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From the Parochial Vicar - August 26, 2018

Aug 27, 2018

From the Parochial Vicar - August 26, 2018

This weekend is Ministry Selection Weekend, and I hope that you are taking the opportunity to stop in at the parish hall after Mass to see a showcase of our ministries, apostolates, and outreach groups. As a large parish that continues to grow, the opportunities to connect, grow, serve, and share at Saint Mark continue to multiply. After taking the last three weeks to highlight the importance of youth and young adult ministry in our parish, I close this series of Pastoral Ponderings by taking a look at the “how” of youth ministry.

As children grow, they are nurtured and taught in ways that allow them to mature as a person, their intellect being a crucial part. As children, we learn principles and rudiments that correspond to reality and assist us in expressing truths about God and his creation. Later on, in late childhood and early teen years, we begin to put principles together and draw connections between the knowledge that we have acquired. We can even see how principles relate to each other. Finally, in our teen years, we begin to think critically and create. With a firm grasp of principles, we begin to form solid opinions and judgments that are grounded upon a relationship with reality. Of course, this is the most natural way to learn, and we could spend days discussing how well our different educational institutions respond to the natural capacity that man has to know.

Directly related to learning and knowing is teaching. The Church takes on this role in a distinguished way by the very fact that our Lord filled her with the Holy Spirit to guide her in all truth. In Latin, munus docendi (teaching office) refers to the ecclesial task of leading the faithful to the light and truth of the Gospel. This word for teaching ( docere ) can also be translated as “leading.” And the Latin word for learning is discere , which is from whence English derives the word “disciple,” or follower. Christ and his Church leads, and we follow.

Under our faith formation offices fall three ways in which we lead our youth. The first way is through Children’s Faith Formation (K-5, as well as classes for older children who have not yet been baptized). For children who are not receiving religious instruction in Catholic school or a homeschool curriculum, Children’s Faith Formation teaches the basics of our faith, fundamental prayers, and the Holy Word and Tradition of the Church. This corresponds to the first principles of knowledge of Christ and his Church. Our catechists follow a pedagogy that introduces children to the essential points of God’s mysteries.

The second way we lead our youth to love of Christ is through Middle School Youth Ministry. As our middle schoolers are beginning to apply the teachings of Christ to their lives and ask more serious questions about the will of God in their life, the Edge Core Team members help lead through discussion how to tap in to the great gifts the Lord bestows upon them and their families. It goes deeper than strict catechesis or book learning in order to accompany them into the ways of holiness and salvation.

The third way pertains particularly to high school students, who are served by our Life Teen program. This program is similar to Edge insofar as our Life Teen Core members continue to accompany our youth on a journey of faith in and love of Jesus. However, since our high school teens are critically thinking about the present moment and their futures and trying to navigate the application of their faith knowledge to living it out in the world, there are opportunities for creatively engaging in their formation. High school students have a wonderful depth to their desire to love, care, and apply themselves. Therefore, the “Life Nights” allow them to gather and receive guidance through the lens of faith on how to navigate friendships, relationships, difficult Church teachings, and the like.

Bridging the gap from middle school to high school, our Fraternus and Fidelis programs are ways for young men (brothers) to be mentored in virtue by Catholic men ( captains ), and young women (sisters) to be mentored by Catholic women ( ladies ). They form young disciples intent on doing good and living as intentional witnesses to God’s glory in their life. The brothers and sisters from Fraternus and Fidelis challenge each other weekly in concrete and palpable ways to live virtuously at home and away.

I offer you an invitation today. Help us change lives. Help us lead lives. Help us transform lives. Actually, that is incorrect. Help Jesus change lives. Help Jesus lead lives. Help Jesus transform lives. This weekend at ministry selection, go find out more about our youth programs. Pray about becoming a catechist or assistant (Children’s Faith Formation), a Core Team member (Edge and Life Teen), or a Captain/Lady (Fraternus/Fidelis). I think you have got more to offer than you might admit. All that Jesus needs is a trusting, “Yes.” That’s all that one young girl had to say to God in order for our salvation to come. I invite you to say, “Yes.”

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - Sixth Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • 03 May, 2024
Our readings today call us to love as Christ loves. In our Gospel, Jesus says, “Love one another as I have loved you.” The ways Jesus has loved us and continues to love us are endless. We are called to imitate this love. And He tells us the greatest way to do this when He said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” It is difficult to live that out in our humanity. Yet, it is made much easier when we faithfully love Christ. The fact of the matter is, as our love for Christ increases, so too does our capacity to love others. There are countless moments when we can do just that — for instance, waking up Saturday morning to attend daily Mass instead of sleeping in, or talking to God in the car on the way to work instead of listening to music. These are simple ways to express our love for the Lord by laying down our lives for Him. The more we find ways to love the Lord, the more we will find it easier to put aside our selfishness and serve others. Christ’s command to love others may seem daunting. Yet, Christ would never ask something of us that we cannot live out. All we need to do is take baby steps. Ask yourself, "How can I better love Jesus right now?" for it is in loving Christ that we will better love others, and it is in loving others that we love Christ Himself. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2024 Pastoral Pondering  Last week I had the opportunity of spending the afternoon with my childhood pastor, the Reverend Fred Thompson. He served as the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Newton, NC for over 30 years. He is now 91 years old and continues to live a fairly independent life. We lost touch when my family moved from Newton to Hickory as I began grammar school but reconnected during my undergraduate studies at Lenoir-Rhyne College. We have stayed in touch since then. Such connections from the past are very important. At least in my case, Fred knew things about my parents and my adoption that I never did, and he is always happy to share a story or two. I bring this up because memory, what we refer to in the Mass as anamnesis, is essential not only to our faith but to society as a whole. Our collective memory is important. Significant events of the past are passed on from one generation to the next, and we hopefully learn from our mistakes so that we don’t repeat them. In the Catholic context, we are being obedient to Christ’s command at the Last Supper, do this in memory of me.” And it is through that remembrance that we cannot the past with the present and look with hope to the future – Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. This is why Sacred Tradition is so very important to our understanding of the Faith. That which is handed over (traditio) is essential because it forms the framework upon which the Church travels throughout the centuries. The same is true in families. In the past multiple generations would live together or in close proximity to each other. Children learned about life from a variety of family members with varying degrees of lived experience and a wealth of memory. With our society becoming more transitory and human interaction being impoverished by the reality of technology, families need to be very intentional about connecting with the past. It helps us all understand who we are, why we are here and for what we were made.

From the Pastor - Fifth Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • 26 Apr, 2024
Our readings today teach us what it means to bear fruit as disciples of Christ. We hear in each of our readings that it is from the Lord that good effects will be produced in our lives. In our first reading, we hear about disciples who were preaching the Good News and defending the faith. The work they were doing was “with the consolation of the Holy Spirit.” It was not their work alone, but the work of God. We must ask ourselves, ‘how is God bearing fruit in my life?’ and ‘have I invited the Holy Spirit to work in me?’ The more we try to produce good effects in our lives, the more we will become disappointed if all we are relying on is our own efforts. It is only by inviting the Holy Spirit into our everyday moments that we will see goodness poured out. Jesus clearly tells us how to do this in our Gospel. He says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.” We can remain in Christ by staying faithful to His commandments and frequently receiving the sacraments. And our day-to-day moments should be a reflection of those commitments. That could mean opening our day with a prayer of thanksgiving, smiling at those we see on the street, asking God for help as we begin our workday, praising God in moments of trial, taking time to listen to our spouse after a long day. To remain in Christ means, in all that we do, we do it with the Lord. When we live a life like that — as a branch never separated from its vine — God will produce bountiful fruit in our lives. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2024 Pastoral Pondering I have had a few folks interested in what exactly occurs when a diocese received a new bishop, so I thought I would outline the process a bit for a contribution to your knowledge of Catholic trivia. Before a new bishop can be appointed, the diocese in question has to be vacant. A vacancy occurs through death, retirement, resignation or removal. In our case, Bishop Jugis submitted his resignation based on his deteriorating health, one of the reasons that a bishop can ask to be relieved of the administration of a diocese. Once the Holy Father accepts the resignation, the See becomes vacant. During the interim or sede vacante (vacant seat) period, the diocese needs to have someone to keep things going. This is done by either a priest, who is appointed administrator or by a bishop, who is known as an apostolic administrator. In our case Bishop Jugis continues as the apostolic administrator. Since his successor has already been named, Bishop Jugis can help prepare for the new bishop’s transition. As soon as a see is vacated, several offices and one advisory body cease to function. Any vicars general or episcopal vicars lose their office and the Presbyteral Council ceases until reconstituted by the new bishop. Both the Judicial Vicar and the Chief Financial Office of the diocese continue in office to insure the ongoing functions of their offices. Bishop Jugis, as Apostolic Administrator, has asked those priests who were serving as his vicar general and episcopal vicars to continue performing their functions in the interim. When the new Bishop is installed, he can reappoint the vicars or appoint others to take their places. If a priest is appointed as the new bishop, he must be ordained a bishop before he can assume the office. Once ordained, a ceremony occurs, usually a Mass, during which the newly ordained bishop takes possession of the diocese and assumed the full pastoral care of the Diocese. Hence, Bishop-elect Martin will be ordained on May 29 th and then will take possession of the Diocese on the following day.  A lot of work can be done to prepare for the new bishop’s arrival prior to his coming. Nonetheless, the first few weeks of his administration will be taken up with settling into his new position and getting his bearings. This is very similar to a new pastor coming to a parish; albeit, on a larger scale. During these early days of the new administration, the new bishop decides on vicar appointments and reconstitutes the Presbyteral Council and makes any other decisions that he deems appropriate for pastoral care. Often new bishops spend a good bit of time visiting the new parishes of the new Diocese to get to know his priests and meet his people. In Bishop-elect Martin’s case, he will be ordaining transitional deacons on the Saturday following his own ordination and then ordaining priests two weeks later, so he will indeed “hit the ground running”. Keep him in your prayers.
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