​Beloved brothers and sisters,
 
"When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain...He began to teach them..." (Matthew 5:1). There is something to say about the designation of the church building on 1840 Marshall Dr/ 904 Mill Rd as a "new" church in comparison to the Historical Church as the "old" church. From the beginning of my time here, I have always contested the original nomenclature. I prefer to call the "new" church "the church on the Hill." I think my preference for that terminology is connected to the connotation of "mountain" in the Bible. A mountain is a place of divine revelation.  Moses encountered God and received the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai. Jesus, the new and more outstanding Moses, also goes to the mountain to talk to God and to teach new commandments.  In Matthew 5-7, Jesus went up the mountain, his disciples came up to him there, and he taught them about the blessings of the Kingdom.
 
Our parish church of St. Peter, the church on the hill (or symbolically, mountain), is the sacred place we come to encounter Jesus, who feeds us on his word and body. In our church, like on the mount of the Beatitudes, Jesus still teaches us about who He is and who He expects us to be. So he speaks to us this Sunday on the Beatitudes, meaning the blessed or the happy. If we pay attention, we will discover that Jesus is telling us how fortunate we are to be who and where we are. He is telling us we are his disciples, and he is our Lord. He also tells us the characteristics and attitudes expected of his followers. What should be our attitude to life and people?
 
As people who are in a good place in life and are blessed, our values should upend those accepted by the world. The attitude of a believer, no matter what circumstances they find themselves in the world, should be that of hope in the joy of the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, we should be meek, poor in spirit, peacemakers, righteous in our conduct, merciful, enduring, longsuffering, and so forth. Those values should always characterize us, no matter our situation.
 
The next time you drive up to the "church on the hill," or any Catholic church for that matter, remember that you are going to Jesus, who will teach you the right attitude to life. Jesus always teaches through the readings, especially in the Gospel and the homily. So listen attentively to what Jesus will teach you about the quality he expects of his followers in the world. For example, are you being called this Sunday to wear the attitude of humility, peacemaker, or mercy?
 
NB: The  Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on Monday will also be observed as World Day for Consecrated Life. Therefore, please endeavor to attend mass if you can. Mass will honor and offer an opportunity to pray for those who have chosen to follow Christ through the practice of the evangelical counsels. I fit into that category; I'm a religious order priest. Also, on Tuesday, on the feast of St. Blaise, I will give the blessing of throats after the 8:00 am mass in the historic church.
 
In His Joy,
 
Fr. Bernard, OP
 

​Beloved in Christ,
 
Jesus is the central character of the Bible. On this Sunday, declared by Pope Francis in his motu proprio of 30 September, 2019, Aperuit illis as the Sunday of the Word of God, the church calls us to devote attention precisely to the Sacred Scripture as a source of knowledge about Jesus, the lover and saviour of our souls. The entire Holy Bible, the Old and the New Testaments, in essence, reveals to us the God who loves and saves us through the incarnation of his Son, Jesus Christ, the great light who preaches and invites us into the kingdom of heaven (Mt 4:17).
 
To help us celebrate, disseminate, and study the Word of God, as Pope Francis teaches in his apostolic letter, I will share with you excerpts from one of my favourite study bibles, the Didache Bible. What follows answers the questions: what is the Bible, what constitutes it, and why we should read it?
The Sacred Scripture is the Word of God addressed to humanity. Though God is the principal author, in composing the Sacred books, "God chose men and while employed by Him they made use of their powers and abilities, so that with Him acting in them and through them, they as true authors, consigned to writing everything and only those things which He wanted" (in Introduction, Didache Bible). This inspired library of books "forms a sacred deposit, which cannot be changed- the 'canon' of Scripture- and includes forty-six books in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New Testament." The Catholic Bible, therefore, is made up of seventy-three (73) books.
 
We should read from these inspired books of the Bible daily. Why? "The Bible is a unique book, unlike any other. Through its pages God meets his children with great love and speaks with them (DV 21), and expresses in human language the ultimate truths of his being. Sacred Scripture teaches us that man was created 'in the image of God' (Gen 1: 27), with the capacity to know and love his Creator, and it offers us the way to achieve happiness on earth and in Heaven. 'In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, 'but as what it really is, the word of God.' The Bible is a priceless treasure in which we always find light and a guide for our earthly pilgrimage" (Introduction, The Didache Bible, xiv).
 
Own a Catholic Bible. Read and pray (lectio divina) the Bible daily. Join others in studying the Bible. Love and live the Bible daily. The Bible is the Word of God addressed to YOU! In it, God makes His everlasting saving love known to you.
 
In His Joy,
 
Fr. Alayode, OP
 

​Beloved in Christ,
 
John the Baptist's testimony in this Sunday's gospel reveals Jesus to Israel as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). This testimony is the subject of our reflection this Sunday. What is the meaning and implication of John's message regarding Jesus' identity? There are three parts to John's declaration. John points to Jesus as "the Lamb of God,"  addresses the problem of "the sin" and how it pertains to "the world."
 
First, "the sin." Here, John speaks of sin in the singular, with an article preceding it. He is speaking here more than individual sin and sinner, though that sense is not excluded. There is a universal approach to sin here. Sin is a translation of the Greek hamartia, which means missing the mark when an archer aims at an object. This sense of sin means that humanity has fallen short in all ways in its relationship with God; sin has ruptured that relationship. The nature of sin is such that it removes us from friendship with God, and we become vulnerable and lost as a result of the breakage from God's love. Sin has the worst form of consequences, temporal and eternal, than we often imagine or admit. 
 
Second, "of the world." The sin committed is universal, and all humanity participates in this act of disobedience against God. All the world has sinned. The baptism of Jesus that John spoke about and which we celebrated last Sunday initiated the process of saving us, the entire world, from the destructive impact of sin on the world. There is a multiplicity and ambiguity in the use of the word "world" in the Bible. There is a sense in which God loves the world, there is another understanding of the world as set against God, and there is the notion of the world that God created and came to save. The whole world, believers as well as unbelievers in God, has fallen away from God and lost its bearings. The world is a mess, and it cannot save itself; only God can liberate it from the negative hold of sin. This is where Jesus comes in.
 
Third, "the Lamb of God." Now comes Jesus, the savior of the world from sin. But, why "Lamb"? The figure of the lamb is a signification of weakness, not strength. Why not Lion instead of Lamb? The answer to this is found in Israel's liturgical act of offering a perpetual sacrifice to God as an act of worship, communion, and dedication. John the Baptist is from a priestly tribe; it is reasonable to assume that he's well informed on the offering of unblemished lambs to God twice a day in the temple as a sin offering. The lamb of sacrifice that the Israelites have been offering to God as an expiation for sin is now revealed in its fullness in Jesus, the Son of God, the glory and the light of God. "Behold, the Lamb of God," John says. 
 
John makes Him known so that all may have communion with him and follow him as he confers on us a new designation, children of God. John helps us to identify Jesus as the new Lamb of the Passover, who comes to offer himself as the true sacrifice that saves all who believe in God from sin and its consequences. The church makes the priest play the role of John the Baptist at Mass. At Mass, the priest points and directs our eyes to Jesus, the Lamb, who is present sacramentally, real and substantially, at every Mass. When the priest repeats the words of John the Baptist at Mass, he performs a truly priestly role- he points to us the true Lamb, the true Sacrifice, the one who takes away the sin of the world. I encourage you to gaze on the true Lamb of God when the priest raises Him at mass today, just before communion, and says, "Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world."
 
Let us, like John the Baptist, show Jesus, the Savior of the world, to others. As people called to be holy, who "call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" ( 1 Corinthians 1: 2), let us reveal the Light that saves from the darkness of sin to others, "to the ends of the earth" (Is. 49: 6). Look up at Jesus at Mass today, He is revealed that we might have communion with him, follow him closely and show him to others in every way possible.
 
I invite you all to join in the prayers for an end to abortion and a greater respect for all human life as we participate in the nationwide vigil on Thursday, during our evening mass and Eucharistic adoration that follows.  Please plan to attend this solemn Holy Hour of prayer.
 
The week of prayer for Christian Unity begins today. Let us pray that all of us Christians may be one in witnessing to the Gospel of Christ.
 
I wish you a joyful celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, a Baptist pastor and civil rights icon whose teachings and advocacy shed light on the essence of Catholic Social Teaching (CST)- the respect for human dignity and the promotion of justice and the common good in all their ramifications.
 
With Joy,
 
Fr. Alayode, OP
 

 Beloved in Christ,
 
Who is Jesus Christ? There's an utmost need for us to know who Jesus Christ is. It
may seem silly or stupid to raise the question about Jesus Christ's identity to a Christian Catholic congregation. Yet, it is a profound question that demands pondering upon to arrive at an answer. The Gospel reading for this Sunday provides
 a perfect answer. Jesus Christ is the beloved Son of God. At the baptism of Jesus
 in the River Jordan, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, descended upon him. The Father’s voice came from heaven, addressing Jesus: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17).
 
As the Only Begotten Son of the Father, Jesus embarks on a mission of redemption. Through Jesus’ baptism in the Holy Spirit, he is anointed and empowered to do good and bring healing to “all those oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38), “to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness” (Isaiah 42:7). This is good news. Now that we have answers to the question: who is Jesus Christ?, let us advance into the new year with courage and faith because we have been baptized in him and like him, anointed “with the Holy Spirit and power” (Acts 10:38). Knowing who he is, the anointed one and Son of God, we know ourselves better;  adopted sons and daughters of God. Let us live out our identity; we are beloved sons and daughters of the Father. Reflect deeply about your baptism and its implications on this last day of the Christmas season, and strive to listen to Jesus and, like him, go about doing good.
 
As we come to the close of the Christmas season, I want to seize this moment to say THANK YOU to all of you who have made the season a joyful one. In addition, I am indebted to many of you who created time to bring the Christmas joy to live in the parish: thanks to the team responsible for the decorations in the historical church and the church on the hill, thanks to the extraordinary minister of the Holy Communion, lectors, altar servers, ushers, money counters, the choirs, and the musicians. I also extend my appreciation to the various parish groups that helped create the Christmas spirit in the parish: St Vincent de Paul Society, Men’s Club, Council of Catholic Women, Knights of Columbus, and others that I may have failed to mention.
 
I want to make a special mention of the satisfaction I derived from celebrating a Christmas vigil mass at the Historic St. Peter Church, the first in twenty-five years! I’m filled with gratitude to men and women who worked behind the scenes to make such a special celebration possible. Thanks to Michael Checco and the choir, and St. Michael’s Guard. I hope to do
it again next Christmas!
 
I am grateful for all the Christmas gifts I received from you: parish societies, families, and individuals. You made it possible for me to get away this past week on a retreat/mission. Our Father in heaven will reward your generosity. I extend to you the promise of Jesus Christ, the Father’s Only Begotten Son: “whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42).
 
In His Joy,
Fr. Alayode, OP
 

 Beloved in Christ,
 
Today, the Church celebrates the manifestation of Christ’s divinity to all people. The visit of the Magi to Jesus, bearing gifts, in fulfillment of the oracle of the Prophet Isaiah 60:1-6, is a sacred moment that celebrates not only the incarnation of Christ but also the extension of the Light of Redemption to the Gentiles, that is, all nations other than Israel. All people are now part of God’s covenant of love. He Shines His Light Upon All.
 
In the first reading for this Sunday’s liturgy, Prophet Isaiah sees into the future when the light of grace will shine upon all God’s children, Jews, and all nations alike. All distant peoples, represented in the Astrologers from the East, are now sharers in the grace from the Creator of all. As Psalm 72 says, “every nation on earth will adore” the Lord. St. Paul in his letter to Ephesians makes a similar proclamation that the mystery of God’s grace has now been “made known to people in other generations,” “Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:5-6). The Magi, representing the Gentiles, following a special star, are led to the place where the child Jesus was, and on seeing him, “prostrated themselves and did him homage” (Matthew 2:11). All nations adore Jesus, the saviour of the world.
 
In the spirit of the Magi, let us be filled with joy that we have been invited to share in the grace of God. We have been called to be partakers of the Good News, we have been called to be sons and daughters of God, and we have been called to use all our treasures, our time, talents, and wealth to serve and worship him. Let us be more driven this new year in our worship of the Lord of Lords. Like the Magi, let us joyfully offer ourselves to Jesus, making him the reason for our existence. Whatever God has in store for us in this new year, we should accept with gratitude and trust in his love for us. Love of God is communicated to us in the divine word. Let us embrace that love and allow the love to inform our worship and adoration of God in this new year.
May the Light of Christ, which shone upon the entire world at his birth, spread into the heart and soul of every one of us as we begin the new year 2026. It will be a year of Divine Light, scattering all forms of darkness that exist.  
 
We will hold our first parish monthly Eucharistic adoration for 2026 tomorrow. Let us keep in mind how significant this holy hour is. In imitation of the Magi, let us come with all we have and who we are to worship and adore the Lord who took on our humanity to save it.
 
May you have a blessed Christmas season and a joyous New Year!
 
Fr. Alayode, OP