From the Parochial Vicar - August 19, 2018

August 20, 2018

Pastoral Pondering - August 19, 2018

“Are you a minister?” a stranger timidly asks.

“A Roman Catholic priest, yes!” I reply. “I sometimes come here with our Young Adult Group after our gatherings.”

“That’s cool. I was raised Catholic; went to Catholic school,” the man offers willingly.

“Well, I think it’s time you come back,” I say with a smile and offering my business card. “Here’s my card. There’s a Catholic church right down the road. It’s Saint Mark Catholic Church. We have confessions every day but call me to set up an appointment if you are more comfortable coming at a different time. We have Masses throughout the day on Sunday.”

Astonished, the man pipes up, “I didn’t even know there was a Catholic church in Huntersville!”

That line always gets me: I didn’t know there was a Catholic church in Huntersville. I hear it more frequently than I’d care to admit. It amazes me how busy people get with life that they don’t even hop on “the interwebs” (hat tip to Fr. Becker) to look for a Catholic church when they move here. I just smile, order my beer, and head back to the group of local Catholic young adults at the bar.

It’s a Tuesday night. We have had a handful of young adults reply to the MeetUp.com invitation to join our discussion at the Ranson Road House. There are over 100 young adults that get a weekly invitation to join us for this or that event. Many times, we have around ten people, and sometimes we get upwards of 15 or 20. It interests me when a newcomer walks in. We have had people walk in who were just passing through visiting family or friends and just wanted to spend an evening with other Catholic young adults. Others may be involved in another parish, but just wanted somewhere wholesome to be on Tuesday night because they had no plans. Many times, a “newbie” joins us because they have no other connection to the Church outside of Sunday Mass. Sometimes they come because I hear the loneliness in their voice during Confession and reach around the grille to hand an invitation card to the penitent.

Youth Ministry, as I have written about the last two weeks, is about accompanying our youth and guiding them into an intentional relationship of love. Young Adult Ministry (adults in their 20’s and 30’s) keeps the spark of love for the faith in the hearts of our young adults. It brings together adults who are all at a different place in their faith journey in order to “fan into flame the spiritual gift” (1 Tim 1:6) of their choice to remain Catholic, but sometimes do not know where they belong. Young Adult Group revolves around two main principles. First, in different and engaging ways we encourage one another to “let no one despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Tim 4:12).

When I returned from my conversation at the bar with a beer in my hand, one of our group said, “Evangelizing again, Father?” It is not uncommon for them to witness the power of the little, white Roman collar in public.

What transpired while I was getting a drink and talking to this gentleman who had fallen away from the faith was a continuation of a conversation that began during our young adult meeting, which twice a month is called PATH (Paschal Adoration through History). There were many questions about the Sacrament of Confession and how to approach it. What do you do if you haven’t been in a long time? How can I get over my nerves? I had a bad experience in confession one time when the priest was very hard on me. How can I be sure the confessor will be helpful and kind? When does a feeling become sinful? Little by little, the conversation naturally progressed from the sacraments and faith to society and politics. There was a passionate discussion as I piped in briefly at times to guide the conversation according to principles of Catholic Social Teaching. I encountered a very serious problem, however. I had an empty glass. I excused myself, offering to others who had an empty glass to grab another drink since I was making the walk back to the bartender. Taking the two or three orders, I left the group as they were approaching the subject of immigration.

“That’s really inspiring,” says a familiar voice behind me as I waited for the bartender who was tediously attending to the taps behind the bar. I turned and saw the same man with whom I was conversing with before. “I have been listening in to your conversation. I don’t agree with everything I’m hearing, but I have never heard such intelligent conversation at a bar before. I wish I had a young adult group when I came out of college. I felt like there wasn’t a place for me until I started a family and needed something for my kids. By then, I was getting by just fine without the Church. But now I see that my family is missing something.”

That man came back to the Church. His wife came into the Church. His children will be receiving the sacraments. And the young adults got their beer. Again, they noticed I had been talking to the same man as before.

“Still evangelizing, Father?” one asked again, adding, “Oh, and thanks for grabbing another beer for me.”

I smiled approvingly at the group and said, “Not me this time. You all. You all have been evangelizing.”

That man perceived in his 20’s that the Church lacked a place for him. He simply decided to just get on with his life and leave religion behind only to discover his mistake years later. I think his local parish community was a little at fault, too. This points to the second principle for the Young Adult Group: it is the ministry of John the Baptist. Part of John the Baptist’s mission was to catch disciples and then pass them off to Jesus when he came. The Young Adult Ministry is a “feeder group.” The members frequently participate together in different parish activities and, as a result, individual members discover their own personal interests, gifts, and talents that they can use individually within the community.

I am so very grateful to the young adults who are a part of our group. Each one is there for a different reason. And each one discovers faith, fellowship, fun, and renewal. Whether we are talking about some aspect of the faith, or just getting together at an Escape Room or River Jam, it is the love of Christ that binds them together and to the parish. If you or someone you know is a young adult that would benefit from a crazy group of peers who all desire holiness and truth, reach out to us. Pop in for a visit and bring a friend. Nobody can say that something “isn’t their thing” until they try it.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • August 14, 2026
Today's Gospel from Matthew reminds us to trust the Lord even when it seems He is not answering our prayers. God desires to lead us to the joy of heaven and eternal life with Him. To prepare us for that day, He calls us to grow in faith and to live each day as a grateful response to His goodness. In other words, He is forming us into saints. This is what the stewardship way of life is meant to accomplish. At times that process is difficult. Often, it stretches us beyond our comfort. Jesus certainly challenged the Canaanite woman in today's Gospel. She cried out to Him on behalf of her daughter, who was tormented by a demon. How did Jesus respond to this desperate mother's plea? At first, He "did not say a word in answer to her." Undeterred, she continued to seek Him, and He continued to test her faith. She responded with such remarkable trust that Jesus proclaimed, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." Imagine hearing those words spoken to us by our Lord. There could be no greater affirmation of a life lived in faithful discipleship. The stewardship way of life will test our trust in God at times. But those are often the moments when He is doing His greatest work within us. Let us persevere in faith, trusting that His plan is always leading us toward the joy He has prepared for us. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026. Pastoral Pondering As the school year begins and we move into the post-summer routine, I wanted to give you an update on a few things which may be of interest to you. Building projects The rectory build is going well. Grainda Builders are projecting the project to finish by November (I am hoping for earlier!). We do plan to have an open house so that folks can see the new rectory upon its completion. The preliminary work for the second phase of our building projects is occurring with the installation of the water lines that will feed the new buildings. This will hopefully be done by Labor Day. We should be able to hold a groundbreaking shortly after the first of the year. Everything depends on when the present rectory sells and where we are with funding. The Diocese requires 60% of the project to be in cash, 30% to be in pledges and 30% allowable for Diocesan loan. We will keep you posted. Obviously, as we move forward, there will be growing pains that cannot be avoided due to the disruption of some parking. We are working with the general contractor to keep disruptions to a minimum, but we cannot avoid all of them. Thank you for your patience. Church Maintenance  As many of you know, we have been battling issues with the church roof for some time. There have been numerous leaks over the years that have been patched and patched again. We have been battling the insurance company for over a year, and it is clear that, after a minimal payment to repair water damage, they are not going to approve a claim for roof replacement. Kudos to the Pastoral Council and Scott Bruno for making a significant investment of time and energy to try to do the groundwork to provide justification for the claim. With that being said, we have already replaced a portion of the roof that was causing significant problems (the lower roof closest to the driveway). Nonetheless, the whole roof really does need to be replaced. Estimates for replacement are in the neighborhood of $250K. At present with the other projects going on, we do not have this in reserves or the operating account to cover this expense. Should you wish to assist, donations can be made on the website. We will continue to monitor and do what we can to manage the problem until we are able to fully address it. The second significant issue that has arisen is the foundation of the Kerin Center. Over the last several years, due to water and drainage issues, we have had to address foundation instability. Reinforcements were added a couple of years back to the school-side of the building, but we have been seeing some issues on the church-side of the building over the past year. We are watching it very carefully and trying to ascertain the root cause of the problems. We are appreciative of those parishioners with engineering expertise who have assisted in this effort. There is also a link on the parish donation website for Kerin Center repairs.

From the Pastor - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • August 7, 2026
Stewardship spirituality invites us to surrender control of our lives to God in grateful recognition that everything we have is a gift from Him. Today's readings remind us that God is always in control of His creation and His people. They also reveal what can happen when we fully entrust our lives to Him — in other words, when we embrace the stewardship way of life. When we take our eyes off God, we lose sight of the fact that all is gift. We begin to rely on ourselves instead of trusting in Him, and we fail to make our lives a grateful response to His generosity. Peter experiences this in today's Gospel from Matthew. Jesus sends the disciples ahead of Him by boat. Later that evening, Jesus comes to them, walking on the water, and invites Peter to join Him. Peter steps out of the boat and begins walking toward the Lord. But when he notices the strong wind around him, instead of keeping his eyes on Christ, he begins to sink. Imagine if Peter had never looked away from Jesus. What an extraordinary adventure he would have experienced walking on the water with his Lord. The same is true for us. When we take our eyes off Christ, His countless blessings, and His faithful love for us, we begin to sink as well. But when we embrace the stewardship way of life, loosening our grip on our time, talents, and treasure and placing our trust in God, life becomes a great adventure rooted firmly in the One who never fails us. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026. Pastoral Pondering First of all I want to thank all who participated in our meal packing effort last Friday and Saturday. What a gift it is to be able to come together as a community and unite for the sake of our brothers and sisters in need. These events cannot happen without the efforts of numerous people. To each of you who made it possible, THANK YOU! As we move into August and our lives begin reorienting from lazier summer months towards fall, it is an opportunity to reflect on the blessings that we were afforded to rest, refresh, and renew during these past weeks. Hopefully, family were able to spend some quality time with each other without the demands of school, work and the day to day demands that impact many of us.  For me, I was privileged once again to participate in the Te Deum Peace Pilgrimage to Fatima. This year we were able to invite and sponsor nine (9) seminarians from various dioceses including Charlotte, NC; Charleston, SC; Cleveland, OH; and Youngstown, OH. They along with a wonderful group of non-seminarian pilgrims were able to grow in our love for the Lord and Our Lady. It was a true blessing, and I was so impressed with the seminarians who were a part of our pilgrimage family for our time in Portugal and Spain. Along the same lines, please pray for parishioner Mark Pressley who is entering St. Joseph College Seminary. Mark’s family has been a part of the parish for many years. Keep him and the other nine (9) young men who are beginning their formation this fall.