The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

The time is drawing near. Are we ready? Not for the parties and gatherings of friends, relatives, and neighbors, but are we ready for God? Our houses are cleaned and decorated; food is ready, gifts are wrapped, etc. (Or they soon will be). But, what about our souls? What about the divine Guest who wishes to visit us this season? Are we ready for Him?

St. John upon receiving the word of God went about the region of the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance. God's priests today again preach repentance to us. It is not a baptism of repentance, but a sacrament of Penance that we are to receive. What the baptism of St. John prefigured and alluded to is made perfect in the Sacrament of Penance. In the Sacrament of Penance our sins are truly washed away and our souls are made clean.

But, in order for this sacrament to affect its purpose we must first of all receive it. We must not delay the reception of this sacrament any longer. For when Christ comes if we are not ready to receive Him, He will go on to another, just as He did over two-thousand years ago in Bethlehem. There was no room for Him in the inns or homes. He found shelter with animals which He obviously preferred to the houses of those steeped in sin.

We should consider the fact that Our Lord preferred the dirt and smell of a stable to the homes and inns of people in sin. He could have been born anywhere but He chose the shelter of animals over that of humans!

I mention this because this teaches us the hideousness and evil of sin. It is the most detestable thing there is. And God is repulsed by it. At least the dumb animals could not sin. He will allow nothing stained to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

And yet, God came down from Heaven for the souls of sinners. But, only those who believe and are baptized will enter into His fold. And of those only those who are free from sin will be able to bear His presence. Hence, the need for us to heed the words of St. John: "Make ready the way of the Lord, make straight His paths. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth..."

The sacrament of Penance gives us the tools to do just what St. John is telling us must be done in preparation for our Lord's coming. If we fail to make use of this means we will invariably lose out on a visit from the Divine Child this Christmas season, and all will have been in vain.

We must make sure that we not only receive the sacrament, but that we receive it well. For the sacrament to be valid we must have true contrition for our sins. We must be truly sorry for our sins either because we don't want to go to Hell (imperfect contrition) or because we have offended God (perfect contrition). And we must be determined to amend our lives and make reparation for any injuries or losses that we have caused.

When we examine our consciences we must look for those valleys that need filling up. We must look for our doubts and lack of faith in our lives and begin with the grace of God to fill these up with Faith and prayer. We must look for the mountains and hills of pride and vanities that we have put in the way of Christ's coming and begin to tear these down with acts of humility. We must look for the crooked ways of lying and deceit in our lives and begin to straighten them out. We must look for the rough ways of anger and impatience and start smoothing these out.

There is so much to do and so little time to do it! We must begin now and work in earnest to truly make ourselves worthy for Christ to enter into our souls this Christmas.

Even if we find that the time is too short for us to actually begin to adorn our souls with virtues and graces before He comes, He will still be pleased to find that we have at least begun to sweep out the vices and sins. Christ was not put off by the dirt in the stable but was able to transform that stable into Heaven by His mere presence. He can and will do the same for our souls. The sins that are detested and repented of do not form an obstacle to God's grace. Only the sins that we love and refuse to throw out prevent Him from coming to us.

He loves the work of transforming stables into Paradise; He loves transforming sinners into saints; defiled souls into living tabernacles where He can remain always.

Let us clear the way now so that there will be no reason for us to turn Him away when He comes seeking to dwell within our hearts.

Franciscan Benefactor Seraph Subscription Vocations Have you remembered God?