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From the Pastor - Fourth Sunday of Advent

Dec 19, 2020

From the Pastor - Fourth Sunday of Advent - December 20, 2020


“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” With those words our Blessed Mother Mary places her total trust in God. We are called to do the same, and this final Sunday of Lent is the time for us to do that, if we have not previously. Mary’s response to God is the same response we need to offer the Lord. It is most appropriate that we hear this message at this time and on this day.


This took much more trust in the Lord than we might imagine. Mary agreed to receive a pregnancy that would be seen as suspect in a culture which had a potential death penalty for adultery. Spiritually speaking, there are similarities between the Lord’s work in Mary and His work in all of us. Jesus lives within each of us spiritually. He lived in Mary not only spiritually but also physically.


Jesus was made visible to the world through Mary physically, but He should be made visible to the world through us as well. Who we are and how we relate to and treat others is a sign to the world of Who Jesus is and what a Christian is and should be. Are we showing the world what it means to be His disciple? Is there a better time than this to do so?


The entertainer and comedian Bob Hope once said, “My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?” © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2017.


Pastoral Pondering — As we look forward to the celebration of Christmas this coming Friday, it is a good opportunity for us to reflect on the beauty of this blessed time of year. Despite some of the hardship and difficulty of these past months, Christmas will still come. At least for a brief moment, there will be Peace on Earth and Joy in the World, even if those sentiments can only be found in our hearts, homes and churches. The spirit of Christmas which reminds us of the Father’s generous love for us needs to be embraced and lived out in our daily lives, and in the past several weeks, I’ve seen your response to that generous love in numerous ways.


Christmas is also an opportunity to put aside our own frustrations, struggles, and difficulties and remember the example of the Holy Family. As Mary and Joseph journeyed from Nazareth to Bethlehem, they faced a multitude of hardships. In those days of course, there was no express way, and the terrain between the two areas is rough and unforgiving. Nonetheless, what we see in the Holy Couple is a simple but constant faith that God provides; God is still in charge.


During this past year we have seen so much division, violence and unrest. Because of COVID especially and the way it is often portrayed in the media, we have also seen a tremendous increase in fear and anxiety. As I have said before, these spirits are not from God. We have to be strong enough to understand that whatever the struggle, we are not alone; we need not be afraid. Because God became man in the womb of the Virgin, we now are promised eternal life if we choose to accept and respond to that great gift. Our first priority for ourselves and our family has to be eternal salvation, and that must govern all of our other actions. We are called to act prudently and responsibly on this earthly plain, to be sure; but we must always live with the understanding that this life is not our hope. Our hope is the world to come. We, therefore, can truly rejoice as we celebrate His birth because we know that He became one of us so that we can live forever in the Father’s House.


Please know that as we come to the end of Advent and prepare to celebrate Christmas, each and every one of you is remembered in our thoughts and prayers. And we pray that this Christmas you will receive all the gifts that the Lord wants to pour out on you and yours. God bless you!


From the Pastor

From the Pastor - Sixth Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • 03 May, 2024
Our readings today call us to love as Christ loves. In our Gospel, Jesus says, “Love one another as I have loved you.” The ways Jesus has loved us and continues to love us are endless. We are called to imitate this love. And He tells us the greatest way to do this when He said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” It is difficult to live that out in our humanity. Yet, it is made much easier when we faithfully love Christ. The fact of the matter is, as our love for Christ increases, so too does our capacity to love others. There are countless moments when we can do just that — for instance, waking up Saturday morning to attend daily Mass instead of sleeping in, or talking to God in the car on the way to work instead of listening to music. These are simple ways to express our love for the Lord by laying down our lives for Him. The more we find ways to love the Lord, the more we will find it easier to put aside our selfishness and serve others. Christ’s command to love others may seem daunting. Yet, Christ would never ask something of us that we cannot live out. All we need to do is take baby steps. Ask yourself, "How can I better love Jesus right now?" for it is in loving Christ that we will better love others, and it is in loving others that we love Christ Himself. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2024 Pastoral Pondering  Last week I had the opportunity of spending the afternoon with my childhood pastor, the Reverend Fred Thompson. He served as the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Newton, NC for over 30 years. He is now 91 years old and continues to live a fairly independent life. We lost touch when my family moved from Newton to Hickory as I began grammar school but reconnected during my undergraduate studies at Lenoir-Rhyne College. We have stayed in touch since then. Such connections from the past are very important. At least in my case, Fred knew things about my parents and my adoption that I never did, and he is always happy to share a story or two. I bring this up because memory, what we refer to in the Mass as anamnesis, is essential not only to our faith but to society as a whole. Our collective memory is important. Significant events of the past are passed on from one generation to the next, and we hopefully learn from our mistakes so that we don’t repeat them. In the Catholic context, we are being obedient to Christ’s command at the Last Supper, do this in memory of me.” And it is through that remembrance that we cannot the past with the present and look with hope to the future – Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. This is why Sacred Tradition is so very important to our understanding of the Faith. That which is handed over (traditio) is essential because it forms the framework upon which the Church travels throughout the centuries. The same is true in families. In the past multiple generations would live together or in close proximity to each other. Children learned about life from a variety of family members with varying degrees of lived experience and a wealth of memory. With our society becoming more transitory and human interaction being impoverished by the reality of technology, families need to be very intentional about connecting with the past. It helps us all understand who we are, why we are here and for what we were made.

From the Pastor - Fifth Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • 26 Apr, 2024
Our readings today teach us what it means to bear fruit as disciples of Christ. We hear in each of our readings that it is from the Lord that good effects will be produced in our lives. In our first reading, we hear about disciples who were preaching the Good News and defending the faith. The work they were doing was “with the consolation of the Holy Spirit.” It was not their work alone, but the work of God. We must ask ourselves, ‘how is God bearing fruit in my life?’ and ‘have I invited the Holy Spirit to work in me?’ The more we try to produce good effects in our lives, the more we will become disappointed if all we are relying on is our own efforts. It is only by inviting the Holy Spirit into our everyday moments that we will see goodness poured out. Jesus clearly tells us how to do this in our Gospel. He says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.” We can remain in Christ by staying faithful to His commandments and frequently receiving the sacraments. And our day-to-day moments should be a reflection of those commitments. That could mean opening our day with a prayer of thanksgiving, smiling at those we see on the street, asking God for help as we begin our workday, praising God in moments of trial, taking time to listen to our spouse after a long day. To remain in Christ means, in all that we do, we do it with the Lord. When we live a life like that — as a branch never separated from its vine — God will produce bountiful fruit in our lives. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2024 Pastoral Pondering I have had a few folks interested in what exactly occurs when a diocese received a new bishop, so I thought I would outline the process a bit for a contribution to your knowledge of Catholic trivia. Before a new bishop can be appointed, the diocese in question has to be vacant. A vacancy occurs through death, retirement, resignation or removal. In our case, Bishop Jugis submitted his resignation based on his deteriorating health, one of the reasons that a bishop can ask to be relieved of the administration of a diocese. Once the Holy Father accepts the resignation, the See becomes vacant. During the interim or sede vacante (vacant seat) period, the diocese needs to have someone to keep things going. This is done by either a priest, who is appointed administrator or by a bishop, who is known as an apostolic administrator. In our case Bishop Jugis continues as the apostolic administrator. Since his successor has already been named, Bishop Jugis can help prepare for the new bishop’s transition. As soon as a see is vacated, several offices and one advisory body cease to function. Any vicars general or episcopal vicars lose their office and the Presbyteral Council ceases until reconstituted by the new bishop. Both the Judicial Vicar and the Chief Financial Office of the diocese continue in office to insure the ongoing functions of their offices. Bishop Jugis, as Apostolic Administrator, has asked those priests who were serving as his vicar general and episcopal vicars to continue performing their functions in the interim. When the new Bishop is installed, he can reappoint the vicars or appoint others to take their places. If a priest is appointed as the new bishop, he must be ordained a bishop before he can assume the office. Once ordained, a ceremony occurs, usually a Mass, during which the newly ordained bishop takes possession of the diocese and assumed the full pastoral care of the Diocese. Hence, Bishop-elect Martin will be ordained on May 29 th and then will take possession of the Diocese on the following day.  A lot of work can be done to prepare for the new bishop’s arrival prior to his coming. Nonetheless, the first few weeks of his administration will be taken up with settling into his new position and getting his bearings. This is very similar to a new pastor coming to a parish; albeit, on a larger scale. During these early days of the new administration, the new bishop decides on vicar appointments and reconstitutes the Presbyteral Council and makes any other decisions that he deems appropriate for pastoral care. Often new bishops spend a good bit of time visiting the new parishes of the new Diocese to get to know his priests and meet his people. In Bishop-elect Martin’s case, he will be ordaining transitional deacons on the Saturday following his own ordination and then ordaining priests two weeks later, so he will indeed “hit the ground running”. Keep him in your prayers.
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