From the Pastor – 1st Sunday of Lent

March 1, 2020

From the Pastor – 1st Sunday of Lent

As we begin the beautiful and challenging season of Lent, our readings this week remind us why we need these 40 days so much. They also suggest a particular strategy we Christian stewards might take as we make the journey towards Easter.

Our first reading takes us back to Genesis, reminding us of our Creator and the loving care and lavish gifts He gave to our ancestors, Adam and Eve. He created them out of pure love and provided abundantly for them.

Life was good in the Garden! Until the first couple allowed just a sliver of doubt in the goodness of God to enter their minds. Swayed by the words of the serpent, they became ungrateful and distrustful despite God’s great love and all the gifts of creation He had provided. Sound familiar? These same temptations threaten to pull us away from God today.

Our Gospel passage, from Matthew, shows us by the example of Jesus Himself one way that we can attain spiritual strength and grow to become more effective disciples and stewards. In this passage, we find our Lord in the desert, fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. Like Adam and Eve, He is confronted by the evil one. But unlike our fallen parents, our Lord triumphs definitively over the devil’s lies and sends him slithering away.

How did He do it? By knowing the Scriptures and by proclaiming them confidently. And by His perfect trust in the Father.

This Lent, let us embrace this 40-day spiritual reset. Let us prioritize our use of time by committing to prayerful study of the Scriptures and trusting more deeply in the Father’s love. We will surely be better stewards by Easter.

— Stewardship Reflections by The Catholic Steward and Catholic Stewardship Consultants

Pastoral Pondering

Last week I discussed interior conversion and the three pillars of Lent, prayer, penance, & almsgiving. One of these ways of orienting ourselves to the process of interior conversion is availing ourselves of the Sacrament of Penance. In order to receive the full benefit of the sacrament, we have to approach with the proper dispositions: a full admission of sins, true contrition, a firm resolution to avoid sin in the future, and the satisfaction by the completion of penance. The Catechism of the Catholic Church provides a thorough treatment of the sacrament (cf. CCC 1451 ff.).

Contrition involves a sorrow that arises from the soul and a hatred of the sin committed along with a firm resolve to refrain from all sin in the future. This is the first disposition that is necessary for making a good confession. The sacrament itself gives us grace, but, as is the case with all sacraments, our acceptance and ability to benefit from the sacramental grace is dependent upon our disposition — the Lord will not break through a closed door. The Church teaches that there are two types of contrition, perfect and imperfect. The former results from a pure love of God and the latter arises largely because of a fear of the consequences of sin which ultimately is the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. Both of these can dispose us to receive the forgiveness of sin in the Sacrament. Certainly, having perfect contrition should be the goal of each one of us.

In order to develop a a proper contrition in our daily lives, the Church recommends the daily examination of conscience, normally at the end of the day during our Night Prayer. The Examen involves reviewing our words, thoughts, and actions of the day and considering how we have failed in virtue. There are many very good examinations of conscience that we can use in addition to meditating upon the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes and the Precepts of the Church.

While the Church requires the confession of mortal sin by kind and number, the regular confession of even venial sins is recommended in order to help us form our consciences and grow in holiness. In addition to forgiving our sins, the sacrament strengthens our spiritual armor and helps us avoid sin in the first place.

Finally, completing the assigned penance, which can take various forms must be completed in order to complete a good confession. The sincere performance of our assigned penance is an external way of expressing our interior disposition of sorrow and intention of amendment.

St. Mark offers ample time for confessions. In addition to Saturdays from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. and Wednesdays from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m., confessions begin 45 minutes prior to each Mass and are offered until 15 minutes before Mass begins. Take advantage of the sacrament during this Lenten season.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • October 16, 2026
Today's readings remind us to be mindful not only of who we are, but also Whose we are. In today's Gospel, the Pharisees attempt to trap Jesus by asking whether it is lawful to pay the tax to Caesar. Their question is meant to force Him into choosing sides. But Jesus refuses to be drawn into their narrow way of thinking. Instead, He asks whose image appears on the coin. When they answer, "Caesar," Jesus responds, "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." Those words remind us that while we have responsibilities in this world, our first allegiance belongs to God. Everything we have comes from Him, and through Baptism we have become His sons and daughters. Our time, our talents, our treasure, and our very lives are gifts entrusted to us by the Lord. May we use them each day in grateful response to His goodness, remembering that we belong to Him above all else. © Catholic Stewardship Conference, 2026 Pastoral Pondering With the mid-term elections coming up and early voting beginning this past week, I thought it would be a good idea to remind everyone the importance of Catholics voting and engaging in civil life. On November 3 we will elect members of Congress, state officials, and many local officeholders. Midterm elections draw fewer voters than a presidential year, yet they shape the laws under which we live: the protection of human life, the freedom of the Church to teach and serve, the strength of the family, the care of the poor, and the education of the young. To stay home is not neutrality. It leaves those decisions to others. The Church has long taught that citizenship is part of charity. The Catechism says that co-responsibility for the common good makes it “morally obligatory… to exercise the right to vote” (CCC 2240). Pope Francis put it plainly: a good Catholic does not stand apart from politics, but offers the best of himself so that those who govern may serve the good of all. Voting is one ordinary way we do that. It is also a moral act, not a team sport. Our identity in Christ comes before any party label. The U.S. bishops, in *Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship* (scan code), remind us that we form our consciences by the Gospel and the Church’s teaching, then vote in light of that formation. A well-formed conscience does not support a program that contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals. Some acts are always gravely wrong: the direct taking of innocent human life, including abortion and euthanasia; attacks on the nature of marriage; religious persecution; and the deliberate degradation of the poor. Other issues—immigration, wages, housing, care of creation, criminal justice—also belong to the common good and require prudent judgment about what will help people. Not every issue carries the same moral weight, and rarely does one candidate embody the whole of Catholic social teaching. We weigh, we pray, and we choose the path that best protects human dignity and advances the common good. A few practical steps help. Read the bishops’ guidance and, where available, nonpartisan comparisons of candidates’ records and stated positions. Pray before you vote, perhaps with the family. Discuss the issues with charity, remembering that the person across the aisle is also made in the image of God. Then vote. If you cannot get to the polls, use whatever law the state provides. Participation does not end at the ballot box: write your representatives, serve the poor, and keep the Church’s voice in the public square after Election Day. Here at St. Mark we will not tell you whom to support. That judgment belongs to your conscience, formed by the faith. We will urge you not to surrender that conscience to habit, fear, or party. The Lord who will judge nations also judges how we used the freedom we were given. May we use it well.

From the Pastor - 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • October 9, 2026
This reflection pertains to the regular readings for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. We have been given so many gifts and blessings by our Heavenly Father. Yet, in our fallen state it is all too easy to take them for granted. Our readings today teach us that we must live with an intentional awareness of our many blessings and use them gratefully to glorify God. In our Gospel passage from Matthew, Jesus uses the image of a vineyard to teach the importance of using our blessings well. He tells the story of a landowner who plants a vineyard and leases it to tenants before he goes on a journey. Instead of tending the vineyard, the tenants mistreat the servants in the vineyard and even the son of the landowner, whom they kill. When the landowner realizes what the tenants have done, he puts them to death and leases his vineyard to tenants who “will give him the produce at the proper times.” By Baptism, we have received the gift of salvation and membership in the Kingdom of God — we are now “tenants” called to work in the “vineyard” and produce fruit for its owner, our Heavenly Father. Jesus makes it clear that if we squander the gift of salvation, we will lose it. It is a sobering truth. So, let us use our intellect to think on these gifts throughout the day and resolve to use all our gifts for God’s glory. ©Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026 Pastoral Pondering Why St. Francis still matters to the Church On October 4 the Church honors St. Francis of Assisi, one of the most beloved and most demanding saints in our history. He is not merely a garden statue or a gentle friend of animals. Francis is a living reminder of what the Gospel looks like when it is taken at its word. Born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone around 1181 in Assisi, he was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. After a brief taste of knighthood and a season of pleasure, he heard Christ speak from the crucifix of San Damiano: “Francis, go and rebuild my house, which, as you see, is falling into ruin.” He took those words first as a command to repair a crumbling chapel. The Lord meant something larger: the renewal of the Church herself. What Francis restored in the Church Poverty as freedom. Francis stripped himself of inheritance, status, and even the clothes on his back. He called Lady Poverty his bride. That was not a romantic gesture. It was a protest against a Church and a society grown comfortable. Every generation of Catholics needs that protest. When we confuse the Gospel with respectability, Francis stands at the door of the Church and asks whether we still believe that Christ is enough. The crucified Christ at the center. In 1224, two years before his death, Francis received the stigmata on Mount La Verna—the wounds of Christ marked in his own flesh. The Church has always taught that holiness is configuration to Jesus crucified and risen. Francis made that teaching visible. He did not invent devotion to the Passion; he embodied it so completely that the Church could not look away. A family of religious life. From one poor man came the Friars Minor, the Poor Clares with St. Clare, and the Secular Franciscans for men and women living in the world. That threefold family still serves the Church on every continent: preaching, serving the poor, praying, and keeping the memory of the Gospel simple. When we speak of “Franciscan” today—whether a friar, a sister, or a parishioner in the Secular Order—we are naming a way of belonging to Christ that the Church has never outgrown. Creation as gift, not possession. The Canticle of the Creatures—“Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Mother Earth”—is not nature poetry. It is theology. Francis saw every creature as a brother or sister because all things come from the same Father. Pope Francis took that insight into Laudato Si’. Care for our common home is not an optional hobby for Catholics. It is part of the same conversion that led Francis to kiss the leper and to call the wolf of Gubbio his brother. Peace that costs something. In 1219 Francis crossed battle lines during the Fifth Crusade and stood before Sultan al-Kamil. He did not win a treaty. He witnessed to a Lord who is Peace. The Church still needs disciples willing to speak of Christ without hatred and without watering Him down. Francis did both. Why this matters here St. Francis matters to the life of the Church because he keeps returning us to the essentials: Christ poor and crucified, the Church always in need of reform, the poor as our brothers and sisters, creation as a hymn of praise, and joy that does not depend on having more. He is not a saint for specialists. He is a saint for anyone who has grown tired of a faith that costs nothing. As we keep his memorial, I invite you to do one Franciscan thing that is within reach: give something away that you do not need; speak peace where there is friction in your home; spend a few minutes outdoors thanking God for what you did not make; or pray before the crucifix and ask, as Francis did, to know Jesus and to make Him known.  The little poor man of Assisi still rebuilds the Church—one converted heart at a time. May he rebuild ours.