From the Pastor - 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 22, 2021

Our Psalm today, “The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy,” sheds light on our glorious Gospel reading about the healing of the blind man, Bartimaeus.

We can learn a lot from Bartimaeus when it comes to our own personal relationships with Jesus. Many of us struggle with something from which we need healing — physical blindness, illness, addiction, bad habits, anger, sin. In our weakness, do we confidently cry out to Jesus knowing that He will help us?


Oftentimes we begin to, but then a voice in our thoughts tells us to doubt and encourages us to stop trying, like the crowd in our Gospel. Although that voice is persistent and strong, we are called to cry out all the more. If Jesus can hear one voice in a crowd of many, then He can hear our direct prayer to Him in our hearts.


Our Gospel story closes with the miraculous moment when Bartimaeus is healed. The conversation with Jesus was simple. Jesus asked Bartimaeus what he would like Him to do. This man, blind for who knows how many years, desired sight. Jesus responded, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” He was healed and continued to follow Christ.


There was not much that Bartimaeus had to do to become healed. All he needed was his undoubting faith.


Whatever it is that we are struggling with in this life, all Jesus asks of us is to have faith in Him. As a result, we will remain steadfast in our relationship with Christ and will have the strength to keep going. And although we might not be healed in this life, Jesus still hears our confident cries. And through our faith we will surely be healed in the next. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2021


Pastoral Pondering

I hope that everyone is enjoying the beautiful fall weather. It is one of my favorite times of the year. I wanted to update you on a few things.


Priest Personnel - Father Bean has been dealing with some ongoing health issues. He has requested and been granted a medical leave from fulltime ministry so that he can focus on his health. He will continue to live with us and help as he is able. Please keep him in your prayers. In light of Father Bean’s situation, Father Carlson will be delaying his return to school in Canada. Father Yumo has stepped in to the chaplaincy at St. Mark School, and Father Carlson is assisting with chaplaincy at Christ the King.


Diocesan Golden Jubilee – The Diocese of Charlotte is celebrating 50 years in 2022. Celebrations and activities will be planned throughout the year, and the Eucharistic Congress will especially focus on this milestone. As more information comes out, I will pass it on.


Synod on Synodality – As you may have seen in the news, the Holy Father has called for a Synod on Synodality to meet in Rome in 2023. The first phase of the preparations for the synod takes place on the local and diocesan level. The Bishop’s office is presently working on a plan to move forward with this, and each parish will have its own role to play. I will call on the Pastoral Council to be of special assistance with the effort once we have a clearer understanding of what is involved.


Seminarians – We have been blessed with a number of men from the parish who are at present discerning the priesthood. Several of our Diocesan seminarians, including Christian Goduti, were studying in Rome. Due to ongoing COVID restrictions in Italy, the men decided it was best to come back to the states. The four who were studying in Rome will continue their studies with the other seminarians in Cincinnati on January. As always continue to pray for vocations.


Rectory Living – As I have mentioned here before, due to the unexpected increase in building expenses last summer, we had the opportunity to purchase a home away from campus that provides adequate space for each of the priests and also accommodates the seminarians and priests that often come our way for various events. This was an investment approved by the Finance Council and the Diocese that, should it be advantageous in the future can be sold and the proceeds used to provide a rectory either on the main campus or closer to it. The “Parish House” as distinct from “Ranson Road” is being used for classrooms and meeting rooms so as to accommodate our various ministries and apostolates.


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