The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

In today's Gospel, we see two old people, Simeon and Anna, both inspired by the Holy Spirit, recognize Jesus as the Messiah. And upon this recognition lies the great division among men. The attitude adopted towards Him will reveal the inmost heart of each and decide his eternal reward.

For our own salvation it is necessary that we have faith. "He that believeth not shall be condemned." _ St. Mark 16:16. And again: "he that doth not believe is already judged." _ St. John 3:18. Thus, faith is made a strict precept. He sins and incurs eternal damnation who willfully transgresses a commandment in an important matter, so those who do not believe sin grievously and render themselves guilty of eternal damnation. Unbelief is of all sins the most grievous and most worthy of damnation. Jesus expressly declares this when He says to His Apostles: "Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words (that is, receive the doctrine which you announce in My name), going forth out of that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Amen I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the Day of Judgment than for that city." _ St. Matt. 10:14,15. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrha had committed crimes that cried to Heaven for vengeance, and yet their punishment in the next world will be less than the punishment of those who refuse to receive and believe the doctrine of Jesus.

St. Paul tells us that "Without faith it is impossible to please God." "For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and is a rewarder to them that seek Him." _ Heb. 11:6.

And it is not just any faith that we must possess. It is only the religion which Jesus Christ has taught. St. Paul writes to the Galatians: "I wonder that you are so soon removed from him who called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another, only there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you beside that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema." _ Gal. 1:6-8. The loving St. John says: "If any man come to you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into thy house, nor say to him, God speed you; for he that saith to him, God speed you, communicateth with his wicked works." _ II St. John 1:10,11. If we could be saved by any faith, the Apostles and their successors, who preached the Christian faith with indefatigable zeal and under so many persecutions, would have been the greatest fools. Not every faith is the saving faith, but only that which Jesus Christ has taught. He that has not this faith is separated from Christ and can not hope for salvation, "for there is no other name under Heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved." _ Acts 4:12.

The Catholic Church is the only true religion taught by Christ. While other religious denominations, which call themselves the Church of Christ, arose in time, and owe their origin to men, the Catholic Church goes back through centuries, and derives her origin immediately from Christ and His Apostles. St. Augustine says: "Know ye that the Catholic faith is the only true faith. If any one depart from it, he shall rise, not unto life, but unto damnation." Even Luther says: "It is true that in the Popedom there is the word and the preaching of the Apostles, and that we have taken from them the bible, baptism, and the other sacraments and preaching. How otherwise should we know anything about these matters? Therefore, faith, the Christian Church, and the Holy Ghost must be with them." Remarkable is the testimony which Melancthon bears to the Catholic Church. His mother adjured him upon her death bed to tell her whether she ought to adhere to the old (Catholic) faith, or to embrace the new. He gave this answer: "Adhere to your old Catholic faith, for it is easier to live in the new religion, but safer to die in the old." Christians separated from the Catholic Church may have the Sacrament of Baptism, but not of Penance, by which sins committed after baptism are forgiven. They have no priests, at least no validly and lawfully ordained priests, and can not therefore, even if they confess their sins, be absolved; for only the lawfully ordained Catholic priests, approved of by their bishop, possess power to absolve sinners in the Sacrament of Penance.

We must reject: the Jews, heathens, Mohammedans, Protestants, the modernist Novus Ordo religion, and the many "traditionalist" sects that are not in union with true Catholic bishops. For truly, "this Child" as Simeon says in today's gospel, "is set for the fall, and the resurrection of many in Israel: and for a sign which shall be contradicted…"

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