The Rock Rebuked
going the way of the cross
Announcements for September 11, 2021:
We are again offering Financial Peace University this fall! The course's nine sessions will be held online beginning Sunday, September 19th. We will hear from parishioners at some of our Masses this weekend as they share their insights and experiences with this life-changing program.
Our young adults (age 18-39) are invited to a night of Adoration (7:00pm in the church) and fellowship (8:00pm in Gordon Hall) on Friday, September 17th. More details are in the bulletin.
Our 2022 Mass Book is now open. For more information and to request Masses (limited to three requests for now) visit our Mass Intentions page online, check out the form in the narthex of the church, or give us a call.
Visit our Parishioner Portal for up-to-date announcements.
Dear Saints,
We're 20 years on from 9/11, but our pain is real and our wounds feel fresh. What better can we do than offer our hearts - burdened as they are with grief, sadness, anger, frustration, and the like - to God in prayer?
(Psalm 62.6-9)
My soul, be at rest in God alone,
from whom comes my hope.
God alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not fall.
My deliverance and honor are with God,
my strong rock;
my refuge is with God.
Trust God at all times, my people!
Pour out your hearts to God our refuge!
-
Our Gospel passage this weekend gives us Jesus' rebuke of Saint Peter: Get behind me, Satan.
Peter's chief offense, worthy of this most serious reprimand, is that he had his own sense of what the King-Jesus (or new-Israel) movement was all about. He had his own understanding of what God wanted to accomplish and how he'd get it done.
He was thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.
How often do we do this very same thing? Because we're immersed in a culture that springs from self-centeredness, we struggle to imagine God's way of life. When we're faced with opportunities or challenges up ahead, we naturally pursue the money, power, or pleasure way over the die-to-self and take-up-your-cross way.
The Good News is that Jesus has not only pioneered the truly human way, he has also made it possible for us. With God's own Spirit at work in us and working through us, we can go the way of self-gift - the way of holiness and justice, the way of worship and service, the way of prayer and love - no matter what.
I love you, my friends, and I look forward to going this way with you!
Christ's Peace,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
The Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Crucifixion of Saint Peter
Caravaggio, 1601