On behalf of the St. Peter’s community: welcome and thanks for visiting our website!  

What does it mean to be happy?  How do you define happiness?  What does it mean to live a satisfied and fulfilled life?

These are questions which everyone asks, and there are ultimately only two answers to these questions.  One answer speaks of faith in Jesus Christ.  The other answer speaks of a kind of faith in this life only. 

Speaking about this first answer, the Second Vatican Council states: “modern atheism is that which anticipates the liberation of man especially through his economic and social emancipation. This form argues that by its nature religion thwarts this liberation by arousing man's hope for a deceptive future life, thereby diverting him from the constructing of the earthly city” (Gaudium et Spes 20). 

In place of the hope of life to come in Heaven, many of us have been taught from birth to seek salvation in this life only.  That means working hard and having a successful life, finding the perfect spouse and searching for fulfillment in this life only.  In this worldly narrative, what we need salvation from are those things that keep us from being true to ourselves.  Success is a good thing, but it can’t take the place of God.  In fact, sometimes it seems that the most successful people can be the most unhappy.  And being true to ourselves is good, but what happens if our desires conflict with each other or become confusing to us?  

We are all in pursuit of many things in life.  But nothing could be more important to pursue than friendship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  In the gospel of John, Jesus promises to His disciples a peace which the world cannot give (John 14:27).  It is the pursuit of this peace which has led many to search after Jesus, and if you are reading this, I imagine that you are also looking for this peace.  

Not only does Jesus want to give you peace in the heart, but He wants to feed your mind too.  He is the Word of God (John 1:1), and so nothing could be more rational, nothing could make more sense, than the Truths of the Christian Faith.

If you are searching, we hope to see you sometime here at St. Peter’s in Eaton Rapids!