From the Pastor – 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

November 15, 2019

From the Pastor – 33 rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

This weekend is the 33rd and last numbered Sunday in Ordinary Time for this liturgical year. Recall that Ordinary does not refer to “average” or “normal,” but to time outside our two great seasons of celebration — Lent and Easter, and Advent and Christmas. Next Sunday is the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Christ the King).

The readings for this weekend ask the stewardship question, “What are the obstacles which stand between you and holiness, between you and lives of stewardship?” The Liturgical year more or less follows Jesus’ life on earth. Therefore, it is appropriate that the Gospel for this Sunday is drawn from Luke 21, which is Christ’s last discourse with His Apostles and us prior to the Passion (which in the Gospel of Luke begins with Luke 22).

All three readings are complex, and we must listen carefully to grasp the stewardship significance of them. There is a finality to them. The first reading is from the prophetic Book of Malachi, the absolute last Book of the Old Testament. Malachi is also the 12th Book of the Minor Prophets, the number 12 having particular implication in Scripture from the Twelve Tribes of Israel to the Twelve Apostles.

Malachi means “God’s messenger.” The Book was written to address what was seen as a laxity among the Israelites in relation to their practice of their faith. It thus also reminds us, especially as we prepare for Advent, of our need to sharpen our senses, our prayer lives, and our faith lives. God has made promises to us, but for us to reap the benefits of those promises we must delve more deeply into our faith as good stewards and good Catholics.

The second reading from Saint Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians augments Malachi’s call to put our faith lives in order. Paul says in effect, and this again is germane to our preparations for Advent, “This is not time to be idle.” We have often said that stewardship is active, not passive. As good stewards our preparations for Advent and Christmas should provide opportunities for more prayer, more contemplation, and more dynamic outreach to those in need. Paul reminds us that there is time enough to rest in Heaven, not while here when we can have a positive impact on those around us.

The Gospel from Luke pinpoints some of the major obstacles to stewardship as a way of life. He focuses on two in particular: wealth and power. As is usually the case in Scriptural teachings, wealth in and of itself is not judged to be bad. However, when wealth and the accumulation of wealth detract us from being good stewards and sharing with others, it can be adverse to our spiritual health. Jesus prompts us that spiritual endurance does not come from human strength but from God’s love and the power it provides us. Our desire for power is not good, but our willingness to allow God’s love and power to help us live out stewardship is virtuous.

It is worth mentioning that this Gospel passage immediately follows the Lesson of the Widow’s Mites (Luke 21: 1-4). Consequently, we can clearly see the stewardship statement here: Do not aspire to wealth or power, but like the widow, strive to give from your want, your poverty, not from your excess. That is excellent preparation for the glory of Advent and Christmas.

©Catholic Stewardship Consultants

Pastoral Pondering

Next week we will celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the Universal King and come to the last Sunday in the Liturgical year. The feast provides us an opportunity to evaluate how we are allowing Christ to be the Lord and King of our lives. There are more than ample distractions in the world in which we live that are quite happy to pull us away from things that matter eternally. We have to always be on guard so that our eyes remain “fixed on Jesus”.

I mentioned a few weeks back the Pew Research Poll that indicated a lack of Eucharistic faith among those identifying as Catholic and noted some of the ways we are trying to address this at the parish. One of the things we have implemented, when we have the servers to do it, is using the hand patens to accompany those distributing Holy Communion. Some folks have asked why this is necessary or important, so I thought I would address it here. The revised liturgical norms (those issued after the Council) actually indicate that retaining the patens is praiseworthy; although, certainly, it was abandoned on a widespread scale in much of the USA. However, because we believe that the entire Christ is present in every particle of the Consecrated Species, then the reverence we show in its distribution communicates the centrality of this belief. As an aside, as one who purifies the patens after Communion, I can tell you that there are always particles on the patens. This, of course, raises the question of what happens to those particles when the patens are not used. It should make us conscious of insuring that, when receiving on the hand, all particles are consumed. The more reverent we can be in matters surrounding the Most Blessed Sacrament not only communicates the centrality of our belief and devotion in the Eucharistic presence, but also offers fitting and proper worship to God the Father who continues to nourish and strengthen us by the offering of His Son in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, All Praise and All Thanksgiving be Every Moment Thine!

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - Seventh Sunday of Easter

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.

From the Pastor - Sixth Sunday of Easter

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
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