Dear Parishioners,

Today we celebrate the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time. We have the continuation of the Gospel of Luke. Jesus said to His disciples, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you... Give to everyone who asks of you... Lend to others without expecting to get anything back... Do not judge or condemn the ungrateful and wicked but show mercy to them and forgive them."

Today The Church marks the Sixth Sunday in the year. The Gospel is taken from St. Luke 6:17, 20-26. What Christ said to his disciples that day long ago in far-off Galilee applies equally well to every true Christian today. We must never let the things of this world keep us from God. We may acquire and use earthly goods, but we must acquire and use them justly, charitably, and responsibly. While only a relatively small number of Christians are called on to take a vow of Poverty, all Christians are forbidden to take a vow of wealth, that is to make the acquisition of wealth their purpose in life. While only a few special disciples of Christ are asked to give up even the lawful pleasures of the senses, all Christians are commanded to avoid unlawful indulgence in sensual pleasure.

We read in today's Gospel, the call comes to Peter in the context of Jesus' preaching to a crowd eagerly pressing around to hear the word of God. Peter helps Jesus by allowing him to use his boat to avoid the crush of the crowd. One has the impression that Peter himself is not even listening to the sermon. He's busy with his fisherman's task of washing the nets.

Jesus has further plans for Peter. He doesn't call him immediately to a new way of life but challenges him precisely in his own area of expertise: catching fish. Peter resists, perhaps thinking to himself, "What does this fellow know about fishing?" Eventually, he does go along with Jesus' instruction to put out and try for a catch. The catch of immense proportions that results, where all night there had been no fish, becomes for Peter a sign of the presence and power of God. The conversion he undergoes is profound; "Leave me, Lord, I am a sinful man."

In the Gospel for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which is celebrated forty days after the Birth of Jesus and falls on February 2nd, St. Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph went up to the Temple of Jerusalem "when the time came for their purification." According to certain prescriptions of the Law of Moses, when an Israelite woman gave birth to a male child, at the end of 40 days she should present herself in the Temple to carry out a ceremony of ritual purification. The ceremony included two offerings for sacrifice. If the family did not have sufficient means to buy a lamb, it could offer a pair of turtle doves or pigeons.