The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friends in Christ,

In today's Gospel reading (John 16:23-30), Our Lord once again instructs us on the manner of prayer. He tells us that whatever we ask the Father in His Name, the Father will give us. We must understand, however, that He is not speaking merely of the sound of the Name "Jesus." Many call upon this sound, but do not truly call upon Him.

Pronouncing the Name of Jesus is not a talisman, a magical incantation, or a good luck charm. As there are many false gods, so there are now many false "Jesuses." Many so called Christian religions appear to preach Jesus or to preach the Bible, yet they neither know the true Jesus nor understand the true meaning of the Scriptures. They invoke the sound of His Name, but do not truly call upon the Only Begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ. Instead, they have fashioned a false "Jesus" in their own image and likeness.

We can point to many distinguishing characteristics between the true Jesus and the false versions created and institutionalized by men and demons.

It is a false Jesus who tells people that they may divorce and remarry. The true Jesus spoke with absolute clarity: "What God has joined together, let no man put asunder." (Matt. 19:6) (Mark 10:9)

It is a false Jesus who tells people that they do not need to confess their sins to a priest. The true Jesus entrusted to the Apostles and their successors the power to bind and loose: "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them…" (John 20:23)

It is a false Jesus — and therefore a false religion — who suggests that we do not need to receive His Body and Blood in order to have life within us. The true Jesus made it abundantly clear that unless we eat His Flesh and drink His Blood, we shall not have life in us. (John 6:54)

It is therefore essential in our prayer that we call upon the true God in the Name of the true Jesus Christ. If we create a false Jesus and a false god in our hearts and minds, then we are not truly praying to the true God or in the true Name of Jesus.

Many people base their faith on their feelings or emotions. The rebellious and revolutionary Martin Luther is reported to have said: "It is easier to live as a Protestant, but better to die as a Catholic." The mistake of many is to seek what is easy rather than what is true.

It is easier to believe in a demonic caricature of God that mocks Jesus with the evil slogan, "Just believe, and sin on bravely," than to believe in the true Jesus Christ, Who says, "Go, and sin no more." (John 8:11)

When we read that the Father will give us whatever we ask in Jesus' Name, we must not twist this into a materialistic religion or a so called "prosperity gospel." Saint Augustine teaches clearly that when we pray for worldly, material, or merely temporal things as our ultimate goal, we are, in reality, asking for nothing. Jesus, instead, tells us to ask for everything: eternal happiness with Him in Heaven.

Once we come to believe in and love the true Jesus — the true God — our deepest desire becomes to be with Him forever in the bliss of Heaven, where our joy will be complete. A distorted love of self and of material things leads to the idolatry of fashioning Jesus in our own image and likeness, rather than conforming ourselves to His.

We do not doubt that many in the world call upon idols or demons, mistakenly thinking they are calling upon Jesus. Their selfish, materialistic, and worldly prayers testify to this. Nor do we doubt that God may permit demons to entice people with material or worldly success. Yet the true God has repeatedly made it clear that we must first seek the Kingdom of God and His justice (Matt. 6:33); that we must deny ourselves, take up our daily cross, and follow Him. (Matt 16:24)

We do not doubt that on the Last Day, many will claim to have prayed in His Name, and He will turn them away. Those who delighted in their worldly and material success will be told that they have already received their reward and can expect nothing further for eternity (Matt. 6:2,5,16). May we never be found among them.

Our safety lies in seeking Jesus, not ourselves. We must strive neither to deceive ourselves nor to be deceived by others. The truth is simple and straightforward. It may be humbling and painful for a time, but it alone will set us free.

It is in dying to ourselves and to this world that we are born into eternal life.

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

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