From the desk of Fr. Peter

Peace and grace to you!

The readings this weekend lead us to reflect on our life of prayer with the Lord.  In the first reading we get an insider’s view of Solomon’s heart and deepest desires as he prays to God.  Solomon was praised for his wisdom during his lifetime and through the centuries so we know that God granted his desire.  When we read his prayer, we understand why – he isn’t asking for something selfish.  Solomon understands that he needs God’s help more than anything else to serve as a leader and so he asks for help.  St. Paul’s wisdom is shown through his spiritual insight “that all things work for the good of those who love God.”  No matter what it is: trial or ease, hunger or feast, persecution or peace, sickness or health, wealth or poverty, in all these things the one who loves God grows closer to him.  In the Gospel, Jesus explains that the kingdom of heaven is the greatest wealth and treasure that anyone could ever have.  Jesus is telling us that there are a lot of things in the world that demand our attention and capture our interest but the most important and lasting thing of all consists in our lively personal relationship with God.

One of the principal ways that we experience God’s abiding presence within us is through prayer.  Like you, I have had to work very hard to develop a discipline and routine of prayer.  Prayer is easy when there is the sweetness of spiritual consolation.  But prayer is much more difficult during the arid periods when we are too busy or when we don’t feel like it or when we don’t think that God cares or hears us, or we’re too tired, or whatever.  Through all these changing emotional climates, thoughts and conditions, prayer must continue even if it seems of no use or accomplishment.  Our faithful practice of prayer leads us into remembering that God is always present and actively assisting us!  There are many types of prayers and devotions that people feel drawn to.  The Rosary, The Liturgy of the Hours, periodicals like the Magnificat or Give us this Day. Lectio Divina is spending quality time in God’s Word each day and the weekday Mass readings are always a rich source of spiritual nourishment.  Choose what works for you.  God bless you always! +++ Fr Peter

May the grace of Christ console your hearts!

This weekend we are reminded of our need to pray through the many challenges that confront us in life.  Although God is always there to help us through them, we do not always remember or recognize God’s presence and nearness to us while we are in the midst of difficulties.

Elijah has had to face Jezebel and all the priests of Baal who oppose the one true God.  As God’s prophet, Elijah was familiar with opposition and difficulty but he had reached a point of loneliness and weariness that were so overwhelming that he asked God to end his life.  While he was lying on his mat waiting for death to come, an angel was sent to stir him to eat and then journey to the mountain to where God would speak to him.  As you already know, “going to the mountain” is a literary image used to convey that Elijah’s journey was spiritual which includes prayer.  In the midst of an overwhelming storm and violent natural forces, Elijah finds God’s presence with him in the still, small voice: in the quiet of prayer.

In the Gospel scene Jesus sends the disciples out on their own.  The wind and sea against them indicates that they are experiencing difficulties and challenges in their efforts to be disciples.  Meanwhile, Jesus takes time to pray and get face to face time with God: yes Jesus needed to pray!  Jesus walks across the water showing that union with God lifts us above torments and struggles.  As He draws near them, he is aware of their struggles.  Jesus extends to Peter the power to “walk on the water,” to rise above the chaos and confusion of the challenges but Peter loses his focus on Jesus and succumbs to sinking into human fear.  But, when Peter calls in need, Jesus saves him and raises him up!  Isn’t it amazing?

Elijah was saved by his cloak, a piece of cloth signifying his devotion to God and God’s providence, shelter and protection for him.  But we have something greater than Elijah had: we have the name of Jesus!  We do not need anything but Jesus’ name for our salvation and when we call to him, he is with us immediately!  So when storms and tempests, challenges and difficulties arise in our lives, we call on the one who is always near and has power to save!  God bless you always! +++ Fr. Peter

Peace and grace to all!

This weekend we hear what is popularly referred to as the Parable of the Sower.  When we hear Jesus’ parables, he gives us opportunities to view things from different perspectives.  If we were to focus only on the Sower, we would overlook some of the other important components included in the story like the seed itself or the soil and its different qualities as well as the thorns and the birds.  We know that the seed is representative of the Word of God because that’s how Jesus describes it.  The Parable of the Seed might be a better title for the story than Parable of the Sower.   Each time I hear the first reading and the declaration that God’s Word shall accomplish what it was intended for, I remember what Mother Cabrini once said to her Sisters: “you too are the Word of God, spoken only once, strive to accomplish what God wills in your life and you will not return to the Father empty.”  I shouldn’t put quotations around that phrase because I know it isn’t verbatim but I think it fairly represents Mother Cabrini’s mind on the matter.

I recognize her statement as a great assertion of faith.  One dimension that Mother Cabrini’s statement adds to the parable is the fact that each one of us comes forth from God as a type of seed.  And as a seed, each one of us needs certain conditions from the environment to nurture us and help us become what God desires for us.  Not everyone has the same chances in life.  Some of us have rough and rocky family conditions while some of us have smooth and balanced situations.  Some of us have uphill challenges arising from physical or medical conditions due to genetics or by accident.  Whether we live on the slope or on the plain, in the gravel or the rich bottom land, one thing is certain: we all need help from each other and from God.  That’s why Jesus came!

This summer we will have Vacation Bible School!  I love having our children here.  Kids are fun to watch and interact with!  But VBS is even more special because they learn about God and the teachers and helpers sow the seeds of faith and nourish it by being together while doing songs and activities.  It’s times like this when I think about the incomparable value of faith and grace from God in the lives of our young people.  They are going out into the world as seeds sown by the community of St. Edward.  They will encounter all types of soil conditions and experience times of hardship and failure as well as peace and success.  Through it all, the thing that they have that will never die and will always bear fruit, if they use it, is the faith they’ve been nurtured with here among us.  God bless you all! +++ Fr Peter

Peace and grace to you!

I think the readings this weekend direct us to clearly identify the inner tension that all of us experience between our desire for spiritual fulfillment and the things of earth that are necessary for the body and the things of earth in general like the house or place where we live etc.  Although we must make use of things of earth, our hope and primary focus is not in them.  St. Paul makes the distinction between people of the Spirit and people of the flesh.  St. Francis of Assissi is a great teacher when it comes to the body and the spirit.  He says the body is like a mule that is constantly on the move to satisfy its appetites—it is never satisfied.  It monotonously moves from one thing to another!  So it is necessary for us to put a bridle and bit on the mule to control it, lest it lead a person into sin and spiritual destruction.  Great imagery here—we all have the same animal appetites to deal with and we all know they need to be properly directed.  They can weigh us down!  But a greater burden comes when we forget to focus on God and the personal help that we have in Jesus.  This weekend Jesus invites us once again to come to him and ask for help—with whatever it is we are concerned about.  Nothing is to great or too small.  Jesus loves!  Jesus is the one who gives rest to the weary and revives the drooping in spirit.  Come and rest in the open arms of the Lord’s providence and mercy.  It truly is easy and light!  May God continue to bless you! +++ Fr. Peter

Peace and grace to you!

The Prophet Elisha wants to return-gift the couple that have been generous and kind to him.  The gift that he gives is his intercessory prayer on their behalf for the blessing of a baby boy.  Because Elisha is a prophet completely devoted to God, his prayer for them will be granted!  Jesus speaks to his apostles (those who are sent) about setting within themselves the priority of loving and serving God above all.  Because God is generous and kind, even small acts of charity done to others out of reverence for God will be rewarded with a blessing.

We live with an inner tension in heart and mind between things of heaven and things of earth.  It is important to remember that these are not mutually exclusive.  St. Paul said that we must make use of the things of this world yet not let ourselves be so engrossed in them that we become solely focused on them.  Juxtaposed to that understanding we hear St. Teresa of Avila’s comment “don’t be so heavenly that you’re no earthly good.”

Jesus reminds us to maintain our balance and make God our top priority.  As we can see with Elisha, God provides for those who devote themselves to serving him completely in surprising ways.  Those who are generous toward God’s servants with their earthly wealth will receive surprising blessings too!

One thing stands out: God cannot be outdone in generosity or in surprises!  Is there a way that you can use something of what you have to return-gift God?  Blessings be yours always! +++  Fr. Peter

Peace be with you!

The readings this weekend remind us that every single person will experience adversity in life.  Those who devote themselves to serving God are not exempt from the challenges and struggles that come in life either.  In fact, they can expect to meet great opposition!  So what’s the use?  Why should someone choose to follow Christ and have a more difficult path than to let go and serve themselves?  Simple.  Followers of Jesus have a source of hope in their faith that God is aware of their hardship and their virtue will be met with an eternal reward!  AND, it is precisely in the experience of struggle that disciples find an intimate companionship with Jesus when they give their best effort in imitation of him!

Difficulties and challenges we all accept as a matter of course in life but what do we do when we are treated with insolent disrespect and/or hostility from bullies or even mortal enemies?

Jeremiah gives us a good insight of how we are to behave and where we can go psychologically, emotionally and spiritually when we have that experience.  After identifying the actions of his malefactors, Jeremiah uses his faith and turns to God in hope!  He says: “But the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.”

The Psalmist in Psalm 69 (probably David) identifies himself as a humble servant who loves God above all things and does not stoop to retribution, cursing or hatred but entrusts everything to God believing that God will come to his aid.  In Mathew’s Gospel Jesus teaches us divine wisdom, which is radically different than natural inclinations or the “world view.”  Jesus says, don’t be afraid.  “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”  Jesus reminds us that the truth will come to light in the end and justice will be done; it isn’t about paybacks.

The message we are given can guide us to peace and reconciliation in our nation—if we all listen to it.  We can put these principles to use in our personal lives through what we say and do. God bless and protect you always! +++ Fr. Peter

Peace to you!

This weekend the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  As the Church teaches us, we know that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Christian life.  Echoes of the desert experience of our ancestors from the Book of Exodus remind us that God is ever faithful in love and care for his people through Covenant relationship.  Today, we have a much deeper knowledge and experience of God’s love and care for us in the Eucharist because it is the real and true presence of Christ that far surpasses the Manna of the desert which prefigured the Eucharist.  Jesus established the celebration of the Eucharist as the New and Eternal Covenant.

Many Catholics, when they hear the words “Body and Blood of Christ,” visualize in their minds the consecrated Host and chalice at Mass.  We remember (anamnesis: Greek) when Jesus instituted the Eucharist and the priesthood with his disciples and we enter more deeply into the New and Everlasting Covenant in Christ and the whole Christian family each time we celebrate it.  St. Paul reminds of this when he tells us that “we, though many, are one body.”  For us, Christ’s sacrifice and gift of the Eucharist is not only an event at Mass; it is not only the real presence of God hidden in the gifts of bread and wine, it is also a living relationship that each one of us has with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and with each other.  The Eucharist brings us together as the Body of Christ to be the real and true sign of God’s presence in the world.  As we grow in our faith journey, we realize ever more deeply that the Eucharist makes the Church and the Church makes the Eucharist.  This is a living reality that defies definition because it is a divine mystery.  But we are caught up in it, we share in the very life of the Holy Trinity!  Imagine what our Catholic family could be like if we were always consciously aware that each person is a living Host, a tabernacle of the real and true presence of God.  Therese of Lieseux came to realize that she was a small Host given for the world in love.  In one of the hymns that we sing at Mass, the words of a prayer of St. Augustine are quoted: “eating your body, drinking your blood, we become what we receive.”  I hope and pray that I continue to grow in recognition of the love and goodness of God in the Eucharist and, like Therese, that I can live more perfectly the Eucharist in relation with other people.  God’s blessings to you always! +++ Fr. Peter

Peace and grace to you!

This weekend the Church celebrates the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity.  It seems fitting that this feast should follow Pentecost because Jesus frequently referred to the Father before and after his death.  Then following his death and resurrection, he promised that the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth, would come upon them and remain with the community.  The mighty wind signaled the presence and action of the Spirit among the disciples at Pentecost.  So at this point of revelation, God is understood as three distinct persons but of one divine nature: Father as Origin and Source of All that is; Son as Word of God, Savior and Redeemer; Spirit as the Animator, Indwelling Love and Guiding Light of God’s people, thus comes the Christian knowledge of God as the Holy Trinity.  The Holy Trinity always defies our complete understanding but there are a couple of things that are very clear.  God is completely relational, which is to say that God is an eternal spring of interested and active love!  And God is completely in love with each one of us, personally!  Jesus came as a human being to restore the relationship between human beings and God.  Jesus expressed himself as God by being entirely loving and merciful during his life and ministry.  He showed us this love by healing us, embracing suffering and death to expiate us from sin.  Now we have the presence of the Holy Spirit nourishing us with the Word and the Eucharist, guiding us in right faith and inspiring us to continue the work of Jesus in the world.  We have been anointed by the Holy Spirit to act in God’s name in the world because we share in his divine life—what an amazing gift!  One of the greatest things to contemplate is that you and I and all the baptized receive the Holy Spirit inside of us, working within us!  We are sharers in the divine life of the Trinity!

This week the disciples receive a commission to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”  This great commission is yours and mine and we do it when we put our faith in action and trust Jesus’ words “behold, I am with you always!”  May God bless you all! +++ Fr. Peter

May God the Holy Spirit glow within you!

This weekend we celebrate Pentecost which is also the birthday of the Church when the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and disciples of Jesus.

When we speak about spirit on a personal level, we are usually referring to something about matters of interest or passion in life.  We notice people who are filled with a kind of spirit: a team spirit, a school spirit, a work spirit, and a family spirit.  People of spirit are fired with a special passion, love and energy for particular things.  You can hear it in their voice, see it in their eyes and on their face and it shows in the way they spend their time and money.  Their whole heart is into it.  They get excited about it and they are obviously more animated and energized while they are engaged in what they love.

Understanding spirit at a personal level helps us to better grasp why God gave us the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  The presence of the Holy Spirit makes people on fire for Jesus and the Gospel!  The Holy Spirit builds, unifies, animates and sanctifies the Church.  The Holy Spirit is the breath of God speaking and inspiring action in the members of Christ’s body, the Church.  The Holy Spirit is the gift of enlightenment and sure sign that we are God’s people: God’s adopted sons and daughters.  The gift of  fiery faith that we have from the Spirit is not like the flame of a match that can be blown out by the wind or drowned by water. No, the gift of God the Holy Spirit dwelling within us is an eternal, unquenchable, loving fire that drives us into action and ministries.  The Holy Spirit within us loves to be shared and expressed with other people in prayer and good works.  Its fruits are purity, gentleness, kindness, generosity, joy, peace, hospitality, healing, forgiveness and unity.  The Holy Spirit equips the Church in its mission by filling the members with gifts and inspiring them to action for building up God’s Kingdom.  I hope that all of us will open ourselves more fully to the Holy Spirit this year.  Let us ask the Holy Spirit to ignite us with God’s pure love and passion for life and goodness and share this joy with others! +++ 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 reflect upon 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