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From the Pastor - Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 15, 2023

On this sixth Sunday of Easter, our readings remind us that God must come first in our lives, and that love of God shows itself in concrete actions — this is precisely why the stewardship way of life is so necessary.


Our second reading, from St. Peter, challenges us to, “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.” In other words, we are to put Christ first above all else in our lives. His role is not merely as Savior of our lives, as significant as that role is — He is to be “Lord” of our lives as well. As His disciples, we are called to make Him ruler of all aspects of our lives — our time, talent, and treasure.


The beauty of the stewardship way of life is that it offers us a concrete means to show that Christ truly is Lord of our lives, to “prove” our love, in a manner of speaking, because true love is not a mere sentiment. “Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me,” Jesus tells us in our Gospel passage from John.


True love is an act of the will. It requires obedience to all of God’s commandments. This requires courage, humility, and deep trust in Him.


But the rewards of this kind of love are indescribably wonderful. Christ tells us Himself, “Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”


Could there be anything more satisfying to live in such a way that the God of the universe is pleased to reveal more and more of Himself to us? © Catholic Stewardship Conference, 2023


Pastoral Pondering

Happy Mother’s Day! We pray a special blessing upon all of our mothers who do so much to make the world a better place, and we pray for the happy repose of all of our mothers who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.


I have been listening to The Catechism in a Year with Father Mike Schmitz. While I’ve had to go through the catechism before, this format is a nice refresher. One of the topics which he recently covered, coincided with a question that came in through the “Ask Father” portal on the parish website. The question regarded the Catholic understanding of extra ecclesia nulla salus (outside the Church there is no salvation). I thought it was be helpful to offer some brief comments here for everyone’s benefit.


This particular topic is addressed beginning with canon 846. The paragraph restates the statement positively by pointing out that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body. The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) states it this way:


Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence, they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.


What the Catechism does is recognize that God in His infinite mercy does not penalize those who do not know the Church’s necessity. In other words, God is not limited. The Council Fathers indicate that those who seek God to the best of their ability and according to the dictates of their consciences, can be saved.


This is especially pertinent when we think of those who, though baptized, are not united fully to the Church of Christ. While they are united to the Church imperfectly, they, nonetheless, are not cut off from God’s salvific plan.


Jesus teaches very clearly in the Scriptures that baptism is necessary for salvation. This, then raises the question about the non-baptized and how they fit into God’s plan. Paragraph 1257 points out that the Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are “reborn of water and the Spirit.” The paragraph goes on to note, however, that while “God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by His sacraments.”



Through the centuries the Church has understood that while water baptism is the normal means of receiving Baptism, there also exists the baptism of blood for those who are martyred for Christ and the Baptism of desire for those who, although lacking baptism, had a sincere desire to receive it. The latter is especially apropos for Catechumens who die before their initiation.

So, what about those who are non-baptized? In the end, the Church leaves much to God’s mercy. In the final analysis, any unbaptized who attains salvation, does so by Christ and through the Catholic Church; albeit the person would not know that fact until he arrived on the other side of eternity.


From the Pastor

From the Pastor - Sixth Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • 03 May, 2024
Our readings today call us to love as Christ loves. In our Gospel, Jesus says, “Love one another as I have loved you.” The ways Jesus has loved us and continues to love us are endless. We are called to imitate this love. And He tells us the greatest way to do this when He said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” It is difficult to live that out in our humanity. Yet, it is made much easier when we faithfully love Christ. The fact of the matter is, as our love for Christ increases, so too does our capacity to love others. There are countless moments when we can do just that — for instance, waking up Saturday morning to attend daily Mass instead of sleeping in, or talking to God in the car on the way to work instead of listening to music. These are simple ways to express our love for the Lord by laying down our lives for Him. The more we find ways to love the Lord, the more we will find it easier to put aside our selfishness and serve others. Christ’s command to love others may seem daunting. Yet, Christ would never ask something of us that we cannot live out. All we need to do is take baby steps. Ask yourself, "How can I better love Jesus right now?" for it is in loving Christ that we will better love others, and it is in loving others that we love Christ Himself. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2024 Pastoral Pondering  Last week I had the opportunity of spending the afternoon with my childhood pastor, the Reverend Fred Thompson. He served as the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Newton, NC for over 30 years. He is now 91 years old and continues to live a fairly independent life. We lost touch when my family moved from Newton to Hickory as I began grammar school but reconnected during my undergraduate studies at Lenoir-Rhyne College. We have stayed in touch since then. Such connections from the past are very important. At least in my case, Fred knew things about my parents and my adoption that I never did, and he is always happy to share a story or two. I bring this up because memory, what we refer to in the Mass as anamnesis, is essential not only to our faith but to society as a whole. Our collective memory is important. Significant events of the past are passed on from one generation to the next, and we hopefully learn from our mistakes so that we don’t repeat them. In the Catholic context, we are being obedient to Christ’s command at the Last Supper, do this in memory of me.” And it is through that remembrance that we cannot the past with the present and look with hope to the future – Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. This is why Sacred Tradition is so very important to our understanding of the Faith. That which is handed over (traditio) is essential because it forms the framework upon which the Church travels throughout the centuries. The same is true in families. In the past multiple generations would live together or in close proximity to each other. Children learned about life from a variety of family members with varying degrees of lived experience and a wealth of memory. With our society becoming more transitory and human interaction being impoverished by the reality of technology, families need to be very intentional about connecting with the past. It helps us all understand who we are, why we are here and for what we were made.

From the Pastor - Fifth Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • 26 Apr, 2024
Our readings today teach us what it means to bear fruit as disciples of Christ. We hear in each of our readings that it is from the Lord that good effects will be produced in our lives. In our first reading, we hear about disciples who were preaching the Good News and defending the faith. The work they were doing was “with the consolation of the Holy Spirit.” It was not their work alone, but the work of God. We must ask ourselves, ‘how is God bearing fruit in my life?’ and ‘have I invited the Holy Spirit to work in me?’ The more we try to produce good effects in our lives, the more we will become disappointed if all we are relying on is our own efforts. It is only by inviting the Holy Spirit into our everyday moments that we will see goodness poured out. Jesus clearly tells us how to do this in our Gospel. He says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.” We can remain in Christ by staying faithful to His commandments and frequently receiving the sacraments. And our day-to-day moments should be a reflection of those commitments. That could mean opening our day with a prayer of thanksgiving, smiling at those we see on the street, asking God for help as we begin our workday, praising God in moments of trial, taking time to listen to our spouse after a long day. To remain in Christ means, in all that we do, we do it with the Lord. When we live a life like that — as a branch never separated from its vine — God will produce bountiful fruit in our lives. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2024 Pastoral Pondering I have had a few folks interested in what exactly occurs when a diocese received a new bishop, so I thought I would outline the process a bit for a contribution to your knowledge of Catholic trivia. Before a new bishop can be appointed, the diocese in question has to be vacant. A vacancy occurs through death, retirement, resignation or removal. In our case, Bishop Jugis submitted his resignation based on his deteriorating health, one of the reasons that a bishop can ask to be relieved of the administration of a diocese. Once the Holy Father accepts the resignation, the See becomes vacant. During the interim or sede vacante (vacant seat) period, the diocese needs to have someone to keep things going. This is done by either a priest, who is appointed administrator or by a bishop, who is known as an apostolic administrator. In our case Bishop Jugis continues as the apostolic administrator. Since his successor has already been named, Bishop Jugis can help prepare for the new bishop’s transition. As soon as a see is vacated, several offices and one advisory body cease to function. Any vicars general or episcopal vicars lose their office and the Presbyteral Council ceases until reconstituted by the new bishop. Both the Judicial Vicar and the Chief Financial Office of the diocese continue in office to insure the ongoing functions of their offices. Bishop Jugis, as Apostolic Administrator, has asked those priests who were serving as his vicar general and episcopal vicars to continue performing their functions in the interim. When the new Bishop is installed, he can reappoint the vicars or appoint others to take their places. If a priest is appointed as the new bishop, he must be ordained a bishop before he can assume the office. Once ordained, a ceremony occurs, usually a Mass, during which the newly ordained bishop takes possession of the diocese and assumed the full pastoral care of the Diocese. Hence, Bishop-elect Martin will be ordained on May 29 th and then will take possession of the Diocese on the following day.  A lot of work can be done to prepare for the new bishop’s arrival prior to his coming. Nonetheless, the first few weeks of his administration will be taken up with settling into his new position and getting his bearings. This is very similar to a new pastor coming to a parish; albeit, on a larger scale. During these early days of the new administration, the new bishop decides on vicar appointments and reconstitutes the Presbyteral Council and makes any other decisions that he deems appropriate for pastoral care. Often new bishops spend a good bit of time visiting the new parishes of the new Diocese to get to know his priests and meet his people. In Bishop-elect Martin’s case, he will be ordaining transitional deacons on the Saturday following his own ordination and then ordaining priests two weeks later, so he will indeed “hit the ground running”. Keep him in your prayers.
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