Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, January 18, 2026

The Old Testament is filled with many passages in which the author is lamenting the God’s absence. In the first reading this weekend, the prophet Isaiah is writing about 700 years before Jesus was born. Israel was a mess. They had been defeated and scattered. They wondered how God could let this happen and whether He had abandoned them. In the Psalm, the writer says, “I have waited, waited for the LORD.” Both Isaiah and the psalmist remind the people that this is the God of all creation. Isaiah tells them that He will send a servant who will “restore the survivors of Israel” and make them “a light to the nations.” The psalmist says that the Lord heard his cry.

Paul confirms the nearness of the Lord as he writes for “all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” John says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” In other words, John preached that the time for waiting and wondering is over. The Lord is present – then and there as well as here and now. He is among us, in every aspect of our lives. Sometimes, we come to church to “see” God, but then we think that He remains there when we leave. We spend an hour with Him each weekend, then we live our lives without His involvement until we return the next weekend. However, that is not at all how it works. God is with us ALWAYS. We must recognize and appreciate His loving presence. We must treat others as if God is standing right next to us.

I recently heard a quote that puts this in perspective. “God is not in synagogues. He’s not in churches, he’s not in mosques. God is in relationships and it’s in the interaction of human beings and the quality of those interactions that you really find God.” We remind ourselves of the importance of relationships when we greet one another before we begin each mass and at the Sign of Peace. It’s a small way that we show that relationships matter in our worship. It’s a way for us to take a moment to see God in all things, particularly in the folks sitting next to us. Those relationships are a key component of every mass.

Fr. Mike