From the Pastor - 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 4, 2024

Our readings this week speak to each of our domestic churches — the little churches that we call our families.


The First Reading from the book of Genesis takes us to the beginning of creation when God made man and woman. When Adam sees the woman he says, “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called ‘woman.’”


We can almost hear the longing, gratitude, and appreciation in Adam’s voice when he meets Eve as he says, “at last.” She was a gift because she was an equal partner to him.


This was before the fall of man, meaning sin had not entered the world. Adam and Eve only viewed each other in total acceptance and love.


Our Gospel brings us to life after sin had entered the world — a time that is familiar to us. As the Pharisees questioned Jesus about divorce, He expressed that Moses permitted it because of the hardness of man’s heart. However, Jesus was calling them to deeper holiness. He was calling them to restore the original plan God had intended for marriage, “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”


Jesus’ words still apply to us here and now in each of our domestic churches. It is the task of families to tirelessly work to restore God’s original plan for marriage and family life — homes filled with gratitude, acceptance, and love.

It takes a daily commitment to live out our call to holiness to restore our families to this beautiful image. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2024


Pastoral Pondering

I want to offer a special thanks to all those who made Septemberfest possible. Despite the weather impact of Hurricane Helene, the parish came together to make this annual event a success. It is a testimony to commitment to the parish.


On October 2, the Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops began in Rome. This is a continuation of the Synodal journey that began in 2021 around the theme: "For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission."


There have been lots of conversations about the Synod, its intent, and the possible outcomes. These have been both positive and negative. In our own Diocese, we benefitted from fruitful discussions about the life of the local church and ways in which we can be more focused and effective in proclaiming the Gospel in our present cultural reality.


The Holy Father has noted on multiple occasions that the intention of the whole adventure is to discern how the Church can more effectively share her message with the world. The Holy Father desires the world to experience the joy of the Gospel and has repeated this message time and time again.


The Holy Spirit continues to call us to a greater fidelity and authenticity in proclaiming the faith of Jesus Christ. Let us pray for His guidance and that all those entrusted with the important tasks of the synodal way may be attentive to His promptings.

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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