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

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection - March 23, 2025

"If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” That’s great advice, but how do we know when we are hearing God’s voice. It’s probably not coming to us from a burning bush or from a cloud. It might come through our families, friends, neighbors, priests, or teachers. However, sometimes it comes to us unexpectedly from surprising sources. We’re happy to call any voice, “God’s voice” when it agrees with our own plan for our lives. The problem arises when God’s voice is trying to lead us in a completely different direction. That’s when our hearts get hard and the grumbling begins.

The Israelites are master grumblers. They started grumbling against Moses in Egypt and continued in the desert. Remember, this is the man who parted the sea so that they could walk through it on dry land. Yet, they grumbled against him. They were grumbling because they thought that they had a better plan than God. In their minds, there were only two possibilities: dying reasonably comfortably in Egypt or dying somewhat painfully in the desert. They rejected God’s voice and hardened their hearts.

Opening our hearts takes a great deal of faith. Faith is built on trust. We must trust that God has a plan and that the plan is the absolute best thing for us. We truly must surrender to the voice that spells out God’s plan because our plan could never be as perfect as His plan. Each day, we face the pressures of family, finances and faith. We complain and grumble when our lives are different from our expectations. We like our plan. It makes sense to us. It’s comfortable. On the other hand, God’s voice can come to us unexpectedly. It can be disruptive and make us uncomfortable. It can seem crazy and be frustrating because it moves us in a new direction.

Yet, we must always search for, and be open to, God’s voice. It comes to us from both expected and surprising sources. Sometimes it confirms what we are thinking; sometimes it challenges us to think differently. We must listen for it, discern it carefully, be open to it (even if it’s uncomfortable), and then act on it. One thing is certain, whenever and wherever we hear God’s voice we must not harden our hearts.

Fr. Mike