From the Pastor – 3rd Sunday of Advent

December 17, 2018

From the Pastor – 3rd Week of Advent

“Rejoice in the Lord always, I shall say it again: rejoice!”

We have arrived at Gaudete Sunday ( Gaudete is the Latin word for “rejoice”) this Third Week of Advent, and the Scriptures take on a joyful tone as we continue our preparations for the feast of our Savior’s birth and ultimately for His Second Coming.

Our First Reading, from Zephaniah, certainly gives us cause to rejoice. “Fear not… be not discouraged! The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior.” Even more cause for joy, this Savior delights in us — “He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in His love, He will sing joyfully because of you.” How can we not be moved by a God who pursues us, who comes to us as Savior, and who actually sings for joy over us!

Our Second Reading gives still more cause for joy as St. Paul reminds us, “The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all.” Then he gives us a prescription for maintaining this peace: “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Paul’s instructions for obtaining peace come as an early Christmas gift. They remind us that we can and should go to God with all our needs and present them to Him along with our thanks. This guidance calls to mind aa vital aspect of a stewardship way of life: gratitude to God in response to His great love and countless gifts to us.

The Gospel passage, from Luke, shows us how to live out this thanks, making our lives a “Christmas gift” to Christ in joyful response to His love for us. When the crowds hear John the Baptist’s message that their Savior is coming, they ask him what they should do to prepare. He responds, “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do the same.” He tells tax collectors to stop collecting more than is prescribed and soldiers, to be satisfied with their wages. In other words, he tells them to be good and generous stewards of all God’s gifts to them!

As the great feast of Christmas draws near, let us rejoice in Christ’s extravagant love. Let’s avail ourselves of the peace He longs to give us. And let’s look carefully at our lives to make sure we are indeed making of them a gift fitting for Him. When we get this “gift” right, all the other gifts and to-do’s on our Christmas list will fall into their proper place.

Pastoral Pondering

As I am writing this, the funeral for the 41 st President of the United States, George H.W. Bush, is taking place in the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. What I was struck by was all those attending. Those from all points on the political spectrum are seated side by side as the nation mourns the passing of the former president.

We human beings, despite our limitations and sinfulness, have a great capacity for reverence and respect. Advent affords us the opportunity to reflect and prepare for the coming of the Lord both in time and at the end of time. We’ve seen so much rancor and violence in that last year, that people of faith need to strive every day to be agents of peace in the midst of a chaotic world.

We are called to welcome Emmanuel, God with us and Prince of Peace every day of our lives. We have the capacity. Hopefully, we also have the desire.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • November 13, 2026
Today's readings remind us that one day each of us will give an account for the gifts God has entrusted to us, including the gift of time itself. In today's Gospel, Jesus tells the familiar parable of the talents. Before leaving on a journey, a wealthy man entrusts portions of his wealth to three servants according to their abilities. Two of the servants immediately put those gifts to work and are rewarded for their faithfulness. The third, acting out of fear, buries what was entrusted to him and returns only what he had received. The tragedy is not that the servant lacked ability. It is that he failed to recognize the privilege he had been given. His master invited him to share in his work, but fear kept him from responding. God extends that same invitation to us. He entrusts each of us with unique gifts and invites us to use them for His glory and for the good of others. May we live each day so that, when our work is finished, we too may hear those joyful words: "Well done, my good and faithful servant... Come, share your master's joy." © Catholic Stewardship Conference, 2026 Pastoral Pondering As we approach the end of the liturgical year and prepare for the beginning of Advent, we are provided with a good opportunity to look back over our year of faith and ask ourselves, "How am I doing?" For most of us, we can find a landscape of positives and negatives, and that is OK. You might say that there is no surprise there because that is simply part of life. Our task, of course, is to always look for ways to grow in holiness and grow our relationship with the Lord. This point is always brought home to me when I attend a funeral, especially the funeral of a priest, which I did earlier today. The priest in question, Father Edward Sheridan, was my pastor at St. Aloysius in Hickory when I was in high school. He was also one of the priests who helped build up the newly formed Diocese of Charlotte in the 1970s. Fr. Ed loved people and always tried to be a source of encouragement to me and others. As I reminisced at this morning's funeral, the thought came that death is the great equalizer. Regardless of who we are, what we have, or where we have come from, we are all going to die. This life is transitory, so we need to be ready. Certainly, the Scriptures that we will hear over the coming weeks will try to impress that reality upon us. As we encounter God's Word and that particular message, let each of us ask for the wisdom to see what we need to see to make next year more fruitful and Spirit-filled, as well as asking the Lord to give us the courage to strive to do even better in the coming year.

From the Pastor - 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • November 6, 2026
Wisdom is at the heart of today's readings. It is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and an essential gift for living the stewardship way of life. As Christian stewards, we should continually ask the Holy Spirit to deepen this gift within us. In today's Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the 10 virgins waiting for the bridegroom. Five are wise, and five are foolish. The wise virgins prepare ahead of time, bringing enough oil to keep their lamps burning. The foolish ones fail to prepare and are caught off guard when the bridegroom arrives. Jesus concludes with this reminder: "Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour." Stewardship helps us live with that same spirit of readiness. When we seek the Lord each day through prayer, the sacraments, and the faithful use of the gifts He has entrusted to us, we keep our hearts prepared to meet Him whenever He calls. That is the wisdom Christ desires for each of us. © Catholic Stewardship Conference, 2026 Pastoral Pondering - Rooting Out Anger Few things disturb the peace of a home, a parish, or a soul as quickly as anger. A sharp word at the dinner table, a resentful silence after Mass, a flash of irritation in traffic-each seems small in the moment, yet the Fathers of the Church warn us that anger is a deadly poison. St. John Cassian, the great monastic teacher whose writings shaped Western spirituality, dedicated an entire book of his Institutes to this vice. His counsel is bracing and practical for us today. Cassian insists that anger must be "utterly rooted out from the inmost corners of our soul." As long as it remains, it blinds the eye of the heart. We lose right judgment, the capacity for true counsel, and even the ability to pray. "The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God" (James 1:20). Whether the provocation seems just or unjust makes little difference: anger covers the eyes of the soul like a plate of gold or lead- the value of the metal does not restore sight. He rejects the common excuse that we may be angry with those who do wrong, or that Scripture's language of God's "anger" justifies our own passion. God is free from all disturbance; the biblical language of divine anger is metaphorical, pointing to His just judgment, not to a human emotion we may imitate. To use it as permission for our own resentment is, Cassian says, to draw from the Scriptures an occasion of sin rather than a remedy of holiness. There is, however, one legitimate use of the energy of anger: we may and should be indignant against the evil thoughts and disordered desires that rise within our own hearts. When we are ashamed of what we would never say or do before others, yet find it stirring inside, we are to rage against that disorder, trembling before the all-seeing eye of God. In this sense the psalmist's "Be angry and sin not" (Psalm 4:4) and St. Paul's citation of it (Ephesians 4:26) are understood: be angry with your own faults, lest the Sun of Righteousness set upon a darkened mind and the devil be given place. Cassian's remedies are simple and severe. First, make a firm resolution never to be angry at all-neither for good reasons nor bad. The moment the passion enters, discernment is lost and the soul can no longer be a temple of the Holy Spirit. Second, never attempt to pray while angry; such prayer is obstinate rebellion. Third, keep daily before your eyes the uncertainty of life and the certainty of judgment. All our other efforts- Mass, fasting, works of charity- profit nothing if anger and hatred alone bring us to eternal punishment. Practically, this means catching the first interior movement of irritation and turning it at once into sorrow for our own impatience. It means refusing to nurse the grievance past sunset, seeking reconciliation before the next Holy Communion, and enlarging the heart with patience so that the "waves of anger" are received and dissipated rather than confined and intensified. Peace, Cassian reminds us, does not depend on the conduct of others; it lies in our own control. In the confessional and in the daily struggle of parish life, I see how often this vice wounds families and friendships. Let us ask the Lord, who is meek and humble of heart, to give us the grace to root it out. May the peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, guard our hearts and our parish. In other news, due to an unexpected leave, I have been appointed as Vicar General and Chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte by Bishop Martin. While this appointment is expected to be temporary, during the interim, it will make my ability to take appointments rather limited. Please be patient with the office staff as they try to accommodate those needs along with my additional responsibilities.