22nd Sunday After Pentecost Homily

Our Gospel states to us: “Render therefore to Caesar,” says our Lord, “the things that are Caesar’s”, and then He adds: “And to God the things that are God’s.” This statement reminds us that we are created in the image of God and thus all of our faculties should return to Him.

Saint Augustine stated that we “are the coins of God stamped with His image, and God demands the return of His coins as Caesar did the return of his.” Saint Jerome adds to this: “Let us give to Caesar the money which bears his inscription, since we cannot do otherwise, but let us give ourselves freely and of our own accord to God, for what our soul bears is the glorious imprint of the face of a God and not the more or less majestic head of an emperor.”

This all ties into our Epistle which stated: “He who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus.” Therefore, we should be able to think of the many ways in which God has begun something great within us. We have been created in the image and likeness of God and have been given so many gifts that we are able to share with the Church and others.

It is impossible for us to claim to love God if at the same time we ignore the needs of others. This is something more than saying that we love someone because there must also be actions to what we say. We can say that we are Catholic all that we want, but at the same time we should backup who we are by our actions. We should not only live the faith in word, but also in action.

Just because we pride our country on the separation of Church and state does not mean that we can separate our faith from our public witness. There are some who claim to be Catholic, but give a public witness which attacks the sanctity of human life and marriage. This is an impossible way to live and order one’s life if they desire to order everything that they do towards God.

This Gospel is challenging us towards something deeper. We must always remember that God has given us everything that we have and therefore everything that we have we owe unto Him. Our Christian witness is not one of separation and complacency, but rather should be one which is fully integrated into the teaching authority of the Church. We are called not to complacently live our life, but instead to actively order our life towards Christ.

As Saint Augustine put it, “Our hearts are made for you, O Lord, and in you only can it find rest.” In thus manner let us find our rest in the Lord and “render therefore to Caesar, the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

30th Sunday of OT Year B Homily

Sacraments are central to our faith and they have been given to the Church by Christ. St. Augustine defines a sacrament as “an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace.” This word sacrament comes from the Greek word, mysterion, and the Latin word, sacramentum. Mysterion means something which is hidden or secret, this is where we get the word mystery.

Sacraments depend upon signs and symbols which signify a sacred reality. For example we have the symbol of bread which points towards the reality of the sign which is Christ being present with us in the Eucharist. With all of the signs and symbols which surround us inside of the Church it is easy to fail to go deeper.

Despite going deeper and learning more about the sacraments we must also come to trust in grace. So often we fail to put God first in our life. Sometimes people even approach the sacraments without putting God first. A baptism is an important time to celebrate, but this celebration should not overshadow the effect of the sacrament. Confirmation is not dependent upon the knowledge of the receiver, but rather the gift that God gives within the sacrament.

How we approach the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass can also be reflective of this same reality. We so easily allow ourself to lose the transcendent nature of the Mass. Instead of approaching the Mass from the direction of drawing us closer to God we so often get caught up by placing ourself at the center. Our priority then becomes the music, the preaching, and the entertainment that we receive. We instead must learn to place our trust in the Lord who incorporates our lives into the worship of the Father. Let us be willing to delve further than what we see with our sight, but allow the Lord to transform our lives through this encounter.

In our Gospel we encounter this man who was blind. Despite his lack of sight he desired to see what was concealed from his eyes. With faith he cried out to the Lord and exclaimed, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Through his exclamation he exhibited his faith in an unseen reality which was present. Through his persistence and faith the Lord came to heal him and he was finally able to see what had been concealed from his sight.

So too through all that is taking place around us in the sacraments and liturgy have a profound effect upon us. So often we focus on us instead of God who is present in each of these realities. Let us come to encounter these realities with faith and the desire to see just like Bartimaeus. Sight will never come if everything is turned inwardly upon ourself, but with our attention placed outwardly upon God we will allow the Lord to be at work within us and to bring sight to our eyes.

Bulletin Article: October 17

Our next fellowship opportunity will be October 29th when we have our Trunk or Treat from 6pm-8pm. I thank our parish’s Mom Ministry for helping to organize this event. You can assist in one of two ways either (1) decorate your trunk or (2) bring candy that can be be used as extra candy for the decorated trunks. To register your trunk for the Trunk or Treat or to receive more information please call 423-282-6367.

Halloween is closely related to two important liturgical days which we cannot forget about. On November 1st will be All Saints Day which will not be a Holy Day of Obligation this year due to falling on a Monday. All Saints Day is a celebration of the triumph of the faithful who have gone before us and are now numbered among the saints. We will have Mass for All Saints Day at 7am, 8:30am, and 6pm (Latin). On November 2nd we observe All Souls Day which serves as a reminder of Purgatory and the need to pray for those who have gone before us in order that they may soon be numbered among the saints. We will have Mass for All Souls Day at 7am, 8:30am, 11:15am (cemetery), 5:30pm (Latin), and 7pm (Spanish).

In Christ,

Fr. Dustin Collins

21st Sunday After Pentecost Homily

We are now close to halfway through the month of October which means that we will very soon arrive at November 1st and November 2nd. November 1st is All Saints Day where we come to acknowledge the multitude of saints in Heaven and November 2nd is All Souls Day where we are reminded of the need to pray for those in Purgatory.

Purgatory is an important aspect of our faith, but is one which is sadly rejected by many faith traditions and even some Catholics. At the point of death we would rather jump towards the canaization ceremony of our loved one instead of expressing the reality of Purgatory and the need to pray for the souls of the faithful departed.

Some make a mistake by seeing Purgatory as a second chance of getting Heaven. When it pertains to our salvation there are not any second chances. When we die we will either be judged to Heaven or Hell. Purgatory is instead a temporal punishment for sin and for a cleansing from the attachment to sin. It is Purgatory which cleanses the soul as “gold tested in fire.”

Our Gospel passage is one which is often used in regards to Purgatory. In it we were told concerning the king who settled accounts with his slaves. He forgave him the debt, but the slave was unjust in forgiving the debt of others. For this it was stated: “Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.”As it is similarly stated in the Gospel of Saint Luke: “I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

From all of this we can conclude that Christ calls the believer to live out a life of justice which will be exacted to the last cent. The Catholic teaching on Purgatory is that if at the end of one’s earthly life, this debt of justice was not satisfied, he shall be purified before entering heaven. This is in line with the Book of Revelation which states concerning Heaven: “nothing unclean will enter it.”

Thankfully, Purgatory exists for without it how would we expect something which is found unclean to enter Heaven? Without Purgatory how would we who continue to have earthly longings find happiness in Heaven?

Therefore, let us continue to pray for the souls of the faithful departed that they may be escorted into Heaven this day by all of the angels and saints. Let us offer our sacrifices for them and let us orient our heart towards Heaven that we may come to order our life towards Paradise.

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them.

May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God, Rest In Peace. Amen.

29th Sunday of OT Year B Homily

Our Gospel calls us to servitude. In our world it can be easy for everything to be about us, but in the end we are hopefully living freely. We only live freely when we give of ourself out of love. There are some who give in order to obtain something in return. The Lord shows us the alternate path of servitude.

We must remember that Christ is God made Flesh. That He is the second person of the Most Holy Trinity. Nevertheless, He did not come in order to be exalted, but in the words of the Book of Philippians: “Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.”

It is hard to wrap our mind around the fact the that being a servant or slave is something which can be good. In this application it is to live freely as we were created in the image and likeness of God. This form of holy slavery is put into action whenever we give of ourself in a sacrificial way out of love. Christ Himself displays this sacrificial love most perfectly upon the cross when He laid down His life for us out of love.

As our Gospel came to state: “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” This verse makes known the fact that our life on this earth is not to live as if we are greater then everyone else for if this be true then we will not be great in the life to come. Instead those who live truly living out sacrificial love will be those found in great degree because of the Kingdom of Heaven.

This passage should make us look inwardly upon ourself and ask how God is calling us to live out sacrificial love. The concepts of sacrifice, servitude, and holy slavery are hard for our culture to comprehend and sadly are not ingrained into who we are as a human person. Jesus must instead be the model to how we live and order our life. When we allow Him to be our model the rest of our life begins to take shape. 

Therefore, let us look to the Lord who was willing to be this sacrificial servant. May we be willing to grow in modeling our life after His and thus be found willing to let go of everything which holds us back from reaching such a reality.