Happy Pentecost and congratulations to the newly ordained priests, Fr. Colm Larkin, Fr. George Rhodes, and Fr. Timothy Skoch! Thank you to all who volunteered to help with the ordination and reception here at Prince of Peace.
Happy Ascension of the Lord! I usually think of mission when I think of the Ascension. Jesus ascends to Heaven, but gives us the command to carry on His mission of saving souls, “Go, therefore, 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. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19–20)
Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. - 1 Peter 2:4-5
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? - John 14:2
It’s Holy Thursday. The Gospel is proclaimed, the rest of the church sits down...except for me. I approach the ambo, hands shaking, praying to the Holy Spirit that He would give me the words that He wants me to speak to His people. These people that I am preaching to, are my spiritual children, I am the one whom they call “Father.” I have been preaching to these people for 9 months... the majority of the time I have no issue preaching to them, but tonight it’s different...
On Saturday, 4/29, POP will be celebrating First Communion. Congratulations to all our young people, and thank you so much to our parents and teachers and catechists who have prepared them. I happened to dig into some old keepsakes, and I found my 2nd Grade class photo and report card and share them here. Bonus points if you can figure out which one was me (my hair looked different back then). My teacher who prepared me for First Communion was Miss Debbie Rinke, who happens to teach one of our 2nd Grade classes at Prince of Peace!
Christ is Risen! He is Risen, indeed!
About 8 years ago, I had the beautiful opportunity to visit the Divine Mercy Shrine during World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland during the Jubilee Year of Mercy. The presence of the Lord in that chapel was palpable.
On this Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion and as we enter Holy Week, it is so good to reflect on the account of the crucifixion of Jesus and the words he spoke. Traditionally many reflect on the “Seven Last Words of Christ.” If you look between the four Gospels, you find seven sentences Jesus speaks—three are unique to the Gospel of Luke, three to John, and one to Matthew/Mark.
We enter the fifth week of Lent, the last normal week of Lent. The following week will be Holy Week. It is time to get serious! This Sunday the intensity goes up a notch as we cover statues in the church. This is a meaningful tradition. As we draw ever nearer to the Passion of Jesus, things are stripped away, just as Jesus will experience in His crucifixion. We take away anything that might distract us from looking where we might be uncomfortable looking—at Jesus on the cross.
As I was reflecting on the readings for this week, I was struck by two words that seem to pervade the readings: light and sight. How important each of these are; as you cannot have one without the other. Without sight, one cannot see. Without light, even those who see, cannot distinguish. Yet, even when we do see, do we always see rightly? I think the answer would be, no.
This Sunday, March 12th, the 3rd Sunday of Lent, we receive the gospel account of the woman at the well and her life-changing encounter with Jesus. Imagine just going for a bucket of water, but instead meeting Jesus, and everything changes! She even leaves her bucket behind. That is the power of the LORD.