From the Pastor - 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 25, 2022

Today’s readings exhort us Christian disciples to form ourselves — mind and heart — in imitation of Christ so we can better reflect His goodness in our daily lives.
 
The first reading from Sirach offers timeless counsel: “the fruit of a tree shows the care it has had: so too does one’s speech disclose the bent of one’s mind. Praise no one before he speaks.” Jesus uses the very same analogy in today’s Gospel reading from Luke: “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit.”
 
Everything we have is a gift from God to be used for His honor and glory. This includes the gift of speech and, even more broadly, all forms of modern-day communication — email, text, Twitter, Facebook, and the rest. What comes forth from our mouths, or keyboard, or phone, reflects what is in our minds and hearts. Our ability to communicate with each other is itself a gift which we must steward well.
 
In the same Gospel passage, Jesus reminds us, “No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.” The more time we spend with Jesus, our teacher, through regular prayer and a strong sacramental life, the more we will become like Him. Then all that we do and say (and tweet and post) will bring others to closer to Him. This is the life’s work of the Christian steward. It is privileged work indeed. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2022


Pastoral Pondering

Last November, as some of you probably know, the United States Bishops released a document on the Eucharist. It is entitled, The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church.” At the same time, the Diocese of Charlotte is celebrating 50 years with the theme, Faith More Precious than Gold.” With that in mind, and as we prepare for the beginning of the Lenten season, I wanted to use some of this space to speak on the centrality of the Eucharist in our lives.



The Pew study of 2009 indicated that 63% of church-going Catholics believe in the transubstantial presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Of those who identified as Catholic in the same study, only 31% professed this belief. This study was one of the reasons the USCCB started making plans for a Eucharistic renewal in the Church in the United States. In addressing the centrality of the Eucharist, I would like to follow the structure laid out in Deus caritas est and utilized by author, Roland Millaire in the January 2022 issue of the Adoremus Bulletin. In the encyclical, Pope Benedict XVI “provides a helpful framework” to consider the Eucharistic revival that the Bishops desire and, in truth, the revival that many of us hope for. The Holy Father presents this framework as follows: the proclamation of the kerygma, the celebration of the leitourgia, and the exercise of diakonia. The encyclical describes these three as duties of the Church, and the lack of Eucharistic belief among other things, can be attributed to a deficiency in the presentation and exercise of these central actions of the Church. Kerygma is the preaching of the Gospel of Christ and of Christ crucified. Leitourgia is the manner of celebrating the Church’s liturgy and worship; and diakonia is faith in service to others, especially the poor. Beginning next week, I will discuss each of these tasks of the Church as a way of reminding us all of the centrality of the Eucharistic mystery. Stay tuned!

From the Pastor

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.

From the Pastor - Sixth Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • May 30, 2025
The concept of hospitality is fundamental to a stewardship way of life. When we envision hospitality, we naturally think of offering a sincere and warm welcome — to those new to our parish, for instance. We picture inviting them in and making them feel at home and at ease in our presence, communicating to them that they are highly valued. Today’s Gospel reading from John invites us to think of hospitality in a slightly different way. In it, we hear Jesus speaking this to his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” Jesus is asking that we permit the Blessed Trinity to come and dwell within us. This is a stunning request. It tells us that our first and most privileged form of hospitality should be directed towards God Himself. How does one show hospitality to God? How do we make God “at home and at ease” within us? How can we communicate to God that He is “highly valued” by us? Jesus tells us how: we are to keep His word, to follow HIs teachings. To keep His word, we must know His word. This takes discipline and effort on our part. We must make the study of Scripture and Church teaching a priority in our daily lives. If we want our parish to be a place of genuine Christian hospitality, we must be sure that our own hearts are hospitable dwelling places for the Blessed Trinity. Then our smiles and words, our greetings and ministries will radiate with the warmth of God’s love. And our parish family will become at least a little bit like Heaven on earth. This is the simplicity and glory of a stewardship way of life . © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025
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