From the Pastor – 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

September 4, 2020

From the Pastor – 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

St. Paul echoes Christ in many ways. In the 13 th  Chapter from his letter to the Romans, he continues with his thoughts on how we should live to please God, and he uses a sentence which Christ often repeated. After listing several of the 10 Commandments, Paul states, “…whatever other commandments there may be, are summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’.”

There is always much that gets debated in that admonition, such as loving yourself, and who exactly is your neighbor? Paul’s point, like that of Jesus, is simply that we are called to treat others as we may like to be treated. We need to show them the respect and caring that we may hope for and wish for. God loves us, and if we realize that, we may ultimately come to the conclusion that we are loveable.

Most of us know someone whose love is evident by how they treat others and how they live. Loving neighbor is a visible expression of everything that Jesus taught. It is a way of expressing the depth of our faith and our belief that we are Disciples of Christ.

St. Francis de Sales captured all about what this love is and who is your neighbor when he wrote, “Examine your heart often to see if it is such toward your neighbor as you would like his or hers to be toward you in his or her place. This is the touchstone of true reason.” It is relatively basic and simple — our neighbor is everyone with whom we have contact and love is what makes it all work. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2017.

Pastoral Pondering

In the news recently, you may have seen a story about a priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit, Father Matthew Hood, who learned that his baptism as an infant was invalid because the deacon who celebrated it, changed the words of the Baptismal rite. Quite a number of folks have asked me about this. Because he was not validly baptized, his subsequent sacraments, up to and including his ordination, were also invalid. This of course had an impact on the validity of most the sacraments that he celebrated as a priest.

Some may see this as simply an exercise in semantics, but it is much more that that. As the Archbishop of Detroit pointed out in his letter regarding the matter, God is not limited by the sacraments, and even though sacraments that Father celebrated were invalid, God can and does continue to work in some mysterious way for the benefit of those who received in good faith. Nonetheless, the situation underscores, that being faithful to the Church’s teachings is important and not something that should be taken lightly. There was certainly a time in recent history where, among ecclesiastics, it was considered “enlightened” to “do your own thing” with the sacraments, e.g. make up your own words for consecration, use different elements from what the Church requires, etc.

Yet, sacraments are celebrated by the Church for the benefit of the people. The celebration is never to be considered “Father’s Mass”. The sacraments belong to everyone, and, therefore, they should be celebrated as the Church intends them to be celebrated with the proper matter and form. Failing to do so, has serious consequences as in the example cited above. This is so because the shepherds of the Church have the responsibility to guard the deposit of faith, a treasure that is to be preserved and handed on in fidelity.

If anyone is looking at old videos of his baptism or if you have any questions regarding this topic, feel free to reach out. We will do our best to assist you.

Parish Celebration of the Eucharist – With the Congress being cancelled this year, we are looking forward to having the opportunity to offer a parish-wide celebration September 11-12. Father Gámez along with those assisting him have been working hard to provide an enriching experience for all ages. I do hope you will come and enjoy.

Youth Ministry Activities and Programs – Our Youth Ministry team has been actively planning to offer activites and opportunities for our middle and high school youth. Due to ongoing COVID concerns, this is not an easy process. Some folks believe that, based on data and anecdotal evidence, it is all a waste of time and unnecessary. While I am certainly aware of the division of opinions about masks and social distancing, I also have to be concerned about the overall well-being of the parish. While recognizing our legitimate and God-given rights to assemble and worship, we also have a responsibility to be good citizens and to exercise proper concerns for those around us. The Diocese has asked us to follow the Governor’s orders and CDC guidelines to the extent possible, and that is what we have been doing and will continue to do. At the same time, we want to do all that we can to help our young people remain connected to the parish community during these trying times. Everyone’s cooperation is appreciated as we navigate these sometimes choppy waters.

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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