From the Pastor - 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 10, 2026

Today’s readings call us to tackle the challenging issues of fear and trust — two concepts that must be confronted and dealt with by all of us who wish to live the stewardship way of life.

The Lord knows that facing down our fears and choosing to trust Him with all areas of our lives is an ongoing challenge for us. He is generous with reassurances to us throughout the Scriptures. Today’s Gospel passage from Matthew is a case in point. In the span of eight verses, Jesus addresses the topic of fear four times.

•   “Fear no one.”
•   “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”
•   “Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body.”
•   “So do not be afraid.”

And the reassurance continues. “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted.” Notice that Jesus says, “your Father” in describing God’s intimate knowledge and tender care for each one of us. He is truly “Abba,” our Dad, Who knows us inside and out.

With that, let us all breathe a huge sigh of relief. All is well. Our Father knows us through and through, sent His Son to save us, and will always take care of us.

Let’s stop wasting any more time with fear. Instead, let’s put all our energy, all our time, our talents, and our treasure into trusting this great and loving God, using all that we are and all that He has given us to bring Him glory. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026.


Pastoral Pondering

In a discussion that I was having with some friends recently, the question arose why intercessory prayer was important because God knows everything. In other words, why bother if we can’t really change His mind. It was a good discussion, and I hope the following is a help if you have had that question as well.

The question assumes a kind of tension: if God already knows what He will do, why ask? But this frames prayer as if it were a negotiation with a reluctant bureaucrat. That misunderstands both God and prayer entirely. Hence, first point to be made is that the end on intercessory prayer is not to change God – it is to change us and to participate in Him.

1. God Works Through Secondary Causes — Including Your Prayer

God is the First Cause of all things, but He has chosen to govern the world through secondary causes — human acts, natural processes, and yes, prayer. The question is not why we pray if God is sovereign, but precisely because He is sovereign — and because He works out His sovereign will frequently through secondary causation.

In other words, your prayer is not competing with God's will. In many cases, it is part of God's will — the very instrument through which He has chosen to dispense certain graces.


St. Thomas Aquinas puts it plainly in the Summa Theologica: "God bestows many things on us out of His liberality, even without our asking for them: but that He wishes to bestow certain things on us at our asking, is for the sake of our good, namely, that we may acquire confidence in having recourse to God."

So some graces are reserved — held by God, waiting for the asking. It is a graced moment from God to be asked to pray for another — a sign of His love that He wants us to participate in His immense work of redemption, making some part of His plan dependent on our prayers.


2. Intercessory Prayer Is an Act of Love — a Spiritual Work of Mercy

There are many ways to love one's neighbor, but intercessory prayer — praying on behalf of other people — is one of the most powerful. Praying for the living and the dead is one of the Spiritual Works of Mercy.


Through intercessory prayer, we bring someone else's needs before God, trusting God to take care of others, whether they are loved ones, friends, enemies, or total strangers. This is love made active — a concrete participation in the life of the Body of Christ.


3. Prayer Invites Grace Without Violating Freedom

Prayer invites God's grace into a situation, which can influence hearts without compelling them. For example, praying for someone's conversion, as St. Monica did for St. Augustine, may lead to a change of heart over time. St. Monica prayed for decades, and her son — who became one of the greatest Doctors of the Church — was the fruit. God never violated Augustine's will. He opened doors. Grace moved. Augustine chose.


4. Scripture Shows God Responds to Intercession

The New Testament makes this viscerally concrete: we see the effectiveness of intercessory prayer in Acts, when King Herod had the Apostle James killed, then ordered Peter arrested under heavy guard — but "prayer by the church was fervently being made to God on his behalf," and God sent an angel to release Peter and lead him out of prison. The early Church prayed. Peter walked free.


5. The Deepest End: Union with God Himself

The Church teaches that prayer is not just a request for favors but a means of growing closer to God. Intercessory prayer, at its summit, is not primarily about outcomes. It is about conforming the soul to the heart of Christ, who is Himself the eternal Intercessor (cf. Hebrews 7:25). When one intercedes, one enters into the very priestly act of Jesus — standing before the Father on behalf of others.

Prayer becomes a way to participate in God's work, not to dictate it.


In Summary:

The end of intercessory prayer is not to bend God's arm — it is to:

  • Participate in the providential plan God has lovingly prepared
  • Exercise the spiritual authority granted to us as sons and daughters of God
  • Love our neighbor concretely through the most potent force available
  • Grow in humility and dependence on God as the Author of every good
  • Unite ourselves to Christ the eternal High Priest



The God who knows all things from eternity also knew — and willed — that your prayer would be part of the story. That is not a limitation of His omnipotence. It is a staggering expression of His love.


St. Monica prayed for seventeen years before her son knelt at the baptismal font. What if she had stopped at year sixteen — reasoning that God's will was already settled?

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • September 4, 2026
Today's readings remind us of the importance of our relationships. God created us to live in communion with Him and with one another. Our families, neighbors, friends, and parish community need us, and we need them as we grow together in holiness. In today's Second Reading, St. Paul gives us a simple but profound guide for living in relationship with others. Echoing the words of Christ, he writes, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love is the guiding principle that helps us become good stewards of every relationship God has entrusted to us. In today's Gospel, Jesus shows us what that love looks like, even when relationships become strained. He tells His disciples, "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother." Rather than ignoring conflict or allowing resentment to grow, Jesus teaches us to approach one another with humility, charity, and a sincere desire for reconciliation. This is faithful stewardship of our relationships. He also reminds us of the strength found in Christian community: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." God never intended us to journey to heaven alone. May we care for the relationships He has entrusted to us and help one another grow as faithful disciples. ©Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026 Pastoral Pondering Next Saturday the Diocese of Charlotte celebrates the annual Eucharistic Congress at the Convention Center in Charlotte. Events begin on Friday evening, with the majority of activities happening on Saturday and culminating with the Congress Mass in the afternoon. I encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to come together as a Diocesan family and celebrate the source and summit of our faith. Our own Father Kevin Martinez will be the homilist for the Holy Hour on Saturday morning at the conclusion of the Eucharistic procession. Public processions of the Eucharist and the saints (especially their relics and images) are ancient and enduring expressions of Catholic faith. They combine liturgical prayer, public witness, communal pilgrimage and public piety. They visibly proclaim core doctrines—the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the communion of saints—while symbolizing the Church as a pilgrim people journeying toward the heavenly Jerusalem. These types of processions are found in the Old Testament when the Ark of the Covenant was processed on different occasions, e.g. the conquest of Jericho or the joyful entrance of the ark into Jerusalem. In the early Church processions developed by the 4 th century in both the East and the West. They marked festivals, thanksgivings, penance, the translation (solemn transfer) of relics, the consecration of churches, funerals and times of calamity. Eucharistic processions arose later, in the high Middle Ages, amid intensified theological reflection on the Real Presence (Fourth Lateran Council 1215; development of the language of transubstantiation) and growing devotion to the Eucharist outside Mass. The elevation of the Host during Mass became common around 1200. The Solemnity of Corpus Christi originated in the visions of St. Juliana of Liège (early 13th century), who saw the Church’s liturgical year as a full moon with a dark spot—the lack of a dedicated feast for the Eucharist. The feast was first celebrated in Liège in 1246. Pope Urban IV (formerly archdeacon of Liège) extended it to the universal Church in the bull Transiturus de hoc mundo (1264), commissioning St. Thomas Aquinas to compose the liturgical texts (including Pange lingua, Lauda Sion, and Adoro te devote). A Eucharistic miracle at Bolsena (bleeding Host) around the same time, brought to Urban at Orvieto, reinforced the impetus. Formal public processions with the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance appeared soon after—early records from places such as Benediktbeuern (1273) and Cologne (1270s)—and spread rapidly across Europe by the 14th century. Pope Clement V and the Council of Vienne (1311) helped regulate the feast and its observance; later papal encouragement and indulgences supported the processions. They typically followed Mass, moved through streets or fields (sometimes stopping at outdoor altars for Gospel readings and petitions), and concluded with Benediction. The Council of Trent strongly endorsed them as a public profession of faith in the Real Presence, especially against Protestant denials. In the Counter-Reformation and Baroque periods they grew elaborate, involving civic authorities, guilds, military escorts, music, and decorations (flower carpets, banners). They continued as major public events in Catholic countries and were revived or defended in later centuries (e.g., against 19th-century secularizing pressures or under Communist regimes). Popes such as St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI emphasized their value; John Paul II restored the Roman Corpus Christi procession and wrote of the need to proclaim the incarnate God “especially in our streets and homes.” The Church continues to encourage them. Liturgical books describe the annual Corpus Christi procession as particularly desirable for the pastoral life of a parish or city when circumstances permit, as a public witness of faith and devotion. Processions of saints remain part of popular piety and local traditions (feast-day celebrations, Rogation observances where retained, translations of relics, etc.).  In short, these processions are not mere pageantry. They are embodied proclamations that the risen Christ walks with His people in the Eucharist and that the saints, as members of the one Body, continue to intercede for and accompany the Church on earth.

From the Pastor - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • August 28, 2026
Living the stewardship way of life is not easy. Dying to self and living for Christ and others requires sacrifice. It is the work of a lifetime. Yet it is also the only work that truly matters and the only life that ultimately satisfies. In today's Gospel from Matthew, Jesus tells His disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." At first, those words may sound difficult to accept. Why would anyone willingly embrace such a path? Jesus immediately gives us the answer: "Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Everything comes down to love. Jesus loved us completely, giving Himself for us on the Cross. He continues to give Himself to us through His Word and, most especially, in the Eucharist. Each day we are faced with a choice: to live for ourselves or to live for God and for others. The second path is more demanding, but it leads to lasting joy and the promise of eternal life. Christ assures us that He "will come with his angels in his Father's glory and then he will repay all according to his conduct." May we choose each day to lose our lives for Christ's sake, offering them back to Him in grateful response to His immeasurable love. ©Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026 Pastoral Pondering Two Italian dioceses (Rome and Ventimiglia-Sanremo) recently blocked planned Catholic funeral Masses for two prominent Freemasons after their Masonic affiliations became publicly known just before the ceremonies. This happened on August 7–8, 2026, and applies longstanding Church discipline rather than a new nationwide policy from the Italian bishops’ conference. Since some folks asked about this, I thought it would be a good article. The cases - Rome: Bruno Battisti D’Amario (88), a classical guitarist and professor closely linked to Ennio Morricone’s film work, died on August 5. His funeral Mass was scheduled for August 7 th at Santa Maria in Montesanto (the “Church of the Artists” in Piazza del Popolo). The Grand Orient of Italy (GOI) publicly eulogized him as a “master brother,” founder of the Roman Giuseppe Leti lodge, composer of the GOI’s official anthem, and holder of senior positions (including twice president of the Lazio District College of Worshipful Masters). Cardinal Baldassarre Reina, Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome, consulted the diocesan legal office and denied authorization for the funeral Mass, allowing only a brief prayer as a gesture of Christian charity. - Ventimiglia-Sanremo (Liguria): Mario Tarducci (73), a former Venerable Master of the local Mimosa lodge (no. 985, Orient of Bordighera), was scheduled for a funeral the next day at the parish church of San Marco in Camporosso. Bishop Antonio Suetta learned of the affiliation only after arrangements were made—via local news and public Masonic death notices. After consulting the family and pastor, and noting the simultaneous Rome case, he suspended the ecclesiastical funeral under the same principles, limiting it to simple prayers outside. Canonical and doctrinal basis Both decisions explicitly invoked Canon 1184 of the Code of Canon Law. It denies ecclesiastical funerals to those who, without signs of repentance before death, are “notoriously apostate, heretical or schismatic” or “other manifest sinners” whose funerals would cause public scandal among the faithful. This aligns with the Church’s consistent teaching that Freemasonry is incompatible with Catholicism. The 1983 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declaration (under then-Cardinal Ratzinger) reaffirmed that Catholics who join Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion; the negative judgment on Masonic principles remains unchanged. Public, high-level membership without known repentance creates the “public scandal” element that triggers the canonical denial. These were not blanket bans on all Freemasons but responses to notorious cases where the affiliation was openly proclaimed by the lodges themselves, making a Catholic funeral appear to endorse or ignore the incompatibility. Similar past applications have occurred (e.g., high-profile cases involving public scandal). Pastoral care for the grieving family is still encouraged—Mass intentions or a memorial Mass sine corpore (without the body present) can be offered.  In short, two bishops applied existing law firmly once the memberships became public and notorious. The episodes have drawn attention precisely because they reinforce the long-standing discipline amid ongoing tensions between the Church and Freemasonry in Italy. It also reminds all of us that one cannot present themselves as Catholic and live in a manner that contradicts longstanding teaching of the Church.