From the Pastor - Easter Sunday

April 1, 2021

In addition to celebrating all Christ did for us this Easter season, we also are reminded of how His sacrifice impacts our lives.

 

Today’s Gospel reminds us that Jesus should be the center of our lives. This passage begins with two disciples realizing Jesus had just appeared to them.

 

We can learn a valuable lesson from these disciples. To recognize Jesus’ appearances in our lives, we need to know Him. And the best way to know the Lord is to spend time with Him. It can start with just 10 minutes of quiet prayer a day and increasing that each week. We might begin by reading Scripture, books on the lives of the Saints, or even a decade of the Rosary. Yet the goal should be to carve out time each day, in a quiet space, for just you and the Lord. As the disciples mentioned, they recognized it was Jesus in the breaking of the bread. We, too, can better know the Lord through the sacraments, most especially the Holy Mass. The Eucharist is Jesus Himself — Body, Blood Soul, and Divinity. What better way to grow in intimacy with Christ than to receive Him frequently or to go talk to Him in front of the Blessed Sacrament? As we make Jesus the center of our lives through prayer and the sacraments, we will be able to recognize Him in day-to-day moments.

 

As we are still in the midst of this Easter season, take time to think about what Christ did for us and the changes we should make in our daily lives to help us grow closer to Him. © Catholic Stewardship Conference 2021

 

Pastoral Pondering – I have always been especially fond of Easter and its various celebrations and practices. When I was in seminary, one of the families with whom I became friendly were of Polish descent. Cheese would be made along with various meats and side dishes, and the whole family would gather after Easter Mass. After the meal, it was time for the children to hunt Easter eggs and the adults to enjoy the melee. There were a large number of grandchildren in the family, so to say that it was a lively gathering would be an understatement.

 

For me as well, Easter is a time when I especially think of my parents. Not a year goes by that I do not miss them and think about the Easters over the years. I’m thankful for the many happy memories that I hold dear. Easter is also a time when I think about the significance of the Resurrection and what that singular event has done for all of us. It is because Jesus rose from the dead that we will meet again those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. This is a great consolation to me. I am mindful of the importance of praying for the repose of my parents’ souls along with the souls of all of my deceased friends and family members.

 

Enjoy this Easter. Return to traditions that you have cherished for years or make some new traditions with your loved ones. And don’t forget to pray for those who await the promised resurrection at the end of days.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - First Sunday of Advent

By John Putnam • December 2, 2025
Today we begin the beautiful season of Advent — a season of preparation. For what are we preparing? The celebration of the birth of our Savior, and the anticipation of His second coming. These are weighty tasks with eternal consequences. So, let us as Christian stewards make the words of the Prophet Isaiah our motto for the season: “Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways and we may walk in his paths.” In the weeks leading up to Christmas, it seems everywhere we turn we are pushed to spend more, do more, entertain more, and generally rush around at a frantic pace — all to create a “perfect” Christmas day. In contrast to this worldly pressure, the Church’s guidance to use these weeks as a time to focus on our spiritual lives can indeed seem like a mountain climb. But the intentional and wise use of the gift of time is exactly what the Christian steward is called to do, and with even greater intensity during Advent. How can we use our time to prepare for a holy celebration of Jesus’ birth on Dec. 25 and for his second coming at a date we do not know? We can push back against the world’s pressure to have the “perfect Christmas.” Scale back on the material kind of gift-giving, the complicated menus, the unessential trappings of the season so that we have more time for the spiritual preparations: Confession, weekday Mass, adoration, family prayer time, lighting the Advent wreath, acts of kindness. It may feel like a mountain climb, but in the end, we will be prepared to celebrate a truly meaningful Christmas, we will have become more like our Savior, and we will be ready for Him to come again. Let’s go climb the Lord’s mountain! © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 From the Pastor Advent brings a time of new beginning. A new liturgical year is upon us, but it is also a time to prepare our hearts for something – for the coming of the Lord. The first weeks of Advent focus on the Lord’s coming at the end of time, and the latter weeks of Advent focus on preparing to celebrate His coming at the Nativity. Both, however, are interconnected. The first coming of the Lord facilitates His coming into our hearts, which, in the end, facilitates His second coming to judge the living and the dead. The “in between” of these two comings is where time and eternity come together. We are called to live each day in expectation of His coming. We are called to hope for His coming and to expect it even when it seems long delayed. It is in this expectation that we must learn to live our lives. Daily life is messy and unpredictable. We must deal with disappointments, sickness and loss. Yet, we do so as people of hope who know that in these crosses, there lies ultimate joy because of the love of the Father who sent his Son to love us to the end. As we begin a new journey in a new liturgical year, let us do so with joyful expectation. Knowing that the end of the journey, if we are faithful, is paradise.

From the Pastor - Solemnity of Christ the King

By John Putnam • November 21, 2025
On this Feast of Christ the King, our readings show us that we serve the greatest of Kings, who is at the same time the humblest of Kings. Christ is the perfect model of servant leadership. And what an indescribable privilege that He has called us to be servant leaders — stewards in the work of advancing His Kingdom. In our second reading, from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Paul describes the great power and dignity that characterize Christ the King. “All things were created through him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together.” It makes you want to stand up and cheer. That’s our King! Yet, what a contrasting description of the same King we find in our Gospel passage, from Luke. Now we see our King nailed to the Cross. Everyone from rulers to soldiers, to the criminals on either side of Christ is mocking, sneering, and reviling him. They tauntingly urge him to prove His kingship by coming down from the Cross to end his suffering with a great show of power. “if you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.” But He does not. Amazingly, it is in this moment of seeming-weakness and humiliation, when all appears hopeless and lost, that the full breadth of his greatness as king is displayed. Though all things were created through and for Him — Christ chooses to live entirely for others, for us! What does this mean for us as his followers and stewards of His kingdom? It is precisely that our lives are not about us. They are about Christ and others. And we will advance his kingdom to the extent that we embrace this mindset: my life is not about me; it is about serving the King of kings. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025