My name is Father Dustin Collins and I am the new priest who has been assigned to this parish. I just celebrated my 33rd birthday on October 13th. If you remember from history that is the day that the sun danced about the sky bringing about the conclusion to the apparitions at Fatima. I celebrated my birthday and was then sent to this parish named after Our Lady of Fatima. Divine providence, I hope so. I look forward to meeting all you, being present for the various activities of this community, and I desire to lead each of you into a greater relationship with Christ our Lord. Pray for me that I always be a true servant of the Lord.
One topic that many priests dread is that of money and yet here I am on my first Sunday at this parish, and guess what, I have been asked to give this homily on stewardship. Hopefully each of you already realize that the word stewardship deals with more then just money. Stewardship is concerning our time, talent, and treasure or more simply it is to become a servant of the Lord through all that we do. At the end of Mass a representative from our parish’s finance council will address you concerning the financial situation of our parish and will encourage you to evaluate what you will give to this parish in the upcoming year.
Often times when something becomes a routine we lose sight of the purpose that lies behind what we are doing. To throw a few dollars into the collection can be done mindlessly, but more importantly it must be seen as a giving of self. Through our participation in the offertory we are making a sacrifice and are joining it to that sacrifice that is offered perfectly on our behalf by Christ upon the cross. I cannot tell you what you should give, but I can tell you to pray about it. We should pray about all that we do and especially invoke the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our deliberations. Maybe what you give is a habit which ceases to respond to this sacrificial mentality?
Our Gospel instructs us on the importance of being a servant. This takes me to the true heart of stewardship. So many get caught up in money, but my concern is the salvation of souls. If souls are being saved then we have accomplished Christ’s task. We must thus become servants of the Lord. Christ gets to the very heart of servitude in the Gospel of Saint John when He washes His disciples feet. Jesus states to them: “Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him.”
Humility is something which is tough and must be worked at. It is said that its opposite, pride, is the root of all sin. If we are to become servants of the Lord then we must become humble of heart. In such a manner we will see our dependence upon God and thus the necessity to build up a relationship with Him. If we realize our dependence upon God then we also realize that our time, talent, and treasure should assist in the building up of His Kingdom here on earth.
