The Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul

The Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church located in Chattanooga, TN. Founded January 1852, elevated to a Minor Basilica by Pope Benedict XVI on May 12, 2011.

09/14/2026

Join us for the young adult mass in Knoxville! All additional information is located in the GroupMe✝️

Today we celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Basilica's 12pm Mass will be a sung Mass.⁣Through the Cross, Ch...
09/14/2026

Today we celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Basilica's 12pm Mass will be a sung Mass.

Through the Cross, Christ turned a symbol of defeat and death into one of hope and life. He willingly endured rejection, humiliation, and agony on the Cross out of His immense love for us, so that we might enter eternal life with Him.

The Cross reminds us that there is no depth of suffering or darkness that God’s love cannot enter. May we embrace our own crosses with faith, knowing that Christ's love is always greater than our suffering.

09/13/2026

Homilia de 24° Domingo A, 13 de septiembre 2026, por Padre David Carter

¿Qué estamos haciendo aquí? ¿Por qué hemos venido a Misa? La palabra “Eucaristía” significa acción de gracias. Pero, ¿por qué damos gracias? Damos gracias porque una deuda ha sido pagada. Damos gracias porque nuestras vidas han sido salvadas.

El Evangelio de hoy habla de una deuda tan grande que el siervo jamás podría pagarla. Y esa es también nuestra situación delante de Dios. El pecado ha creado una deuda que nosotros no podemos pagar por nuestras propias fuerzas. No podemos salvarnos a nosotros mismos.

Por eso venimos aquí. Traemos al altar algo muy sencillo: pan y vino. Eso es lo que nosotros podemos ofrecer. Pero el pan y el vino, por sí mismos, no pueden quitar nuestros pecados. No pueden vencer la muerte. No pueden salvar el mundo.

Entonces los ponemos humildemente sobre este altar y pedimos que se conviertan en algo infinitamente más grande. Y Dios, en su gran misericordia, responde a nuestra pobreza con su generosidad. Nos da a su propio Hijo. El pan y el vino se convierten en el Cuerpo y la Sangre de Jesucristo: el verdadero Cordero de Dios, cuyo sacrificio redime al mundo, cuya Sangre expía nuestros pecados y cuyo Cuerpo, recibido como alimento, tiene el poder de llevarnos a través de la muerte hasta la vida eterna.

Por eso estamos aquí. Porque nosotros no podíamos hacerlo solos. Porque Dios nos ha amado tanto que nuestra primera respuesta solamente puede ser: gracias.

Pero Jesús nos dice hoy que no basta con decir “gracias” dentro de esta iglesia. Esa gratitud tiene que transformar nuestra vida.

Cuando venimos a Misa, dirigimos nuestro corazón, nuestra mente, nuestra alma e incluso nuestro cuerpo hacia Dios. Por eso hemos elegido también esta antigua y universal postura de la oración cristiana: sacerdote y pueblo, cabeza y cuerpo, todos orientados juntos hacia el Señor. No estamos mirándonos unos a otros. Juntos estamos ofreciendo el único sacrificio de Cristo al Padre. Nuestro culto comienza mirando hacia Dios.

Pero no termina aquí.

El Señor ha unido inseparablemente el amor de Dios con el amor al prójimo. Y por eso, cuando terminamos la Misa y nos volvemos otra vez hacia el mundo, tenemos que llevar con nosotros aquello que hemos recibido aquí.

Eso es precisamente lo que Jesús nos enseña en el Evangelio. El siervo recibe una misericordia inmensa. Su deuda es perdonada. Pero después encuentra a alguien que le debe mucho menos y se niega a perdonarlo.

Ésa es la pregunta para nosotros.

Después de presentarnos delante de Dios como pecadores y pedir: “Señor, ten piedad”; después de contemplar sobre este altar el sacrificio por el cual nuestros pecados son perdonados; después de recibir el Cuerpo de Cristo que murió por nosotros, ¿podemos salir de esta iglesia y negarnos a tener misericordia con otra persona?

Todos sufrimos injusticias. Todos hemos sido heridos. A veces incluso experimentamos odio. Pero después de haber recibido aquí una misericordia que jamás podríamos merecer, ¿vamos a ofrecer al mundo algo menos?

¿Vamos a profesar amor el domingo y vivir con odio el lunes? ¿Vamos a pedir a Dios que perdone nuestras deudas mientras nos negamos a perdonar a nuestros deudores?

Éste es el gran examen de nuestra alma.

Hoy venimos a decir gracias. Gracias porque nuestra deuda ha sido pagada. Gracias porque Cristo ha dado su vida por nosotros. Gracias porque en esta Eucaristía recibimos nuevamente el fruto de su sacrificio.

Pero cuando salgamos de aquí, nuestra vida también tiene que decir “gracias”.

No permitan que el amor y la misericordia de Dios que experimentamos hoy en este altar dejen nuestro corazón sin cambiar. Hemos recibido misericordia. Ahora tenemos que convertirnos en instrumentos de misericordia para los demás.

In today's Gospel, Jesus challenges us to let go of counting our grievances and keeping score. We are called to forgive ...
09/13/2026

In today's Gospel, Jesus challenges us to let go of counting our grievances and keeping score. We are called to forgive as He forgives, with unending mercy.

May the Lord soften our hearts and teach us to forgive as He does.

Enjoy coffee & pastries and mingle with our OCIA class at the Sponsor Mixer this Sunday, Sept. 13 10:15-11:15 in Varallo...
09/12/2026

Enjoy coffee & pastries and mingle with our OCIA class at the Sponsor Mixer this Sunday, Sept. 13 10:15-11:15 in Varallo Parish Hall. Consider becoming a sponsor yourself!

Reflection on Sponsorship, by John Arnold

In the Acts of the Apostles, we hear that when St. Philip met a new convert reading Scripture and asked the man if he understood what he was reading, the convert replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” (Acts 8:30-31). As fairly new members of the Church, my wife Peyton and I can attest that we found ourselves asking the same thing during our conversion process, and we know the same is true of many of those who come to the Basilica to be initiated into the Catholic faith.

Our parish is very blessed to have experienced rapid growth in catechumens and candidates over the past several years, and we should rejoice that we once again have well over 100 people already signed up for this year’s OCIA class. But each one of those new faces is someone who will need guidance and support from the Basilica community, and one very direct way to provide that support is to volunteer to become a sponsor for someone in this cohort of new Catholics.
Sponsorship may seem intimidating, but it’s ultimately just a process of getting to know someone over the course of a few months, and it can be a very high impact way to help welcome a new convert into the faith. As a sponsor, you can serve as a candidate’s first individual point of contact with the Church, helping to both educate them and, even more importantly, ensure that they begin to build a real community within the parish that persists long after RCIA ends.

This is especially important for many new Catholics who may arrive with a good base of starting knowledge, but still need help applying what they know to the incarnate experience of living out the Catholic faith. As a sponsor, you can help model what that life of faith looks like. You don’t have to have all the answers, and often all a sponsor needs to do to be helpful is find the right person to ask when questions come up, or make introductions to friend groups around the community. The simple act of being approachable and available can make a meaningful difference in someone’s journey.

Peyton and I benefited greatly from the guidance of those who walked with us as we entered the Church, and we’ve been further enriched by offering that same accompaniment to others as sponsors ourselves over the past few years. As the next OCIA season begins this month, we encourage everyone in the parish to prayerfully consider offering up some time to sponsor a new brother or sister in Christ.
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Find out more here about being a good sponsor.
https://stspeterandpaulbasilica.com/events/sponsor-mixer

The Catholic Land Movement facilitates the rural resettlement of Catholics onto productive property which they own. A ne...
09/12/2026

The Catholic Land Movement facilitates the rural resettlement of Catholics onto productive property which they own. A new chapter of the Catholic Land Movement is starting in Tennessee. The kickoff will be Sat. Oct. 3 from 11am-3pm Eastern at St. Alphonsus in Crossville, TN. Join us for a family day of worship, connection, and fellowship with agrarian minded Catholics from across the Volunteer State. See the flyer to RSVP. Please note that Crossville is in Central Time.

09/12/2026
25 years ago today, our country was forever changed. 🇺🇸⁣We pause in prayerful remembrance of all those who lost their li...
09/11/2026

25 years ago today, our country was forever changed. 🇺🇸

We pause in prayerful remembrance of all those who lost their lives in the terror attacks of 9/11. May we honor their memory by choosing compassion over hatred, courage over fear, and peace over violence.

We give thanks for the extraordinary courage and selflessness of the firefighters, police officers, emergency personnel, medical workers, military members, and countless ordinary people who came to the aid of others that day and in the days that followed.

We also pray for the families who continue to grieve, for those who still bear physical and emotional wounds, and for all whose lives were changed by the events of that day.

May this day remind us to be instruments of peace and love in a world that still longs for healing. 🙏

Youth Group kicks off tomorrow! 6th-12th graders, please join us for Pizza in Coolidge Park from 6-8pm, Wednesday, Septe...
09/09/2026

Youth Group kicks off tomorrow! 6th-12th graders, please join us for Pizza in Coolidge Park from 6-8pm, Wednesday, September 9!

Address

214 E 8th Street
Chattanooga, TN
37402

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 7am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 7am - 5:30pm
Thursday 7am - 5:30pm
Friday 7am - 5:30pm
Saturday 7am - 6:30pm
Sunday 7am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+14232661618

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