From the Pastor - Fifth Sunday of Easter

May 5, 2023

The readings on this fifth Sunday of Easter present us with themes of dwelling places and home. As Christian stewards, we are well aware that this world is not our permanent home. We are merely pilgrims here, making our way through the stewardship way of life to our true home, heaven.


Yet, as we make our way to heaven, we are called to make our dwelling here — whether we are in a household of one or bursting at the seams — a true “domestic church.” In other words, the stewardship way of life begins long before we set foot on the parish grounds. Stewardship starts at home. It begins with our families — our domestic churches.


The domestic church plays a key role in our sanctification because it is the primary place where we practice intimate and selfless love of other persons.


In our Gospel passage from John, Jesus speaks of heaven as a home filled with dwelling places. “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” This is a beautiful image of the glory that awaits us and the personal love our Lord has for us in preparing the perfect “spot” for each one of us who remain faithful to Him.


Let us respond to this great love by becoming good stewards of our earthly dwellings, making our homes true “domestic churches” where we honor God with our prayer, our thoughtfulness to each other, and our generous hospitality to all.

Let us never forget that stewardship starts at home! © Catholic Stewardship Conference, 2023


Pastoral Pondering

For those who might be interested, on Monday of the Octave of Easter, I added a new “member” to the rectory family. Daisy is a Pug puppy born on January 31st of this year. She was a gift to me from the members of Mary’s Women of Joy. She has made quite a hit with the parish staff and the pre-k children.


In last week’s bulletin, I gave a rundown of two movies, The Pope’s Exorcist and Nefarious. I am told that later this year, there are three or four more movies that touch, in one way or another, on the issue of demonic activity. I have also had some folks ask me about an event that recently occurred in Boston, MA to a sold-out crowd, SatanCon which was held the weekend of April 28-30 and is sponsored by the Satanic Temple which, more than being composed of Satanists, appears to be mostly associated with liberal atheism. They promote abortion and other “reproductive rights” as well as opposition to traditional faith and practice.


So why all this interest in “the dark side”? I suppose there are any number of explanations. Father Carlos Martins, a priest-exorcist from the Archdiocese of Detroit and the author of The Exorcist Files podcast, notes that rise of paganism and societal secularization. In times past, we lived in a Christian, and even Catholic, milieu in most places in the west. Most would agree that we are now living in a post-Christian society. The number of baptisms has declined, and there has been an increase in those identify as simply “spiritual” along with the increasing number of “nones”. Traditional Christian values are actively opposed in the public square and the academy, but that does not change human nature.


Whether we like or not or want to admit it or not, we human beings are made imago Dei, in the image and likeness of God. Because of that fact, we all have an innate need for something beyond ourselves. That natural reality will always impel us to look for something greater than we are. Even Friedrich Nietzsche, the famous German philosopher, who proclaimed God is Dead, understood that something needed to fill that void.



I say all of this simply to say that those of us who are trying to run the race and fight the good fight need to understand the world we live in. It is ripe for evangelization because many folks are actually looking for the truth and don’t really know it. In terms of interest in the demonic, well the evil one and his minions aren’t working more or less than in the past. There just might be, however, more people who are paying attention and being led astray in the process. C.S. Lewis treats the situation well in The Screwtape Letters. Give it a read if you have never done so, and keep your eyes on Jesus!


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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