The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friends in Christ,

Jesus desires to live and act in us and through us. The mercy that God shows us typically comes to us through the hands of our fellow humans. There is no doubt that God directly acts in our lives, but it appears that His genuine desire is to manifest Himself and His works through the instrumentality of angels and humans. Through the hands of parents, children are educated, nurtured, clothed, sheltered, etc. Through the generosity and kindness of our community, we are given opportunities to develop and grow.

It takes a moment of self-reflection to see that we owe a debt of gratitude to many people who have been God's instruments in our countless blessings. God has given us life, but that life was made possible by the cooperation of our parents. God gives us health, but that health is made possible by farmers, food producers, physicians, pharmacists, etc. God has given us work, but others in our vocational field make our job opportunities possible. Everything that we are and have has been given to us by God, but usually through the hands of others.

This understanding does not negate the necessity of our own efforts. We need to gratefully accept the many blessings of God that come to us through the instrumentality of others, and then we must put these blessings to work for the glory of God and the salvation of ourselves and others. The talents (graces or gifts) that we have received need to be invested in so that they increase and multiply. In general, we see that the goal of many is to raise a family better than their own. We want to give more than we have received. This is often thought of in material, social, educational — worldly terms, but it should also be true in the spiritual realm. We should strive to give the next generation a true Catholic faith and love of God that is greater than our own.

Our ultimate goal is to make saints for Heaven and give greater honor and glory to God. This means that we must become saints ourselves. We cannot give what we do not have. We must all strive to become worthy instruments of God's grace. Tragically, it appears that each generation is growing weaker in the true Catholic Faith and in God's love. This is a call to action for our spiritual growth.

Skepticism, liberalism, materialism, etc., appear to increase with each succeeding generation. We pray to God for His mercy in these evil days in which we find ourselves. This is not yet enough. Prayer is good, and petitioning God's mercy is wonderful. We must remember that God helps those who help themselves. The faith, love, mercy, and compassion we have received need to be perfected within us — developed, matured, and shared with those around us. We are called to be His Instruments — His Voice — His Action in the world in which we live.

God readily forgives us a huge debt that we have incurred through sin, abusive squandering of His gifts, pride, vanity, etc. We are called upon to imitate Him. Jesus said we should strive for perfection because Our Father in Heaven is perfect. (Saint Matthew 5:48) To whom much has been given, much will be required. To whom much has been forgiven, much forgiveness will be necessary. God does not need anything we can give Him, but our fellow humans do. What we do for the least of our brethren, we do for God. It is in this manner that Jesus lives within us.

God manifests His mercy toward us through others, and we should, in turn, become similar instruments of God's mercy to others. We have benefitted from countless graces from God; it should be our goal to become instruments of His grace to bestow even more graces upon others around us.

Forgiveness and mercy towards one another out of love for God and neighbor is not just important, it is essential. We have received and are indebted, so we must work tirelessly to repay this by becoming God's instrument to do this for others.

However, God has given us many other gifts as well. The gift of the true Catholic Faith is just as important, if not more important, than the gift of His mercy and forgiveness. Without true faith, we cannot appreciate or spiritually benefit from so many blessings. We have a grave responsibility to find, hold on to, develop and mature, and pass on to others the true Catholic Faith that Jesus gave us. Our love and faith should not be less than our parents but more. The love and faith of our children should not be less than ours but greater. There should not be fewer believers but ever more. There should not be less faith but ever more. There should not be less true love but ever-increasing love.

Only in this way can we spiritually fulfill our original mandate to increase, multiply, and subdue the earth (Genesis 1:28).

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

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