From the Pastor – 1st Sunday of Lent

March 1, 2020

From the Pastor – 1st Sunday of Lent

As we begin the beautiful and challenging season of Lent, our readings this week remind us why we need these 40 days so much. They also suggest a particular strategy we Christian stewards might take as we make the journey towards Easter.

Our first reading takes us back to Genesis, reminding us of our Creator and the loving care and lavish gifts He gave to our ancestors, Adam and Eve. He created them out of pure love and provided abundantly for them.

Life was good in the Garden! Until the first couple allowed just a sliver of doubt in the goodness of God to enter their minds. Swayed by the words of the serpent, they became ungrateful and distrustful despite God’s great love and all the gifts of creation He had provided. Sound familiar? These same temptations threaten to pull us away from God today.

Our Gospel passage, from Matthew, shows us by the example of Jesus Himself one way that we can attain spiritual strength and grow to become more effective disciples and stewards. In this passage, we find our Lord in the desert, fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. Like Adam and Eve, He is confronted by the evil one. But unlike our fallen parents, our Lord triumphs definitively over the devil’s lies and sends him slithering away.

How did He do it? By knowing the Scriptures and by proclaiming them confidently. And by His perfect trust in the Father.

This Lent, let us embrace this 40-day spiritual reset. Let us prioritize our use of time by committing to prayerful study of the Scriptures and trusting more deeply in the Father’s love. We will surely be better stewards by Easter.

— Stewardship Reflections by The Catholic Steward and Catholic Stewardship Consultants

Pastoral Pondering

Last week I discussed interior conversion and the three pillars of Lent, prayer, penance, & almsgiving. One of these ways of orienting ourselves to the process of interior conversion is availing ourselves of the Sacrament of Penance. In order to receive the full benefit of the sacrament, we have to approach with the proper dispositions: a full admission of sins, true contrition, a firm resolution to avoid sin in the future, and the satisfaction by the completion of penance. The Catechism of the Catholic Church provides a thorough treatment of the sacrament (cf. CCC 1451 ff.).

Contrition involves a sorrow that arises from the soul and a hatred of the sin committed along with a firm resolve to refrain from all sin in the future. This is the first disposition that is necessary for making a good confession. The sacrament itself gives us grace, but, as is the case with all sacraments, our acceptance and ability to benefit from the sacramental grace is dependent upon our disposition — the Lord will not break through a closed door. The Church teaches that there are two types of contrition, perfect and imperfect. The former results from a pure love of God and the latter arises largely because of a fear of the consequences of sin which ultimately is the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. Both of these can dispose us to receive the forgiveness of sin in the Sacrament. Certainly, having perfect contrition should be the goal of each one of us.

In order to develop a a proper contrition in our daily lives, the Church recommends the daily examination of conscience, normally at the end of the day during our Night Prayer. The Examen involves reviewing our words, thoughts, and actions of the day and considering how we have failed in virtue. There are many very good examinations of conscience that we can use in addition to meditating upon the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes and the Precepts of the Church.

While the Church requires the confession of mortal sin by kind and number, the regular confession of even venial sins is recommended in order to help us form our consciences and grow in holiness. In addition to forgiving our sins, the sacrament strengthens our spiritual armor and helps us avoid sin in the first place.

Finally, completing the assigned penance, which can take various forms must be completed in order to complete a good confession. The sincere performance of our assigned penance is an external way of expressing our interior disposition of sorrow and intention of amendment.

St. Mark offers ample time for confessions. In addition to Saturdays from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. and Wednesdays from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m., confessions begin 45 minutes prior to each Mass and are offered until 15 minutes before Mass begins. Take advantage of the sacrament during this Lenten season.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - Seventh Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • May 30, 2025
On this Feast of the Ascension, we celebrate Christ’s triumphant return to the Father after perfectly accomplishing His mission on earth. But we also can also view this Feast as a celebration of the “launch day” of our commissioning as Christ’s disciples. Today’s Gospel draws our attention to the clear instructions that Jesus gave His disciples (and to us) just before ascending to the Father: “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." Embracing a stewardship way of life, with its emphasis on the use of time, talent and treasure, helps us to live in such a way that our very lives speak as a witness of the Good News of the Gospel. While we take time to reflect and renew our commitments in these three areas annually as a parish family, it is of great benefit to take some time individually throughout the year to take stock of the commitments we have made — looking at both our strengths and our need for continued growth in each area. On this Feast of our "launch day," take some time to celebrate your victories as Christ’s disciples and renew your commitment to remain faithful to Him and the unique mission He has entrusted to you! © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering In Matthew 28:20 Jesus reminds the apostles, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” I have always taken great strength and consolation from these words. They are foreshadowed in the Old Testament in Isaiah 41:20: “Fear not for I am with you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous hand.” These are words from a God who loves us and who desires our good. A God who desires to make His dwelling with us and to inspire us to live lives worthy of Himself. They are words that help us prepare ourselves to celebrate Pentecost and to be open to the work of the Holy Spirit in us and among us.  Next Saturday evening, we will celebrate the Rite of Confirmation and Reception into Full Communion with our candidates who have been participating in the OCIA process. Please keep them in your prayers and help them find their place within our parish community. In the morning next Saturday, we are privileged to host the diaconate ordination for seven of our diocesan seminarians. As noted previously, one of them, Michael Lugo, will be with us for the summer. This parish is phenomenal in helping these young men find their “ministerial feet” so to speak. And we always welcome the opportunity to be blessed with their enthusiasm and energy. Finally, the Diocese has approved our moving into the construction phase for the rectory project. The prep work has already been done, and the actual building phase should begin in the next few weeks. This weekend, we are making a final push to reach our campaign goal. If you have not done so, we need your help and participation. The goal is doable and, together we can accomplish much. Assuming our fundraising keeps apace our hope is to begin the main-campus project next summer. Between now and then we will be doing some evaluations and, where necessary, value engineering to help us stay on track with the plan.

From the Pastor - Sixth Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • May 30, 2025
The concept of hospitality is fundamental to a stewardship way of life. When we envision hospitality, we naturally think of offering a sincere and warm welcome — to those new to our parish, for instance. We picture inviting them in and making them feel at home and at ease in our presence, communicating to them that they are highly valued. Today’s Gospel reading from John invites us to think of hospitality in a slightly different way. In it, we hear Jesus speaking this to his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” Jesus is asking that we permit the Blessed Trinity to come and dwell within us. This is a stunning request. It tells us that our first and most privileged form of hospitality should be directed towards God Himself. How does one show hospitality to God? How do we make God “at home and at ease” within us? How can we communicate to God that He is “highly valued” by us? Jesus tells us how: we are to keep His word, to follow HIs teachings. To keep His word, we must know His word. This takes discipline and effort on our part. We must make the study of Scripture and Church teaching a priority in our daily lives. If we want our parish to be a place of genuine Christian hospitality, we must be sure that our own hearts are hospitable dwelling places for the Blessed Trinity. Then our smiles and words, our greetings and ministries will radiate with the warmth of God’s love. And our parish family will become at least a little bit like Heaven on earth. This is the simplicity and glory of a stewardship way of life . © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025
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