THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost 18 September 2011

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

Let us not be solicitous for the things of this earth. In our baptism we have died with Christ to this world. Though we still live in this world we are not of this world. We are of Christ. We have been given a new life of grace. We pointed out last week that it is good and necessary for us to pray and petition God for our daily bread. We are also reminded that we must not become too solicitous for the things of this earth. Our main concern should be for the love of God and our eternal happiness in Heaven. 

St. Paul tells us to put off the sins of this world and not to even let them be named among us. Christ tells us in today’s gospel that God knows what we need and He will provide for us because we are His children. 

The pagans and those that do not know God are always desirous of the things of this world. They worry and fret over what they will eat, where they will live, what they will wear, etc. All these things are necessary to us too, but God would not have us waste precious time worrying ourselves about them. There are much more important things to concern ourselves with. God is our Father and He watches over us with loving care. He gives us what we need at all times and in all circumstances. Even in our want or misery it is what we need for our own good and our salvation. The pagans are His creatures too but they do not understand or believe, therefore they have an excuse for spending all their time and thoughts in obtaining and preserving the things of this earth. The children of this earth are very wise in their ways. 

The children of the Church on the other hand appear to be very imprudent. We believe and proclaim that we are children of God and that we are not made for this world, but for heaven. This world was made by God for us so that we might more easily come to know, love and serve in this world and ultimately be happy with Him in heaven. Knowing all this we still are seeking with the greatest of solicitude the things of this earth while we neglect the affairs of our soul. 

In our economic crisis we focus all our attention upon this earth. Our prayers tend to focus only upon the material things, while we disregard the spiritual. God has either sent the current material situation in which we find ourselves or He has at least permitted it. In either case He has done this for our own salvation and spiritual advancement. 

We must not become completely indifferent to our bodily needs, but we must truly rank them in a very secondary place compared with the needs of our souls. God wants us to take care of our bodies because they are His temples. At the same time He desires that we seek Him with an even greater preference. As we ask for our “daily bread” let us not confine this petition to just the cares of this world but first and foremost let us ask for the needs of our souls and then the needs of our bodies.

Christ has told us to seek first the kingdom of Heaven and its justice and everything else will be given us besides. The sins of the world that St. Paul tells us to put off are principally caused by forgetting God and our own souls and therefore our own spiritual welfare. Sins focus our attention upon this earth and are a misguided attempt to find peace and happiness in the things of this earth. The practice of virtue on the other hand will direct our attention to the things of the spirit and direct us to the building up of a treasure in heaven.

God is our loving Father He gives us the things of the earth for our bodies as we need them. Sometimes He will deprive us of them for some spiritual gain – such as, drawing our attention back to Him as the giver of all these things. He desires to give us much greater things though. He longs to flood us with spiritual gifts, but He is often impeded because we have filled our hearts with so many cares and loves for the things of this earth that there is no more room for the better things of the soul that He desires for us. Let us seek to remedy this as we place all our trust in Him in both this life and in the next.