THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost 19 August 2012

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

Those who have received the grace of true Faith and have come to know Christ like the Apostles are the ones to whom Christ says: “Blessed are the eyes that see the things that you see.” It is not with the eyes of the body that He is speaking but rather with the eyes of the soul that behold and contemplate Christ with Faith, Hope, and Charity as mystical members of His Body. It is only in the Catholic Church that we are able to see Christ clearly and thus become truly blessed.

The Fathers of the Church tell us in expounding the parable of today’s gospel that the man who fell among robbers represents all of mankind. Through the fall of Adam we have all fallen among robbers (devils) who have stripped us of all merits, wounded us with sins, and left us half dead (neither living in God’s grace – nor completely dead in the eternal fires of Hell). Christ is the Samaritan who has come to save us. The priest and the levite (the law and the prophets) draw near to fallen man but are unable to help him. It is only Christ, the good Samaritan, who has come down from Jerusalem (Heaven) who can and does truly help our fallen nature. Christ pours on the soothing oil of compassion that comes from His Human Nature upon our wounds and also the cleaning and purifying wine from His Divine Nature. Both the oil and the wine (The Human and Divine Natures) are necessary to cure us of the evil wounds which our fallen nature has sustained. He carries our punishment (but not our guilt) upon Himself as He suffered and died for us. He did not stop at this, but taking us to the inn (The Church) entrusts us to the inn-keeper (the bishops and priests) to look over us and care for us until He returns. The Church is given the two coins (the Old and New Testaments) to use in the care and cure of fallen men. The Church has been promised that anything above and beyond this, that She may expend in the care of these souls Christ will repay when He returns at the end of time.

We as members of the Mystical Body of Christ are to go in search of our fallen brethren (neighbors) as Christ has done – because we are one with Him – and bring them to the Church where they can be healed by the merits of the prayers and sacrifices of Her members. We are to be to the world both a good Samaritan as well as the inn where fallen men are entrusted to be restored to health.

As we go through our lives, let us not harden our hearts to the needs of our fellow men, but rather see and offer them through love what we would ourselves wish to receive. We must aid not only in bodily or physical necessities but even more importantly in the spiritual necessities of this life.

There are many in this world wounded by the devils that we should seek to heal and return to life by leading into the fold of the Church. The unbaptized as well as those baptized and led astray in the many false churches designed to deceive and lead astray those who might otherwise be saved, need to be sought out and offered the healing remedies of the Sacraments in the Church.

It seems that most of fallen men have or do reject the effects of Christ: both the members of His Mystical Body and His spouse the Catholic Church. This by no means gives us an excuse to stop seeking to offer all the aid that we can, or to stop searching for those whom we may assist. When our own families (those chosen people that God has appointed that we go to first) reject these graces let us then offer them to others just as He and His Church have done.

Christ is the Good Samaritan for all of mankind and He has come to save and heal us. He has showered us with His graces in pouring the soothing and healing oil and wine upon us; entrusted us to His Church that we may be further nourished with His teachings, and equally important nourishes us with the Sacraments. He now calls upon us all to be likewise good Samaritans in imitating Him. We, each and everyone, are in our own sphere of influence to come to the spiritual aid of all those we find dying in false religion and spirituality. Let us ever strive to bring these souls to the Church to be healed and fed with true doctrine and spirituality, which are aided and kept alive by the graces of the true Sacraments.