The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

"This is My Beloved Son. Hear ye Him." A bright cloud manifested the Holy Ghost. The voice from the cloud manifested the Father, and Jesus, the Son of God, was already known to the Apostles. Here God brought forth the Blessed Trinity to be loved, known, and adored, as He similarly did upon the occasion of the Baptism of Jesus. However, the three apostles fell upon their faces in fear on this occasion.

The manifestation of the majesty of God naturally causes fear in the hearts of sinful men. Salutary fear presents itself in lowly humility, which is why the apostles fell upon their faces. They were unworthy, and they knew their unworthiness to be in the presence of God. The prone position is also the most natural one to assume when we petition God for something and adore, worship, and simply express our love of God. The natural and reasonable position of a creature, even the noblest of God's creatures, is prostrate before the majesty of God.

In this humble position, the apostles received a straightforward command from God — hear what Jesus has to say to us. Not just hear but to listen to Him and do what He tells us to do. The things that Jesus commands us to do are essential for us during this season of Lent. He tells us to go and show ourselves to the priest. That is, to confess our sins to the priest. The priesthood He has given us is empowered to forgive us our sins. He commanded us to deny ourselves. Where are we to follow Him in this self-denial? We are to follow Him to Calvary. How often are we to follow Him to Calvary? Every day. He tells us to deny ourselves and take up our daily crosses and follow Him.

We see the glory of Jesus Christ on Mount Tabor and in the Easter Resurrection. However, to go there with Him, we need to first follow Him in the meek and humble path of self-denial (I came not to do My will, but rather the will of My Father in Heaven.). We need to follow Him in loving sacrifice, making a free-will offering of ourselves to God. Jesus became the Sacrificial Victim on the Cross to redeem us, sinful humans. Now, we must unite our personal sacrifices to His efficacious Sacrifice on the Cross. In this way, our sacrifices become acceptable to God and then meritorious of God's graces.

The glory of Jesus on Mount Tabor excites us and draws us near to Jesus. Still, at the same time, the manifestation of God's glory and power naturally inclines us to prostrate ourselves — humbly understanding our own sinfulness and unworthiness.

Lent is a season for us to examine our situation or relationship with God and the Church. If we humbly pray and diligently search, we will find the Words of Jesus that are directed to us personally. These are what we must hear. To the proud, He says, learn of Me because I am meek and humble of heart. To the self-centered, He says deny yourself. To the pleasure seeker, He says take up your daily cross. To all of us, He says, come follow Me.

To all Catholics, especially the lax ones, Jesus tells us to humbly and contritely confess our sins to His priest and do the penance that He gives us. To those avoiding receiving Him in Holy Communion (Holy Eucharist), Jesus says, unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, you will not have Life in you.

To those living in sin, we need not fear; Jesus is ready to forgive all our sins if we will humbly repent and confess them. God encourages us by telling us that if our sins are black as coal or as red as scarlet, He can make them as white as snow. We have a merciful and loving Father in Heaven, and He is ever ready to receive us and forgive us if we will only humbly repent and return to Him.

The path to Jesus is hard and difficult when we rely on or trust only in ourselves. We may even be so bold as to say the path to Jesus is impossible when we rely upon ourselves. If we call upon Him and humbly and lovingly reach out to Him, He will show us the safest and easiest way; He will make our crosses light, sweet, and joyful. We soon discover that we can do all things in Him, Who strengthens us. When we follow Jesus, the darkness dissolves, the burden lightens, sin is washed away, and life and grace fill our souls. With Jesus, every virtue becomes possible and obtainable.

The joy of Mout Tabor and Heaven can be ours if we heed the Word of God. Jesus is the Son of God, and we must hear Him. His message is clear — repentance, self-denial, humility, and willing sacrifice for the love of God.

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