The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

"Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith?"

The Catholic Church was once a great a powerful force in the world, just as Christ was once a great and powerful force in His day when multitudes listened to Him and followed Him. Then we see the Church reduced to a few and overwhelmed by liberals and modernist and just like the Apostles we are tempted to think that Christ is asleep and we grow fearful as the world sends forth its waves and storms of attack. But, we must shake off these temptations with the same rebuke that our Lord gave to the Apostles, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?"

Nothing can happen but what God wills or allows. This great apostasy that rages all around us is the result of God's permissive will, just as the storm that raged round the boat of the Apostles was permitted by God. We smile at the Apostles and their fear. We think that they should have known better. But, have we ever been in a small boat that was being overwhelmed by wind and waves? We have our storms but storms of a somewhat different nature. And all too often we are just as fearful if not more so than the Apostles were.

What have we to fear from our enemies? What can they possibly do to us? They can possibly torture and kill us but what is that to us who are going to die one day anyway? If we begin our eternal lives a little sooner why should we complain?

But, setting all this aside, it is God that ultimately is in charge. If any thing happens to us, He has allowed it. And He wishes only that which is of benefit for our eternal lives. Do we feel oppressed or alone or abandoned in this sea of modernism and liberalism? Do we feel at times as if we are being overwhelmed? Then it is time to remind ourselves of God's presence, and to renew and strengthen our trust in Him. Let us have courage. All things work for the good of those who love God. We are never alone and God does not miss a thing.

We must strive to develop a firm confidence in God because He is all powerful, all good, and all wise.

Our confidence must likewise be active. God helps those who help themselves. He will not do for us what He has given us the power to do for ourselves. The poor man can pray for riches all day, but it will be the active man who adds labors to his prayers and pursues his goal with the help of God's grace, who will achieve this goal. If we wish to obtain heaven we must conscientiously keep the commandments. If we wish to obtain forgiveness of our sins we must be truly sorry for them and confess them. If we wish to remain in the state of grace, we must watch and pray. While confidence in God is a virtue, it becomes a sin when we refuse to do our part. A sick man that refuses the remedies that God has given him while praying for a miracle commits a sin against this virtue.

Likewise those who will do nothing to stem the tides of modernism and liberalism but quietly and passively "trust" in God, these too sin against this virtue of confidence in God. We must be active; we must raise our voices when this is called for; we must make sacrifices and do penance for this purpose. God will overcome all of this (with or without us). The question is which side do we wish to be on. When He returns will He find us busy about His work, or will He find us lazy and indolent and living in sinful presumption?

Last of all our confidence must be based upon the merits of Jesus Christ. Though our confidence must be active and we must do our part we must likewise remember that it is purely the merits of Christ that makes us worthy of this confidence. St. Bernard once said to the devil, "It is true, I am absolutely unworthy of heaven; it is true, I do not, and never shall merit it; nevertheless, I hope for it, because the goodness, love, and mercy of God are infinite; I hope to enjoy the everlasting glory of the heavenly kingdom, because Jesus Christ has merited it for me."

If we practice these aspects of the virtue of confidence in God we will find that we can be delivered from worldly anxieties and cares; we will find comfort amid sufferings and persecutions; strength in temptations; and ease in the practice of virtues and good works.

It may appear dark and hopeless but God is not dead; He is not far away; and He is not sleeping. He will come to our aid when He sees that we have done all that we can and we realize that all our efforts are in vain without His assistance. Let us have faith and courage and fight the good fight with the grace of God right up to our last breath.

Franciscan Benefactor Seraph Subscription Vocations Have you remembered God?