From the Pastor – 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 21, 2020

From the Pastor – 21 st Sunday in Ordinary Time

In our Gospel passage, from Matthew, Jesus poses a question to the disciples: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they offer varying responses. Then, Jesus gets personal with them. “But who do you say that I am?” Peter gets the answer right: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus is getting personal with us today. He poses the same question to each of us who call ourselves His stewards and modern-day disciples. But do our lives truly reflect this? If we really believe that Christ is the Son of God, sent to save us from our sins and lead us to Heaven, then we must say so, not just with words but with our actions. Do my ambitions and priorities in life say that Christ is my Savior and I am His disciple? Does my budget, my family life, my entertainment say so?  

The gifts and blessings God has given us — our time, our talents, our material possessions — are meant to be used in a manner that says "Christ is my Savior and I am His disciple." The most eloquent praise we can offer Him is a life lived in grateful response to His unfathomable love. This is the beauty and power of a stewardship way of life. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2020.

Pastoral Pondering

We are all aware that this year has been one like no other. Each one of us is trying to navigate unknown waters and do the best we can with the resources and information that we have. This presents unique challenges as well as opportunities. Due to concerns about COVID this year the Diocese will not be hosting its annual Eucharistic Congress. However, each parish is being encouraged to celebrate the Eucharist on the days when the Congress were scheduled, September 11-12, 2020. Father Gámez is working with a committee to put our parish plan together. Be on the lookout for the details. Carolina Catholic Radio is also working on a program for that day and will be broadcasting from St. Joseph College Seminary.

Even though our Catholic schools are planning on opening for face-to-face instruction, I know that many of our parishioners depend on other educational options and may find themselves in a predicament and be under a great deal of pressure and stress. In the midst of these difficulties, don’t forget to pray and take time to pray with your family, especially your children. Prayer helps to make the most stressful situations bearable and can often provide solace and inspiration when life gets difficult. Also remember that your priests, deacons and parish staff are praying for you and your intentions. Together we can all get through the difficulties whatever they might be. I have often recommended the Serenity Prayer for folks who feel overwhelmed, and I will close with that. Most of us are familiar with the first part of the prayers. I include here the prayer in its entirety as inspired by the original prayer by the Lutheran theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr.

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world

As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life

And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.
Amen.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - Fifth Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • May 16, 2025
Today’s readings on this fifth Sunday of Easter contain inspiring but challenging messages for us Christian stewards. The Gospel from John includes this well-known verse: “My children…I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” What a succinct description of a stewardship way of life. It sounds so simples. But simple does not necessarily mean easy. How exactly is Jesus Calling us to love? As He, Himself loved. Jesus loved (and loves) by serving us and by making a sacrifice of His very life for us. That is a tall order. Living a life of service and self-sacrifice is not easy because it requires us to continuously fight against our selfish inclinations. But the more we empty ourselves of “self” by serving others, the more room we make in our hearts for God to pour His grace into us. Amazingly, the more we give our lives away to others, the more He fills us up with Himself who is love itself. And amid the inevitable challenging moments this way of life entails we can be assured that the Lord who loves us so much that He died for us and established the Eucharist to be our strength and nourishment, is right here with us every step of the way. As we face the hardships that come with living as Christian stewards, we can continue to rejoice in the wonder of the Resurrection this Easter season, finding great joy in following in our Lord’s footsteps and in loving as He loves. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering  As you have probably noticed, the original St. Mark building, the old rectory on Ranson Road, has been torn down. Preparatory work has begun on the lot for the new rectory. In the next couple of weeks, we will be meeting with the Diocese and doing some value engineering. Once that is accomplished it will be decided when we can move forward with groundbreaking and construction. On the Campaign front, we thank all of those who have extended their pledges or moved a one-time gift into a multi-year pledge. In order to reach the goal of $9.7 million, we still need to raise a little over $400K before June 30 th . Percentagewise, there are still a large number of parish families who have not participated in the Campaign. We need your help to reach the goal. Whether we accomplish that goal will determine what we can do next. As June approaches, we are preparing for the ordination of some of our seminarians to the Diaconate and then the ordination of our transitional deacons to the Priesthood. Please keep all of them in your prayers. One of those to be ordained deacon, Seminarian Michael Lugo, has been assigned to St. Mark for the summer. We look forward to working with him and know you all will make him welcome.

From the Pastor - Fourth Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • May 9, 2025
Throughout the Easter season, our readings have given us glimpses into the life of the newborn Church and the bold witness of the early disciples in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ to all who would listen. The disciples were the first to live a stewardship way of life, and their example is as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago. In the First Reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, we catch up with Paul and Barnabas in Antioch. While they certainly have some success in reaching many people there with the message of salvation, others are downright infuriated by their words and send them packing. Yet, we read that “the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” Overall, it seems as if Paul and Barnabas had failed in Antioch. But seeing failure has not robbed them of their joy. What’s more, they are filled to the brim with the abundant gifts of the Holy Spirit. How is this possible? It is only possible because Paul and Barnabas saw themselves as nothing more and nothing less than stewards of Christ and His Good News. This realization brought them freedom — to offer themselves and their lives to others for the sake of the Gospel. The “results” of their efforts were up to God. This Spirit-filled, joy-filled life is available to us all today. It can be achieved when we recognize, as did Paul and Barnabas, that all we have and all we are is a gift from God, meant to be shared with others for His glory. Of course, living as God’s stewards does not guarantee a life of ease or a life free of sacrifice. Sometimes the steward’s life involves challenges, requiring all the strength and love one has to give. In the end, there is simply no more satisfying way to live. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering Because of the time limits placed on us by the bulletin company, this is being written before the conclave begins but will be published after the fact, so we may actually have a new pope (and I hope we do) by the time you are reading this. It is a good reminder that there are still limits on our modern efficiency. Over the past couple of weeks, in addition to praying for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis, we have also had the opportunity to celebrate confirmation with Bishop Martin with a little more than half of our confirmands (99), the remaining 80 or so will be confirmed this week. We have also celebrated two of our First Holy Communions with the remaining two being celebrated next Saturday. May is always busy!  It is always a great blessing to celebrate these sacraments with our young people. Celebrating with the second graders is a special joy because they are so open to God’s presence in their lives. We are also praying for those candidates (folks baptized in another Christian church) who will be received into the full Communion of the Catholic Church on the Vigil of Pentecost. Please keep all of these folks in prayer as they grow in the sacramental life and in their walk with Christ.
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