From the Pastor - 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 27, 2023

Today’s readings are all about love — the radical love of God for His people and the radical love we are called to live out in response. The stewardship way of life is nothing more and nothing less than the practical application of loving God and neighbor in our daily lives.


Jesus sums up the message of all the prophets, as well as the purpose of all God’s laws in today's Gospel passage, from Matthew. It is a message we have likely grown-up hearing — but it is so beautiful and so challenging, it bears repeating again and again. It is Christ’s response to a question about which commandment is greatest. His answer reveals both the greatest and the second greatest commandments.


He says, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind... The second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 


How is the second like the first? What do the two commands have in common? Love.


Love God first and love neighbor as self. This is the heart of the stewardship way of life — simple enough for a child to understand, challenging enough to be the life’s work of every “grown-up.” © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2023


Pastoral Pondering

November is set aside in a special way to pray for those who have died. We have a special obligation to do this for our relatives and friends. The Mass, of course, is the most efficacious prayer that can be offered, and I encourage folks as they are doing advance planning for their funeral (which I recommend for everyone to do!) to make provision for Masses to be offered for the repose of your soul.


Folks often have questions about end-of-life issues and particularly about Catholic funerals. This is especially true when a parent dies, and the children no longer practice the faith. With this in mind, here are some bullet points that might be helpful:


  • A baptized Catholic, unless prohibited by ecclesiastical authority, has a right to have a Catholic funeral and burial. It is important to make your wishes known before the need arises so that your heirs, or whomever is responsible for your arrangements, knows that you want the proper Catholic funeral rites.
  • While cremation is allowed, as long as it is not chosen for reasons contrary to Catholic faith, it is not encouraged. In case of necessity the Church’s preference is to have the body present for the funeral Mass so that the full ritual can be afforded the deceased.
  • The remains, be it the body or cremains, are to be treated equally with respect. Hence, burial or interment is required. In the case of cremation, the ashes must not be distributed among family members, kept at home or sprinkled. They are to be kept intact. For veterans of the United States Navy, burial at sea can be arranged through appropriate channels.
  • Pre-planning is helpful to all who will be involved in your funeral rites. Funeral directors are very good at assisting with this, and a copy of your plans can be filed with the parish. Pre-planning the Mass, including the music and readings can also be facilitated through the parish office. When this type of planning occurs, it helps our families and ensures that the focus can be on the prayer for the deceased rather than all the details.


The Holy See has extended the ability to obtain a plenary indulgence for the souls in purgatory throughout the month of November. This is accomplished by visiting a cemetery, a church or an oratory and reciting an Our Father and the Creed.


A plenary indulgence remits all temporal punishment due to sin. It must always be accompanied by a full detachment from sin.

A Catholic who wishes to obtain a plenary indulgence must also fulfill the ordinary conditions of an indulgence, which are sacramental confession, reception of the Eucharist, and prayer for the pope’s intentions.


Sacramental confession and reception of the Eucharist can occur up to about 20 days before or after the indulgenced act.

With the decree for pandemic conditions, those who cannot leave home, such as the sick and the elderly, can still obtain an indulgence by reciting prayers for the deceased before an image of Jesus or the Virgin Mary.


They must also spiritually unite themselves to other Catholics, be completely detached from sin, and have the intention of fulfilling the ordinary conditions as soon as possible.


The Vatican’s decree offered examples of prayers that homebound Catholics can pray for the dead, including lauds or vespers of the Office for the Dead, the rosary, the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, other prayers for deceased among their family or friends, or performing a work of mercy by offering their pain and discomfort to God.


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
More Posts