As we journey together during Lent, we are at the midway point of our experience. Today is traditionally known as “Laetare Sunday” because we anticipate the joy we will feel on Easter. During the Lenten season we remain a joyful people because we believe that God loves us despite our sinfulness. God loves us so much that Jesus the Christ sacrificed Himself so that we may be redeemed and born into eternal life. We hear the famous Scripture passage today, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life” [John 3:16].

During the season of Lent, we are aware of our need for mercy and forgiveness. God’s mercy and forgiveness came to full fruition in Jesus the Christ, who redeemed us by taking on our failings, our sins, our mortality. In the responsorial psalm we prayed, “God has the words of everlasting life.” As we journey during this third week of Lent, we look to God this day for words of mercy and love as we recommit ourselves to our Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

As we journey together during the Lenten season, the First Reading for Mass today recalls the sacrifice of Abraham. Some ask how God could be so cruel as to demand the sacrifice of a person’s child. The real message for us is the depth of Abraham’s love. He is willing to give up that which he loves most in life his child, for God. As a result of his obedience, he is given the greatest of blessings—"descendants as countless as the stars.” The Second Reading from the eighth chapter of Romans reminds us that ours is a God of love who did not spare His own Son, in His great love for us.

Each year on the First Sunday of Lent, we hear the Gospel story of the Temptation of the Lord in the desert. The Gospel of Mark today consists of only four verses. After His baptism by John, the Spirit leads Jesus to the wilderness. Mark says that Jesus survived the temptations and is ready to begin His ministry. The significance of the reference to John the Baptist’s arrest is that as John’s ministry concludes, Jesus’ ministry begins. As we journey together during this season of Lent, we too, in many ways are being led by the Spirit to the desert to search our hearts, hoping to resist what is evil and to embrace all that is good. We remember that God is faithful to us as we make our Lenten journey and through prayer, we support each other to experience the healing, forgiveness, and love of our God.

THIS CLASS IS FULL ------------St. Peter’s will have a New Lenten Series: Spiritual Excellence: The Path to Happiness, Holiness and Heaven. Catch it!! Beginning on Monday evenings Feb. 22nd - March 29th. From 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm in the Church.

We gather as we do each Sunday as the body of Christ. Jesus calls us to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. On this Valentine’s Day, we commit ourselves to nurturing that love for God and love for our neighbor. The readings at Mass today deal with the illness of leprosy, which was a sign of sinfulness and separation from God. In the Gospel, Jesus reaches out and touches the leper. The leper is literally not separated from God. Not even leprosy is a barrier to Jesus’ healing touch. Do not be afraid to come to the Lord our God in your need. Trust that the Lord will comfort you in times of pain and illness. Jesus, the eternal Word of God, draws near to us to heal us of every wound.

Despair and grief are part of the human condition, and are often brought on because of loss or suffering. Many of us, if not all of us, can relate to Job. At one time or another, we have felt like Job. We wonder if we will ever see happiness again. Resist the temptation to gloss over whatever may trouble you. Like Job, have the courage to raise our voice to God in prayer, sharing your disappointments and sorrows. At the same time, pray for the kind of healing that comes only through the Lord. As followers of Jesus we are called to live in Hope.

This week, Catholic dioceses throughout the United States celebrates Catholic Schools Week. The theme this year is “Catholic Schools: Faith, Excellence, Service.” For ninety (90) years St. Peter School has lived up to the theme of faith, excellence, service. St. Peter School has a specific purpose to form students to be good citizens of the world, to love God and neighbor, and enrich society with the leaven of the gospel by example of faith. The Catholic Schools Week logo emphasizes that the Catholic school, like the Catholic Church, is not a building or an institution, but it is the people. As the people of God, we work together to bring the Kingdom of God to Earth and raise up the next generations to do the same. The image of teachers and students forming the foundation of the school shows that they are active people of faith who serve others and God.

The Ladies Altar Society is still an important ministry of St. Peter Parish. Monies collected and members help to maintain the sanctuary and some other areas of the interior of the church. If you want to be a part of this ministry, dues of $10 can be put in the collection basket at Mass or brought to the rectory. This helps to provide income to continue to fund projects like purchasing flowers for special occasions, altar and cleaning supplies. Also, we are in need of some ‘younger’ members to add to some of our monthly cleaning teams (mostly to help with vacuuming the sanctuary). This commitment is just for one month a year. If you’d like to help, please call Peggy Bienvenu @ 504-487-8769

If last week’s Gospel story and this week’s Gospel sound familiar, it is because they are. Last week, we listened to the version from the Gospel of John (1:35- 42). Today we hear the version from the Gospel of Mark (1:14- 20). Simon and Andrew were followers of John the Baptist and were attracted to his message about the coming of the Messiah. It is John the Baptist who tells them to follow Jesus; and they did. Secondly, the fact that Jesus was named the Lamb of God by John is a significant passing on the torch to build the new kingdom. All that being said, it is still mystifying that the disciples simply walked away from their fishing business to follow Jesus.

Ordinary Time has begun. It will last until we begin Lent on Ash Wednesday, which is February 17th. Today’s Gospel features Jesus calling His first disciples. The invitation is welcoming and intriguing: “Come, and you will see.” How are we called by the Lord? The Lord has called us all here today on this Sunday in the middle of January and so we have come together to listen to God’s word and to receive our Lord in the Eucharist. How is the Lord speaking to us today?

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which concludes the Christmas season. The emphasis on Jesus’ baptism comes at the end of today’s Gospel reading with a voice from the heavens saying, “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11).

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. The magi from the East relied on a single star as a sign that a king had been born. The heavens revealed to these learned foreigners that a matter of great import had occurred in Judea. Every Epiphany we hear the endless extent of God’s goodness. Isaiah joyfully foretells of the light that emerges from darkness at the coming of Christ. Saint Paul reminds his listeners that, whether Gentile or Jew, they are all a part of the one body of Christ—the Church. The magi from the East, in the Gospel, remind us that Christ, our Light, has come to dispel the darkness of sin and death and to remain with us forever

MERRY CHRISTMAS! As we continue to celebrate the Christmas season, today the Church honors and celebrates the FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY. Jesus’ mother, Mary, and His foster father, Joseph, each trusted in the Lord when they accepted the unique start to their family. Though their family faced dangers from the start, they remained united in love and relied on their trust in God. The structure of families has changed over the years, but no matter what our family structure is, all families are called to be holy families. We look to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as a model for our family.