From the Pastor – 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 11, 2019

From the Pastor – 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

What we know and understand as Church more or less begins with today’s Gospel reading from St. Luke. Jesus calls His first disciples — His first Apostles. Luke tells us of the miracle that occurred for St. Peter and the others in their fishing boat. At the Lord’s command, they cast their nets after a time of catching nothing, and “they caught a great number of fish.”

Note Peter’s reaction, however. He falls to his knees and implores Jesus, “Depart from me Lord, for I am sinful man.” St. Peter is astonished and amazed, and he is, quite frankly, afraid of what he has just experienced. We may sometimes react to the Lord’s calling in a similar way. It is a bit overwhelming and frightening to come to the realization that we, too, are called, and that the Lord has expectations of us.

Yet, this is how what we know as the Church began. It commenced with Jesus calling simple fishermen according to our Gospel. These, of course, then developed into twelve, then hundreds, then thousands, and now millions upon millions of those called to be disciples. We are among that throng. When Luke speaks of “following,” he is talking about discipleship. We are called to be stewards and disciples, but are we willing to “leave everything and follow Him?”

Pastoral Pondering

As I get older, time seems to go by more quickly. It’s hard to believe that it is DSA time again. I’m appreciative of the overwhelming response we had to the appeal last year with 26% participation in the parish, a nice increase. Because of the success of our seminarian program, the Diocese will need to increase the Vocations Department budget for fiscal year 2019/2020 by 70%. If projections are correct, we will have 47 seminarians next fall. This is a tremendous blessing for our Diocese, but it also creates an increased demand for resources. Because of this, the DSA assessment for each parish has increased this year to support this very important need.

As you all know the DSA is an assessment. Hence, any monies that are not raised to meet the parish target must be taken from parish offertory. We will be evaluating all of our budget allocations for 2019/2020 to be conscious of this. We have worked hard to increase our charitable giving to 10% of our offertory income, and I am very pleased that we have been able to do so. At the same time, I want to make sure that we are serving the parish needs and the demands placed on the parish overall. As Monsignor Bellow pointed out recently at a Presbyteral Council meeting, the most important thing that we can do as a diocese is form our future priests. Our investment in our seminarian programs will provide staffing for our parishes and insure that the saving sacraments are celebrated for the People of God in the Diocese of Charlotte.

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