24 April 2026 - homily for Friday of the 3rd week of Easter - St Fidelis - John 6:52-59

Born in 1577 in the era of the Protestant reformation, St Fidelis started his professional life as a lawyer in Germany. However, he became disenchanted in practicing law and decided to dedicate himself to serving God in a consecrated religious community, joining the Capuchin Franciscans, of which his brother was a member. He very boldly lived out his faith and proclaim the faith in word and in action as a Capuchin Franciscan. He was sent to minister in different regions of Germany, where his preaching and ministry transformed entire communities. He often cared for the sick, especially in outbreaks of disease. For his great zeal for the faith, he was chosen to lead a mission delegation the country of Switzerland to bring people back to the Catholic faith. He would spend many hours in prayer and was a great example of faith for the people in both his words and his way of life. His example led people to criticize him and to threaten his life and to spread false accusations about him. One evening, he was shot at when delivering a homily at Mass. Leaving the Mass that evening, he was confronted by a group of Calvinist soldiers who killed him.  He died in 1622 and was canonized by Pope Benedict XIV in 1746. 

On this Friday in the third week of Easter, we hear from 6th chapter of John’s Gospel from the Bread of Life discourse, in which Jesus explains how he is truly present in us in his body and his blood in the Eucharist that we share. Since I have been a priest, we have had the year of the eucharist a couple of times, we have had a eucharistic revival, and our country had a eucharistic congress. We host adoration regularly in our parish. And I regularly talk about the importance of the eucharist and the importance of identifying as a eucharistic people as Catholics. Even though we come from different backgrounds and different walks of life, it is important for us to see the eucharist as central to who we are and a unifying factor of our faith. May we truly see ourselves as people of the eucharist.