From the Pastor – 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 20, 2019

From the Pastor – 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The four pillars of parish stewardship are hospitality, prayer, formation and service. Today’s readings show us the immense value of prayer and the privileged place it must have in our individual lives and our in parish community.

Our Lord Himself calls us to prayer — and persistence in prayer — in the Gospel passage from Luke. Jesus tells the parable of the nagging widow who finally wears down the judge with her unrelenting persistence in her pursuit of a just ruling from him on her behalf. Jesus goes to great lengths to describe this judge, saying he “neither feared God nor respected any human.” Yet even this corrupt judge responds with a just judgment because of the widow’s persistence.

Jesus uses this outlandish example to draw a vivid contrast between a reluctant, dishonest judge and our loving, all-merciful Father. If even a bad judge will give a good result in response to a persistent request, how much more (infinitely more) eagerly and perfectly will our good Father respond to our persistent prayers to Him.

If he delays in responding, if he provides a different response from the one we were expecting, we can remain confident and trusting in His goodness, knowing that His response, whenever it comes and in whatever form, will be the very best one for us.

Our job then, as Christian stewards, is simply to remain faithful to our relationship with God through prayer. We must lean on each other in our communities — family and parish — as we support each other in prayer. A strong pillar of prayer will make all our other stewardship efforts fruitful. Catholic Stewardship Consultants ©

Pastoral Pondering
As I write this, I am on retreat with the other priests of the Diocese in Maggie Valley, NC which is located in the beautiful Smoky Mountains. The retreat master, Fr. Augustine Esposito, OSA, has been speaking to us on the importance of prayer in the life of the priest. This, of course, should go without saying, but a life of prayer is essential to everyone who bears the name of Christ.

I believe prayer and knowing how to pray at times is a great struggle for many of us. I thought, therefore, that I would offer some suggestions that might be helpful as we strive to grow in our relationship with Christ. First, it is helpful to answer the question, “What is prayer?” St. Augustine responded that “the pious soul prays to conform his will to the will of God.” Hence, the goal of praying is configuring ourselves to Christ and making ourselves a total and complete gift to the Father.

Prayer is the way in which we can make God the very center of our lives. As we pray, we displace the things that are not Godly. This occurs because God has to be the center of our prayer. True prayer, of course, requires taking time for God. This can be a real challenge in the hectic world in which we live, but without prayer, the chaos of life can become unbearable. When we make room for God, He makes time for the other needs of our lives. “But I don’t know how to pray” someone might say. Well, the Lord has certainly given us a model. When the apostles asked the Lord to teach them how to pray, He shared with them the Our Father. Simply saying this prayer slowly and deliberately is a great place to start when we don’t know what we should do when approaching prayer. In the end our prayer time should afford us an opportunity to get lost in the presence of Christ.

The following points should be remembered:

  1. Prayer is not a grand oratio in a grand cathedral but a simple folk song in the chapel of our heart.
  2. Talk to the Lord as you would to a best friend.
  3. Prayer is the language of the soul, as soon-to-be Saint John Henry Newman would say, it is Cor ad cor loquitor, heart speaking to heart.
  4. Distractions are not an obstacle to God’s grace. They come and they go. Do not let them disquiet you. Be at peace and be silent before the Lord.

Finally, I would like to make another appeal to support our Perpetual Adoration here at the parish. The number of adoration hours that have only one hour is growing. The Church expects us, in order to have perpetual adoration, to have at least two adorers for each hour. Many people stop by the chapel regularly, but they are hesitant to commit to a weekly hour. In order to maintain perpetual adoration in the parish, we must fill these spaces. Please help. You can find a list of the immediate needs on the parish website.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • July 11, 2025
In today’s Gospel passage, from Luke, we read the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan. Here, Jesus teaches us in rich detail what stewardship in action looks like. In fact, this parable could just as accurately be called the parable of the Good Steward. The first thing we note about the Good Samaritan is that he is aware of the needs of those around him and responds generously. While the priest and Levi brush right past the man on the side of the road, the Samaritan is watching for those who might be in need. He has a hospitable way of looking at the world around him and so he is able to “see” in a way that the others did not, and he was “moved with compassion at the sight” of the man. Next, we see the Good Samaritan spring into action to serve this man, setting aside his own schedule and plans to meet his needs. He does not just give the man a few dollars or offer quick words of encouragement from across the road. He goes right up to the man. He cleans and bandages his wounds. He puts the man on his own animal and brings him to an inn where he can heal. He ensures the innkeeper would continue to look after him, and he commits to re-turning to the man on his way back. That is how we live out God’s commandments. That is true hospitality and service.  That is how a good steward springs into action when he comes upon a neighbor in need. And Jesus says to each of us personally, just as He did in today’s Gospel, “Go and do likewise.” ©Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering I want to welcome Father Christopher Angermeyer to St. Mark as Parochial Vicar. As many of you know, Father was ordained in June. After completing his undergraduate studies at Belmont Abbey and St. Joseph College Seminary. He completed his theological studies and priestly formation at Mount St. Mary’s in Cincinnati. His home parish was St. Thomas Aquinas in Charlotte. We are happy to have Father Angermeyer with us. I know you will do your part to make him feel welcomed here at St. Mark. I will be away for the next couple of weeks on pilgrimage with a group of seminarians and faithful. Please know that the parish will be in my prayers, and I take all of your intentions with me to the Shrine of Our Lady.

From the Pastor - 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • July 7, 2025
In today’s Gospel passage, from Luke, we find our Lord appointing disciples to go out and prepare others to receive His invitation into the Kingdom of God. Every verse has something to say about the way a Christian steward should approach others. Let’s consider at least one of the coaching tips Christ gives. “The Lord appointed seventy-two others whom He sent out ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place He intended to visit.” In His wisdom, Christ sent His disciples out not as individuals but in pairs, as teams. This approach to evangelization certainly provided practical advantages. The disciples could lean on each other for mutual support and encouragement, helping each other to stay on task and to put their heads together to pray and problem-solve. This teamwork approach is just as relevant to us modern-day Christian stewards. It takes courage and commitment to go out and invite others into the Christian life. We need to work together to do it well. But there is also symbolic importance to working in teams. It points to the reality that when we invite others to embrace the Good News of the Gospel, we are not merely inviting them into a belief system, but into a relationship with Christ and through that relationship, into Christ’s family — our fellow Christian disciples near and far. Our parish is our immediate spiritual family in this extended worldwide fold. We are not meant to live as isolated individuals within the parish any more than we are meant to live in isolation within our families. We are meant to be a community. That is why it is so important for us to foster a vibrant, supportive, welcoming parish life. This is why we emphasize hospitality as one of the pillars of stewardship. It is not enough just to point others to Christ; we must invite them to join us in community with Him; we must offer a place and mission for them in the Church and within our parish family. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering As you know, during the last weekend of May (5/31-6/1), we had our final push for our Growing Home Campaign. I wanted to give everyone a final update as we conclude our fundraising period. During that weekend’s presentation, I asked everyone to help us close the $325,000 gap to meet our $9.7 M goal. As we close this portion of the campaign, I am happy to report that we have reached $10.5 million in pledges and gifts, exceeding our goal by $800,000! I am continuously amazed by the giving spirit that pervades our parish. Your generosity is a tangible expression of your commitment to our amazing parish. The funds raised over the goal and any funds raised going forward will help us to address the ever-increasing cost of construction and reduce the loan amount that will be required to complete the overall project. As noted earlier this year, the Rectory project has started and is projected to take about 12 months to complete. Our hope and plan is to break ground on the Monsignor Bellow Center and Adoration Chapel next summer or early Fall. Words alone never seem adequate to express the gratitude that I have in my heart for all of you who have participated in and supported this monumental effort. Both the financial support and the support with time and talent have been tremendous and for that, I want to offer a heartfelt “THANK YOU!”. May God bless each of you for your generosity in helping us grow our home here at St. Mark.
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