From the Pastor - Epiphany

January 7, 2019

From the Pastor - Epiphany

As we continue our celebration of the Christmas season, we observe today the great Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. The word “epiphany” means manifestation and throughout the Christmas readings we have seen that the newborn King is eager to reveal Himself to all those willing to accept His presence in their lives. From poor and humble shepherds to the international group of magi featured in today’s Gospel passage, Jesus makes it clear that He offers Himself as a gift to everyone.

We also see throughout the scriptures that God uses what is familiar to us to draw us to Himself. In the case of the magi – astrologers – He uses a star. Our Lord continues to speak to each one of us today. But we must be alert to “hear” and “see” Him in our daily lives.

How can we become better attuned to the ways God is speaking to us? We must strengthen our spiritual “senses” by spending time with the Lord in prayer every single day. In the same way that we set professional goals or exercise goals, we can set spiritual goals to ensure that we are taking the time to listen intentionally to God daily.

When we establish a regular, intentional time for prayer, we will find that the Lord continues to speak to us throughout the day. We will more easily recognize the “stars” He places before us to draw us into closer relationship with Him. We will begin to see that He is indeed present in our lives at every moment.

Pastoral Pondering

Christmas and the Christmas season is my favorite time in the Church calendar. The days of the Christmas Octave and the various feast days before Epiphany always bring me great joy. As I have been reflecting on this I am also conscious of the many folks who, especially at this time of year, struggle with faith in one way or another. While there are any number of reasons that explain this, one of the fundamental reasons that we struggle with faith is because we do not spend enough time developing an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. We also spend too much time focusing on how we “feel” rather than focusing on a true interpersonal friendship with the Lord.

This difficulty is not limited to the spiritual realm. It also infects relationships across the board. A married couple, for example, cannot hope to develop a meaningful bond if the spouses do not spend time getting to know one another and practicing charity with one another. Spouses come together to form a true marital union that is consummated in the marital embrace, after they truly commit themselves “for better or worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health…” Anything else is simply a cheap imitation and a subversion of God’s plan.

We often hear folks say that they don’t get anything out of Mass, or they don’t feel God’s presence. And yet, when you probe them a bit, it is clear they really have little or no knowledge of God and the faith, and they have invested very little, if anything, in their relationship with Him.

In all honesty faith is tough. It requires work. not because it depends on us, but because it depends on Christ who teaches us about the necessity of the Cross. We can never separate the wood of the manger from the wood of Calvary. Our society prides itself on instant gratification, but that is not reality. Faith requires nurture and time. Like marriage our faith life will only be successful when our love becomes sacrificial.

This sacrificial love is abundantly evident during the days of Christmas. The saints we celebrate all knew the reality of the Cross. The Holy Innocents, St. John the Apostle, St. Stephen, St. Thomas Becket, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. John Neumann experienced sacrificial love firsthand. Meditation on this miraculous connection between the manger and the Cross can do much to remind us that faith can only grow in the crucible of life’s challenges and difficulties just as the strongest marriages are often those which have weathered the storms of life and made it through to the other side.

As we conclude the Christmas season with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord next week, let us ask the Lord to help us truly love Him, know Him and serve Him. It is only by following this path that we will come to know Him as He desires us to know Him.

One of my favorite Christmas Carols is What Child is this? The traditional refrain following the second verse says: “Nails, spear shall pierce Him through, the Cross be borne for me, for you. Hail, hail the Word made flesh, The Babe, the Son of Mary.” This beautifully shows the connection between the Manger and the Cross and hopefully reminds us that the child in the manger and the God-man on the Cross are united expressions of God’s love for each of us. It is a love that is worth embracing even when it is difficult.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - Divine Mercy Sunday

By John Putnam • April 25, 2025
Today, the Second Sunday of Easter, is Divine Mercy Sunday. Our Gospel reading from St. John is often called the story of “Doubting Thomas” but the passage involves so much more than the encounter with the skeptical apostle. It is rich with lessons of Christ’s mercy to all, including an encouraging word from our Lord especially for us, His modern-day disciples. While Thomas traditionally takes all the bad rap for his doubts, we see that none of the Apostles were at their best when Christ first appeared to them after His resurrection. They were actually in hiding, cowering behind a locked door, paralyzed by fear and doubt. But Jesus appeared right in their midst in spite of the lock on the door. Was it to rebuke them for their lack of faith? Quite the contrary. He comes on a mission of mercy. He comes to offer them peace and the restoration of their relationship with Him. And even more, He commissions them to become ministers of His mercy, by giving them authority to forgive sins. At that moment Christ gives to all of us the supreme gift of mercy — the sacrament of Reconciliation. What a precious and powerful gift! This Sunday is a perfect time to reflect on how well we make use of this gift. Do we really appreciate its healing power? Could we become better stewards of this gift by going to Confession more often? We must also reflect on how well we extend mercy to others as Jesus did to Thomas that day. Let’s commit ourselves to becoming faithful disciples and stewards of Christ’s mercy. We will be those very ones to whom Jesus gave a “shout out” during His encounter with Thomas: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” — in His merciful love. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering The mercy of God is at the very heart of the Catholic faith. It's not just one of God's many attributes — it is His very essence revealed in love . As Pope Francis often reminds us, “The name of God is mercy.” In Scripture, we see God's mercy from the very beginning. After the fall of Adam and Eve, though justice demanded consequence, God clothed them and promised a Savior. Time and again, throughout the Old Testament, we see Israel turning away from God — and yet, He never stops reaching out with compassion, calling His people back to Himself. That mercy takes on flesh in the New Testament — in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the face of the Father’s mercy. He dines with sinners, touches the untouchable, forgives the unforgivable. Think of the woman caught in adultery: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.” Or the prodigal son - who finds not punishment upon return, but a father running to embrace him.  In the Catholic Church, mercy is not just a concept — it is sacramental. We encounter the mercy of God tangibly in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. There, in the confessional, we do not meet a harsh judge, but Christ the Good Shepherd, lifting us up and carrying us back home. No sin is too great. No past too far gone. St. Faustina, the apostle of Divine Mercy, reminds us that God’s mercy is an “ocean” — and we are just little drops. But mercy isn’t meant to stop with us. It flows through us. As we receive God's mercy, we're called to be merciful: to forgive, to withhold judgment, to show compassion to the poor, the suffering, the lonely. The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy are concrete ways Catholics live this out. So, when we speak of mercy, we speak of the very Gospel. God, rich in mercy, reaches into our brokenness, and instead of turning away, He embraces it, transforms it, and redeems it. With the death of Pope Francis, the Church enters a period of transition. The Pope’s legacy is one of concern for the poor and those on the margins. His writing and teaching often focused on the immense mercy of God and his love of the Gospel. Our task is to follow his example and strive each day to allow Gospel joy to guide us and lead us to bring Christ to the world. Let us also pray for the Universal Church, the cardinal-electors who have the immense responsibility of selecting a new successor to St. Peter, and for all of us that we may come together as a Church family and ask God to bless us with a new shepherd.

From the Pastor - Easter Sunday

By John Putnam • April 20, 2025
He is risen! He is truly risen! This is what the celebration of Easter is all about — the truth that Jesus was crucified for our sins and three days later rose from the dead, conquering death once and for all. We know it’s true, but this Easter Sunday, let’s ask ourselves if we live as if it’s true. Do we live as witnesses to the glorious reality of the Resurrection? A witness, of course, is one with first-hand knowledge. Our readings today focus not only on the Resurrection itself, but also on those who were witnesses to it. In the Gospel, St. John describes the very first witnesses to the empty tomb, Mary Magdalene, John (“the disciple whom Jesus loved”), and Peter. Each had an individual “experience” of the empty tomb. Each went up close to see for themselves what Jesus’ love had accomplished. How can we as Christian stewards all these years later see for ourselves and so become His witnesses? We “see for ourselves” when we prayerfully read the Scriptures knowing they are a living love letter from God with a message to each one of us. We “see for ourselves” each time we receive the precious Body and Blood of our Lord in the Eucharist. We “see for ourselves” when we experience His personal and healing power in our hearts during Reconciliation. We “see for ourselves” when we pour out our lives in loving service to those around us and experience the deep satisfaction that only comes when we are imitating our Savior. This Easter, resolve to live as if the saving power of the Resurrection is true. Experience Jesus for yourself every day from now on. You will be a powerful witness to the truth that He is risen! He is truly risen! © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering From an ancient Holy Saturday homily: "What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled. Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam's son. The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: 'My Lord be with you all.' And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’ And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light. ‘I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise. ‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person. ‘For you, I your God became your son; for you, I the Master took on your form; that of slave; for you, I who am above the heavens came on earth and under the earth; for you, man, I became as a man without help, free among the dead; for you, who left a garden, I was handed over to Jews from a garden and crucified in a garden. ‘Look at the spittle on my face, which I received because of you, in order to restore you to that first divine inbreathing at creation. See the blows on my cheeks, which I accepted in order to refashion your distorted form to my own image. 'See the scourging of my back, which I accepted in order to disperse the load of your sins which was laid upon your back. See my hands nailed to the tree for a good purpose, for you, who stretched out your hand to the tree for an evil one. `I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you. ‘But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but on the throne of heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I make the cherubim worship you as they would God.  "The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting, the bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages."
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