A message from Father Pete

For Sunday, February 22, 2026 Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11 Before moving into administration, I spent the first 23 years of my priesthood teaching in Catholic high schools. Many of my classmates have asked me: Why teaching? Who would ever want to be with teenagers for that long? My response always has been the same: They’re just like each of us — they need to be loved. That’s my need and yours. Now, where did this need for love come within each of us? When we look at our Christian background, Scripture consistently reveals the answer: God is love. That’s what God does — He creates each of us out of love and places us on earth for the time that He needs us to be love for others. And so comes the next foundational question: How do I love? Is that my natural inclination, or do I need to be taught? Coming down to the basics, we need to be taught from birth. I received it from my mom and dad, three sisters and brother. They loved me, cuddled me, changed me, fed me ...

For Sunday, February 15, 2026 Sirach 15:15-20, 1 Corinthians 2:6-10, Matthew 5:17-37 We grew up, hopefully, in a loving family. Our loved ones taught us, formed us, cared for us, watched over us and directed our words and actions to care for family, loved ones and those who were hurting. We learned the familial laws: Be kind to your siblings, don’t use bad words, respect your elders, family values are super important. These laws complemented the universal standards: Keep your elbows off the table, no phone calls during dinner (my sisters reacted to this one) , chew your food, eat everything mom prepared. Everyone had household duties to perform: Clean up after dinner, mow the lawn, keep your room neat, respect the neighbors, complete your school assignments  — and so on. If we grumbled or objected, well … we learned not to grumble or object. At one point I thought it would be easier to live with my friend who had eight siblings — until I stayed at his house one night and it was l...

For Sunday, February 8, 2026 Isaiah 58:7-10, 1 Corinthians 1:1-5, Matthew 5:13-16 I look back and remember, and I reflect on when : When did I learn how to do things? Little things? When do we develop confidence in ourselves? Is it when we learn how to put together toys, games? When we learn how to throw and bat a ball? When we play with and dress dolls? Confidence comes when we KNOW we can do something for ourselves ... and we feel a sense of pride for having mastered the ability. Our lives are a series of discovering that we can do things … be successful. And compliments come, building us up. But can we also remember times when this confidence was hindered or smashed — when when we were told it was bad or we were no good? Unfortunately there are individuals who cannot or will not help us develop into the person God intends us to be — a person of love, caring and forgiveness, helping those in need. In today’s readings Jesus instructs us on the meaning of discipleship: How God loves us...

For Sunday, February 1, 2026 Zephaniah 2:3, 3:12-13; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Matthew 5:1-12 What an amazingly attractive — but confusing — speaker Jesus was. He spoke against the popular beliefs of the time. The people were comfortable feeling that they were blessed if they were successful in life. They were fortunate if tragedy had not touched their families and loved ones. They were happy and lucky if they were able to live in peace amid the pressure of being ruled by a cruel and demanding Roman dictatorship while simultaneously living amid the rigorous demands of Jewish laws and religious traditions. Jesus told them they were promised eternal life if they lived the rule of love, the greatest law in the Bible: “‘You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandm...

For Sunday, January 25, 2026   Isaiah 8:23-9:3; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13,17; Matthew 4:12-23 Jesus is always with us, always cares about us and is always leading us to the place He has promised is our only and true home: Heaven. We get so distracted because of the lives and activities we live in our world. We get so involved, so busy and so distracted that we lose our focus. We turn inward upon ourselves, our families, loved ones, jobs, school, immediate- and long-range plans and vacations. We come once each week to spend time with the Lord in the Church we call home. The readings for this Sunday continue the theme of discipleship that we covered last week. Today we look at aspects of the question of that call. We understand that discipleship is a call from God — and this helps us realize that discipleship calls us from certain situations and calls us to others. When we reflect on it, discipleship is not an obligation owed on us — we are called to it . Some people are very consciou...

For Sunday, January 18, 2026 Isaiah 49:3, 5-6; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; John 1:29-34 So how do I know that Jesus is God? How do I know that each person, for all time, is blessed and needed by God to be special — a person of love? How do I know, since each person is special, that all are called to be holy, spiritual people — people of love, all the time? And if we are called to discipleship, what does it look like? Ours is a historical religion. Not only does it unfold with the joys, sufferings and developments that took place in specific places and times, it also — most importantly — reflects the actual events that took place in the lives of real people. Jesus the Christ was not a mythic, made-up entity, an invention from a religious imagination. He was born into history at a specific time in a specific place. Today we see that he was known by real people like John the Baptist; He participated in real events including the ritual of Baptism. His followers were real people with real jobs who...

For Sunday, January 11, 2026 Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Acts 10:34-38; Matthew 3:13-17 There are some interesting and intriguing lines in today’s readings that can lead to deep reflections on God’s plan: specifically, why Jesus came, what His plan means for you and me, and its purpose for everyone of all times, ages and cultures — heaven . Does this mean it’s just for Christians who are baptized, or is it for all people — even those who don’t believe, don’t want to believe, or have no idea what and how to believe? Yes, this is for everyone God placed in the world — whether for a few moments or for many, many years. Yes for everyone. God loved us from our birth, planned our birth, and placed people in our lives so that each would be touched by God’s agent of love, peace, compassion, caring and forgiveness. We struggle with the goal of realizing that all are loved by God and needed by God to be His agents of love. Maybe that only happens at a fleeting moment, maybe even once? Could that be why ...