31st Sun of OT Year B Homily

This past week has been a very busy time in the life of the Church. We had two days that were set aside, so that we could better be reminded of the challenge that comes to us in today's Gospel reading. From this reading we are being challenged to draw ourselves towards the "Kingdom of God" with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Each of these four pillars should be built to better hold up our relationship with Christ that each day should be drawing us closer to this Heavenly Kingdom. If we remove any of these four pillars from this relationship everything will fall apart and we will be forced to rebuild again. Today we are given the hope that we can build these four pillars up within our lives and to keep them stable and standing for the sake of drawing ourselves closer to God while here on earth. God's Kingdom is indeed not far away if we can begin to trust and apply ourselves each day of our lives. May we begin today by analyzing the lives of those who have gone before us and allow ourselves to begin to build ourselves up heart, mind, soul, and strength in dedication and love to the God who is all good and worthy of our love.

On the 1st of November we celebrated the solemnity of All Saint's Day. On this day we are shown a special glimpse into Heaven and the reward that is found there. We all know of the daily struggle that is found within our lives, but within the lives of the saints of Heaven we are given hope that we can conquer each of these struggles. The saints were normal people just like each of us here today, but daily they were able to conform their hearts, souls, minds, and strength to the Gospel of Christ. They were willing to walk into a world filled with hostility towards the faith and continue to endure within its midst. They might of went through moments when their lives felt dry and empty, but in these feelings they continued to reach out towards Christ all the more. As we build up our lives to support Christ and His Kingdom here on earth may we reach out to these holy souls for the aid that they can bring into our lives.

If we glance at this table that stands before the altar of Sacrifice we will see 34 candles that represent each soul that has passed from this life from this parish in this past year. On the 2nd of November we gathered together to celebrate the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed. On this day also known as All Soul's Day we acknowledge the reality of death and the need for us us to pray for all of the faithful departed. Revelation 21:27 states that "nothing unclean will enter it" when speaking about Heaven. Purgatory is the state that the soul enters in order to have all their longings and needs purified so that they can be prepared to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In this state known as Purgatory the hearts, souls, minds, and strength of the faithful departed are prepared to enter the Kingdom of God. With the Resurrection of Christ's body we are give great hope that death is not the end, but only the Beginning. May we continue to pray for all the faithful departed especially our family and friends that they may one day be able to join inside of the beatific vision. May these many souls that have gone before us remind us of the fact that life is fleeting.

And so we must ask ourselves what is keeping us from drawing near to the Kingdom of God right now. What is it that is keeping us from devoting our hearts, souls, minds, and strength to Christ who stands in our midst waiting for us to come to Him. Each person here can give a different answer, but no matter what our answer may be we are not being excused for our behavior. We instead are all being challenged to not be idle, but to grow closer to God each day. Each day we should evaluate what is taking place within our lives and reorient ourselves towards the Gospel of truth.

During this Sacrifice of the Mass we will receive Christ's Body and Blood. This spiritual food that comes to us to bring nourishment to our hearts and souls. Through this life giving nourishment we will be strengthened for the spiritual journeys that we must undertake. This sacramental food will prepare our minds to be forever drawn towards the Kingdom of God. This life giving food prepares our hearts, souls, minds, and strength to endure our daily spiritual battles for the sake of drawing near to the Kingdom of God. May we let each of those souls who came before us in our life be an example of the life that is to come when we are totally able to give ourselves up heart, soul, mind, and strength to The Lord our God. May we also allow each saint of Heaven to intercede for us this day, so that we can begin to be transformed towards the truth of the Gospel. The saints show us that this task of transformation of ourselves is possible if we can trust fully in Christ.

To be transformed heart, soul, mind, and strength towards Christ we will be prepared to enter into the world to treat our brothers and sisters as Christ would treat them. In acting in this manner we will be living out the reality that these two commandments are really one. If we are to fully love and trust in God; we should do the same with those who surround us. If we are to say that we are to love God we must also say that we will love his creation which is humanity. If we are to love humanity we must also be held in relation with God. The love of God is freely bestowed upon us and is not abusive; we therefore should mirror this love with our friends and family. We should not use them for the gain of our own pleasures, but should allow the love that is found inside of the Trinity to be found in all of our relationships. May we this day strive to build up our love for God in our hearts, souls, minds, and strength; allowing ourselves to better love God and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.