The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

Today we witness two men professing their faith in Jesus Christ. The profession of our faith is a necessity for the reception of God's grace and the salvation of our souls.

Christ has said: "Whosoever shall confess me before man, I will also confess him before my Father who is in Heaven." (Matt. 10: 32)

We must always be ready to profess the true faith. When we are questioned by those in authority we must be prepared to profess our belief in the true faith even if it means being tortured and put to a most cruel and painful death. Christ when questioned by the high priest did not hesitate to say that He is Jesus Christ the Son of God. The saints did not hesitate even in the face of certain death (martyrdom) to profess their faith.

In today's society there is such an indifference to religion that it now seems improbable that we will be asked to deny our faith or die. The devils have established an indirect manner of having men deny God today. Society tends to ignore the faith of the individual in a faulty sense of "freedom" and "separation of church and state". This places God and our faith in a much less prominent role in our lives. God is no longer the first place if He is given any place at all. This is an indirect denial, if you will, of God (Who demands the first place.)

Religion and politics which should both be of great importance to every man has now been relegated to a hidden and last place in men's lives. All too often we hear people announce that they do not discuss "religion and politics". They do not discuss God or society. And these are most important things for men to know, love and share with their fellow men.

Our society and the devils have divided and conquered: first, men's faith in God and next, men's love for their country, government, and even their families. Every man appears isolated now from all religious, political and family society. I witness constantly people living, working, traveling, etc. together, and they are so self absorbed and self centered that they barely if at all recognize the existence of those around them. Young people have their electronic games, mp3 players, and cell phones and live in their own "virtual" world, and appear completely incapable of dealing with the "real" world around them, and much less the real world of the supernatural and God.

If we speak to them of God and the faith they look as if we are speaking in a foreign language to them. Or they put on a condescending attitude as if they are far above and removed from having any faith. They will often even tell you that they believe that we have the right to believe whatever we want. And therefore they have the right to believe whatever they want and so we should just drop the entire subject and go on with more important things. But, what could be more important than our eternal welfare?

As true Roman Catholics we must ever be vigilant to proclaim and display our faith. We must not be ashamed to have articles of our faith prominently displayed in our homes for all to see who visit us. We should never hesitate to bless ourselves before we eat _ even in public _ or to be seen praying our Rosary beads. We should never hesitate to bow our heads at every mention of our Lord's name, or to come to His defense when His name is taken in vain. We should ever be vigilant to receive the Sacraments, especially Confession and Holy Communion. How many souls are scandalized and lost for all of eternity because "good" Catholics did nothing?

When asked what we believe we should never be at a loss of what to say. Every Catholic should be able to recite at least the Apostles' Creed from memory at any time. This gives us a very concise declaration of the true faith. There are also the Athanasian, and the Nicene Creeds available to refute various errors of faith. We should know our catechism and have a ready answer for most every question that may be posed to us by non-believers. And today we must have also somewhat of an understanding of the decrees of the Council of Trent. This council gives us a solemn profession of faith and refutes many more errors of the heretics of modern times, especially those of the new religion (Novus Ordo) that promote a false ecumenism, liberalism, and modernism.

Let us not deceive ourselves into thinking that just because we did not openly deny our faith that we have done well. All too often men are damned because of sins of omission. It is just as much a denial of Christ to say or do nothing. We need not be fanatics, but we must not be careless of our obligations to profess our faith by our words, signs and actions.

Franciscan Benefactor Seraph Subscription Vocations Have you remembered God?