From the Pastor - 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 10, 2026

Today’s readings remind us that following Christ requires commitment.


In the Gospel, Jesus calls His disciples to follow Him without hesitation. “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”


The stewardship way of life calls for this same focus. We are invited to give ourselves fully — not halfway, not when it is convenient, but completely.

When we place God first, we discover true freedom. As St. Paul reminds us, “For freedom Christ set us free.”


Let us respond to God’s call with trust and wholehearted commitment. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026.


Pastoral Pondering

A regular prayer life is the heartbeat of the Catholic faith—it’s how we cultivate intimacy with God, receive grace for ministry, and model discipleship for those we serve. The Church teaches that prayer is essential for holiness (CCC 2558–2565), and saints like St. Teresa of Ávila and St. John of the Cross emphasize perseverance in it as the path to union with Christ. Here are some of the most effective, time-tested practices that help build and sustain a consistent habit of prayer.


1. Establish a Fixed Daily Rhythm (The Foundation)

Morning Offering and Evening Examination: Begin the day with a short Morning Offering (e.g., the traditional one or the one from the Apostleship of Prayer) to consecrate your work, joys, and sufferings. End with an Examen of Conscience (St. Ignatius style: gratitude, review of the day, sorrow for sins, resolution, and a prayer for tomorrow). These bookend the day in 5–10 minutes each and create natural anchors.


Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office): For priests and religious, this is the official prayer of the Church. It is, however, recommended for everyone. If you want to give it a try, commit to at least Lauds and Vespers daily if full coverage isn’t possible yet. Apps like iBreviary or Universalis make it portable. Many find that praying it in the same chair or chapel spot builds the habit powerfully.


Set a “Prayer Appointment”: Treat prayer like a non-negotiable meeting—same time, same place (e.g., 15–30 minutes in the morning before the demands of the parish hit). Consistency beats intensity.


2. Core Devotional Practices

Daily Rosary: Our Lady repeatedly asked for this at Fatima and Lourdes. Even a single decade on busy days builds up.


Lectio Divina: Sacred reading of Scripture (Gospel of the day + one other passage). Read → Meditate → Pray → Contemplate. 15–20 minutes daily transforms Scripture from intellectual knowledge into lived encounter.


Eucharistic Adoration: Schedule a weekly Holy Hour (or even 15–30 minutes). Just being in His presence is transformative—bring your intentions, your family, and your own struggles. Many find this the single biggest sustainer of zeal.


3. Integrate Prayer into Daily Life

Short Aspirations and Ejaculatory Prayers: Throughout the day, use simple phrases like “Jesus, I trust in You,” “All for You, Lord,” or the Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”). These turn ordinary moments (stoplights on I-77, waiting for meetings) into prayer.


Angelus or Regina Caeli: At noon (and 6 a.m./6 p.m. if possible). It’s brief, Trinitarian, and keeps the Incarnation before your eyes.


Grace Before Meals and Family/Staff Prayer: Model it publicly and invite others.


4. Accountability and Growth Tools

Spiritual Direction: Is essential for priests and religious but can be a great help to the laity as well.


Prayer Journal: Write intentions, insights from Lectio, or graces received. It helps track God’s faithfulness during arid times.


Accountability Partner or Small Group: Somebody that you can just touch base with. The Cursillo movement has built in helps for this.


Retreats and Pilgrimages: Annual silent retreat + shorter days of recollection. Local options in the Diocese of Charlotte or places like the Abbey of Mary Help of Christians can recharge you.


5. Overcoming Common Obstacles

Dryness/Distraction: Accept it as normal (the saints endured it). Persevere with vocal prayer or Scripture when mental prayer feels empty. Offer the struggle itself.


Busyness: Start small—add one new practice for 2–3 weeks before layering another. Use driving, walking, or chores as prayer times.


Temptation to Skip: Remember St. Josemaría Escrivá’s advice: “The battle is won or lost in the first five minutes of prayer.” Just begin.


Recommended Resources

Books: Introduction to the Devout Life (St. Francis de Sales)—practical for busy people; The Three Ages of the Interior Life (Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange); Time for God (Jacques Philippe).


Apps: Laudate, iBreviary, the Tan Books app, Hallow (great guided content), or the USCCB daily readings app.


Church Teaching: Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part Four on Prayer; documents like Veritatis Splendor or papal writings on the spiritual life.


Remember, a faithful prayer life bears fruit in charity, patience, and joy—even when we don’t “feel” it. Many great saints credit their perseverance to these simple, steady habits.


From the Pastor

From the Pastor - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • August 14, 2026
Today's Gospel from Matthew reminds us to trust the Lord even when it seems He is not answering our prayers. God desires to lead us to the joy of heaven and eternal life with Him. To prepare us for that day, He calls us to grow in faith and to live each day as a grateful response to His goodness. In other words, He is forming us into saints. This is what the stewardship way of life is meant to accomplish. At times that process is difficult. Often, it stretches us beyond our comfort. Jesus certainly challenged the Canaanite woman in today's Gospel. She cried out to Him on behalf of her daughter, who was tormented by a demon. How did Jesus respond to this desperate mother's plea? At first, He "did not say a word in answer to her." Undeterred, she continued to seek Him, and He continued to test her faith. She responded with such remarkable trust that Jesus proclaimed, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." Imagine hearing those words spoken to us by our Lord. There could be no greater affirmation of a life lived in faithful discipleship. The stewardship way of life will test our trust in God at times. But those are often the moments when He is doing His greatest work within us. Let us persevere in faith, trusting that His plan is always leading us toward the joy He has prepared for us. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026. Pastoral Pondering As the school year begins and we move into the post-summer routine, I wanted to give you an update on a few things which may be of interest to you. Building projects The rectory build is going well. Grainda Builders are projecting the project to finish by November (I am hoping for earlier!). We do plan to have an open house so that folks can see the new rectory upon its completion. The preliminary work for the second phase of our building projects is occurring with the installation of the water lines that will feed the new buildings. This will hopefully be done by Labor Day. We should be able to hold a groundbreaking shortly after the first of the year. Everything depends on when the present rectory sells and where we are with funding. The Diocese requires 60% of the project to be in cash, 30% to be in pledges and 30% allowable for Diocesan loan. We will keep you posted. Obviously, as we move forward, there will be growing pains that cannot be avoided due to the disruption of some parking. We are working with the general contractor to keep disruptions to a minimum, but we cannot avoid all of them. Thank you for your patience. Church Maintenance  As many of you know, we have been battling issues with the church roof for some time. There have been numerous leaks over the years that have been patched and patched again. We have been battling the insurance company for over a year, and it is clear that, after a minimal payment to repair water damage, they are not going to approve a claim for roof replacement. Kudos to the Pastoral Council and Scott Bruno for making a significant investment of time and energy to try to do the groundwork to provide justification for the claim. With that being said, we have already replaced a portion of the roof that was causing significant problems (the lower roof closest to the driveway). Nonetheless, the whole roof really does need to be replaced. Estimates for replacement are in the neighborhood of $250K. At present with the other projects going on, we do not have this in reserves or the operating account to cover this expense. Should you wish to assist, donations can be made on the website. We will continue to monitor and do what we can to manage the problem until we are able to fully address it. The second significant issue that has arisen is the foundation of the Kerin Center. Over the last several years, due to water and drainage issues, we have had to address foundation instability. Reinforcements were added a couple of years back to the school-side of the building, but we have been seeing some issues on the church-side of the building over the past year. We are watching it very carefully and trying to ascertain the root cause of the problems. We are appreciative of those parishioners with engineering expertise who have assisted in this effort. There is also a link on the parish donation website for Kerin Center repairs.

From the Pastor - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • August 7, 2026
Stewardship spirituality invites us to surrender control of our lives to God in grateful recognition that everything we have is a gift from Him. Today's readings remind us that God is always in control of His creation and His people. They also reveal what can happen when we fully entrust our lives to Him — in other words, when we embrace the stewardship way of life. When we take our eyes off God, we lose sight of the fact that all is gift. We begin to rely on ourselves instead of trusting in Him, and we fail to make our lives a grateful response to His generosity. Peter experiences this in today's Gospel from Matthew. Jesus sends the disciples ahead of Him by boat. Later that evening, Jesus comes to them, walking on the water, and invites Peter to join Him. Peter steps out of the boat and begins walking toward the Lord. But when he notices the strong wind around him, instead of keeping his eyes on Christ, he begins to sink. Imagine if Peter had never looked away from Jesus. What an extraordinary adventure he would have experienced walking on the water with his Lord. The same is true for us. When we take our eyes off Christ, His countless blessings, and His faithful love for us, we begin to sink as well. But when we embrace the stewardship way of life, loosening our grip on our time, talents, and treasure and placing our trust in God, life becomes a great adventure rooted firmly in the One who never fails us. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026. Pastoral Pondering First of all I want to thank all who participated in our meal packing effort last Friday and Saturday. What a gift it is to be able to come together as a community and unite for the sake of our brothers and sisters in need. These events cannot happen without the efforts of numerous people. To each of you who made it possible, THANK YOU! As we move into August and our lives begin reorienting from lazier summer months towards fall, it is an opportunity to reflect on the blessings that we were afforded to rest, refresh, and renew during these past weeks. Hopefully, family were able to spend some quality time with each other without the demands of school, work and the day to day demands that impact many of us.  For me, I was privileged once again to participate in the Te Deum Peace Pilgrimage to Fatima. This year we were able to invite and sponsor nine (9) seminarians from various dioceses including Charlotte, NC; Charleston, SC; Cleveland, OH; and Youngstown, OH. They along with a wonderful group of non-seminarian pilgrims were able to grow in our love for the Lord and Our Lady. It was a true blessing, and I was so impressed with the seminarians who were a part of our pilgrimage family for our time in Portugal and Spain. Along the same lines, please pray for parishioner Mark Pressley who is entering St. Joseph College Seminary. Mark’s family has been a part of the parish for many years. Keep him and the other nine (9) young men who are beginning their formation this fall.