The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

Today we witness Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In preparation for this journey our Lord sent two of His apostles to go and untie an ass and her colt and bring them to Him.

The two apostles are said to be Saint Peter and St. John. St. Peter represents to us faith and St. John represents to us love. If we have a strong faith and an ardent love, we shall be capable of doing great things for the glory of God and the salvation of our fellow men.

The humble task that these apostles were sent to perform represents to us the need for humility. Everything is great and meritorious in the eyes of God which is done from a motive of obedience and love. The two disciples who went by the order of their master to bring two assess, please God as much as when they afterwards went out to preach the Gospel and to work miracles. We must never be ashamed of humble occupations, or submit to them ungraciously. Christ washed His disciples' feet; many of the saints were of the highest rank in society, yet, for the love of Christ and to exercise themselves in patience, they performed menial work, such as gathering alms, sweeping the house, washing dishes, etc. St. Bonaventure was washing dishes in the kitchen of the monastery when the Cardinal's hat was brought to him.

The ass and her colt represent to us, the Israelite and the Gentile nations. Just as the ass and her colt were tied, so too were all men tied with the cords of unbelief and sin; of themselves they could not loose the bonds, any more than a tethered ass could loose itself; this could be affected only through the apostles and their successors, to whom Christ gave the grace and commission to preach the Gospel and to bring the means of salvation, whereby men are brought to the knowledge of God and are justified. Be grateful to Christ for having giving you priests and pastors of souls and be zealous in hearing the word of God and in the reception of the sacraments.

We cannot go to Christ nor Christ come to us unless we are untied from our sins by the hands of these apostles. The Apostles of Christ, are the bishops, to whom it is said: "Whatsoever you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven." In order to lose the bonds of the sinner, they preach to him the word of God and they administer the sacraments. The bishops also empower and send out priests to do likewise.

St. John Capistran preached upon a certain occasion on the sad consequences of the passion of gambling, and on the vain fashions of women. After the sermon many gamblers brought their cards and dice, and many females their luxurious ornaments, to the marketplace, cast them into the fire, and burnt them. St. Anthony of Padua was one day preaching to more than 12,000 people, among whom were great sinners; they took the sermon so much to heart that sometimes nothing could be heard but weeping and sobbing, so that he was obliged to stop his discourse. Some cried out: "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!" Others struck their breasts saying: "woe is me! I have deserved hell!" Others lifted up their hands to heaven and said: "my Jesus, I will sin no more!" See what power the Word of God has to lose the sinner from his bonds.

If we are bound and tied down by a thousand ropes and we make a contrite and sincere confession. We will be loosed; and if afterwards we go to Communion, we come to Jesus, or rather Jesus comes to us, takes possession of our heart, and giving Himself to us enriches us with all graces. For faith teaches us that the priests have power in the sacrament of Penance to forgive all sins without exception. And again, faith teaches us that in the Sacrament of the altar Jesus Christ is really present as God and man under the appearances of bread and wine, and that He gives Himself to us in Holy Communion for the nourishment of our souls. "He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, hath everlasting life."

We have now seen that as sinners we resemble an ass and indeed an ass that is tied. Only the bishops, the successors of the apostles, and those priests that they appoint can loose the sinner from his bonds. We do not wish to be in such a condition; if anybody compared us to an ass, we would feel highly offended and perhaps demand satisfaction. But if we wish to escape this charge, let us guard against being sinners. We must employ the present time for our conversion and the amendment of our lives that we may be able to say joyfully on Easter Sunday: "Our soul hath been delivered, as a sparrow out of the snares of the fowlers. The snare is broken, and we are delivered." (Ps. 123:7.)

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