From the Pastor – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 13, 2019

From the Pastor – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gratitude is the key to a stewardship way of life. Today’s readings demonstrate the power and vital importance of gratitude in the life of the Christian disciple, for gratitude leads us to worship God, who offers us salvation.

We see the power of gratitude on display in the Gospel passage from Luke after Jesus heals 10 lepers. “And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned.” Only one of the 10 recognized the tremendous blessing he had received from Jesus, and he returned to thank Him. While it’s easy to feel indignant at the failure of the nine others to return and thank Jesus, how often do we fail to recognize the blessings, answered prayers, and healings (both physical and spiritual), that the Lord showers upon us day and night?

The truth is that our very lives and every breath we take are His gift to us. But we can get so caught up in the stresses and distractions of daily life that we lose touch with this truth.

The Samaritan reacts to his gift of healing with the proper response to our loving God. Recognizing what he had just received from the Lord, he “returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked Him.” He was grateful for what God had done for him and this gratitude led to worship.

And because of this response, Jesus offered him a far more precious gift that physical healing; He offered him the gift of salvation. “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”

Too often we hear the phrase, “Count your blessings,” and write it off as nothing more than a trite saying. Today’s Gospel shows us otherwise. Gratitude is powerful. It deepens our faith in God and leads us to fitting worship of Him.

Pastoral Pondering

Parish App – By now most of you have been notified that our parish app carrier, Our Sunday Visitor, has discontinued the use of the parish app that we had been using. With this in mind, we have switched to the MyParish App which is provided by Diocesan Publications. It is a very useful tool that I encourage you to download and use. Simply go to your app provider and download MyParish and then search for Huntersville and St. Mark once you have the app downloaded. It is very simple.

Manifesto of Faith – Gerhard Cardinal Müller, the former prefect if the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, earlier this year issued a beautiful document entitled Manifesto of Faith. It is comparable to the Credo of the People of God that St. Pope Paul VI issued as a response to the confusion that was rampant following the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. It is a relatively short document, but effective in outlining the basics of our faith. Now Arcadia Films has produces a short video with the same name that presents the points made by His Eminence with creativity and beauty. I would encourage you to visit the website and watch the video. It can be accessed at https://manifestooffaith.com. There are also cards available in the narthex that you can share with friends and family who might benefit from viewing it. In this time of often confusing and conflicting voices, it is important that we remain rooted in and understanding of the Faith that has been passed down to us from Apostolic times.

Parish Mission – Next weekend we are honored to welcome Father Leo Patalinghug who will be leading our parish mission next Sunday through Tuesday evenings. I met Father Leo when he was in seminary and have always found him to be engaging and faith-filled. I encourage you to make time for these days of parish mission and welcome Father Leo to St. Mark!

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).