A message from Father Pete

For Sunday, April 27, 2025 Acts 5:12-16; Revelation 1:9-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31 We come to the second Sunday after Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, after experiencing the resurrection of Jesus. We are encouraged to be kind and recognize God's power and His love for each of us. All the readings on this day serve to guide new believers and followers of Jesus into deeper meaning and understanding of the religious mysteries and sacraments of the Church. Luke explains this in the readings from the Acts of the Apostles: “… many signs and wonders were done among the people at the hands of the apostles … yet more than ever believers in the Lord great numbers … were added to them. They even gathered the sick out into the streets … and those disturbed by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.” [Acts 5:12-16] We are given a glimpse into who we were from the beginning of the Church and an insight into who we should be today. And what do we see? What can we learn from these first Christians? Lu...

For Sunday, April 20, 2025 Acts 10:34, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9 It's Easter Sunday, the day we've been waiting for. At some point in our lives we've wondered: Does God exist? Did God create me? Is there any reason why I exist? Then we've asked: What does God mean to me and how important am I to God? From the earliest of times, different cultures and religions have struggled to come up with answers to these questions. Centuries ago Moses encountered God at a burning bush — which led to the freeing of God's people, the Israelites, out of slavery in Egypt and guiding them to the promised land. It took 40 years of wandering and learning about God. They continually rejected God, His invitation and His commands as to why they were chosen. The prayerful, mystic and prophetic Moses recorded the covenant, God's promise to us and the commandments — which is our response to God. The desert wanderers were too stuck on themselves and wanted what they wanted and d...

For Sunday, April 13, 2025 Isaiah 50:4-7, Philippians 2:6-11, Luke 22:14-23:56 Our days of Lent are coming to a close. We've lived through many holy weeks, felt terrible at Jesus’ suffering. We must realize that He died for you, for me. We ask the Lord to help us during the coming days. What is the significance of His message for me? He called you and me. We are called not to serve people’s wants but their needs. We serve others. We see that Jesus loved … we are called to love … to love all we see and even the ones we don’t see but are in need. How am I doing? What do these last days tell me about Jesus’ love, God the Father’s love, and the Spirit’s help in loving? Two points: First, it is important that the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus tells us about our God. The paradox of Christianity is not only that Jesus died and rose again, but also — importantly — that after His disgraceful form of death, God raised Him to victory. Think on this: that after Jesus’ seemingly comp...

For Sunday, April 6, 2025 Isaiah 43:16-21, Philippians 3:8-14, John 8:1-11 Last week we celebrated Laetare Sunday. How wonderful it is to realize that God loves everyone in a special way, all the time — no matter how we feel about ourselves. We heard about the Prodigal Son and all of us, at least partially, can identify with the younger son or the older son. Why? So often we have negative feelings about ourselves: I wish I could have … I just never worked on my gifts … I felt I could just not do it … I’m not good enough … why me, Lord … I’m just not worthy of Your love and goodness to me. Why do I do that? Why do I feel that way? I just tear myself down. God never feels that way toward me, you, or anyone. I am His special creation — no matter where He placed me in this world, He is constantly with me. He could have placed me here to be a help and example for a person who is so negative that they can’t see God’s love or His gifts in themselves. Or God placed that person in my life so I...