Sunday Sermon

“And they began all at once to make excuse.” St. Luke 14:18.

These must have been very ill bred and discourteous people who so rudely declined a friendly invitation to a magnificent banquet. Enraged at their conduct, the one who invited them (as the parable shows us), excluded them forever from his table. Do not the majority of Catholics, act in the same way towards their Lord and God? He invites them to His first Supper, in which He gives us His own Flesh and Blood as our food and drink; and yet, how many there are who make excuses, and despise that precious Banquet, by going but seldom to holy Communion! He invites us to the heavenly Marriage-feast, that we may share with them forever in all imaginable and unimaginable delights; but how many excuse themselves and refuse to come, because they prefer to indulge in forbidden pleasures, and glut themselves with the husks of swine! Daily, He invites sinners, to His grace and friendship. He calls upon them to be converted and do penance, and promises that He will forgive them everything, so that they may not be excluded from His heavenly marriage-feast; but how many there are who make excuses, and reject the proffered grace by constantly deferring repentance and conversion to some indefinite time, saying always, by way of answer to their long-suffering Lord: I will come, but not now: later on; I will do penance and be converted, but not immediately; at some other time! In view of this insulting and injurious treatment of our best Friend, let us consider, to day

I. The majesty and mercy of Him who invites the sinner to repentance; and

II. The insult and insults offered to God by the procrastinating sinner.

It has been a long, strange journey. It started some fifteen months ago and I thought it would never end, quite frankly. But it is finally over. We are allowed to finally gather together as God's family and celebrate Mass together in the little chapel we have called home for almost ten years. And I would dare say that it is fitting that we are allowed to gather together this week because this week we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi.

The greatest manifestation of God's power was not in creation but in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, when Satan was defeated. For it says in (Ephesians 1:19-20). “Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know....what is the immeasurable greatness of Gods power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.” The crucifixion of Jesus was the worst evil ever committed in man's history. It was also the very best thing that ever happened on this earth. If God is powerful enough to convert the worst event of history into the very best, then you can be certain that He will turn everything that happens in your life also into something glorious for you. “For we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose to be saints.” (Romans 8:28).

All the apostolic functions of the Church must begin in the name of the Blessed Trinity. All the Sacraments are administered in the name of the Blessed Trinity. The same name is invoked at the beginning of the Mass, and at the beginning of a sermon. All Christians make the sign ofthe Cross in this name when they pray. But how perverse the Christian world is in this respect nowadays! For once that we hear the name of God we hear that of the devil twenty, a hundred times. There are many Christians of whom we have good reason to believe that they begin and end all their actions in the name of the devil, so accustomed are they to make use of curses and imprecations. Yet they who are addicted to this habit bring forward all kinds of excuses in order to show that cursing is either harmless, or that, at all events, it is only a small fault; or that, through long continued habit, it is impossible to correct it.

Every Christian is called to be a saint - this is true! When thinking of the saints, our minds often turn to those who have been canonized by the Church and who inspire a special devotion among the faithful. But every member of the Church should be leading the life of sanctity, every member of the Church should be striving to be holy. It is in the daily struggle, the daily fighting of the good fight, that saints are made. It is in the victory of grace over our own fallen nature - the doing of the will of God as opposed to our own selfish will - that we find sanctification. It is in daily self-denial, picking up one's cross, and following the Lord Jesus Christ that the sinner is lifted up by Him Who draws all things to Himself.

A true, committed Christian needs to be just that . . . a true, committed Christian 24 hours a day, whether he/she is at church . . . or at home . . . or at work . . . or at the grocery . . . or even driving in traffic.

How Much Prayer Does It Take to Save a Soul?

"And the Lord answering, said to her: Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things: But one thing is necessary...." (Luke 10:41-42)

So much does God, who is all-sufficient to Himself, love a poor mortal who loves him, that, not satisfied with dwelling in heaven and earth, He wishes to dwell in that man personally with his whole divine essence. “If any man, love Me,” He says, “he will keep my word, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him,” that is, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost will take up their dwelling within him. Just souls, children of God, rejoice and exult, that this great honor is yours! Oh! be most careful never to lose by mortal sin the great Guest, your God, who dwells in and with you.

Pentecost! It is a reminder and celebration of the great mystery of the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Blessed Virgin and the Apostles in the Cenacle at Sion. It is also a lesson of challenge for us: The Spirit of God is never given in vain. That same Spirit Who descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost also descends upon every Christian soul in the waters of Baptism. That same Spirit given to the Apostles so that they might forgive sins remains with those who have succeeded the Apostles in generations since, and sins are still being forgiven. That same Spirit challenges each and every one of us this day, this week, this year not to receive the grace of God in vain, but rather to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.