St. Peter Catholic Church
  • Home
  • From The Pastor
  • Online Streaming
    • Mass Archives
  • Parish Info
    • Welcome
    • Mass & Reconciliation
    • Sacramental Information
    • Register With Parish
    • RESOURCES
    • Parish Team
    • Photo Gallery
  • Education
    • OCIA
    • Guardian Angel
    • Religious Education >
      • RE Registration
      • RE Online Payment
      • Sacrament Information
    • Vacation Bible School
    • Catholic Education
    • SCRIP
  • Ministry
    • YOUTH MINISTRY
    • Ministry Schedule
    • CAMPUS MINISTRY
    • Music Ministries
  • News
    • Parishioner News
    • USCCB
    • Weekly Bulletin
    • Weekly Calendar
    • Monthly Look
    • Upcoming Events
    • St Peter Columbarium
  • Stewardship
    • Online Giving
    • Opportunities
  • New Page

11/03/2024 Vocation Awareness Week

10/31/2024

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Beloved friends in Christ,
 
Loving God and our neighbors is the fulfillment of all the commandments. The Old and New Testaments clearly show the centrality of keeping and observing God's commandments. God alone is the subject of our most profound display of love. The Jewish people said the shamai prayer daily, in the morning and the evening: "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength" (Deut 6:4-5). Jesus reiterates this commandment and completes it by demanding the love of neighbor: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mk 12:31).

But what form of love is referred to in this scripture verse? What does it entail? Why is it mandatory to love God and others? We must answer these questions correctly to fulfill the law of love. The biblical koine Greek word translated as "love" in this passage is "agape." This form of love is divine in origin, a love that connects us to God in a unique way. It is a disinterested love that gives itself to the other only for the good of the other. When we say we love God, it differs in form from saying we love our spouses, parents, pets, or ice cream.
 
There are other words for love that describe our acts of love towards those subjects and realities. There is love that is classified as eros, storge, filia, filautia, xenia etc. To love God and neighbor is to do so unconditionally without considering what good we derive from it. We learn to love God and our neighbor from how God himself loves us: He loved us while we were unlovable when we were sinners, St. Paul says (fr. Rom 5:5). We were ugly and unattractive to love, yet God reached out to love us without placing a condition for doing so. His love is not a one-time act but a continuous, unchanging reality. It is who God is: God is love" (1 Jn 4). "HE LOVED US," Saint Paul says of Christ (cf. Rom 8:37), in order to make us realize that nothing can ever "separate us" from that love (Rom 8:39), wrote Pope Francis in his new enciclical letter.
 
In like manner, we are to love God with all the faculties and abilities we have received from him: heart, soul, mind, and strength. Nothing must be spared in loving God in any circumstances we find ourselves, good or bad. We must not allow anything to separate us from the love of God (see Rom 8: 35-38) because God alone deserves our uninterrupted self-giving and sacrifice. To love God in the way He demands entails giving our heart, soul, and body to him in worship. This is why, for instance, we are obligated to offer him sacrifices of prayers, especially the Holy Eucharist. To love God unconditionally, whether things are going well with us or not, is to strive to keep his word and do his will daily (Jn 14:3). We must always ask ourselves before we act if our actions are generated by love if they are in keeping with his word and will as taught us in the Bible and the doctrines of his church.
 
God mandates us to love our neighbor because it proves in deeds that we love God. If we don't love the human beings we see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen? (see 1 Jn 4: 20). There is no boundary or restriction on who we should direct our Christian love to. To love our neighbor- whether they love us or not, will determine how God will judge us on the last day. St. John of the Cross reminds us of this when he said, "At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love (CCC 1022).
 
To love is to be Christlike. We are Christians; our identity is love. Do we love as Jesus commands us? We must respond to this question with every deed we perform or carry out towards God or our neighbor.
November is dedicated to remembering and praying for souls in purgatory. As an indication of the love we have for our neighbors, including our brothers and sisters God has called home, please pray for the repose of their souls. The best way to pray for them is to offer the sacrifice of mass for the repose of their souls. It is a Catholic tradition to visit our loved ones' places of rest in the cemetery to pray for them. Please visit them in the graveyard and pray for them as an act of love. Requiem aeterna dona eis, Domine/Grant them eternal rest, O Lord.

Remember that our monthly adoration time is tomorrow, Monday, November 4. Since this is a vocation awareness week, we will have an adoration for vocation. We must not cease to cry to God for vocation to the priesthood and the consecrated life. Let us ensure we come out in large numbers to offer worship to our Eucharistic Lord.

Tuesday, November 5, is General election day! It is our civic duty to vote. The church taught us that we have a moral obligation to vote (CCC 2240) and to form our conscience in light of Christ and his church's teachings. May the Holy Spirit direct us, and may we have a peaceful, free and fair election.
 
In His Sacred Heart,
Fr. Bernard Alayode, OP
 
0 Comments

10/27/2024 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

10/24/2024

0 Comments

 
Picture
 Beloved friends in Christ,

Jesus will save and restore us if we go to him. In today's first reading from Jeremiah 3: 7-9, the Lord rejoices in the restoration of the remnant of Israel on their return from exile to the promised land: "Behold, I will bring them back from the land of the North; I will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst...I will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall stumble." The prophecy of Jeremiah on the deliverance and restoration of his people finds ultimate fulfillment in the Messianic age, in Jesus Christ, who walks in our midst as he did with Bartimaeus, the blind man.

Jesus is the revelation of God's mercy and salvation. Bartimeus had faith in Jesus, and he persevered in that faith, which led to the restoration of his sight and his following in his footsteps: "Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way" (Mk 10: 52). Jesus can deliver us, like he did Bartimeus, from any miserable conditions that might hinder our total dedication to him. All we have to do is go to Jesus in faith. Jesus is constantly passing by; he is present among us, willing to heal and renew us. We need our sight restored to see who Jesus is and follow him. Jesus has the power and is willing to restore and revive us; all we need is a heart in love with Jesus and faith in his name and person to heal us. We must show this in the consistency and ardor with which we pray. There will be obstacles like there were to Bartimeus, but we must learn not to give up calling on Jesus despite those obstacles. Jesus wants to heal and renew us, but we have to go to Jesus in faith.
 
St. Bernard of Clairvaux expresses our role in receiving the superabundance of grace from Jesus in the following words: "We are the ones who have to go to Jesus. Our eyes have been blind. We have lain paralyzed on our mats, incapable of reaching the grandeur of God. This is why our most lovable Saviour and Healer of souls has descended from on high." We must go to Jesus with complete faith in the power of the one willing to heal and save us. Jesus is with us always, especially in the Eucharist. What a great comfort to know he is so close to us. All that is left is to grow in the faith that keeps us praying to him during our time of misery and suffering, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me." It is that simple, but nothing is more powerful to save us. Empowered in faith, call on Jesus, go to Jesus.
 
As we call upon the saving name of Jesus, I want to call our attention to an opportunity to call on the name of Jesus in worship at the "Fall Worship Night" event this Saturday from 6: 30. It will be a time of faith-driven worship and praise of God with our parish-based band, FORGVEN.

The last two days of this week are significant. Friday is All Saints Solemn Feast, a holy day of obligation, and Saturday is All Souls' Day. Please check the bulletin for further details. We will remember our departed loved ones throughout November, but a special remembrance will occur next Saturday, November 2nd, at 4 p.m. Mass.

In Christ,
 
Fr. Bernard Alayode, OP
 
0 Comments

10/20/2024 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

10/17/2024

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Beloved friends in Christ,
 
"The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized," Jesus says to his disciples, who seek to share in the glory of Christ's kingdom. On the one hand, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, misunderstood the purpose and nature of leadership, and Jesus had to educate them on the suffering servant leadership model. On the other hand, Jesus taught about suffering as the path to a share in the glory of Christ's kingdom. To share in the glory of the Lord, a follower of Christ must be willing to drink the cup He drinks and be baptized in the baptism in which He is baptized.
 
What do this cup and baptism entail? Drinking the cup symbolizes God's judgment. In the Old Testament, the wicked must drink the cup of punishment for their sins. But Jesus has come to take our place, to drink this cup of punishment for sin and be immersed, that is, baptized, in the suffering that should rightly be ours to bear. Jesus would fulfill the promise of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53 by giving his life as an offering for our sins in the manner of Israel's priest, who offered sacrifices for the sins of the people. As we read in Hebrews 4, Jesus, the high priest, has been tested in every way and willingly "give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk 10:45) and has delivered us from sin and death, offering himself as a model for us to follow.
 
Are we willing to follow in his footsteps? As today's epistle to the Hebrews encourages us, let us "hold fast to our confession" in the supernatural merit and rewards of Christ's suffering; they are redemptive. Therefore, in our daily trials and sufferings, we must see portions of the cup Jesus said we should drink. Pauline's epistle to Colossians 1:24 reminds us that Jesus promised believers to share "in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church."
 
When we approach the altar this Sunday to receive the body and blood of Jesus, let us do so with the awareness that in our baptism, we have been immersed in Christ's passion and death and that the chalice we drink is His saving blood. Jesus, who calls us to share in his baptism and cup, knows our limited human nature and will fortify us with sufficient grace to bear our crosses cheerfully and with dignity. Let your sufferings as Christians not be in vain; see in them a participation in the victorious passion of Jesus Christ. Kiss and embrace the sacred wounds of Jesus and draw strength to last you through daily temptation and suffering.
 
On this World Mission Sunday, let us remember to assist and pray for those who sacrifice their lives in the selfless service of those in mission territories, especially those in the peripheries, as Pope Francis often describes them. Our monetary contribution should correspond to a significant participation in the cup of Salvation Jesus offered on behalf of souls in the mission land. 
 
In Christ Crucified,
 
Fr. Bernard Alayode, OP
 
0 Comments

10/13/2024 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

10/10/2024

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Beloved brothers and sisters,
 
"I pleaded, and the spirit of Wisdom came to me," the author of the Book of Wisdom (7:7) tells us this Sunday. The rich young man's request to Jesus in this Sunday's Gospel, Mark 10: 17-30, reflects his inner cry to God for something more profound, for Wisdom, a gift preferred above other precious things. The turn to God for Wisdom is the key to our quest for eternal life, just as the rich young man sought from Jesus. The young man's story is our story; it is the narrative of our inner journey and our quest for a deeper relationship with Jesus, the Wisdom of God. Jesus is the Wisdom of God that our heart hungers for, and it is only when we surrender our will totally to God in this search that God makes what seems impossible possible for us.
 
In the rich young man's search for more, just like our adventure into the spiritual life for a closer connection to divine grace and eternal life, obstacles will emerge. For the rich young man whom Jesus gazes upon in love and extends an invitation to an intimate encounter with Him, the Lord of Life, his attachment to wealth constitutes the obstacle to furthering his quest. The young man's disordered attachment to his wealth is why Jesus said it would be harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Mk 10: 25). As long as the young man resists the call to surrender his will and trust entirely in Jesus for the rest of his search for meaning and share in the inner life of God, he will be incapable of seeking, finding and following Jesus.
 
Like the rich young man, we all have obstacles in the way of our total commitment to Jesus' followership. We are searching for a closer and tighter connection to God's Wisdom. Still, we are often unwilling to entrust our freedom and trust totally and absolutely to God, who makes all things necessary possible. The total surrender of all we have and are to Jesus, preferring him to all the beautiful and lovely things we have received and enjoy in this world, is the only way we can attain our desire for eternal life. Jesus, the Incarnate Word and Wisdom of God is the way to Eternal Joy, and the most incredible wisdom lies in seeking and following Him closely at the cost of any other good.
 
For all of us searching for true meaning and eternal life, let us turn away from attachment and dependence on worldly comfort and turn to Jesus, who continues to look at and love us to life. We must hand over our will freely to God. How do we do this? Let's keep learning from the Scriptures and the saints.
 
In Jesus' Love,
 
Fr. Bernard Alayode, OP
 
0 Comments

Respect Life Sunday 10/06/2024

10/3/2024

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Beloved brothers and sisters,

Is divorce lawful? According to the Bible, God does not permit divorce. The sacred texts for our Sunday mass, especially those from Gen 2: 18-24 and Mk 10: 2-12, point to marriage, the holy union between a man and a woman, as an icon of the bond between Christ and his mystical body, the Church. Christ institutes the sacrament of marriage, and part of its essential composition is unity and indissolubility because God is one and stable. Consequently, as a sacred bond, it cannot be dissolved. In other words, no human can dissolve a validly contracted marriage: "Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate."

Pope John Paul II stresses the need for the church to continue to affirm the unity and permanence components of marriage in his Apostolic Exhortation, Familiaris Consortio, 22: "It is a fundamentals duty of the church to reaffirm strongly... the doctrine of indissolubility of marriage. To all those who, in our times, consider it too difficult, or indeed impossible, to be bound to one person for the whole of life, and to those caught up in a culture that rejects the indissolubility of marriage and openly mocks the commitment of spouses to fidelity, it is necessary to reconfirm the good news of the definitive of that conjugal love that has in Christ the foundation and strength (Eph 5:25)."

John Paul II continues, God "wills and He communicates the indissolubility of marriage as a fruit, a sign and a requirement of the absolutely faithful love that God has for man and that the Lord Jesus has for the Church." Only death can break this bond that unites a man to his wife because, as Tertullian says, " they are truly two in one flesh, and where the flesh is one, one is the spirit" (FC, 13). Marital unity and permanence indicate the bond between Christ and his Mystical Body.

The health and functionality of the family are the fruit of the true sense of marriage as a single and permanent union. Once the moral health of the family is corrupted, society ends up dysfunctional. We must pray and never stop fighting for the endurance of the sacred marital bond. Keeping Christian marriages alive is a battle for the life of society, and all of us must fight through our prayers for its sustenance. Divorce is not lawful in the eyes of Christ and His Church. Hence, we must strive to keep Christian marriages united and permanent. This calls for intense prayers.

We can adopt many forms of prayer to help keep marriage as one and untouched by divorce, but the Holy Rosary of Our Lady ranks high among them. She is the one at the marriage feast in Cana who rescued the newlywedded couple who ran out of wine. Our Lady's intercession is effective. Let us celebrate the feast of the Holy Rosary on Monday with a special plea to the Blessed Virgin Mary to obtain graces from her Son to keep marriage united and permanent.

Our parish's monthly Eucharistic Adoration is tomorrow, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. I cannot say enough about the spiritual potential of spending an hour with the Lord via silence, scriptures, and songs of praise. Again, I urge you and your family to make it a priority to attend and see how Jesus enriches you. I expect to see YOU!
 
In Jesus and Mary,
 
Fr. Bernard Alayode, OP
 
0 Comments

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Parish Office Hours

Monday - Thursday

9:00am - 4:00pm

Fridays: Closed



Address

Mailing Address:  
1840 Marshall Drive
Elizabethtown, PA 17
022

GPS Address:
904 Mill Road
Elizabethtown, PA 17022

Contact Us

Phone: 717-367-1255
Fax: 717-367-1270

Email: [email protected]



© St. Peter Catholic Church. 2019. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • From The Pastor
  • Online Streaming
    • Mass Archives
  • Parish Info
    • Welcome
    • Mass & Reconciliation
    • Sacramental Information
    • Register With Parish
    • RESOURCES
    • Parish Team
    • Photo Gallery
  • Education
    • OCIA
    • Guardian Angel
    • Religious Education >
      • RE Registration
      • RE Online Payment
      • Sacrament Information
    • Vacation Bible School
    • Catholic Education
    • SCRIP
  • Ministry
    • YOUTH MINISTRY
    • Ministry Schedule
    • CAMPUS MINISTRY
    • Music Ministries
  • News
    • Parishioner News
    • USCCB
    • Weekly Bulletin
    • Weekly Calendar
    • Monthly Look
    • Upcoming Events
    • St Peter Columbarium
  • Stewardship
    • Online Giving
    • Opportunities
  • New Page