30 Sun of OT Year B Homily

Our Church teaches that we need to follow our conscience. That is true, but we often fail to mention that your conscience must be well formed. Because you hold something to be true does not mean that it suddenly pops into existence as truth for you alone. No matter how our conscience is formed we must still abide by objective truth. The Church in its wisdom is very rich and has a lot to offer to each of us if we are willing to open our eyes to that wisdom. The wisdom that the Church shares with each of us is the wisdom that Christ desires to share with the world. None of us are off the hook when it comes to allowing ourselves to be educated inside of the faith, so that we may truly be able to form our consciences. With a well formed conscience we can enter into the world and evaluate for ourselves what is the objective truth within it. We can enter into situations of morality and not be pulled along by popular opinion, but be truly led into seeing the truth of the Gospel. The truth of the Gospel is not fluid and changing, but stands firm throughout all time.

In our Gospel we encounter this man who was saved through his faith. He did not merely call to Christ on one occasion, but continued to persist that Christ would have mercy upon him. With each cry that was uttered from his mouth he continued to draw closer into union with Christ. His continued persistence was his ability to form his conscience around Christ who would bring sight into his life. He did not lose hope when he did not receive a quick response to his demands, but continued to endure inside of the presence of Christ. Standing in the presence of Christ his faith was formed around this divine teacher who now stood before him. We likewise should place ourselves before this divine teacher and allow our hearts and souls to be formed in His midst. In the midst of Christ we can cry out from the crowd and have sight brought to our eyes as we allow our consciences to be formed not by society, but by the Church and Christ.

As we continue to search for this knowledge of truth we must realize that we are not being called to go through the motions of the faith. We are instead being called to a deeper relationship with Christ. This deep relationship can only come about if we realize that our call to grow deeper in our faith is a life long challenge that comes to us. We are being challenged each day to grow more in the image of Christ and thus allowing ourselves to be educated in the faith. We must be educated in both scripture and in the tradition of the faith that we share. Pope Benedict XVI recently said "the ignorance of the faith puts Christians at risk of following a do-it yourself religion." We should allow our study of scripture and the tradition of the Church to penetrate into our lives and to strengthen our faith in Christ. With our strength found here we will not be led into the error of believing what we want, but will allow our consciences to be formed towards the truth of the Gospel.

All that we encounter within the world should be informed by faith. Under no circumstance can we separate ourselves from faith. Faith should be present within our families, friends, schools, work, and politics. If we form our hearts and souls within the faith each of these areas will be touched by the Gospel of truth. If a separation continues to take place we will continue to allow ourselves to slowly move farther and farther away from truth, which will bring us to a world that wants to except anything as morally acceptable if it can bring instant pleasure into our lives. If we allow our consciences to be formed within this Spirit of truth we will be led towards the "Father of Israel" who will keep us from stumbling. Through trust inside of the faith, in Holy Scripture, and in the sacred tradition of the Church we can always be led towards Christ the High Priest. Christ the High Priest stands before us this day desiring to give sight to our eyes only if we can surrender ourselves over to Him through faith.

Unless you have been living under a rock you know the presidential election will soon be taking place. We have now heard three debates from each of the main party candidates who desire to earn our vote. For those who have yet to cast their vote inside of the election I encourage you to do so through faith and by following your well formed conscience. We should not vote out of ignorance of facts or due to a party allegiance. We should do what we can to educate ourselves fully concerning the candidates and weighing their issues together to see who is most deserving of our vote. There are many issues that our nation currently faces, but above all we should desire to protect the faith that we share. Through protecting the faith we will be protecting the life of each human person including the child within the womb, protecting the freedom of religion within our nation, having concern for the poor and the elderly, concern for the respect of life for all immigrants, and the desire to protect the family from all harm. To vote is a big deal and therefore it should be prayed about and done through the lens of faith.

All we do in our lives should be done to serve our faith. We should allow ourselves to take each step necessary to draw ourselves closer to this reality. Our challenge to grow closer to Christ each day through continued education is a challenge for each of us. Allowing our consciences to be formed inside of this same faith and to allow it to flow into every crevice of our lives is also challenging. As most of you know during our collection today we will be taking up your pledges for this upcoming financial year. I thank each of you for your commitment for this upcoming year. For all of those who have yet to do so I encourage you to take this time to fill out your form. For the rest of you I encourage you to pray about the gift that you can give this parish in this upcoming year. Your commitment helps this parish to keep its doors open and to continue to serve the faith. This commitment helps to spread the sight of faith to our school and to our community through our many ministries. May God bless you for your pledge and continue to guide each of you in your growth of faith.