THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

25 June 2023

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The Sunday

Sermon

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Dear Friends in Christ,

In today's Gospel reading (Saint Luke 5, 1-11), the people press against Jesus to hear the word of God. The multitude saw and received many divine favors, and now they seek to obtain the healing of salvation, not through the grace of humility, but through the violence of their importunity. To escape the physical pressures placed upon Him, Jesus got into the boat of Simon Peter and drew away from the shore where the multitude could not reach Him. From this vantage point, Jesus preached to the multitude, offering them spiritual aids rather than physical ones. On the land, He healed the infirmities of their bodies by His touch; on the sea, He healed the soul's wounds by His teaching.

There were two boats, but Jesus got in the one belonging to Simon Peter. Many and varied inspirations can be gleaned from this simple fact. The most direct understanding is that Jesus is showing us that Simon Peter is His first Vicar, the head of the Apostles, the foundation of the Church, and the keeper and interpreter of the doctrines of Jesus. There were two boats, the one of Simon Peter's represents the Israelites, and the other represents the Gentiles. The two unite to form one Church with Saint Peter as the head.

After preaching to the multitude on the shore, Jesus had Saint Peter take his boat out into the deep and lower his nets for a catch. They had labored all night and had caught nothing, but because Jesus said to do this, Saint Peter did it, and the net caught so many fish that it was at the point of breaking. He called to the other boat, and both ships were loaded with so many fish that they were on the verge of sinking.

Saint Peter recognized the hand of God and his own unworthiness and told Jesus to depart from him because he was a sinful man. However, Jesus promises to make him a fisher of men (souls).

Commentators on this passage of the Gospel show us that the Catholic Church, represented by Saint Peter's boat, is to be filled but not without struggles and dangers. The nets were at the point of breaking, and the boats were at the point of sinking and being lost. The Church will always be subject to the dangers of heresies and schisms. In the end, however, the Church will succeed even as the nets held just long enough, and the boats managed to barely stay above water — even though they were dangerously close to being lost.

Jesus is the invisible Head of the Church, and it is Jesus with the Father and the Holy Ghost that sustains, guides, and protects His Church. His vicar, Saint Peter, and his true successors are God's humble instruments to manifest His power. When we are without a legitimate successor to Saint Peter, we are not without a Head. Jesus is still the Head; we are simply without His visible vicar. The Church is not dead, nor can it die. The Church is Apostolic, meaning there must always be legitimate successors to the Apostles. We profess belief in the Apostolic Church. This is one of the four marks we must always have. There must always be true bishops that succeed the Apostles, even when the See of Rome falls vacant through the death of the last true successor to Saint Peter. The legitimate bishops must maintain all that the true Church has held and taught.

In these troubled times, we are overwhelmed in fighting against our day's many and varied errors. The shepherd was struck, and the flock was scattered. However, Jesus is still in control. The legitimate bishops only need to hold on and fight the good fight to their last breath. The nets are breaking, and the ship is sinking. There is no need for any new teachings or doctrines. We need to preserve what has been entrusted to us. With the aid of priests, religious, and laity, bishops need to keep their vows to safeguard all that has been given to them without adding or taking anything away. This is our safety; this is our sustaining guide and hope, even as we observe the dangers of the continual assault upon the revealed doctrines, faith, and worship we have received from Jesus Christ through the Holy Catholic Church.

In these troubled times, we may importune Jesus with our constant prayers for our physical or material welfare. Still, it is increasingly ever more critical for us to humbly listen to His Words for the salvation of our souls. We hear Him in the doctrines, worship, and practices He gave us in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We must learn to recognize and shun the dangers of the Protestant novelties of our day. All that protests or contradicts the more than two-thousand years of Catholicism is to be rejected as not from God but rather from fallen nature and devils. Countless preachers now preach a new doctrine, a new Jesus, and a new Church. Saints Peter and Paul and Our Lord Jesus Christ tell us that we must reject them.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!