The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friends in Christ,

Jesus is King, and hopefully, He is the true King of all our hearts, minds, and souls. Jesus made it abundantly clear to Pontius Pilate and to us that His Kingdom is not of this world. His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, is of eternity, vastly superior to the kingdoms of humans.

The eternal King came into this temporal world to show us the way to leave this temporal world that is filled with sorrow and misery. His purpose is for us to enter the eternal world of the Kingdom of Heaven, a realm of unending joy and happiness.

Since the fall of man, this life is cursed. Pain, sorrow, suffering, and sacrifice are the necessary consequences of sin. This life is filled with our daily carrying of our crosses and self-denial. Physical death is the only alleviation from the evil and wickedness of this world.

Our hearts were made for God and the eternal. Everything in this world is temporal and fleeting. We long for genuine, unending happiness, and our daily experiences teach us that it is not to be found in this life. We strive to create the perfect home, the perfect business, the perfect economy, the perfect government, and so on. No matter how hard we try, we are always left unfulfilled and unsatisfied. There is always room for improvement, something that could be done better. As we draw nearer to one aspect of goodness, we seem to lose sight of another aspect of goodness.

Each form of human government has its pros and cons. As we pursue freedom or liberty, we tend to lose sight of truth and justice. As we seek truth and justice in the world, we often lose sight of freedom and liberty. We exchange freedom for security or security for freedom. The Communist ideal of material equality is pursued at the expense of independence, truth, fairness, and other values. Materialism or consumerism can lead to overly powerful or influential businesses that influence or control governments and nations for the sake of profit. The Democratic ideal of rule by the people often gives rise to mob rule and anarchical selfishness. The monarchical ideal tends toward the tyranny of one over many. No matter how well we plan and execute our ideals of the perfect family, home, business, government, and world, we always fall short in one aspect or another. For this reason, Jesus is evident in his answers to Pontius Pilate. "My Kingdom is not of this world." It is not a worldly kingdom of the Jews or of the Gentiles.

God allows the kingdoms of this world to rise and to fall as a constant reminder that this world is not our home. History shows us that nations and governments pursue specific good and noble ends to the point that they cause significant harm or evils in other aspects. They are cast aside for a new form of nation or government that fallen humanity designs to prevent the considerable harm and evils that the previous government or nation brought forth. However, in doing so, the new country or government creates other harms and evils that progressively become greater over the life of the nation or government. Then, in turn, humankind reacts against the rising evil and attempts to make something better, only to find that it is different but not necessarily better.

We were made for the Kingdom of Heaven, not for the kingdoms of this world. The kingdoms of this world are made for us, not us for them. They are to serve us, not for us to serve them. We were made for the Kingdom of Heaven, and we were made to serve God in His eternal Kingdom. Our lives should be spent in labor for the everlasting Kingdom of Heaven. While we are in this world, we should strive to create the best conditions necessary for us to attain eternal happiness in Heaven. However, these temporal pursuits, goals, and ambitions must be subordinate to our primary purpose of serving the everlasting Kingdom of Heaven.

The greatest nations and governments of this world are those that allow and promote the pursuit of the eternal happiness of their citizens. Due to our fallen nature, we, as individuals, are imperfect, and we always fall short of our goals. As individuals, we must strive daily to improve and be better, and there is always room for improvement in this life. The same is true for families, nations, and governments. The key to remember in this life is that virtue is in the middle. The unhindered pursuit of one material or worldly goal leaves many evils in its trail.

We must not pursue any one material or worldly thing in this life as if it were the key or answer to our happiness. This easily devolves into idolatry and greater misery and suffering for ourselves and all those around us. Instead, we must strive to balance our physical lives and maintain an equilibrium of some goods, pleasures, and happiness with the absence of some goods, some pain, and agonies. Complete joy or happiness will only be ours in Jesus' eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

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

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