A message from Father Pete

For Sunday, April 26, 2026 Acts 2:14, 36-41; 1 Peter 1:20-25; John 10:1-10 Today is known generally as “Good Shepherd Sunday.” Jesus is using a figure of speech that the people of His time would understand: They could leave their towns and go out and see herds and herds of sheep. We leave our cities and usually come across herds of cattle for the most part. Sheep were wanderers, going all over to find food … just wandering off. During my one trip along the western coast of Ireland I saw loads of sheep — I was shocked by how bold and huge they were. They would cross the road whenever they wanted, or just walk out and sit on the road. I noticed that they had huge, painted blotches on their rear ends, the color signifying their ownership. In the Middle East sheep are referred to as dumb animals, wandering into all sorts of trouble without any concern for predators. At night the shepherds would herd them into “box canyons” and then lay down across their entrances to ward off predators and...

For Sunday, April 19, 2026 Acts 2:14, 22-33; 1 Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35 How present is God in your life? In my life? Do we reflect on this? Is our reflection a common occurrence, or does it only happen on weekends in Church or during our daily prayer meetings? Do we place life’s obstacles and attractions in the way of sitting and spending time in gratitude, reflection and wonder over God’s constant interactions in our lives? The Resurrection of Jesus is a constant reminder of our own resurrection to eternal life — an enduring promise of Jesus. Do we sit with this or just stay silent and hope it will happen? How do we form or reform our lives to make God’s love more a reality and His presence a focal point of our gratitude and instruction on our journey to our heavenly home? Life is not static but rather a movement from one point to another. God created us out of love and in accordance with His plan. He inserted us individually in this place and time along with others. We have forge...

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 (...