From the Pastor - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 9, 2024

Our readings today continue to educate us on the Eucharist.


Jesus tells us in our Gospel that He is this Food that sustains us as He says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven…and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” This bread He is referring to is His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity that we receive. This bread becomes the flesh of Christ Himself.


And in consuming Him, we receive every grace we need to live forever in eternal life. We are strengthened in virtue and united more closely to Christ. This is the Food that will fill us as we journey through this life.


Mistakenly we often take the Eucharist for granted. Maybe we come to Mass to “check the box” instead of actively partaking in this intimate exchange or we receive Jesus in the Eucharist and then forget about Him the second we leave the church after Mass.

To receive all that God wants to give us in the Eucharist, we must do our part in being receptive to His grace and living out active discipleship in our day-to-day lives.


Let us approach the Lord acknowledging His Divine Presence and be open to all the graces He desires to pour out on us. Then we must go forth, being attentive to the moments that the Holy Spirit is calling us to act as He acts — in total love and sacrifice.

The Eucharist affects our lives more than we can comprehend. We are receiving God Himself. Let us strive to receive Him reverently and with open hearts. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2024


Pastoral Pondering

As I am writing this, I just attended the funeral of Monsignor Anthony Marcaccio, until his death last week, the pastor of St. Pius X Catholic Church in Greensboro, NC. He had been the pastor of the parish for the past 24 years. Anthony and I attended seminary at the same time, he in Washington at the Theological College of CUA and me in Baltimore at St. Mary’s Seminary and University. He was ordained a priest in 1991, and I was ordained in 1992. Anthony was 61 years old.


Monsignor Marcaccio had some stomach issues earlier this year that turned out to be a ruptured appendix. It was discovered that the appendix had been cancerous, and the rupture let the cancer spread. Last week he had surgery to clean his stomach and and remove some cancerous parts. The surgery went well, but his organs began shutting down after the surgery, and he died a couple of days after.


As I told some of my priest friends at the funeral, “This one hit a bit too close to home.” Being confronted with our own mortality, I believe, is a good thing. We often take our lives for granted and forget how very quickly a human life can come to an end. In our minds we normally think that such a reality applies to someone else but never to us. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, sometimes the bell tolls for thee.


Life is precious and, in the scheme of things, relatively short when considered in light of eternity. What then is the Good News in the midst of these realities? For the Gospel at the Funeral Mass, Father Tim Nadeu, Monsignor Marcaccio’s best friend from seminary, chose Matthew 14:22-33 when Christ is walking on the water and Peter asks the Lord to allow him to come to Him and walk on the water as well. Father Tim made the point that in these times of loss, it is good to remember that in the difficult times in our lives, we have to remember to reach out and grasp the Lord’s hand. He is the only one who can lift us out of the jaws of sadness and sorrow.

We all experience loss along the way. When we do let’s remember that Jesus always asks us to come to Him, and when we begin having trouble in reaching Him and our faith begins to waver, we just need to cry out and grasp His outstretched hand.


Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

 

 


From the Pastor

By John Putnam July 7, 2025
In today’s Gospel passage, from Luke, we find our Lord appointing disciples to go out and prepare others to receive His invitation into the Kingdom of God. Every verse has something to say about the way a Christian steward should approach others. Let’s consider at least one of the coaching tips Christ gives. “The Lord appointed seventy-two others whom He sent out ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place He intended to visit.” In His wisdom, Christ sent His disciples out not as individuals but in pairs, as teams. This approach to evangelization certainly provided practical advantages. The disciples could lean on each other for mutual support and encouragement, helping each other to stay on task and to put their heads together to pray and problem-solve. This teamwork approach is just as relevant to us modern-day Christian stewards. It takes courage and commitment to go out and invite others into the Christian life. We need to work together to do it well. But there is also symbolic importance to working in teams. It points to the reality that when we invite others to embrace the Good News of the Gospel, we are not merely inviting them into a belief system, but into a relationship with Christ and through that relationship, into Christ’s family — our fellow Christian disciples near and far. Our parish is our immediate spiritual family in this extended worldwide fold. We are not meant to live as isolated individuals within the parish any more than we are meant to live in isolation within our families. We are meant to be a community. That is why it is so important for us to foster a vibrant, supportive, welcoming parish life. This is why we emphasize hospitality as one of the pillars of stewardship. It is not enough just to point others to Christ; we must invite them to join us in community with Him; we must offer a place and mission for them in the Church and within our parish family. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering As you know, during the last weekend of May (5/31-6/1), we had our final push for our Growing Home Campaign. I wanted to give everyone a final update as we conclude our fundraising period. During that weekend’s presentation, I asked everyone to help us close the $325,000 gap to meet our $9.7 M goal. As we close this portion of the campaign, I am happy to report that we have reached $10.5 million in pledges and gifts, exceeding our goal by $800,000! I am continuously amazed by the giving spirit that pervades our parish. Your generosity is a tangible expression of your commitment to our amazing parish. The funds raised over the goal and any funds raised going forward will help us to address the ever-increasing cost of construction and reduce the loan amount that will be required to complete the overall project. As noted earlier this year, the Rectory project has started and is projected to take about 12 months to complete. Our hope and plan is to break ground on the Monsignor Bellow Center and Adoration Chapel next summer or early Fall. Words alone never seem adequate to express the gratitude that I have in my heart for all of you who have participated in and supported this monumental effort. Both the financial support and the support with time and talent have been tremendous and for that, I want to offer a heartfelt “THANK YOU!”. May God bless each of you for your generosity in helping us grow our home here at St. Mark.
By John Putnam June 27, 2025
During June, we have celebrated key moments in the life of the Church — Pentecost, the Most Holy Trinity, Corpus Christi — culminating today with the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. Though very different men, they are united in faith, mission, and martyrdom, and the Church has honored them together since the third century. St. Peter, the first Pope, was chosen by Christ as the rock on which the Church would be built. The Catechism tells us that because of the faith he professed, Peter remains the “unshakeable rock of the Church.” Despite his human weaknesses, Peter's loyalty, repentance, and leadership make him a powerful model of stewardship. St. Paul, once a persecutor of Christians, became one of the Church’s greatest evangelists. In today’s second reading, Paul reflects on his mission, saying, “I have finished the race… the crown of righteousness awaits me.” The Greek word he used for “crown” — stephanos — refers to a victor’s crown, not a royal one, showing his view of faith as a race well-run for the sake of Christ. Though they were martyred separately, tradition holds that Peter and Paul were in Rome at the same time, and their shared witness and sacrifice tie them closely together in Church history. They embody two vital aspects of stewardship — Peter in his faith and leadership, and Paul in his zeal and wisdom. As stewards, we are called to follow their example — to build the Church through our commitment, to overcome our failures through God’s mercy, and to proclaim the Gospel with courage. Like Peter and Paul, we are invited to give all we have for the sake of Christ and His Church. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering  This Solemnity marks the beginning of summer vacation in Rome. The Holy Father will be traveling to Castelgandolfo for some time away from the heat of Rome. For the rest of us, the weeks of summer are in full swing, and as we move into July this week, I hope that families have an opportunity to spend some time in rest and relaxation. Spending time with family, friends, and the Lord, are among the best things that we can do with our “down time”. Leisure is essential to a well-lived life, but it has to be understood properly in the context of the Christian life. Anthony Esolen’s Leisure: The Basis of Culture is a contemporary reflection and expansion on the classic work of the same name by Josef Pieper. Esolen argues that modern society has lost its understanding of true leisure, mistaking it for mere idleness or entertainment. In contrast, he defines leisure as a contemplative, receptive state that allows individuals to encounter truth, beauty, and God. True leisure, according to the author, distinguishes leisure from passive consumption or busyness. True leisure is rooted in wonder, worship and reflection – activities that are ends in themselves, not means to productivity. He critiques how modern life has turned all human activity into something utilitarian. Education, art and even religion are often reduced to tools for social mobility or economic growth, rather than pursued for their intrinsic value. Esolen emphasizes that leisure finds its highest expression in worship and liturgy. Time spent in contemplation of the divine is the deepest form of leisure, because it directs the soul toward eternal realities. He draws on classical and Christian sources to affirm that man is not simply a worker or consumer but is made for contemplation and communion. In the end, he calls for a return to genuine leisure as the only path to restoring culture, education, and the dignity of the human spirit. The author argues that without true leisure, civilization cannot thrive, because it loses contact with what is eternal and meaningful. Leisure, rightly understood, is not a break from life – it is at the heart of what makes life worth living.
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