From the Pastor - 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 7, 2022

Our readings today show us that living a stewardship way of life, that is, a life focused on serving God and His Kingdom, is not easy. They also show us that our lives belong to God, not to us and that God will indeed bring about the fulfillment of His kingdom. We just need to have faith that He can do it and commit to our small part in His grand design. This is both our privilege and responsibility as Christian stewards.


Jesus makes this privilege and responsibility clear in today’s Gospel passage from Luke. When the apostles ask the Lord to increase their faith, He tells them that even a mustard seed-sized faith is all that is needed to move mountains (because it is God who does the heavy lifting). We need only take the tiniest step forward, and He will do the rest.



But living our lives in His service is also very much our responsibility, as Jesus explains through the parable of the unprofitable servant later in this passage. Our Lord describes a scene in which a servant has just come in from tending to the master’s affairs and asks whether it would be reasonable for the master to begin waiting on his servant. Of course, it would not be reasonable! The servant would be expected to continue to serve his master until he has completed the work the master has given him that day. Jesus says we should have this same attitude before God.


The time, talents, and treasure entrusted to us are all God’s. Our very lives belong to Him. Whatever we do on God’s behalf with our lives and our gifts is simply our God-given responsibility.


The stewardship way of life makes the privilege and responsibility of serving Christ and His kingdom a reality. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2022

 

Pastoral Pondering

Thanks for your prayers while we priests were on our annual retreat in Maggie Valley. It is always good to get together for prayer and fellowship, and the annual retreat provides that opportunity.


As we move closer and closer to the end of the Liturgical year over the next few weeks, the readings will begin to point more and more to the end of time and the finite reality of our lives here on earth. It is always good to ponder those realities as a way of examining our consciences and always being ready for the “coming of the Lord.” In light of this and because I have lately had a number of folks ask me about guilt, shame and the like, I thought I would dedicate a portion of this pondering to that particular topic.


In the current milieu in which we live, it is easy to find various sources arguing that guilt and shame are bad things because they limit our freedom and keep us from being who we were meant to be. While there is some truth there, these opinions also expound significant errors when examined from a Christian perspective.


Guilt, as a feeling, is not a bad thing. Guilt is the manifestation of our conscience (see CCC##1795-1802) informing us that something that we are doing, have done, or are planning to do, is somehow contrary to God’s law. Guilt helps us move from sinfulness to repentance. A well-formed conscience helps us recognize when we have transgressed the laws of God and are in need of reconciliation.


The feeling of shame on the other hand, may arise from disordered or sinful actions, but it does not lead us to God but often causes us to flee from Him. Remember Adam and Eve in the Garden. After they had sinned, they hid from God when they heard Him walking in the Garden. They were ashamed because they were naked.


Shame defines us by our sin rather than helping us understand that our sin can never define us. We are first and foremost beloved sons and daughters of God. As is often said, the Devil calls us by our sin, but God calls us by our name. Shame is a hindrance to the spiritual life and a very effective tool of the Devil. It often leads to isolation and even desolation.


God always offers us His mercy. And while at times, we certainly find ourselves guilty of some transgression, God is ever ready to welcome us back when we approach Him with sincere contrition. Shame on the other hand will rob us of hope and keep us from living in that freedom that God desires for His children.


In a couple of weeks (16-18 October), we will be having our Fall Parish Mission with Casting Nets, an apostolic group dedicated to evangelization. The speakers are dynamic and really focus on helping each of us grow in our commitment to Christ. Their ultimate goal is helping parishes to become authentic schools of prayer, holiness, and missionary discipleship. Please plan to join us!


From the Pastor

From the Pastor - Fourth Sunday of Advent

By John Putnam • December 19, 2025
As our Advent preparations draw to a close and Christmas fast approaches, it is fitting that today’s readings demonstrate the intensity of the Father’s perfect and passionate love for each of us, culminating in the gift of His own Son, Jesus Christ, on Christmas Day. As we reflect on the enormity of this gift, let us ask ourselves what we can offer in return. In our first reading, from Isaiah, the Lord invites King Ahaz to “ask for a sign from the Lord, your God.” And not just any sign. The Lord says, “let it be deep as the nether-world, or high as the sky!” Ahaz, though, cannot arouse himself from his bleak and limited outlook, and actually refuses this invitation. Undeterred by his negativity, the Lord says through the prophet Isaiah, that he himself will provide the sign: “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son” and his name will be Emmanuel which means, “God with us.” What great love and patience our heavenly Father has shown his people throughout all ages! In the second reading, from Paul’s letter to the Romans, St. Paul sends a blessing of “Grace…and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This — grace and peace — is precisely the gift we celebrate on Christmas Day. Through his incarnation, Jesus brings the intimate love of God right into our midst; and through His death and resurrection, He saves us from our sins and restores us to right relationship with the Father. This is the peace that the world cannot offer. In response to such an overwhelming gift, what can we do except offer our lives as a gift in return, embracing a stewardship way of life with all the love and strength we have to give? In our Gospel passage from Matthew, we find an unparalleled example of one who embraced this way of life in St. Joseph, as he responds to God’s call to him through the message of an angel. St. Joseph immediately and humbly obeys the instruction from the angel: “Do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Open to this extraordinary role, he did as the angel commanded and “takes Mary into his home.” We never hear St. Joseph speak, but the Scriptures tell us he was always listening, attentive to the leading of the Holy Spirit for his family. It was Joseph who found the stable where the baby Jesus would be born. No doubt it was Joseph who cleaned it up and prepared it for Mary and Jesus since we know that Mary was about to give birth. Joseph protected the family, guarded them, and tended to their safety, their comfort, and their well-being at the expense of his own plans and preferences. Though we do not hear any words from St. Joseph his actions clearly show that he offered himself, his whole life, as a gift to his family through his strong guidance, protection, and service. Let us imitate St. Joseph, then, as good stewards, giving our very lives to those around us in love and gratitude to God who has given us everything we have, especially His own Son, Jesus Christ. We will no doubt find that the more we give ourselves away, the more our generous Father will fill us with His grace and peace — these are truly the best Christmas gifts we could receive. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering Christmas is upon us and as we enter into these last days before the celebration of the Lord’s birth, I wanted to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude for the myriad ways each one of you makes St. Mark a wonderful place to pray, to worship and find a parish home. As I speak to people who visit us from other parts of the country or parishioners who, due to trips away, visit other parishes, it is nice to hear that St. Mark has something special about it. That “something special” has a great deal to do with the people who call St. Mark home. Christmas is a time to share the love of Christ, and over the past several weeks, you have done just that in our various charitable efforts, most recently our Christmas Giving Tree. Lives have been impacted for the better because of your generous response, and I know that God will bless you because He is never outdone in generosity.  Finally, please know that Fathers Angermeyer, Martinez, Huber and I wish each and everyone of you a very merry and blessing-filled Christmas!

From the Pastor - Third Sunday of Advent

By John Putnam • December 12, 2025
Good news, Christian stewards — we are gaining ground on our Advent mountain climb and it is time to take a moment to rejoice in the Good News that our Savior will come again in triumph one day. Today’s readings on this Gaudete (“Rejoice”) Sunday are filled with reminders of God’s final victory over suffering and injustice, and encouragement to remain steadfast in our mission to live as faith-filled disciples. Such a day almost seems too good to be true, especially when we look around at the dire circumstances we face in our world at present. But by faith, we know this day is coming. Lest we grow weary as we await the glorious day of Christ’s return, St. James, in our second reading, offers wise counsel. “Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord.” “Make your hearts firm… Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another, that you may not be judged.” This is excellent advice for us Christian stewards as we face the challenges of everyday life in our broken world, especially in the hectic days that precede Christmas when stress can make us and those around us less than our best selves. St. James reminds us that we can choose our response to both the great strains and the minor annoyances of life. In other words, we can be good stewards of our attitude, “making our hearts firm” by practicing patience with others and refusing to give in to the temptation to complain. We can choose to see and rejoice in God’s presence with us, no matter the circumstances surrounding us. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025 Pastoral Pondering Prior to the Hamas attack in Israel of October 7, 2023, I was planning to lead a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with our seminarians. The events of that day put that pilgrimage on hold even though we had already raised funds for the pilgrimage. Now that relative peace has been restored, we will be embarking on the pilgrimage on December 26 th . I wanted to thank all of you who supported the effort and wanted to let you know that we are finally preparing to go. Pilgrimages to the Holy Land are very special opportunities for everyone, but such a pilgrimage is especially significant for a man preparing for priesthood because it provides a completely different perspective on the Scriptures and is able to inform his preaching and teaching. Christopher Cross is organizing this for us, and I would recommend one of his trips to anyone who would like to go. Chris brings a unique blend of humor and deep faith that makes the experience come alive in a wonderful way. I have been on a number of pilgrimages, and those with Chris have been the most impactful by far.  Please keep all of us in your prayers as we prepare for the pilgrimage and certainly know that you all will be in ours as we spend the Christmas Octave in the Holy Land.