THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

Fourth Sunday after Easter

18 May 2025

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The Sunday

Sermon

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Dear Friends in Christ,

In today's Gospel reading (Saint John 16:5-14), the Resurrected Christ is preparing His disciples for His ascension into Heaven. If Jesus corporally remains with them in human form, they cannot receive the spiritual realities they need. In the absence of His Corporeal Human Body, the disciples begin to see spiritually and truly understand. It is, therefore, expedient for Him to leave them and for them to receive from the Holy Ghost the rest of the truths of God that they need. As long as the physical is present before us, we find it impossible to grasp and truly comprehend spiritual things.

When our eyes are deprived of material things to see and contemplate, we look higher to see and comprehend spiritual or supernatural things. We are inclined to consider the spiritual only in the deprivation of material things. In the absence of Jesus, the disciples are prepared to receive the Holy Ghost. Jesus came not to be a material god or idol for us but to lift us from the love of the material creation to the love of the supernatural and spiritual Creator. He became Human to draw us to His Divinity. God the Son took up our human (natural, material, or corporeal) nature to draw us and lift our hearts and minds to the supernatural, immaterial, and spiritual nature of God and our souls. This could only be completed by His physical or material absence. As long as He remained materially and visibly present to us, our hearts are attracted only to His physicality and not His incorporeal supernatural spiritual being.

When we receive the Holy Ghost, we (with the disciples) understand spiritual things and realities that were once hidden from us. The Holy Ghost, through us, convinces the world of sin, of justice, and of judgment.

The lives of true believers are a testament to the transformative power of belief in Jesus. Their faith convinces the world of sin, for only those who believe in Jesus Christ truly have their sins taken away. The rest remain in their sins because no sin can be removed except through Jesus. If they do not believe in Him, then they cannot have their other sins forgiven. Saint Augustine says: "Now there is a great difference between believing in Christ and in believing that Jesus is the Christ. For that He was the Christ even the devils believed; but he believes in Christ who both loves Christ and hopes in Christ.”

The just lives of the faithful followers of Jesus Christ are a powerful demonstration of justice to the rest of the world. Their actions, guided by their faith in Jesus, become meritorious for eternal reward. Those who have rejected Jesus remain in their sins, and there is no spiritual justness in their lives. This is seen and observed by way of comparison. The true followers of Jesus strive to live holy lives, denying themselves and embracing their daily crosses with love, humility, and patience. This is noticeably missing from the lives of many non-believers. We can only act through faith because we no longer see Jesus in His Humanity. "Blessed are they who do not see and yet believe.” The persevering patience and goodness of believers in times of hardship, injury, illness, etc., is incomprehensible to the world. The believer's ability to suffer injustice humbly, patiently, meekly, etc., as Jesus did, is a visible testimony of the hidden justness that reigns in their lives. By contrast, those without this gift of the Holy Ghost are like polar opposites in times of trials. They give in to violence, hatred, rage, envy, despair, etc.

It is the judgment that follows. The demons have already been judged, so those who follow the demons or make the devil their head or leader are already judged because their head has already been judged and condemned. The lives of the followers of Jesus become the measure of judgment against the followers of devils. We are free to choose whom to follow. There are only two options for us. We follow Jesus and live appropriately, or we follow the demons and act rebelliously and sinfully as the demons themselves do. The judgment is, in this sense, already accomplished. Those following the demons are forever condemned unless they repent and switch allegiance before they leave this world. Those truly following Jesus are forever redeemed and saved unless they repent and switch allegiance before they leave this world.

A simple examination of our consciences guided by the Holy Ghost can show us the judgment made for or against us as if already made. In cooperation with these graces of God, we can improve our lives, approach the justice of God more closely, and win a favorable judgment in eternity.

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