Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for Sunday, July 5, 2026

Happy 250th Birthday to the United States of America!

We are blessed to live in a country where we may practice our faith boldly, openly, and without fear.From the moment that the first settlers arrived in the 17th Century, through our fight for independence, through our Civil War, and through great social upheaval over the years, one thing has remained a critical component of life in this country – freedom of religion.

Freedom of religion was particularly important as Catholics flooded into the country during the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th Centuries.Catholic immigrants arrived in a country that was overwhelmingly Protestant. Yet, they were never prevented from building churches, schools, colleges, hospitals, and cemeteries.

As I reflected on our freedoms and how immigration (including all four of my grandparents) shaped our country, I could not help but notice the similarities between the words of Jesus in this week’s Gospel and the words of Emma Lazarus inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.

Religion was so important to the founding fathers, that they included freedom of religion in the First Amendment to the Constitution along with freedom of speech and freedom to assemble.Religion is addressed in two ways: the “Establishment Clause” which prevents the government from establishing an official state religion or endorsing one religion over another; and the “Free Exercise Clause” which protects citizens' rights to hold any religious beliefs and to practice those beliefs without government interference. It is disturbing that, today, many people refuse to acknowledge that religion was both appreciated and respected in our country since its earliest history.

We respect and protect our Constitution because it respects and protects us!

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, June 28, 2026

As we end our fiscal year, I thought it might be helpful to update you what has been happening here spiritually, socially, and financially.

As you may have noticed, the Holy Spirit is guiding more people to attend our Sunday liturgies. Some of the “new” folks previously attended St. Ed’s years ago and are finding their way home. If you know folks who have been away for a while, please invite them to join us for one mass to see if they also might be interested in returning.

During the year we have sponsored several talks during our Truth on Tap series. If you have not tried one of those sessions, I urge you to do so. In addition, we had a wonderful presentation by Dr. Josh and Christi Straub from Famous at Home. They offered some excellent advice centered on strengthening our Christian faith, marital relations, and parenting.

Our Knights of Columbus continue to exceed all expectations with their Parish Breakfasts. They offer a whole lot more than pancakes! In fact, their last breakfast included free Steak and Eggs for Dads and was very well attended. We are blessed that they provide such strong and steady support for our social events. In March, we held a St. Joseph Table dinner which hosted more than 400 guests.

We have completed all three remodeling projects inside the church. These include our Sacred Heart Chapel, where daily adoration is set to begin within the next two months; our Infant Jesus Children’s Room; and, our Holy Family Library. If you have not yet seen these rooms, take a moment to look around the next time that you visit the church.

Our weekly collections are exceeding both our budget and totals from last year. Our annual Pastoral Services Appeal (PSA) has pledges of just over $413,000. After paying the Diocese our obligated contribution of $271,000, our rebate amount would be $142,000. This puts us well on our way toward our goal of receiving a $200,000 rebate. That is great news, because two of the bids that we have received for the replacement windows in the church are about $185,000. If you have not yet donated to PSA, I urge you to take a moment and consider whether you might be able and willing to make a contribution.

Thank you for your support, generosity, and prayers!

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, June 21, 2026

Happy Father’s Day!

Like most fathers, I cannot think of any sacrifice that would be too great to make for my son.  Yet, I know that the way that I feel about John is only a small and imperfect representation of the infinite and perfect love that God our Father feels for each of us. There is no comparison between our human ability to love and the love that God feels for us.  I was only blessed to have one child, but I imagine that a man who has 10 children takes the same level of interest in each of the ten as I do in my one.  God takes that interest to a level that we cannot even imagine.  It’s not that God loves humans in general, He is a Father who knows and is totally committed to each one of His children individually.

The day my son was born everything about him was precious and wonderful—each finger and toe seemed like a separate miracle. God loves us in that kind of detail. As Paul writes, “even all the hairs of [our] head are counted.” We don’t earn or deserve His love and attention.  God knows and loves us better than our parents, husbands, wives, families, or friends. In fact, He knows and loves us more than we know and love ourselves. Of course, the analogy of God as our father is admittedly imperfect because the failings of some earthly fathers might cause us to doubt God’s perfect love for us.  However, we must remind ourselves that, while earthly fathers may be good or bad, God is a perfect Father.

As fathers who try to follow the example of our Heavenly Father, we must be committed to our two most important responsibilities: faith and action. A dad must have faith in his own abilities as well as in his wife and in his children. He has to build a relationship of trust which helps his family to have faith in him.  He must also always be willing to act to protect his family, to prevent a wrong, to fix a bad situation, to repair a broken relationship, to comfort those he loves, and most importantly, to be certain that his family has a faithful relationship with God.

May God bless all fathers!

Fr. Mike