From the Pastor – Trinity Sunday

May 28, 2018

From the Pastor – Trinity Sunday

On this Sunday, the week after Pentecost, we celebrate The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity in the Church. We have celebrated this particular weekend in the Church for more than 700 years. Depending on your age, you may recall St. Pope John XXIII who organized and oversaw Vatican II. Interestingly, it was Pope John XXII (1316-1364) who made this celebration official in the Church.

We consider the Holy Trinity to be one of the great mysteries in the Church. It is the mystery of the identity of God. Who is God? God is one God in three Divine Persons — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Whether we are aware of this consciously or not, this is something each of us acknowledges in a number of ways, especially when we go to Mass. Every time we make the Sign of the Cross, we are making a statement about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

That statement is made often. At minimum it is made when the celebrating priest opens Mass with a sign of the cross. Just prior to the Gospel Reading we do an older version of the sign of the cross by making a small cross on our forehead, our lips, and our chest. The priest concludes the Mass with a blessing, and we all make a Sign of the Cross.

There are so many other times before, during, and after Mass when we make the sign or the cross, and there may be other times in our daily lives when we do it. Pope Francis has said, “Every time we make the sign of the cross, we draw closer to God.” Perhaps we should do it even more often.

Pastoral Pondering

The next “reality” that Mary Eberstadt identifies is the issue of overpopulation. This, of course, was one of arguments in favor of supporting artificial contraception. However, as she points out, “one of the most pressing, and growing issues for researchers is not overpopulation, but its opposite: underpopulation.” In an article she published in 2008, Eberstadt notes: “ So discredited has the overpopulation science become that this year [2008] Columbia University historian Matthew Connelly could publish Fatal Misconception:the Struggle to Control World Population and garner a starred review in Publishers Weekly— all in service of what is probably the single best demolition of the population arguments that some homed would undermine church teaching. This is all the more satisfying a ratification because Connelly is so conscientious in establishing his own personal antagonism toward the Catholic Church…. Fatal Misconception is decisive [secular] proof that the spectacle of overpopulation, which was used to browbeat the Vatican in the name of science, was a grotesque error all along” ( https://www.firstthings.com/article/2008/08/002-the-vindication-of-ihumanae-vitaei ).

What the lie of overpopulation has led to is what has been called an “epidemic” of loneliness. In 2013 Pope Francis noted that the “loneliness of the old” is one of worst “evils” in the world today. At the end if 2017 the New York Times reported that 4,000 lonely deaths a week are occurring in Japan. Elderly die without anyone knowing until someone living close by smelled something. The same trend of elder loneliness is becoming a trend in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Sweden and even, to a lesser degree, the United States. Eberstadt states: “Such human poverty abounds in societies awash in material wealth. This, too was not foreseen by those who argued for and against Humane Vitae in 1968. Yet without doubt, what unites these tragic portraits is the sexual revolution, which by the 1970s was operating at full throttle in Western nations, driving up divorce rates, driving down marriage rates, and emptying cradles. It does not take a demographer to connect the dots; the evidence of our senses will do.”

I’ll close with the following excerpt from an article describing the plight of some elderly in Der Spiegel that Eberstadt refers to in summarizing the situation. “Aside from the birds, hardly anyone visits the elderly woman anymore. Erna J. has white hair and black leg braces and, like many people her age, is suffering from extreme loneliness. She was born shortly after World War I and moved into this apartment 50 years ago. The years later, her husband died. She has outlived all of her siblings and girlfriends. Her husband didn’t want any children. ‘I should have insisted on it,’ says the former cook, ‘and then I perhaps wouldn’t be so lonely today.”

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • October 3, 2025
Our readings today show us that living a stewardship way of life, that is, a life focused on serving God and His Kingdom, is not easy. They also show us that our lives belong to God, not to us, and that God will indeed bring about the fulfillment of His kingdom., We just need to have faith that He can do it and commit to our small part in His grand design. This is both our privilege and responsibility as Christian stewards. Jesus makes this privilege and responsibility clear in today’s Gospel passage from Luke. When the apostles as the Lord to increase their faith, He tells them that even a mustard-seed sized faith is all that is needed to move mountains (because it is God who does the heavy lifting). We need to only take the tiniest step forward, and He will do the rest. But living our lives in His service is also very much our responsibility, as Jesus explains through the parable of the unprofitable servant later in the passage. Our Lord describes a scene in which a servant has just come from tending to the master’s affairs and asks whether it would be reasonable for the master to begin waiting on the servant. Of course, it would not be reasonable! The servant would be expected to continue to serve his master until he has completed the work the master has given him that day. Jesus says that we should have the same attitude before God. The time, talents, and treasure entrusted to us are all God’s. Our very lives belong to Him. Whatever we do on God’s behalf with our lives and our gifts is simply our God-given responsibility. The stewardship way of life makes the privilege and responsibility of serving Christ and His kingdom a reality. ©Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering  As we move into autumnal colors, with shorter days and cooling weather, the late weeks of the liturgical year always provide us with an opportunity to reflect on faith and life. It is also that time of the calendar year when we start thinking about those who are less fortunate among us. In the coming weeks, we have a number of efforts to assist the least of our brethren with life’s basic needs including the coat drive, thanksgiving food drive and the Christmas giving effort (formerly known as the Angel Tree ©). There are no shortage of demands placed on all of us these days, but the spiritual and corporal works of mercy remain the bedrock of our Catholic lives. Thank you in advance for responding with a generous heart.

From the Pastor - 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • September 26, 2025
We have all been given great power by God in the form of Time, Talents, and Treasure. Today’s readings remind us that this power is meant to be used for great good. And that failure to do so has eternal consequences. We see the urgency for us to put our powers to good use in today’s Gospel passage from Luke. Our Lord tells the rather chilling parable of the rich man who ignored poor Lazarus during their lifetimes. At the moment of the rich man’s death, he goes down to the netherworld, while Lazarus is taken to the eternal joy and comfort in the bosom of Abraham. The rich man keenly regrets his indifference towards the needs of Lazarus, but it is too late for regret. His choices have played out, and now the rich man will face the consequences of his failure to use the gifts God gave him. Pursuit of God’s kingdom and care for the poor are not trifling matters. Our Lord makes this clear to us over and over in the Scriptures and the constant teachings of our 2,000-year-old Church. We are free to ignore these teachings and live instead for ourselves. But there will be tragic results for us in the end. And, because we are made for eternity, living selfishly on this earth doesn’t really bring us true happiness anyway. So how can we use our great powers for great good? By embracing stewardship way of life. By putting God first in all areas of our lives — in the way we spend our time, the ways we share our talents, the ways we give of our financial resources. Stewardship living calls us out of our comfort zone and into commitment to the Lord and the things that matter to Him. ©Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering Even though this year is not a presidential or mid-term election, local elections are quite important, and we often don’t take them as seriously as we should. This year we have two parishioners running for office, Dan Boone is running for town council, and Bill Fountain is running for school board. To some these positions may seem insignificant, but it is at the local level that we, as Catholics, can have the greatest impact. I thought it might be helpful then to give a reminder of the duties of Catholics in political life. The Church teaches that lay Catholics bear primary responsibility for temporal affairs, including politics, as an extension of baptismal vocation (CCC 1913). Key duties include:  Forming Conscience : Study Church teachings to discern moral priorities; avoid reducing faith to single issues but prioritize intrinsic evils like abortion. Active Involvemen t: Vote informatively, run for office, join parties or advocacy groups, and dialogue with officials to apply Gospel values. Pope Francis stated, "A good Catholic meddles in politics," offering the best of oneself to help leaders govern justly. Non-Partisan Advocacy : The Church engages issues (e.g., life, family, peace) but avoids partisanship to focus on principles. Parishes can host voter education but not endorse candidates. For Public Officials : Catholic politicians must align actions with Church moral teachings; supporting grave evils like abortion risks scandal and cooperation in evil. Separation of church and state protects, rather than hinders, faith-based action in public life. Challenges and Encouragement In polarized environments, Catholics may feel disenfranchised, but the Church calls for renewed engagement to transform society incrementally toward justice. Resources like the USCCB's Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (updated periodically) guide voters on applying Catholic Social Teaching. Ultimately, political action flows from love of neighbor, proving faith through works (James 2:14–17).