The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

Our Lord asks the Pharisees, "What think you of Christ?" This is a very important question that has been a stumbling block since the beginning of creation.

What was it that compelled the fallen angels to compare themselves to God so that St. Michael would be forced to hurl the rebuke upon them: "Who is like unto God?" It has been suggested that it was revealed to them that the Second Person of the Trinity would become Man and in this state they would be required to worship Him. This was the stumbling block to their pride and forced from their lips the rebellion: "I will not serve." So we see right from the beginning creation has sought to deny Christ.

When Christ did finally come to earth the earthly king (Herod) feared a worldly king rather than a Divine One. Even in this they failed to understand who Christ is. After Christ had fasted for forty days in the desert we see the devils tempting Him, trying to force Him to reveal Himself. It seems that the Person of Christ is still rejected by the devils even after all that time suffering in Hell.

We only find St. Peter coming up with the correct answer to this question when he replies to Christ: "You are the Christ of God." And the Church has ever maintained the correct understanding of Christ and God.

But the devils and fallen men continued to question and doubt because their pride is a stumbling block to the simple and humble belief in God. In the early days of the Church we see many heresies concerning the Person of Christ.

The first it seems to deny the divinity of Christ was Theodotus the leather-dealer. He was excommunicated by Pope St. Victor in the last decade of the second century for declaring that Christ was a mere man. Arius appears to have fallen into these same footsteps when he claimed that the Son must come after and from the Father and therefore must be a creature. The Nestorians claimed that Jesus was a man that became God by degrees. And the Monophysites as a kind of counter action to the other heresies attempted to deny the fact that Christ had a human nature. They wanted to present Him only as God and never with a human nature.

The Protestants rose up still stumbling over this same question. Only now they question Christ's presence in the Sacramental Species. Zwingle presented Christ as merely signified in the Host; Luther wanted Christ to be present side by side with the bread; Calvin wanted a "spiritual" presence only at the moment the faithful receives the host. All these are attempts to deny transubstantiation, and therefore Christ.

In our own times we see the resurfacing of the lies and distortions of creatures stumbling still over this question. The Novus Ordo attempts a somewhat more subtle denial of Christ through the indirect teaching as revealed in their practices. Christ's presence was removed from the tabernacle on the main altar to a side altar or removed completely. In one place the tabernacle was placed side by side with the bible on the altar symbolically showing equivalence between the two; thus denying Christ's real and true presence in the Sacred Species. They changed the understanding and meaning of the Mass from the unbloody renewal of the sacrifice of Calvary, to a celebration of Christ's resurrection and glory; from an offering to God into a community meal. The altar was replaced by a table; sacrifice with a meal; suffering and death with resurrection and life. The Host is no longer sacred and is placed in unconsecrated hands and places, and is no longer shown the respect and honor that belong to the Son of God hidden in the Sacred Species.

All of these things are ultimately a denial of God; an attack upon Christ. In all these matters creatures have failed to see the humbling simple and beautiful fact that Christ is the Son of God; The second Person of the Blessed Trinity; That He is God made Man. He is One Person with two natures: God and Man. He is truly present in the Holy Eucharist, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity: True God and True Man; and all that remains of the bread and wine are the appearances. The substances have become the substance of Christ, made present to offer Himself in sacrifice for us — continuing the same sacrifice as upon Calvary.

We now know the answer to the question that has throughout all time been a stumbling block to us; let us pray to God that we never lose site of this truth, and never be struck with the blindness of the devils; the Pharisees; and the heretics both old and new.

Franciscan Benefactor Seraph Subscription Vocations Have you remembered God?