A message from Father Pete

For Sunday, June 2, 2024 Exodus 24:3-8; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 We all have gone through the coming and going of family, relatives, work companions and dear friends. Growing up, especially in our preteen relationship years, those “dear friends” were “family” to us because of their closeness and the love they shared. Living without them would be a “catastrophe.” I’ll just die without them … they are the only ones who really know me and care about me. Well, we’ve survived. The old saying, “absent in mind makes the heart grow fonder” … sometimes. Yet for friendship to continue and endure, friends need each others’ physical and emotional presence as well as signs of affection. Small children need hugs and kisses to know they are loved . Married couples need regular signs of affection. We would think that simple signs of affection would fade in time. Yet if a wife is never kissed anymore, she wonders: Does he still love me? So ... all human love demands some presence and s...

For Sunday, May 26, 2024 Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40; Romans 8:14-17; Matthew 28:16-20 What a wonderful trio of readings the Church puts before us today. Take a moment to slow down and read them slowly. Moses is reflecting on the greatest event that ever happened: God created the universe and then created man … woman. What does that tell us? God, to make creation complete, created Adam and then Eve. WE are the reason He created this marvelous, absolutely beautiful universe in all its vastness with wonders upon wonders. And here we are, reflecting that God created each of us because each is an important part of God’s plan. No created human being is an accident: We are created for a purpose … God’s purpose … to reveal the constant shades of God’s love and glory, and His plan to bring each of us to eternity in heaven. Psalm 33 tells us that God has chosen us to be His own. We are special; we have been called by Love to be love so that all who believe, have faith, and are people of love, w...

For Sunday, May 19, 2024 Acts: 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13; John 15:26-27 The Jewish feast of Pentecost was one of the three major feasts in Israel for which pilgrims journeyed to Jerusalem. Originally it was an agricultural feast: the end of the harvest called the Feast of Weeks. It took on new significance, celebrating the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. This is why the Gospel tells us that devout Jews from every nation were in Jerusalem during this time. They came with their families to remember and thank God for giving them His commandments and leading them to the Promised Land. On Pentecost they gathered in the Upper Room. We don’t know who was there in addition to the Apostles. Could the women who accompanied them all over have been present? Or other followers, like the two from Emmaus, and even others? Why not? We don’t know. What we do know is that the Holy Spirit came unexpectedly … like the sound of an extremely strong wind, filling the room. Tongues of fire ...

For Sunday, May 12, 2024 Acts 1:1-11, Ephesians 4:1-13, Mark 16:15-20 The awaited time has come. We’ve all experienced this in some way: Perhaps it was a family trip, the car was loaded, and we started out. Perhaps it was the most exciting day of our lives: marriage or ordination to priesthood. Perhaps it was … we can fill this with so many personal experiences. It is very good and necessary to put this day into our religious life-experiences. Where did it all start? We can say at Creation. Where did we hear about this? From Moses. Jesus added the finishing touches and established our home as heaven. So our history started with Moses, who was chosen by God to lead His chosen people to the Holy Land as he describes in the Pentateuch — the first five books of the Old Testament. In the first book, Genesis, Moses describes creation, the beginnings of the world and the creation of humanity, forming His created humans into God’s people. In the second book, Exodus, Moses recounts the enslavem...

For Sunday, May 5, 2024 Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48; 1 John 4:7-10; John 15:9-17 We have traveled many miles, been in many places, met a vast number of people, been influenced by many, and accepted numerous special ones into our category of friends. Now reflect on this: What qualities — attributes — goodnesses — do I have to label them as friends? (Remember that we further categorize friends as important, close, special, best.) The readings today describe God not in terms of some outside power that forces itself on a person, but an inner state that happens inside a believer. We often do that ourselves, unconsciously, in our years of attendance at Church and church events when we notice specialness in certain people. There just seems to be something special about them that separates them from others. We think about this … observe them when possible … and possibly get to know them. A number of years ago, one person said to me: “They just seem to have God within them … and God just shines...

For Sunday, April 28, 2024 Acts 9:26-31, 1 John 3:18-24, John 15:1-8 What does it mean for me to be a Christian? What does it mean for me to go to Church — to receive the Sacraments? Is this all that's required to be a Christian … a Catholic … a believer? As I look out the window and look at nature blossoming and blooming all around me, I know I have to do my part to make it flourish in beauty. Right? I was curious and looked it up on the web: Soil management requires knowledge about different soils whose impact on plant health is crucial for gardeners. Celebrate gardening is expressing your own personality, your growing conditions and your interests. Let your creativity run wild and you will be successful. Patience gardening is a slow and thoughtful process — more than a sprint. Having the patience to nurture a plant from a tiny seed to full bloom fills one with pride and accomplishment. Plants grow in four stages — seed, sprout, seedling and adult plant — and they need help a...

For Sunday, April 21, 2024 Acts 4:8-12, 1 John 3:1-2, John 10:11-18 Today we hear the beautiful image Jesus uses in the Gospel to identify Himself: “I am the good shepherd.” [John 10:11] This is an image the people can identify with since King David had come from the fields tending a huge flock for his well-to-do father. Also, flocks of sheep are all over Israel and lamb is “The Meal” for the Passover feast. In the early Church the picture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd adorned the catacombs in Rome and the early church in general. A model shepherd is concerned with his sheep — finding them safe pasture, protecting them from predators, even suffering for them. In our culture we are not so familiar with this image except in sermons and throughout scripture study. Today’s readings also suggest another image of a shepherd as a savior or leader. Do I look at Jesus as my savior and leader? Why or why not? This is exactly what He came to do and did: He saved us from our sins of pride — feeli...