A message from Father Pete

Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48 Am I the kind of person I would like to be? I try to treat people the way I would like to be treated. Even more, I try to be kind, caring, compassionate, understanding and loving to them. Do I succeed? Not all the time … but I try. Do I feel that I am growing closer to the Lord? This is always a work in progress for me. I see my Spiritual Director once a month and he hears my confession and keeps me in tune with the Lord’s constant presence in my life. Today’s readings add a word that makes many uncomfortable: Holy. I am called to be holy … each person is called to be holy. We are called to be holy as the Lord is Holy. I so often feel that I am so far away from being holy that I wonder if it is reachable. This is a very good position to be in because I can’t do it … I do not have the gifts or the ability to be holy. It is only by God’s constant grace that I can see that the five steps forward and ten steps falling behi...

Sirach 15: 15-20; 1 Corinthians 2: 6-10; Matthew 5: 17-37 At times I find myself not wanting to decide; it seems easier that way. Harvey Cox, a well-recognized theologian, said, “Not to decide is to decide.” If I don’t want to take a position, someone else will and I will have to live with it or grumble about it. It becomes uncomfortable when I don’t like what they decide. Today’s readings bring this into focus because each of us has decisions to make in our lives. Our decisions can be superficial, as what to eat or what movie to go to, or much more difficult decisions concerning special relationships, life choices, careers decisions. Now values and living out these values rise to the top of our decision-making. Genesis 1:26-27 states it succinctly: “And then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.’ G...

Isaiah 58: 7-10; 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5; Matthew 5: 13-16 If I was asked to list my discouragements, it would be a long list. Why? Because I see so much hurt and evils; poverty and exploiting of the poor; rejection of help to the homeless, the persecuted and migrants; failure to stop trafficking of youth throughout the world; continued abuse in families, clerical and religious abuse; abuse all over for the sake of illicit pleasure. Countries whose politicians seem to be spreading anger and who refuse to care for their constituents, even for a sustainable Earth. One religious sister from India who works with victims of trafficking said: “Giving life to others gives you life. That becomes an energizing force for us. We look at those vulnerable people’s faces, their tears, their sufferings, and then with that compassion, we are moved to do something for them, to free them from those kinds of terrible situations which they are in.” (National Catholic Reporter 1/10/20.) We can apply this ...

Malachi 3: 1-4; Hebrews 2: 14-18; Luke 2: 22-40 One of the problems with belonging to an established group is that one feels that they ‘have heard all the questions and know all the answers.’ Unfortunately there is a tendency to view our faith in the same way. We know the story beginning with Adam and Eve; travel through Abraham and continue through Moses who was chosen to lead the Israelites through the desert to the Promised Land with the Ten Commandments as their foundational code of conduct. The Wisdom Books and the Prophets consistently reminded the people of their duties. A Messiah was promised and we are brought to Mary, Joseph and John the Baptist, Jesus’ birth and presentation in the Temple. Every weekend we hear this story in the Nicene Creed. We have been doing this since the fourth century. The whole story is there in scripture and provides the complete guide for what we should do to be His disciple. Everything we need for our salvation is there. Unfortunately this can gi...

Isaiah 8: 23-9:3; 1 Corinthians 1: 10-13, 17; Matthew 4: 12-23 How is my relationship with God going? Am I on the right road or do I see myself settling into the same old pattern? Am I excited about the prospect of finding God in new ways in my life each day? Do I take time to examine what has happened each day and where did I see God’s love for me and for others? Do I find that each day is an opportunity to live a deeper life with God and for God? Franciscan Media’s Sunday Homily Helps adds these questions: “Are you looking for God in all the wrong places? When we need to talk with people, we use our phones. God doesn’t seem to have His cell phone turned on. Could it be that the reverse is true? Is God calling us on spiritual phones that we have turned off? God makes the first call, and we respond — after we have received a divinely constant outpouring of mercy, forgiveness compassion and love?” Today’s readings explore the words of Jesus to “Come after Me … Follow Me.” We do hear thi...

Isaiah 49: 3, 55-6; 1 Corinthians 1: 1-3; John 1: 29-34 Who is the last person I saw God in? How did I recognize this? What was special about this person that radiated God? Was it their goodness or their personality? Was it their kindness or compassion?   Was it their overall attitude toward others? Was I more talkative or attentive when I was with this person? Did this encounter change me in any way? Have I seen these God-like qualities in others? Do I talk about these experiences with others? Is it important that I do share these? I would say YES it is important that we share, but unfortunately we are hesitant because we do not feel confident in our evaluations of these people. A thought could be that we change the God-like word for the word holy.   If and when people tell me that I am holy, I want to deny it because I know that I am a sinner in so many ways. I feel very uncomfortable and want to get off this topic. The question now is WHY? If God has called u...

Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7; Acts 10: 34-38; Matthew 3: 13-17 Today we begin a basic course on our own call to be disciples of Jesus. What does this mean? In the back of the Catholic Study Bible, the Glossary states: “Disciple a follower — The disciples of Jesus were those who followed, or tried to follow His teachings.”   Am I taking my task of being a Christian for granted? Do I realize that to be a follower, I need to have been called to this role; I just don’t fall into it? Like Mary, who said YES to being the mother of Jesus, each of us have our own YES moments. Jesus showed us this today as He came to be baptized by John. After years of waiting, preparing, learning, watching, observing, listening, and studying, the time had come for Jesus to take up His mission: to tell all of God’s total, unconditional love and to redeem each and every one from our sins and confirm that our place is heaven if we respond Yes to His call. The Yes is a continual Yes reaffirmed by dedica...