THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

Second Sunday in Lent

5 March 2023

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The Sunday

Sermon

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Dear Friends in Christ,

Last week's Gospel showed us the devil tempting Jesus. The devil was testing to see if Jesus was indeed God. Jesus withstood all the temptations that cause men to fall. In today's Gospel, we see Jesus manifesting His Divinity on the mountain.

We observe the weakness of Jesus' humanity when He was hungry from fasting. We see the strength of His Divinity as He withstands all the temptations of the devil. And now we behold the glory of His Divinity on the mountain.

The selected Apostles see a three-fold confirmation of Jesus' mission as Redeemer and Savior. Moses and Elias, by their presence, tell us that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. God the Father speaks from Heaven, instructing us that Jesus is the Son of God, and we must hear Him.

The glory of Heaven was briefly manifested, but then we must come down from the mountain to fulfill our duties here on earth until we are called to enter eternity. Heaven is promised and given as a reward to those who hear Jesus.

It seems odd to have to say, but hearing Jesus implies that we not only hear but also listen, follow His instructions, and do what He asks us to do. We must deny ourselves daily, take up our crosses and follow Him. Having heard the Gospels is not enough for us to be saved. We must listen to them and earnestly strive to implement them. If we have never read the Gospels, we may greatly benefit from spending a few minutes a day (or week) intently reading them. If we have already read them, rereading them has an even greater benefit. They contain an infinity of wealth and instruction, and there is always something more for us to learn or discover.

We come to know or increase our knowledge of Jesus by hearing Him in the Gospels, sermons, Mass, and liturgies. Our knowledge is brought closer to its fulfillment through greater charity (love). Charity grows from the intimate union of our souls with Jesus in the Sacraments and our daily prayers.

The many and varied aspects of the spiritual life all coalesce into one. To follow Jesus means that we love Him, and to love Him means to follow Him. The virtues are all various manifestations of good habits that are united as one. Faith, hope, and charity are like a single package. We cannot truly have one of them without the others. We may excel in one more than the others, but they must all be present to some degree.

The sufferings of Jesus are inseparable from His glories. Our penances and mortifications are inseparable from the joy of loving and serving God. An endless glory awaits us in Heaven, but to get there, we must humbly embrace our daily crosses in this world. When we follow Jesus in self-denial and the cross, He gives us glimpses of joy. He makes the cross light and sweet. This encourages us to make greater efforts of humble penance and self-denial.

We must follow Jesus into the desert this Lenten Season through our humble mortifications. At the same time, we must keep our eyes lifted to see Him in His Heavenly glory. The humiliations of Jesus in His humanity are overwhelming and cause many to doubt or lose faith in Him. However, as great as His humiliations were, His glory in Heaven is many times greater.

As we become weighted down with the cares and burdens of this life, we need to avoid the sentiments of hopelessness and despair. We can do this by lifting our hearts and minds to Jesus. He is God and can turn our struggles into genuine joy. When the burdens of penance seem too difficult, we must seek to avoid the temptation to abandon them and pursue unbridled worldly pleasure. True happiness is a spiritual thing. Pleasure is a physical thing. All animals experience pain and pleasure because they have bodies. Angels and men experience true happiness because they have souls. We have both bodies and souls, so we are capable of experiencing both pleasure and happiness. The devils are constantly suggesting to us that the pursuit of pleasure is the pursuit of happiness. This is a great lie. The unbridled pursuit of pleasure brings pain, suffering, shame, and regret.

The pursuit of true happiness is obtained by denying ourselves a few worldly pleasures so that we may focus our attention on the source of our true happiness — Jesus in Heaven. There is no sadness or regret when we humbly make a sacrificial offering of these passing pleasures — as difficult as they may be. The humble and loving offering made to God is filled with joy. It is in giving that we receive.

The greater our sacrifice and offering, the greater happiness it will bring us.