The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friends,

Jesus has commissioned His followers to preach and baptize all those in the world who will believe and be saved. This Trinitarian (Father, Son, Holy Ghost) baptism is a baptism of death to this world so that we may live in the next. The symbolism of descending into the water as Jesus went down into the tomb, represents our dying to this world. The rising up out of the water represents our rising to a new life in Him, as Jesus rose from the tomb.

Old age as well as sickness and physical impairments daily instruct us in the temporality of this life. We will all die to this life, but we will not all live eternally in Heaven. Some will "live" an eternal death in Hell because they refuse to believe and be baptized. Obviously, it is not enough to just say we believe. Our belief must be put into practice — our faith must be put into works — or else it is not true belief at all. Our faith must also be complete. We must believe all (not just what we like) that God teaches us through the Catholic Church.

A principal teaching of Jesus and the true Church is that we must all die to this world. We must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him. It is in dying to this world that we are born into eternal life. When we truly understand and believe this, death loses its sting, and we even long for the dissolution of our bodies so that we may be united with Jesus in Heaven. To such believing souls, old age, sickness, and the general dying of our bodies are all welcome signs. The Faith teaches us not to fear death, but to embrace it. Of course, we may not take death by our own hand — this right belongs only to God. The fifth commandment forbids us to take anyone's life — even our own. But, we may, and should, welcome it when God sends it — either gradually or suddenly, as the case may be.

The world, also like us, must one day die. This world will end and time will cease. When we understand this we also come to understand that things in this world are all headed towards dissolution. Our own aging and death cannot be stopped or prevented, much less reversed. The same applies to this world — the world's progress towards its finality cannot be altered, prevented or reversed. The end is coming and Jesus is returning. The dead will all rise and there will be the final General Judgment. This world, as we know it, will end. There will be a new life and a renewed world that is eternal.

We are commanded to take care of our bodily health, and not to do anything to hasten our own physical death. The same applies to our concern for the world in which we live. We must take reasonable care of the world that God has given us. We must concern ourselves with the environment, societies, governments, and the Church here on earth — the Church Militant. We must do all we can to promote their health and well being. However, we should also recognize that death is coming for them also.

We should not be shocked by the evils surrounding us and even the daily increase of these. We do not seek them out and we must do what we can to correct and heal these evils, but we should welcome them, in the sense, that this is the Will of God — our physical dissolution as well as that of this world.

Baptism symbolizes and prepares us for this end, as well as promises us a renewal in something much better. To get into Heaven we must die, for the earth to be renewed and perfected, it too must die. The progression of evil in this world is comparable to the debilitating progression of disease and death in our own lives. As our own physical lives pass before us and we are called upon not to fear this death, but to embrace it for the love of God and in imitation of Jesus — so we should also not fear the dissolution of this world, but recognize this as necessary. It has been prophesied. It will happen. It is the Will of God.

This world is not our home, this life is not our true life. We are only passing through this world, and this world is only passing through time. Both, our physical life and the physical world, decay to the point of complete dissolution. We witness it in the lives of all around us, as well as in ourselves, but we also witness this in the very world in which we live. Immorality predominates in this world. There is constant hatred and wars, mistrust and deceit, as well as abuse and destruction. We need not list all the disease and decay that is occurring in the world around us — it is obvious to those who have eyes to see.

We cannot stop it or reverse it, but we can prepare for it. We need to spiritually die to this life and this world. We must cut our immoderate attachment to both so that we may desire and prepare for an eternal life and an eternal world with God. This requires true Faith and baptism. May we treasure these and seek them with all our being — these are the keys to our eternity. This life and this world are the daily crosses we must carry. Let us love and embrace them as they bring about our physical dissolution and open the door to our spiritual incorporation into the eternal life of Jesus Christ.

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