From the Pastor – 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 8, 2017

From the Pastor – 27 th Sunday in Ordinary Time (10/8/17)

One of St. Paul’s favorite topics was prayer, and today’s reading from his letter to the Philippians is no exception to that. He says, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” For Paul all topics are appropriate for prayer because we need to share and consult with the Lord about everything.

God knows what is on our minds already, of course, but He also desires that we make a conscious effort to communicate with Him on these subjects. In addition, Paul points out that our prayers need to be infused with thanksgiving. We should not just petition the Lord and make requests. It is equally important that we think about, identify, and acknowledge our blessings.

We have often pointed out that stewardship is a life of gratitude, a way of living which encourages us to focus on gifts, not on problems and challenges all the time. If we strive to have grateful hearts, our prayers come much more easily, and we tend to be much happier and more upbeat in our lives.

The noted author, philosopher, journalist, and theologian G. K. Chesterton is well known in Catholic circles because he converted to Catholicism during his life, and was an excellent conveyor of the faith. In terms of living grateful lives he said, “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” That includes thanks to God.

Pastoral Pondering

From the survey: I know there are a lot of needs all over the place, but it seems like we are having second collections almost every week. At times, it seems overwhelming.

I agree with the sentiment. Certainly, there are at times special circumstances such as the hurricanes and earthquake that require an extraordinary response, but it seems things are coming from all sides. This has been a topic of discussion in various leadership groups in the parish. One proposal that I like very much is to eliminate ALL second collections. The exception would be an extraordinary circumstance such as noted above. We would then simply budget for the annual second collections and others would simply apply to the Charitable Giving Committee for consideration. This would, of course, require everyone to increase their weekly giving to take account of this, but then everyone knows what is budgeted, and we can be more intentional about our giving and not worry about being overwhelmed. Last week the annual report was included in the bulletin which outlines the last fiscal year and the proposed budget for the present fiscal year. With the Finance Council’s help and your generosity, we were able to increase charitable giving significantly and plan to continue working towards a true “tithe” of our resources. This requires faith and generosity of all involved, but I firmly believe that the Lord cannot be outdone in generosity. We just have to take Him at His word.

From the survey: We moved here about two years ago, and I was surprised that there is no Faith Formation on Sundays. It can be difficult for families in our busy world to manage faith formation during the week.

Since I have been pastor at the parish, there have been limited Faith Formation opportunities on Sunday morning; although, Sunday evening is regularly used for Faith Formation and Youth Ministry. In previous assignments, Sunday along with weekdays were utilized. In looking at the Sunday Mass schedule, we would need to see what adjustments could be made to provide an adequate time slot for Faith Formation. The benefit of this, would be to provide a time slot for some type of Adult Education while the children are in class, e.g. “Doughnuts and Dogma” or “Faith Facts with Father”. The down side would be changing the Sunday Mass schedule. People get very used to routines, and change can bring challenges. I do think this is something that needs further consideration. The most logical change would be to shift the 7:30 am Mass to 7:00 am, and move the 9:00 am to 8:30 am. This would provide 45 minutes before the 11:00 am Mass that could be used for faith formation. Should such a change be implemented, Diocesan approval would be required and enough lead time to give everyone an opportunity to adjust.

Communion notes: There have been ongoing questions about the discontinuation of distributing the Precious Blood at the 11 am Mass. As I indicated several weeks back, it was decided to do this to help expedite the distribution of Communion at this Mass. So far this has been helpful. I would also ask your assistance in maintaining a proper care and reverence when receiving. In recent weeks, we have seen an increase of spillage of the Precious Blood and Hosts falling to the floor. Most of this can be avoided by slowing down. I would also ask parents to take some extra time in reminding children how to properly receive. Many of the spills have been younger children receiving. Also, please remember that if you do not have the use of both hands when receiving, the host will be placed on your tongue. It is not acceptable to receive with one hand. This is often what leads to Hosts falling. Thanks for your help with this!

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).