This weekend we take up The Catholic Relief Services Collection to help Jesus in disguise. This collection helps six Catholic agencies provide relief and support to struggling communities and work for peace and reconciliation among our marginalized brothers and sisters here and around the world. Please prayerfully consider how you can support the collection. Learn more about the collection at www.usccb.org/catholic-relief.

    On Ash Wednesday, as we began our Lenten journey, as ashes were imposed on us, we heard the phrase, “repent,  and believe in the Gospel.”  It was not a suggestion, but a command to orient ourselves to God.  Have we followed this  command of the Lord?  As we listen to the Gospel for today’s Mass, we are challenged to bear good fruit.  In order to bear good fruit, we must allow God to shape and mold our lives.  This was not a new message from Jesus, but an affirmation of the covenant that God made with His people from the beginning.  God is faithful—and so we are called to be.  When we stray and wither or produce bad fruit, we have the opportunity to repent and try again.

At this early point in our Lenten journey, our Scripture readings remind us of God’s promise to humanity and His faithfulness to those promises. Today we hear two dramatic encounters with God. In the dark of night, God leads Abraham in to a covenant, promising that Abraham’s descendants will be as numerous as the stars of the sky and live in the Promised Land. In the Gospel from Saint Luke, God speaks to Peter, James, and John through the shadow of a cloud. Saint Paul, who had his own dramatic encounter with God, assures the Philippians—and us—that we will share in Christ’s glory in heaven.

Our All-Star Drama Club’s production of Aladdin will take place on Friday, March 15th, and Saturday, March 16th. Tickets are $10 each. Doors open each night at 6:30 p.m. and the play begins at 7:00 p.m. Concessions will be sold each night. Please come out and show your support of our All-Star Players and enjoy a family fun night at the same time!

The season of Lent is here. It began with Ash Wednesday. On this First Sunday of Lent, we hear Jesus being tempted by the devil during the forty days he spent in the desert. We too, are beginning a forty-day period in which we are challenged to repent and re-orient ourselves toward God. We face many temptations that distract us from following the Lord Jesus or lead us away from God. Each year during the season of Lent we are given new opportunities to repent and grow in our relationship with the One who gave His all so we could live. In the movie and broadway production of Godspell, the song Day-by Day offers us a challenge as we journey in Lent. Day by day, three things I pray: to see thee more clearly… to love thee more dearly...to follow thee more nearly...day by day. May we accept the challenge this Lenten season.

Over the past few weeks we have heard Jesus teach his disciples and us how to see the world through God’s eyes. Today in the Gospel, Jesus tells us to remove the wooden beam from our judging eyes. This is a challenge for us. We are quick to point out someone else’s fault, but we fail to see our own faults. Repeatedly in the Gospel, Jesus has taught and shown us the Father’s mercy…to the sinner…to the enemy...to the needy. Jesus calls us to do the same.

Spring Garden Clean Up Day!! It’s time to clean up the parking lot planters! Your help is needed! Please join us on Saturday, March 23 10:00 a.m. Bring gloves, garden snippers, rakes, Young people who need service hours are welcome! Plans are to clean, weed and remulch. Pine needle donations are welcome and can be dropped off at church or picked up if needed. Please call the rectory if you have pine needles that need to be picked up. (Water will be available)

Being a Christian—truly following Jesus isn’t easy. Jesus teaches His disciples the Golden Rule in the Gospel passage that we hear today: “Do to others as you would have them do to you…Love your enemies and do good to them…expecting nothing back.”  Jesus’ challenges us to do the impossible…but all things are possible with Jesus and God our Father.  Today, let us listen attentively to what God is calling us to do for the people in our lives—both those who treat us kindly in return and those who do not.

Today, we hear Saint Luke’s account of the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Plains. We are more familiar with Saint Matthew’s version of the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. Saint Luke’s version is more challenging because Luke’s “blesseds” are immediately followed by “woes.” As we listen to the Gospel today, ask yourself this question, “which one of the Beatitude applies to me?”

Today is WORLD MARRIAGE DAY. It is associated with the World-wide Marriage Encounter and the Catholic Marriage Encounter movement. World Marriage Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in February. The purpose of World Marriage Day is to honor husband and wife as the foundation of the family— the basic unity of society. It celebrates the beauty of their faithfulness, sacrifice and joy in daily married life.

Welcome to all St. Peter School Alumni for the annual Msgr. Eyraud Mass, Alumni Dinner and Reunion. Congratulations to Mrs. Melanie “Mel” LeBlanc Trosclair for being selected as the 2019 Distinguished Graduate. Mel has done many things for St. Peter School since her graduation in 1974. She has been a faithful volunteer for over forty (40) years to her alma mater, St. Peter School. Currently, Mel is the St. Peter School Athletic Director, a position she has volunteered for the past sixteen (16) years. Once again, Congratulations Mel for being a faithful volunteer and distinguished graduate of St. Peter School.

Today, begins the national observance of Catholic Schools Week. The theme is: Catholic Schools: Learn, Serve, Lead, Succeed.” The theme for Catholic schools this year focuses on the core of Catholic education. Schools are not only communities themselves, they are also part of larger communities, including St. Peter Parish, Reserve, Louisiana and our nation.

With the conclusion of the Christmas/Epiphany season, the Church begins Ordinary Time. Ordinary Time is described as a time for growth and maturation—a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things are finally caught up in Christ. The goal, toward which all history is directed, is represented by the final Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

Today, the Christmas/ Epiphany season concludes with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Saint Luke has already told us how the angels, the shepherds, and the magi have attested to the holiness of the Christ child. Today we hear God call out from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son,; with you I am well pleased.” By our baptism, we too, are God’s beloved children. During this week, I encourage you to reflect on your own baptism, and of the saving grace of God in His Son, Jesus the Christ.

            Today the Church celebrates the Epiphany of the Lord—the  manifestation to the Gentiles of the life of God Himself.  God, who in the person of Jesus, shared in our humanity in order to allow us to share in His divinity forever.  The Magi (Wise Men), with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, paid Jesus honor, respect, and praise.  Like the Magi, each person’s journey  to Christ has its own direction and trail; and for each who pays Christ homage and offers the treasures one holds, the reward is the same: a path away from the dangers of sin and death and toward life.

I hope that you had time to spend with family and friends on Christmas. For the Church we are in the midst of the Christmas season. Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. This year’s Gospel Reading of the finding of the child Jesus in the temple is also commemorated in the Fifth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. The opening Collect (opening prayer) provides a framework for our reflections: “O God, who were pleased to give us the shining example of the Holy Family, graciously grant that we may imitate them in practicing the virtues of family life and in the bonds of charity…” Families come in all shape and sizes, but all can be part of a family. In the face of God’s ever-flowing generosity, highlighted for us today in the blessing of family life, we become aware of our human shortcomings and our need for God’s mercy and love. As we celebrate the Holy Family, let us think of the families we have been a part of, both as children and as adults.

As we enter the “homestretch” of this season of preparation, we hear of Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth. Their visit is filled with joy, expressed wonderfully by Elizabeth’s baby (John the Baptist) leaping in her womb at the sound of Mary’s voice. In a few days, we will celebrate the great gift that God has given to humanity two thousand years ago: the gift of Jesus. Jesus comes as Savior of the world and as the majestic King—but also as a Shepherd who care deeply and personally for each one of us on our journey. May these last days before Christmas fill us with joy as we prepare to welcome Christ into our hearts once again.

Today is known as Gaudete Sunday. It means rejoice. The third candle is lit today on the Advent. Deacon Richard and I will be wearing rose colored vestments today. If anyone is counting, we have nine days until Christmas. We have been preparing for Christ’s coming for two weeks. On Monday, December 17 th , the prayers and the Liturgy shifts to the proximate preparation for Christ at Christmas. As we celebrate and rejoice on Gaudete Sunday, we celebrate and rejoice in God’s gift to us—the gift of His Son, Jesus, Emmanuel: God-with-us.