The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

We begin the year as we ended it looking at the end of the world. Before we begin any project the first thing in our mind is its completion. We first think of a finished cake before we think of the ingredients, and mixing them and baking them. So it is with our spiritual lives. We first think of the pleasures of eternity and then we set about doing what must be done to reach this goal.

The end of this world is coming and so is the end of our lives in this world. So let us take heed of the profound instruction from St. Paul in today's epistle: "now is the hour for us to rise from sleep".

As we begin this new liturgical year we look forward to Christ's return with the hope that He will find us worthy to share an eternity with Him. But, to reach this goal we have to step back and see what must be done to get there. Knowing ourselves to be weak and sinful it must of necessity come to mind that we have to change. We must set aside the ways of the world and sin and put on the ways of God. We have to wake up from our sleep in sin and see the light of truth and beauty.

We must rise up and do penance. We must mortify ourselves and thus do all that we can to make ourselves worthy of Christ. How can we welcome His coming if we are unworthy to receive Him?

Faithfully following the lead given us by our Holy Mother the Church, we start each year in the penance of Advent. We purge out sin and subdue our rebellious hearts and bodies with alms, mortification and penance.

It is now time to clean out our hearts and minds so that we can make room for Christ to dwell there. We remind ourselves that God is a jealous lover. He demands all our love. We have been given the commandment to love God first and foremost and with all our being. All that has taken the place of God in our hearts and minds has to go. God will not take second place to any other love or affection that we have in our hearts. We must clear them all out one by one so that our hearts beat only for Him.

It is only after we have begun to truly love God as we ought to love Him, that we can then begin to love His creatures as they ought to be loved by us. These other affections and loves will take up a secondary position in our hearts and minds, but a secondary position that is very far distant from the first position occupied by God. For these finite creatures cannot compare with the infinite God.

In these days we see many who fear for the future of our society and even the world, but there seems to be little concern for immortal souls. The society and this world are both creatures and must pass away, but our souls live on forever.

We can do nothing to save society, our country, the world, or even our own lives if we do not first save our own souls. What will it profit a man to gain the whole world if he loses his soul? Yet, most people are concerned with the things that pass away rather than their own souls that will not pass away. What fools men truly are!

If we have been sleeping at the helm of our souls and have suffered shipwreck and mortal damage to our souls, now is the time for us to wake up, assess the damage and begin repairs immediately. Or if we have only veered slightly off course, now is still the time to compensate and redirect our course so that we can safely reach our destination of eternal union with God. It only takes a slight vector off course to bring us to a great distance from our goal.

God is perfect and He demands perfection from us. Let us remind ourselves that nothing stained enters the kingdom of Heaven. God can pardon and forgive and even wash away our sins. Even if our sins are scarlet they can be made white as snow. But, we must also remember that God demands that we do our part. And the first step is in loving Him so that we are spurred on to cleanse, purge, and mortify ourselves to the best of our ability so that He can come and heal and sanctify us.

It is a season for fresh beginnings. Let us not allow this Advent to slip by without progressing positively towards our goal of becoming a worthy member of the Mystical Body of Christ, so that when our lives here end we will be able to lift up our hearts to hear Him invite us to share an eternal happiness with Him in Heaven.

Franciscan Benefactor Seraph Subscription Vocations Have you remembered God?