THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

3 September 2023

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The Sunday

Sermon

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Dear Friends,

Today's Gospel reading is from Saint Matthew 6, 24-33. Jesus is teaching us that the quality of all our works is determined not by external appearances but rather by the dispositions of our hearts and minds.

We often labor for material gain, and God often rewards us with this material gain. Our labors are helpful. We obtain what we labor for. God is good and just in all this. Jesus is teaching us that struggling for worldly gain is foolishness because we could be working for something much more significant than this. The farmer who reaches out and picks the leaves from his apple tree gets what he wants, but he is not acting wisely because he should be stretching out his hand to choose the fruit — not the leaves.

In the pursuit of material gain, we obtain temporary things. We should be pursuing eternal or spiritual things. Sometimes we are inclined to have two goals in mind. We want to labor for both material and spiritual gains. This is where today's Gospel reading begins: "No man can serve two masters." We can serve for material gain, or we can serve for spiritual gain, but we cannot correctly do both.

If we set our sights on the eternal treasures of heaven, we need not worry about the material necessities. We will still obtain all that we need in this material realm if we serve only God or labor only for spiritual goods. When we give all to God, He will return all that we need for our bodies and souls.

Worrying is also very unproductive. Our bodies have a way of obeying the thoughts of our minds. When we think negatively, we often subconsciously work to bring that negative thing into our lives. It seems strange, but we tend to bring about what we fear or dread the most. Opposed to worry is faith or trust. When our thoughts are filled with optimistic hope and trust that God makes all things turn out well, we begin to fill our lives with the positive things we desire. Faith, hope, and charity are precisely what the world needs today to overcome so many mental diseases. We find ourselves in darkness, hopelessness, and despair when we turn our sights upon the earth or ourselves. The solution should be obvious to us. We need to follow the teachings of Jesus: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things will be added unto you."

We need to lift our hearts and minds to God and Heaven. This is what we are working for. Our sole purpose in this world is to work out our salvation. God made us to be with Him in Heaven. To fulfill our purpose in this life and obtain the reward of eternal happiness in Heaven, we need to know, love, and serve God. This is the simple lesson we all memorize from our Catechism. It is time to take these memorized words and put them into action. These words are not just empty sounds that we were forced to make. Our first and primary goal is to reach and obtain Heaven and be eternally united with God. What we eat, wear, or sleep is infinitely less important than where we will spend eternity.

When we love and desire God and Heaven, our souls find peace and rest. When our souls are at peace and rest, our bodies follow and find peace and rest wherever we are or in whatever condition we are in. When we lay up treasures in Heaven, we will still have all we need in this life because God loves and provides for us. Our Father in Heaven knows exactly what we need, and He will provide everything we need when we need it.

When we receive a present, it is usually packaged or wrapped attractively. We would make a great mistake in stopping and treasuring only the wrapping because we would never discover the treasure inside. Our soul is a treasure packaged within our bodies and in this world. Our bodies and this world are all lovely and attractive, but it is a mistake not to look further to discover and treasure our eternal souls within.

It is not a matter of thinking that this world and our bodies are evil or useless. All that God has created is good. It is simply a matter of prioritizing. We need to value things appropriately. God and Heaven are the greatest or most important — the world and material things are the least important. We fall in between these two. Our souls are more important than our bodies, and our bodies are more important than the food we eat, the clothes we wear, or the places we sleep.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!