From the Pastor - Baptism of the Lord

January 8, 2021

Our Christmas season concludes with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Jesus was not baptized because he needed to repent — rather, He was revealing who He is and what He came to do.


It is from His mission that we can receive the sacrament of baptism — when we become adopted sons and daughters of God. From that moment, we belong to Christ — we become His stewards. Our lives should be a reflection of this relationship. The way we live should reveal Whose we are.


In our First Reading, the prophet Isaiah shares a message of hope, “Why spend your money for what is not bread, your wages for what fails to satisfy?” We should ask ourselves, "Who is the king of our hearts?" As Christian stewards, it should be God. We often fill our lives with things that satisfy us only for a moment. If we truly do belong to Christ, then we will make Him our top priority. What we fill our lives with should reveal that He is King.


In our Gospel, Mark reveals the intimate relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus and God the Father proclaimed, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” We, too, have access to an intimate relationship with God. But like all good relationships, it flourishes with effort. How we spend our time and share our gifts says a great deal about Whose we are. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2020.


Pastoral Pondering

Covid Vaccines — I have continued to receive questions about the morality of receiving the COVID vaccine due to it’s connection with human fetal cells obtained following abortion. Both the USCCB and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith have issued guidance in this regard. Both indicate that while no one is obliged to receive the vaccine (or coerced to do so), due to severity of the pandemic and the remoteness of the moral cooperation, it is morally licit to receive the COVID vaccine. Each individual must still evaluate his or her own personal objections and concerns and decide what to do accordingly.


Adoration — I have said before that I believe our parish commitment to perpetual Eucharistic Adoration has been the fundamental “power” that allows us to accomplish all that we have been able to in recent years, but certainly, during a very difficult 2020. Father Richard Heilman, the author of the Grace Force Podcast and other efforts says the following: “I am convinced that a movement of restoring Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is the spiritual therapeutic for cleansing our country of demonic influence and opening the floodgates of grace that will heal our land… bringing our country back to the spiritual health of being One Nation Under God once again.”


No reasonable person of faith can deny that over the past several years, we have seen an increase of activity that can only be described as evil and even diabolical. It especially manifested itself during 2020 in a negation of the importance of the spiritual and eternal for a focus on the physical and temporal. This of course is completely contrary to Christian faith and history. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have an obligation to have as our first and most important reason for living in the vale of tears to love and serve the Lord here so that we can be with Him forever in heaven.


With this in mind, I want to encourage you all to make Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament an intentional decision for all of our families. While we have a core of very dedicated adorers who cover the hours of Adoration during the week, far too many are left with only a single adorer signed up and committed. We are to be the leaven in society, and we cannot fulfill this mission if we do not first recommit ourselves to fitting worship and prayer of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This certainly takes place when we assist at Holy Mass, but Adoration is the sacramental that leads us to ponder what we are offered at the Holy Sacrifice. I hear countless people lament and complain about the state of the world. Yet, rather than first having recourse to the source of True Power, we often turn to worldly solutions such as political or judicial structures and institutions in hopes that they can solve our problems. This is simply fanciful thinking. Because of our fallen human nature, the merely human and temporal will never cure what ails our nation and our world. Our first recourse must be to the Almighty.


I encourage and even beseech you then to be intentional Adorers of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Commit yourself and your families to set times of adoration so that the outflowing of grace that comes from this pious and devout practice might pour forth not only here in the parish but far beyond. In Luke 6:38, the Lord says the following: “Give, and it shall be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over shall be poured into your lap.” God wants to pour out His graces upon us if we will just cooperate with Him and accept all that He desires for us. Please sign up for Adoration. https://www.stmarknc.org/adoration.


From the Pastor

From the Pastor - Third Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • April 17, 2026
Today’s readings focus on a theme of “sojourning.” As Christian stewards, we know our lives are a sojourn toward the ultimate destination of heaven. Our Gospel passage today describes the sojourn of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The two are dejected and despondent after Jesus’ death. They knew Jesus personally. They had heard the Gospel message directly from His lips. They heard the testimony of the women who discovered our Lord’s empty tomb and saw a vision of angels announcing He was alive. They had been informed by other disciples who went to the tomb that all was exactly as the women reported. How much more obvious could the Good News be? And yet, at times, the reaction of the two disciples describes our own stewardship journey, doesn’t it? We have the fullness of the Catholic faith, the power of the sacraments, and the support of our parish family. Yet, we often lose our way. We fail to see all the gifts we have been given. We lack trust in the perfect goodness and almighty power of God. But notice what happens to the two men when their eyes are opened once again, and they recognize Jesus in the Eucharist — the “breaking of the bread.” They are transformed! Their hearts are set on fire with love for the Lord and for their faith. They recall that their hearts began “burning within” as the Lord was explaining the Scriptures to them. When we find we have lost our way, we can go to the same sources as the two disciples on the road to Emmaus — the Scriptures and the Eucharist. In this Easter season, resolve to feast deeply on these two sources of grace. They are the fuel that will propel us on our journey toward heaven. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026 Pastoral Pondering Returning to a review of Catholic teaching basics, as we move into Spring, we often see an increase in the number of weddings requested. Sadly, it is not uncommon these days to find couples choosing to live together prior to their marriage. Hence, I thought it would be a good idea to lay out the Church’s teaching on this matter in a concise way. Living Together Before Marriage: A Catholic Perspective From the Catholic Church’s teaching, living together (cohabitation) before marriage is morally wrong, primarily because it typically involves fornication —sexual relations outside of marriage—which is gravely sinful (CCC 2353). Human sexuality is a sacred gift ordered by God to the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage alone. Sexual intimacy outside marriage cannot express the total, faithful, and permanent self-giving that spouses vow in the sacrament. Instead, it says with the body what is not yet true in commitment: “I give myself to you completely and forever.” This makes the act a contradiction, contrary to the dignity of persons and God’s plan for love (see CCC 2391; USCCB resources on marriage preparation). Cohabitation also: Creates a near occasion of sin , placing the couple in a situation that strongly tempts them toward grave immorality. Gives scandal , leading others—especially the young—to doubt or dismiss the Church’s teaching on chastity and the sacredness of marriage. Treats marriage as a “trial” rather than the definitive covenant it is meant to be. True love “demands a total and definitive gift of persons to one another” and cannot be an arrangement “until further notice.” Additionally, studies cited by Catholic sources show that couples who cohabit before marriage face higher risks of divorce, instability, and weaker commitment compared to those who do not. The Church calls engaged couples to practice chastity in continence during preparation for marriage—an “apprenticeship in fidelity” that builds mutual respect and prepares them to receive the grace of the sacrament (CCC 2350). Priests, deacons and pastoral ministers accompany cohabiting couples with mercy and truth, encouraging them to live separately or chastely while preparing for a valid sacramental marriage. In a culture that often views cohabitation as practical or normal, the Church invites couples to witness the beauty of God’s design: chastity before marriage, followed by a joyful, lifelong union blessed by the sacrament. For more, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church (esp. 2331–2400).

From the Pastor - Divine Mercy Sunday

By John Putnam • April 10, 2026
The great feast of Easter has begun, Christian stewards. Let us rejoice and be glad! Just as we embraced the discipline and fasting of Lent, let us fully embrace the joy and feasting that the next 50 days offer. We are called to be good stewards of the Easter season. Our first reading, from Acts, gives instruction on how to do this. Here, St. Peter says that our Lord, “commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead… that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.” How do we ordinary people preach and testify to all God has done? We do so through how we live our ordinary lives — through the intentional use of our time, talent, and treasure for the kingdom of God. Putting God and others ahead of ourselves in every aspect of our lives is the most eloquent preaching we can do. Boldly and joyfully embracing a stewardship way of life is our most powerful testimony. As Christian stewards, we are the modern-day witnesses of an incredible miracle prompted by unfathomable love — the death and Resurrection of our Savior for us. Let us rejoice and be glad and let’s make sure our lives are a testimony to this amazing grace! © Catholic Stewardship Conference, 2026  HAPPY EASTER!