The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

Today we see Our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He entered riding upon an ass. The Apostles were told to go and get this animal. They were told exactly were to find it and what they were to say to the owner if he should question them.

This animal was tied and the Apostles freed it to make it of service to Our Lord. And so it must be with every sinner. Every sinner is as stupid and stubborn as an ass. And every sinner finds himself tied and bound with the cords of sin. And if he is ever to be of any value or use he is dependent on the Apostles to come and untie him and to bring him to Our Lord, where he will find his very purpose for being.

The ass has the reputation of being stupid. There is no one more stupid than the sinner. In the world of business if someone were to sell all his possessions for a couple of pieces of broken glass, everyone would say that such a man was stupid. Yet, what must we say of the sinner who sells his eternal life for a fleeting moment of pleasure. He sells much more than worldly goods. He exchanges eternal life for some shiny shards of glass. One cannot be more stupid or foolish than that. But, that is exactly what the majority of the world does today.

The ass is also renowned for being stubborn. Who is more stubborn than the obstinate sinner? He acts like an addict. He is willing to sacrifice everything he has: money, possessions, dignity, honor, health, life, and even his very soul for what? A brief moment of intoxication which he will regret the first moment he returns to his senses. When he is aroused from his stupor he knows he will suffer nothing so painful, he will be filled with remorse and disgust, but still he is eager for the next chance to do it all over again.

It is not really fair to this poor animal to make this comparison. After all it is said that once this animal has had the experience of trying to walk on ice, that it will never again attempt it. You would sooner kill it than ever to get it to go near ice again. So actually the sinner is even stupider than the ass. The ass is capable of learning from its mistakes; the sinner has lowered himself beneath the level of a brute beast because he will not even learn from his mistakes.

The sinner is truly a very pitiful site. He is stubborn and stupid and to top it all off he is tied up and is unable now to do anything for himself. There is no earthly way for the sinner to improve his situation. He is on the road to hell, and there is no turning back without someone coming to his aid. Our Lord has seen fit to offer assistance to the sinner despite his unworthiness. Just as Jesus sent His Apostles to untie the ass and bring it to Him, so He sends His apostles (bishops and priests) to the sinner to untie him and free him from his sins. And then the apostles bring the sinner to God (or rather God comes to the sinner). The sinner is freed from the binding of sin through the sacrament of Penance, and is brought to God in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

If we sinners will allow those sent by God to untie us from our sins, and stop being so stubborn and returning and binding ourselves over and over again with sin, then we will find that our Lord will come to us and will transform us in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

There was no greater honor for this beast of burden than to be privileged to carry Our Lord in His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

So it is with the sinner. There is no greater honor for him than to allow Jesus Christ to enter into his body and to be privileged to carry Him about with us as we go. But the sinner must be careful not to allow Christ to leave him. He must be very watchful that he does not end up driving Him away by further stupidity and stubbornness. If the sinner keeps driving Christ away eventually Christ will stop sending His apostles to untie and bring him to Him.

It was just a few days after this triumphal entry that those who rejoiced in Christ's coming into the city, were now crying out for His blood. This is just what the recalcitrant sinner does. He is more obstinate and dull than any brute beast, and he eventually will reap the rewards of such obstinacy and dull wittedness in the eternal fires of Hell.

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