From the Pastor - 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 2, 2021

Our readings today remind us that, even in our weakest and toughest moments, God has a plan.

 

In our Second Reading, St. Paul describes a “thorn” that had been given to him. He believed this thorn to be the thing that kept him grounded as he said, “to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.”

 

At first, he asked the Lord to remove this cross, but the Lord replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” Through this explanation, St. Paul resolved to believe, “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

 

We all bear crosses in this life, whether they seem to be little thorns or sharp daggers. The easiest thing to do, as St. Paul did, is to pray for the cross to be taken. It would be great if all of our struggles just magically faded away! But listen to the Lord’s words, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

 

Stop and reflect on your cross. Instead of wishing it to go away, look at it as an opportunity to grow and to allow God to work in your life. God permitted this cross in your life for a reason. Do not let the opportunity for Christ to work on your heart pass you by.

 

Today, recall that God loves us more than we could ever imagine. There is not a moment that goes by that He does not have us in mind. He has a specific plan for our lives. Therefore, may we encounter life’s challenges with confidence in Christ. 

 

Pastoral Pondering –The clergy personnel changes this year have been a challenge due to a number of factors. With that being said, I can inform you that, as was indicated previously, Father Michael Carlson will be coming to St. Mark and will begin his service on July 13th. Father Carlson will be doing work at the Diocesan Chancery and Tribunal during the week and helping out here on the weekends through the end of August. Father Matthew Bean, presently at St. Thomas Aquinas, will become parochial vicar here at St. Mark on July 13th as well. As noted last week, it is expected that Father Carlson will move to full time graduate study in January at St. Paul University in Ottawa, Canada. Father Gámez will be remaining with us until August 16 when his begins his new assignment at Our Lady of Mercy and Our Lady of Fatima Chapel in Winston-Salem. We are glad that he will be with us a bit longer.

 

The closing on the new rectory took place on July 1st. Our plan will be to be moved there by the end of July if not before. Our plan is to stop using the old rectory at Ranson Road for parish functions and move those to the present rectory.

 

Finally, before moving into the continuing discussion of what makes a practicing Catholic via the precepts of the Church, I want to point out what the US Bishops recently did at their summer meeting regarding Eucharistic Coherence. CNN et other outlets has indicated that the US Bishops voted to deny President Biden Communion. This is simply not true. The Bishops voted on allowing their Doctrine Committee to move forward with drafting a document that would address the issue of public figures presenting themselves as devout or practicing Catholics while at the same time promoting positions that are contrary to the teachings of the Church. While well-known politicians get most of the press coverage, the same concern would apply to any public person, e.g., an actor, a TV personality, a well-known athlete, who presents him or herself as a devout Catholic while espousing clearly non-Catholic positions. Hence, this is not a political matter. It is a matter of faith and morals. In these situations, conversations are always had between the public person and their bishop to try to resolve the matter. This is done quietly and respectfully. However, when these avenues fail, in order to protect the faith, the shepherds have an obligation to be very clear about what is true regarding faith and morals and pointing out the inconsistency present and the scandal caused by the offending individual. The aim is always the reconciliation and a call to repentance.

 

The fourth precept is addressed in paragraph 2043 of the Catechism: The fourth precept (“You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church”) ensures the times of ascesis and penance which prepare us for the liturgical feasts and help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart. In the Church’s law, this precept is explained, from a practical standpoint, in canons 1249-1251 of the Code of Canon Law.

Canon 1249 states: “The divine law binds all the Christian faithful to do penance each in his or her own way. In order for all to be united among themselves by some common observance of penance, however, penitential days are prescribed on which the Christian faithful devote themselves in a special way to prayer, perform works of piety and charity, and deny themselves by fulfilling their own obligations more faithfully and especially by observing fast and abstinence, according to the norm of the following canons.”

 

Canon 1250 states: “The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent (emphasis added). The second half of the text in bold is fairly well understood by everyone. The first half, however, is often over-looked. Every Friday is a day of penance (excepting solemnities that fall on a particular Friday during the year). Outside of Lent, an individual is free to choose a penance in place of abstinence from meat if he or she does not choose to abstain (see canon 1251) and fasting is always to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday; although, it is a laudable practice at other times to grow in the virtues of temperance and fortitude.

 

While the law of abstinence binds those who have completed fourteen years of age (canon 1252), parents and those who assist them in the formation of their children should not fail to instill a genuine sense of penance in their lives and the ways in which the Catholic people are asked to live that sense out. Canon 1253 allows the Conference of. Bishops to specify in greater detail the requirements in its territory as well as substitute works of charity and exercises of piety when that is appropriate.

 

Hence, a penitential spirit is to be a part of all of our lives. As the Lord reminds us, if you would be my disciples, take up your cross and follow me (see Matthew 16:24).

From the Pastor

From the Pastor - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • August 14, 2026
Today's Gospel from Matthew reminds us to trust the Lord even when it seems He is not answering our prayers. God desires to lead us to the joy of heaven and eternal life with Him. To prepare us for that day, He calls us to grow in faith and to live each day as a grateful response to His goodness. In other words, He is forming us into saints. This is what the stewardship way of life is meant to accomplish. At times that process is difficult. Often, it stretches us beyond our comfort. Jesus certainly challenged the Canaanite woman in today's Gospel. She cried out to Him on behalf of her daughter, who was tormented by a demon. How did Jesus respond to this desperate mother's plea? At first, He "did not say a word in answer to her." Undeterred, she continued to seek Him, and He continued to test her faith. She responded with such remarkable trust that Jesus proclaimed, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." Imagine hearing those words spoken to us by our Lord. There could be no greater affirmation of a life lived in faithful discipleship. The stewardship way of life will test our trust in God at times. But those are often the moments when He is doing His greatest work within us. Let us persevere in faith, trusting that His plan is always leading us toward the joy He has prepared for us. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026. Pastoral Pondering As the school year begins and we move into the post-summer routine, I wanted to give you an update on a few things which may be of interest to you. Building projects The rectory build is going well. Grainda Builders are projecting the project to finish by November (I am hoping for earlier!). We do plan to have an open house so that folks can see the new rectory upon its completion. The preliminary work for the second phase of our building projects is occurring with the installation of the water lines that will feed the new buildings. This will hopefully be done by Labor Day. We should be able to hold a groundbreaking shortly after the first of the year. Everything depends on when the present rectory sells and where we are with funding. The Diocese requires 60% of the project to be in cash, 30% to be in pledges and 30% allowable for Diocesan loan. We will keep you posted. Obviously, as we move forward, there will be growing pains that cannot be avoided due to the disruption of some parking. We are working with the general contractor to keep disruptions to a minimum, but we cannot avoid all of them. Thank you for your patience. Church Maintenance  As many of you know, we have been battling issues with the church roof for some time. There have been numerous leaks over the years that have been patched and patched again. We have been battling the insurance company for over a year, and it is clear that, after a minimal payment to repair water damage, they are not going to approve a claim for roof replacement. Kudos to the Pastoral Council and Scott Bruno for making a significant investment of time and energy to try to do the groundwork to provide justification for the claim. With that being said, we have already replaced a portion of the roof that was causing significant problems (the lower roof closest to the driveway). Nonetheless, the whole roof really does need to be replaced. Estimates for replacement are in the neighborhood of $250K. At present with the other projects going on, we do not have this in reserves or the operating account to cover this expense. Should you wish to assist, donations can be made on the website. We will continue to monitor and do what we can to manage the problem until we are able to fully address it. The second significant issue that has arisen is the foundation of the Kerin Center. Over the last several years, due to water and drainage issues, we have had to address foundation instability. Reinforcements were added a couple of years back to the school-side of the building, but we have been seeing some issues on the church-side of the building over the past year. We are watching it very carefully and trying to ascertain the root cause of the problems. We are appreciative of those parishioners with engineering expertise who have assisted in this effort. There is also a link on the parish donation website for Kerin Center repairs.

From the Pastor - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • August 7, 2026
Stewardship spirituality invites us to surrender control of our lives to God in grateful recognition that everything we have is a gift from Him. Today's readings remind us that God is always in control of His creation and His people. They also reveal what can happen when we fully entrust our lives to Him — in other words, when we embrace the stewardship way of life. When we take our eyes off God, we lose sight of the fact that all is gift. We begin to rely on ourselves instead of trusting in Him, and we fail to make our lives a grateful response to His generosity. Peter experiences this in today's Gospel from Matthew. Jesus sends the disciples ahead of Him by boat. Later that evening, Jesus comes to them, walking on the water, and invites Peter to join Him. Peter steps out of the boat and begins walking toward the Lord. But when he notices the strong wind around him, instead of keeping his eyes on Christ, he begins to sink. Imagine if Peter had never looked away from Jesus. What an extraordinary adventure he would have experienced walking on the water with his Lord. The same is true for us. When we take our eyes off Christ, His countless blessings, and His faithful love for us, we begin to sink as well. But when we embrace the stewardship way of life, loosening our grip on our time, talents, and treasure and placing our trust in God, life becomes a great adventure rooted firmly in the One who never fails us. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026. Pastoral Pondering First of all I want to thank all who participated in our meal packing effort last Friday and Saturday. What a gift it is to be able to come together as a community and unite for the sake of our brothers and sisters in need. These events cannot happen without the efforts of numerous people. To each of you who made it possible, THANK YOU! As we move into August and our lives begin reorienting from lazier summer months towards fall, it is an opportunity to reflect on the blessings that we were afforded to rest, refresh, and renew during these past weeks. Hopefully, family were able to spend some quality time with each other without the demands of school, work and the day to day demands that impact many of us.  For me, I was privileged once again to participate in the Te Deum Peace Pilgrimage to Fatima. This year we were able to invite and sponsor nine (9) seminarians from various dioceses including Charlotte, NC; Charleston, SC; Cleveland, OH; and Youngstown, OH. They along with a wonderful group of non-seminarian pilgrims were able to grow in our love for the Lord and Our Lady. It was a true blessing, and I was so impressed with the seminarians who were a part of our pilgrimage family for our time in Portugal and Spain. Along the same lines, please pray for parishioner Mark Pressley who is entering St. Joseph College Seminary. Mark’s family has been a part of the parish for many years. Keep him and the other nine (9) young men who are beginning their formation this fall.