From the Pastor - 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 4, 2019

From the Pastor - 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

How do I know if the Time, Talent and Treasure I offer God in grateful return is “enough?” What is the measure?

St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading today — the “measure” is the love that we put into each of these aspects of our lives.  “If I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own and hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.”  God is not after a particular number. What He wants us to give over to Him is our very selves.

Real love is not a sentiment. Real love is manifested in living a virtuous life.  We read later in St. Paul’s letter that real love takes strength: it is patient, kind, humble, other-centered, truth-seeking and long-suffering. Love is the heroic giving of oneself even when it is uncomfortable; especially then. Love looks like Jesus. It lives like Jesus.

Sometimes, living like Jesus is difficult. We see this in the Gospel Reading today where we find Jesus in action, preaching in the synagogue in His hometown. He speaks truth to the people He loves, the ones He grew up with and shared His early days with. How do they respond? They are filled with fury and run Him out of town, intent on throwing Him from a cliff! Yet Jesus is undeterred. He passes right through them and presses forward with the mission His Father has entrusted to Him.

We are called to live with this same strength and determination, fueled by the power of love and by gratitude for all God has given us.

Pastoral Pondering

I wanted to give another update to the Stained-glass window project. As of today, all of the windows are fully funded with the exception of two (2): the parishioner window, the Coronation of Mary and the clergy window, the Church – St. Peter. At present the Coronation has received $7,433.00/$14,567.00 in donations, and the St. Peter window has received $6,975.00/$15,025.00 in donations. We are continuing to accept donations for both of these windows, and those can be made on-line or via the parish office.

We are finalizing the schedule for replacing the sound system in the church. It will tentatively take place the last full week of February (beginning on President’s Day). To facilitate the work, it may be necessary to move the weekday Masses to the Kerin Center during that time. Please pay attention to the bulletin and our social media for updates to this schedule.

Now is a good time to start preparing for Lent which begins with Ash Wednesday on March 6. Oftentimes it slips up on us and then we have to rush to make our Lenten plans. Taking those to prayer can be very helpful. “Lord, help me to prepare for a fruitful Lent. Show me what I need to sacrifice and what I need to do. Help me to use this time of penance for my ongoing conversion and growth in holiness. Amen.”

Spend some time with the Lord and allow Him to guide you. If you make the space, it is amazing what He will do.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - First Sunday of Advent

By John Putnam • December 2, 2025
Today we begin the beautiful season of Advent — a season of preparation. For what are we preparing? The celebration of the birth of our Savior, and the anticipation of His second coming. These are weighty tasks with eternal consequences. So, let us as Christian stewards make the words of the Prophet Isaiah our motto for the season: “Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways and we may walk in his paths.” In the weeks leading up to Christmas, it seems everywhere we turn we are pushed to spend more, do more, entertain more, and generally rush around at a frantic pace — all to create a “perfect” Christmas day. In contrast to this worldly pressure, the Church’s guidance to use these weeks as a time to focus on our spiritual lives can indeed seem like a mountain climb. But the intentional and wise use of the gift of time is exactly what the Christian steward is called to do, and with even greater intensity during Advent. How can we use our time to prepare for a holy celebration of Jesus’ birth on Dec. 25 and for his second coming at a date we do not know? We can push back against the world’s pressure to have the “perfect Christmas.” Scale back on the material kind of gift-giving, the complicated menus, the unessential trappings of the season so that we have more time for the spiritual preparations: Confession, weekday Mass, adoration, family prayer time, lighting the Advent wreath, acts of kindness. It may feel like a mountain climb, but in the end, we will be prepared to celebrate a truly meaningful Christmas, we will have become more like our Savior, and we will be ready for Him to come again. Let’s go climb the Lord’s mountain! © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 From the Pastor Advent brings a time of new beginning. A new liturgical year is upon us, but it is also a time to prepare our hearts for something – for the coming of the Lord. The first weeks of Advent focus on the Lord’s coming at the end of time, and the latter weeks of Advent focus on preparing to celebrate His coming at the Nativity. Both, however, are interconnected. The first coming of the Lord facilitates His coming into our hearts, which, in the end, facilitates His second coming to judge the living and the dead. The “in between” of these two comings is where time and eternity come together. We are called to live each day in expectation of His coming. We are called to hope for His coming and to expect it even when it seems long delayed. It is in this expectation that we must learn to live our lives. Daily life is messy and unpredictable. We must deal with disappointments, sickness and loss. Yet, we do so as people of hope who know that in these crosses, there lies ultimate joy because of the love of the Father who sent his Son to love us to the end. As we begin a new journey in a new liturgical year, let us do so with joyful expectation. Knowing that the end of the journey, if we are faithful, is paradise.

From the Pastor - Solemnity of Christ the King

By John Putnam • November 21, 2025
On this Feast of Christ the King, our readings show us that we serve the greatest of Kings, who is at the same time the humblest of Kings. Christ is the perfect model of servant leadership. And what an indescribable privilege that He has called us to be servant leaders — stewards in the work of advancing His Kingdom. In our second reading, from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Paul describes the great power and dignity that characterize Christ the King. “All things were created through him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together.” It makes you want to stand up and cheer. That’s our King! Yet, what a contrasting description of the same King we find in our Gospel passage, from Luke. Now we see our King nailed to the Cross. Everyone from rulers to soldiers, to the criminals on either side of Christ is mocking, sneering, and reviling him. They tauntingly urge him to prove His kingship by coming down from the Cross to end his suffering with a great show of power. “if you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.” But He does not. Amazingly, it is in this moment of seeming-weakness and humiliation, when all appears hopeless and lost, that the full breadth of his greatness as king is displayed. Though all things were created through and for Him — Christ chooses to live entirely for others, for us! What does this mean for us as his followers and stewards of His kingdom? It is precisely that our lives are not about us. They are about Christ and others. And we will advance his kingdom to the extent that we embrace this mindset: my life is not about me; it is about serving the King of kings. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025