Bulletin Article: July 26

We have now finished up our 3 confirmation Masses for our parish youth. Our next focus will be to finally provide a graduation Mass to for our 8th grade class. This Mass will be August 15th which is the Solemnity of the Assumption and due to space will be a closed event. We will then place our focus upon those still needing to make their first communion. These first communion Masses have been scheduled for September 19 and 26.

I am excited to announce that our Society of Saint Vincent de Paul received a grant of $5,000 from the Pope Francis charitable fund. Earlier in the year our parish food bank also received a $5,000 grant from this charitable fund. This money goes a long way in helping those who are in need in our local area.

In Christ,

Fr. Dustin Collins

8th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

Saint Paul calls us to “mortify the deeds of the flesh.” This concept of mortification seems to be incompatible with our current understanding of human flourishing. Instead something so harsh as mortification is rejected for we have been led to believe that we must obtain everything which is possible within this life if we are to be found happy. Therefore we are to receive an over abundance of goods and pleasures if we are to be found happy. This we call the vice of gluttony which does not liberate us, but instead leaves us as slaves.

If we take a circle and fill it with vice we must practice virtue if we are to push vice out of this circle in order that virtue alone can be left behind. To take up Saint Paul’s advice and “mortify the deeds of the flesh” is an important way for us to embrace the cross and to allow virtue to take hold to the point that it begins to push vice out of our life.

Mortification, as foreign as it may be to our modern ears, is not something new nor something that is left to antiquity. The Old Testament makes mention of the practices of fasting, wearing sackcloth, and putting ashes upon one’s forehead to name a few. Even the New Testament as can be seen by Saint Paul’s remarks are proof of its presence in the early life of the church. We even have the season of Lent which we often are led to believe is the only time that we should practice things such as fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. Ultimately to practice mortification of the flesh should not be confined to Lent alone, but should become a part of our daily lives especially on Friday when our Blessed Lord came to surrender His life upon the cross.

Saint Josemaria Escriva reflects time and time again upon this concept of mortification. I encourage you to look into his reflections on mortification on the internet to see his many opinions concerning this concept. In his book “Christ is Passing By” he reflects: “Mortification is the seasoning of our life. And the best mortification is that which overcomes the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life in little things throughout the day. Ours should be mortifications that do not mortify others, and which give us more finesse, more understanding and more openness in our dealings with everybody. You are not mortified, if you are touchy; if your every thought is for yourself; if you humiliate others; if you don’t know how to give up what is unnecessary and, at times, what is necessary; if you become gloomy because things don’t turn out the way you had hoped. On the other hand, you can be sure you are mortified, if you know how to make yourself “all things to all men, in order to save all.”

If we are to practice mortification we must know where we currently are in the spiritual life. We must pray and discern where our weaknesses and failures can be found. If we are unaware of what these may be it will be hard for us to progress in the spiritual life. Through mortification we find ways to combat these dispositions for the growth of our mind, body, and soul towards the Divine Will of God. So often we live in order that our will be done instead of in the word’s of the Out Father that “thy will be done.” 

What are some small tangible ways that we can allow ourself to put mortification into practice? Let us not continue to push mortification to the side, but instead come to embrace it for the good of our soul and life everlasting.

17th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

In our parish we continue to make up sacraments which were not able to be received at their proper time. This morning I receive into the church one who would of been received into it at the Easter Vigil and I confirm three others who would of been confirmed by Bishop Stika at Pentecost. For these individuals we can say that they have found “a treasure buried in a field” and thus “a pearl of great price.”

If I say the word “treasure” one of the first things that will probably pop into your mind are pirates and their pursuit of buried treasure. There have been many movies which revolve around this theme from the likes of Treasure Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Goonies to name a few. This pursuit for buried treasure, no matter how glamorous that it may seem, can never fulfill us.

This “buried treasure” that is alluded to in our Gospel refers not to an early treasure which will pass away with the passing of time, but instead a treasure which is eternal and will endure forever. This is not the treasure of pirates or our earthly life which can only take us so far, but this is the treasure of the Kingdom of Heaven. The more that we allow ourself to enter into the mysteries of our faith the more we will make room for this treasure to give growth within our life.

We must remember that everything which is important requires work, sacrifice, and suffering. One does not simply become the greatest of athletes by chance, but must work at perfecting their craft. To do this is to sacrifice for they must give up time and suffer as they prepare their body to excel at this task. Many understand the concept of a pearl being worth something, but they look past the way in which the pearl is begot. The pearl is begot by suffering. Thus in order to obtain this earthly treasure an oyster must first suffer when sand enters into it and its body creates a defense mechanism which creates the pearl in order to rid itself of this irritant.

If we are convinced of the important of the Kingdom of Heaven when it relates to this treasure we too must be willing work, sacrifice, and suffer. To those who rebuke such an understanding I invite you to glance upon the crucifix in order to see our Lord’s great love for us as He lays down His life to bring about our salvation. Despite the suffering that is revealed to us here we can see the total surrender that comes from its freeing effect.

May we ourself to join in this total surrender that is offered by our Blessed Lord. May we come to see our work, our sacrifices, and our suffering as a means which allows us to grow in this liberating effect that is expressed to us from the cross. Indeed the “so called” treasures of this world will pass away. We cannot believe that these “so called” treasures will be what fulfills us in this life. Instead may we be so convinced of that “pearl of great price” and upon finding this “buried treasure” may we come rejoice and chase after what is truly important, the Kingdom of Heaven. May we strive for this kingdom above all thing and allow nothing to subtract or to take priority over this reality.

Bulletin Article: July 19

I welcome Father Tim O’Toole to our parish. He represents Cross Catholic Outreach which provides food, shelter, medical care, water, education, self-help programs, care for orphans, and emergency relief to the poorest of the poor. I thank you for your prayerful consideration in supporting this ministry.

This weekend we will have our final two Confirmation Masses which will be held on July 24th at 6pm and July 25th at 11am. Our parish had a total of 41 youth who were in our confirmation program this year. Please pray for them as they receive the gift of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, I thank John Caso for his work our updating the look of our parish website. This website is currently live and will continue to be tweaked in the days ahead. Very soon it will host a parish calendar and interactive forms for our parish. Hopefully, our website as well as our other forms of communications will help in engaging the members of our parish community to be involved and aware of all that is taking place within our parish.

In Christ,

Fr. Dustin Collins

Bulletin Article: July 12

Two weeks ago our first Parish Open Forum by Zoom was held. I hope to arrange another one of these in the near future because it seems that we will not be able to hold another one in person for some time. All our topics for the evening centered around COVID-19.

On July 11th we held the first of three Confirmation Masses which will be held at our parish. The dates for the other two Confirmation Masses are July 24th and 25th. Please pray for the youth of our parish as they prepare to receive this sacrament.

Finally, please be aware that our parish school is in need of a new full-time technology and STEM teacher. If you are interested in this position please contact the parish school.

In Christ,

Fr. Dustin Collins

6th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

Today we heard the Gospel of Saint Mark’s account of the feeding of the multitude. This feeding of the multitude serves not as the first Eucharist, but as an anticipation of it. Therefore Christ finds those who are hungry and gives them something to eat. This hunger is not simply bodily, but it also concerns the wellbeing of their soul. Despite this great miracle and thus the gift which was worked in their presence we are sadly told in the 66th verse of the 6th chapter of the Gospel of Saint John: “after this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him.”

For us we have the opportunity to behold the great gift which is Christ present with us in the Eucharist. As the Israelites wondered about the desert lost and hungry they were given bread which came down from Heaven in order to give them their fill not only bodily, but spiritually in order that they may not turn back, but continue onward towards the Promised Land. So too with the feeding of the multitude which fed them bodily as well as spiritually. Now, through Christ, we encounter something which is so much greater then either of these gifts for we physically have the opportunity to receive Christ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

On that blessed day when this miracle concerning the multitude was accomplished there were those who devoted their life fully to Christ, there were also those who hovered in the middle of concern, and worse yet those who decided to draw back and no longer go about with Him. So too when we have the opportunity to receive our Lord in such an intimate way do we find those who devote their life to Christ, those who move back and forth, and sadly those who abandon Him in pursuit of the world.

If we were able to receive communion in the normal way I would pray over each communicant: “Corpus Domini Nostri Iesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam, Amen.” In English: “May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your soul unto life everlasting. Amen.” Truly we should strive for eternal life and through our heartfelt reception of the Eucharist we are given food for this journey.

Therefore, we must treat this opportunity to receive our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion with complete concern. Before we go unto the altar of God let us make a proper examination of conscience. Let us not be led to believe that we have the right to receive this sacrament no matter the state of our soul. As is said in Saint Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.”

As God poured forth bread for the Israelites and Christ multiplied the loaves and fish for the multitude, so to we have the opportunity to receive something far greater. We have the opportunity to receive Christ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. May the Eucharist come to preserve our soul unto life everlasting.

15th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

The world in which we live is guided by laws and so we have those which are divine in nature and those which we have devised on our own accord. It is easy for us to get caught up in what we are doing in the here and now and lose sight of these laws which ever surround us. Therefore, we find ourself driving down the highway and before we know it flashing lights are behind us and to our shock we were caught speeding. The fact that we blocked out everything that was going on around us does not excuse the fact that we broke the law.

Our Gospel instructs us that whoever has ears ought to hear. Again how can we hear if we never attune our ears towards the truth of God. We sit here in this church week in and week out and are taken to the Sacred Mysteries of Christ our Lord. We hear scripture and allow Christ to be present with us in the form of bread and wine that becomes the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ our Lord. Hopefully we spend time outside of the Mass doing good and pius things such as praying the Holy Rosary, studying Sacred Scripture, and spending time in prayer.

The more we take this seriously we attune our ears to Christ and allow ourself to hear and follow after His voice being made manifest more and more. If we delve into sin and frequent its pursuit we lessen our ability to hear this great voice of Christ being made manifest within our life. If Christ does not become a priority for us and for our family how can we expect to hear His voice? Instead we have knowledge of what our faith asks of us, but when we head into the world we so easily blot them out in pursuit of other voices which we have turned into a priority.

We cannot allow ourself to so easily walk about our life blocking out the reality of the world in which we live. We must come to follow the laws of our land in so far as they don’t contradict divine law. We should educate ourself on the moral teachings of the church and consent to them for they are found in accord with divine law. Divine law does not change with the times and does not rely upon popular opinion, but rather is based upon the truths which have been given to us by God and extended from Christ to His apostles.

Our salvation is not a matter of being seen or not. It is not something that is so worthless that we can cruise throughout life without paying it any attention. Our salvation is something which is real. Christ has brought about our salvation upon the wood of the cross, but do we want anything to do with it? It is possible that we are the seed that “fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and chocked it.”  May we realize the importance of our salvation and strive each day to be that “seed sown on rich soil” for “the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

St. Mary Men Evening of Recollection VIII: Perseverance

It has been a little over a month since we have resumed our public celebration of the Mass. During this span of time which stretched from the Solemnity of Saint Joseph to Pentecost we have been forced to endure a lot. Mass was regulated for many to watching a stream on the internet and other plans that we had soon became altered. Even now that we have resumed our activities we don’t know which way the next twist in life will bring us. For all I know there may come a day when we have to close everything down again.

When we come to the realization that this world around us is out of our control it easy to fail to persevere and to become pessimistic. To this Saint Josemaria Escriva stated: “Don’t lose heart. Carry on! Carry on with that holy stubbornness which in spiritual terms is called perseverance.”

Some sadly approach prayer as if it were a genie in a lamp where we ask for our wish and get what we want just as quickly. This attitude of self gratification takes us away from the importance of perseverance. Perseverance is the key to faith because through it we practice humility and we come to realize our dependence upon God. We cannot claim to have faith if we do not persevere when for example we don’t feel anything when we come to church or pray.

Faith is not dependent upon our feelings. As we should know our feelings are constantly changing. One moment we are happy and the next moment we are sad. Faith is dependent upon the unchanging God. Saint John of Cross speaks of something which is known as the dark night of the soul. To outsiders something like the dark night of the soul may seem to express a lack of faith, but in reality it expresses true faith itself. The dark night of the soul is to have all feelings stripped away to the point where one only has God. This is to master perseverance at its most difficult point and to embrace true faith. 

From Saint Josemaria Escriva we are told: “Persevere along your way no matter what happens; persevere, cheerfully and optimistically, because the Lord is bent on sweeping aside all obstacles. -Hear me well: I am quite certain that if you struggle, you will be a saint!”

Perseverance then comes out of the struggle of our everyday life. We must be constantly reminded that all of us are invited to become saints. So many forget about this invitation as they set out for the ways of the world. Our faith is countercultural because it cannot be a one and done relationship with the Lord, but must be a journey that we partake in at every moment of our life. When things get tough and do not go as we wish we cannot allow ourself to abandon the flame of faith, but instead we must persevere and through our perseverance we will come to embrace the reality of faith itself.

I know that some have struggled during our period of closure. I know that some continue to struggle despite the fact the we have resumed our public celebration of the Mass. May we come to realize the beauty that is found in this struggle and how through it we are invited to persevere and to develop true faith. Faith which is not dependent upon a cult of personality, a feeling, or what we wish it to be. Instead may we come to embrace Christ and His Church on this earth. For this ultimate truth may we always persevere.

Bulletin Article: July 5

We have now reached the month of July which moves us a month closer to a new school year. Despite these difficult times it remains the plan to open our school for classes. Our new school year will begin August 3rd. If you or your family would like a tour of our parish school please contact the school office. Please spread the word of our parish school among your family and friends. 

As we move into this month I remain grateful for the generosity of our parish community. I am also thankful for all those who think outside the box to resume parish activities. We continue to offer youth ministry via Zoom each Wednesday as well as other activities for our parish youth. We have begun various young adult ministries which include a Zoom Theology on Tap every other Wednesday. There is also a study group who has begun a Zoom study into Our Lady of Fatima which I have heard has been very successful. Hopefully we can find other ways to find to be active in the days ahead.

In Christ,

Dustin Collins

5th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

There should exist a harmony among believers. By its very nature sin breaks down this harmony which should exist. There are some who prescribe to a private reality concerning sin and redemption. Therefore they would say that my sin only effects me or I don’t need the sacrament of confession because my sin is between me and God alone.

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “The sinner wounds God’s honor and love, his own human dignity as a man called to be a son of of God, and spiritual well-being of the Church, of which each Christian ought to be a living stone. To the eyes of faith no evil is graver than sin and nothing has worse consequences for sinners themselves, for the Church, and for the whole world.”

A question was once posed to newspaper asking, “What is wrong with the world?” To this question GK Chesterton gave a very simple answer, “I am.”

And so when we give into sin, fail to take sin seriously, or decide not to frequent the sacrament of confession we fail to live as one created in the image and likeness of God and in return hurt our relationship with God and others. As was mentioned by St. John Paul II in his visit to the United States in 1983: “Only when the faithful recognize sin in their own lives are they ready to understand reconciliation and to open their hearts to penance and personal conversion. Only then are they able to contribute to the renewal of society, since personal conversion is also the only way that leads to the lasting renewal of society.”

In light of this we should see the true reality which was reflected in GK Chesterton’s simple answer of “I am” given to the newspaper’s question. Our Gospel puts this into perspective: “If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee, leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother.”

Now if we can understand all that has been said here we should be able to understand the true importance of this Gospel passage. Again sin is not a problem between me and God alone and the sacrament of confession is necessary for through our committing of sin we have broken the harmony that should exist between ourself and God, His Church on this earth, and with each other. Therefore our sin harms society even if the sin that we commit goes unnoticed by the human eye.

In this world we can see the many injustices that exist and it is easy for us to point the finger outwardly upon others without pointing the finger inwardly upon ourself. To think how different this world and our society would be if we took our faith in Christ Jesus to heart and do not so easily abandon it at the rise of temptation. My brothers and sisters in Christ I invite you to make use of the sacrament of confession without haste if you discern that you have committed mortal sin and I invite you to make use of confession frequently if you have not. Through the use of this sacrament may we come to restore the harmony which has been lost through our participation in sin by taking our ownership of it and coming to humble ourself in Christ’s mercy which endures forever.