From the Pastor – 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 30, 2017

From the Pastor – 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s Gospel Reading from St. Matthew, a lawyer among the Pharisees again tries to entrap Jesus by asking Him the question, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest.” Jesus’ response appears multiple times in Holy Scripture, as He says, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” The Lord then adds another that He cites as almost equally important, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Much has been written and conjectured about both of these, and often the focus is on who our neighbor is. However, there is another element of the second Great Commandment that is worthy of note, and that is loving the neighbor “as yourself.” Too often people conclude that this means that you have to love yourself first.

Most of us grasp what it means to the love the Lord with all we are, although it is nearly unattainable to accomplish. However, that second Great Commandment does not mean that it is necessary for us to love ourselves before we can love anyone else. It means, quite simply, that most of us are concerned with our own interests and our own personal situations. Jesus is telling us that just as we often think of ourselves, we need to take care and have concern for the interests of others as well.

In the familiar Prayer of St. Francis known to many Catholics, we sum up what this kind of love to which we are called really is, when we pray, “Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved, as to love.”

Pastoral Pondering

This coming week we celebrate two significant liturgical days. The first is the Solemnity of All Saints (November 1st) and the second is the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed or All Souls (November 2nd). I wanted to highlight these celebrations because in our chaotic world, we often find it hard to slow down and remember things that are greater than we are and beyond our control.

The feast of All Saints was instituted as a way to celebrate the Church Triumphant, those souls already enjoying the vision of God and to remind each of us what we should be striving for, the fulness of heaven. The commemoration of All Souls reminds us of the serious obligation to pray for those who have died in God’s grace, but who have not yet fully attained the purification required to enter the presence of God and the joys of heaven.

Both celebrations help us to remember that we are a part of a huge spiritual family. Death for us never has the last word. The saints in heaven, both known and unknown, pray for us and encourage us to run the race and fight the good fight. The souls in purgatory pray for us as well and depend on our prayers and sacrifices, especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, to complete their purification from all attachments to this life and allow them the fullness of heaven.

All Saints is a Holy Day of Obligation and All Souls affords us an opportunity to obtain a plenary indulgence by visiting the cemetery and praying for all the faithful departed.

From the Pastor

By John Putnam May 30, 2025
On this Feast of the Ascension, we celebrate Christ’s triumphant return to the Father after perfectly accomplishing His mission on earth. But we also can also view this Feast as a celebration of the “launch day” of our commissioning as Christ’s disciples. Today’s Gospel draws our attention to the clear instructions that Jesus gave His disciples (and to us) just before ascending to the Father: “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." Embracing a stewardship way of life, with its emphasis on the use of time, talent and treasure, helps us to live in such a way that our very lives speak as a witness of the Good News of the Gospel. While we take time to reflect and renew our commitments in these three areas annually as a parish family, it is of great benefit to take some time individually throughout the year to take stock of the commitments we have made — looking at both our strengths and our need for continued growth in each area. On this Feast of our "launch day," take some time to celebrate your victories as Christ’s disciples and renew your commitment to remain faithful to Him and the unique mission He has entrusted to you! © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering In Matthew 28:20 Jesus reminds the apostles, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” I have always taken great strength and consolation from these words. They are foreshadowed in the Old Testament in Isaiah 41:20: “Fear not for I am with you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous hand.” These are words from a God who loves us and who desires our good. A God who desires to make His dwelling with us and to inspire us to live lives worthy of Himself. They are words that help us prepare ourselves to celebrate Pentecost and to be open to the work of the Holy Spirit in us and among us.  Next Saturday evening, we will celebrate the Rite of Confirmation and Reception into Full Communion with our candidates who have been participating in the OCIA process. Please keep them in your prayers and help them find their place within our parish community. In the morning next Saturday, we are privileged to host the diaconate ordination for seven of our diocesan seminarians. As noted previously, one of them, Michael Lugo, will be with us for the summer. This parish is phenomenal in helping these young men find their “ministerial feet” so to speak. And we always welcome the opportunity to be blessed with their enthusiasm and energy. Finally, the Diocese has approved our moving into the construction phase for the rectory project. The prep work has already been done, and the actual building phase should begin in the next few weeks. This weekend, we are making a final push to reach our campaign goal. If you have not done so, we need your help and participation. The goal is doable and, together we can accomplish much. Assuming our fundraising keeps apace our hope is to begin the main-campus project next summer. Between now and then we will be doing some evaluations and, where necessary, value engineering to help us stay on track with the plan.
By John Putnam May 30, 2025
The concept of hospitality is fundamental to a stewardship way of life. When we envision hospitality, we naturally think of offering a sincere and warm welcome — to those new to our parish, for instance. We picture inviting them in and making them feel at home and at ease in our presence, communicating to them that they are highly valued. Today’s Gospel reading from John invites us to think of hospitality in a slightly different way. In it, we hear Jesus speaking this to his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” Jesus is asking that we permit the Blessed Trinity to come and dwell within us. This is a stunning request. It tells us that our first and most privileged form of hospitality should be directed towards God Himself. How does one show hospitality to God? How do we make God “at home and at ease” within us? How can we communicate to God that He is “highly valued” by us? Jesus tells us how: we are to keep His word, to follow HIs teachings. To keep His word, we must know His word. This takes discipline and effort on our part. We must make the study of Scripture and Church teaching a priority in our daily lives. If we want our parish to be a place of genuine Christian hospitality, we must be sure that our own hearts are hospitable dwelling places for the Blessed Trinity. Then our smiles and words, our greetings and ministries will radiate with the warmth of God’s love. And our parish family will become at least a little bit like Heaven on earth. This is the simplicity and glory of a stewardship way of life . © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025
More Posts