Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection - Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025

Today the Church celebrates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem acclaimed as the one sent by God to save and lead the Jewish people in fulfillment of their scripture.

Each of the four Gospels contains an almost identical account of Jesus entering into Jerusalem surrounded by an adoring crowd because each evangelist felt that it was essential to connect Jesus to the promises of salvation found in Hebrew Scripture. Often this entry is claimed to be “triumphal” but, in reality, Jesus is seated on a donkey in peasant clothing and with an extremely humble posture. Despite His humble appearance, the crowd repeatedly shouts: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Sadly, today’s Gospel also reminds us that the crowd’s adoration for Jesus is short-lived. His passion and death are near. The shouts of “Blessed is he who comes” become the shouts of “Crucify Him!” When I was about 10 years old, my aunt taught me to make crosses out of palm branches. It takes about 4 minutes to convert a simple palm branch into a fancy cross. It took about 4 days to convert the praise and joy of His entrance into an arrest and crucifixion.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is recognized by the humble and rejected by the arrogant. If we are humble enough to accept our King, we reflect to the world the good news of the true King living and reigning within us in triumph. Yet, it is difficult to maintain our humble, faithful hearts. In fact, even Christ’s disciples could not remain faithful and gave into fear and temptation. One betrayed Jesus; others fell asleep while the Lord was praying and suffering; one tried to settle matters with a sword; Peter, the “rock,” who loudly promised never to betray Jesus, denied Him three times; and, finally, all of the other disciples fled the scene.

This Holy Week, let’s reflect on whether we run away when events become challenging, whether our faith is a matter of convenience more than conviction, whether we have truly allowed Christ in our hearts, whether our pride prevents us from recognizing our humble King, and whether we accept the steadfast love which drove Christ from honor to humiliation and from death to eternal life. Blessed is He who comes!

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection - April 6, 2025

One of the great privileges of being a priest is the opportunity to administer the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is so humbling to participate in the forgiveness of sins and the restoration of the relationship that a person has with our Heavenly Father. The presence of the Holy Spirit in each encounter enables the priest to act as God’s instrument as he receives each confession of sins. As I witness the lifting of the burden of sin and the feeling of peace that overwhelms each penitent, I see God’s compassionate love and mercy revealed.

Sadly, many Catholics are reluctant to experience the “amazing grace” of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We tend to approach the Sacrament thinking that God might respond as humans do – with anger or pride or refusal to accept our sorrowful apology. Somehow, we fail to understand or appreciate God’s infinite love for us and His desire to forgive us no matter what sins we have committed.

Some may feel fearful, ashamed, or embarrassed; others deny the need for the sacrament, claiming that they can confess their sins to God directly and have no need of absolution from a priest. Others are simply “too busy” and can’t seem to find the time to wait in the confessional line. Some have let so much time pass (in some cases >50 years), that they believe that it would be impossible to return to the sacrament. FORTUNATELY, NONE OF THESE FEELINGS OR BELIEFS IS TRUE!

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is about God’s infinite love. As scripture tells us, God’s ways are not our ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways. As we heard last week in the Parable of the Merciful Father, God NEVER stops waiting for us to return to Him and He NEVER refuses His forgiveness when we seek it. The sacrament is not about being judged or shamed or blamed. It is about being welcomed, embraced, and kissed by God. It is not about fear, but about the pure joy of knowing that the most important relationship in our lives can be perfectly restored simply by asking God to restore it.

Lent is almost over. Whether you have done much this Lent or nothing at all, consider receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It will change your life!

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection - March 30, 2025

As we celebrate Laetare Sunday, we rejoice in anticipation of the great feast of Easter which is only 21 days away. Here at St. Edward the Confessor and San Felipe de Jesus we have much to celebrate since Lent began about three weeks ago.

We celebrate our parish school Academic Decathlon Team which won both the State of California and the National Title! To win a state or national title once would be a remarkable feat. To win multiple titles over several years is an extraordinary achievement. I commend the hard work and dedication of the students, coaches and parents. WOW!

We celebrate Jim Snyder, a St. Ed’s parishioner, who last week was awarded the Bishop’s Award for Exemplary Business Integrity at the Diocesan Conference on Business & Ethics. Throughout his career, and in his current role as Chief Executive Officer of Tidemark Real Estate Services, Jim has been guided by his deep Catholic faith in both his business and personal lives. He is a lector and a member of our Knights of Columbus Council. We are blessed to have Jim and his wife Coleen in our parish.

We celebrate two joy filled community building events which highlighted two very different, but very, special ethnic cultures. First, we celebrated all the best Irish heritage as the Knights of Columbus hosted a family-oriented St. Patrick’s Day party. The food, music, and dancing were all terrific. A great time was had by all who attended.

We celebrate the Italians of our parish, who, not to be outdone by our Irish colleagues, hosted a St. Joseph Table. About 400 people feasted on some excellent Italian food including my family meatballs and special St. Joseph pastries. My sincere thanks to the incredible team of volunteers who cooked pasta, decorated the hall, made sure everyone had enough to eat, and then cleaned up at the end of the dinner.

Lent is time when we focus on our sinfulness and our need to repent. However, it does not need to be a somber time that leads us to despair or discouragement. Laetare Sunday reminds us that our Catholic faith is always lived in the joy of Easter. We can take our sinfulness seriously, we can strive to be better, but we can always approach our relationship with Jesus joyfully.

Fr. Mike