“Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.” – Today’s Gospel account calls upon us to do more than just what equity demands. Authentic love requires something more than a simple exchange of goods and favours: If you like me, I like you too; If you give me something, I will grant something to you as well. It is really difficult to accept that between justice and mercy there is no conflict if both of them are well understood. Love and mercy do not remove and deny justice and justice is not contrary to love and mercy. First of all, they all flow from the Lord. Briefly we may sum up this passage of the Gospel in this way: Love your neighbour regardless of what he or she does to you; Do not repay anyone with any evil or bad intentions in any malicious way; Even if somebody hurts you, you are not allowed to do the same or worse. This is a real challenge but the Lord who loves us unconditionally wants us to grow in holiness and to be truly happy.

Ash Wednesday is approaching! Let us tune our minds and hearts on the meaning of Lent as a time of repentance, change of heart and prayer.

This week we celebrate:

Tuesday, February 22^nd, Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter. On that day, we are not celebrating a piece of furniture, but the role and office of St. Peter within the Church. And that office, presently held by Pope Francis, has been around for over 2000 years and is a sign of authority of the Pope and of unity the followers of Jesus. Please, keep the Holy Father and his intentions in our prayers!

Wednesday, February 23^rd, Memorial of Saint Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr. Polycarp was a bishop of Smyrna, a disciple of Saint John the Apostle and a friend of Saint Ignatius of Antioch. Saint Ignatius, on his way to Rome to be martyred, visited Polycarp at Smyrna, and later at Troas, wrote him a personal letter. He praised Polycarp’s steadfast faith saying: “your mind is grounded in God as on an immovable rock.” At the age of 86, Polycarp was led into the crowded Smyrna stadium to be burned alive. The flames did not harm him and he was finally killed by a dagger. The centurion ordered the Saint’s body burned. The Acts of Polycarp’s martyrdom are the earliest preserved, fully reliable account of a Christian martyr’s death. He died in 155.

St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr – pray for us!

God Bless,

Fr. Peter

Drop down dew from above, you heavens, and let the clouds rain down the Just One; let the earth be opened and bring forth a Saviour – the entrance antiphon of the Fourth Sunday of Advent channels our thoughts directly into the Nativity of the Lord. The long-expected Saviour is like life-giving dew for a drouthy earth. This metaphoric language of the Prophet Isaiah well expresses our spiritual desire for Jesus Christ and His precious gifts of love, joy and peace, and also for the Christmas atmosphere of family gatherings, carols, decorations and presents. 

In today’s passage of the Gospel we find Mary hastening to the hill country of Judea in order to help her relative Elizabeth. Elizabeth greeted Mary with the words that have been incorporated into the one of the most basic and known prayers – “Hail, Mary”. The Blessed Virgin through her attitude of helping others, regardless her own needs, teaches us how to truly love our neighbours. Let the last week of Advent give us an opportunity to complete all the preparations for upcoming Christmas. May our hearts and homes be ready to once again host the Lord!

The second part of Advent, which we began on December 17^th , has no other memorials or feast of Saints but focuses on the immediate preparation for Christmas.

God bless,

Fr. Peter

“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap.” with these words Jesus warns His disciples in today’s passage of the Gospel against wasting of time and living ungodly. He wants them to be ready for His second coming.
Celebrating the First Sunday of Advent we begin a new liturgical year. The Liturgy of the Word does not say a lot
about Jesus’ upcoming birthday as many of us might expect… Is this a mistake? No, there is neither an omission
in the Liturgy nor an error in our Sunday Missals. In fact, the focus of the liturgical season of Advent is twofold: It prepares us for Christmas, when we recall Christ’s nativity in Bethlehem but it is also a time when we look forward to Christ’s second coming at the end of the ages, something called Parousia. Usually, we remember the first meaning of Advent because we are surrounded by Christmas decorations almost everywhere even though we have not started the month of December yet. The majority of the Liturgy of Advent is dedicated to Christ’s second coming and only 8 last days refer to the mystery of the Nativity.
In many churches and households throughout the world we keep the beautiful tradition of displaying an Advent wreath with 4 candles. The wreath is a part of our longstanding Catholic tradition; yet its origins are uncertain. It has an interesting and profound meaning. The wreath is made of various evergreens that depict the immortality of our soul and the new everlasting life promised to us through Christ, the eternal Word of the Father. The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent. Some tradition says that each candle stands for a thousand years to sum to four thousand years, which are said to pass from Adam and Eve to the Birth of the Saviour.

This Wednesday we begin the month of December. Pope Francis asks us to pray this month for catechists: “Let us pray for catechists, summoned to announce the Word of God: may they be its witnesses, with courage and creativity and in the power of the Holy Spirit”.

This week we celebrate the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the month and as well
we hold these celebrations:
Tuesday, November 30th, we observe the Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle. He was a brother of St. Peter. In the Gospel of St. John, we read that Andrew first recognized Jesus as the Messiah and then brought his brother Simon Peter to Jesus. Tradition says that Andrew preached the Gospel along the Black Sea and the Dnieper river as far as Kiev. Hence, he
became a patron saint of Ukraine, Romania and Russia. Andrew is as well said to found the episcopal see of Byzantium (Constantinople, Istanbul), so he is also recognized as the patron saint of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The iconography pictures St. Andrew crucified on a xshaped cross, now commonly known as St. Andrew’s Cross.

Friday, December 3rd, we observe the memorial of St. Francis Xavier. He was a missionary priest, a companion of St. Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and apostolic service according to the directions of the pope in Paris in 1534. He sailed to India, the islands of Malaysia and to Japan. Whenever he went, Francis lived with the poorest people sharing their food and rough accommodations. He intended to go from Japan to China but this plan was never realized. Before reaching the mainland, he died. His remains are enshrined in the Church of Good Jesus in Goa, India.

God bless,
Fr. Peter