A message from Father Pete

For Sunday, July 5, 2026 Zechariah 9:9-10; Romans 8:9, 11-13; Matthew 11:25-30 Six weeks ago on Trinity Sunday we heard one of my favorite passages, John 3:16: “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” This passage gives an explanation of what God is like and how much He loves each and every person, just the way they are, in their lives at this moment. We might complain about God not answering us immediately and in the way we want. But God loves each of us NOW, as He always will, as time continues and moves into eternity. Today’s Gospel from Matthew describes more about His attributes: humility, humbleness, meekness. Matthew 11:25-28: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden light.” The overriding disposition of the...

For Sunday, June 28, 2026 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16; Romans 6:3-4, 8-11; Matthew 10:37-42 Today’s readings go into more detail about last week’s readings. Last week we learned the Christian way of love and heard what it means to follow Jesus, and today an important ingredient is added: We are promised God’s help. Satan so often scares us with his assurance that God doesn’t care about us and hides things from us despite His promises. It’s amazing how this goes along with Satan’s temptation of Eve, who brings temptation to Adam who succumbs to Satan’s overwhelming appeal to listen only to him — he’s right; he knows — God never tells us or cares about us. When we look at the patterns of our temptations, they're the same. Today’s readings also emphasize the role of our own baptism. Paul explains that our baptism enables us to participate in the death and resurrection of Jesus. As we were “plunged” into the water we were buried with Christ in death; as we emerged from the water we rose with...

For Sunday, June 21, 2026 Jeremiah 20:10-13, Romans 5:12-15, Matthew 10:26-33 Today Jesus says to the Apostles: “Fear no one … and do not be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” [Matthew 10:26, 28] So what am I afraid of? Having enough money today to pay all the bills? This certainly exists for so many people we know who live in the United States. What else am I afraid of — continued worries about my health and the health of my family? My future in a hectic world? The many places around the world that are fighting rebellions, terrorists, failed governments — with no hope for the poor and those out of work? This is a lot to worry about. We live in a world where money too often is the standard of success. We live in a world of competition, where the world values possessions more than commitment. It is a sorry world where racial diversity, culture and even the environment are secondary to the desires of those in power. Our readings today continue to elaborate...

For Sunday, June 14, 2026 Exodus 19:2-6, Romans 5:6-11, Matthew 9:36-10:8 The great solidifying event of the Old Testament is the call of the reluctant Moses to save the Israelites and their continuance as God’s chosen people. The Exodus event is captivating. The Israelites go to Egypt to save their livestock from the plagues and weather that have devastated their land in the Middle East. Seeing their numbers grow so large, the King of Egypt says, “See! the Israelite people have multiplied and become more numerous than we are! Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase; otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave the land.” [Exodus 1:9-10] Egypt oppresses the Israelites, forcing them to build the Pharaoh’s garrison cities. Then the midwives are ordered to kill any Israelite male born. If the child is a girl, it may live, but by decree the males are to be killed — drowned — to control their growth. A man from the house of Le...

For Sunday, June 7, 2026 Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; John 6:51-58 We have been coming to the Eucharist for a small time (First Communions, Holy Thursday’s acceptance into the Church Eucharist) or for a longer and much longer time. I’m sure there have been times in our lives when we received, and were so much in step with Jesus and the Church, that something very special “happened” — we definitely felt close to God and that we were loved and cared for. Yet at other times it seemed like a time of nothingness, boredom, perhaps a waste of time — exactly what Satan desires for us. God isn’t important … He doesn’t care . This has never been true. Today we hear from John, where Jesus is addressing the Jewish crowds. He is in Galilee and, as usual, a large crowd is following. Some are curious, wanting to see this person who is so considerate and compassionate to people who are hurting. Accounts of His healing are all around — it seems that no illness, disease or accident ...

For Sunday, May 31, 2026   Exodus 34:4-6, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, John 3:16-18 Today’s readings, so meaningfully succinct and beautiful, are special and direct descriptions of God’s plan for creation. Moses, after the Israelites’ miraculous freedom from Egypt and their long sojourn, have arrived at Mt. Sinai. Moses is called by God to come up and encounter Him. God encounters us so many times — He is always present to us, hearing every one of our prayers, present at our worshipping, and gracing us in sharing our gifts of love, help, forgiveness and kindness each and every day. Paul puts very simply what we are to do — how we are to respond to God’s gifts of love, kindness, forgiveness and care. In John’s gospel we hear a few lines of Scripture that are so easily remembered and flow from our mouths and hearts so readily. In fact they are probably so comforting, consoling, heartening, encouraging and beautiful, that if we are honest with ourselves, we just do not say and reflect on t...

For Sunday, May 24, 2026 Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13; John 20: 19-23 The Jewish feast of Pentecost was one of the three major pilgrim festivals of Israel. Originally it was a celebration marking the end of the grain harvest. It was also called the Feast of Weeks because it came 50 days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which brings part of the Exodus story to light. When God told every Hebrew family to sacrifice a lamb and wipe its blood on their doorpost, they were admonished to prepare to depart so quickly they wouldn’t have time for bread to rise. So this feast, celebrated for a week, memorialized the Exodus event. Now the Passover event celebrated the giving of the Law — the Ten Commandments — on Mt. Sinai. Because of the great significance of this day, Hebrew pilgrims from “every nation” were in Jerusalem for the celebration. Although only “men” were mentioned, we know that women and children also made the pilgrimage. We don’t know exactly where the room was, which...