The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear friends,

A vocation is a gift from God. We have been called to the true Faith. This is a divine vocation, but we have often forgotten that this is a privilege and does not guarantee eternal happiness. To whom much has been given much will be required.

In today's epistle St. Paul warns us not to imitate the sins of our fathers. We must not, "eat and drink and then rise up to play." We must not commit fornication as they did or else we too will be destroyed. Etc.

Those who have gone before us in the Faith have not always lived rightly. We must constantly be on our guard lest we fall into their sins and then go on to commit even worse ones. It has been said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. But, seldom is history just repeated, it seems that each generation sinks deeper by committing worse sins than the previous one.

To have the true Faith is a gift from God and it must be treasured as such. This does not mean that is should be locked up or buried so that it is kept safe. This treasure must be invested; it must be worked so that it can bring forth fruit. "Faith without works is dead."

Our fathers in the faith, the ancient Israelites, had the true Faith but they continually sinned against God and were scattered, just as Our Lord chased out and scattered the profaners of the Temple in today's Gospel.

When Christ came He brought back order and restored the true Faith that was quickly passing away because of the sins of the people. How often in history we see people fall away and then God in His mercy brings them back! For over two thousand years we have preserved the true Faith that Christ established here on earth. But, what is most frightening is the obvious signs that the people have once again repeated the sins of their fathers and have lost much if not all of the true Faith.

Once Catholic churches (buildings), are now nothing more than dens of thieves. Are these places which were once the house of God, not now the houses of men? The altar of sacrifice has been replaced by a supper table. The Sacrificial offering to God has been replaced by a family meal. The emphasis on success and financial prosperity (tithing) as opposed to the mandated poverty and good works of the Apostles, seems to make the comparison complete. The House of God is now a den of thieves.

We must learn to not take the true Faith for granted. What God has given us is a privilege not a right. And with every privilege there are responsibilities associated with it. We are expected first to live the true Faith. It is not just something to read about and then forget. Nor, is it something to entertain us in heated arguments. "Faith without works is dead". Sadly, there is a lot of "faith" but very little good works going on today.

If Our Lord were to demand an account of us at this very moment, how many would be left standing? To whom much has been given, much will be required. Have we not only learned the true Faith, but have we lived it? Have we shared it, so that others may be saved?

Whose honor and glory have we been pursuing? Have we spent our lives in the pursuit of ourselves? Have we sought only our own pleasure, power, glory, honor, etc.?

Are we ready to give an account of our whole lives? How about giving an account of just the past year? The past month? The past week? Or even the last 24 hours?

It is truly only God's mercy that has held back His vengeance for all this time. But the time will come when He will have had enough. Let us repent now and begin to do what He has created us to do. Let us love Him with a preferential love and obey His commandments.

It is much better to repent as they did in Nineveh after hearing from Jonas the punishment that awaited them, rather than to see everything destroyed as occurred to Sodom and Gomorrah because there could not even be found ten just men.

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