THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost 1 September 2013

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

St. Augustine takes the opportunity of today’s Gospel to remind us of spiritual death in sin.

It is most probable that Our Lord raised many bodies to life, but the Gospels only record three instances. The first was the Centurion’s daughter, the next was the young man in today’s Gospel, the final one was Lazarus. These three represent different degrees of spiritual death in sin.

The Centurion’s daughter had just died when Our Lord arrived. She was still within the walls of her own home. These are those who sin in desire or thought. Their sin is hidden within their own walls, but they are dead nonetheless. Our Lord tells us that the man who looks after a woman lusting in his heart is already guilty; and the man that holds hatred and anger in his heart is already guilty of murder. These poor souls are dead within their own homes and the world does not yet know of their death.

The young man in today’s Gospel represents to us those who have not only desired to sin but have actually committed sin. They have carried the dead out of the home where the world can easily perceive their death.

The last type of spiritual death is presented in those who have allowed their sins to become a habit. These are dead and buried for days. Their bodies have begun to decay and there is a stench. The habit has deadened their senses to the point that they no longer can help themselves but continue from sin to sin without any fear of the situation they are in. We see examples of this in the Sodomites that accosted Lot in the Old Testament. When Lot tried to lead them away from their unnatural sins they said that he was a stranger and had no right to judge them. Sadly, it seems that many in the world have entered into this third stage of death. When they are reminded of their sins or the unnaturalness of their lives the general response is that we have no right to judge them. The world would have us believe that we are the ones that are out of place and have done something wrong.

In each of these degrees of spiritual death, we see that God is able to bring us back to life. In each case the death is nothing more than a sleep to Our Lord. He calls and the dead respond. No matter how dead we have become there is always hope.

The young girl was lifted up and given back to her parents. The young man was raised and given back to his mother. Lazarus came forth from the tomb but was still bound. Our Lord directed the apostles to release him from his bonds. It is to the Apostles of the Church that Christ has given this power of binding and losing the sins of men.

The sinners who are spiritually dead can at any time present themselves to the priests of the true Church and have their sins forgiven; and in this manner be restored to spiritual life. Even those who are restored to life but remain bound by their evil habits will find in the Church the spiritual hands eager and ready to unbind them; and set them free.

As long as there is breath there is hope. As long as we are able to repent of our sins and call out to God there is a chance for life to be restored within us. God directs us to penance for our sins and to receive absolution in the sacrament of Confession. When we understand how easy it is for God, through the Church, to restore spiritual life to our souls, we see there is nothing so foolish as to despair of spiritual life altogether.

Christ’s hand is always held out to us in this life to restore us to life and peace with Him. All that we need to do is take Him by the hand and allow Him to work within us. When we hear and feel the sting of our consciences, this is the voice of God calling us back to life. Let us learn to recognize His voice and cast off our sins with penance and walk in a newness of life. There is still time for us. God’s mercy is not exhausted yet.

There will come a time when the opportunity for us to be restored to spiritual life will have passed. When the time of grace comes to an end; and we have remained in death, we will immediately be cast into Hell. We must truly heed the admonition that “now is the acceptable time.” If we do not heed God’s call at this moment we have no assurance that He will pass this way again and call us once more.

Once we have been restored to life let us strain every fiber of our being to never die this spiritual death again. Our worst enemy is ourselves in this matter because we are the only ones who can respond to this call of God for the life of our own souls. Let us be our best friend and listen and follow the voice of our Creator and Redeemer when He calls us back to life.