From the Pastor - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

November 17, 2023

We are reminded today that we will each be called to give an account for the gifts God has given us — our physical, intellectual, and material gifts — as well as the gift of time itself.


Jesus illustrates this truth in our Gospel passage from Matthew. He tells the parable of a wealthy man who is about to go on a journey. Before he leaves, the man calls his three servants to “entrust his possessions to them.”


The master in our parable gives to the care of each servant a portion of his money (“talent”) commensurate with that servant’s abilities. The first two prove to be good and faithful servants — they “immediately” put the talents to use, doubling what had been entrusted to them. The third servant reacted to this responsibility with fear — in fact, he did the opposite. He hid master’s talent, burying it in the ground. He took the safe way, the easy way out.


What a tragic response!


This servant did not understand his master at all. He failed to see what a privilege he had been given. The master wanted to give all his servants the joy and satisfaction of helping him grow his kingdom. This is what our Heavenly Father wants for us, too — the incredible privilege of helping to advance the coming of the Kingdom of God.


Let us embrace the stewardship way of life, using all the gifts entrusted to us — Time, Talent, and Treasure — in such a way that at the end of our life on this earth, we will hear these words from our Father:


“Well done, my good and faithful servant… Come, share your master’s joy.” © Catholic Stewardship Conference, 2023


Pastoral Pondering

This Sunday evening at 6 p.m. we are happy to host Village Lights. The group is dedicated to prayer and worship, and we thought it would be a nice addition to our “Eucharistic Revival” program here at the parish. I hope you can join us for an enjoyable evening of praise and fellowship.


This Thursday our country celebrates Thanksgiving, a day set aside as a national day to thank God for blessings received and to ask for continued blessings upon our nation and her people. While times have indeed been difficult economically for many due to inflation and the resulting increases in basic necessities, we still have much to be thankful for. I am constantly in awe of the generosity and goodness of our parishioners, especially in response to the needs of others. Bags of food have been collected for Thanksgiving baskets, Angel Tree gifts are coming in, and as best we can, we are trying to provide support for our local charities including Catholic Charities and Angels and Sparrows. None of this would be possible without the generous spirit that emanates from this parish.


Hence, I am Thankful for each and everyone of you. I pray that as we once again celebrate Thanksgiving Day, that God might return to you his blessings in abundance for your goodness, your care, and your love. Happy Thanksgiving!


As I take time to give thanks

for the many blessings in my life,

I want to let you know

how grateful I am that you are one of them,

and I thank God for you every day.


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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