Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for Sunday, June 1, 2025

I respect people who are “down to earth” and “keep their heads in the game.” I assume that those people “know how to get things done.” I’m decidedly less patient with those who have their “heads in the clouds.” In my opinion, they may dream big, but can rarely execute on their dreams.

This week, we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord. Of course, His Ascension into heaven is only possible because he first descended to be with us in this world to proclaim the Good News of His Father’s love for us. He not only came down to earth, He was “down to earth.” The Gospels tell us that He was “a regular guy,” who laughed and cried, was hungry and thirsty, was loving and compassionate. When people met Him, they likely said, “He was so relatable. It was like I had known Him my whole life.” Yet, He never forgot His heavenly home.

When Jesus was taken up to heaven, two angels asked the apostles, “Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” In other words, get your heads out of the clouds and start focusing on the work that needs to be done here on earth.

Someone recently criticized me for being too concerned about our buildings and campus.

In this person’s opinion, I was a little too “down to earth.” That may be true. I tend to focus on tasks which lead to tangible results. Sometimes, when I pray, I feel like I have my head in the clouds, and I’m never sure if it’s making any real difference. I like the fact that both Pope Francis (who got his shoes dirty) and Pope Leo (who ate hotdogs at baseball games) seem to be “down to earth, regular guys,” who value hard work and a practical approach. They do not seem to have their heads “in the clouds.” Yet, we also know that no man becomes Pope without spending much time in prayer, perhaps the Catholic version of having their heads “in the clouds.” And so, as with so many things in our faith tradition, the answer is to balance both aspects of our relationship with Jesus. We have to speak with Him often in prayer and worship, but we also have to do the many “earthly” things that He asks us to do.

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for Sunday, May 25, 2025

Rules or relationships?

From 2001 until 2010, I was a “Platinum Elite” flier on Northwest Airlines. During those nine years, my relationship with NWA often permitted gate agents and customer service representatives to waive or modify the often confusing, harsh, or strict rules to accommodate whatever my issue might be. The airline valued my relationship more than it valued adhering to rigidly enforced rules. As a result, I flew NWA as often as I could, even when it was inconvenient to do so. To date, I have flown more than 1 million miles on NWA/Delta.

This weekend, we hear about Paul and Barnabas who are trying to form relationships with the Gentiles. They are exciting these “non-believers” with the good news of Jesus Christ, are succeeding in converting them to “the Way,” and are inviting them into relationships with the other followers of Jesus. However, some of the existing members of the early Church were not at all interested in relationships with Gentiles unless the Gentiles first met the requirements of being Jewish. The most important of these requirements was that they be circumcised.

This caused a great deal of stress among the Gentiles and led Paul to seek clarification of the many applicable rules while, at the same time, stressing the importance of the relationships that he had formed with these people. For Paul, the decision was easy – Jesus told the apostles to go to all nations and to baptize them. That is exactly what he was trying to do. Jesus never put any limits or constraints or burdens on this evangelization mission. Paul could not see why his fellow Christians would refuse to allow new members to join when Jesus consistently broke all the rules by associating with anyone who came to Him with a sincere heart.

Last week, we heard that the foundational principle of a follower of Jesus is LOVE. In many ways, love is the opposite of rules. Rules require us to obey and comply. Love inspires us to have a personal response. Love goes beyond complicated, elaborate, rigidly enforced rules. Love is a relationship, not a duty or an obligation. Let’s be careful when we resort to rules to justify behavior that does not reflect our Lord’s very clear mandate of love. Our faith is not about rules, it’s about relationships!

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for Sunday, May 18, 2025

The image that John provides in the second reading this weekend is that the “New Jerusalem” will be like “a bride adorned for her husband.” It is a joyful picture which speaks of the great celebration of the perfect marriage between God and His people. This marriage is only made possible after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Like any good husband, God will “fix” things for his bride. John tells us that “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain.” This sounds amazing. Yet, we often read this passage at funeral masses when tears are still flowing and everyone in the church is impacted by death, in mourning, and in pain. At that time, in that place, it doesn’t feel like God has conquered death, but we know that scripture is true and trustworthy. How does this all make sense?

This is another instance of our faith helping us to see things from two different perspectives. On one hand, we mourn the loss of our loved one. That is our pain to bear here and now, in this rather challenging, but temporary, world. At the same time, we rejoice over the great promise of our loved one being with God forever as part of the New Jerusalem, and the further promise that one day we will all be present in that New Jerusalem, forming the one body of His adorned spouse, as the eternal object of His perfect love. A spouse who will never again experience death, mourning or pain. A spouse who will be with Him always.

The hardest thing for us to do in this world is to accept the imperfections, challenges, tragedies, sorrows, and pain of this world. When we face trials, we understandably ask, “Where is God?” We focus on how much it hurts today and have little patience for how much better things will be in the “New Jerusalem.” The Gospel reminds us that Jesus endured suffering and death for the glory of God and to fulfill the promise of the New Jerusalem. He physically stayed with the apostles “only a little while longer,” but He left his love to support and comfort them. He encouraged them, and encourages us, to rely on His love to overcome the harshness of this world.

Fr. Mike