The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

"They will put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you, will think that he doth a service to God." (Today's Gospel reading).

St. Augustine comments: "But what harm was it that the Apostles should be put out of the Synagogues of the Jews; for were they not about to cut themselves off from them even if no one should put them out of them? But by this, He wished to warn them that the Jews would not receive Christ, Whom they themselves would not abandon."

The Apostles found themselves at odds with the life they once led. They were at odds with the world, with their old beliefs and practices. The religion of the Old Testament found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, but many were not ready to let go of what defined them and embrace the love and grace that God offered them. This created a great division between those that believe that Jesus is God and redeemed us by His Sacrifice on the cross and holds out sanctification to us in the Sacraments that He instituted, and those who reject Him and all He taught.

To deny ourselves and take up our daily crosses puts us at odds with the world. To hold on tenaciously to what God has given us and reject the innovations of men puts us at odds with the other religions. There is only One God, and His Son demands that we believe in Him and love Him to the extent that we are ready to give up everything else — even our very lives for Him and the Truth that He brought to us.

The Sacraments that He gave us are sacred and, therefore, beyond the tinkering and modifying hands of men. The True Catholic Church is not only the distributor of these Sacraments and their corresponding graces. She is also the guardian and protector of the integrity of the Sacraments. Those who deny or desire to modify or change the Sacraments' matter, form, or intention are not Catholic. By undermining Sacramental purity and integrity, men have turned away from the Sacraments, Sacramental grace, the True Church, and Jesus Christ — the source of these very Sacraments. It is also a denial of the Holy Ghost, Who imparts the concomitant graces in each of the Sacraments.

Tampering with the Sacraments insinuates that Jesus got it wrong, or the Holy Ghost that guides the Church got it wrong. It is tantamount to denying the Sacraments, The Church, and Jesus Christ — True God and True Man. Those outside the True Church believe in a false god. They may use the words True Catholics use, but they do not have the True Faith. Today, it is a popular fallacy that "we all believe in the same God." We do not. The false religions do not believe in the same Jesus Christ that the True Catholic Church believes in. To deny anything that Jesus taught us is to deny Him. For example, the Protestants that do not believe in the True Presence of Jesus in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist have created a false "Jesus." Jesus taught us that we will not have His life in us unless we receive Him in this Sacrament. Many Protestant sects' false "Jesus" obviously does not teach this. Hence they believe in a different Jesus — a different God. Because they believe in a false God, they are idolators.

We find ourselves then in a similar situation that Jesus foretold to the Apostles. We are not welcome in the modern "Churches" and Synagogues. It is perhaps not too far off when people will think and believe that they are glorifying their "God" in physically killing us. We can now appreciate a kind of spiritual martyrdom, where the Truths that Jesus gave us and the True Church teaches are silenced and replaced with more "acceptable" teachings and practices.

We must be cautious so that the modern world does not scandalize us. Our nature desires to fit in and belong. Jesus and the True Faith demand that we hold on to the Sacraments and the Truth that He gave us, even as we stand in opposition to the majority of humanity. We must deny ourselves daily as it would be so easy to turn away from Jesus so that we can experience the comfort and company of our fellow men.

The world may tempt us with suggestions like: "Does it really matter if I believe that Jesus is truly present in the Holy Eucharist or that He is only symbolized in the wafer or host?" "Do I really need to confess my sins to a priest? Can't I just confess them to God?" These seem like trivialities or semantics to many people, but there are real substantial distinctions here, and our eternal life hangs upon which we choose. The temptations are strong, but with the grace of the Holy Ghost, we can resist and overcome them.

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