The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friends,

Our bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost and as such are always in need of repair or maintenance. We see very clearly all the homes and buildings around us and without due diligence they will soon fall into disrepair. The same is true with our bodies and souls.

Since the fall of man we see that everything tends towards its own dissolution. This includes our own selves. Our bodies must always be nourished and given adequate rest to restore and rebuild that which is wearing away. This tendency is true with our souls too.

Influenced by the devils, the disordered world and our own fallen nature our souls are inclined more towards evil (the lack of goodness) rather than towards God. And so we must vigilantly watch out for that which will harm our souls and we must constantly seek to nourish and nurture our souls so that they will be worthy temples of the Holy Ghost.

St Augustine tells us that the miracle that Jesus performed in today’s gospel is nothing compared to the miracle of our continued existence. The mere maintenance of this world and our lives is a much greater miracle than the multiplication of bread and fishes.

The miracle of a single seed and the potential life and fruit is a miracle beyond comprehension, but because it is so common we never see or reflect upon it. The flora and fauna, the regularity of the seasons, the rotation and the orbit of the earth and planets, etc. should all fill us with a great appreciation and love for God Who created and maintains all this.

We see the constant decay and decrease, yet through a miracle of God’s goodness, life continues.

Our souls if we will observe carefully are subject to many faults and failings and to an eternal destruction, but God in His goodness offers us over and over again the miracle of His grace, and life.

We have been given this season of Lent to examine our lives and see the disorder, decay, and destruction, so that we may begin to repair, renew, and restore all that is failing in our souls. God has given us the means to do this through the sacraments, prayer, penance, almsgiving, etc. Now, during this season of Lent is the time to humble our proud spirits and acknowledge our unworthiness. Then, in this spirit we can begin to do penance and offer sacrifice in reparation for our sins and failings.

Our soul is fed and nourished very often at the sacrifice of our bodies. That is why we need fasting, and almsgiving, and that is why we must bruise our pride and vanity to establish humble obedience.

If we only seek to build up and maintain our bodies at the expense of our souls then we will lose both body and soul in the fires of Hell. If we lose this body of ours for the love of God, we will eventually save both our body and soul for Heaven.

St. Leo the Great says: “Let no one despise the patience of God’s goodness because his own sins go unpunished (Rom. Ii 4); and think that because he has not felt His wrath he has not offended God. The days of grace of this mortal life are not prolonged, nor the time allotted to the foolish of heart before they cross over to the pains of eternal punishment, unless while justice holds its hand they seek for the medicine of penance.”

God has multiplied our days on the earth just as He multiplied the bread and the fishes, so that we would be nourished and thus repair and build up our souls as His living temple. If we are faithful in receiving the good He gives us, one day we will become perfect in His mercy and forgiveness so that we will be found suitable to enter into His glory in Heaven. If we refuse this grace and refuse to humble ourselves and do penance we will starve our souls and die not only the first death but the second too in Hell.

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