Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, August 3, 2025

I was very blessed to have had a great career. It was both fulfilling and rewarding. It also gave me an opportunity to put together a solid retirement plan. My wife and I thought that our retirement would involve spending summers at her family vacation home in Michigan. In the winters we hoped to live near our son to be near the grandkids we were hoping to have. We would also travel to places that we had always wanted to visit. Oh, and I was going to teach college and become a deacon. It was a great plan until God said, “you fool, today your wife’s life will be demanded.” It was then that I realized that our earthly happiness was not a very worthwhile goal.

The writer of Ecclesiastes is very direct when he says, “All things are vanity!” There are two key words – “things” meaning material possessions and “vanity” meaning pride. Everything that we accumulate on this earth feeds our pride. We take joy in our new car, our new television, our new phone. We focus on the here and now. Living for today seems important to us. Yet, as the Psalmist writes, “a thousand years in God’s sight are as yesterday…” Our entire existence is merely a fleeting moment in God’s eyes. We’re very proud of what we accomplish, but, in the grand scheme of eternity, it doesn’t amount to much.

St. Paul reminds us in the second reading that one essential part of becoming rich in what matters to God is to root out the desires that lead us astray from God, those parts of us that he calls “earthly.” That’s why Paul tells us to “Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.”

Of course, simply having money and nice things is not at all bad or evil. The problem arises if we become consumed by the goal of getting and retaining material possessions and when the pursuit of that goal disrupts our relationships with God, or at home, or with others. When we place God first, and love our neighbors as ourselves, we soon begin to experience a lasting happiness that does not originate from our fleeting, earthly, material possessions, but from God, whose love fills us with true and lasting peace, joy and happiness.

Fr. Mike

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

The Lord’s Prayer is a dialogue that is both humble and bold. We address God as our Father: our loving, caring, concerned father. What father would not want to hear from his son or daughter? My heart brightens every time I see that my son is calling me. I love hearing his voice. God our Father loves hearing our voices. As we pray, we develop a loving relationship with Him. We get to know Him and we allow Him to know us. This is particularly true when we approach Him with humility and gratitude and without a long list of wants and needs.

In the Lord’s Prayer, we immediately recognize that prayer is not about us, it is about God. We begin our prayer by humbly revering His name, praying for His Kingdom and inviting Him to do His will. It’s about God first. Then, we get a bit bold by requesting that he sustain us with our “daily bread.” We recognize that we are like little children who are totally dependent upon their parents every day of their young lives. This prayer reminds us of our daily dependence on God.

The prayer then turns to how our relationship with God helps us in our relationships with others. As He forgives us, it’s only fair that we forgive others. We humbly seek forgiveness only to the extent that we model forgiving behavior. We ask that we not be tested, presumably because we know that we could never pass even the simplest test. Finally, we recognize that we will fall victim to the power of evil unless God physically delivers us from that terrible fate.

Every relationship needs many touch points to grow deep and strong. Human relationships are nurtured through being together whether in thoughts, words, or in physical presence. We accomplish this through social media, texts, phone calls, and getting together in person. In our relationship with God, we accomplish this through prayer in its many forms. That’s why it’s so important to pray. How can we possibly have a relationship with God if we don’t ever reach out to him? The Gospels mention that Jesus took time to pray often. Jesus IS God, yet he still needed to stay close to the Father through prayer. We should visit with our Father often!

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, July 20, 2025

“Is anything too marvelous for the LORD to do?”

In the First Reading Abraham and Sarah receive a visit from three “men.”  Abraham invites them to sit for a while, to bathe their feet, and to have something to eat and drink.  As they are leaving, one man says, “I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son.”  That is where the Lectionary passage ends.  However, in the next part of the passage the writer explains that Sarah and Abraham are very old and that “Sarah laughed to herself…” about this prediction because she doubted that it was possible.  The man confronts her about laughing and asks, “Is anything too marvelous for the LORD to do?”

Many biblical scholars believe that the three visitors were angels representing the Holy Trinity.  One of the most beautiful depictions of this scene is found in an icon called “The Hospitality of Abraham” written by Andre Rublev more than 600 years ago.  We will soon have a version of this icon in our adoration chapel.  The icon shows God in the Trinity with the Father on the left, the Son in the middle, and the Holy Spirit on the right.  They have identical faces, but different clothing.  The Son and the Spirit lovingly look toward the Father. 

We may never be able to truly understand the concept of the Trinity.  This icon helps us to focus on the beauty of the relationship rather than trying to figure out how it can be possible.  It helps us to accept God’s invitation to participate in the loving communion of the Trinity and to consider the question, “Is anything too marvelous for the LORD to do?”

Fr. Mike