THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

Saints Peter and Paul

29 June 2025

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The Sunday

Sermon

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Dear Friends in Christ,

Today, we honor the two Apostles, Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Saint Peter preached to the Israelites, and Saint Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles. The Gentiles refers to other nationalities. God desires the salvation of everyone. He first came to invite the chosen Nation of Israel to enter into the Church and to receive the graces of salvation. After the Israelites were invited, the invitation to receive the graces of salvation within the Church was extended to all the other nations — the Gentiles. Those who received the Gospel believed and were baptized became members of the Church and entered the door of Salvation. Those who rejected Jesus and the Gospel were excluded from the Church and salvation. The invitation goes out to everyone. There is no longer a distinction to be made between Israel and Gentile. Nationalities are of no importance to our salvation. Heredity, bloodlines, genealogy, etcetera have no bearing upon our ability to enter the Church or even our place in the Church. We should be happy with whatever God has given us in the material terms of nationality, family, or bloodline. Still, we must not take this to a demonic pride where we believe that other people are less worthy than we are. On the natural or material level, we should strive to improve our nation, tribe, or family, but never at the expense of others. Charity begins at home, but it does not end there. The love of parents, siblings, children, and friends should take precedence over others, but after them, our love must extend to our neighbors.

In the spiritual realm, we understand that we are all made in the image and likeness of God; we are all made for the same reason: To know, love, and serve God in this world so that we may be happy with Him in Heaven. All are welcome in the Church, regardless of nationality, language, genealogy, bloodlines, etc. This inclusivity is a testament to God's love for all of us.

It seems that with the discovery of genealogy, the principles of inheritance, and the sequencing of DNA, we have lost sight of the spiritual and moral principles that God has given us. Evolutionary theories are taught as fact rather than theory. We can alter the characteristics of plants and animals through selective breeding, and this has significantly benefited farming. However, we cannot simply apply these principles to ourselves in an attempt to breed the perfect human race. These ideas are the principles that lead us down the immoral road of eugenics and genocide.

God has created diversity in the material realm and even within humanity. Scientists, whether consciously or unconsciously, strive to remove diversity for the convenience of industrialization. We want our crops to germinate and grow at a uniform rate, mature at a uniform time, and reach a uniform height and quality so that we can maximize yield and harvest time, as well as for the efficiency of the equipment we have developed to achieve this. God has given us the intelligence to shape His creation to meet our needs and desires. This is good, but it is also as dangerous as a two-edged sword. Powerful tools are also deadly weapons.

There is a notable diversity within humanity. The only perfect human was Jesus Christ; next to Him is His blessed mother. It isn't very reasonable for us to strive to figure out what they looked like and hold this out as the ideal for us to recreate within ourselves, either genetically or cosmetically. God asks us to conform ourselves spiritually to His Son, not physically.

Our diversity is not a hindrance, but the key to our eternal happiness. We are created to complement or complete one another, not compete. The destruction or loss of classes or nations of peoples is a loss for us all. The loss of even one baby that God has created is a significant loss for us all. Men complement women, and women complement men. Capital complements labor, and labor complements Capital. Wisdom and age complement ignorance and youth, and ignorance and youth complement wisdom and age. The rich complement the poor, and the poor complement the rich. We could continue this analogy for a very long time. The point is that the loss of either one is a tremendous loss for us all.

Every life that God has created is essential and needs to be respected and even cherished. This realization should humble pride and vanity; it should also uplift the despised and downtrodden. There is beauty and goodness in everyone because everyone is made in the Image and Likeness of God. When we learn to see Jesus in every one of our fellow humans, we begin to love them as Jesus has commanded us to love our neighbors.

Just as we are all children of Adam and Eve, we are even more so children of God — biologically as well as spiritually. Our goal is not to destroy others but to bring them as well as ourselves into the true Church to serve God in this life, receive the graces of the Sacraments He has given us, practice the virtues He has taught us, and merit the eternal reward He has promised us.

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