Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, November 2, 2025

This weekend we take time to focus on all who have gone before us. On Saturday, we celebrate All Saints Day, followed by All Souls Day on Sunday.

All Saints Day celebrates all those who are in Heaven. “Sancti” is the Latin word for “holy ones” and is the root word from which we get the word “saints.”  The Catholic Church teaches that all souls in heaven are saints. However, the Church also officially recognizes a smaller group of saints through a formal process called canonization, which involves declaring that specific individuals are not only in heaven, but also are worthy of veneration. These canonized saints are specifically recognized by the Church for their very special contributions here on earth. In any event, the Feast of All Saints is a joyous celebration. During mass, the priest wears white vestments to reflect that joy.

All Souls Day is a memorial for all those souls who were not admitted to Heaven upon their death and are undergoing a period of “purification” in Purgatory. The Church teaches that we should not only pray for those souls, but that our prayers may have the effect of shortening their time in Purgatory. All Souls Day is a more somber feast. The readings and prayers for mass are selected from those that we would select at a Funeral Mass. This is also reflected in the use of purple vestments on this day.

On both days, our prayers are focused upon those who have died. On All Saints Day, we pray to those who have died and who are now in Heaven. The Church teaches that those who are free from all sin at death enter Heaven immediately. This includes (but, of course, is not limited to) all named saints, all those anointed with the Sacrament of the Sick in anticipation of death, and every Baptized child who dies before reaching his or her 7th birthday.

Since we cannot be absolutely certain about the eternal fate of everyone else, we pray for them and entrust them to the mercy of God. Those in Purgatory are assured a place in heaven after their purification. We pray that they may soon be with God in heaven. As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “We live by faith and hope in the God of mercy and love.”

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, October 26, 2025

In this weekend’s Gospel, Jesus tries to explain that having a difficult personality is not the way that God would like us to be.  As I write this, I am just about to begin a retreat at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago.  Before that I was in New York to visit my dad and to celebrate the wedding of my best friend’s son.  Whenever I visit New York, I’m reminded that it is filled with difficult people who are critical, judgmental, impatient, vocal, and who have firm opinions about EVERYTHING.    

Jesus tells the Pharisees a parable about a Pharisee. The Pharisee in the parable has an extremely high opinion of himself and a correspondingly low opinion of others.  Jesus is not so subtly telling all the Pharisees that their opinions of themselves are too high.  However, I’m guessing that the Pharisees to whom He was speaking missed the very clear message that he was trying to send them.  They didn’t see themselves in the parable.  Like all difficult people, they have no self-awareness.  In their arrogance, they do not even realize that they are difficult people! 

Difficult people know exactly how things “ought to be.”  They tend to make everything about themselves and their ideas.  They can also be aggressive in pushing their “superior” plan for those around them.  In conversations, they tend to talk down to people and can even be rude and hostile.  They ignore reasonable boundaries and good manners.

Sadly, we can’t “fix” difficult people and we aren’t able to avoid them.  However, we can choose how we respond to them.  We can avoid dealing with them in the same manner that they act toward others. In his letter to Timothy, St. Paul recommends an approach centered on humility.  Paul explains that he humbly accepted the attacks of difficult people, including persecution and prison, and was “poured out like a libation” for the Lord.  He accepted humiliation and pain because he fully trusted that, if he remained true to the Lord, the Lord would bring him “safe to His heavenly kingdom.”

Most difficult people will assume that this message doesn’t apply to them, so they won’t change. That’s OK.  Respond to them with humility, patience, kindness, and self-control. Extend the same love, grace, and mercy that God extends, and pray that you may never become “difficult!”

Fr. Mike

Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, October 19, 2025

We teach our children to pursue their goals even if they initially fail to achieve them. We place high value on those who overcome adversity and failure. When someone diligently works toward a goal that he or she does not achieve, we applaud their effort and praise their persistence. We are markedly less impressed by those who give up easily. This week, we hear about the value of being persistent in life and in prayer.

In the first reading, Israel ultimately wins the battle because Moses refuses to give up on his people. He was exhausted and needed help, but he did not give up. Instead, he asked Aaron and Hur to help him to hold up his arms. Doing something great for others often takes both commitment and the humility to seek help from others when we are tempted to quit. Our most important relationships involve persistently supporting others and being supported by them.

Paul tells Timothy to be faithful and to be persistent “whether it is convenient or inconvenient.” This is the same message that Jesus gives us in the Gospel as He tells a parable about the woman who repeatedly approaches the judge and asks for justice even though he has no intention of helping her. She had no prospects of a job, or money, or someone to look after her so she refuses to give up. He could have simply thrown her in jail for being annoying. She was willing to take that risk. On the surface, her cause appeared hopeless because the judge cared about no one but himself and she had absolutely no status. However, each day she re-committed herself to her cause of justice and she ultimately forced the judge to care about her. Jesus praises the widow for being relentlessly persistent.

Jesus told this parable because He knows we are prone to give up on prayer even though God expects us to keep on asking, seeking, knocking, and praying until He responds. We must learn that the Lord will answer our prayers when, where, and how He chooses. Effective prayers are solidly rooted in absolute trust and faith in God. We pray for God’s will to be done. When we feel that God is not responding to our prayers as we would like, we must remember that effective prayer also requires persistence.

Fr. Mike