The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friends in Christ,

Once again, Our Holy Mother the Church, in today's Gospel reading (Saint Matthew 22:1-14), presents to us the parable of the Wedding Feast. Saint Gregory tells us that this parable refers to the Church here on earth because one who was unworthy entered and was cast out. If the parable referred to Heaven, the unworthy could not enter, nor is anyone ever cast out of Heaven.

The Wedding is the marriage of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, to our humanity, or more specifically, to the Church. The prophets were sent out first to invite the world to the feast, and many refused to come. The Apostles were sent out later, and again, many refused. Those who openly refuse to go to the Wedding Feast never taste the marriage dinner.

Throughout Church History, we see that many were brought in from the highways to fill the Church. Many enter the Church by way of a kind of force. One type of "force" is through the faith of parents and others; infants are baptized and brought into the Church. It is a blessing that they did not actively choose, but they fill the Church, nonetheless. While it is an inconceivable great blessing to be born into the Church before we can even understand what we are doing, some have entered but have not put on the Wedding Garment and are cast out.

The virtue of faith is what brings us into the Church and into the Marriage feast, but the garment of Charity must be put on. Charity is twofold, much like a garment. It consists of love for God and love for one's neighbor. Our clothing likewise may be considered to consist of two parts, an inner and an outer, or upper and lower parts.

It is faith that gains us access to the Church, but it is Charity that allows us to remain there. Many are excluded because they choose not to believe. Sadly, many begin well in faith but end badly because of an unwillingness to put on the two-part garment of Charity. It is not enough to love God to the exclusion of loving our neighbors as ourselves; nor is it enough to love our neighbors to the exclusion of loving God with our entire being. It is false Charity to suggest that we love God but hate or despise our neighbors. It is false Charity to put on the "Humanism" cloak of loving our neighbors while hating, despising, or even denying God.

We should be extremely grateful that God has blessed us enough to bring us into the Church, that we now find ourselves seated at the Marriage Dinner. Nonetheless, we must remain humble and vigilant, as we may still be cast out. Those cast out are in an even worse state than those who have never entered because their hands and feet are bound before they are cast out. Their bound hands and feet prevent them from committing further evil, but they also prevent them from doing anything meritorious for Heaven. The Pagan may yet believe and be baptized and thus enter the Wedding Dinner. The Apostate is cast out with very little chance of ever returning. Those who refuse to practice the virtue of Charity are soon cast out and lose the virtue of Faith as well.

The problem is not a defect in the graces given, but it is in the will of people who willingly choose to reject these graces. This deliberate act of refusal and defiance against The Holy Ghost's gifts is also a refusal of the Holy Ghost (God Himself). This sin against the Holy Ghost is the only sin that cannot be forgiven, because the sinner has deliberately chosen never to seek forgiveness or amendment.

While we are here on earth, the Church is filled with both saints and sinners. We are never (in this life) secure that we or others are or will remain one or the other. The "saint" may yet become a terrible sinner and be eternally lost, and the sinner may yet become a great saint and enter the eternal Kingdom of Heaven. This potential for transformation should fill us with hope and inspire us to strive for spiritual growth.

To do well in this life and in eternity, we must accept the gift of Faith from God and be baptized and enter the Church. But this is not all, nor is this the end — it is just the beginning. The Church is a place of grace, but it is also a place of responsibility. We must work to increase this grace (gift) of Faith and turn it into a virtue (or habit) and enlarge this Faith, as well as all the other virtues — especially Hope and Charity.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!

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