A message from Father Pete

2 Samuel 5: 1-3; Colossians 1; 12-20; Luke 23: 35-43 Today we are called upon to understand a concept that is very hard to understand:  that of Jesus as our King.  Most of us have not lived under the rule of a king.  So what is it like?  Presently there are twenty-six monarchies in the world.  Google describes this as, ‘ a fascinating network of kings, queens, sultans, emperors, and emirs who rule or reign over forty-three countries in all.’  Presently here are twenty countries with kings or queens.  Would I like to live under a monarchy?  Probably not because I like and am comfortable living in our democracy.  So what is it like living under the rule the Kingship of Jesus?  This is a difficult question because we identify that with living under the authority and rule of the Catholic Church.  Am I comfortable with living within the rules of the Church?  I am, it’s my job  as being a Catholic priest.  But is this w...

Malachi 3: 19-20; 2 Thessalonians 3: 7-12; Luke 21: 5-19   As we approach the end of the Church year next Sunday on the feast of Christ the King and then await the first Sunday of Advent the following Sunday it is good to ask some questions basic of which is:   What am I afraid of?   Today’s readings focus in on the end-times.   This can bring much consternation.   What is the end of the world going to be like?   When will it happen?   So many movies, TV programs deal with this and somehow a ‘ savior’ comes on the scene to ‘ save the day.’   Do I ever look at Jesus and see that He is our Savior?   Jesus has lived this, preached this, died to show this and rose from the dead to prove this.   Jesus is my Savior sent by God to keep me and each person on track to our final goal: living with God forever in heavenly eternity.   Am I looking at Jesus’ teaching and life to see how I am to prepare for the end of my days and the end of eter...

2 Maccabees 7: 1-2, 9-14;   2 Thessalonians 2: 16 - 3:5;   Luke 20: 27-38   Do I understand what faces me after death?   Do I believe that God has described the place as being heaven and that God intends that every person has a place in heaven?   Do I accept this?   Do I believe that heaven is for the nice people that I believe are there and hell for the rotten people?   Am I too simplistic with these thoughts?   Do I want heaven to be an end of all my pain and sufferings or do I want it to be filled with the source of life and love?   Am I afraid of what lies after life ends because I don’t know what awaits me?   Paul’s letter to the Romans chapter 8: 38-39 tells us: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   Msgr....

Wisdom 11:22 - 12:2;   2 Thessalonians 1:11 - 2:2; Luke 19: 1-10 How does God feel about me?   How do I feel about myself?   Do they agree?   I easily get a swelled head and prize my gifts higher than they are worth.   I can easily put myself down.   I can carry this image of myself before God that is based on fear of my sins and do not take into consideration God’s mercy.   My former spiritual director who is now with the Lord would say ‘ What is God best at?’ and then he would respond definitively, ‘His mercy’   So often we take an unrealistic view of ourselves which is contradicted   by today’s readings.   I have also heard colleagues say that some people’s sins are so great that they do not deserve God’s mercy.   I wonder why they have a problem with God’s mercy, tenderness and forgiveness that are seen all throughout the pages of Scripture?   Maybe this originates from the fact that all people struggle with forgiving peo...

Sirach 35: 12-14, 16-18; 2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 16-18; Luke 18: 9-14 My dad would use a variety of sayings/quotes and   I have no idea if they were his own or from another not-so famous person or famous person.   I preface them by saying:   ‘my dad used to say.’   One that fits in with today’s readings is ‘…one might say to you, ‘I use to be proud but now I don’t have any faults.’   I certainly have seen this attitude.   Probably it has found its way in me too.   We will be ‘celebrating Halloween’ this week.   Now it is restricted and protected in all areas, I hope, so that our little ones can have fun and   get dressed up while parents try to control their input of sweets.   The idea of disguising who one is goes back to even before Jesus’ time.   Actors would put on masks to ‘pretend’ to be someone else. The Greek word for hypocrite means actor.   The actors would wear large masks to mark which character they...

Exodus 17: 8-13; 2 Timothy 3: 14-4:2; Luke 18: 1-8 What is my prayer life like?   Am I satisfied with it?   I tell people who come to me that the way they are praying right now is the right way for them to be praying.   But do I listen to my own advice?   I find myself trying to ‘dicker’ with my approach to prayer.   I have a tendency to add prayers, but the question is do I ever eliminate some prayers?   I can keep on adding and adding, which means more time spent in ‘saying words’ which takes away from me being still before the Lord.   Is this healthy?   Could it be the devil is distracting me away from quiet prayer?   Jesus is telling me today to “ pray always.”   How can I possibly do this with my hectic schedule?   Perhaps it’s a good idea to take time and revisit what prayer means to me…this is the content of todays scripture passages. Exodus continues the Israelites journey to Mt. Sinai where God enters a covenant w...