Christ] is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him… ‘Behold, I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to his deeds.’” “But of [the timing of] that day and hour,” Jesus says, “no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (The Son of God is divine and therefore knows everything, but in his humanity Jesus apparently did not know the date or was not supposed to reveal it.) Could Jesus Christ return during our lifetime? Of course. But even if Christ returns a thousand years from now we should still heed his warning to be prepared today, for we do not know the day and hour of our deaths when he will judge our souls and deeds.

Jesus’ parable about the returning master and his servants suggests another secondary interpretation. Consider the story’s details. The master has come from a wedding. He comes to his own house. He wants his servants to be there, ready to greet him. And in response he will “have the servants recline at table and proceed to wait on them.” And “should he come in the second or third watch” (when it is darkest and most inconvenient) and find them present, attentive, and well-prepared, those servants will be greatly blessed. So where is the Lord Jesus’ house to which he returns? Where does he want his servants to be present and pleased to see him? Where would he have his faithful servants rest, partake in a meal served by him, and receive his blessed rewards? This church is his house. We are his servants. And Jesus wants us to meet him here for a meal. Our Lord arrives here joyfully from a wedding. He wedded the Church to himself two thousand years ago. And the Holy Mass extends that mystery throughout time and space to here and now. Indeed, ‘blessed are those called to the wedding supper of the Lamb’ and who are here and ready to greet him.

Yet, for too many people, the precious time of Sunday Mass is an hour when they do not expect the Son of Man to come. Despite our many scheduled weekend Masses, they still do not attend. Others show up out of obligation or custom or habit, but fail to be attentive. Perhaps they do not yet believe—despite Scripture, ancient teaching, and centuries of miracles—that Jesus Christ is truly present in the Holy Eucharist. Or perhaps they do not yet realize that they are not mere spectators at Holy Mass but offering a sacrifice with the priest and the whole community, the eternal offering of the Son to the Father, through which everything united to Christ is raised up to heaven and grace and blessings are poured down to earth in return.

Be present and be vigilant. Distractions will come to anyone who is committed to regular Massgoing and daily prayer, but do not be discouraged by the times your thoughts accidentally wander. Every decision to turn your attention back to the Lord is another act of love and devotion. Sometimes those so-called distractions are actually things the Lord wants you to pray about or offer up to him. Ask the Holy Spirit and he will help you to pray as you ought, to gird your loins with reverence and light your lamps with faith and be like servants who are glad and blessed upon their master’s return from a wedding.

Posted in Homily, Jesus Christ, Last Things, Mass, Parables, Second Coming, Sunday Homilies, Unwatchful Servant | 1 Comment »

Catholic Diversity In Unity

July 3, 2025

Solemnity of Saints Peter & Paul
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Today, I wish to speak to you about Saints Peter and Paul, vocations, the Catholic Church and the Churches in her, and two aspects of the Holy Mass. This homily will be a bit longer than usual, but each of its parts are interesting. Saints Peter and Paul shared many similarities but manifested in different ways:

🔸 Both were personally called by Christ to become apostles; Peter quite early during Jesus’ public ministry, but Paul rather late, after Jesus’ Ascension.

🔸 Both beheld Jesus in his transfigured glory; making his friend Peter feel ecstatic, but making his persecutor Paul go temporarily blind.

🔸 Both preached the Gospel; Peter primarily to the Jews, but Paul particularly to the Gentiles.

🔸 Both taught the Faith; Paul the Pharisee was highly-educated, but Peter the uneducated fisherman was not.

🔸 Both experienced weakness; Peter in conquering his passions, but Paul by enduring “a thorn in the flesh.”

🔸 Both were martyred by the Roman Empire in Rome; Peter was crucified upside-down, but Paul the Roman citizen was beheaded.

That Saints Peter and Paul whom we celebrate this Sunday shared one Faith, one Lord, and one calling, and yet manifested these differently in their faithful lives. We also see this in the Catholic Church today. Peter and Paul were called to be apostles. Today, some are called to be bishops, priests, or deacons. Others are called to be consecrated male or female religious. Many more are called to the vocation of holy marriage. Others live out their baptismal mission and call as single persons or consecrated virgins. Which of these ways is the greatest way to live a Christian life? The greatest, most glorious, most fruitful path for you is the one Christ has called or is calling you to. Your life may look differently than others’, even amongst people living out the same vocation, but you can still be living a faithful, fruitful Christian life.

We belong to Christ’s Catholic Church. The word “Catholic” comes from Greek, meaning “universal, worldwide, (or) all-inclusive.” The Catholic Church, established by God for all people and places in this present age, unites humanity in our diversity, but even within our unity we see legitimate variety. Did you know that the one Catholic Church contains 24 Churches with apostolic roots and varying liturgical traditions practiced in full communion with the pope? The largest of these Catholic Churches is the Roman Catholic Church, to which we belong along with more than 98% of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics. About 18 million other Catholics are in Churches in full communion with Rome; the three largest being the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (mainly in Western Ukraine), the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (mainly in India), and the Maronite Church (mainly in Lebanon). Our one Faith differently celebrated. (Other Churches called the Orthodox Churches have nearly 300 million members put together, with valid priests and bishops and all seven sacraments like us, yet they are not in communion with the pope. Pray for our reunion. The gap between us is less than any Protestant group.) There is even legitimate variation within the Holy Mass of our Roman Catholic Church. I wish to highlight two examples: one in how one receives the Eucharist and another in how the Eucharist is celebrated.

The early Church Fathers mention the Eucharist being placed upon communicants’ hands. Other Communion customs also existed but Communion in the hand was explicitly described. For instance, St. Cyril in Jerusalem and St. Theodore in Turkey instructed the faithful to lay one hand over the other to create a throne (for both saints declare one is about to receive a King) cupping one’s palm to receive “The Body of Christ” and answering “Amen.” St. John Chrysostom observes how a communicant’s hands “hold [the Eucharistic Sacrifice] but for a time.” He writes, “Oh! What a marvel! What love of God to man! He who sits on high with the Father is at that hour held in the hands of all…” And St. Basil the Great records “in the church, when the priest gives the portion, the recipient takes it with complete power over it, and so lifts it to his lips with his own hand.” These and the writings of other Church Fathers show that receiving Communion in the hand existed in the Early Church.

However, though Communion in the hand is allowed today, the many-centuries-long tradition of receiving Communion on one’s tongue is also permitted, either standing or kneeling. Some find receiving our Lord on the tongue strengthens their reverence and devotion; acknowledging the glory of their Great Guest, extending the red carpet of one’s tongue for him to enter under one’s roof through the doors of one’s lips, humbly receiving this priceless Gift of pure grace. After next summer’s church renovation, once there is more space in front of these steps to our sanctuary, I plan to place a kneeler in the center-front as an option, as you may have seen offered already at churches in Chippewa Falls. How you receive our Lord, standing or kneeling, on your hand or on your tongue, is for you to personally discern, since they each option is permitted for you by the present liturgical rules of the Church.

The next legitimate Mass option I would like to explain pertains to the celebrant leading the congregation. Since the Second Vatican Council, the most common way priests have celebrated Mass is versus populum, or “towards the people.” Yet the much-longer-practiced custom has been for the priest and the people to face (literally or symbolically) towards the east together, or “ad orientem.” Like the Jews used to pray towards the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, the writings of the Church Fathers show the early Christians prayed toward the east. St. Clement of Alexandria writes “prayers are made looking towards the sunrise in the east.” And Origen notes: “…Of all the quarters of the heavens, the east is the only direction we turn to when we pour out prayer…” Tertullian records that Christians facing east to pray caused some non-Christians to mistakenly believe we worshiped the sun. But the Christians praying toward the sunrise saw a symbol of Christ rising from the dead and of his promised return to earth in radiant glory one day. Throughout the centuries, even in churches which were not built to face east like our St. Paul’s Church, the priest and the people faced the same direction (or “liturgical east”) together. However, since the 1970’s the prevailing custom has been for the priest to face the congregation.

The Catholic Church approves both versus populum and ad orientem as valid options, and these two ways of celebrating the Mass emphasize different truths. Celebrating versus populum, toward the people, emphasizes the horizontal aspect, the communal meal. And the Holy Mass is indeed a meal, a memorial of the Last Supper, where Jesus Christ and his disciples gather at his table. Celebrating ad orientem, toward the east, emphasizes the vertical aspect, the sacrificial offering. And the Holy Mass is indeed a sacrifice, a memorial of the Cross, where Jesus Christ is offered up for us from his altar.

I experienced my first ad orientem Mass when I was still in seminary. The celebrant was a visiting alumnus and priest of our diocese, Fr. Derek Sakowski. I remember fearing that I would hate the Mass being said that way because I often dislike changes. (For instance, our seminary once changed the toaster in the dining hall and—even though I almost never used the old familiar toaster—I was annoyed when they had replaced it with a new one.) Fr. Sakowski said the same English prayers as at other Masses but watching him celebrate that Mass ad orientem, facing us when speaking to us and facing God when praying to God, I found it surprisingly beautiful and it made a lot of sense. When weekday Massgoers at St. John the Baptist Parish first experienced Mass ad orientem more than five years ago, the attendees reported positive experiences similar to mine.

I mention all this because I would like our weekday Massgoers to experience ad orientem in at least a few Masses this July and hear their feedback. After Vatican II, when Mass facing the people became the prevailing custom in the Church, pastors often introduced that liturgical change abruptly, without consultation, and without adequate explanation. It was jarring, and many lay people were bewildered and hurt. I do not wish to repeat such mistakes going in the opposite direction. Nothing will change without thorough consultation and consensus support. At the end of such a dialogue at St. John the Baptist’s Parish, one weekend Mass changed and the other stayed the same and today everyone seems happy or content with that. Our Faith, our calling, and our Lord are one, even as our faithful lives will manifest them differently. We are Catholic. So in essential things, unity. In non-essential things, liberty. And in all things, charity—that is, love.

Posted in Catholic Church, Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Mass, St. Paul, St. Peter, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Feeding the Multitude

June 24, 2025

Solemnity of Corpus Christi
By Fr. Victor Feltes

All four Gospels recount the miracle of Jesus multiplying the loaves and the fishes. He receives five loaves and two fish and successfully feeds (in the words of St. Matthew) “about five thousand men, not counting women and children,” with twelve wicker baskets full of fragments leftover. Now this event cannot be reduced to a so-called “miracle of sharing.” That would be a deed less impressive than what Elijah the great miracle-working prophet did in 2nd Kings: feeding one hundred people with twenty barley loaves and having some leftover. Merely persuading people to share food for one meal would not cause a crowd to declare somebody “the prophet who is to come into the world” and make them want to carry him off to make him king, as St. John records. This miracle was a true miracle, and it foreshadows the Last Supper and the miracle of the Eucharist.

St. John mentions ‘the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.’ This Passover was at least one year before the Passover of Holy Week, yet John mentions it all the same. And then there is the way the Gospel writers describe what Jesus does with the food for the meal: “Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing…, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.” These phrases should sound familiar. They closely resemble what Jesus does at the Last Supper and what his priests celebrate at every Holy Mass.

Without Jesus, the apostles felt powerless to provide for such a great number of people. But Jesus commanded his apostles to “have them sit down in groups of about fifty,” in more than one hundred clusters on the green grass. The flock obeys the apostles as they are obeying Christ, and Jesus proceeds to feed them all through his ministers. The miracle at every Mass is greater than the one Jesus performed with the loaves and fishes. There, he made the food he was offered far greater in quantity. Now, he transforms the food we give him into something far greater, not in number but kind.

At Mass, we are figuratively fed by the Inspired Word, by both the Old Testament and the New Testament, drawn like two fish from the stream of salvation history. And at Mass we behold the Incarnate Word, the Body and Blood of Christ, which suffered the five famous wounds of his Passion. But greatest of all, at Mass we can be invited to truly partake of the Eternal Word, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, receiving his living Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist. In the Gospel we heard “They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.” So rejoice in these holy gifts as your precious treasure. Tell others about them and invite them to join us here, for Jesus Christ desires this great feast to nourish everyone.

Posted in Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Mass, Real Presence, 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 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 »

Sharing His Real Presence

August 12, 2024

19th Sunday & 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

All four Gospels recall the miracle of Jesus using five loaves and two fish to feed five thousand people. But only John’s Gospel records what Jesus taught the following day in Capernaum. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all quote Jesus’ Last Supper declaration “This is my Body.” But John’s Gospel, written after them all, clarifies what these words mean.

Today we hear from the sixth chapter of John, where Jesus says, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” Some in the synagogue congregation murmur, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus of Nazareth was the son of Mary and the adopted son of Joseph, but Jesus also truly came down from God his Father in heaven. The people did not yet understand how what Jesus said was real.

Jesus then goes on to say, “I am the living bread … whoever eats this bread will live forever and the bread that I will give is my flesh….” The people quarrel among themselves about this, “How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?” They envision something grotesque, but once again what Jesus said was real in a way his hearers did not yet understand.

In retelling Jesus’ response to this objection from the crowd, John’s Gospel repeatedly employs a Greek verb for eating which is more intense than before — a word which does not mean merely “to eat” but “to chew, or gnaw.” In other words, Jesus preaches:

“Whoever [gnaws] my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. … Whoever [chews] my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who [gnaws] on me will have life because of me. … Unlike your ancestors (during the Exodus) who ate (bread from heaven) and still died, whoever [chews] this bread will live forever.”

Jesus does not intend to make his followers cannibals by feeding them a portion of his dead or detached flesh. Jesus would offer them his entire living self as food: his body and blood, soul and divinity. “Take this, all of you, and of eat it, for this is my body.” His Church has kept his commandment to do this in memory of him every Sunday throughout the centuries since.

Today, some Christians say, “This meal is only symbolic.” There is some symbolism present in the Eucharist: to separate a body from its blood and then reunite them is a symbol of death and resurrection. Jesus’ coming to us as food speaks to how essential receiving him in this sacrament is for our spiritual life. (“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.”) And Jesus taking on the appearances of bread and wine reflects his wish to be one with us in both the ordinary and the exceptional. (“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”) The Eucharist contains symbolism but the Eucharist is not just a symbol.

We are not idolaters. We do not worship bread. We worship Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. This is the teaching of the Sacred Scriptures. This is the faith of the early Church. This is a wonder confirmed by miracles. This is our Most Blessed Sacrament. This is Jesus, the joy of the saints.

At Capernaum, when Jesus’ disciples first hear him preach about this “Bread of Life” which is his flesh, many of them murmur, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Jesus replies, “Does this shock you?” They doubted if he really came down from heaven, so he asks, “What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? (Which is something Jesus went on to literally do.) … The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.” Jesus does not retract his teaching, and verse John 6:66 records that “as a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” Jesus turns to his apostles and asks, “Do you also want to leave?” And St. Peter responds with trusting faith, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Notice how Christ did not immediately chase down those departing disciples. Like the father of the Prodigal Son who ran from home, Jesus’ great love was unable to keep them close to him that day. But Jesus hoped that time, God’s grace, and the welcoming witness of his disciples would bring them back to his Holy Communion someday. Does the disunity of Christians and waywardness of the world trouble you too? Jesus wants us to be his welcoming witnesses today.

Having encountered the goodness and love of Jesus, having received him in the Eucharist, invite others to his Church. Pray for souls and tell them the difference being a Catholic Christian makes in your life. Share good homilies, articles, videos, talks, your favorite prayer devotions and saintly heroes. Pray for and invite your family, friends, coworkers, neighbors to come to Mass with you, and when you see new faces here help to make them feel welcome. Our parish classes for becoming Catholic (for those above the age of reason who want to be baptized or confirmed and be received into the Church) begin next month. Now is the time to encourage people to consider registering, even if only to come, see, and learn more. You possess a great treasure it costs you nothing to share. So invite others, as our psalmist says, to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”

Posted in Homily, Real Presence, Sunday Homilies, Witness | Leave a Comment »

In His Boat Together

June 23, 2024

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes

As evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us cross to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. Other boats were with him. Now God knew about the coming storm, yet God permitted Jesus’ disciples to experience it. Looking at the sky, they may not have wanted to board that boat; later, they definitely wanted to be out of the storm. Yet God willed them to be there at that time, to gain insight, to grow in their awe of Christ, and to deepen their relationship with him.

A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was great calm. In response to the words of Christ, the winds and waves obey. “Let there be light… Your sins are forgiven… Be healed… This is my Body.” The words of the Lord create reality.

Then Jesus asked the disciples in the boat, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” They were awestruck at the miracle they had witnessed, and their reverence for Jesus grew. They had sailed together, and came to the other side of the sea together, and (thankfully) nobody had washed out or jumped out earlier.

This weekend, Fr. Chinnappan is celebrating his final Sunday Masses at St. Paul’s and enjoying their farewell parties, meanwhile, I have both of the Masses here at St. John’s. At a recent meeting of our Pastoral Council, they suggested I speak about a few topics regarding our beautiful Sunday worship to enhance it even more.

For instance, at the Presentation of the Gifts, the priest-celebrant says, “Pray, brothers and sisters,” or “Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.” At that point, you may have noticed some variation in how St. John’s parishioners respond. Some people stand as soon as the priest begins to speak, while others wait for the completion of his call. According to the Roman Missal from which I say the Mass and the missalettes in your pews, it is when the priest has completed his call that the people are to rise and respond: “May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy Church.” This is not what occurs at many—perhaps even most—parishes, but if we wish to worship in the best and most faithful ways, I encourage you all to rise and respond at the end of my calling. In this way, the words of the priest acting in the person of Christ more clearly manifest their effect, like the winds and waves responded to the words of the Lord.

Another topic the Pastoral Council asked about was kneeling after the reception of Holy Communion. The habit here is to remain kneeling until the priest sits down, but they wondered what the rule was. (Reportedly, some people find it painful to kneel that long.) According to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (or GIRM), which contains instructions for the celebration of Holy Mass, the faithful may sit or kneel after Communion. Without causing a disruption to others at Mass, you may thank and love the Eucharistic Lord within you using the posture which will help you adore him best.

A final reflection is about coming to Holy Mass and remaining to the end. Some people say they find Mass boring, yet Jesus is here and wants you with him in this boat. If you attend with faith and openness, you will gain insight, grow in awe of Christ who loves you, and deepen your relationship with him. Unless you have a gravely serious reason, never skip Sunday Mass nor leave before singing our final God-glorifying hymn. Skipping Mass is to miss the boat. Leaving early is to jump out on Jesus early.

And after Mass, if you were not able to fully reflect in the time of sacred silence after you received our Lord in Holy Communion, feel free to remain here with him longer. Be quiet. Be still. It’s a beautiful thing Jesus surely enjoys, for he calls us here to worship him, and gives us himself in the Eucharist so that we may be together as one.

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What did Jesus Sing at the Last Supper?

June 1, 2024

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ – Corpus Christi
By Fr. Victor Feltes

The Last Supper was a Passover meal. Jesus says so when he instructs two of his disciples, “Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.”

The disciples found the upper room following the sign of a water jar. At the start of Jesus’ public ministry in Cana there were six stone water jars. As his ministry comes to its climax, there is a seventh water jar. The number seven symbolizes “fullness” or “completeness” in the Bible, like the sum of seven days is the completion of one full week. At the wedding feast of Cana, Jesus changes water into wine. At the Last Supper, Jesus changes bread and wine into himself.

“While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take it; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, [and] said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many….’ “Then,” St. Mark writes in his gospel, “after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” St. Matthew recounts the same detail: “Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

This presents a mystery: what hymn did they sing at the Last Supper? Would you be curious to know what lyrics Jesus was singing on the eve of his Passion? Since the Last Supper was a Passover meal, we have a well-founded answer to that a question. For thousands of years, the Jewish people have traditionally sung Psalms 113 through 118 at the ritual Seder meal for Passover. So Psalms 113 through 118 were very likely psalms which Jesus prayed at the Last Supper.

This Sunday’s responsorial psalm consists of passages from one of these, Psalm 116. Contemplate Jesus saying these words:

“How shall I make a return to the Lord
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the Lord.

Precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.

To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
My vows to the Lord I will pay
in the presence of all his people.”

Jesus is the Son of Mary, “the handmaid of the Lord.” He offers up the cup of salvation which contains the gift himself, a gift offered up to God the Father and offered up for us. The Jewish rabbis taught that all temple sacrifices would end with the coming of the Messiah or Christ except one: the thanksgiving sacrifice. In Greek, the word “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving.” Today across the nations, from the rising of the sun to its setting, the Holy Mass is Christ’s enduring thanksgiving sacrifice.

St. Luke notes how at the Last Supper, “when the hour came, [Jesus] took his place at table with the apostles and said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you…’” Jesus spoke this to the apostles yet he speaks these words to us as well. The Last Supper, the Cross, the Holy Mass are all mystically joined as Christ’s one great sacrifice for all. Jesus Christ is really present, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, in his Holy Eucharist, and he eagerly desires to share this Passover feast with you.

Posted in Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Jesus Christ, Last Supper, Real Presence, Sunday Homilies | 1 Comment »

A Glorious Moment

April 14, 2024

3rd Sunday of Easter
Fr. Victor Feltes

Boys and girls, I want to tell you about an adventure I went on last week. I took a short trip to see the solar eclipse on Monday in Indiana. (An eclipse is a very rare event where the Moon gets in front of the Sun in just the right way that, for a few minutes in particular places, the Moon blocks out the Sun’s light.) My friends and I had looked forward to that day for seven years, ever since 2017 when we traveled to see the total eclipse in Missouri. Widespread clouds had been forecasted for Monday, but the skies were providentially clear for millions of eclipse-watchers from Texas to Ohio.

The Moon began covering the Sun over the course of an hour. At first, to the naked eye, you couldn’t notice anything had changed, but the sunlight slowly became like an overcast day. (Remember kids, do not stare at the Sun because that can permanently damage your eyes.) In the final moments before the full eclipse, it was like seeing the world’s dimmer switch being turned down. Then, the Moon totally covered the blinding light of the Sun. You could see the Sun’s corona resembling white wisps of motionless smoke. Jupiter and Venus were visible in the darkened sky, while every horizon around us looked like twilight. All the birds were quiet. After three minutes, the Sun began to reemerge and several seconds later, its light became too bright again for us to look at without our special, filtered safety glasses. Imagine if colorful sunsets only occurred on Earth at particular places on a handful of dates each decade. Seeing the total eclipse was as special as that.

Besides its beauty, a wondrous thing about a total eclipse is our ability to predict them. The orbits of the Earth and Moon around the Sun are well-known, such that we can calculate with high accuracy, years in advance, when and where eclipses will occur. For instance, unless the second coming of Christ occurs first, the United States’ next total eclipses will be in 20 and 21 years. (You children will be grown up by then.) And 75 years from now, a total eclipse is forecast over Bloomer, Wisconsin, on September 14, 2099 at 10:45 AM, lasting four minutes. (So far, I have nothing else scheduled on my calendar for that day, but we’ll see.)

Another wondrous thing about total eclipses is that they are even possible. The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun. The Moon it is also about 400 times closer to us than the Sun. For this reason, our Moon and Sun appear the same size in our sky and one can closely cover the light of the other. Scientists have not identified any reason why their relative sizes and distances would have to be this way, but if their ratios were just a bit different then the stunningly beautiful eclipses we have would never occur; the Moon would cover either too much or not enough of the Sun. Countless things about our universe are fine-tuned in this way.

The physical laws of the universe fit together so providentially to allow and sustain living and interesting and beautiful things that some want to imagine there’s an infinite number of universes to explain away this fact. St. Paul wrote to the Romans about people who deny our Creator, “Ever since the creation of the world, [God’s] invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse; for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened.” Our lives are not an accident. We are willed by God. Heaven and earth are full of God’s glory. We and our world are wonderfully made.

The coming of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ we heard about it today’s gospel reading are like a total eclipse; beautiful, awesome, and stunning; happening in real history at a particular place at a particular time; and “announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets.” These things draw the attention of millions, though many disregarded them. God was like the Sun, our source of life, yet too hot, too blinding, and too far away to approach. Jesus Christ is like a solar eclipse. Like the Sun and Moon during a solar eclipse he is God and man united, allowing us to see God’s glory. Jesus Christ performs a similar wonder today for you. Behind the appearances of bread you can gaze upon his very self. Jesus has chosen this day, this place, this glorious moment to give you his Most Holy Eucharist, this most precious gift of himself.

Posted in Homily, Incarnation, Jesus Christ, Real Presence, Resurrection, Science, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Silence in the Sacred Liturgy

December 18, 2023

3rd Sunday of Advent
Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

According to the “General Instruction of the Roman Missal,” which are guidelines on the celebration of the Holy Mass, it is recommended that silence be observed on five different occasions during Mass. Those moments are:

  • In the beginning and at the penitential rite
  • At the start of certain prayers when the priest says, “Let us pray”
  • After each of the Scripture readings
  • After the homily
  • After all have received Communion

Thirty seconds of silence would be an appropriate time for each of the above. Let us look at each of those times we are invited to be silent during the Mass.
First, we called to be silent before mass begins. We need some time to recollect ourselves to enter into prayer. The church encourages us to come to the church at least five to ten minutes before mass and sit in the presence of the Lord in silence, offering the family, near and dear ones in the hands of the Lord. During this time, the silence must be practiced in the church, in the sacristy, and the vesting room, so that all may dispose themselves to carry out the sacred celebration devoutly and fittingly. If we cultivate silence, we will hear the voice of the Lord.

The next place of silence is during the Penitential Rite. We all are invited to take a movement of silence to call to mind our sins. That is, we acknowledge our unworthiness to be in God’s holy presence. We prepare ourselves to take part in the Holy Eucharist before praying together to the Confiteor or the “Lord, have mercy.”

The words “Let us Pray” are followed by a period of silence. This prayer is commonly called the “Collect.” The priest “collects” the thoughts, intentions, petitions, and prayers of every one of us, who have been collected from our homes for this celebration of Mass. This moment of silence helps us to focus our worship on Christ. The priest is a mediator between God and man and brings all our petitions to God.

We are directed to have a brief movement of silence after readings. This allows all of us to ponder on the Word spoken so that the Word of God can seep into our being.

Once again, we are invited to be silent after the Homily, which is the time when a priest or deacon explains the readings and teaches us how to live in the light of the gospel. The readings and the homily contain advice, an exhortation, or an admonishment; we can ask the Lord how it applies to our lives. The period of silence is a time when the Lord can make alive and active the word of God in our hearts. We need only to ask him for this: “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”

After Communion is another opportunity to be silent. It is a time to offer our prayers of Thanksgiving to the Lord for having fed us with his very self in the holy Eucharist. We can ask the Lord to fill us with his love, to help us love our brothers and sisters, to help us see the world as he does. We can give him thanks for the great blessings he has given us.

Finally, even after the Mass, we are invited to be silent inside the church out of respect for those of us who would like to pray after mass. Those of us who would like to talk with our friends and family members may kindly move the gathering area and spend our time there.

Specific periods of silence are recommended by the Catholic Church to encourage us to have internal and external silence for all the participants at Mass. It can be a challenge to be silent, internally and externally. Indeed, silence at mass is an active, not a passive disposition. Achieving this silence is worth the effort because it helps us to be fully attentive to the Holy Spirit.

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“You Spread A Table Before Me” — Funeral Homily for Donetta Geissler, 83

October 24, 2023

By Fr. Victor Feltes

The words of our most famous psalm say, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want… He guides me in right paths…. Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil; for you are at my side.” Around her thirty-third year of life, the age at which Jesus’ Passion began, Donetta began fifty years of physical trial. The nerve disease known as Multiple Sclerosis sapped her energy with fatigue, reduced her coordination, making it difficult to write, and weakened her limbs, making it very hard to walk. Bearing a chronic, incurable disease throughout one’s life might be compared to carrying a cross through a dark valley. It would be normal and natural for such a person to feel low, discouraged, hopeless. Yet, Donetta’s children tell me she was not discouraged, but courageous.

She “talked about the things she could do and not the things she couldn’t.” She was ‘incredibly positive, never self-pitying, and enthusiastic for life.’ What was the source of her supernatural strength? What was the origin of her outpouring love and joy? The 23rd Psalm tells us: “You spread a table before me… My cup overflows.” Her physical limitations meant she could not come to Holy Mass often, but each year around Halloween she would begin asking her kids, “Are you taking me to Church for Christmas?” She would come with her family to Christmas Eve Mass, sitting in the first row pew. Donetta loved receiving our Lord in his Holy Eucharist. And when she could not come to him, Jesus would come to her.

At weekday Masses celebrated at the Atrium (new Meadowbrook) nursing home, or from lay ministers coming to her various residences, she received Communion throughout her final four decades. She would watch the Holy Mass on TV, say her Rosary multiple times a day, and pray her daily devotional books with dedication. She found her great consolation in God and with God, like the psalmist who said “goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life.” She desires the same for you.

As St. Paul reminds us, “We must all appear [one day] before the judgment seat of Christ.” Donetta reportedly neither longed for death nor feared it. She said, “If the Lord wants me, it’s time to go… When the good Lord takes me I’m ready.” She looked forward to seeing her mother and father and other deceased loved ones again, and anticipated the joy being with Jesus and our Father with the Holy Spirit forever. She confidently hoped in God’s word: “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come.”

Pray for Donetta’s soul, that any remaining impurity or imperfection in her soul may be cleansed. As the Book of Wisdom tells us, like gold in the furnace, God purifies us. Only as flawless sacrificial offerings will he take us to himself. As Jesus says, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.” St. Augustine of Hippo’s holy mother, St. Monica, whose loving prayers so aided him in his conversion had a final request for her children. She told them, “Bury my body wherever you will…. Only one thing I ask of you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be.” Donetta would have you remember her at God’s altar, so that you each may be led into true blessedness by Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd.

Posted in Chrisitian Virtues, Christian Perfection, Funeral Homilies, Homily, Jesus Christ, Mass | Leave a Comment »

It Don’t Get Any Better Than Mass

October 14, 2023

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Deacon Dick Kostner

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted in Homily, Mass, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Marriage & the Eucharist — The Jonathan Lynch & Abigail Butek Wedding

July 5, 2023

By Fr. Victor Feltes

Johnathan and Abigail, the three readings you chose for your wedding are each about divine love. The First Letter of St. John says “in this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he has loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.” Jesus tells us in St. John’s Gospel, “As the Father loves me, so I love you. …Love one another as I love you.” And the third reading you chose (the first we heard today) comes from The Song of Songs. This Old Testament book is curious in the canon.

The Song of Songs is a collection of sometimes graphic love poetry. Though traditionally attributed to King Solomon, and so sometimes called The Song of Solomon, scholars’ estimates for the year it was written range between 1,000 and 100 BC. And most extraordinarily, the book contains no explicit references to God, or religion, or spirituality. So why is it in the Bible and a fitting source for a Catholic wedding reading?

For starters, The Song of Songs it is not an ode to fornication, for at the center of the book we find a royal wedding procession; the man and woman are husband and wife. And just as Jewish writers saw it as an allegory of God’s love, early Christian saints see it depicting Jesus Christ’s love for us, his Bride, the Church. All four Gospels, two Pauline epistles, and The Book of Revelation call Christ a bridegroom or husband, and Jesus describes himself as such. Therefore, the saints’ view of The Song of Songs is not an outrageous reading but a natural interpretation.

Johnathan and Abigail, you have fittingly chosen to enter marriage today in a wedding Mass. Though getting married in a simple Catholic ceremony is an option, being married at a Holy Mass is best. Like the titles “King of Kings” or “Lord of Lords,” the title of The Song of Songs proclaims it as the most excellent or greatest of songs. In the same way, the Holy Mass may be called the meal of meals, our prayer of prayers, the sacrifice of sacrifices, the covenant of covenants. “Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.”

Today, I wish to highlight for you a few parallels found in the sacraments of marriage and the Eucharist. First, both sacraments establish covenants. The covenantal nature of the Eucharist is made clear at the Last Supper when Jesus offers us his Blood in the chalice. “Take this, all of you, and drink from it,” this is “the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you…” Marriage is likewise a covenantal union between bridegroom and bride.

Second, both marriage and the Eucharist are effected by words and action. With the priest’s words of consecration, you have the Real Presence of Jesus on the altar at Mass. With your exchange of vows, you will be married before God’s altar. But that is not the consummation of these sacraments. If neither priest nor people consumed Communion after the consecration, an aspect of the sacrament would remain unfulfilled. Both of these holy sacraments are effected by words and action.

Third, these covenantal unions are ongoingly renewed. Much is made of the day of First Communion and one’s wedding day. These firsts are worthy of celebration, but they are just the beginnings. Through the mutual gifting of one’s whole self to the other, these sacraments are renewed through repetition. Jesus tells us at every Mass, “Take this… this is my Body,” and we are called to offer our whole selves to him in return. Many Catholic couples have placed a crucifix above their headboard reflecting the sacrificial self-giving each spouse is called to. These two sacraments reflect and reveal each other; husband and wife, Christ and his Church. “Love one another as I love you… Do this in memory of me.”

Before receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, we proclaim: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof…” Jonathan, Abigail, and all married spouses, maintain your reverence towards each other. Like approaching Jesus in the Eucharist, do not take each other for granted.

Before receiving him in the Eucharist, we also declare to Jesus: “Only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” Jonathan and Abigail, realize the power of your words for each other. They can wound and they can heal; you too can strengthen and transform each other through the power of your words.

And finally, Jonathan and Abigail, always remain close to Jesus and do his will. He tells us, “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” As the Song of Song tells us, “As stern as death is [his] love, relentless as the nether-world is [his] devotion; its flames are a blazing [divine] fire. Deep waters cannot quench [his] love, nor floods sweep it away.” Remain in his mighty love and your love will fruitfully endure.

Posted in Homily, Love, Marriage and Family, Mass, Real Presence, Wedding Homilies | Leave a Comment »

The New Manna

June 11, 2023

Solemnity of Corpus Christi
By Fr. Victor Feltes

In the Old Testament, God freed his people with the Prophet Moses. The Hebrews in Egypt were slaves to Pharaoh since birth, but God’s mighty works through Moses liberated them. Though he had led them through the waters of the Red Sea their journey was not yet completed. They were still in the arid desert and God wished to lead them into his Promised Land, “a land of milk and honey” he had promised to their ancestors. God had already blessed his people, yet he wished to give them his even fuller blessings there.

How were the Hebrew people sustained for forty years in the desolate Sinai desert? What did they eat to survive? Every day, God made fine flakes appear on the ground around their camp. These flakes were “white, and tasted like wafers made with honey.” Upon seeing them the people asked, “What is this?” (in Hebrew, “Manna?”) Moses told them, “It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.” Without that manna they would have starved to death. God’s people ate this bread until they entered the Promised Land.

Here we see things and events of the Old Testament foreshadowing events and things of the New. In the New Testament, God liberates his people with Christ Jesus his Son. We all were slaves to sin, Satan, and hopeless death, but God’s mighty works through Jesus Christ freed us. He has led us through the waters of baptism; however, our journey is not yet completed. We possess renewed life in this fallen world but God wishes to lead us into his Promised Land of Heaven. God has already blessed us, yet he wishes to give us his even fuller blessings there.

So how are we to endure as we walk through the present desert of this world? Every day, in churches like this one, God offers us the Bread that has come down from Heaven. Jesus says, “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.” He gives us himself in the Eucharist. People see the Blessed Sacrament and wonder, “What is this?” It is the New Manna; the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ.

In addition to Sacred Scripture, the Early Church Fathers attest to this. These theologians living in the first centuries of the Church teach and document what the earliest Christians believed about Jesus Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. For instance, shortly after 100 AD, St. Ignatius of Antioch said, “The Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ.” Around 150 AD, St. Justin Martyr taught, “The Eucharist… is both the Flesh and the Blood of that incarnated Jesus.” St. Augustine of Hippo wrote in the early 400’s that, “Christ was carried in his own hands when, referring to his own body, he said, ‘This is my body.’ For he carried that body in his hands.” And there are many other examples of such teaching from that era.

This is what Christ’s one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church has always believed and taught, and God has affirmed its truth here and there by Eucharistic miracles throughout the centuries. In the Old Testament, God’s people ate the manna until they entered the Promised Land. Had they not regularly eaten of it, they would have died from starvation. This reflects how important faithfully receiving and promoting the Holy Eucharist must be for you and me.

Never neglect Sunday Mass. To skip Mass from Saturday evening through Sunday night (without a grave reason for doing so) is to prioritize something else above of Jesus, spurning the Lord who commands us to keep his day holy. Let Jesus Christ be first in your life through faithfully worshipping and receiving him at Mass. And opportunities to worship and receive our Lord at Mass are not limited to the weekends.

If your schedule permits, I welcome and invite you to try weekday Mass, celebrated at St. Paul’s on Monday through Friday at 7:15 AM and mornings at St. John’s on Mondays, Thursdays, and First Fridays. Weekday Mass is only a half-hour long, it features a homily, and is among the best devotions for drawing closer to Jesus.

Are any of your friends or relatives interested in our Catholic Faith? Invite them to come with you to Mass or bring them to that other great way to encounter our Eucharistic Lord: Eucharistic Adoration.

What greater treasure do we have than Jesus, truly present in the Eucharist? Let us treasure him as we ought and introduce this treasure to others. Strengthened by his food, our Lord would bring us all together into his Promised Land of Heaven.

Posted in Catholic Church, Devotions, Exodus, Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Mass, Moses, Real Presence, Salvation History, Sunday Homilies, Typology | 1 Comment »

Meet our Risen Lord at Mass with Opened Eyes and Burning Hearts

April 22, 2023

3rd Sunday of Easter
By Fr. Victor Feltes

On Easter Sunday afternoon, two of Jesus’ disciples were walking seven miles to Emmaus. Everyone journeys down the road of life. They have heard stories of Jesus’ Resurrection yet feel uncertain, pondering it, discussing it, and debating it. This is how they first meet the Risen Lord, with eyes not yet recognizing him as he walks with us. Jesus initiates the encounter. One whose name means “Glory to the Father” (whose life is meant to give glory to the Father) has questions about Jesus, the Nazarene called Christ. Cleopas and another disciple discover on their journey the very best person to answer the questions on their hearts. This meeting on the road to Emmaus parallels, beat-for-beat, how Jesus meets us in the Holy Mass.

Upon greeting and gathering his disciples near himself, Jesus begins a presentation of God’s Word. Starting with the Old Testament, he proclaims and explains how the Scriptures refer to him. Jesus preaches a homily pointing to himself. They hear, listen, and believe. These Christians would now profess as their creed, “I believe in Jesus Christ… For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died, and was buried, and on the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures.” Next, they repeatedly petition the Lord: ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over. We pray, Lord, that you will grace us amid the darkness of this world.’ And the Lord grants their requests.

Before, his disciples’ spirits had been heavy and downcast. But now that the Lord is with them, with a new spirit they lift up burning hearts to the Lord our God, rightly giving him thanks. Then at table, having presented to Jesus the customary bread and wine, he takes the bread, says the blessing, breaks it, and gives it to them. With that their eyes are opened and they recognize his real presence, made known to them in the breaking of bread. In conclusion, they go at once and with rapid steps walk seven miles more to share their Good News about Jesus Christ with others.

Every Sunday since those early days, Christ’s Church has celebrated the Breaking of Bread, the Holy Eucharist, the Mass, in fulfillment of his instruction to “Do this in memory of me.” As the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes, we have testimony from the second century showing that the basic outlines of early Eucharistic celebrations match the Holy Mass today. Around the year 155 A.D., St. Justin Martyr composed an open letter to the pagan Roman emperor to explain Christians’ beliefs and worship. St. Justin wrote:

“On the day we call the day of the sun (that is, Sunday), all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place. The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read… When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things. Then we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves…and for all others… Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren. He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a considerable time he gives thanks that we have been judged worthy of these gifts. When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying: ‘Amen!’ [Then] those whom we call deacons give to those present the ‘eucharisted’ bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent.”

And St. Justin Martyr adds:

“This food we call the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth (that is, baptism), and who lives as Christ handed down to us (that is, the Christian moral life). For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink… [W]e have been taught that the food consecrated… is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus.”

Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus and St. Justin Martyr, we today are invited to encounter Jesus Christ at Holy Mass. Let us always recognize him, rejoice in him, and receive him with eyes opened with faith and hearts burning with love.

Posted in Catholic Church, Homily, Mass, Real Presence, Resurrection, Sunday Homilies, Typology | 1 Comment »

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