Important Spiritual Guidance

Reflections on the Readings

June 30, 2013 - Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time- Year C

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

Important Spiritual Guidance

But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. (Galatians 5:18)

This week we hear about the freedom Christ invites us to accept from him. If we are led by his Spirit, the same Spirit that raised him from the dead, we will live by another law. It is the law of love where obedience to the Spirit of life is for us righteousness, joy, and peace. It is a whole new world of freedom that opens up to us when we are led by the Spirit. It is a new and dynamic opportunity to fill the world with the Love of God 

There may be some apprehension with todays readings. The tension we may feel is important and I propose we look at what are some of the challenges we face in ourselves. 

First, the tension we have is not that the offer of Christ is too small or limited. I think we may be numbed by the narrowness that comes with the invitation, that is:

No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

Christianity is a challenge to the drift we let come into our lives. A certain leisurely and comfortable movement away from the focus of our faith creates an opportunity for a spiritual ship wreck. No ship in the water or flight into the heavens begins a journey without filing a navigation plan. Guidance through the waters or the skies does not allow for drift. If a plane or ship gets off course there will be trouble. Maybe even loss of life. Certainly there will be demotions and firings at the the very least.

We who follow Christ are called to follow him with all of our heart, with all of our soul, and with all of our mind. We stay on course by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Captain of our Salvation. If we keep our hearts for Christ alone we will stay on message and stay on course. The road is a narrow road, it is the only road to the kingdom of Christ. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The only road to heaven is the one that goes right through Jerusalem to a hill called Golgotha.

Second, the tension we have is not that the offer of Christ is too small or limited. I think we may be stunned by the imperative of his invitation, that is:

To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father. But he said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

I read somewhere that Christ is not looking for admirers, but rather he is looking for disciples. It may not always be convenient to give witness of our allegiance to this other King. Family, friends, and evil rulers may all equally make it very difficult to follow only Jesus. It may mean letting the spiritually dead bury their unbelieving dead. Is there a cost in knowing Jesus and the salvation he wills for us? I think we would all say, "Yes." I think we also would agree that there is no attachment or relationship in this world that is worth losing our soul over. Jesus talked about seeking first the kingdom of God. If we are to compare what costs more, to postpone Jesus or to follow him first in all things, let us be very, very wise. 

Heaven is too good, and hell is too hot, and life is too short to get this wrong. Our American ancestors left other shores to journey to this land of promise. Leaving whatever had to be left behind our American Pilgrims sought for a place where there was freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. We too are sojourners. Like Abraham of old we are called to seek out a heavenly country. There is for us who have the faith and the vision of Abraham an inheritance in another homeland. It is that place we seek. It is a better country, that is, a heavenly one, where God is not ashamed to be called our God, for he has prepared for us a city. 

Getting from here to there requires a single heart. A divided heart will only keep us from our truest self and our truest reward. True love begins and remains for those who forsake all others and cling only to the God who calls them out of darkness into his gracious and marvelous light. The Love that made the world can remake us. Such Love will only lead us to what truly redeems us. There's no looking back for those who are lead by the Spirit. 

The challenge for us is not that the journey of faith is too big. Perhaps we live to contentedly with smallness of heart, smallness of faith, and smallness in general. We sometimes don't really know the bigness of God because so many are telling us how important we are. All the advertisements on TV are about you and me and how we can be leaner, and how our teeth can be whiter, and how our abs can be tighter. None of these things gets us closer to God. When we see God at that great day he won't ask us what toothpaste we used or if we had a membership at the Rush. I think he may look behind us to see how many we brought with us into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Third, the tension we feel is not that what Christ offers us is too small or limited. We just may be shocked that not everyone will welcome us, that is:

Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

Jesus entered this world without a bed of his own where he could lay his head. In a manger, a lowly feed trough is where he slept his first night. Why? Because there was no room in the Inn. There was that hasty trip to Egypt because Herod sought to kill him in infancy. So that meant more homelessness. When Jesus died it was outside of Jerusalem on a Cross. And then they buried him in a borrowed tomb. A person could think the world is against him under these circumstances.

Peter wrote in his first epistle to those he loved in the Lord. From Rome he wrote, "Beloved, I beseech you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh that wage war against your soul...Live as free men, yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil; but live as servants of God." (1 Peter 2:11) Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. Although this world is not our home, it is the place were we are called to witness to the Love of God. 

It is here in this world we bathe in God's love those in most need of his mercy. We may have to do that without a tax exempt status. We may do the work of Christ without the approval of the Government or the Supreme Court. It may become unlawful to adhere to sound doctrine about the beauty of marriage between a man and woman. We already have laws and statues governing where folks can pray in proximity to an abortion clinic. 

Rescuing the dying and caring for the perishing comes with no promises of approval or even a pat on the back. But I like this quote from the founder of Methodism, John Wesley:  Give me one hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergyman or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth."

Such are they who are led by the Spirit of God.  Amen.

Dennis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN.  Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail him at: dennishankins@gmail.com   Visit him at: www.dennishankins.com

 

  

A Place Called Home

Reflections on the Readings

June 23, 2013 - Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time- Year C

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

A Place Called Home

For as many as you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:27, 28)

I recently watched the movie: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Separated for a while from the company of Gandalf and Thorin and troop, Bilbo encounters Gollum and captures the Ring. Bilbo returns to his comrades, but Thorin is curious as to why Bilbo rejoins them and their cause.

[Gandalf:] "Well, what does it matter? He's back!"

[Thorin:] "It matters! I want to know: why did you come back?"

Bilbo's reply is priceless: "Look, I know you doubt me, I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books. And my armchair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back, cause you don't have one. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can."

And thus the quest begins to take back Erebor, the home of the Dwarfs and their Leader, Thorin. 

Everybody, and I mean everybody, needs a place called home. A place where people live together as friends and fellow citizens. Such a place is where there is connection and camaraderie; things that make a person feel needed, wanted, and, well, at home. 

It seems to me that since the beginning God's mission is about bringing us back home. You could say that until we are reunited with him and one another we are homeless. Spiritual vagabonds: separated from Christ, alienated from the Church, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.(cp. Ephesians 2:12)

The Ten Commandments make us aware of our plight; to help us understand and to recognize our transgressions. The light of the law shines on our hearts and confirms our need of a Savior. The law serves as a tutor or custodian, to lead us to Christ, and the faith that justifies us in him. Free in Christ we long to please him and to live the Commandments in his strength.

But how do we come to know Christ and the strength to do his will and obey his law and to live a life pleasing to him? Since the beginning of the Church water baptism has been the door to all that is new and wonderful in Christ. Baptism is the womb of the Church and the entrance to our new home. Therefore, we enter into Christ and his Church through Baptism. The Church is the birthplace of everyone who is born again of the water and of the Spirit. Because baptism is the way the Church has new children we can say that the Church is a place where the new birth is imparted. The Church is a birthing place where new children of the Kingdom are born again and become members of a new family and enjoy a new place of family and faith. This is home. A home where neither our physical or national differences, nor our differences of status or stature keep us from saying together, "Abba, Father!"  

We often think about evangelization as inviting people to Christ. And this is true. But think about it. Is it not an invitation to come home? To leave the world and our wandering through it and find rest in Christ? Christ calls to the world saying, "Come unto me all of you who labor and are heavy hearted. Come to me and find rest for your souls. Come home and I will give you rest." These simple and profound words speak to the very core of everyone who is struggling with life without God's love. Nothing penetrates the very center of a separated son of Adam or daughter of Eve as these words of invitation and reconciliation. Such words are words of liberation and freedom revealing that there is a place of hope; a place called home.

Baptism is a profoundly simple gesture and action of the Church. Packed into that celebration, however, is the Spirit of life in Christ. Every baptism is an intense encounter with Christ, an encounter the Church nourishes with her Sacraments. In the teaching of the Scriptures we learn of our inheritance in Christ as members of our new family. In the confessional we renew our understanding of the Love that can not, that will not ever fail us. In our friendships with one another, we find a new family of brothers and sisters we did not know we had before we came home.

The Church is a place of family and friendship that resonates deeply in me. I hope it does with you. We must make sure that the hearth of welcome is burning brightly. The welcoming embrace of the Spirit must saturate all that we do in the name of Christ.  

As in all families and homes, there are scuffles, misunderstandings, and hurt feelings. But if you are in Christ you are my brother and my sister. Give me your hand, and let's pray together and for each other. Let's be friends and so much so that the world will know that we are disciples of the man of Galilee. The one who walked on water, healed the lepers, raised the dead, and fed the hungry of heart and body. This is the Christ we know; it is the Christ we want our family and friends to know. 

Today we will pray together the family prayer: "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." We will behold Jesus high and lifted up on the family table. And then we will be fed with his life in the bread which is his body and the wine which is his blood. This is how we who are one in Christ Jesus celebrate Family in the Father's House, in this place we call home. Amen.

Dennis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN.  Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail him at: dennishankins@gmail.com   Visit him at: www.dennishankins.com

Falling Head Over Heels in Love with Jesus!

Reflections on the Readings

June 16, 2013 - Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time- Year C

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

Falling Head Over Heels in Love with Jesus!

And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment; and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment. (Luke 7:37-38)

The Readings today begin with the sin and wretched actions of David, the King of Israel. "I have sinned against the Lord," King David confesses. This sweet singer of Israel, the lad who fell the great warrior Goliath, sank into the awful abyss of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life - deception, adultery, infidelity, and finally murder. Perhaps for just a moment he thought the rules, the commandments, did not apply to him. I've met folks like that, especially in the mirror. 

Far from negating the Law, Jesus said, "For truly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished." Jesus strongly forbade any relaxation of the commandments. Jesus taught the fulness of their meaning explaining, "You have heard it said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire." I hear my name in that word 'whoever.'

Concupiscence is the capacity and propensity we all have to sin against the Lord. The Law marks out the way to live but is unable to give us the power to live as we should. In the Christian understanding, the Law is holy, spiritual, and good. It is a tutor showing us what is right and wrong, but does not give us the grace of the Spirit to fulfill it. (Romans 7:12, 14) It is Paul who teaches us that it is life in the Spirit we need. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2) The Holy Spirit of life transforms us and gives us the power to resist the devil and to pursue love for God and neighbor. In the second reading Paul exclaims, "I am crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Paul's language is rich and provocative! We may even feel a little put off by his strong words - crucified with Christ - that are not exactly romantic and mushy. But Paul is presenting to us the depth of the newness we need and receive when we put on Christ in baptism. Our deepest seat of rebellion against the God of love is confronted with a greater power. A greater life is given to us; a new life that gives us a new relationship as sons and daughters of the new Adam who loved us and gave himself for us. That my friend is the power and grace and majesty of every baptism we witness.

Paul preaches a Jesus who is able to make us a new creation. If you and I are in Christ, we are a new creation. The old is passing away, and behold, Jesus is making everything about us new. It is this newness the woman of the city receives that we hear about in today's gospel. 

How does this encounter between Jesus and this woman of the streets make you feel? Do you find her adoration of Jesus compelling? Does this scene cause you to reflect on your relationship with Christ? Does this story inspire you to love Jesus more deeply and more intentionally? Are you completely satisfied with where you are in Christ? Or is there a holy gnawing to know Jesus better today than yesterday? To love him more perfectly? To hear his voice in your heart more clearly?

What a Gospel story this is today. This beautiful sinner approaches Christ with humility and adoration. She demonstrates how beautiful are the feet Christ, the Gospel incarnate. When she heard he was at the Pharisees house, she sought for him and found him. When she found him she loved him. And Jesus made her whole and new and alive. Yes he did. Oh, yes he did!

Might we increase in our love for Christ who loved us and gave himself for us?Is it possible to love Jesus too much? I agree with you; I don't think so. He alone takes away our sin so he alone is our life and our joy. Christ alone is worthy of our complete and unending adoration and love. 

The greatest love the world has ever known is the Love that was held to an old rugged cross with nails. Such reproach only increased the reality of that Solitary figure and his love for the whole world. This man who welcomed the little children and hugged them and blessed them loves you and me. He raised the dead, and healed the lepers, and he welcomed this 'woman of the city,' whose sins were many. Jesus received the love she gave him and he gave her a love she'd never known. 

Might we just emulate her a little bit? Perhaps we could linger a little longer and more often in his presence. If we give him more of ourselves we increase in his life and love and mission. Are we aware of his presence? Do we invite his power and grace into our lives and homes and places of play and work? What would be too much attention to Christ and him crucified, buried, and risen? 

The Church is calling us to a new springtime. We are at the threshold of a new evangelization. This new wave of the Spirit includes a new awakening in you and me to the things of Jesus. It is really a call to fall in love with Jesus again for the first time. To love Jesus first again. To fall head over heels in love with Jesus. And then to invite everyone we know to fall in love with him too!

Dennis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN.  Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail him at: dennishankins@gmail.com   Visit him at: www.dennishankins.com

The Evangelical Gospel

Reflections on the Readings

June 9, 2013 - Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time- Year C

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

The Evangelical Gospel

"For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not man's gospel." - Paul (Galatians 1:11)

"You're the greatest gospel preacher I've ever heard," I told my daddy. That was many years ago and I'm glad I told him of my admiration of him before he passed. His robust and vibrant preaching was filled with the great depths of the message of Jesus Christ. He preached of his love for his Savior and invited his congregations through the years to love him too. For their edification he proclaimed Jesus Christ, and him crucified on a hill far away. But he didn't stop there. He knew what Paul knew and what the Church has proclaimed since the beginning. There is an empty tomb in Jerusalem!

The gospel should not be preached with an uncertain sound. It is not timidity that has marked the Church these many centuries. Men and woman from the beginning have given bold and faithful testimony of Jesus Christ risen and alive forevermore. The world always will need to hear that from us. They need to hear about the Jesus who fills our imagination, inspires our prayers, and ignites our parishes with a love for the world that is not of this world. 

Paul tells us that his gospel is not man's gospel. He didn't learn it from man. A man didn't teach it to him. It came to him through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul came to know Jesus Christ for himself because Jesus Christ claimed Paul for himself. That encounter with Jesus Christ seized him, and changed him, and then sent him into the world with the message that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. And then Paul added, "Of whom I am chief." Paul met Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road. He was on his way to Damascus to continue his violent persecution of the Church of God. His goal was to destroy the Church and to wipe the memory of Jesus Christ from the earth. But thanks be to God, Jesus rescued Paul. There are many more to rescue.

We can have confidence in the gospel because it is not of human invention. It is anchored in the great story of Jesus Christ. We celebrate him not because he left the world a nice memory. He is not just a great figure of history. He is the Lord of Heaven and Earth. He is the one who gives new life and takes away the old life of sin and separation from God. We celebrate and proclaim Jesus Christ because he kicked the stone from over the mouth of his tomb. He was on that wonderful Sunday morning the Bright and Morning Star. His resurrection illuminated the world. 

That great resurrection morning has inspired art and music and the imagination of millions. It has picked up the lowliest of sinners and confronted the arrogance of kings. Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, shines. He shines on the drunk laying in his own filth on skid row. He shines on the lonely and desperate heart of the prostitute. He shines on the friendless kid on the school playground. Jesus shines! He lives and shines through the witness of folks like you and me. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. A story about Jesus Christ. A story like no other story the world has known. It is that story we must tell, retell, and keep telling. A story of truth and life and hope. 

This message of forgiveness and new life in freedom from sin is the story entrusted to the Church. It is entrusted to you and to me. It is our story and if we don't tell it, who will? It is our story and if we don't live it, who will? It is our story and if we don't apply its meaning in service to our family and friends, who will? 

The evangelical gospel knows no boundaries. It does not cower to the faces of the people. Our confidence in the efficacy of the gospel is not diminished because of human ordinances. The power of the gospel does not suddenly erode because of laws and prohibitions against it. No my friend. The gospel is alive. It will always inspire us to feed the hungry, embrace the poor, visit the prisoner, and give water to the thirsty. With Paul, we are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. The evangelical witness of the gospel covers the earth and its power defeats hatred, and sin, and comforts the weary and refreshes the heart of men and women everywhere. 

Some came to Galatia and preached a different gospel. It was a gospel that pleased and tickled the ears of those who heard it. But Paul defended the gospel he preached. He told the Galatians not to seek the favor of men or to delight in another gospel because there is no other gospel. Some were trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. And Paul responded with clarity and power. He said, "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, If any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed."

Strong words. Words we need to hear ourselves. There is not another gospel. There is only one gospel. And it is the great evangelical gospel of Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of God. (Galatians 1:3) May the gospel again grab us, and claim us, and renew us again and again. And then let us go into all the world and give it. Let us warm the hearts of those who will receive it. Let us give its message of hope and faith and forgiveness to everyone and anyone who is enslaved by sin. Let us in the power of the gospel rescue the perishing, care for the dying, and lift the hearts of people everywhere with the gospel of Christ. Amen.

Dennis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN.  Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail him at: dennishankins@gmail.com   Visit him at: www.dennishankins.com

 

 

Symbol or Presence?

Reflections on the Readings

June 2, 2013 - The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ - Year C

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

Symbol or Presence?

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:26)

There are words that invite the imagination to soar. I'm thinking of words like boundless, bottomless (like a bottomless well), splendor, beauty, and grandeur. Our list could include words such as immeasurable, limitless, infinite, and unfathomable. Words creatively crafted to tell a story help us to imaginatively taste exotic foods and touch beautiful things and tremble at things untouchable. Moments in time and  special events also powerfully impact us so that years later those moments are near to us.  

Thanksgiving Day in 2006 is especially memorable for me. Daddy died May 20th of that same year. Now with both Mom and Dad gone, I wanted to spend Thanksgiving with my sister, Rachel, and her family in Oklahoma. My sisters, Rachel and Mary Rose, my wife Debbie, and my sister-in-law, Jill, all set themselves to preparing the Thanksgiving meal. Their goal was to make everything the way Mom made it. So they cooked the Turkey and dressing, mashed the potatoes, seasoned the green beans, and prepared every dish and made every dessert according to mom's recipes and style. 

When we sat down at the table the aroma of Mom's kitchen wafted through the air. I led in prayer for this beautiful moment and I thought that I would see Mom and Dad at the table when I lifted my head at the Amen. And then with every bite, I was back home, sitting around the table with my folks and brothers and sisters. Every thing tasted the way Mom would have made it. And any moment I expected Mom and Dad to be sitting with us at that Thanksgiving meal. You will understand if I say it was both bitter and sweet. But mostly, it was healing. Healing we all needed. A healing that only recipes from Mom's kitchen could give us.

I'm not going to quote the statistics about how many Catholics no longer or never did believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. No, I'm not going to beat you up if you are in that number. Nor am I going to berate my Protestant brothers and sisters who believe that the Bread and the Wine are only symbols. Instead, I'm going to ask a question. And that question is simply, "Why not? Why do you not believe that Christ is present in the breaking of the bread and the wine is now his blood?"

I can imagine many answers to my question. And I would agree with you that it seems preposterous to believe that the consecrated bread and wine is the Body and Blood of Jesus. It defies all of our senses and in some ways may seem utterly repugnant. But if we believe, and we do, that Christ can be in us, then why can't he be in that bread and in that wine? If the Holy Spirit can cause our hearts to be the dwelling place of the most High, then why can't Christ be really present, body and soul and divinity, in the only meal that has defined the Christian faith for 21 centuries? It has been this holy food, celebrated and discerned by believers for 2,013 years, as the sacred meal Jesus left us to feed our souls. 

Several years ago I was a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. My Bishop shared how he taught the Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist one time at the Cathedral. During Halloween he spotted a Chalice at a store on which were all manner of Satanic images and symbols. He bought it to use for an illustration he intended share with his Cathedral family the next Sunday. During his homily he held that cup up and said, "If I filled this cup with wine and invoked the name of Satan over this wine and then invited you to drink it, would you receive it?" Immediately there was a collective gasp. Then he asked, "Why then, when I offer you the Body and Blood of Christ, you do not believe that it is Jesus I give you?"

St. Ambrose, speaking about the conversion of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ says, "Could not Christ's word, which can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not before? It is no less a feat to give things their original nature than to change their nature."

The Thanksgiving meal memory I shared above gave me and my brothers and sisters and our families a wonderful way to remember the life and love of Mom and Dad. The Holy Eucharist, however, brings Christ to us. This Sacred meal changes us and empowers us to know Christ more deeply. It inspires our hearts to be aware of the presence of Christ in the fullest sense. Our bodies transform the natural food we eat into the energy and sustenance our bodies need to keep functioning. The Body and Blood of Christ changes us. This Food transforms us more and more into the image of him who loved us and gave himself for us. It is not magic; it is the mystery of being touched by the power of Christ's indestructible life. And as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, Christ touches us with his endless life, until we shall see him as he is. This is our hope. It is this hope that purifies us until Christ comes again! Amen.

Dennis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN.  Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail him at: dennishankins@gmail.com   Visit him at: www.dennishankins.com