Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, September 20, 2026

In this weekend’s parable, men who worked part of a day get the same wage as those who worked the whole day. Those who worked all day cried, “That’s not fair.” Many of us feel the same way when we believe that others are getting more than we think that they entitled to get. Even if we get exactly what we bargained for, we simply don’t like other people being treated better than we are treated. This is especially true if we believe that the other person is not as deserving as we are or did not earn the benefit in the way that we did.

This is often the way that we think about the Kingdom of God. We ask, “Why should a person who has been evil all of his life be able to repent on his deathbed and go to heaven?” That’s simply not fair. Like the laborers, we are more concerned with the perceived unfair advantage of others than we are grateful for our own opportunity to enter God’s kingdom.

Once again, Jesus tells us to worry about our own path to heaven rather than judging whether others are entitled to go to heaven. Who are we to question or even resent those who might be saved even though we determine them to be beyond saving? Fortunately, access to heaven is not about what we think! Throughout the Gospels, we read that God’s love extends to many unlikely candidates. His Kingdom likely includes many of those unlikely folks.

Of course, there are people in this world who use their free will to reject God and to abuse, ignore, hate, kill, and torture their fellow man. It is easy for us to decide that “those people” are simply not worthy of God’s Kingdom. After all, life makes sense if the “bad” people go to hell and the “good” people go to heaven. However, we are all sinners to some extent. Since we don’t know the standard by which God will judge us, we cannot be certain that we will be among those who are saved. God is free to open the narrow gate to anyone He chooses. We would do well to hope that it is wide enough to include us, even if that means that it also includes those we deem to be undeserving.

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, September 13, 2026

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

I am writing this just before boarding a plane for vacation to spend time with my family at a cottage that my wife’s grandfather built nearly 80 years ago.  As you read this, I will be celebrating Sunday mass on a tiny island in view of passing Great Lakes freighters.  Yet, we are in communion with one another because, for Jesus, the Catholic Church is not a building, like a temple, but is, instead, a way to bring together those who love Him and love one another.

A biblical definition of love must start with God. Whether that love is romantic, or the bond between friends, love that is genuine comes from God because, “God is love.” If God is love, then we love others best by loving Him most.

The Psalmist tells us not to harden our hearts to God’s voice.  That’s one beautiful concept of Church. It’s a place where we can hear God’s voice and, hopefully, respond to it with our actions. If we are Church, we should both accept and reflect God’s perfect love.  Agapē love is sacrificial, unconditional love. It is the human version of the perfect love that God has for us as well as our attempt to mimic that love as we deal with one another.

Jesus commanded His followers: “Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” The word Jesus used for love is the verb form of agapē. The pattern of our love is as He has loved us.  In other words, we are to be known by our self-giving, sacrificial, unconditional love for one another.

As Jesus also tells us, this love must be forgiving.  We must not harden our hearts against someone who has offended us. We must forgive and also seek to correct that person. Jesus lays out the steps in the Gospel this week.  If the offender ultimately refuses to listen, Jesus says, “treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.” Just remember, Jesus cured Gentiles and forgave them. He ate with tax collectors and invited one of them to become an apostle. As I mentioned above, His view of love is unconditional.

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, September 6, 2026

This weekend we celebrate Labor Day.  Early leaders of the labor movement established the holiday in the late 19^thcentury as a day celebrating the commitment and effort of workers and giving them a day of rest.  On June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law establishing the federal holiday of Labor Day on the first Monday in September.  Informally, Labor Day also marks the end of summer.

The Bible often refers to labor and work.  From the earliest verses of Genesis, we hear of God’s work of creation and his rest: “And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.”  God’s pattern of work followed by rest became Jewish law: “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest…”

Many of us respect and appreciate those who “work hard.”  We recognize their contributions whether they are young students who devote time to their studies, or athletes or musicians who put in extra practice, or parents who work two jobs to pay rent and put food on the table.  In both our secular lives as well as in our spiritual lives, hard work and dedication are critical. 

However, sometimes we can be overwhelmed with the challenges that we face in our family lives, our careers, and our spiritual lives.  Sometimes we may feel that it is impossible to balance all of the competing priorities that we face.  Between our kids, extended families, jobs, and social commitments, spending time with Jesus can seem like one more obligation piled onto all our other obligations.  But Jesus is not an obligation, He is a loving relationship who is also a resource.  We invite into our lives not as one more distraction or obligation, but as a relief to our burdens.  It may seem counterintuitive that adding one more thing onto our list of “to-do” items can actually ease our burdens, but that is precisely what happens when we invite Jesus to help us to carry our load.

So, as we celebrate Labor Day, let’s consider not only our physical labors, but also our spiritual labors.  Let’s turn to the One who is always ready to guide us and assist us in our struggles. 

Fr. Mike