Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for Sunday, May 4, 2025

“Do you love me more than these?”

This is the question that Jesus asks Peter at the end of John’s Gospel. It is also His question to each of us two thousand years later.

In the Gospel we hear that Peter and several other apostles have gone to the lake. They are a little discouraged, maybe still a bit fearful, and definitely uncertain about what they should do next. Now that Jesus is gone, Peter needs something familiar to take his mind off things. So, he says, “I am going fishing.” After all, fishing is where he was most comfortable and what he knew best. This is where he could be himself and forget about life for a while. The others join him.

Unfortunately, their return to their old lives doesn’t go well. They don’t catch a single fish. It’s as if God is saying “This is not the job I want you to do!” To get their attention, Jesus intervenes and gives them some advice which helps them to catch 153 fish! After breakfast, Jesus asks Peter three questions: “Simon…do you love me more than these…do you love me…do you love me?”

When Jesus says, “more than these” it is likely that Jesus is referring to boats, nets, and especially, fish. Does Peter love sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ more than he loves his old, safe, comfortable life as a fisherman. Peter’s “Yes!” to each question tells Jesus that he is indeed ready to leave behind his former life, his own plans, and his fears. He is finally ready to do what Jesus needs him to do: to find, feed, and tend to the followers of Jesus. Jesus makes Peter a “fisher of men.”

Jesus gives Peter the chance to affirm his love for Jesus three times and the chance to sacrifice his career, plans, and earthly ambitions. To follow Jesus means to give up his life just as Jesus did. The question that is posed to us is “Do we love Jesus more than these?” These houses, these cars, these clothes, these jobs, these successes, these earthly distractions, these sinful behaviors, these comfortable plans that we have made, these lazy habits that we enjoy. Are we finally ready, like Peter, to accept our “great commission” to follow Him?

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for Sunday, April 27, 2025

Thank you for filling our church (and our hall) for liturgies during Holy Week and on Easter Sunday. It was a blessing to speak with so many of you who brought family and friends to worship with us. I pray that sharing Easter with us helps you to deeply feel the joy of His resurrection and to develop a closer relationship with Jesus. May you feel our Lord’s presence in your lives today and every day. May you always feel welcome here at St. Edward the Confessor.

The resurrection is the foundational truth of our faith. Yet, some people have a hard time believing in that truth. In today’s Gospel, we hear about Thomas who refused to believe that Jesus rose from the dead even though 10 of his closest friends told him that they had seen Jesus and had spoken with Him. Why would Thomas doubt their testimony? Did he really think that they were making up a story?

Thomas’s reaction is a great example of our human tendency to doubt things that are not “normal.” We seek “logical” or “proven” explanations for unusual events that are out of our control and beyond our frame of reference. However, in first century Galilee, there were no readily available explanations for a man rising from the dead. Thomas had nowhere turn to except to his own eyes, ears and touch. Thomas needed to control the moment when he could see Jesus and touch Him.

But our faith is most firmly rooted in unlikely truths that are not, and can never be, within our control: Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus left us the gift of his true body and blood in the Eucharist, Jesus rose from the dead, Jesus invites us to join Him and His Father in the Heavenly Kingdom. It is unlikely that we will be as fortunate as Thomas who had all of his doubts resolved a week after he expressed them to his friends. It is unlikely that Jesus will greet us in the flesh and resolve our doubts. Nonetheless, we must hold strongly to even the most unlikely truths of our faith.

It is a privilege to serve all of you who call St. Ed’s their spiritual home during this Easter Season and throughout the year. May God richly bless you!

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection-Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025

“Mary Magdalene…ran and went to Simon Peter…Peter and the other disciple…both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first.”

Happy Easter! Welcome to St. Ed’s!

Did any of you run to church this morning? Excited children often run. I remember when my son went to Easter egg hunts when he was young – he ran from one place to another trying to collect as many eggs as he could. The most exciting times in sporting events are when players, horses, or greyhounds are running to defeat their competition. Running is an integral part of the Gospel that we read on Easter Sunday. Mary Magdalene runs from the tomb to the apostles, the apostles run back to the tomb, and John outruns Peter.

Mary went to the tomb with a simple desire: anoint the body of Jesus and shed a few tears of sadness and loss. When Mary saw the empty tomb, her first reaction was to think that someone had stolen the body of Jesus. Mary’s deep love for the Lord creates a sense of urgency. So, she feels the need to run to the apostles to tell them the life-changing news: the tomb was empty. Now it is Peter and John who have a sense of urgency. It is their turn to run back to the tomb to see why Mary is so concerned.

At that point, neither Peter, nor John, nor Mary nor the other women are certain about anything. Yet, the events of that morning caused all three to move from unbelief to confused thoughts of “maybe, just maybe,” to the grand statement from “the other disciple” who saw and believed that something amazing had happened. This is the point of faith – believing even when we are a little confused or uncertain; even when there is absolutely no proof; even when there are many doubts and unanswered questions.

Unlike Mary, Peter and John, we are not arriving at an empty tomb in a confused state. We are coming to a full church! Christ is not “missing.” He is PRESENT in the assembly, in the Word, and in the Eucharist. Just as it was for Mary, Peter, and John, this is life-changing!

If we did not run to church today, we probably should have! May the glory of the risen Lord deeply touch your lives! Happy Easter!

Fr. Mike