A message from Father Pete

For Sunday, November 16, 2025 Malachi 3:19-20, 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12, Luke 21:5-19 Today’s readings concern the final judgment. Much of the book of the prophet Malachi deals with “The Day of the Lord.” This expression echoes the end-time — the final judgment of God on all peoples. Another expression is “apocalyptic” — a writing with symbolism intended to give hope to a persecuted people; a violent change or upheaval in which evil forces are destroyed. After Jesus dies there is a very common belief that the end times, the end of the world, will come quickly. That is one reason why Scripture scholars tell us the Gospels were written 40 years after Jesus’ death: after all, why spend time writing when the most urgent need was telling the people about Jesus, converting them to His way of love and living? The people, those who believe, live in fear of the Romans who are arresting them no matter what happens. We can only imagine the fear they also have of the Jewish leaders, teachers and t...

For Sunday, November 9, 2025 Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17; John 2:12-22 While I’m sure all of us have visited many churches in our lifetimes, the one that probably remains most vividly in our memory is the church of our youth or one that was special because it's where we were baptized, received our first communion or confirmation, were married there, or our parents’ or loved ones’ funerals were there. Special places, special events that signify the loving presence of Jesus through the sacraments. Many of us have traveled and seen magnificent churches: basilicas like St. Peter’s in Rome, Notre Dame in Paris, Our Lady of Nock in Ireland, and many other famous worshipping, faith-filled churches. Many of these are cathedrals. “Cathedral” is the Latin word for chair. We call the church in which the bishop’s chair is located a cathedral. Each diocese has only one cathedral and it is the mother church of that diocese. If I asked you to name the “mother church” of ...