St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church Suttons Bay

06/14/2026

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fE4TVYTxyL0

This is a clip from a homily that Fr. Eric gave on May 31, 2026 at ...

06/14/2026

06/14/2026

Father Richard Rohr reflects on the origin of the Christian church as “the Way”:

Christianity first emerged not as a new religion, but as a reform and sect of Judaism within Judea and the Mediterranean. Wherever Paul, Peter, and other early missionaries traveled, they formed small communities of believers in “the Way,” a movement that emphasized Jesus’s teachings, death, and resurrection as the path to transformation. Gradually the movement grew and took on a life of its own, welcoming non-Jews as well as Jews, becoming more inclusive and grace-oriented, until it eventually called itself “catholic” or universal. By 80 CE, there were Christians as far away as India and France.

The early church period (the five hundred or so years following Jesus’s resurrection) was a time of dramatic change in culture, politics, and economy. All these changes affected the development of the fledgling religion, shaping liturgy, rituals, and theology. Historian Diana Butler Bass writes, “For all the complexity of primitive Christianity, a startling idea runs through early records of faith: Christianity seems to have succeeded because it transformed the lives of people in a chaotic world.” [1] During this time, Christianity was not so much about doctrines or eternal salvation, but about how to live a better life here and now, within the “reign of God.”

From the perspective of occupying Roman powers, the Christian sect was radical because it encouraged alternative behaviors that were both attractive to those at the bottom and threatening to the worldview of empire. Rather than acquiring wealth, this new sect shared possessions equally. Followers of the Way lived together with people of different ethnicities and social classes rather than following classist and cultural norms. [2]

Much of what Jesus taught seems to have been followed closely during the first several hundred years after his death and resurrection. As long as Jesus’s followers were on the bottom and the edge of empire, as long as they shared the rejected and betrayed status of Jesus, they could grasp his teaching more readily. Values like nonparticipation in war, simple living, inclusivity, and love of enemies could be more easily understood when Christians were gathering secretly in the catacombs.

Several writings illustrate this early commitment to Jesus’s teachings on simplicity and generosity. For example, the Didache, compiled around 90 CE, says: “Share all things with your brother, and do not say that they are your own. For if you are sharers in what is imperishable, how much more in things which perish!” [3] At the time, Christianity was still pure, simple, and loving, relatively untouched by empire, rationalization, and compromise. [4]

06/14/2026

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ywvhyi6j2Gg

Watch and pray with Bishop Walsh. These daily prayers and petitions...

06/12/2026

Remain in Me as I Remain in You
Friday, June 12, 2026

READ ON CAC.ORG


Jesus said, “Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing…. As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.”
—John 15:4–5, 9

In this homily, Father Richard speaks of Jesus’s desire for us to remain connected:

I want you to be honest: Would you rather have a friend who is always right or one who is in right relationship with you? I think I know the answer: We’d rather have someone who’s in right relationship with us. In fact, someone who’s right all the time can be pretty obnoxious. Would we rather have a friend who’s always correct or a friend to whom we’re always connected? Of course, we’d rather have the second.

So why did we in the West seemingly change the rules for God? Many of us grew up thinking God wanted us to be right, to be correct, even to be perfect. This passage in John’s Gospel is saying that God wants people who are in right relationship, which means that we are open, and that we can listen to others with understanding and compassion. It means that we can admit when we’re wrong, which is almost every day for most of us. It certainly is for me.

Yet we keep condemning ourselves and others for not being perfect, for not being right, or for not being correct. This parable, one of the most beautiful in all the Gospels, tells us what God desires—simply that we remain connected, a branch on the vine, which is the love of God.

Everybody seems to be trying to prove that they are right. We have almost a collective incapacity to admit failure, to ever admit that we are wrong, which makes us liars most of the time. Jesus is calling forth a very different kind of human being.

Jesus says people who live a vulnerable life of connection and relationship will bear much fruit. These are the people we trust, like, and admire, so why are so many of us afraid to be the very thing that we admire the most? How foolish human beings are! But again, Jesus has told us the way: He is the vine; we are the branches. None of us can be or need to be correct, but we can always be connected.

06/11/2026

Click link to read this weekend's (June 13th & 14th) parish Bulletin:

06/11/2026

PARISH ANNOUNCEMENT

Please note: The parish office now has new email
addresses. We encourage everyone to update their records
and use the new email contacts for future correspondence
with the parish office.

General Office: [email protected]

Trish Verellen: [email protected]

Michelle Murdick: [email protected]

Thankyou for your continued support of
St. Michael’s Catholic Church

Send a message to learn more

06/10/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIAkEmaXOC8&list=PLRv6tiPfEhkhwIutXAvy4hhcvSZaO_ouw&index=1

0:00 Introduction0:10 Checking in from Orlando, Florida for the U...

06/09/2026

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/H_djq-qv5cs

Watch and pray with Bishop Walsh. These daily prayers and petitions...

06/09/2026

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HZfBcV59dkw

Watch and pray with Bishop Walsh. These daily prayers and petitions...