The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friends in Christ,

What did you go out to see? This is the question that Jesus poses to us, just as He posed it to the people of that time. Many had gone out to see Saint John the Baptist preaching penance and baptizing sinners. They sought a holy man. This holy man was neither a king nor a wealthy man; he was quite the opposite. He was not a flatterer of men but spoke the truth openly and honestly. Saint John did not supply them with any material advantages. He did not cure any physical ailments. He did not heal any physical injuries. He did not raise the dead to life. He did not feed the people by multiplying bread and fish. Saint John was an austere holy man, pointing out the need to do penance and prepare ourselves to receive the Messiah.

It was Saint John's humble integrity that landed him in the jail of Herod. Saint John did not fear for his own life, but rather for the eternal lives of his disciples. This is why he sent them to see Jesus. Jesus instructed them not with words but with His actions. The blind see; the deaf hear; the dead rise; and the poor have the Gospel preached to them.

It is suggested that Saint John's disciples believed that Saint John was the Savior, and so they were disinclined to believe Jesus until they saw with their own eyes. Lest the people become disillusioned with Saint John's message, Jesus assures them (and us) that Saint John's message is good and accurate, and we should listen to him. The proper preparation for welcoming Jesus is through prayer, fasting, acts of charity, and penance. Saint John's message serves as a guiding light, leading us down the path of righteousness and spiritual preparation.

There is a kind of parallel between Jesus and Saint John, as between Heaven and the Church here on earth. The riches of Heaven are not to be expected here and now. In this world, we must prepare ourselves for the Kingdom of Heaven through mortification, prayer, fasting, and penance. There can be no reward for us if we do not labor for it. There is a false spirituality that suggests that we are meant to have all the Heavenly rewards here and now. Or that these rewards are unmerited gifts from God. Rewards necessitate merits, and merits necessitate labor.

To receive Jesus, the people first went to receive John the Baptist. Saint John pointed to Jesus and how we are to draw near to Him. For us to see Jesus or even recognize Him, we must first seek out Saint John. That is, we must examine our consciences, repent, and do penance. Jesus has even made this abundantly clear. We must daily deny ourselves and take up our crosses to follow Him. This is our current state while we live in this world. Our life of penance is to end when this life ends. Our eternal bliss only begins when or if we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Self-examination and repentance are not signs of weakness, but of strength and self-awareness.

All the praises that Jesus had for Saint John are directives to us to embrace these same qualities. It is tempting to us as it was tempting to Saint John's disciples to become envious of those who are already enjoying the presence of Jesus. While Jesus was with His Apostles, they ate, but the disciples of Saint John fasted. When Jesus was no longer with the Apostles, they too returned to fasting.

The joy of the Saints in Heaven should not fill us with envy. They have completed their penances and have received their reward. They love us and long for us to join them. They encourage us, knowing what they accomplished with the grace of God, that we too can achieve the same with the same grace of God.

Nor should we be envious of those of the world who now appear to be enjoying all the goods of this world. They are eating and celebrating, and we are called to do penance. Their time will come when they will have to give an account, and it will be clearly seen how they have abused and squandered the graces of God. We do have a choice. We can enjoy temporal pleasures at the cost of eternal pleasures. Or we can deny ourselves many temporal pleasures so that we may merit eternal ones. Penance is not a burden, but a powerful tool that can lead us to everlasting happiness.

Rather than seeking to put off the habit of penance, we should seek to embrace it even more eagerly. This is the key to the true happiness that we desire so much. It is childishness or foolishness to imagine that we can bypass this path so clearly put before us by Saint John, and even Jesus Himself. It is in dying to ourselves that we are to be born into eternal light. Eternal Life begins as this temporal life ends. The eternal joys begin as we die to the pleasures of this world.

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

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