The First Sermon of Christ

Theophany IconAny classical public speaking training would tell the aspirant lecturer to always start with a little warm up for the audience in order to get them engaged then introduce the topic present the topic and then a short recap at the end. It is all about building up to your main subject.  This is pretty much what I’m doing now.

There is an old story with a priest in a convent that loved to preach. He always used well thought out  phrases nice metaphors parables comparisons  his subjects were always good but he would tend to take a little more time than others. The abbess was a little upset about that because this would cut out the time dedicated to the various obediences in the monastery. So she decided she would go and complain to the bishop. As a consequence the priest was called at the chancery and the bishop asked him if possible to stay to the essence and cut the embellishments so the sisters could have more time to work. So next Sunday the Father a little ticked off about the discussion with the bishop starts his sermon as usual: “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Beloved sisters repent or go to hell! Amin!” and he got back into the altar.

We might consider this example a little excessive at a first glance but at the end of the day the priest from our story exposed the essential idea that we have a choice in this life and our choice determines our life. Bad choices won’t take you anywhere good – the essence.

Christ as well did not always conformed to the niceties of oratory; on the contrary His first recorded words to the people gathered around Him were very blunt:  “Repent for the kingdom of heavens is at hand!” (Mathew 4:17). No warm-up no fancy introductions just the essence of the matter. John said actually the same thing (Matthew 3:2) to the people gathered to be baptized by him in the Jordan. No frills just what they needed to know.

Repentance nowadays is a very misunderstood word. It has a negative connotation and people think that is something left to do only for hardened criminals with a heavy conscience. But the original meaning of the word in Greek “metanoia” refers to a change of mind. Is the mind we achieve after we have done something wrong and we suffered the consequences. Repentance is something that we have to do if we want to avoid the same mistake. Someone said that you can only make a mistake once because starting with the second time is a choice. Repentance is another choice: to do better next time.

Our relationship to sin unfold in a similar fashion:  you sin once you see the bad fruits you should stop doing it. For example: you stole something you got caught (eventually everyone gets caught) you should stop doing it. Simple you should learn from your mistakes and set your life on another course. Dont delay it. If not you will become a slave of sin and you cant blame your problems on anyone but yourself.

Our society is in deep need of repentance because it keeps repeating the same mistakes again and again not learning from them.  The result?  Everything is getting worse the economy the education the family and so on and so on…We seem to never learn.

The fact that John‘s and Christ’s calls are one and the same has a special significance that further exposes the work of salvation in our lives. Johns first call to repentance is a call to meet Christ to go out find and  embrace Christ in our lives  to let Him be born in our hearts so we can grow in Him and Him in us

Christs call to repentance is an invitation to aspire at the next level to change our secular way into His ways to learn from the emptiness of a life without Him in order to fill it with His presence. It is a call to leave sin out of our lives and embrace virtue to learn from our mistakes so our future would be brighter.

By future I do not mean a mere 80 or even a few extra years if we are blessed. By future I mean an eternity in the Kingdom of Heavens. This is the future we are growing by planting the mustard seed of faith in our lives. Its fruits well taste eternally. Ill say that again eternally! This promise is the great fulfillment of our creation is Gods authentic will for mankind: to be with Him forever in a transfigured world as partakers in the love of the perfect Trinity.

We don’t know exactly what the Kingdom will be like we know it will be a new heaven and a new earth but what does this mean? Jesus only spoke about it in parables comparing it to 10 virgins a vineyard a treasure hidden in the field and so on. We also don’t know where the Kingdom is.  Some imagine it as a distant place unreachable elusive; others even deny its existence. We are also oblivious of when the Kingdom will actually come: today tomorrow next week in a thousand years?  Many tried to guess it but failed; even the all wise Mayans. It is a great mystery that won’t be solved until it will actually happen.   But we hear from Christ’s very mouth that it is at hand it is reachable and this is all that matters. When where how is not that critical to know.  What is important is to qualify as a citizen. God will reveal the rest when the time will be ripe.

So for us the Kingdom becomes a choice. Like choosing to be among the 5 wise or choosing to do the will of the Father is a choice or choosing to be a fertile ground for the Word of god is a choice or choosing to uncover the hidden treasure of the Gospel. All this are choices that make us draw near the promised entrance.

The martyrs have understood this and affirmed the Kingdom even with the price of their lives and thus receiving crowns of glory from Christs very hands. As their faith grew stronger so the Kingdom of God drew closer. The fact is that the Kingdom was right in their hearts. St Ignatius the God Bearer of Antioch said to his executioner that he had Christ in his heart. So to mock him even after they killed him they cut out his heart and cut into pieces. What they found however to their surprise was the letters ICXC NIKA Jesus Christ conquers on each and every piece. Christ had His mark in St Ignatius heart.

This kingdom is what we should seek first; everything else is nice but not absolutely necessary.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:3). This is our primary concern to make it in the kingdom the rest is trivia. Repentance is the only way to get there by answering the call of Christ and following in His footsteps with boldness all the way to the end.

 

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4 Replies to “The First Sermon of Christ”

  1. Father bless
    Thank you for this homily–it really helped my understanding of repentance. But there is one part that bothered me Sunday and still bothers me now:
    Someone said that you can only make a mistake once because starting with the second time is a choice.

    I often make mistakes due to forgetfulness (itll often take several experiences of negative consequences and reminders before it sticks with me) or habit (Ill realize I made the same mistake – again – a split second after I do it). Are these really choices and no longer mistakes?

    It seems to me that the second time is a choice only applies if the mistake was due to lack of knowledge. Do you think it applies to other types of mistakes as well?

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    1. @Kimberly
      Well as with every saying this is not a perfect one. Of course there can be cases when we make mistakes out of forgetfulness of course so this does not apply in all cases. There are people however that try to explain the bad things they got used to do or even enjoy doing by calling them always mistakes. The idea it tries to convey overall is that we should learn from mistakes so we dont repeat them or use them as excuses.

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  2. Hey Joe and CodyI feel that you understand how deilang with being gay is in this world. It is not easy and I know that Jesus love us a lot Jesus is with us. But a lots of people at the Catholic Church have hurt us and what they did is wrong. My conviction is that even if you have insight a strong faith a strong love for Jesus I think youll still meet people who hate you for who you are and yes its hate what else is this called? We have to call it by what it is: hate. But dont be discouraged. Know that Jesus is with us all the time and Jesus watch on us. As you know God is very close to those who suffer to the poor the marginalized the sick and yes being gay fit in that category and Im also deaf in both ears. Our suffering is probably not something physical but it hurt a lot because its a wound that affect us in our soul our interaction with others in our deep desire to love each others in being respected and loved so I think it require more courage from us in order to have a quality life.I have complained on how difficult it is to makes some friends and I felt hurt. But I think its because when people gets married have kids and a busy job it complicate things and we dont relate to each others as we did. Its important to find someone who can understand us.Also the cross is not just about suffering it is also about salvation joy happiness and a relationship with Jesus. I have met John Paul II in 1984 when I was 1-years-old and when I met him I saw Jesus. Its hard to explain and the Pope blessed me and has he did Jesus came on me and I was very happy and I waived my papal flag. But John Paul II suffered a lot he lost his entire family by the time he was 20-years-old he was persecuted by the nazis he was shot he had parkinson for many years. I think God allowed some events to happens in his life and it has made John Paul II a very strong but sensitive Pope. I mean when I think about him its like I can feel the suffering he had its weird to explain but John Paul II was certainly prepared by God to carry his cross and to be a witness for Jesus in our world we are all witnesses for Jesus. Weve been created by God and so our happiness is with Jesus. Sometimes you do have some extra such as a bit of money a car some friends but only Jesus can make us happy. I mean I am happy with Jesus but the rest is just an extra. Mike

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