News - March 2025 RSS Feed

Dear Parishioners, When has it happened last that your plans and/or your usual schedule in your personal life or in your work changed somewhat significantly temporarily? I know that this is a wordy and maybe grammatically incorrect question, but I want to be clear. Well, a change in our usual schedule at the St. Peter Church campus took place this past Monday morning when the short but heavy rainstorm caused the “roof-in-process” to leak in several places inside of the church, and the contractor had the refinishers start on repairing the water damage to the wood plank decking of our “cathedral” ceiling in the church, which required temporary movement of pews, installation of scaffolding, and plastic covering over the pews to catch the dust and debris that fall from overhead while the wood was being repaired. This results in a literally “unusable” church building now for an unknown period of time. Weekday Masses are now in the Lacour Center (the former convent ) and weekend Masses begin this weekend are at St. Hubert’s.

Dear Parishioners, Some medical conditions that people are diagnosed with can be greatly improved or even cured by the active role the patient takes in the treatment of and the living with the particular disease/diagnosis. High blood pressure requires weight management, proper diet and exercise. Lung/respiratory problems in smokers will certainly improve if they stop smoking. Those with congestive heart failure and fluid retention must watch their sodium intake if they want to have a close-to-normal life. Weight management, exercise, adherence to a healthy diet, and quitting smoking are things that people must decide to do and actually do themselves – no one else can do these things for them – if they are going to improve their health and possibly reverse the disease. Jesus talks about this in the Gospel this Sunday with the example of the fig tree and the gardener. Jesus is the Master Gardener, and we are the fig trees.

My dear parishioners, On this Second Sunday of Lent, Catholics all over the world hear the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus in the Gospel today. It is said that this event on Mount Tabor took place forty days before Jesus’ Passion, Death, and Resurrection as a preview of the glory that would come to Him from His obedience to God the Father and in His love for us, shown in His Crucifixion. The actual time of the Transfiguration is not as important as the vision Jesus was giving to Peter, James, and John, and we might wonder why Jesus didn’t have all 12 of the Apostles present for this glorious manifestation of the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, but we have to trust Jesus’ decision in only bringing these three up the mountain with Him.

Dear Parishioners, Lenten penances that we choose to do for forty days can be compared to New Year’s resolutions: if we want them to last and to be effective, even though Lent is only forty days, the penance has to be realistic and doable, just as a New Year’s resolution has to be if it will do us some good. The Gospel of Ash Wednesday is a good source for something that we will “do” or “give up” for Lent. First, Jesus talks about almsgiving, or giving our money or time to charity in some way.