The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

We are on the threshold of the birth of Jesus Christ. This liturgy for today is filled with joy and if it were not for the violent vestments, one might think that the feast of Christmas had already begun.

In today's Gospel we are presented with the answer to the question of who Christ is.

St. Joseph not knowing that the Child that Mary was carrying is the Son of God, was contemplating privately putting away Mary so that there would not be as much scandal.

St. Joseph was a just man and had not as yet been informed of the miraculous event of the incarnation. Mary apparently had not mentioned it and God had as yet not informed St. Joseph directly or indirectly through His Angel. Therefore St. Joseph is without blame for his ignorance in this matter.

Those who today, are ignorant of who this Child is, do not have the same excuse as St. Joseph. Their ignorance is inexcusable. We have been told by the prophets, Christ Himself, His Apostles, our Holy Mother the Church, the Scriptures, and countless Saints.

With so much verifiable and trustworthy testimony, and with the countless miracles confirming it, it appears obvious that, only the fool says in his heart that Jesus Christ is not God.

And yet we see that even after 2,006 years, there are many in the world that are still fools. The Talmudists, the Moslems, Pagans, and countless atheists have yet to open their hearts to God and receive the salvation that Christ brought to this earth.

They are poor ignorant fools for refusing to believe what God has revealed. None of them will ever enter the kingdom of Heaven because they have rejected Christ Who is the gateway into Paradise. No one gets to the Father but through the Son. By rejecting the Son they are in fact rejecting the Father. Christ calls out to them but they will not hear.

But perhaps even sadder than this are all those poor souls that pretend to belief in Christ but are still outside of His Mystical Body because they have espoused some false doctrine or denied a true one.

All those separated in any way from the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church founded by none-other than Jesus Christ Himself are headed straight for Hell. As much as we would like to make excuses for our loved ones, our families, and friends, we can not. Those who deny Christ will be denied by Him in Heaven.

There were not many that welcomed Christ to this earth on His birthday 2,006 years ago. The majority did not know, because they were not looking for Him. They were not in love with God and eagerly anticipating His coming. They were filled with their own pride and self-love. The few that were humble and that truly loved God were shown this wonderful miraculous gift (the Shepherds, and the wise men) the rest of the world went on as if nothing at all had happened.

Nothing has seemed to change in all these years, the majority live as if Christ had never arrived. Many claim to be awaiting His coming, but they have missed it and do not really even care, which only means that they are not truly anticipating the coming of the Messiah.

The joy of anticipation for tomorrow's feast is greatly mollified by the sadness caused by the coldness and hardness of so many hearts.

We hear the words of the angel to St. Joseph: "for He shall save His people from their sins" and we are filled with peace and joy. Yet, at the same time we recognize that it is only His people that He shall save, and the majority is not His, even today.

Even among so many who call themselves "Christians" how many among them are His? How many are members of His Mystical Body? There are many that are celebrating and rejoicing with their lips but their hearts are far from Christ.

Let us make sure that we are true members of His Mystical Body so that we may truly rejoice in His birth, and let us pray most fervently for those who are not, so that they may one day enter into the one fold and they may then also rejoice.

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