Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, May 3, 2026

Jesus said to Thomas, “I am the Way.”  This means that He is the way to God; not one of many ways, but the one and only way.  In fact, in the early Church, followers of Christ were called followers of “The Way.”  We believe that we are saved through Him, as we read in Acts 4:12: “there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Jesus is also the Truth.  Bishop Robert Barron explains it this way, “Whatever elements of truth there are to be found in various religions, these partial elements participate in the fullness of truth found in Jesus, [T]hrough Christ, we…become participants in God’s own life.” The Truth of the Father is revealed in His Son. 

Thomas wanted to know where Christ was going and how he could get there.  Christ answers both these questions with two simple words “I am.”  The apostles simply had to trust and follow Jesus. Through our own efforts, without Jesus, we cannot discover the way, the truth or the life.  Beginning with Baptism, and continuing through Reconciliation, the Eucharist, and Confirmation, our relationship with Jesus provides both the way to reach our destination as well as the destination itself.  These sacraments, which are given to us by Jesus, are the way to eternal life. 

Christ is not merely showing us the way through His words and example as if he were a prophet. He is the way of salvation itself by his obedience and sacrifice.  He is the way to His Father because His Father appointed him to that role.  He is the way to all the blessings of the covenant of grace given to us by the Father.  He is the way to heaven which He has opened for us by his own blood.

Jesus didn’t say that He would show us a way; He said that He is the Way. He didn’t promise to teach us a truth; He said that He is the Truth. Jesus didn’t offer us the secrets to life; He said that He is the Life. 

Jesus is the answer to the trials of this life:

· When we are lost, Jesus is the way.

· When we are confused, Jesus is the truth.

· When we are hopeless, Jesus is the life.

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, April 26, 2026

In this weekend’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter says, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you…you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit…For the promise is made to you and to your children.”  Three thousand men, women, and children were added to the Church that day.  By way of comparison, since I arrived here at St. Edward the Confessor, about 300 persons have been Baptized.  Don’t get me wrong, adding 300 people to the Church is impressive, but it is not close to adding 3,000 in a single day.  How did Peter do this?  I think that he touched their hearts by emphasizing several important relationships that exist within the Church.

1.     Evangelization: Peter preached the Good News of Jesus Christ.  He drew the people into a personal relationship with Jesus by telling them stories about His life, death, and resurrection.  He wanted people to know Jesus!

2.     Education: Peter taught the people that their own scriptures foretold of Jesus.  He wanted them to a better relationship with those scripture passages so that they could fully embrace Jesus as the one who the prophets foretold.

3.     Fellowship: Peter emphasized that his relationship with Jesus was based on love and invited them into that same kind of relationship with Jesus and with all those who were called on that day to be members of the Church which would become the Body of Christ.

4.     Worship: Peter invited the people to be in relationship with God through communal worship.  As members of the Church, people felt a more intimate connection to God when they worshiped together.

5.     Service: Peter inspired the people to serve one another and even to serve those in need who were not members of the Church.  Jesus expected His followers to be in relationship with friends, strangers, and even enemies.  The tougher the relationship, the more we depend on the light of Christ to navigate and nurture that relationship.

Peter was not just preaching, he was testifying.  Through his witness to Jesus, he was able to persuade the people to change their lives and to recognize the importance of these relationships.  His preaching was based on the love of Jesus, not information about Jesus. The people joined the Church because they felt an emotional connection, more than an intellectual connection.  It’s about relationships!

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, April 19, 2026

In today’s Gospel, we hear the familiar story of the two disciples who are dejectedly walking away from Jerusalem toward Emmaus. They are distracted by their sadness over the death of Jesus and their confusion regarding the possibility that he had risen from the dead. Like those two disciples, we are often distracted and pulled away from what really matters, from what is truly important.

Worries and distractions pull us apart, but Jesus holds us together. The Latin word that means the exact opposite of separation is re-ligare, meaning “to be re-attached.” This is the root of the English word “religion.” Religion re-attaches us to Jesus and to one another. St. Paul tells us that “in Christ Jesus all things hold together.” That is a great way to think about Jesus. His cross, His love, His grace, and His mercy hold us together and keep us close to Him.

This can only happen if we give Jesus our time and attention just as the two disciples did on the road to Emmaus. When the distractions of life threaten to pull us apart, we need to re-attach ourselves to Jesus, by spending time with him in daily prayer, and weekly worship. Today’s gospel reading is a timely reminder to us to take time each day to re-attach ourselves to what truly matters and to stop being worried and distracted by so many things.

Like the disciples, we can see Jesus clearly and be re-attached to Him through His Word and in the breaking of the bread. But then, after we are re-attached to what matters, we must go and serve our neighbor in need, to go and show God’s love and mercy and grace and kindness to everyone we encounter. By bringing Religion to the world, by bringing the love of Jesus to all those around us, we re-attach people to what really matters.

When we are truly open to receiving Jesus, we are no longer distracted by our sadness or confusion. We are no longer “too busy” to carry out His mission. We are no longer so distracted by doing things for God that we fail to be still in both thoughts and activity so that we can listen to His Word and believe it. That is when our hearts will burn with desire for Him.

Fr. Mike