From the Pastor - 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 14, 2025

Today’s readings speak of an essential quality for the Christian steward — hope. This is especially fitting this year, as Pope Francis has designated 2025 as a Jubilee Year with the theme, "Pilgrims of Hope."


According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit (CCC 1817).”


In many ways, this is the very definition of a stewardship way of life — focusing on eternity as we live our daily lives and relying on God to provide for our needs and satisfy our deepest longings for meaning and happiness right now.


In today’s Gospel from Luke, Jesus describes the true richness of life that is possible for those of us who are willing to live as his hope-filled disciples. We are all familiar with this passage in which Jesus reveals the Beatitudes: blessed are the poor; they have the kingdom of God. Blessed are those now hungry because they will be satisfied. Blessed are those who weep because they will laugh. Blessed are those who are hated, excluded, and insulted because they are disciples of Jesus; they will be greatly rewarded in heaven. Jesus is describing here the character of one who is living a life of hope – the life of a Christian steward whose trust is firmly rooted in God and who is focused on others and eternity. It is not always an easy life, but it is a deeply meaningful life and one that leads to eternal reward. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2025


Pastoral Pondering

Lately, I have had a number of folks ask me different questions regarding the Sacrament of Penance (Confession), so I thought it might be a good idea to address some of those questions that might be of interest to a wider audience.


Back in 1983 the International Theological Commission issues a document encouraging a renewal of understanding the sacrament. The opening statement of the document is a beautiful reminder of what it is all about:


In the preaching of Jesus, the call to conversion is connected immediately with the good news of the Kingdom of God. (see Mt. 1:14 ff.). Thus, when the Church following Jesus, and by virtue of the mission which it has received, calls to conversion and announces the reconciliation which God has worked through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (see 2 Cor. 5:18-20), it preaches a God who is rich in mercy (Eph. 2:4)...Penance must be seen in an organic relationship with the other sacraments. In the first place, it is present in all as the word of reconciliation in the comprehensive teaching of the Church. A central witness to this is the article in the creed: “I believe...in the forgiveness of sins.” (“Penance and Conciliation,” in Origins, 23 [January 12, 1984], pp. 513-524.


1.            Is confession necessary for the forgiveness of sins? The two introductory canons concerning the sacrament from the Code of Canon Law answer this question.

Can. 959 In the sacrament of penance the faithful who confess their sins to a lawful minister, are sorry for those sins and have a purpose of amendment, receive from God, through the absolution given by that minister, forgiveness of sins they have committed after baptism, and at the same time they are reconciled with the Church, which by sinning they wounded.

Can. 960 Individual and integral confession and absolution constitute the sole ordinary means by which a member of the faithful who is conscious of grave sin is reconciled with God and with the Church. Physical or moral impossibility alone excuses from such confession, in which case reconciliation may be attained by other means also.

So, grave or mortal sin, under normal circumstances, can only be absolved through the sacrament.


2.            Does confession have to be celebrated in a confessional?

Can. 964 §1 The proper place for hearing sacramental confessions is a church or oratory. §2 As far as the confessional is concerned, norms are to be issued by the Episcopal Conference, with the proviso however that confessionals, which the faithful who so wish may freely use, are located in an open place, and fitted with a fixed grille between the penitent and the confessor. §3 Except for a just reason, confessions are not to be heard elsewhere than in a confessional.

The canon simply states the norm that sacraments should normally be celebrated in a church or oratory. A just cause can justify celebrating the sacrament outside a church or oratory, e.g. a parish office, but this is not the norm. Moreover, confessionals are to be available in accordance with the norms of the Episcopal Conference. The proper norm for the United States was promulgated in 1999: “The National Conference of Catholic Bishops, in accord with the prescriptions of canon 964, §2, hereby decrees the following norms governing the place for sacramental confessions:
Provision must be made in each church or oratory for a sufficient number of places for sacramental confessions which are clearly visible, truly accessible, and which provide a fixed grille between the penitent and the confessor. Provision should also be made for penitents who wish to confess face-to-face, with due regard for the Authentic Interpretation of canon 964, §2 by the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, July 7, 1998 (AAS 90 [1998] 711).



3.            Can a priest refuse to hear confessions face-to-face? The answer to this question is addressed by the reference to the authentic interpretation noted above. It states the following:

“The minister of the sacrament of penance may legitimately decide, even if there is no necessity, to hear confessions in a confessional with a fixed grill.”

Hence, the general norm is that the faithful have a right to have their confessions heard. They can also request face-to-face confession; however, the priest-confessor has the right to refuse this request. This is rooted in the protection of the priest in light of situations that have arisen of false accusations made against confessors in the administration of penance. A priest is at a great disadvantage because of the sacramental seal and the inviolability of the sacrament. Therefore, some priests are more comfortable not hearing confessions face-to-face.

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • November 13, 2026
Today's readings remind us that one day each of us will give an account for the gifts God has entrusted to us, including the gift of time itself. In today's Gospel, Jesus tells the familiar parable of the talents. Before leaving on a journey, a wealthy man entrusts portions of his wealth to three servants according to their abilities. Two of the servants immediately put those gifts to work and are rewarded for their faithfulness. The third, acting out of fear, buries what was entrusted to him and returns only what he had received. The tragedy is not that the servant lacked ability. It is that he failed to recognize the privilege he had been given. His master invited him to share in his work, but fear kept him from responding. God extends that same invitation to us. He entrusts each of us with unique gifts and invites us to use them for His glory and for the good of others. May we live each day so that, when our work is finished, we too may hear those joyful words: "Well done, my good and faithful servant... Come, share your master's joy." © Catholic Stewardship Conference, 2026 Pastoral Pondering As we approach the end of the liturgical year and prepare for the beginning of Advent, we are provided with a good opportunity to look back over our year of faith and ask ourselves, "How am I doing?" For most of us, we can find a landscape of positives and negatives, and that is OK. You might say that there is no surprise there because that is simply part of life. Our task, of course, is to always look for ways to grow in holiness and grow our relationship with the Lord. This point is always brought home to me when I attend a funeral, especially the funeral of a priest, which I did earlier today. The priest in question, Father Edward Sheridan, was my pastor at St. Aloysius in Hickory when I was in high school. He was also one of the priests who helped build up the newly formed Diocese of Charlotte in the 1970s. Fr. Ed loved people and always tried to be a source of encouragement to me and others. As I reminisced at this morning's funeral, the thought came that death is the great equalizer. Regardless of who we are, what we have, or where we have come from, we are all going to die. This life is transitory, so we need to be ready. Certainly, the Scriptures that we will hear over the coming weeks will try to impress that reality upon us. As we encounter God's Word and that particular message, let each of us ask for the wisdom to see what we need to see to make next year more fruitful and Spirit-filled, as well as asking the Lord to give us the courage to strive to do even better in the coming year.

From the Pastor - 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • November 6, 2026
Wisdom is at the heart of today's readings. It is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and an essential gift for living the stewardship way of life. As Christian stewards, we should continually ask the Holy Spirit to deepen this gift within us. In today's Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the 10 virgins waiting for the bridegroom. Five are wise, and five are foolish. The wise virgins prepare ahead of time, bringing enough oil to keep their lamps burning. The foolish ones fail to prepare and are caught off guard when the bridegroom arrives. Jesus concludes with this reminder: "Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour." Stewardship helps us live with that same spirit of readiness. When we seek the Lord each day through prayer, the sacraments, and the faithful use of the gifts He has entrusted to us, we keep our hearts prepared to meet Him whenever He calls. That is the wisdom Christ desires for each of us. © Catholic Stewardship Conference, 2026 Pastoral Pondering - Rooting Out Anger Few things disturb the peace of a home, a parish, or a soul as quickly as anger. A sharp word at the dinner table, a resentful silence after Mass, a flash of irritation in traffic-each seems small in the moment, yet the Fathers of the Church warn us that anger is a deadly poison. St. John Cassian, the great monastic teacher whose writings shaped Western spirituality, dedicated an entire book of his Institutes to this vice. His counsel is bracing and practical for us today. Cassian insists that anger must be "utterly rooted out from the inmost corners of our soul." As long as it remains, it blinds the eye of the heart. We lose right judgment, the capacity for true counsel, and even the ability to pray. "The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God" (James 1:20). Whether the provocation seems just or unjust makes little difference: anger covers the eyes of the soul like a plate of gold or lead- the value of the metal does not restore sight. He rejects the common excuse that we may be angry with those who do wrong, or that Scripture's language of God's "anger" justifies our own passion. God is free from all disturbance; the biblical language of divine anger is metaphorical, pointing to His just judgment, not to a human emotion we may imitate. To use it as permission for our own resentment is, Cassian says, to draw from the Scriptures an occasion of sin rather than a remedy of holiness. There is, however, one legitimate use of the energy of anger: we may and should be indignant against the evil thoughts and disordered desires that rise within our own hearts. When we are ashamed of what we would never say or do before others, yet find it stirring inside, we are to rage against that disorder, trembling before the all-seeing eye of God. In this sense the psalmist's "Be angry and sin not" (Psalm 4:4) and St. Paul's citation of it (Ephesians 4:26) are understood: be angry with your own faults, lest the Sun of Righteousness set upon a darkened mind and the devil be given place. Cassian's remedies are simple and severe. First, make a firm resolution never to be angry at all-neither for good reasons nor bad. The moment the passion enters, discernment is lost and the soul can no longer be a temple of the Holy Spirit. Second, never attempt to pray while angry; such prayer is obstinate rebellion. Third, keep daily before your eyes the uncertainty of life and the certainty of judgment. All our other efforts- Mass, fasting, works of charity- profit nothing if anger and hatred alone bring us to eternal punishment. Practically, this means catching the first interior movement of irritation and turning it at once into sorrow for our own impatience. It means refusing to nurse the grievance past sunset, seeking reconciliation before the next Holy Communion, and enlarging the heart with patience so that the "waves of anger" are received and dissipated rather than confined and intensified. Peace, Cassian reminds us, does not depend on the conduct of others; it lies in our own control. In the confessional and in the daily struggle of parish life, I see how often this vice wounds families and friendships. Let us ask the Lord, who is meek and humble of heart, to give us the grace to root it out. May the peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, guard our hearts and our parish. In other news, due to an unexpected leave, I have been appointed as Vicar General and Chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte by Bishop Martin. While this appointment is expected to be temporary, during the interim, it will make my ability to take appointments rather limited. Please be patient with the office staff as they try to accommodate those needs along with my additional responsibilities.