From the Pastor - 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 23, 2021

The servant and the little boy in our readings today are excellent examples for us as Christian stewards. The servant gave the very best of what he had, and the boy gave all that he had, then God did the rest. 

A key component of living as a good steward is constantly evaluating our lives, particularly our relationship with God to ensure we are not just scraping by but rather giving God our entire lives. 

We should ask ourselves — "how am I giving God my time, using my talents, and sharing my treasures?"
 
We are called to give God adequate time each day. If we don’t plan for this time, likely, He won’t get any. We need to find what works best for us so that God can become a more significant part of our daily lives. We are also called to put our gifts and talents to good use too. The servant and the boy teach us that it is not up to us to decide how our gifts will affect others. God will do that. All we need to do is to give it well. 

Lastly, the servant reminds us that we are called to give the first fruits of our treasures. It is easy to give something; it is difficult to give the finest gift. Giving our best requires us to reevaluate our priorities in life. 

When we strive to live out our call as Christian stewards by entrusting all that we have been given to the One who graciously gave us these gifts, we will be blessed beyond measure. As we begin a new week, let us spend some time evaluating our relationship with God by asking, ‘what is my very best, and am I giving it to God?’ © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2021.

 

Pastoral Pondering – Before finishing up the precepts, I wanted to touch on a few items around the parish. Hopefully, by now, many of you have had the opportunity to meet Father Bean and Father Carlson. We are glad that they are here and appreciate their service.

 

With five priests in the parish and two seminarians, we have finally moved to the new rectory. It is located in the Olmstead neighborhood about seven miles away. While the convenience of walking out the back door and getting to the church in a couple of minutes was convenient, giving each man his own personal space is important, and the Diocese has encouraged parishes to build or purchase rectories that can house several priests, deacons and seminarians. Our hope would be, when the world returns to some normalcy in terms of building costs, we can re-evaluate building/renovating on our property here.

 

Over the centuries, there have been various iterations of the Precepts of the Church. We have already covered those listed in the Catechism. Another precept that at times has appeared in “official lists” is to observe the marriage laws of the Church. Strictly speaking, even though this is not an official precept, it is clear from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Code of Canon Law, that it is a binding requirement for the faithful. Interestingly, it is often one of the least known among younger generations.

 

It is first helpful to understand what the Church teaches about marriage. The general theological understanding of marriage is laid out in canon 1055 which states the following:

 

The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life and which is ordered by its nature to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring, has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament between the baptized. For this reason, a valid matrimonial contract cannot exist between the baptized without it being by that fact a sacrament. This covenant is characterized by permanence, fidelity, and openness to children.

 

Canon 1108 indicates that: A marriage is considered valid, where at least one of the parties is Catholic, when it is celebrated according to the liturgical ritual of the Church and in the presence of a proper minister (bishop, priest, deacon) and two witnesses.

 

The short explanation is that Catholics are expected to marry in the Church in order for their marriage to be considered true marriage. There are allowances made when a Catholic is marrying a non-Catholic, but the expectation that the couple will participate in Catholic marriage preparation and the Catholic party will do all in his or her power to have any children born baptized and raised in the faith remains intact. It’s for this reason that most dioceses require six months of preparation before marriage, and it is wise to contact the parish before reserving a venue or setting a date.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - Pentecost

By John Putnam • June 6, 2025
Today we reach the finale of the Easter season with the celebration of the great Feast of Pentecost. Reflecting on today’s readings, inspires a sense of awe as we consider the mighty power of the Holy Spirit at work giving birth to and sustaining our Church. Just as awesome — the same Spirit is calling to us this day to take up our part in the Church’s saving work. In the first reading, from Acts, we see the creative genius of the Holy Spirit moving through the newly confirmed Apostles “who began to speak in different tongues as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” The large crowd, gathered from all over the world were “amazed” and “astounded” that each one could understand the Apostles speaking in their own language. Each one of us, young and old alike, is personally called today by the Holy Spirit into the same mission as that of the first Apostles — to advance the Kingdom of God in our corner of the world. Just as He did on that Pentecost day, the Holy Spirit speaks to us in our “own language” to give us the Good News of the Gospel and urge us to share it. We can think of our own language as the particular gifts, talents, and passions we possess. We experience the presence of the Holy Spirit through them and we are meant to put them to work in grateful service of the Kingdom of God. When we consider the stewardship way of life we are called to live, we often focus on the challenges it poses. Surrendering ourselves to God is indeed a challenging way to live. But it leads to a life that is exciting, creative, and deeply rewarding. Stewardship allows us to experience life as a great adventure because it is a life guided and directed by the very source of power and creativity— the Holy Spirit! © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering At the dawn of creation, the Spirit hovered over the waters (Genesis 1:2). In that very moment, God breathed life into the world. That same breath, that same Spirit, was breathed into the apostles when Jesus said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22) The Holy Spirit is not an abstract force. He is the breath of God , the Giver of Life, who animates the Church and renews our hearts. Without the Spirit, we are like dry bones in a desert. With Him, we are brought to life and made new. In the Acts of the Apostles, the Spirit descends upon the disciples like tongues of fire, and they begin to speak in different languages. But notice this: though they spoke in many tongues, they all understood one another . The Spirit doesn’t cause confusion—He brings unity. In a world divided by language, culture, politics, and pride, the Holy Spirit builds communion. He makes us one body in Christ. He does not erase our differences, but He harmonizes them. As St. Paul says, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.” We are each unique, with our own gifts and personalities. But the Holy Spirit brings those together for the common good of the Church. Unity in diversity—that is the hallmark of the Spirit. The apostles were afraid and hiding before the Spirit came. But when the Spirit descended, they were transformed. Cowards became courageous. Fishermen became preachers. Ordinary men became saints. That is what the Holy Spirit does. We too are sent—into our families, our workplaces, our communities. We are sent to proclaim the Gospel not always with words, but with our lives. We are called to be witnesses of mercy, joy, and truth in a world desperately thirsting for God. And the good news is: we are not alone . The Spirit is our Advocate, our Helper, our Strength. He prays in us when we do not know how to pray. He inspires, guides, convicts, and consoles. Let us open our hearts more fully to the Holy Spirit. Invite Him into your life daily. Ask Him to stir up in you the gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Let us not treat the Holy Spirit as a distant mystery, but as a close companion. Let us walk by the Spirit, live by the Spirit, and be on fire with the Spirit.  Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Amen.

From the Pastor - Seventh Sunday of Easter

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.
More Posts