From the Pastor - 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 9, 2024

Today's readings prepare us for the penitential season of Lent.


In our Gospel, a leper knelt before Jesus and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out and touched this diseased man and healed him. He then encouraged the man to show himself to the priest and offer himself a cleansing, referencing what was commanded in the Law of Moses. By completing these rituals, this man might be reinstituted into the community.


Let us approach this holy season of Lent like the leper. By our faults, we have distanced ourselves from God and His community. The leper reminds us Who to go to so that we might be healed. Let us approach the Lord this season on our knees asking for forgiveness and healing from our offenses, saying, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” There is no doubt that, if we have a contrite heart, Jesus will stretch out His hand in forgiveness and His mercy will touch our lives.


And like the leper, we too should go forth from being healed with a commitment to cleanse ourselves from the lasting effects of sin. Lent is a time to offer acts of reparation through Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving so that we might be purified in all areas of our life and walk with the Gracious Healer, Who sacrificed His life for our sake.


This holy season of Lent is an opportunity to be healed and cleansed on our journey as disciples of Christ. Let us consider what we can do to offer acts of reparation so that we might be purified and one day partake in the resurrection of Christ. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2024

 

Pastoral Pondering

Ready or not, Lent is coming, and it starts this Wednesday! There will be plenty of opportunities to participate in the Lenten season at the parish, but it is also important to prepare interiorly. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence and all Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence, but that doesn't mean that we can’t fast and abstain on other days as well. These practices of self-denial must be used prudently, but they can do a great deal at helping us detach from the things of the world and focus on our spiritual treasure during these approaching 40 days. Let’s pray for one another as we make our Lenten journeys this year.


Some Parish Updates – After many years of serving the parish and being a tremendous help to me, Leanne Vaccaro will be retiring at the end of the month. In addition to managing the office and the human resource needs of the parish, Leanne has assisted the priests and the Director of Operations in the day to day demands of parish life. Sometimes Leanne knows where I am supposed to be better than I know where I am supposed to be 😊. At any rate, she will be sorely missed. She does plan to continue her work with OCIA and Young at Heart, so she will, thankfully, still be around. We are in the process of searching for someone to fill her position.


Over the past year, the Diocese has been studying the need for a new cathedral. With the Catholic population growth in this area, we have known for some time that the Cathedral of Saint Patrick is often not able to accommodate large Diocesan celebrations. For this reason, St. Mark has been hosting the Diocesan ordinations over the past several years. Hence, various task forces have been working and studying the matter to make recommendations to the Bishop. Because of this, after December of this year, there will be a moratorium on individual parish capital campaigns.



One of the clear needs indicated in the recent parish survey was more space. When Msgr. Kerin originally had the site plan developed, he projected having another building to meet the growing needs. Since no parish-focused efforts will be allowed until after 2030, the Pastoral Council believes that we should move forward with plans to build added space and renovate the Msgr. Kerin Center to serve the parish in the years to come. We are in the preliminary stages at this point, but I wanted to make you aware of the discussions that are occurring. Such an undertaking, as many of you know, requires the formation of various committees to plan and carry out a building campaign as well as guide such an effort moving forward. Stay tuned for updates. If anyone has a burning desire to be of assistance, please reach out.


From the Pastor

From the Pastor - Fourth Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • April 24, 2026
Today’s readings on this fourth Sunday of Easter offer us a glimpse into the heart of our loving Savior. He is the Good Shepherd and we can confidently place our trust in Him as we live the stewardship way of life. This endearing image of Jesus as our shepherd, and His personal love for each one of us, is described in our Gospel passage from John, through the words of Jesus Himself. Here we read Jesus’ description of Himself as the “Good Shepherd.” He says of Himself, “The sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.” This aspect of our Lord’s tender and personal love for each one of us is a compelling reason to embrace the stewardship way of life — in the offering of our time, talent, and treasure to Him, we can express our gratitude to Him for the incomprehensible love He has for us. Embracing this way of life certainly requires trust on our part. But Christ has proven Himself worthy of our trust. He “bore our sins in His body.” He calls Himself our shepherd and He offers Himself as the guardian of our souls. He has withheld nothing of Himself and His goodness from us. He would never ask anything of us that would bring us harm. He tells us “I came so that [you] might have life and have it more abundantly.” This Easter season, let us resolve to entrust ourselves and our lives gratefully to Him. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026 Pastoral Pondering As we continue our treatment of the basics of the faith and following up on last week’s discussion of cohabitation, this week I wanted to focus on Natural Family Planning which some people misconstrue as Catholic contraception. Natural Family Planning: The Catholic Way to Responsible Parenthood Natural Family Planning (NFP) consists of moral, scientific methods that help married couples achieve or postpone pregnancy by observing a woman’s natural signs of fertility—such as cervical mucus and basal body temperature—without drugs, devices, or surgery. The Catholic Church fully supports NFP because it respects God’s design for marital love, which is both **unitive** (bonding) and **procreative** (open to life). Unlike artificial contraception, which deliberately blocks fertility, NFP works with the body’s natural cycles through periodic abstinence when needed. Church Teaching In Humanae Vitae (1968), Pope St. Paul VI taught that couples may use the infertile periods for serious reasons, while always remaining open to the gift of children. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2370) affirms that methods based on self-observation and infertile periods are morally acceptable because they respect the dignity of the spouses and promote authentic freedom. NFP is not “Catholic contraception.” The difference is in the heart: contraception rejects fertility in the act itself; NFP involves responsible discernment and periodic continence when there are just reasons (health, financial, emotional, or other proportionate circumstances). Couples should prayerfully discern together, ideally with a priest or spiritual director, avoiding a selfish “contraceptive mentality.” NFP can also help couples conceive by identifying the fertile window. Benefits for Catholic Couples - Strengthens marriage through better communication, mutual respect, and shared sacrifice. - Respects the woman’s body and natural rhythms. - Highly effective when properly learned and used. - Supports monitoring of reproductive health. Popular Church-approved methods include the Sympto-Thermal Method , Creighton Model , and Marquette Method . Instruction from a certified teacher is strongly recommended. A Parish Invitation As the domestic Church, families thrive when they live God’s plan for love and life. If you are preparing for marriage, newlywed, or seeking to grow in this area, contact your diocesan Family Life Office or visit the USCCB Natural Family Planning page for resources and local classes.  May the Lord bless all married couples as they cooperate with God in the beautiful vocation of responsible parenthood!

From the Pastor - Third Sunday of Easter

By John Putnam • April 17, 2026
Today’s readings focus on a theme of “sojourning.” As Christian stewards, we know our lives are a sojourn toward the ultimate destination of heaven. Our Gospel passage today describes the sojourn of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The two are dejected and despondent after Jesus’ death. They knew Jesus personally. They had heard the Gospel message directly from His lips. They heard the testimony of the women who discovered our Lord’s empty tomb and saw a vision of angels announcing He was alive. They had been informed by other disciples who went to the tomb that all was exactly as the women reported. How much more obvious could the Good News be? And yet, at times, the reaction of the two disciples describes our own stewardship journey, doesn’t it? We have the fullness of the Catholic faith, the power of the sacraments, and the support of our parish family. Yet, we often lose our way. We fail to see all the gifts we have been given. We lack trust in the perfect goodness and almighty power of God. But notice what happens to the two men when their eyes are opened once again, and they recognize Jesus in the Eucharist — the “breaking of the bread.” They are transformed! Their hearts are set on fire with love for the Lord and for their faith. They recall that their hearts began “burning within” as the Lord was explaining the Scriptures to them. When we find we have lost our way, we can go to the same sources as the two disciples on the road to Emmaus — the Scriptures and the Eucharist. In this Easter season, resolve to feast deeply on these two sources of grace. They are the fuel that will propel us on our journey toward heaven. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants, 2026 Pastoral Pondering Returning to a review of Catholic teaching basics, as we move into Spring, we often see an increase in the number of weddings requested. Sadly, it is not uncommon these days to find couples choosing to live together prior to their marriage. Hence, I thought it would be a good idea to lay out the Church’s teaching on this matter in a concise way. Living Together Before Marriage: A Catholic Perspective From the Catholic Church’s teaching, living together (cohabitation) before marriage is morally wrong, primarily because it typically involves fornication —sexual relations outside of marriage—which is gravely sinful (CCC 2353). Human sexuality is a sacred gift ordered by God to the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage alone. Sexual intimacy outside marriage cannot express the total, faithful, and permanent self-giving that spouses vow in the sacrament. Instead, it says with the body what is not yet true in commitment: “I give myself to you completely and forever.” This makes the act a contradiction, contrary to the dignity of persons and God’s plan for love (see CCC 2391; USCCB resources on marriage preparation). Cohabitation also: Creates a near occasion of sin , placing the couple in a situation that strongly tempts them toward grave immorality. Gives scandal , leading others—especially the young—to doubt or dismiss the Church’s teaching on chastity and the sacredness of marriage. Treats marriage as a “trial” rather than the definitive covenant it is meant to be. True love “demands a total and definitive gift of persons to one another” and cannot be an arrangement “until further notice.” Additionally, studies cited by Catholic sources show that couples who cohabit before marriage face higher risks of divorce, instability, and weaker commitment compared to those who do not. The Church calls engaged couples to practice chastity in continence during preparation for marriage—an “apprenticeship in fidelity” that builds mutual respect and prepares them to receive the grace of the sacrament (CCC 2350). Priests, deacons and pastoral ministers accompany cohabiting couples with mercy and truth, encouraging them to live separately or chastely while preparing for a valid sacramental marriage. In a culture that often views cohabitation as practical or normal, the Church invites couples to witness the beauty of God’s design: chastity before marriage, followed by a joyful, lifelong union blessed by the sacrament. For more, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church (esp. 2331–2400).