From the desk of Fr. Peter

Happy Easter!  May the Divine Mercy raise you up in hope and courage!

Mercy Sunday is a special day for those around the world who have made the effort to pray the Divine Mercy Novena beginning Good Friday and culminating the second Sunday of Easter.  The Chaplet of Divine Mercy was given to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska on Good Friday in 1935 by Jesus who wanted her to pray it as a Novena (9 days) with special intentions for each of the nine days it was prayed.   St. Faustina relates in her Diary that Jesus made several promises to grant many special graces to those who would pray the Novena.  This Sunday many of the faithful will begin to realize the graces and gifts that Jesus promised to those who would pray the Chaplet.  Those who were included in the intentions will receive life changing graces in their lives as well!  I am very happy that we include praying the Chaplet in our parishes, especially at St. Edward where it is prayed with the Rosary before all Masses.  Jesus also made promises to those who would display an image of the Divine Mercy which is prominently displayed in our Churches at St. Thomas, St. Bernard and St. Edward.  The rays streaming from the heart of Jesus in the image have symbolic meaning: red is for the blood of Jesus which is the life of souls and the pale color is for water and Baptism which justifies souls (diary par. 299).  The whole image is symbolic of charity, divine love and forgiveness referred to as the “Fountain of Mercy.”

This Sunday the Divine Mercy devotion will begin at St. Edward at 3:00pm.  All are invited to attend.  There will be Solemn Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, recitation of the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and then concluded with Solemn Benediction.

May God bless you always! +++ Fr. Peter

Happy Easter! Alleluia!

It’s hard to imagine what the first Easter must have been like.  There were only a small number of people who followed Jesus and they had just suffered a horrible, tragic loss in seeing him die on the cross.  They were still feeling the shock waves of his death when a couple of people they knew reported the unthinkable—He is risen!  The event of the resurrection of Jesus sets Christians apart from the world in a special way.  Look around you.  There are more people in Church today for one reason.  Jesus died, to take away our sins and then rose again!  You are here and so are they because they believe, they have faith and hope in God’s mercy and the resurrection to eternal life.  Millions of people around the world have made a special effort to get dressed up and go to Church today to celebrate what their faith means to them.  Like you, I wish everyone had a strong faith and a sense of purpose about what to do with their faith.  Imagine what our world could be like if everyone worked together to build societies that honored God and put the Gospel values into action!  I am reminded that the followers of Jesus were few but they grew in number because they lived a sincere faith and the Lord showed his favor through them.  We have the same opportunity.  If the world we live in is to grow in holiness and remain a good place to live, then the faith that brings us here must go out with us into our homes, our schools, our places of work, our neighborhoods, our public policies and wherever else we go.  We must be glad to share what our faith gives us with other people.  The tomb is empty because God raised him from the dead!  There are those who would roll the stone back over the tomb by covering up their faith or by denying what really happened by sliding back into fear, anger or any form of darkness that leads to a dead end .  As a people of faith, let this Easter be the time when we sincerely recall our salvation and rededicate ourselves as disciples of Jesus.  He gave us the Gospel and its power!  Let our words and actions show our good will and the Good News of the resurrection! +++ Fr. Peter

Grace and peace to you!

Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday begins Holy Week.  It is called Holy Week because through the scriptures this week, we are brought into the historical account of Jesus’ suffering, crucifixion and death: his sacrifice and love for us that won our salvation.  The liturgies this week take on a special character too.  This is partly due to the focus on the passion of Jesus in the readings but also because we engage our physical senses through doing things out of the ordinary like, the reception of the holy oils, the washing of the feet, the empty tabernacle, the use of incense, the veneration of the cross, the ceremony of light with fire and candles and special readings and seasonal hymns.  As we incorporate these things, it is important to realize that we are not re-enacting the historical events upon which our faith is grounded, but rather we are enabling ourselves through a fuller use of our senses to enter more deeply into the Paschal Mystery.  The mystery we enter calls us to remember the events of the past when God delivered his people from oppression and slavery.  This mystery compels us to ponder what is now happening in our lives: to recognize the ways that God is leading us on a path of conversion and healing, deepening our faith and our personal relationship with God.  Through Lent, we have encountered temptation and some of our faults have been revealed to us.  Our lives have changed because God is leading us to a new way of life.  This “anamnesis” or remembering-in-a-special-way bolsters our hope and confidence in God’s loving plan of salvation for our future.  We know that we are never abandoned nor forgotten and we are always delivered and forgiven when we turn to God for help.  My prayer is that we all grow in holiness as we enter this special week in a new and deeper way.   God bless you all! +++ Fr. Peter

Peace and grace to you!

The readings this weekend are filled with power!  The power of hope!  Faith in God as the one who speaks the truth and the one who always fulfills what he promises assures our hope and trust that he will accomplish what he says.  This weekend we get a special glimpse of God’s plan—ultimately, our salvation.  Although we don’t know the details of our lives ahead of time, we do know that we must walk by faith and make sense of the events in our lives by using the lens cap of faith as we go.

The prophet Ezekiel makes a bold declaration that God will open our graves and we will rise from them, plus we will live with a share of God’s divine Spirit within us!  Paul’s vision of the Christian experience makes sense of sin coexisting with the Spirit of Christ in the human person.  He assures us that those who live with the Spirit of Jesus, even though they fall into sin, can rightfully hope in a resurrection of the body as a gift of God’s grace.  The power of the Holy Spirit cleanses us from sin through the Word of Christ.  This is manifested in the Gospel story when Jesus calls Lazarus forth from death to life.

Lazarus is a great image for all of us to ponder.  We know that at this event he is wrapped up, tied up, in the bands of sin, death and burial.  Obviously, he has succumbed to the power of nature and suffered death, which is the ultimate suffering for the human person.  He has also committed sins.  But the Word of Jesus cleanses him and compels him to rise to new life.  In the light of today’s readings, we also should pause to consider a couple of questions for ourselves.  What are the natural powers, sins, people or events that have bound you up in life?  How have you been hindered in life or closed into a place of darkness, loneliness, isolation, anger, fear or hopelessness?  We are all burdened in different ways to varying degrees.  More importantly and much greater than any of these burdens however, is the power to be set free of them by Jesus and his Word.  I pray that each of you experience some special freedom, liberation from sin, hindrance or death and walk in joy as children of light.  May God bless you! +++ Fr Peter

The blind man in today’s Gospel is a very important figure for all of us to consider.  From our birth, we have all been affected by sin and the spiritual blindness that comes with it.  But thanks be to God, through our baptism, we know about God and we believe in Jesus as God’s Son, our Savior and Redeemer.  Baptism has given us the light of faith and understanding.  But our blindness is not entirely removed.  There are still blind spots that affect us and the people around us.  We are not able to discover them or change without God’s help.  Today is a day that we open ourselves to God’s grace: to be touched by Jesus and begin a new life!

In the story, Jesus uses his saliva and earth to make clay.  We remember the story of creation in Genesis when God formed man out of the slime of the earth.  Jesus smears the slimy clay on the man’s eyes and instructs him to wash in the pool—symbolizing baptism.  In baptism we were washed clean from our sin and we became born again; that is born again or created anew as a child of God.  The darkness of sin has been removed and we walk as children of God by the light-vision of faith.  But our journey of faith is not an easy path.  At times we are misled or wander astray not entirely certain of the right way to go.  We experience doubt, confusion, fear, love, passion and pleasure.  Some of what we experience or perceive to be good we discover later on wasn’t good; it wasn’t what we thought it was.  When that happens, we turn to God asking for pardon and begin again our journey of faith renewed by God’s cleansing mercy.  Through this process, we experience an increase in our faith.  We are more enlightened with spiritual vision and understanding.  We are more firm at applying our faith to daily life.

Remember, Lent is a season of Kairos , that is a special time when the Lord is at work with us helping us to see more clearly the path for a closer life with him.  If we are sincere, Jesus will help us avoid things that cause us problems by revealing them to us and showing us His way.  May God bless you all during this holy season! +++ Fr. Peter

Peace and grace to you all!

The readings that we use this weekend are from Year A.  The reason we will use them is because they emphasize the importance of faith and baptism.  This is important for the faithful and especially for those preparing for baptism and those coming into full-communion in the Catholic faith.

In the first reading, the Israelites’ physical fatigue and thirst reveals the deeper level of their spiritual aridity and lack of faith.  This happens even though God has been providing everything that they need in a unique and powerful way.  Moses is frustrated with their hardness of heart, doubt and complaining rather than putting confidence in God.  But God is patient, understanding and compassionate so he gives them the water they desire (the water symbolizes the Life of Grace through baptism).

In the Gospel story, Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman and surprises her in many ways.  She carries an empty jar to the well each day to satisfy her physical thirst.  But in the encounter with Jesus, it becomes almost immediately clear that the empty jar is an image of her own spiritual emptiness and thirst for grace and mercy from God.  She has had a hard life.  She comes to the well at mid-day to avoid the scorn and ridicule of the townspeople.  She quickly discovers that Jesus doesn’t treat her the way other people do.  He is kind toward her even though he knows her whole life story with the bad decisions but instead of ridicule and rejection, Jesus offers her a remedy.  For her part, she has only to put her faith and trust in him.  She leaves the jar behind as an image of leaving behind her emptiness, pain, and thirst for God.  Something new is springing up inside of her, it is faith and trust.  As baptized Catholics, we can well identify with the wellspring flowing inside her because we know it is the grace and mercy of God.  It is evident that Jesus came on that day and at that hour to satisfy the longing the woman had for God: to save her from her sins.

There is another thirst in the story too.  Jesus’ thirst.  Jesus was thirsting for her faith and trust.  This set of readings helps us in our Lenten desert.  While we experience trials and tribulations, aridity and loneliness, we thirst for fulfillment and comfort but we don’t always remember that God’s thirst for our faith and trust in him is much greater than ours.  God’s thirst for us is satisfied when we put him first and call to him for help.  God’s presence will always be found in the act of loving.  When we comfort, accept, heal and forgive one another, we are not only imitating God’s response to us, we are also making God present to others.    May God continue to fill you with life-giving water! +++ Fr. Peter

May joy and peace fill your hearts!

The readings this weekend may catch us off guard a little bit but on a closer look, they are filled with consolation!

Abraham lived with the kind of faith and hope that we are encouraged to imitate.  God made a covenant with him and kept it. But there came a time when Abraham’s faith was tested.  He had to believe that God would keep it even in a situation where it looked like God wouldn’t.  Abraham gives us an example of how to grow in faith and trust in God.

Paul’s letter to the Philippians is filled with faith because it reminds them that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ . . . who will change our lowly body to conform to his glorified body.”  Paul’s faith filled vision of heavenly glory became an inspiration and strength to the Church at Philippi.  The Philippians had always been supportive of Paul financially and otherwise but they were experiencing some tensions that could cause divisions.  From prison, Paul expresses his loving concern as a pastor and instructs the community to guard their unity in Christ with humility and charity.  He reminds them of their heavenly goal to give them strength.

The account of Jesus’ Transfiguration with a few of his disciples is intended to console and strengthen them in their faith just before they see him horribly disfigured by crucifixion.  They hear the voice from heaven declaring Jesus as the chosen Son and they experience seeing Jesus resplendent in glory, dazzling in radiant beauty.

During Lent, we don’t often have “mountain top experiences” or mystical trance-like encounters with God.  Although we do pray more and are accompanied by the Spirit, it is more common for us to become painfully aware of our failings and weaknesses.  The readings this weekend lift us up to focus, not on our faults, but on God’s faithful covenant promise and what we will become by God’s love and mercy.  We continue in our Lenten Journey to our own transfiguration and transformation by dying to sin and rising to new life in Christ!  God bless you! +++ Fr. Peter

Peace and grace to you!

We have begun our Lenten journey!  As you already know, this journey leads us out of the oppression and captivity of sin through a deep change called conversion and into a new life closer to God.  This pattern follows the way of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus which leads to the resurrection!

Throughout the Lenten season we are reminded that from baptism, we have a special identity: we are God’s holy people!  Each one of us is a child of God and deeply loved.  Principle themes of Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving by which, we show our gratitude to God for our own blessings and our care and concern for those in need.

In the first reading from Deuteronomy, Moses instructs the people to recount the history of the Israelites and to present to God the first portion of their possessions in gratitude for God’s saving action which delivered them from oppression in Egypt and gave them a fruitful land.

The Gospel story picks up at a point immediately after Jesus’ baptism when the heavens were opened and the voice identified him as “beloved son.”  Following that, Jesus is led to the desert where he is tempted by the devil to turn away from God to sin.

The first temptation is to use his divine power to selfishly satisfy his own bodily cravings by turning a stone to bread when he is hungry.  The second temptation is to abandon his role as a humble servant of God in exchange for worldly power, wealth and glory but he would have to worship the devil to gain it.  The third temptation to jump from the temple height would be to reverse his role with God by trying to make God serve him.  Each of the temptations leads to loss of divine son ship.  In the face of each temptation, Jesus rejects sin and chooses to follow God’s commands affirming his role as an obedient servant of his Father’s will.  It is by his obedience that our disobedience is healed and restored.

At this early point in the journey, we are invited to evaluate our conduct as God’s children.  I’m sure that each of us can discover something in ourselves that compromises our divine “son ship;”  not living our true Christian identity, not giving of what we have, misusing the gifts we are given.  The good news is that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more!  God is here to help us truly be his beloved children and strengthen us in discipleship.  No matter what, let no one be afraid to turn to God and ask for mercy, help and healing.

May the God of all consolation be with you! +++ Fr. Peter

Peace and grace to you!

Today’s readings remind me of Flannery O’Connor’s stories “Revelation” or “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”  I also recall Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mocking Bird.”

The principles that Jesus is teaching today inspired these authors to describe situations that depict great injustices by societies, individuals and even whole classes of race toward other people.

We might label this kind of behavior as “Log-in-the-eye-disease” or “Cancel-culture.”

Jesus is asking us to be honest with ourselves about the way we treat others.  He is saying that frequently we quickly point out the faults and failings of others while overlooking our own greater faults and failings.  Darkness and hardness of heart are the root of viewing people wrongfully and this results in wrongful judgement.  Grudges and long-standing prejudices close out the light of the Gospel.  Jesus names it as evil and not capable of good fruit.  That means no happiness, no peace, no friends, no joy and no glorifying God.  If we, who are baptized into Christ, are suffering from log-in-the-eye syndrome, we are hypocrites and merit a hypocrite’s reward.

The remedy?  Listen to Jesus and follow him.  It helps to first consider that we don’t completely know another person’s story.  We must be able to identify bad behavior but that is a long way from condemning a person. Will Rogers said: “Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement.”  If we begin from a perspective of understanding that all of us need room to make mistakes, that all of us need God’s mercy, we avoid being hypocrites, we don’t cancel other people.  We become better friends of God and our neighbor.  Blessings to you! +++ Fr. Peter

Peace and Grace to you!

The Kingdom of Heaven experience requires a radical break from natural to spiritual maturity.

In the first reading, David has an opportunity to “pay back” Saul for all his meanness and dirty dealing toward David.  Saul is jealous and behaves as jealous is: hateful and mean.  David, on his part, demonstrates spiritual maturity through a willful desire to obey God’s Word.  David’s love for God moves him beyond seeking his own form/desire of justice into seeking what pleases God.  David’s experience of receiving injustice has not hardened his heart, it has brought about the divine fruit and trait of compassion.  He shows wisdom and spiritual maturity, magnanimity of character, by showing mercy to Saul.  David recognizes that God established Saul in leadership, and it is God who will deal with Saul, just as God will deal with David himself.  Is this perspective valued toward public leaders and all leaders of communities today?  With corruption so widespread in the world today, it makes it more important to address the wrongs with a renewed respect for the importance of the rule of law.

In the Gospel we continue with the Sermon on the Plain.  Jesus knows well that human nature is strongly inclined to move in the wrong direction (concupiscence).  He sets forth some radical instructions.  They’re radical because they move us beyond our natural inclinations to return a strike for a strike.  Instead, Jesus directs us to a spiritual maturity that leads us into a Kingdom of Heaven experience and friendship with God.  If Jesus is delivering this set of principles to us, then he is instructing us to be his disciples and he will help us live them out.  No matter how difficult and no matter if we fail, we must be found in pursuit of living the principles of Christian life as best as we can.  “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” is not an option to the believer but a goal at heart.  Putting away an insult or criticism saves a life (you shall not kill).  Saving a life saves the world one at a time.  Blessings to you! +++ Fr. Peter