A message from Father Pete

For Sunday, December 21, 2025 Isaiah 7:10-14, Romans 1:1-7, Matthew 1:18-24 We are in the last days before Christmas. In our minds we are “looking at our list and checking it twice” — and we are wondering if we will ever get through it and whether we have forgotten anything. Our commercial society blocks us so much: Buy this … it’s the best last-minute gift . It just loads us with questions about things ... roles ... presents. The meaning of God, coming to us through Jesus, is lost among the Christmas cards, gift-wrapping, greetings, parties and fanciful sayings. Among these sayings are verses of “peace and goodwill to all.” The readings today challenge us directly to change our focus to the bottom-line mystery this feast celebrates: faith . Despite all the times we have celebrated the Nativity, we still do not comprehend fully its personal meaning. God loves us so much that He came to show and prove this love ... to lead you, me and everyone to understand that love’s fulfillment i...

For Sunday, December 14, 2025 Isaiah 35:1-6, 10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11 Christmas is fast approaching, and we’re “checking our list” twice (or more) to see what we need to do. And what about ourselves? HOW AM I DOING? How do I feel? What do I need from God for me — am I letting God love me or am I too busy to take time to do this? This weekend is a wonderful time to stop and take notice and realize that I am important to God, and I am loved. So with 10 days before Christmas we pause on our journey to celebrate Gaudete Sunday: a Sunday of rejoicing. In addition to remembering my special gifts and people who have shared their gifts and love with me, I’m called to look at my life and my destination. My life is a blessing. God wants me here at this time because living my life in love NOW is the path that God has chosen as the BEST way for me to get to heaven. This is not conjecture — this is what Jesus promised. So I rejoice in knowing this. While the readings help, they’re not...

For Sunday, December 7, 2025 Isaiah 11:1-10, Romans 15:4-9, Matthew 3:1-12 I was always fascinated by Isaiah’s prophecy of a future Davidic king who would rule in an amazing way — being peaceful and caring, especially for those who are underlings who can’t care for themselves. Isaiah declares, “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.” [Isaiah 11:6] This reminds me of a comic strip that I would read every Sunday — The Phantom — first written in 1936 about a fictional hero character who operated from a fictional country in Africa. Eventually made into a movie, The Phantom was a skilled fighter and marksman with a genius intellect and in peak athletic condition. He was the first of the “heroes” to wear a mask. He swore “to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty and injustice in all their forms.” He was described as The Ghost Who Walks ...

For Sunday, November 30, 2025 Isaiah 2:1-5, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 14:37-44 The First Sunday of Advent is the beginning of a new Church Year. The readings are spread across a three-year cycle — A, B and C. This year we are in Cycle A. All of the first readings this year are taken from the prophet Isaiah and all of them look to a future time marked by peace and tranquility. Our initial thoughts might be that we really need this in our world that is filled with conflict and suffering — conflict within and between countries, and suffering especially among the poor and underprivileged who are striving to survive — and society is not helping them. Here in our own country we are becoming much more aware of the poor, especially with the price of daily living — paying for food, rent and daily necessities, keeping our children safe and hopeful in a time where there is a huge lack of support and hope. We need peace in our lives. When Advent comes our mindset is focused on a time that we prepar...

For Sunday, November 23, 2025 2 Samuel 5:1-3, Colossians 1:12-20, Luke 23:35-43 While next weekend we begin the season of Advent, today we are celebrating the last Sunday of the Church Year with the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe. The gospel from St. Luke reminds us of Jesus’ last day on earth facing His assassination — His horrible death inflicted by the Romans who had control over much of the world. They ruled by power and greed and had very little opposition. Their kingdom’s main cities usually were walled in, and the main entrances had crucifixions lining the streets to remind those who entered that Rome was in control — and anyone who opposed Rome or committed any sort of abomination or dishonored Caesar faced capital punishment. Today we’re looking at crucifixion where the accused was stripped of all clothes and bound by heavy ropes or nailed to a cross. “Christian” was the label first given to Jesus' followers in Antioch around 43 A.D., approxima...

For Sunday, November 16, 2025 Malachi 3:19-20, 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12, Luke 21:5-19 Today’s readings concern the final judgment. Much of the book of the prophet Malachi deals with “The Day of the Lord.” This expression echoes the end-time — the final judgment of God on all peoples. Another expression is “apocalyptic” — a writing with symbolism intended to give hope to a persecuted people; a violent change or upheaval in which evil forces are destroyed. After Jesus dies there is a very common belief that the end times, the end of the world, will come quickly. That is one reason why Scripture scholars tell us the Gospels were written 40 years after Jesus’ death: after all, why spend time writing when the most urgent need was telling the people about Jesus, converting them to His way of love and living? The people, those who believe, live in fear of the Romans who are arresting them no matter what happens. We can only imagine the fear they also have of the Jewish leaders, teachers and t...

For Sunday, November 9, 2025 Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17; John 2:12-22 While I’m sure all of us have visited many churches in our lifetimes, the one that probably remains most vividly in our memory is the church of our youth or one that was special because it's where we were baptized, received our first communion or confirmation, were married there, or our parents’ or loved ones’ funerals were there. Special places, special events that signify the loving presence of Jesus through the sacraments. Many of us have traveled and seen magnificent churches: basilicas like St. Peter’s in Rome, Notre Dame in Paris, Our Lady of Nock in Ireland, and many other famous worshipping, faith-filled churches. Many of these are cathedrals. “Cathedral” is the Latin word for chair. We call the church in which the bishop’s chair is located a cathedral. Each diocese has only one cathedral and it is the mother church of that diocese. If I asked you to name the “mother church” of ...