A message from Father Pete

For Sunday, September 1, 2024 Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Last week’s readings proclaimed that Jesus is God and that He died to show that God loves us all the time, every moment of our lives. He left us the gift of Himself in the Eucharist, His Body and Blood sacrificed to show the extent of God’s love, compassion and care. His death emphasized the gift the Father has for us: eternal life forever in heaven with Him. Today’s readings address the obvious question: How am I to respond to God? What am I called to do? Can I just sit and be an observer and receive God’s gifts, or am I called to respond to God's love with love? Is creation and my part in it all about me, or is it all about God? If this is true … then am I important in God’s eyes to complete His work of creation? Our starting point is the solemn covenant that God has with His people. In the opening line in Deuteronomy, Moses calls the people Israel and His teaching torah whi...

For Sunday, August 25, 2024 Joshua 24:1-2, 15-18; Ephesians 5:21-32; John 6:60-69 We have very interesting readings today — readings perhaps more practical to a huge amount of our readers. The basic question is our individual faith. Living the Word expresses it this way: The journey of faith is a road that often twists and turns, but it’s also a road with forks. Faith calls on us to decide how we’ll continue. We love our families and extended families: We want the best for them and we pray often for them. But they can be exasperating, especially when they tell us they don’t go to church anymore or they don’t like the Catholic church. We feel we have failed in some way. Our conversations with them go nowhere; they are beyond listening — which is disruptive and so hurtful for each of us. Why is this happening? Why are people falling away from active participation in the Church or any church? There are many reasons. Condensed from James W. Kinn’s Teach, Delight, Persuade : More and more...

For Sunday, August 18, 2024 Proverbs 9:1-6, Ephesians 5:15-20, John 6:51-58 Today we arrive at a central point — actually the central point — of the mystery of our Faith, where Jesus tells us … tells all: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you.” [John 6:53] Why? we ask. Jesus responds immediately in the next verse: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.” [John 6:54] Jesus continues: “Just as the living Father sent Me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will have life because of Me.” [John 6:57] Let’s take a look at life lessons we’ve learned from our observations: Life is not lived in a desert all alone, separated from others. We need people and people need each other. And in needing others, we need more than just casual acquaintances. The development of human friendship and love requires presence and si...

For Sunday, August 11, 2024 1 Kings 19:4-8, Ephesians 4:30-5:2, John 6:41-51 Jesus continues this week with His “Bread of Life” discourse. He explains how He is the bread of life for us. Now this is important: He is not referring to the Eucharist — that is the topic for the next section of John’s Gospel that we will read next weekend. So, since it is NOT about the Eucharist, how can we interpret it — and how will it help us in our love of Jesus and His life, teaching and love? The claims that Jesus makes in this sixth chapter are quite radical and thought-provoking. Even the people who hear Him when He speaks start to murmur, complain and gripe against Jesus. Basically they're thinking, “Who is this teacher? He sounds phony. We've never heard these words before. Even the experts say He's crazy and not to be believed ... and to top it off, He defends Himself by tracing His origin back to God. He certainly isn’t like the God I've always heard about: 'I am the living...

For Sunday, August 4, 2024 Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15; Ephesians 4:17, 20-24; John 6:24-35 When we read through the Old Testament and the history of the Jewish people, it’s always fascinating to read about Moses and his Exodus experience. Many remember Charlton Heston in the movie The Ten Commandments and feel that that was the way it happened. Reading in Exodus today, we make note that the whole community is complaining again to Moses and Aaron. We know about complaining — often we complain because what we prayed for hasn’t been granted, or what we expect from special people hasn’t been fulfilled, or what we want from our life's journey has somehow just passed us by . The bottom line is that we want the things that we want — now — and we're not concerned about others along the way. But people haven’t changed, nor have the times. Can we learn by reviewing God’s presence in our lives? Jesus continues to explain the reason for His coming, letting us know that we are loved by God at ev...