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 w

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.

Today we celebrate the Birthday of the Church. The promise has been fulfilled. The Holy Ghost has been poured out on the 120 or so apostles and disciples and Mary the Mother of Jesus. And the 120 or so apostles and disciples with Mary had been filled with the Holy Ghost. Let us think for a moment about why the Holy Ghost had been given?

We read in the Second Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles when the Holy Ghost came upon the Apostles while they were gathered together. We hear "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, . . . ." When I read this, I wonder what exactly does a "sound from heaven" sound like?

Our Lord is ascended into heaven! This great mystery brings with it a mixture of joy and of sorrow to the Apostles. Joy that our Lord is seated at the right hand of the Father, but sorrow that the Lord has gone ahead, leaving them behind in this world. Our Lord had promised them, however, that He would not leave them orphans. The Holy Ghost would be sent to them in all power, and they would be witnesses unto the Lord even unto the uttermost regions of the world. In His power, His presence, and His essence our Lord truly remains with us forever. Today the Church remembers those successors of the Apostles, the Fathers of the Council of Nicea. Having received themselves the Apostolic faith, these saintly men stood firm in the face of heresy and proclaimed to the world that faith which they had received. To this day we re-echo their declaration and hold fast to this same faith.

“And you shall give testimony, because you have been with Me from the beginning.” St. John 15: 27. All the consolation and joy of the Apostles was gone, when Jesus Christ, their only comfort, had vanished from their sight. They were standing on the mountain and looking towards heaven, just as one who wishes to accompany his departing friend a part of the way, nor did they take their eyes off him, as long as He remained in sight. This was their only remaining comfort, that at least they might continue to look at him, until the cloud, hid him from them. When God is excluded from the eyes of the mind and from the heart of man, there can be no true joy nor consolation.

“The end of all things is at hand” (I St. Peter 4:7) God calls us to love one another and to share the gifts we have been given. The devil promotes nothing but hatred and division. Thus, he often uses the media and social media to cause division and hatred.

Here you have an unlimited permission to request whatever favor you desire with a full assurance of obtaining it. And yet there is nothing more common than to hear men complaining that their prayers seem to be of no avail. What is the cause of that? If ever our hearts and desires are in contradiction with the words we utter, they are so very often when we pray; for we are not always earnest in our prayers, nor do we really wish to be heard; in fact, we desire the very contrary of what we ask for. This is the case especially when we ask for heavenly graces and spiritual blessings, which ought to be the chief object of our prayers.

"One thing I know: that whereas I was blind, now I see." With these words, the man who had been healed by the Lord of his blindness gives testimony before the unbelieving Pharisees of this great miracle of healing. Just as the Pharisees wished to find fault in the healing of the blind man, so often we, too, may be tempted to find fault in the workings of God's grace. We grow impatient in our own spiritual life, and we become envious of the goods that have been bestowed upon others. Today our Lord teaches us to rejoice in all good things, and never to give up patience, that the works of God may be made manifest in us, too.

Our Blessed Savior pointed out to the disciples, we are never truly alone even when we are physically alone because God is always with us.

The Gebirah meaning meaning "Great Lady" or "Queen Mother", was clearly the most important woman in the Kingdom of Judah; a king had many wives, but only one mother. The Gebirah of the eternal Davidic Kingdom of Jesus Christ is Mary of Nazareth. Upon her Assumption into heaven Her Son placed her in her well deserved place beside His throne as mother of the King of kings.

“And when he is come he will convince the world of sin.” —St. John 16: 8. The sin of which the Holy Ghost will convince the world is the want of faith in Jesus Christ, who, in the Gospel of today, expressly says: “Of sin, because they believe not in me.” Yet this conviction will be extended to each and every sin, for all sins are due to a want of lively faith, but especially to those sins which are committed against the Holy Ghost, the chief of which is despair on the part of the sinner. But if there is any despairing sinner in the world, it is certainly he who boasts of his sins. He is the most shameless of all sinners, whether he boasts by word, or by act. He is a hopeless sinner, too, as I shall now prove.