The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friends in Christ,

In today's Gospel reading (St. John 4. 46-53), we read of a ruler praying to Jesus to heal his son, who was on the point of death. Jesus healed the son without going to him. The ruler and his whole house believed.

We are also called upon to believe even when Jesus appears to us to be very far away. While we cannot see and hear Jesus with our bodily senses, His power and love are everywhere. He is always with us and is never far away.

It is His desire, however, that we physically come to Him from time to time. He waits for us in the tabernacle of the altar. He waits for us to go to Him as the ruler came to Him in today's Gospel reading. He is eager for us to pour out the troubles of our souls so that He may calm and heal us. Even more, He is eager for us to receive Him in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

On the Altar, Jesus offers Himself to God the Father for us or in place of us. St. Augustine says: "God looks no more for bloody offerings from herds of cattle. Now no more is a sheep or a goat offered at the divine altars. The Sacrifice now of our time is the Body and Blood of the High Priest Himself. Long ago, in the psalms, it was said of this great High Priest: Thou art a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech (Ps. 109. 4). We read, and we keep firmly in mind, from the Book of Genesis, that Melchisedech, the priest of the Most High God (14. 18), offered a sacrifice of bread and wine when he blessed our father, Abraham."

"Christ Our Lord, therefore, Who offered for us in His Passion, what He received by being born of us, made a High Priest for ever, gave to us this order of Sacrifice you now see: namely, the Sacrifice of His own Body and Blood. For when He was pierced by a lance, His Body gave forth water and blood: by Which He was to wash away our sins. Mindful of this grace, and while working out your own salvation, let you with fear and trembling draw near to partake of this Altar: for it is God Who worketh in you (Phil. 2. 2)."

"Acknowledge That [The Body of Jesus] in the Bread, Which hung upon the Cross. Acknowledge in the Chalice, That [The Blood of Jesus] Which flowed from His side. For these ancient sacrifices of the People of God, in all their number and variety, only prefigured this One True Sacrifice that was yet to come. For Christ Himself is our sheep, because of the innocence of His pure soul; and likewise our sacrificial goat, because of His likeness to our sinful flesh (Rom. 8. 3.). And whatever else was foretold, in various ways, in the sacrifices of the Old Testament, refer to this One Sacrifice, which was revealed to us in the New Testament."

When the ruler came to Jesus, his faith was weak. He believed that Jesus could help him. He believed more when Jesus sent him away, telling him that his son would live. His faith was increased again when the servants revealed that the fever left his son at the very hour that Jesus said to him: "Thy son liveth."

Our faith in the Holy Eucharist often progresses in this same manner. We want to believe when we first hear of the great Mystery of Transubstantiation. As we pray and read the words of Jesus, our faith increases. The more we pray and approach Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, the greater our faith becomes.

The virtues advance by degrees. We love, then we love more, and then we love even more than before. Only in Heaven will we find the fullness of grace or the perfection of the virtues. As long as we live in this world, we can always do more and continually advance. We should never strive to think that we have done enough, have sufficient faith, or love God enough.

At the same time, we must not grow tired of always having a higher goal in front of us. We must strive not to grow weary when we reach one goal, only to find that there is now another greater goal still waiting for us. No matter how far we advance in this life, Heaven —our ultimate goal —will always be just out of reach, giving us something more to strive for.

May we come to Jesus in Holy Communion as often as we can. When we are unable to go to Him physically, then let us approach Him in Spiritual Communion even more frequently. In His presence, our faith, hope, and love will increase and advance until we are eternally one with Him in Heaven.

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