Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection - December 8, 2024

“The one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.”

As we enter the second week of Advent, we praise God for His continued presence in our lives. The quotes from Paul’s letter to the Philippians and the Responsorial Psalm remind us that our talents, abilities, and successes are directly attributable to God’s generosity. He began His good work in us and He continues His good work in us. Indeed, He has done “great things” for us.

I am writing this on “Giving Tuesday,” a day set aside for charitable giving after a flurry of retail shopping. That fact, and these scripture passages, remind me about your recent generosity to Fr. Achilles and St. Edward’s Granny School in Uganda. Our parish donated over $65,000 to their much-needed new building and other needs. I also think about our Advent Shares Program and the “great things” that we will be doing for a large number of folks in Orange County. Your generosity is impressive.

In a recent story about charitable giving, I learned that the major stock market indices were up an average of 7% in the month of November. The story suggested that we can lock in these gains by donating appreciated stock to a charitable organization. Doing this maximizes the value of donations for both the donor and the recipient.

If you are searching for a place to make an end of year gift (large or small), please consider our San Felipe de Jesus Scholarship Fund. Each year, for the past eight years, the Fund has provided more than 30 students from San Felipe de Jesus Chapel with a scholarship equal to about 40% of the cost of school at St. Ed’s. The school and the families contribute the remaining 60%. Students from this program have continued to succeed in high school and beyond. We hope to raise enough funds to support the scholarships for many years to come.

At St. Edwards we have always been good StEwards of the great things the Lord has done for us. As you decide how to allocate your charitable giving as the end of year approaches, please accept my deep gratitude for your heart-felt generosity. May you be filled with Joy!

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection - December 1, 2024

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

I pray that you had a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving! I did not get to celebrate mass Thanksgiving morning because I ran the Dana Point Turkey Trot and could not get back to St. Ed’s in time. “Slow and steady” may “win the race,” but really slow puts runners like me at the back of the pack. I guess I will have to try again next year.

I came across a beautiful definition of Thanksgiving:

The true meaning of Thanksgiving focuses upon relationship. Thanksgiving is a relationship between God and man…Thanksgiving begins with acknowledging God as faithful, earnestly giving Him thanks, in advance, for His abundant blessings. Allabouthistory.org

Presidents Washington and Lincoln each recognized the fundamental need to give thanks to God. Washington proclaimed, “It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.” During the Civil War President Lincoln invited the country to be thankful for the “gracious gifts of the Most High God,” and prayed that God might: “heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it…to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and union.”

Each year Thanksgiving Day and the beginning of Advent occur at roughly the same time. Thanksgiving reminds us that God has blessed Americans with a wide range of freedoms and extraordinary abundance, both as a nation and as individuals. Advent reminds us that the greatest gift of all – the gift for which we should be most thankful – is present in our lives in a special way as we partake of the flesh-and-blood reality of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Eucharistic Prayer III captures this idea of both anticipation and gratitude: “we celebrate…and as we look forward to his second coming, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice.”

He came to us in Bethlehem, He comes to us today in the Eucharist, and He will come again at the end of time. As we enter the Advent Season, let us remember that the best way that we can show an “attitude of gratitude” is to “be Jesus” to those around us. May Advent be a season of grateful anticipation!

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection - November 24, 2024

This Sunday, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. In the Gospel, Jesus tells Pilate that the sole purpose of His coming into the world was “to testify to the Truth.” The Psalm proclaims the foundational Truth of our faith: “The Lord is King.” In this celebration we are reminded that God is our only King.

We are invited to follow our King, but the choice is ours to make. God will not force us to choose to follow Him and He will not prevent us from choosing to have things our way. If we choose to follow God, we are choosing to faithfully obey His will, which, according to St. Paul, leads to righteousness and salvation. We are choosing to follow His most important commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.” We are choosing to follow His example: “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Thus, love and service are the hallmarks of true followers of Jesus and members of His eternal and glorious kingdom.

The challenge of the Solemnity of Christ the King is to choose to follow our King. The invitation today is to give of ourselves to completely belong to Jesus and to His Kingdom. We are asked to make this our most important priority and to view all else only in terms of how love and service help us to belong fully to Jesus.

While we must strive to make wise choices, the good news is that, even if we do not always choose correctly, the Lord knows our hearts. Jesus deeply appreciates those who strive to follow Him and who acknowledge that they are not kings of their own lives and who choose to surrender to Jesus. He knows whether we truly seek Him in our own small and broken fashion or whether we have made other choices.

How do we acknowledge Jesus as King and choose to strive to into His Kingdom? By choosing: to believe in Jesus and what He said and did; to give over to Him absolute power in our lives; to make peace, justice and love our primary values; and, to work at spreading the Kingdom by loving and forgiving.