From the Pastor - Palm Sunday

March 26, 2021

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday. As we read about the climax of Christ’s mission here on earth, we are reminded that He is the Perfect Steward, a model for us all on our stewardship journey.


Our First Reading, from the prophet Isaiah, portrays a suffering servant. The suffering servant, in many ways, foreshadows what Jesus endured during His passion. Even though He didn’t deserve such tortures, He humbly submitted to them. His mission as a steward was to fulfill His Father’s mission. We, too, play a unique role in our Father’s mission by bringing souls to Christ. It simply begins with the witness of our lives.


Today's Gospel shares the account of Jesus’ last days on earth, and how He lives them says a great deal about how we should be living ours as faithful stewards. Jesus does many things in these last days, and they all revolve around prayer and service — two trademark actions of a good and faithful Catholic. He hosts a Passover meal in which He gives us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. He intensely prays to His Father. Lastly, He submits to humiliation, torture and death for our sake, calling out to God the Father in His weakest moments. We might not be called to the same type of prayer and service, but we are all called to commit time in daily prayer with our Lord, and to serve our families, churches and neighbors.


As we embark on this Holy week, let us take some time to reflect on the life of Christ as He is our model Steward, and may we strive to imitate Him daily. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2021.


Pastoral Pondering

Holy Week each year invites us to walk with the Lord as He approaches the culmination of His earthly ministry. His Passion, Death, and Resurrection; preceded by the institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood, are the most important events in our faith history, and in the history of the world.


How then can we benefit the most from these holy days? First, I would say, as much as possible, we should take ample time for God and spiritual exercises. This can be accomplished by making it to daily Mass and participating in the days of the Easter Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday/Easter Sunday). Secondly, devotions such as the Stations of the Cross and Holy Rosary take on a special importance during this week. Finally, if not already accomplished, making time for a good and thorough confession is integral to the celebration of this season.



A little over a year ago now, we were observing “fifteen days to flatten the curve” which resulted in our inability to come together as a parish and celebrate these days fully. Thanks be to God, this year we can come together as a family of faith and allow the Holy Spirit to draw us deeply into these Easter mysteries.

As always, please know that all of us here at St. Mark are praying for you daily. One of the obligations of a pastor is to pray for his people, and the parish clergy and staff are committed to share this easy yoke of prayer and intercession. Please pray for our parish as well that these solemn days of Holy Week will bring us closer to the God we serve.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • October 3, 2025
Our readings today show us that living a stewardship way of life, that is, a life focused on serving God and His Kingdom, is not easy. They also show us that our lives belong to God, not to us, and that God will indeed bring about the fulfillment of His kingdom., We just need to have faith that He can do it and commit to our small part in His grand design. This is both our privilege and responsibility as Christian stewards. Jesus makes this privilege and responsibility clear in today’s Gospel passage from Luke. When the apostles as the Lord to increase their faith, He tells them that even a mustard-seed sized faith is all that is needed to move mountains (because it is God who does the heavy lifting). We need to only take the tiniest step forward, and He will do the rest. But living our lives in His service is also very much our responsibility, as Jesus explains through the parable of the unprofitable servant later in the passage. Our Lord describes a scene in which a servant has just come from tending to the master’s affairs and asks whether it would be reasonable for the master to begin waiting on the servant. Of course, it would not be reasonable! The servant would be expected to continue to serve his master until he has completed the work the master has given him that day. Jesus says that we should have the same attitude before God. The time, talents, and treasure entrusted to us are all God’s. Our very lives belong to Him. Whatever we do on God’s behalf with our lives and our gifts is simply our God-given responsibility. The stewardship way of life makes the privilege and responsibility of serving Christ and His kingdom a reality. ©Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering  As we move into autumnal colors, with shorter days and cooling weather, the late weeks of the liturgical year always provide us with an opportunity to reflect on faith and life. It is also that time of the calendar year when we start thinking about those who are less fortunate among us. In the coming weeks, we have a number of efforts to assist the least of our brethren with life’s basic needs including the coat drive, thanksgiving food drive and the Christmas giving effort (formerly known as the Angel Tree ©). There are no shortage of demands placed on all of us these days, but the spiritual and corporal works of mercy remain the bedrock of our Catholic lives. Thank you in advance for responding with a generous heart.

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).