The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

Who has the devil? Who has the truth? In the two opposing sides the accusations against the other are the same: "you are a lying devil".

Without knowing any of the details of either party it looks like a truly sad comedy. And so often there is much confusion because the lying side counters with the same arguments as the side with the truth.

The devils are the ape of Christ and so it follows that lies are the ape of the truth. For every truth that is revealed there are many more lies that are presented as the truth.

If we look no deeper than the surface of the words we have no way of determining what is truth and what is lie. And in this we are often confused. But, the confusion can be easily lifted if we are not too lazy to look deeper.

How many times does the Church have to show herself to be the true Church? How many times does she have to prove that the false accusations of her enemies are lies?

Christ had to face these devils (who were using men to do their bidding) in His day and we must face the same devils (who are using different men to do their bidding) today. The Gospel of this Sunday plays out right before our very eyes today just as it did in the days' of Christ.

The blasphemies of modern men sound very similar to the ones that Christ faced as recorded in today's Gospel. They sound similar because they emanate from the same source. They come from the same devils who are just "inspiring" different men.

How can we reason or prove anything to those who are blinded by the "inspirations" of devils? After presenting the truth over and over to the best of our ability and they still will not see, we are forced to leave them in their evil just as Christ did in today's Gospel.

When arguing with souls such as these it seems that it is prudent for us to recall that our battle is not with flesh and blood, but with demons. As long as they are under this demonic influence they are incapable of accepting truth. Therefore we are incapable of making them see it. Only by first chasing the demons away from them, and then adding a special grace from God, will they ever be able to see the truth.

Therefore when we see that there is an obstacle to the truth for certain people, and we can find no logical or human reason for it, then we must conclude that it is another soul blinded by the devils. Many cannot be helped because they will not to be helped. But, for those who can be helped the first thing we must do, is work to remove them from the evil influence they are under.

Let us begin with calling upon the name of Jesus Christ; Let us make use of sacramentals (the Sign of the Cross, Holy Water, etc.) and if need be proceed to prayer and fasting as Our Lord pointed out to His disciples as the means of casting out some more "difficult" demons. And then it may need to be that a priest must be called in to perform an exorcism.

There is truly not enough time in the world for the limited priests living today to accomplish the tremendous task of expelling all these demons. We have become so familiar with these demons that we seldom see them for who they truly are.

It may be that those under this demonic influence will hate us for what we are attempting to do for the good of their own souls. They may attempt to do to us what they did to Christ. And we must not be afraid, just as Christ was not afraid, to die in defense of the truth.

Those who love the truth have nothing to fear from death. The truth teaches us that the death of this body is not to be feared; it is the death of the soul that we must fear above everything else. The body will resurrect but the soul damned to Hell will be eternally damned.

Let us not be intimidated or led astray by lies. Let us be humble to the truth and willingly and lovingly accept it. And even if we are unable to share the truth with those around us we must take consolation in the fact that we are with Christ. Even if we are stoned or crucified to death we have not lost. God's cause is not finished, because filled with the love of the truth we confidently look forward with faith and hope for the glorious resurrection of our own bodies with Christ's and the other saints.

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