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

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