The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friends,

The people followed Jesus out into the wilderness without any (or very little) concern for the needs of their bodies. We consider this to be a great trust in the providence of God. How many would today go on a journey into the wilderness without anything to eat? Such faith seems to be missing from our days. However, there must be a balance or a virtuous middle course for us to follow. It could easily become imprudent on our part to not plan ahead for the necessities of our life. This may even lead us into the vice of presumption.

We must avoid inordinate concern for our bodies, but we must also avoid indifference to this life that God has given us. Jesus has instructed us not to worry about the things of this body. We have a Father in Heaven and He knows what we need and He will take care of us as He takes care of the birds of the air and the lilies of the fields. We need to also consider that God has already given us the means to care for ourselves and it becomes presumptuous to expect Him to miraculously provide for our needs.

If our zeal for the welfare of our souls reaches a degree where we forget to care for ourselves, then we may find that God takes care of us, as He does the plants and animals. If we are truly seeking the Kingdom of Heaven, then we can trust that everything else will be given us besides. In the pursuit of the Kingdom of Heaven, we are commanded to sanctify our physical labors and crosses by uniting them to Christ's. We are not to abandon our crosses and works of this life. In sanctifying these works that we are engaged in, God makes them fruitful enough to provide for all our needs of this body. The real fruitfulness of our works is obtained through making them supernatural. If we do them for the love of God and the rewards of Heaven, we will obtain this as well as all the lesser fruits of the work that we need for this physical life here on earth.

During Lent, we are to spiritually leave the world and all our cares behind to follow Jesus into the wilderness, through our penances and mortification. We cannot abandon all care or work for our bodies, but we can prioritize the things in our lives. We can put things in their proper perspective and place, and thus restore order and harmony to our lives here on earth. The time that we gain from our voluntary mortification is the time that we are to add to our spiritual advancement. It is in this way that we follow Jesus into the wilderness where He will feed, not only our bodies but more importantly our souls.

In the search for our spiritual nourishment, we must understand that this comes to us through the Church by the hands of God's priests — the successors to the Apostles. It is not the priest that feeds our souls. The graces that come from his hands, are from God — just as the bread and fishes that came from the hands of the Apostles came from Jesus. The priest has nothing of himself to give us. The sacraments and the graces within the Church belong to Jesus — not to the priest or bishop.

The ministers of Jesus Christ are most unworthy. This is done so that all should know that the grace and goodness received from them, did not come from them, but came from God. No one is worthy of this great honor and responsibility, so God chooses who He wills to minister for Him. We should not become scandalized by the faults and weakness of His priests — they are frail humans like the rest of mankind.

Nonetheless, we are to honor the true priests of God, as they stand in the place of Jesus Christ for us. It is through their hands that our sins are forgiven and that we receive the life-giving Body of Jesus Christ. The honor that we pay to the priests of Jesus Christ, is paid to Jesus Christ. This every priest must strive to remember (lest he becomes demonically proud), and the laity should strive to never fail to make this homage to God (lest they fail to honor God).

May we complete this Lenten season by leaving behind our sins and the attachment we have for them and trek out into the spiritual wilderness through faith. Let us see Jesus in His priests and His work coming forth from their hands to feed our souls. As grace is multiplied like the bread in today's Gospel, there is plenty for us all. To receive this grace we must go into the spiritual wilderness and we must accept it from the unworthy hands of God's chosen priests.

As we are in dire need of these graces we should always increase our prayers for all true priests, and we should constantly implore The Lord of the Harvest to send more workers (priests). Let us pray for all vocations to the priesthood as well as to the religious life. If we love our children we must do all that we can to provide for their spiritual life and nourishment. This can only come through true vocations that are heard and acted upon. Let us pray that God gives these vocations and that our young men and women whom God calls will cooperate with Him and answer affirmatively with a life dedicated to Him. For we all benefit from each soul that is given freely to God, as it is through their hands that we are spiritually fed.

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