This homily by Fr. Matthew Howell was given at St. Herman Church on the first Sunday after Pentecost on which the Church commemorates all the saints who have loved God since the beginning of the world. Fr. Matthew talks about the idea of "thin places", prevalent in the culture of ancient Celtic Christians. "Thin places" are places in which heaven and earth meet. When Fr. Matthew says that we need to become "thin people," he does not mean that our physical size is essential to our salvation, but that we must make our hearts, minds, and entire beings "thin places" in which heaven and earth meet. He says that St. Paul gives us the prescription to become spiritually "thin people": "lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely" (Hebrews 12:1). When we hold onto our passions, our heart becomes crushed under this weight of sin, and the distance between us and God increases.
