From the Pastor - 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

January 21, 2022

Today’s Second Reading, from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, picks up where we left off last week and continues with a similar theme. The message is that we are each unique in the gifts and talents God has given to us, and therefore, we all have different tasks to fulfill as members of the Body of Christ.

 

What is further developed this week is the truth that, though different in our roles, every single individual is equally important and needed in the Church, from the freshly baptized newborn, to the teenager sitting reluctantly by his parents, to the elderly shut-in who can no longer attend Sunday Mass. “God placed the parts, each one of them, in the body as he intended. If they were all one part, where would the body be? But as it is there are many parts, yet one body.”

 

What does this teach us as Christian stewards? It shows us that we all have equal dignity and worth in God’s sight, and that if God sees us as equally precious, we should view each other in this same light. It teaches us to humbly recognize our own gifts as well as the giftedness of every member of our parish family. And, while God designed us to be ultimately dependent on Him, it seems He has also designed us to need each other! This is part of the beauty and richness of a stewardship way of life. No one person can “do it all” in life — whether in family life or parish life. But God does not ask us to do it all. He simply asks us to share the gifts and talents we do have in the season of life we find ourselves right now.


And just what are we, as Christian stewards, aiming to achieve by sharing our gifts and talents? We are aiming to follow in the footsteps of our Lord, furthering with His grace the mission He began 2,000 years ago. He declares in the Gospel reading from St. Luke today what this mission is: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free….”

 

What a noble purpose! What great dignity has been bestowed upon us, modern-day disciples, that we are called to this same task.

In the week ahead, let’s take this mission to heart, examining the way we can use our gifts and talents for this mission and asking ourselves what it looks like in our unique circumstances to “bring glad tidings to the poor,” “liberty to captives,” “sight to the blind” and “freedom to the oppressed.”

 

It might feel uncomfortable at first. But the good news it you don’t have to do it all. Do your part, let your brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ do theirs, and know that the Spirit of the Lord is upon us all as we live out this stewardship way of life. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2019

 

Pastoral Pondering – As I mentioned in last week’s Pondering, I want to highlight some of our family-oriented ministry and apostolates here at the parish. The first of those is the Fatima Family First Saturday Devotion.

 

What is the First Saturday Devotion? Our Lady of Fatima asked Sister Lucia (the oldest of the three seers and the only one to live into adulthood) for this devotion to make reparation for the blasphemies against her Immaculate Heart. It consists of receiving Holy Communion worthily, going to confession, praying the rosary with the intention of making reparation and keeping Our Lady company by meditating on the mysteries of the rosary for 15 minutes. Mary asked faithful souls to practice this devotion for five consecutive first Saturdays and promised to assist those who did so at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for salvation. It was also Sister Lucy who indicated that the Devil’s final assault against the world would be an assault on marriage and the family.

 

The devotions at St. Mark are held after the 5:00 p.m. Mass in the Monsignor Kerin Center. Each family brings dinner for themselves, and after the rosary, everyone has their dinner, the children have some time to recreate, and the adults have some time for fellowship. Water and lemonade are provided.

 

Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton, who is known as the Rosary Priest, is noted for saying that “the family that prays together stays together” and “a world at prayer is a world at peace.” Gathering for first Saturday in this way for the Holy Rosary not only fulfills Our Lady’s request but helps to strengthen families through prayer and fellowship. All are welcome to attend. The next gathering will take place on Saturday, February 5th. For more information contact Amber Sims at (704) 530-3767.

 

 

 

 

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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