From the Pastor – 4th Sunday of Easter

April 23, 2018

From the Pastor – 4 th Sunday of Easter

“He is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” This is St Peter preaching again in the First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles. However, in this instance he is speaking at his own trial. He and St. John had been imprisoned.

What a different man Peter is compared to the man who denied Jesus in fear! Peter is no longer intimidated by the authorities; keep in mind that this is in effect the same court which condemned Christ to crucifixion. Earlier in Acts we witness Peter and the other disciples being filled with the Holy Spirit. This is not a one-time event, but something ongoing throughout their lives.

A woman named Corrie Ten Boom was a resistance leader and practitioner in the Netherlands in World War II. She and her sister provided a hiding place for Jews and others being sought by the Nazis. She later wrote a book titled The Hiding Place about those experiences. The Ten Booms were betrayed in 1944, arrested, and brought to trial. What she stated at that trial very much parallels what we hear from St. Peter today. She cited the power of the Holy Spirit.

She said, “Trying to do the Lord’s work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.” Like St. Peter and Corrie Ten Boom, we are all filled with the Holy Spirit. Do we let it flow out of us?

Pastoral Pondering

One of the hallmarks of the Second Vatican Council was the Universal Call to Holiness which we hear about from time to time in articles, books and even homilies. However, there is often difficulty in understanding that that actually looks like. With his third Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad), however, Pope Francis offers some concrete guidance in how everyone can grow in holiness and live this aspect of the basic Baptismal call.

The Holy Father notes that all of us “need to see the entirety of your life as a mission”. This is accomplished by listening to God in prayer and asking the Holy Spirit to guide each moment and decision. Quoting the Pope Emeritus, Pope Francis notes that “holiness is nothing other than charity lived to the full.” Hence, the Holy Father points out that faith and action go hand-in-hand. You cannot have one without the other.

While there are certainly those who are called to live out holiness in a radical and extraordinary way, for the majority of us, holiness is to be lived out in every day life in the context of his or her vocation. Small gestures he notes can lead to great holiness. In addition to frequent and worthy reception of the sacraments, Pope Francis notes that the Beatitudes of Jesus provide the perfect framework for putting faith into practice, and the works of mercy provide concrete ways to enact the beatitudes in our daily lives.

We are in a spiritual combat, and he notes that “the cultivation of all that is good, progress in the spiritual life and growth in love are the best counterbalance to evil.” Since the Devil is “a personal being that assails us”, we must count on the spiritual weapons that the Lord has given us: “faith-filled prayer, meditation on the Word of God, the celebration of Mass, Eucharistic adoration, sacramental reconciliation, works of charity, community life, and missionary outreach.”

At St. Mark we continue to try and promote this living out the faith as the best means to grow in holiness. I would invite all of us to reflect on how well we are striving for holiness and asking the Lord to guide us so that our faith might be inflamed, our works might be effective and our love might be contagious as we all strive to grow in our relationship with the Lord.

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
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