The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

History shows us that there has been a lot of confusion concerning the Person of Jesus Christ. Heresies abound and do not really seem to go away. They keep resurfacing, it seems, with each generation. Perhaps they come up with different names or nuances, but essentially they remain the same in creating a false God.

There are heresies that proclaim that Jesus Christ is truly God, but that He was not truly Man. These poor souls have a hard time reconciling the fact that God humbled Himself and became Man and suffered and died upon the Cross. There are those who have gone to the opposite extreme and suggested that Jesus Christ is really Man, but not God. They will grant that He is a holy Man, but no more. Then there are those who suggest that Jesus was a Man Who became God. According to these heretics, Jesus led a good life as man and as a reward He became God. These errors and many more concerning the Person of Jesus Christ have been examined and condemned by The Church.

The True Faith demands that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity — True God from all of eternity (Begotten, not made). This Son of God took upon Himself our human nature and became Man. He did not cease being God when He became one with us, but is True God and True Man. God became Man.

Once we understand and believe this, then the logical consequences follow. Jesus Christ took His human body from the body of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She carried Him for nine months and gave birth to Him on Christmas Day. Since Jesus Christ is true God, Mary is truly the Mother of God. While on earth Jesus honored, loved, respected and obeyed her, just as He has commanded each of us to do in the Fourth Commandment. Just as we see in today's Gospel.

It is through Mary that God gave Himself to us and it is through Mary that we go to God. No one goes to the Father, but through the Son; and no one gets to the Son but through the Mother. The Blessed Virgin Mother of God is the key to our happiness and our salvation.

Mary is not God, and the Church insists that we never worship her because worship only belongs to God. Mary is however to be honored and the honor that is due to her is above all the rest of God's creatures. In theology the worship that is given to God is called "latria." The honor that is given to the saints because they are close to God is called "dulia." The honor that is given to Mary is labeled: "hyper-dulia." So her position is beneath God, but above all the saints and angels.

As Christ performed His great Act of Reparation for us upon the Cross, He made Mary the mother of St. John and all the members of the Church. "Woman, behold thy son; Son behold thy mother." Every Catholic is a member of the Mystical Body of Christ; and just as Mary is the Mother of Christ, so she is the Mother of the Mystical Body of Christ, and therefore is our mother. As the Forth Commandment insists that we love, honor, respect and obey our earthly parents; even to a greater extent are we bound to love, honor, respect and obey our spiritual Parents. God is Our Father, and Mary is Our Mother.

We cannot truly claim to love God and obey Him if we do not do the same for His Daughter, Bride, and Mother. For Mary is truly all of these. She is the creation of God and is, therefore the Daughter of The Father; She is the Bride of the Holy Ghost (She conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Ghost); and She is the Mother of The Son.

To love God is to love Mary. To truly love Mary is to truly love God. Again, Mary is not God, but she is the bridge or connection that God has established for us to reach Him and for Him to reach us. We have in Mary a mother of our souls. Just as we take all our cares and troubles to our earthly mother, and she obtains succor for us here on earth; so we must take all our spiritual cares and troubles to Mary and she will obtain the grace and peace that we need for our souls.

We need not be theologians, or even know how to read to love God. Mary makes it very simple for us. She has given us the Rosary. In the mysteries of the Rosary, we are shown the life of Christ. We see the essence of the Gospel laid our sequentially before us. We learn to see and ponder the words of Christ as His mother did. Many times in the Gospels we read that Mary kept the Words of Jesus in her heart and pondered them. In praying the daily Rosary, we join with Mary in keeping the Words of Jesus in our hearts and we ponder them there with each and every mystery. Mary, Our Mother, in this manner takes us by the hand and guides us to Him, her Son.

email: father@friarsminor.org Franciscan Benefactor Seraph Subscription Vocations Have you remembered God?