From the Pastor - Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

August 4, 2023

The Book of Daniel, from which our First Reading is drawn, was written some two centuries before the birth of Christ. This is only significant in that many of the prophets (Daniel is considered one of the major prophets) lived as many as six centuries before Christ. However, regardless the timeline, we need to be moved by and appreciative of the prophecies we find in the Old Testament. In the passage in today’s reading it states, “The one like a Son of Man received dominion, glory, and kingship.”


Today, of course, is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, and this reading very much parallels what is portrayed in the Transfiguration. The interesting point within this reading from Daniel, however, is that it refers to the “Son of Man,” which is the term Jesus Himself used most often to describe Himself.


We have referenced this fact previously. In fact, the term “Son of Man” occurs 85 times in the Gospels, and in 83 of them it is Jesus who uses the term. (It appears 32 times in Matthew; 15 times in Mark; 26 times in Luke; and 12 times in John, and it is in John where it is used twice by someone other than Jesus.)


The important point for us is that Jesus calling Himself the Son of Man explains that He was born of a woman, and He shares in our earthly conditions and sufferings. That fact should make us want to embrace Him as our Savior, our Friend, and our Shepherd even more. 

© Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2023


Pastoral Pondering 

As I sit here writing this, I am sitting in my room in Fatima, Portugal. This morning we visited the Shrine of the Holy Miracle of Santarem, a Eucharistic Miracle that took place in the 13th century. The gist of the story of the miracle involved a woman of the town who had to deal with a very difficult husband. She was so desperate that she approached a witch who promised help if the woman would bring her a Consecrated Host. The woman did so, removing the Host from her mouth after receiving and hiding it within a knot in her veil. After leaving the church, the woman realized that blood was dripping from the veil, so she ran home and hid the host in a box at the foot of her bed where she kept clean linen. During the night, she and her husband were awakened by a supernatural light. When they awoke, they saw the host suspended above the cupboard and angels in adoration. They immediately ran to get the parish priest, who came and brought the Holy Host to the parish church where it remains to this day. These and other Miracles are offered by the Lord to elicit faith and call us to greater holiness and devotion. Blessed Carlo Acutis catalogued many of these miracles and spent a great deal of time in his short life to encourage devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament. We will be discussing some of these next Saturday following the 5:00 p.m. Mass at our Fireside Chat.


Help for the Holy Land Pilgrimage - Prior to COVID, I felt a call to take seminarians to the Holy Land. My first trip took place when I was a seminarian, and the experience changed my life and my priesthood. Christopher Cross, who has led many groups on pilgrimage thought it was a great idea, and I was able to secure a $50,000 donation to fund the effort. Alas, COVID hit, and those plans had to be postponed. We have made it to the other side of COVID, and we are planning for the pilgrimage after Christmas this year. However, because of the present economic reality, the cost of travel has increased dramatically. The cost for each participant is $4,000. We are hoping to take at least 30 seminarians. If things work out, I would also like to establish a fund so that we can repeat the trip every few years.



I know many of our parishioners have had the opportunity to go on a Holy Land Pilgrimage with Chris. As I said, my visits to the land where Jesus walked, have had a lasting impact on me and my ministry. I want that for our young men who are preparing for priesthood. I know it will enrich their lives, strengthen their vocational call, and help them be more effective priests of Jesus Christ. If you would like to assist, donations can be made via the parish website. Any donation should be noted for Holy Land trip.

Finally, I do hope you had the opportunity to find some rest and recreation over the summer. With school about to begin and normal programing ramping back up, life will get very busy again. Enjoy what’s left of the summer break and be assured of my prayers.



From the Pastor

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).

From the Pastor - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • September 19, 2025
After today’s readings, we can’t say we have not been warned about the dangers of mixed-up priorities. God’s Word is so very clear today on the necessity of putting Him first in all areas of our lives. We see this in the First Reading from Amos. The Lord has harsh words for those who would take advantage of the poor and whose priorities are not aligned with God’s In the Second Reading from St. Paul’s letter to Timothy, Paul gives us the antidote to the self-centeredness condemned in our First Reading. The antidote is to imitate Christ, “who gave Himself as a ransom for all.” Rather than thinking of Himself and how to “get ahead,” Christ gave Himself away — completely — for our sake. That is how we are to live. In our Gospel passage from Luke, the Lord shows us how to bridge the gap between worldly thinking and priorities and eternal thinking and priorities. Jesus tells the parable of the corrupt but clever steward who is about to be fired when the master discovers the steward has been squandering his property. Realizing his imminent unemployed status, the clever steward reaches out to the various debtors of his master to wheel and deal with them, making friends who would look out for him when he became jobless. What if we put that kind of effort into our own tasks as good stewards of all God’s gifts to us? Into our ministries, into the ways we could make more time for prayer as individuals, as couples, as families, and as a parish? What if we got as creative as the “bad steward” in the use of our finances so that we could give more generously to the poor and the advancement of God’s kingdom on the earth? That’s our lesson and our challenge. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025. Pastoral Pondering I am writing this in the aftermath of the assassination of Charlie Kirk in Utah. It was a sad day for the country, and we should certainly pray for Charlie’s family, especially his wife, Erika, and their two children. Certainly, the assassination itself was horrifying, but what the act represented was perhaps worse, the attempt to destroy respectful debate in a constitutional republic that values freedom of speech and the free exchange of ideas. I watched many of Charlie Kirk’s campus visits, and I always found him to be challenging but respectful. He intentionally wanted to listen to and dialogue with those who disagreed with him. Sadly, an assassin’s bullet silenced his efforts. From a Catholic viewpoint, debate and dialogue are not merely intellectual exercises but essential expressions of Christian charity, truth-seeking, and evangelization. The Church teaches that engaging others in conversation—especially on matters of faith, morality, or social issues—must always be rooted in love, humility, and respect for the dignity of the human person, as every individual is made in God's image (Genesis 1:27). This approach transforms potential conflict into an opportunity for mutual growth, reconciliation, and the proclamation of the Gospel. As Pope Francis emphasizes in Laudato Si', the Church encourages "honest debate" among experts while "respecting divergent views," recognizing that genuine solutions emerge from dialogue, not domination. The Church identified key reasons for this emphasis drawn from Scripture, Church teaching and tradition. 1. Rooted in Christ’s Command to Love and Speak Truth in Charity Catholic teaching holds that respectful debate reflects Jesus' model of engaging opponents with compassion, even amid disagreement. In the Gospels, Christ debates Pharisees and Sadducees not to "win" arguments but to reveal truth mercifully (e.g., Matthew 22:15-46). St. Paul echoes this in Ephesians 4:15: "Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ." Harsh or condescending rhetoric, by contrast, risks sinning against charity, which the Catechism describes as the "bond of perfection" (CCC 1827). This is why Catholic apologists like those at Catholic Answers stress cultivating a "calm and friendly manner" in debates, warning against becoming "debate junkies" who prioritize controversy over spiritual health. A morbid craving for disputes, Paul warns, breeds "envy, dissension, slander" (1 Timothy 6:4-5). Respectful engagement, therefore, safeguards the debater's soul while inviting others to Christ. 2. Promotes Unity and Ecumenism in a Divided World The Church views dialogue as a path to unity, fulfilling Christ's prayer "that they may all be one" (John 17:21). In an era of polarization—whether over politics, immigration, or theology—respectful debate counters division by fostering understanding. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' president, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, recently urged promoting "the importance of dialogue [and] respect for the other" amid U.S. political tensions, linking it to the defense of human dignity from conception to natural death. Similarly, Pope John Paul II's message for the 2001 World Day of Peace calls for "dialogue between cultures" that overcomes "ethnocentric selfishness" through mutual respect, building a "civilization of love." Ecumenically, this means avoiding misrepresentations, such as falsely accusing Catholics of "worshiping" Mary or saints—instead of veneration—or dismissing Tradition outright. The Catechism (CCC 821) encourages such respectful exchanges to bridge divides, as seen in interfaith colloquia hosted by the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, where Pope Francis stresses seeing the "other" not as a threat but as a "gift" for growth. 3. Essential for Evangelization and Proclaiming the Gospel Debate, when respectful, is a form of dialogue and proclamation, as outlined in the 1991 Vatican document of the same name. It allows Catholics to share the faith persuasively without coercion, respecting freedom of conscience. The Church has a long history of public disputations, from medieval scholastic debates to modern apologetics, but always under safeguards: priests may not initiate challenges, and discussions require episcopal approval to ensure reverence for sacred mysteries (Catholic Encyclopedia on Religious Discussions). In practice, this means prioritizing witness over victory. As one Catholic writer notes, debates with atheists often fail because "faith... is the belief in a thing for which there is no evidence," so the best "win" is living virtuously as a testimony to Christ. Recent examples include calls for Christians to lead "respectful debate" on issues like immigration, modeling Gospel civility in public discourse. 4. Guards Against Sin and Builds a Culture of Life Unrespectful debate erodes human dignity, a core Catholic principle. It can devolve into personal attacks, violating the Fifth Commandment's call to honor others (CCC 2262-2268). Pope Francis warns in addresses on interreligious dialogue that polarized discussions risk becoming "polemical and inconclusive" without trust and shared vision. Instead, respectful exchange upholds the "sanctity of human life," opposing atrocities and promoting harmony across religions, ethnicities, and cultures. In apologetics, this translates to avoiding condescension or assuming bad faith, as both Catholics and Protestants seek to follow Christ. Debates on topics like sin, evolution, or authority should seek common ground—e.g., natural moral law binding all—while humbly acknowledging limits.  In summary, respectful debate is vital in Catholic thought because it mirrors Christ's merciful truth-telling, advances unity, and evangelizes without compromising dignity. As Vatican teachings repeatedly affirm, it requires "respect for differences" and a commitment to our shared "common home." In a noisy world, Catholics are called to be voices of dialogue, proving the Gospel's power through love, not force. For deeper reading, explore Laudato Si' or the Catechism's sections on charity and dialogue.