Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for Sunday, May 11, 2025

“My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

This passage is from the “Good Shepherd discourse” in John’s Gospel. Throughout the discourse, Jesus explains to the Pharisees that He is different from them because He actually cares about His people in the same way that the ideal shepherd cares for his sheep. Earlier in the passage, Jesus says that He is the gate to the sheepfold, and that He would lay down His life for His sheep. Today, Jesus tells us that His sheep recognize His voice.

As I researched this, I learned that sheep will respond to the voice of the of their shepherd but will often flee at the voice of the stranger. The most diligent shepherds would use fixed ways of summoning them, not only calling them by name but also by a particular whistle. These forms of calling the sheep would have been recognizable to the flock and would have signaled the shepherd’s presence. Other sheep from different flocks would not respond.

When I was young, I lived on a street with lots of kids who played together. The three Dawson boys were part of our group. At some point each day, we would hear a distinct whistle coming from up the street. That was Mr. Dawson’s way of calling his sons home. When they heard the whistle, they stopped whatever they were doing and headed home, but the rest of us kept playing. It would be great if we could be as attentive to the voice of Jesus as the Dawson boys were to their dad’s whistle.

Jesus uses the analogy of a shepherd to describe his familiarity with and affection for His followers. A true shepherd protects and promotes life; in the same way, Jesus says that He came that we “may have life, and…may have it more abundantly.” Just as a shepherd has a personal connection with his sheep and calls them by name, so too Jesus calls us by name. He knows that the world is full of predators who want to destroy us and He is always there to protect us. We know His voice, we hear His voice, but we don’t always listen to His voice. However, if we want to be protected, we must not only listen to His voice, but also follow Him.

Fr. Mike

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