Sunday Sermon

When we plant our gardens, we have successes and failures. Sometimes the ground wasn't prepared rightly. Other times, the weather just doesn't cooperate. And sometimes, we can do everything right, and the seeds just won't germinate. Such are the difficulties of gardening in our fallen world. But with the seed of God's Word, germination and fruiting are assured... as long as the ground is good! Hear today as our Lord challenges us all to be good ground for the reception of the seed of His Holy Word!

Jesus' advent as Judge shall be quite sudden and unexpected. And for what purpose? No longer to comfort and convert men, but to judge the wicked strictly and condemn them to the fire of hell. Oh, what a terrible coming! With reason does the Church sing: How men shall shudder at the coming of the Judge! And who is that Judge? This I shall partly explain today.

There is much speculation on just what the Mark of the Beast is. Some speculate we will be chipped, but that may not be the Mark of the Beast. This character, this mark, may actually be external, but that is not what we want to consider in this homily.

And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.” Terrible are the signs of which today’s Gospel speaks as forerunners of the day of general judgment, the last day of the world. There shall he many such signs, some of which are to appear a long time beforehand, while others shall immediately precede the final catastrophe. Of the former class are those we have already known and experienced; such as the destruction of the Jewish nation: a people now without faith or king or commonwealth; the conversion of the heathens to the true religion, which has been already preached and accepted in all parts of the globe; the persecution of the Church by so many heretics as precursors of Antichrist; and besides these we have seen wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, the increase of wickedness and sin, men growing cold in the love of God, the want of reverence towards God in the churches and towards priests and spiritual superiors, and the fall of th

Advent is a little Lent. The world is now in the beginning of the holiday season, which will end at Christmas, where as Christians are in a time of preparation. Jesus will come two times. He came at the first Christmas, and will come again at the end of the world. Advent is a time of preparation for both comings of Jesus,

Ours is an unbelieving age, and of such an age our Lord said that no sign would be given, save the sign of Jonah the Prophet. And yet, the Gospel takes us along and makes us witnesses to the great miracles wrought by our Lord. Saint Luke recounts a special miracle, that of the resurrection of the young son of the widow of Naim. Our Lord, by His divine power, raises a man from the dead in the sight of all! All who witnessed it were astonished and gave glory to God. We, too, are called this day to witness this miracle and to give glory to God. Even more, we are called to witness that God's miracles have not ceased - they continue to this day. We need only learn how we can see them.

The Sadducee's had tried to trap Jesus on the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. Now the Pharisees try one last time to trap Jesus. They ask Jesus what the great commandment of the Law was. Jesus then turns the table of the questioners. He asked the Pharisees about their belief in the Messiah.

All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. (Colossians 3:17) On Thursday we celebrate the Feast of Thanksgiving. Let us consider all of the things we have to thank God for. Let us begin today to count our blessings, and we have all been blessed so much. In fact, we have much more to thank God for this year, than we did a year ago.

Would that all fathers and mothers had as great a care and interest in the eternal life of the souls of their children as most parents nowadays have for their children’s temporal welfare; if that were the case, many children would be better brought up and would save their souls!

We should often remember those who have gone before us, who fought the good fight, who kept the faith. It is through such selfless struggle and occupation with the things of heaven that enlightened their earthly life, and which has kept the light of faith burning down to our own day. We are no less called, each of us, to do the same. We must daily pick up our own crosses and follow Him Who is the Author of the faith. His Immaculate Bride, the Church, is given to us to guide us and to teach us how to give glory every day. Hear today how we can be dutiful sons and daughters of the Church, begotten in grace. 

Jesus was eating in the home of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath. He watched as these proud men picked out the places of honor for themselves at the table. Then He delivered a pointed message about humility, which must have humiliated the guests (14:7-11). Finally, as if the tension were not great enough already, the Lord told the host that he had invited the wrong guests! He said, “You should have invited the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind instead of all these friends, relatives, and rich neighbors who can return the favor” (14:12-14)! At this point you could have sliced the atmosphere with a knife!...

Those who find fault are friendly to the face of others, but fond of prying into the lives of others; without sufficient grounds they respect and condemn their neighbor. They are fond of speaking of the faults and failings of others, and therefore, by thus interfering with the affairs of others, they act against themselves and the love of God.

This time of year we honor those unsung heroes who have obtained eternal happiness by quietly doing their duty to God and man here on earth. We do not know many of their names, because they silently went about doing good. Let us consider and imitate their virtues. What sets them apart from the rest of men and women?

In this day of chaos, we must understand that Christ the King is in the midst of it all. He is in control. So in all of the turmoil around us, let us focus on becoming a holy and acceptable people worthy of our Lord.

Our Lord instructs all those who would follow Him, and He does so in diverse ways. When we hear the Gospel proclaimed, we hear instruction. When we pray in the silence of our hearts, there, too, is instruction. In the Gospel of Saint Luke, we hear about a miraculous draught of fishes and we learn the importance of the blessing and command of God in the work which we do. We can also learn the relation of private instruction and revelation to that which is public by what the Evangelist was inspired not to say. Come along and let us all follow the Lord!

“From the days of John the Baptist until now,” says our Lord, “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away,” and so, I undertake to prove that an easy and luxurious life is not the way to heaven.

Many of us find ourselves dismissing as nothing things that are mortal sins. We treat mortals sins as mere trifles. We tend to draw a line between venial and mortal sin in the wrong place.

Our Lord tells us: "Behold! I stand at the door and knock!" Likewise, we are to be like our Lord, for He tells us: "Knock and it shall be opened unto you." In seeking after the things of our Lord, we must never allow ourselves to become the victims of despondency, impatience, or even of injuries to our own pride. Rather, we must be ever more faithful and - above all - persistent in seeking those things which are good. Hear today about the Canaanite woman whose love for her daughter and whose faith in the Lord leads her to a holy persistence, even in the face of resistance and humiliation. Let us make her prayer our own: "Lord, help me!"

God wants us to get some things settled in our heart. One of the most crucial is deciding whether we are all-in when it comes to our relationship with Him. Do we want to walk in the fullness of His love and His plans? Or, do we want to spend our lives chasing after the world’s empty pleasures? Saint Therese of Lisieux had a simple rule that all of us should take to heart. "Almighty God, All Thee and no me."

After the light of the Holy Ghost has been implored by fervent prayer, the next requisite for a good confession is the examenation of conscience, or the effort to find out what sins we have committed. As many confessions are not made properly because of a lack of this requisite, remember, my brethren, 1.That he who wishes to make a good confession must examine his conscience himself. 2. That he who wishes to make a good confession must examine his conscience with proper diligence and care.