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 - 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.

From the Pastor - 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By John Putnam • July 31, 2026
Today’s readings should inspire the Christian steward with deepened gratitude for our God, who loves us with both fierce and tender love. We must make an intentional response each day, returning love for Love. In our Second Reading from Romans, St. Paul reminds us that nothing and no one can separate us from the love of Christ. No anguish, distress, persecution, famine — and we might add illness, financial hardship, family struggles, or uncertainty about the future — nothing can keep our God from loving us. God holds us securely in the palm of His hand. And yet, this reassurance is only the beginning of God’s gifts to us. Our Gospel from Matthew recounts the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. This miracle foreshadows the gift of the Eucharist, where Christ feeds us not simply with bread, but with His own Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Notice how the Gospel begins. "His heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick." What generous and compassionate love our Lord shows. But even that is not enough for Him. He remains with the people, teaching and ministering to them until evening. When the disciples suggest sending the crowds away to find food, Jesus instead invites them to become part of His plan. He tells them to feed the people, then miraculously multiplies the few loaves and fish they offer. What a privilege it was for the disciples to participate in Christ's work. That same privilege is ours as Christian stewards. Let us respond with grateful hearts to such amazing love. © Catholic Stewardship Consultants,