A message from Father Pete

For Sunday, April 12, 2026 Acts 2:42-47, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31 What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to profess our faith in the Church? If we’ve reflected on this during our Lenten experience leading up to Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection, we acknowledge that we can’t be passive. God sent His Son Jesus to tell us we are loved and that we are needed to live a life of love, whether or not we belong to a church or have any religious affiliation. Living a life concerned with me hurts others and is non-productive in relationships and living with others. How do I discover and learn about this God? The Apostles went through all of this during their time with Jesus and we hear of their experiences in today’s readings. Most of us are like Thomas, who looked for some tangible evidence of the Resurrection and what it was all about. We might not be as straightforward as he was, but we are frequently no less adamant. “Then ...

For Sunday, April 5, 2026 Acts 10:34, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9 We have come to the great and glorious Easter 2026. How has our Lent been? Wonderful? Or do we wish we would’ve been better with our sacrifices, more sorry for our sins, successful in our renewal? Has it included moments that we felt closer to God’s love and realized He is present to us, just the way we are now: sinners in need of redemption? And that we are loved by God and have been redeemed by Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection? God created us and put us in the world at this time and place, asking us to aid in the continued Redemption — loving as Jesus taught us how to love and live love. Perhaps we wonder why He didn’t redeem us by turning all the evil in the world to good. We wonder why He hasn’t turned human suffering into joy. But in the Lenten readings Jesus tells us that He is not that kind of Redeemer. On Good Friday He says to Pilate, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.” [John 18:36] He doe...

For Sunday, March 29, 2026 Isaiah 50:4-7, Philippians 2:6-11, Matthew 26:14-27:6 Passion Week begins. We have just heard the passion according to Matthew — a long, detailed account of God’s love for us and Jesus’ proof of that love. We have seen His suffering, leading to forgiveness of all our sins ... even as we keep mishandling our lives ... and we know we are loved, all the time. Matthew reminds us that the words of the prophets are being fulfilled. Why? Well, Matthew wants his Jewish audience to know the significance of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection in terms of their religious significance. In their tradition, whenever God’s people are in trouble, God — who promises that He is always with them — will send someone to help them out. For the last few centuries preceding Jesus, the scholars and scribes sought to discern God's will in their lives by studying the prophets to find God’s hidden purposes in history and understand His plan. So Matthew wants Israel and us to und...

For Sunday, March 22, 2026 Ezekiel 37:12-14, Romans 8:8-11, John 1:1-45 Life and death are the themes of all of today’s readings. We don’t like to think about death — our death in particular. Yet we have all experienced loved ones, family members, friends and associates who have died suddenly, tragically; who have suffered so much from diseases and accidents; and have died naturally. Were they ready for dying? Did they accept their last days in peace? Were they able to pass on their love messages to their families and those around them? On the first Sunday of Lent we reflected on death as we do today. Death is the fate of all human beings: No one is spared. In the first reading, Ezekiel is witnessing the death of the nation. In John’s gospel we hear about the death of Lazarus. Paul is concerned with the bodily, mortal part of our physical bodies, but he is more concerned with our spiritual life and death. Death comes in three ways: First, we are mortal and subject to physical death. Se...

For Sunday, March 15, 2026 1 Samuel 16:6-7, 10-13; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41 Something wonderful is happening today in Scriptures: More of God’s plan for the world is coming to the surface, being discovered, unearthed, uncovered and revealed. God, who is love, has created out of love the whole universe and all it contains. God has formed humanity as the pinnacle of His creative powers and placed all people into a specific place at a particular time to be workers — protagonists — administrators of God’s love for all who live and follow God’s command of love. Do I realize how special each of us is to be chosen to touch another, to show that God is love, and that God needs each and all to love — so we can realize how special His creation is? And how vital it is that we utilize our gift of love so that all can see God’s love and the part each person plays in God’s universal plan to bring all to heaven? I am that needed … you are that needed … and we are not alone. God gives us help (...

For Sunday, March 8, 2026 Exodus 17:3-7; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8; John 4:5-42   Here we are at the third Sunday of Lent — a time we look at ourselves and see how we are doing in this Lent as we live in the midst of our world with God, who is moving us toward our true home: heaven. There's a great reflective question to consider here: How I am progressing in my lasting relationship with God? We started with: What is Lent for me? What should I give up? How do I pray more meaningfully? How can I sacrifice to make myself pleasing to God? Now we begin to reflect and put into daily action “things” that improve our relationship with God and His love for each of us. The bottom line is that God created each of us out of love, and He loves us exactly the way we are right now . We don’t feel this way — we feel that we have to be better and do better. The readings describe it this way: We are on a journey. It’s a long trip. Remember riding with your parents to visit distant relatives? Our concern ...

For Sunday, March 1, 2026 Genesis 12:1-4, 2 Timothy 1:8-10, Matthew 17:1-9 When you were a child, what did you dream of becoming? We didn’t get television until I was about 7 or 8, so I was deprived of cartoons and concentrated on heroes in the comics like Straight Arrow, the Phantom and the Lone Ranger. I envisioned myself a cowboy hero: riding horses, being a hero in all my rescues of good people and catching outlaws and criminals. How that developed into the priesthood is a head scratcher. I really enjoyed going to Church and being an altar boy and a choir boy. Other dreams came and went with a mild wind. As far as my studies were concerned, I liked History and Math: more dreams. Days, relationships, learning, and various experiences color our dreams and develop into reality. God graces us — chooses us with His gifts to realize He is in our lives, every day, all the time. Today’s first reading tells us something about Abram (Abraham), but it tells us even more about the Plan of God ...