The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

Today we are reminded that it is the little things that are important. The Kingdom of Heaven is built upon the small and the insignificant. Christ compares His Kingdom to a mustard seed or leaven in bread dough. The greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven Christ tells His apostles is not the strongest or the smartest, but is the humblest and the simplest. And to illustrate He took to Himself a little child and told us, we must become child-like if we wish to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

The King, Christ Himself, humbled Himself and became the least of us. He came to this earth to serve and not to be served. He imposed upon the Apostles that they serve one another as He has served them. The head of the Apostles was given the commandment to serve the others, and in this vein popes have traditionally signed themselves as the Servant of the servants of Christ. Christ has further informed us that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

We are often led away or carried away by the grandeur and show of the things of this world. And all too many times we are likewise distracted by the show and grandeur of false religions. The oft repeated question: "Can so many people be wrong?" is presented as an argument that numbers, power, and size make right. And this demonic deception quite frequently succeeds in deceiving the unwary.

History and our own simple intelligence tell us that the majority is almost, if not always, wrong. Truth is in the minority. Christ and His followers were always a minority even when He was followed by crowds. It was the majority in the crowd that cried out for His blood.

God has consistently chosen the humble, the weak, the insignificant of this world to work His greatest wonders and to manifest His glory. In this way it is assured that only God will receive the merit and glory of His works. All will know that the simple humble human instrument was only the tool used by God. This is something that every one of the saints understood. But, especially we may look to St. Francis of Assisi as an illustrious example of this wonder of God's mercy and grace to us.

St. Francis took Christ's words and directives to the Apostles most literally to heart. He strove to fulfill within himself as perfectly as he could all that Christ had said to do. The rule of St. Francis has been taken straight from the Gospels. Sell all that you have and give it to the poor and come follow me. Carry neither purse nor staff. Etc. But, principally St. Francis took to heart Christ's many directives to humble ourselves. St. Francis sought to be the least and to be the servant of everyone else.

And from the germ of this little humble man, St. Francis, grew arguably the most magnificent order in the Church.

In his humble and obedient love, St. Francis became a perfect reflection of Christ himself. The greatest display of love is in sincere imitation. St. Francis perfected this love and imitation to the point that he was given the most impressive sign of God's favor upon him with the very wounds of Christ Himself impressed in his own body.

St. Francis did not seek honor, titles, or glory. He only desired humility, lowliness and poverty. He desired to follow as closely as possible in the very life and footsteps of Jesus. And as a reward for this profound love and imitation to the point of extreme self-denial, St. Francis has now been lifted up to the very heights of Heaven. And his order has been prophesied to be the last surviving true religious order in the Church.

This extreme love and imitation is not for everyone. Not all are called to follow Our Lord and St. Francis in this absolute poverty, celibacy, suffering, etc. There are many saints who were rich, lived comfortably, were married etc. But, all are called to humility. All are called upon to see that they are truly insignificant or nothing and that God is Everything.

We can see clearly from today's gospel that Jesus is telling us that this is how His Kingdom is built. We see further proof of this in the lives of the saints. The Faith, our reason and even history all point out to us the truth in this. Why then do we still look for the grand and the spectacular or to a majority to follow? Why will we not find peace, joy, and contentment in humbly denying ourselves; taking up our crosses and following after Jesus amidst the mockery, scorn and ridicule of the majority? Is it not better to be alone with Christ in suffering and hardship than to be in a crowd celebrating as we damn ourselves to an eternal misery in Hell?

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