From the Pastor – 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 23, 2018

From the Pastor – 16 th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Most are familiar with the scriptural quote from Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd. There is nothing I shall want.” This passage serves as the Responsorial Psalm on this 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time because it supports the other readings with two key ideas: that we must place our trust in the Lord, and that we inherit life from our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

At the time St. Paul was writing his Letter to the Ephesians (our Second Reading), Paul was under house arrest in Rome and awaiting trial. He was allegedly accused by the Jews of taking a Gentile into a temple. Therefore, part of Paul’s statement, “For he (Christ) is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh, abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims,” is saying essentially the Lordship of Jesus is not greater than any difference you may feel you have with others — that Jesus is our Savior and our Shepherd.

In the Gospel Reading from Mark, the idea of shepherding lies at the heart. “When he (Jesus) disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” In other words, He began to feed them with the Word of God. That is what we do during this part of our Mass; we hear Holy Scripture. These are the Words of the Lord. He is our shepherd. We are His sheep.

As always, Jesus teaches us a valuable lesson about stewardship through today’s readings. To the Lord, the needs of others were more important than His own. When we share our time, our talents, and our treasure, we are not only following our Good Shepherd, we are also living His Gospel call to shepherd others by giving of ourselves.

Pastoral Pondering

I want to thank all of those who generously gave of their time and resources to help us meet our Rise Against Hunger goal last week. The 100,000 meals that were packaged will bring life-giving food to the most needy and vulnerable. This weekend we welcome Father Cyrus Gallagher, a priest representing Unbound Ministries which was founded in 1981 to provide assistance to needy children around the world. The work of Unbound is solidly rooted in Catholic Social Teaching. Father Gallagher is here to share about their good work and invite those who feel called to cooperate in their outreach.

In the July 6 th issue of the Catholic News Herald the front page focused on the recent immigration issues, especially helping separated families. My sense from talking to a number of people is that there is some confusion regarding what the Church teaching regarding this matter is and how we, as Catholics, should be responding.

First and foremost, Catholic Social Teaching is based on our fundamental belief, deeply rooted in the natural law, that each human person is created in the image and likeness of God. Each person then has inherent dignity which should guide all of our interactions within the human community.

With that being said, we also believe in the right of the state to enact laws that protect the good of society at large. Securing our borders would certainly fall into that category. Such laws have to be evaluated as to their moral (or immoral) value.

The flashpoint of the most recent debate has focused on separating children from families who have entered the country illegally. Bishops have spoken out about the injustice of such a policy and certainly, Pope Francis has been clear about his support of immigration. Obviously, the Church supports families and family unity.

Nonetheless, it would behoove everyone to step back and take a more circumspect view of this particular situation. Most importantly, it is necessary to have reasonable discussions without demonizing those who disagree with one position or another. Evidence suggests that many children are used and abused by the adults who benefit from illegal immigration. Kidnapping, Human trafficking, and drug trafficking are realities that also need to be addressed among others.

The government certainly needs to listen to the voices of those who raise legitimate concerns about the morality of policies, but the converse is also true. Those who raise concerns need to make sure that they have a clear understanding of all of the facts that impact the issues at hand. And, as I pointed out last week, civil discourse is essential to reaching a common goal. It respects the dignity of each person and realizes that individuals and groups of individuals can disagree but at the same time work towards solutions that benefit everyone.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • October 3, 2025
Our readings today show us that living a stewardship way of life, that is, a life focused on serving God and His Kingdom, is not easy. They also show us that our lives belong to God, not to us, and that God will indeed bring about the fulfillment of His kingdom., We just need to have faith that He can do it and commit to our small part in His grand design. This is both our privilege and responsibility as Christian stewards. Jesus makes this privilege and responsibility clear in today’s Gospel passage from Luke. When the apostles as the Lord to increase their faith, He tells them that even a mustard-seed sized faith is all that is needed to move mountains (because it is God who does the heavy lifting). We need to only take the tiniest step forward, and He will do the rest. But living our lives in His service is also very much our responsibility, as Jesus explains through the parable of the unprofitable servant later in the passage. Our Lord describes a scene in which a servant has just come from tending to the master’s affairs and asks whether it would be reasonable for the master to begin waiting on the servant. Of course, it would not be reasonable! The servant would be expected to continue to serve his master until he has completed the work the master has given him that day. Jesus says that we should have the same attitude before God. The time, talents, and treasure entrusted to us are all God’s. Our very lives belong to Him. Whatever we do on God’s behalf with our lives and our gifts is simply our God-given responsibility. The stewardship way of life makes the privilege and responsibility of serving Christ and His kingdom a reality. ©Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering  As we move into autumnal colors, with shorter days and cooling weather, the late weeks of the liturgical year always provide us with an opportunity to reflect on faith and life. It is also that time of the calendar year when we start thinking about those who are less fortunate among us. In the coming weeks, we have a number of efforts to assist the least of our brethren with life’s basic needs including the coat drive, thanksgiving food drive and the Christmas giving effort (formerly known as the Angel Tree ©). There are no shortage of demands placed on all of us these days, but the spiritual and corporal works of mercy remain the bedrock of our Catholic lives. Thank you in advance for responding with a generous heart.

From the Pastor - 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • September 26, 2025
We have all been given great power by God in the form of Time, Talents, and Treasure. Today’s readings remind us that this power is meant to be used for great good. And that failure to do so has eternal consequences. We see the urgency for us to put our powers to good use in today’s Gospel passage from Luke. Our Lord tells the rather chilling parable of the rich man who ignored poor Lazarus during their lifetimes. At the moment of the rich man’s death, he goes down to the netherworld, while Lazarus is taken to the eternal joy and comfort in the bosom of Abraham. The rich man keenly regrets his indifference towards the needs of Lazarus, but it is too late for regret. His choices have played out, and now the rich man will face the consequences of his failure to use the gifts God gave him. Pursuit of God’s kingdom and care for the poor are not trifling matters. Our Lord makes this clear to us over and over in the Scriptures and the constant teachings of our 2,000-year-old Church. We are free to ignore these teachings and live instead for ourselves. But there will be tragic results for us in the end. And, because we are made for eternity, living selfishly on this earth doesn’t really bring us true happiness anyway. So how can we use our great powers for great good? By embracing stewardship way of life. By putting God first in all areas of our lives — in the way we spend our time, the ways we share our talents, the ways we give of our financial resources. Stewardship living calls us out of our comfort zone and into commitment to the Lord and the things that matter to Him. ©Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering Even though this year is not a presidential or mid-term election, local elections are quite important, and we often don’t take them as seriously as we should. This year we have two parishioners running for office, Dan Boone is running for town council, and Bill Fountain is running for school board. To some these positions may seem insignificant, but it is at the local level that we, as Catholics, can have the greatest impact. I thought it might be helpful then to give a reminder of the duties of Catholics in political life. The Church teaches that lay Catholics bear primary responsibility for temporal affairs, including politics, as an extension of baptismal vocation (CCC 1913). Key duties include:  Forming Conscience : Study Church teachings to discern moral priorities; avoid reducing faith to single issues but prioritize intrinsic evils like abortion. Active Involvemen t: Vote informatively, run for office, join parties or advocacy groups, and dialogue with officials to apply Gospel values. Pope Francis stated, "A good Catholic meddles in politics," offering the best of oneself to help leaders govern justly. Non-Partisan Advocacy : The Church engages issues (e.g., life, family, peace) but avoids partisanship to focus on principles. Parishes can host voter education but not endorse candidates. For Public Officials : Catholic politicians must align actions with Church moral teachings; supporting grave evils like abortion risks scandal and cooperation in evil. Separation of church and state protects, rather than hinders, faith-based action in public life. Challenges and Encouragement In polarized environments, Catholics may feel disenfranchised, but the Church calls for renewed engagement to transform society incrementally toward justice. Resources like the USCCB's Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (updated periodically) guide voters on applying Catholic Social Teaching. Ultimately, political action flows from love of neighbor, proving faith through works (James 2:14–17).