Homilies - Fr. Daniel Scheidt - St. Vincent de Paul · St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana

Homily - February 22nd, 2026 - First Sunday of Lent - 9am

February 25, 2026·22 min·1 clip

Fr. Scheidt warns: never argue with evil—turn instead to the beloved, as Eve's fatal mistake was talking to the devil rather than to Adam.

1. Fr. Daniel Scheidt's First Sunday of Lent homily at St. Vincent de Paul in Fort Wayne opens with the full proclamation of Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus's temptation in the desert. 2. Fr. Scheidt serves as sole homilist; no guests are named, though he references Dr. Sue Bars as the speaker for an upcoming parish mission. 3. The core thesis is that Jesus enters humanity's 'catastrophe'—the ruined garden—to expose the devil's lies, and that the three temptations each conceal a genuine good that is perverted. 4. Fr. Scheidt identifies the first temptation—'command these stones become bread'—as a twisting of the natural order, noting that stones erode to dirt, dirt becomes soil, soil yields grain, and grain becomes bread over time. 5. He points to Jesus's first miracle, water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana, as the proof that transformation happens in God's time and way, not on the devil's demand. 6. The stones-to-bread and water-to-wine sequence is presented as preparation for the Eucharist: 'He's preparing us for the bread to become his body, for the wine to become his blood.' 7. The second temptation—throw yourself from the temple parapet—is interpreted not merely as the sin of presumption but as a perversion of sacrificial gift: Jesus comes to give himself irrevocably, but on the Father's terms, not the devil's. 8. Fr. Scheidt parallels the second temptation to Gethsemane, where Jesus prays three times 'Father, let this chalice pass' and then submits—demonstrating that willing sacrifice over time is blessed, not a mistake. 9. He argues that the justification received through Christ's sacrifice is not God 'waving a magic wand' of exculpation but 'the divine life in us, the new and eternal covenant alive in us that is transforming us over time.' 10. The third temptation—bow to me and receive all kingdoms—is interpreted as a perversion of evangelistic love: Jesus wants hearts won by love, not by coercive power. 11. Fr. Scheidt coins the phrase 'the love of power versus the power of love' to summarize the spiritual conflict taking place continuously within each person. 12. He identifies Eve's root error in Genesis as choosing to converse with the devil rather than with Adam her beloved, and names Adam's passive spectatorship as 'the first violation of the love of neighbor.' 13. The antidote he prescribes is three-repetition: 'Never, ever, ever have a conversation with the devil'—turn instead to the beloved. 14. Fr. Scheidt recounts that on the Tuesday before Lent, a family approached him after burning palm branches and announced they had relocated from another state to Fort Wayne specifically after researching it as the best place to raise their family. 15. The husband had found a job in his field in Fort Wayne, the family had been drawn by 'YouTube videos and podcasts,' and they had attended only two Catholic Masses in their lives but wanted to become Catholic. 16. He presents this story as evidence that 'the Lord is putting people in our lives,' and that Lent is not 'privatized self-perfection' but the receiving of Christ and of the people God sends. 17. The homily is delivered in a reflective, meditative cadence—Fr. Scheidt builds layered typological arguments without rushing, occasionally repeating key phrases for emphasis. 18. The tone shifts from theological exposition to pastoral warmth when Fr. Scheidt describes meeting the family, and ends with a brief Men of Christ retreat exhortation. 19. Those interested in liturgical typology, Eucharistic theology, or scripture-rooted preaching in the Catholic tradition will find this episode dense with material. 20. Those seeking contemporary cultural commentary, self-help frameworks, or non-religious content should skip this episode.

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