From the Pastor - Second Sunday of Lent

February 26, 2021

Today's readings are a powerful testimony to God’s profound love for each one of us. It is a reminder for us, as Christian stewards, to surrender all that we have to the Gracious Giver. 

The First Reading from Genesis is the infamous story of God putting Abraham to the test. God commands Abraham to offer his son, Isaac, to the Lord as a sacrifice. Abraham obeys the Lord. Yet, a messenger of the Lord cries out at the last moment to stop him. Because of Abraham’s faithfulness and surrender to the Lord, he is blessed abundantly.
 

We can only imagine how Abraham felt, offering the life of his son, not understanding why, but blindly obeying. Yet, Abraham’s response of total surrender to God’s plan is a testament to trust in God’s deep love for us. As Christian stewards, we are called to surrender all to the Lord — our time, our talents and even our material possessions. We should willingly give God our entire lives with the confidence that He will take care of us. 

St. Paul echoes this message so beautifully in our Second Reading. He says, “He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?” God loves us so much that He gave us His only Son who suffered, died and rose for us. He has given us His very best. Can we not entrust our entire lives to Him knowing He will continue to pour out His love on us? 

As we continue our journey through Lent, let us reflect on God’s profound love for us. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2021

 

Pastoral Pondering – So after our foray into the world of freemasonry and it’s impact on generational and spiritual difficulties, I thought this weekend, I would turn to another popular practice that has huge implications for the spiritual life, Reiki healing.

 

The Church recognizes two types of healing, healing by Divine grace and healing that utilizes the power of nature. Reiki is a technique of healing that was invented in Japan in the late 1800s by Mikao Usui who, at the time, was studying Buddhist texts.

According to Reiki teachings illness is caused by some kind of disruption or imbalance in one’s “life energy”. A practitioner of Reiki effects healing by placing his or her hands in certain positions on the patient’s body in order to facilitate the flow of Reiki, “the universal life energy” from the Reiki practitioner to the patient. There are numerous designated hand positions for addressing different problems.

 

Proponents of Reiki assert that the practitioner is not the source of the healing energy, but merely a channel for it. However, in order to become a Reiki healer, one must receive an initiation or “attunement” from a Reiki Master. This ceremony makes one “attuned” with the “universal life energy” and enables one to serve as a conduit for it. There are said to be three or four levels of attunement. At the higher levels, one can allegedly channel Reiki energy and effect healings at a distance, without physical contact.

 

While the proponents of Reiki agree that Reiki is not a religion of its own, it does have several characteristics that are common to religion. Reiki is often described as a “spiritual” kind of healing as opposed to common medical procedures of healing using physical means. Much of the Reiki literature is replete with reference to God, the Goddess, the “divine healing power,” and the “divine mind”. The life force energy is described as being directed by God, the “higher intelligence” or the “divine consciousness”. Also, the various levels of attunement are accomplished through “sacred ceremonies” that involve the manifestation and contemplation of certain “sacred symbols” which have traditionally been kept secret by Reiki masters. Finally, Reiki is frequently described as a “way of living” which lays out a list of precepts that guide ethical conduct.

 

As you can see, these elements associated with Reiki do indeed resemble things common to an organized religion of some sort. This then would make it problematic for a Catholic on a number of levels. Next week, I will address those in more detail.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - Fifth Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • May 16, 2025
Today’s readings on this fifth Sunday of Easter contain inspiring but challenging messages for us Christian stewards. The Gospel from John includes this well-known verse: “My children…I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” What a succinct description of a stewardship way of life. It sounds so simples. But simple does not necessarily mean easy. How exactly is Jesus Calling us to love? As He, Himself loved. Jesus loved (and loves) by serving us and by making a sacrifice of His very life for us. That is a tall order. Living a life of service and self-sacrifice is not easy because it requires us to continuously fight against our selfish inclinations. But the more we empty ourselves of “self” by serving others, the more room we make in our hearts for God to pour His grace into us. Amazingly, the more we give our lives away to others, the more He fills us up with Himself who is love itself. And amid the inevitable challenging moments this way of life entails we can be assured that the Lord who loves us so much that He died for us and established the Eucharist to be our strength and nourishment, is right here with us every step of the way. As we face the hardships that come with living as Christian stewards, we can continue to rejoice in the wonder of the Resurrection this Easter season, finding great joy in following in our Lord’s footsteps and in loving as He loves. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering  As you have probably noticed, the original St. Mark building, the old rectory on Ranson Road, has been torn down. Preparatory work has begun on the lot for the new rectory. In the next couple of weeks, we will be meeting with the Diocese and doing some value engineering. Once that is accomplished it will be decided when we can move forward with groundbreaking and construction. On the Campaign front, we thank all of those who have extended their pledges or moved a one-time gift into a multi-year pledge. In order to reach the goal of $9.7 million, we still need to raise a little over $400K before June 30 th . Percentagewise, there are still a large number of parish families who have not participated in the Campaign. We need your help to reach the goal. Whether we accomplish that goal will determine what we can do next. As June approaches, we are preparing for the ordination of some of our seminarians to the Diaconate and then the ordination of our transitional deacons to the Priesthood. Please keep all of them in your prayers. One of those to be ordained deacon, Seminarian Michael Lugo, has been assigned to St. Mark for the summer. We look forward to working with him and know you all will make him welcome.

From the Pastor - Fourth Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • May 9, 2025
Throughout the Easter season, our readings have given us glimpses into the life of the newborn Church and the bold witness of the early disciples in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ to all who would listen. The disciples were the first to live a stewardship way of life, and their example is as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago. In the First Reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, we catch up with Paul and Barnabas in Antioch. While they certainly have some success in reaching many people there with the message of salvation, others are downright infuriated by their words and send them packing. Yet, we read that “the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” Overall, it seems as if Paul and Barnabas had failed in Antioch. But seeing failure has not robbed them of their joy. What’s more, they are filled to the brim with the abundant gifts of the Holy Spirit. How is this possible? It is only possible because Paul and Barnabas saw themselves as nothing more and nothing less than stewards of Christ and His Good News. This realization brought them freedom — to offer themselves and their lives to others for the sake of the Gospel. The “results” of their efforts were up to God. This Spirit-filled, joy-filled life is available to us all today. It can be achieved when we recognize, as did Paul and Barnabas, that all we have and all we are is a gift from God, meant to be shared with others for His glory. Of course, living as God’s stewards does not guarantee a life of ease or a life free of sacrifice. Sometimes the steward’s life involves challenges, requiring all the strength and love one has to give. In the end, there is simply no more satisfying way to live. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering Because of the time limits placed on us by the bulletin company, this is being written before the conclave begins but will be published after the fact, so we may actually have a new pope (and I hope we do) by the time you are reading this. It is a good reminder that there are still limits on our modern efficiency. Over the past couple of weeks, in addition to praying for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis, we have also had the opportunity to celebrate confirmation with Bishop Martin with a little more than half of our confirmands (99), the remaining 80 or so will be confirmed this week. We have also celebrated two of our First Holy Communions with the remaining two being celebrated next Saturday. May is always busy!  It is always a great blessing to celebrate these sacraments with our young people. Celebrating with the second graders is a special joy because they are so open to God’s presence in their lives. We are also praying for those candidates (folks baptized in another Christian church) who will be received into the full Communion of the Catholic Church on the Vigil of Pentecost. Please keep all of these folks in prayer as they grow in the sacramental life and in their walk with Christ.
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