Sunday Sermon

Sooner or later, every Christian discovers that the Christian life is not a playground but a battleground...

That is a time when one requires help, when one is at the point of death. But it is also a time when great skill is required to help; and it is a certain sign that a disease is incurable when nothing but a miracle on the part of God can cure it. With reason, then, did the ruler, in to-day’s Gospel, beg of our Lord to come: “Lord, come down, before that my son dies;” there is no time for delay, because he has already begun to breathe his last. A malady of that kind is impurity, and it is an incurable and desperate malady, so that he who is infected with it has already begun to die an eternal death. For when it has once become deep-rooted it can hardly be cured, unless by a miracle of divine grace.

The reasons for memorization and considering Scripture in our heart it that there will come times in our life, when we cannot bring forth a good thought or even any thought. Something, though, will pop into your mind. And at this time, we want the right things popping into our mind.

We often bind up a person's occupation - or what they do - with who they are. This actually reveals a good insight on how what a person does is an external manifestation of that person's interior disposition.

As children of the Church, we look to our mother as she glorifies her Divine Spouse, our Lord Jesus Christ. In so doing, we are called to participate in this relationship and to catch a glimpse of the interior glory of the grace-filled soul.

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”. (St. Matthew 22:34ff) Our Lord speaks to the Pharisees but it is a good reminder for all of God’s children that we are called to place God first in our life and love our neighbor as ourselves.

There’s a documented, psychological trait known as “enclothed cognition.” This principle says that our clothes shape our thoughts and our actions. The idea is that how you dress will affect how people perceive you and it will affect how you perceive yourself. That’s why soldiers in the military have to wear uniforms and it’s why judges wear black robes.

So, it’s interesting that, in our lesson this morning, Paul talks about what we need to wear as Christians. Because if the idea of “enclothed cognition” holds true in the secular realm, it’s even more true in the spiritual realm.

Clothes make the man — or the woman — who belongs to Jesus Christ. But I’m not talking about cloth-and-fabric clothing. I’m talking about how we have been clothed with Christ, how we have put on Christ’s righteousness and holiness and character. That’s what we need to be wearing on a daily basis. we’re going to talk about the need to take off our old clothes and put on some new clothes.

Our Lord enjoins us both to love one another and to love our enemies. In doing so, we fulfill the commandments of God and our hearts are fashioned after that of our Lord Himself, who is ever meek and humble of heart.

Irreverence in the church of God is an act of the greatest contempt toward God, which he, in his anger, punishes most severely.

St. Paul reminds us that we are each called to a vocation as followers of Christ. St. Paul reminds us that we are called to walk worthily of the vocation that God has put before us.

Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost: Here's Your Sign

Jesus came into this world when people weren’t ready for him. And Jesus said the same thing would be true of his second coming as well. The point of all of this is that we need to be prepared, because Christ will return