A local parishioner has drawn upon the best available evidence to create this realistic sculpture of Jesus Christ on his Cross. Come to St. Wenceslaus in Eastman on Friday, March 24th at 7 PM to encounter this impressive, life-sized crucifix. Father Victor Feltes will speak about the historical sources on which this crucifix is based and lead some short devotions.
The St. Wenceslaus parish bulletin (PDF) for the 3rd Sunday of Lent on March 19th, 2017.
The St. Wenceslaus parish bulletin (PDF) for the 2nd Sunday of Lent on March 12th, 2017.
The St. Wenceslaus parish bulletin (PDF) for the 1st Sunday of Lent on March 5th, 2017.
The St. Wenceslaus parish bulletin (PDF) for the 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time on February 26th, 2017.
A Reflection on Genesis 4:1-15
Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” Through Eve, Cain is the firstborn of man. Through Mary, the new Eve, Jesus is firstborn of God.
Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the soil, while Abel, for his part, brought one of the best firstlings of his flock. This implies that Cain is not offering his very best. Jesus’ sacrifice offers everything to God.
Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out in the field.” When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Jealousy and a hardened heart leads Cain to murder his brother in the countryside. Similar wickedness leads to Jesus being murdered by his own outside Jerusalem’s gates.
The Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain is not a keeper of animals, but Jesus says: “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me.” (John 10:14)
The Lord God then said to Cain: “What have you done! Listen: your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil!” The blood that Cain shed cried out to Heaven for vengeance, but “the sprinkled blood [of Jesus] speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:24) The blood of Jesus outpoured begs mercy, for the forgiveness of sins on earth.
Cain said to the Lord: “My punishment is too great to bear. Since you have now banished me from the soil, and I must avoid your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, anyone may kill me at sight.” “Not so!” the Lord said to him. “If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged sevenfold.” So the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest anyone should kill him at sight. Cain is given a protective mark (perhaps a tattoo, common in violent nomadic cultures.)
Jesus enjoys no protective distinction: “There was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him.” Cain was not executed for his crime, but Jesus “was pierced for our sins” and “the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all.” (Isaiah 53:2,6) Killing Cain would have returned “seven fold revenge,” but Jesus’ death brings forth multitudes of mercy, as through the seven Sacraments.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the anti-Cain. Praise be to God!
The St. Wenceslaus parish bulletin (PDF) for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time on February 19th, 2017.
The St. Wenceslaus parish bulletin (PDF) for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time on February 12th, 2017.
By one count, Jesus asks 307 questions in the Gospels. Some of Jesus’ questions were rhetorical (asked to demonstrate a point) but other questions insist on a personal response. Below are some of his shorter questions. As you read this list, sense which questions Jesus is asking you today. What is your reply to him?Why are you anxious about clothes? — Matthew 6:28
Why are you terrified? — Matthew 8:26
Do you believe I can do this? — Matthew 9:28
Why did you doubt? — Matthew 14:31
But who do you say that I am? — Matthew 16:15
What do you want me to do for you? — Matthew 20:32
Why are you testing me? — Matthew 22:18
Could you not watch for me one brief hour? — Matthew 26:40
Why this commotion and weeping? — Mark 5:39
Why does this generation seek a sign? — Mark 8:12
What were you arguing about on the way? — Mark 9:33
Where is your faith? — Luke 8:25
What is your name? — Luke 8:30
Who touched me? — Luke 8:45
Will you be exalted to heaven? — Luke 10:15
Why are you sleeping? — Luke 22:46
Have you anything here to eat? — Luke 24:41
What are you looking for? — John 1:38
Do you want to be well? — John 5:6
Does this teaching shock you? — John 6:61
Do you also want to leave me? — John 6:67
Why do you not understand what I am saying? — John 8:43
Do you believe this? — John 11:26
Do you realize what I have done for you? — John 13:12
Whom are you looking for? — John 18:4
Shall I not drink the cup the Father gave me? — John 18:11
Do you love me? — John 21:16
For more of Jesus’ questions, check out this list.
The St. Wenceslaus parish bulletin (PDF) for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time on February 5th, 2017.
The St. Wenceslaus parish bulletin (PDF) for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time on January 29th, 2017.
Please enjoy, and freely Like and Share this video.
My special thanks goes to Mary Walker for lending her voice to this project.
The St. Wenceslaus parish bulletin (PDF) for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time on January 22nd, 2017.
The U.S. Constitution establishes that the president, “Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: —“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
The Kennedy Catholic missal used for Johnson’s inauguration on November 22, 1963.
Typically, presidents-elect take their oaths upon open or closed Bibles — sometimes two or three stacked one atop another under the oath-taker’s hand — but there have been exceptions to this custom. John Quincy Adams (1825) and Franklin Pierce (1853) used law books, while John F. Kennedy’s Catholic missal was found on a side table in Air Force One’s presidential bedroom for the mid-flight swearing-in of Lyndon Johnson in 1963.
History has often recorded the verses to which the presidents’ Bibles were opened. In 1789, George Washington’s Bible was opened “at random, due to haste” to Genesis 49:13. (“Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.”) However, most presidents have intentionally selected their passages.
William McKinley (1897) and William Taft (1909) chose separate accounts of one Old Testament quote. Young King Solomon, invited by the Lord to request a wish, asks for wisdom to lead God’s vast people and it is abundantly granted him. (2nd Chronicles 1:10, 1st Kings 3:9-11)
Hebert Hoover’s (1929) verse, Proverbs 29:18, notes the importance of right purpose: “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt selected 1st Corinthians 13’s teaching on love for all four of his inaugurals (1933, ’37, ’41, ‘45): “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”
Dwight Eisenhower’s (1957) verse, Psalm 33:12, acknowledges our shared dependence on God for our blessedness, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”
Jimmy Carter (1977) and Warren Harding (1921) chose Micah 6:8: “…What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
Ronald Reagan (1981 & 1985) twice-chose 2nd Chronicles 7:14, where the Lord invites conversion to gain His blessings: “If my people… shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
We, like all people, must beware of idolizing our presidents and other earthly leaders. (Even among popes only around 30% have been canonized and none of them have been sinless.) But we do well always to ask God’s grace for our leaders and for his blessings on the times in which we live.
For other presidential inaugural oaths’ Scripture passages, check out this list.
Catechism of the Catholic Church #1275-1284
Christian initiation is accomplished by three sacraments together: Baptism which is the beginning of new life; Confirmation which is its strengthening; and the Eucharist which nourishes the disciple with Christ’s Body and Blood for his transformation in Christ.
