Bulletin Article: June 28

Slowly our campus is getting back into a routine. We now have Mass and the ability to have meetings/gatherings. Hopefully very soon we can loosen some of the restrictions allowing us to have more activities. The new school year will begin at the start of August which should help to bring some normalcy to our campus.

As we begin to embark upon this new chapter in the parish’s history I have decided to hold a Parish Open Forum on Zoom. This will be held on June 29th from 6:30pm-7:30pm. The focus of our discussion will be parish life that has developed out of the pandemic. Hopefully this discussion can help clear up any misunderstandings or develop new ideas for ways our parish can be effective during this period of time.

Finally, please keep Matthew Donahue in your prayers as he will be ordained a deacon at 11am on June 29th at Saint John Neumann Parish in Knoxville. Also, please mark your  calendars for the ordination of Deacon Zach Griffith which will be held August 29th.

In Christ,

Fr. Dustin Collins

13th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Saint Francis of Assisi is a very interesting figure in the life of the church. He comes from the foundation of earthly pleasure and luxury, but after heading into war and being injured brings about a close to this chapter of his life. From here he led a gradual life of conversion which eventually brought him to the church of San Damiano. It was here that he prayed before the crucifix and the Lord spoke to Him from the cross, “rebuild my church.” Francis would take these words literally and he would rebuild the church of San Damiano for it had fallen into disrepair. Later he would hear the words which would predate our Gospel passage and so he heard, “And as you go, preach the message, “the Kingdom is at hand!...Take no gold, nor silver, nor money in your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the laborers deserves his food. And whatever town or villa you enter, find out who is worthy in it, and stay with him until you depart.” From here Saint Francis was able to put into practice this command to “rebuild my church.”

So many hold to devotion of Saint Francis solely for his love of animals, but they more importantly forget about his radical love for the Lord. Saint Francis abandoned everything that he had in order to serve the Lord and to rebuild the church. This rebuilding of the church was not the structural reality, as important as this may be, but this rebuilding of the church was to live a missionary zeal which would attract others to the authentic living out of the Gospel. Indeed this is a task which is not easy if one cannot abandon their self out of love for Christ and His Church.

And so from our Gospel we heard some challenging words which coincide with the life of Saint Francis: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.”

To put all of this into context we must proclaim within our heart that Christ makes a great command of us. We need to acknowledge that Christ is the Lord, that He is the absolute value, that He is the supreme good, and that He is the pearl of great price. There are so many who proclaim to be Christian in name only, but not in the practice of their daily life. How full would this Church be, if under normal circumstances, if we were convinced of this reality? One man had an influence over so many because of his authentic embracing the cross of our Lord. Who took this cross up and placed his trust in the Lord no matter the difficulty that would come his way, so too we must grow in our appreciation and love for the cross.

From the cross we see a total sense of abandonment given out of love. There will be those who will attempt to pull us away from this loving reality, but we cannot allow this to be so. Stay close and allow the cross to lead you towards an authentic living out of the Gospel. I encourage you to keep a crucifix in each room of your home and to spend time before it each day in prayer. In the words of Saint Francis concerning the crucifix: “Most high, glorious God, cast Your light into the darkness of my heart. Give me right faith, firm hope, perfect charity and profound humility, with wisdom and perception, O Lord, so that I may do what is truly Your hole will. Amen.”

4th Sunday after Pentecost Homily

So many allow themself to labor without coming to acknowledge their God given purpose. Our Gospel shows the apostles unable to make a great catch of fish, but when the Lord was the one to instruct them they were able to make a great catch. This great catch of fish has nothing to do with our material wellbeing. Some prescribe to a Gospel of Prosperity where God rewards faithful believers with riches and happiness. This is not living in the reality of the church and her teachings.

This great catch of fish has everything to do with the reality of salvation and drawing other souls to come to know and believe in Christ Jesus. Even if we profess Christ to be our Lord there will still be difficulties which will come our way. Nevertheless, we can come to embrace these difficulties as our Lord came to embrace the wood of the cross which brought about our salvation. As Saint Paul points out in his Epistle: “We know that every creature groaneth, and travaileth in pain, even till now; and not only it, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body; in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Therefore, let us keep our sight set upon Christ and His Resurrection. There is no question if hardship will come our way or not, but we must realize the importance of staying close to Christ, His mercy, and His Church. If we are to do this we must turn away from sin and also be willing to enter into the silence of prayer. If we ignore the pursuit of virtue or ignore the silence of prayer it will be hard, if not impossible for us in the case of mortal sin, to hear the voice of Christ made manifest within our life.

The apostles were sent forth from this encounter to eventually lead others to Christ. Throughout the history of the church there have been many holy men and women who have led others to Christ. It was not the personality of the apostle or saint which led others to Christ, but rather their trust in Him. Through their trust in Him they casted this net not under their own authority, but from the authority of Christ. How different would the world be and how full would this Church be if we were to act on living our life accordingly.

Sadly, we get caught up in the ways of this world and they overcome our ability to hear and trust in the voice of Christ. It is no wonder that the fruit which produce is so lacking for our attention is not placed on the Lord, but upon the world. If we trust in the mercy of God and spend time in the silence of prayer we will in return come to trust and make the Lord’s voice more manifest. It is only is this manner that we can: “fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men.”

Letter to Parish

I believe that it is important to be transparent concerning issues of the parish. I also believe it important to clear up any rumors which might manifest themselves. It has been brought to my attention that a letter has circulated throughout our parish, maybe some of you have even received it. Nevertheless, I find this letter to be divisive to the good of the parish. I say this not because I am afraid of the truth, but rather because it comes without context, represents a time in the parish which is not recent, and boils down to the level of harassment/bullying of parish staff. If we are to “love our neighbor” bullying to get what we want should not be our motive, but rather to use proper channels to bring about proper results.

To put this letter into proper context it is written from the perspective of roughly 2015-2019, before my arrival. This letter claims that we use in the words of the author a “NEW EMPLOYEE HAND BOOK.” The Diocese of Knoxville has a lay employee handbook as well as a handbook concerning accounting administration. Our parish uses and follows these guidelines which have been given to us. We do not follow a “NEW EMPLOYEE HAND BOOK” which we have devised under our own authority.

I continue to strive to work within the bounds of diocesan policy and have oversight of parish spending. As with all things it is possible that mistakes will be made. Thankfully we have the Parish Finance Council who serve as a second set of eyes on our quarterly finance statements. If any parish staff makes serious mistakes or acts out of line I will take care of them accordingly making use of the Diocese of Knoxville HR department. I cannot go back in time and evaluate how issues were resolved five years ago, but I can take care of issues as they arise in the future.

I take financial matters of our parish seriously. If you have any concerns in this area or any area of parish life please contact me. I am always available to the needs of our parish community. It is not proper to harass/bully our parish staff nor to stir up division among our parish. We must allow ourself to come together as the Body of Christ for the good of this parish community.

In Christ,

Fr. Dustin Collins

Bulletin Article: June 21

We are now able to resume meetings/gatherings on our campus. Starting July 1 the parish office will take facility reservations for August 3 to June 30, 2021. If one desires to reserve our facility for the remainder of June or July please contact the parish office.

Despite being able to host meetings/gatherings again things will be quite different. All present will need to stay six feet apart, wear a mask, no food/water is to be provided, no more then 50 can be present, a roster of those present is to be kept for 21 days, items are to be properly cleaned, and people are to be screened for COVID-19. When you reserve a facility you will be provided with this information.

Lastly, as a reminder the school/parish office are still selling Saint Mary School masks for $10. These are a great way to show your support for our school and help to advertise us to the community.

In Christ,

Fr. Dustin Collins