Bulletin Article: November 8

Our Drive Thru Trunk or Treat was a great success. We had close to 600 cars which drove through our trunk or treat! A big thank you to all of our volunteers including those 21 trunks which were decorated, all the candy that was dropped off by parishioners, and those who helped to direct traffic for the event.

This past weekend our Mass attendance was up to 676 people. As we continue to grow I ask that you heed the directions of the ushers especially if you attend the 10am Mass in order that we can maximize the capacity of the church.

Lastly, there will be a Parish Open Forum on Zoom on November 16 from 6:30pm-7:30pm. The login information will be located in the bulletin next week, but please go ahead and mark your calendars.

In Christ,

Fr. Dustin Collins 

23rd Sunday After Pentecost Homily

In these troubling times we must always remember that Christ looked to Peter and said: “And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Despite this assurance from our Blessed Lord, Saint Paul stated in our Epistle that there “are enemies of the cross of Christ.”

Sadly, these enemies of the cross of Christ can come from within the church and thus they give us scandal and possibly rock our faith. These people want to fashion a church which comes independent from the cross. In other words they want to do away with practices such as sacrifice, repentance, dying to self, and taking up the cross in order to follow after Christ. If the church is to be fashioned in such an image it becomes important to change the church and her teachings.

Nevertheless, this is something which is impossible. As Saint Paul would warn: “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

Let us never be led astray to follow after such false prophets. Let us never allow these false prophets to chase us away from the Church of Christ. It is important that we continue to faithfully live out the teachings of the church in the midst of this world. We must continue to offer sacrifice, to repent, to die to our self, and to take up the cross in order to follow after the Lord. Let us also pray for all shepherds of the church especially our bishops and the Holy Father in order that they may be persevered and never be led astray from the truths contained within the Gospels. Let us never be led astray nor scandalized by “enemies of the cross of Christ.”

St. Mary’s Men Evening of Recollection Sermon XII: Diligence

Today I focus our attention upon the virtue of diligence. It’s opposite is found in the vice of sloth. Diligence is summed up by careful and persistent effort or work. 

Josemaria Escriva stated that “there are two human virtues, industriousness and diligence, which merge into one, for they both help us in our efforts to make good use of the talents we have each received from God.”

As he would say in the Forge: “If we really want to sanctify our work, we have inescapably to fulfill the first condition: that of working, and working well, with human and supernatural seriousness.”

So often in this world it seems as if our motivating factor is getting by with the easiest method possible. Our motivating factor should not be the question of what is the least amount of work that I must do in order to get by. When it pertains to Heaven our attitude should not be the least that we can do, but instead the most that we can do in order to achieve this goal.

As Josemaria Escriva would remark of this attitude: “Relying on flimsy excuses, we become too easygoing and forget about the marvelous responsibility that rests upon our shoulders. We are content with doing just enough to get by. We let ourselves get carried away by false rationalizations and waste our time, whereas Satan and his allies never take a holiday.”

Not only should we excel at the work entrusted to our care in this life be it one’s job or family responsibilities, but we must also be concerned with our practice faith. So often people are content with just getting by and so they do the bare minimum of what is required of them. Therefore, they go to Mass on Sunday and Holy Days and make their yearly confession and yet they go no further.

If we are sanctify our work and thus too our day then we must practice the virtue of charity for this virtue allows us to have supernatural love for God and for souls. As was said in Saint Mark’s Gospel: “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Even with the most mundane of tasks we are to be diligent and to find value within them. In these tasks and opportunities we have the ability to enter into the joys of God’s presence and may we thus come to accept the offering of work that is well done.

In the Holy Family we see the virtue of diligence made manifest to us. In Joseph we see the carpenter who worked with order and cheerfulness. In Mary we see her who gave this same attention to her daily tasks. So too may we join them and not grow lazy and idle, but instead excel at everything that we do for the greater glory of God. In all things may God come to be glorified especially through the offering of our work and the application of our life of faith in the midst of all that we do.

All Souls Day Homily (Cemetary)

Look around yourself. What do you see?

What surrounds us in this cemetary are those who once walked about this earth like you or me. Some who are buried here may be a member of your family or even your friends.

I believe that it is important that we have Mass here this afternoon for this hallowed place reminds us that we will one day join with them and that there is a need for us to pray and offer sacrifice for those who have gone before us into life eternal.

Some might claim that a place like this is filled with sorrow, but as Christians that is not the case. As I often remind at a Funeral Mass: “Life has changed, but not ended.” Truly, there is nothing for us to be sorrowful for because we profess in the Good News of Our Lord’s Resurrection.

With that we here on earth must remover our own mortality and order our life on this earth not towards sin for sin only brings about true death, but towards the Lord for from here death is not found, but instead Everlasting Life in Heaven.

Let us now continue to pray and offer sacrifice for those who have gone before us. Through our prayers and sacrifices they are cleaned and brought towards the Light of Heaven.

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

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

All Souls Day Homily

Our modern world has lost sight concerning the importance of the human body. With the rise of cremation we face issues such as a burial never taking place or ashes being spread around certain locations or divided up among family members. Actions such as these are incompatible with our faith.

Some claim that the body is not important for it is only an empty vessel which contained the soul which is now not present. Even with death our faith teaches that the body in important. The body is important for it is a temple of the Holy Spirit and points towards the Resurrection of the body to come. Even with the rise of cremation we should remember that “the Church (prefers) the practice of burying the bodies of the deceased.”

To bury one who has died is one of the corporal works of mercy. This corporal work of mercy also includes offering our prayers for the souls of the faithful departed. Sadly, it seems that not only have we lost sight of the importance of the human body, but also the necessity to pray for them.

We heard this reflected today from 2nd Maccabees which reminded us of this important need. Throughout the month of November we are especially encouraged to go to a Cemetary in order to pray for the souls of the deceased. A visit to a Cemetary reminds us of our own mortality and our need to set our life straight for Christ and reminds us to pray for those in Purgatory.

As we commemorate all the souls of the faithful departed on this All Souls Day may we come to understand and frequent our prayers for them.

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

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