A message from Father Pete

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 ...

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...