From the Pastor – 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

September 15, 2019

From the Pastor – 24 th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s readings focus on the personal, passionate and merciful love of God, which should fill us with unending gratitude to Him. This gratitude is the fuel that keeps the stewardship way of life rolling along.

In our Second Reading, from St. Paul’s letter to Timothy, we find a grateful Paul who says of himself, “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant, but I have been mercifully treated.” St. Paul is well aware of the sins he has committed. But this does not hold him back from ministry. Rather, it makes him all the more grateful to be God’s steward. How encouraging to know that this is true for us, as well. Our past sins, and even our present struggles, do not disqualify us from becoming God’s grateful stewards.

Jesus gives us several poignant illustrations of His merciful love in today’s Gospel reading from Luke. Let us focus on one in particular — the story of the lost sheep. He asks, “What man among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine… and go after the lost one until he finds it?”

The logical response is no one! It simply does not make sense to spend time and energy searching for one lost sheep when there are so many others to tend to. But God’s logic — God’s mercy — defies human logic. And who is the lost one? It is every one of us when we stray away from God through sin, great or small.

What gratitude we owe to such a personal, passionate, loving God! Just think, even our sins, once forgiven, become a source of fuel for our stewardship way of life as we reflect with deep gratitude on the powerful mercy of our Savior. ©Catholic Stewardship Consultants

Pastoral Pondering

I want to thank all of those who attended, and especially those who assisted with the Eucharistic Congress last weekend. It is such a wonderful event and a tremendous opportunity to come together as a local Church to celebrate faith and to offer God fitting worship and praise.

Last week I discussed the mission of the parish, why we exist. This week I want to focus on the two principal bodies that help me as pastor implement that vision, the Pastoral Council and the Finance Council. In order to understand the roles of these two councils, it’s helpful to understand how the Church understands parish. Canon law understands a parish to be, in general, a territory that embraces all of the Christian faithful who live within that territory which is entrusted to a pastor who is responsible for its pastoral care. Usually, when we think of a parish, we think of those who are registered or attend the parish. Actually, however, the Church envisions the parish as including everyone who live within the territory, whether registered or not and whether Catholic or not. The parish exercises this responsibility through works of social justice and sharing the message of the Gospel.

While the pastor is especially entrusted with leading the mission of the parish, he does not carry out this task in isolation. Every member of the Christian faithful, the baptized, have a responsibility of sharing in the mission of the Church and fulfilling the role of the parish. This task is especially expressed in the work of the Pastoral and Finance Councils.

The main role of the Pastoral Council is to bring concerns that affect the whole parish to the pastor’s attention. The Council also develops and implements a Parish Pastoral Plan through which those things that impact the whole parish are addressed.

The Finance Council assists the pastor in the administration of parish temporal matters. The universal law of the Church requires every parish to have a Finance Council. The Council is especially responsible for supporting the pastor in his stewardship of parish resources while being accountable to the parish and the Diocesan bishop. This accountability is primarily carried out through regular review of parish finances and regular reporting of those activities to the parish and the Diocese.

The Pastoral and Finance Councils work cooperatively to implement the goals and objectives outlined in the Pastoral Plan. The Finance Council does this through guiding the budgetary process and insuring that the parish budget is a faithful expression of the values set forth in the Pastoral Plan of the parish.

Over the years I have found both of the Councils to be invaluable in assisting me to carry out the pastoral mandate entrusted to the pastor. While some do, most pastors do not have the expertise to fulfill all that the Church expects of him. Hence, the assistance of the laity who have various talents and charisms is essential to effective pastoral ministry.

Our Pastoral and Finance Councils here at St. Mark are a great help to me. The members offer insight and advise that I have found to be invaluable. The ability of the Council members to collaborate with staff in implementing the pastoral plan is really the key to insuring that we, as a parish, are being faithful to why we are here. John Benson is the chair of our Pastoral Council and Coley O’Shaughnessey is the chair of our Finance Council. If you have questions about either council or would be interested in serving in the future, please feel free to reach out to any one of us.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • August 7, 2026
Stewardship spirituality invites us to surrender control of our lives to God in grateful recognition that everything we have is a gift from Him. Today's readings remind us that God is always in control of His creation and His people. They also reveal what can happen when we fully entrust our lives to Him — in other words, when we embrace the stewardship way of life. When we take our eyes off God, we lose sight of the fact that all is gift. We begin to rely on ourselves instead of trusting in Him, and we fail to make our lives a grateful response to His generosity. Peter experiences this in today's Gospel from Matthew. Jesus sends the disciples ahead of Him by boat. Later that evening, Jesus comes to them, walking on the water, and invites Peter to join Him. Peter steps out of the boat and begins walking toward the Lord. But when he notices the strong wind around him, instead of keeping his eyes on Christ, he begins to sink. Imagine if Peter had never looked away from Jesus. What an extraordinary adventure he would have experienced walking on the water with his Lord. The same is true for us. When we take our eyes off Christ, His countless blessings, and His faithful love for us, we begin to sink as well. But when we embrace the stewardship way of life, loosening our grip on our time, talents, and treasure and placing our trust in God, life becomes a great adventure rooted firmly in the One who never fails us. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026. Pastoral Pondering First of all I want to thank all who participated in our meal packing effort last Friday and Saturday. What a gift it is to be able to come together as a community and unite for the sake of our brothers and sisters in need. These events cannot happen without the efforts of numerous people. To each of you who made it possible, THANK YOU! As we move into August and our lives begin reorienting from lazier summer months towards fall, it is an opportunity to reflect on the blessings that we were afforded to rest, refresh, and renew during these past weeks. Hopefully, family were able to spend some quality time with each other without the demands of school, work and the day to day demands that impact many of us.  For me, I was privileged once again to participate in the Te Deum Peace Pilgrimage to Fatima. This year we were able to invite and sponsor nine (9) seminarians from various dioceses including Charlotte, NC; Charleston, SC; Cleveland, OH; and Youngstown, OH. They along with a wonderful group of non-seminarian pilgrims were able to grow in our love for the Lord and Our Lady. It was a true blessing, and I was so impressed with the seminarians who were a part of our pilgrimage family for our time in Portugal and Spain. Along the same lines, please pray for parishioner Mark Pressley who is entering St. Joseph College Seminary. Mark’s family has been a part of the parish for many years. Keep him and the other nine (9) young men who are beginning their formation this fall.

From the Pastor - 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • July 31, 2026
Today’s readings should inspire the Christian steward with deepened gratitude for our God, who loves us with both fierce and tender love. We must make an intentional response each day, returning love for Love. In our Second Reading from Romans, St. Paul reminds us that nothing and no one can separate us from the love of Christ. No anguish, distress, persecution, famine — and we might add illness, financial hardship, family struggles, or uncertainty about the future — nothing can keep our God from loving us. God holds us securely in the palm of His hand. And yet, this reassurance is only the beginning of God’s gifts to us. Our Gospel from Matthew recounts the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. This miracle foreshadows the gift of the Eucharist, where Christ feeds us not simply with bread, but with His own Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Notice how the Gospel begins. "His heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick." What generous and compassionate love our Lord shows. But even that is not enough for Him. He remains with the people, teaching and ministering to them until evening. When the disciples suggest sending the crowds away to find food, Jesus instead invites them to become part of His plan. He tells them to feed the people, then miraculously multiplies the few loaves and fish they offer. What a privilege it was for the disciples to participate in Christ's work. That same privilege is ours as Christian stewards. Let us respond with grateful hearts to such amazing love. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants,