Slaves of Mary - Sermon of the Day
A traditional Catholic sermon each day, drawn from a private collection of sermons, missions and conferences preached between 2003 and 2015, each with a full transcript. These sermons were preached by priests in good standing with their local ordinaries; they were prepared for the congregations to which they were first given and are not a replacement for the authoritative teaching of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. This podcast is dedicated to the Holy Mother of God.
The Divine Samaritan Passing By (Oct 12, 2013)
Read with the Fathers of the Church, the parable of the Good Samaritan is the story of our salvation: Adam leaves Jerusalem for Jericho and is stripped and wounded by the devil, the priest and Levite of the Old Law cannot help him, and Christ, the divine traveler passing by, pours in the oil and wine of the sacraments. He sets fallen man on His own beast of burden, His human nature, and brings him to the inn of the Catholic Church, the hospital for sinners and school for saints, until He returns to repay all.
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When Heaven and Earth Kiss (Dec 23, 2007)
St. Clelia Barbieri, who promised her dying sisters never to abandon them and whose voice is still heard singing the Divine Office with them, shows that in the true worship of God heaven and earth come together, as the Epistle to the Hebrews says: we come to the heavenly Jerusalem, innumerable angels, and the sprinkled blood that speaks better than Abel's. Since every saint is made through the liturgy, the purgative and illuminative ways are explained, and the faithful are urged to sing the Sanctus at Mass, joining the angels' hymn to the holiness of God.
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Prince of the Host of the Lord (Sep 29, 2013)
On the feast of St. Michael, the war in heaven of the Apocalypse is shown to have been fought over the God-man, and the Church militant now stands in that same battle with St. Michael as the prince of her army and two-thirds of the angels on her side. From Joshua loosing his shoes before the prince of the host of the Lord, to Daniel, St. Joan of Arc and the Angel of Peace at Fatima, the archangel purges and matures souls in reverence, then sets them on fire with the love of God.
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Permission to Die, Mother (Jul 17, 2005)
On the Sunday when Christ drives the money changers from the Temple, Herod's gold-plated sanctuary of white marble, as Josephus describes it, is seen as built in God's providence for the God-man, the first house of His Real Presence, which should move us to honor our own churches where He dwells in the tabernacle. On their feast day, the sixteen Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne, who offered their lives to end the Terror, go to the guillotine singing, each asking, "Permission to die, Mother?"
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It Is Really Not So Hard to Become a Saint (Nov 1, 2013)
On the feast of All Saints, the death-row prisoners of Turin whom St. Joseph Cafasso prepared for the scaffold show that holiness is within reach, for, as St. Alphonsus teaches, accepting death in perfect conformity to God's will earns a merit like that of the martyrs. The Church's teaching on beatification and canonization is then explained: in canonizing, the Church infallibly declares that the soul died in grace and now enjoys the beatific vision, so we can keep our eyes on the goal of joining our elder brothers and sisters in heaven.
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The Cloister of the Soul (Mar 12, 2006)
With the Gospel of the Transfiguration, when Christ led Peter, James and John up a high mountain apart, silence is shown to be the condition for hearing God, as the desert of St. Anthony, the hidden years at Nazareth and the forty days in the wilderness all teach. Exterior silence serves interior silence of the imagination and memory, so we must guard the cloister of the soul against the images we let in, fill it with holy ones, and lift the mind to God in the small pauses of a busy day.
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An Army Set in Array (Jun 29, 2014)
On the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, hierarchy, which means "sacred order," is shown to be set by God in the universe, the Church and the family, reflecting the order among the Divine Persons, who are equal in dignity and nature; flattening it, as the Protestant denial of Holy Orders and the French Revolution set out to do, brings not equality but disorder. St. Paul, though the more gifted, submitted to St. Peter, for humility is knowing our place and taking it, and we honor those set over us for the sake of their office.
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Christ the King Mission, Part 9: Christ Conquers, Christ Reigns, Christ Commands (Mar 13, 2014)
Closing the mission, the Holy Mass is shown to be the means by which Christ the King conquers, reigns and commands (Christus vincit, regnat, imperat): it holds back the powers of evil, shields the world from divine justice, and won pagan Rome and the New World for Christ. The faithful are urged to honor the King at Mass through modest dress, fasting, confession, reverent Communion and thanksgiving, choosing His peace rather than the crushing burden of Atlas or the hidden ruin of Dorian Gray.
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Christ the King Mission, Part 8: A Woman Clothed with the Sun (Mar 13, 2014)
In 1917, as Russia fell to atheistic revolution, Our Lady of Fatima gave the remedy for peace (the daily Rosary, penance for sinners, and consecration to her Immaculate Heart), confirmed by the Miracle of the Sun before 70,000 witnesses. Because Mary, Mother of the King, shares as Queen in His reign and stands in lasting enmity with the serpent, the triumph of her Immaculate Heart is the reign of Christ the King, and the Rosary is the chain that binds the enemy and the ladder that lifts souls to heaven.
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Christ the King Mission, Part 7: In This Sign You Shall Conquer (Mar 12, 2014)
From St. Helena's finding of the True Cross and Constantine's "In this sign you shall conquer," the Cross is shown to be the banner and throne of Christ the King, the weapon by which He defeated sin, death and Satan, now hidden from public life by a new paganism. Every Christian must take up his own cross (illness, sorrow, duty, even the consequences of his own sins, beginning with a good confession) and wield it, like the martyrs, as the key to heaven, and proudly display the crucifix at home and in public.
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Christ the King Mission, Part 6: He Believed, and His Whole House (Mar 12, 2014)
Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray, the hidden portrait of a soul rotting behind a pleasant facade, is set against the image of the Sacred Heart, whose love is displayed for all to see and who promised St. Margaret Mary to bless and bring peace to every home where His image is honored. Since the renewal of society begins in the family, every household is urged to enthrone the Sacred Heart as Father Mateo taught, letting Christ the King reform its whole life, as the ruler in today's Gospel "believed, and his whole house."
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Christ the King Mission, Part 5: What Is This to All Eternity? (Mar 11, 2014)
Drawing on St. Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle and Pius XI's Quas Primas, the soul of the baptized is presented as the castle of Christ the King, where intellect, will, memory, passions and body must each submit to Him in right order, guided by a conscience formed by God's law and the teaching of the Church. The saints' "double vision" (one eye on God, the other on the day of judgment) is then applied to Sunday Mass, marriages outside the Church, temptations against purity and forgiving our enemies, always asking: "What is this to all eternity?"
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Christ the King Mission, Part 4: The City of God and the City of Man (Mar 10, 2014)
The martyrdom of Blessed Miguel Pro, who died crying "Viva Cristo Rey!", opens a reflection on St. Augustine's two cities: one built on love of self to the contempt of God, the other on love of God to the contempt of self. Recalling Pius XI's Quas Primas and Leo XIII's teaching that the state must acknowledge God, the conference calls Catholics to rebuild a Christian order beginning in their own hearts and homes through the enthronement of the Sacred Heart, after the example of Ecuador's Catholic president Gabriel García Moreno.
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Christ the King Mission, Part 3: Dies Irae, the King Comes to Judge (Mar 9, 2014)
Christ the King will come again to judge the living and the dead, and on that day every creature in heaven, on earth and under the earth will acknowledge His kingship. Following St. Thomas Aquinas, the general judgment is needed so that the far-reaching effects of every deed are seen, the false judgments of history are corrected, and God's providence is vindicated; we prepare for it by leaving nothing unconfessed, rejecting human respect, and praying the Rosary daily.
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Christ the King Mission, Part 2: Behold Your King (Mar 9, 2014)
The aged scribe Eleazar, who chose martyrdom rather than even pretend to eat forbidden meat, is set against Catholics in public life who keep the faith "in private" while promoting abortion and denying Christ any place in law and government. Drawing on Pius XI's teaching on the social reign of Christ the King and St. Paul's warning of the apostasy and the man of sin, the conference describes the Antichrist as Satan's counterfeit messiah and closes with St. Patrick's vision of the faith rekindled after a time of darkness.
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Christ the King Mission, Part 1: The Infant King Holds the World (Mar 9, 2014)
Opening a parish mission on the First Sunday of Lent, the straining statue of Atlas at Rockefeller Center is contrasted with the Infant of Prague, who holds the whole world easily in His hand as true God and true man. Modern man, following Descartes in making himself the measure of all things, has forgotten God and set the rights of man above the rights of God; the remedy is to return to Christ the King, enthrone Him in our hearts and homes, and make a good confession.
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The Glory of the Cross Shining over Heaven and Earth (Sep 15, 2013)
St. Paul's exhortation to walk worthy of our calling "with all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love" is joined to the two great commandments, and St. Leo the Great's words about seeing "the glory of the cross shining over heaven and earth" show what that calling demands. A heart that truly sees the cross is humble and grateful, not proud: it judges sin as sin but loves the sinner, and like the Good Samaritan it binds its neighbor's wounds, praying and doing penance for others' sins as though they were its own.
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Stir Up Thy Might, O Lord (Dec 15, 2013)
At Covadonga in 722, Don Pelayo and a small Christian remnant took refuge in Our Lady's cave and begged her protection, and they were saved when the arrows turned back and a storm brought the mountain down on the Moorish army, which began the long reconquest of Spain. On Gaudete Sunday this becomes an image of Advent: God kept faithful remnants through every age of Satan's tyranny, and the true Conqueror began His reconquest in the cave of Bethlehem, where we too must take refuge, for if one outpost of faith remains in a soul, He can win it all...
Partakers of the Divine Nature (Sep 11, 2005)
Just as a living clump of grass ranks higher than all the stars, and a man higher than an elk, sanctifying grace gives a new and supernatural life, a created share in God's own life, so that we become adopted sons and partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), raised farther above our natural state than a man stands above a rock. With St. Alphonsus, St. Bridget and St. Catherine of Siena, we consider the beauty of a soul in grace, the disaster of losing it by mortal sin, and the Holy Mass as the one worthy thanksgiving for so...
The Bible Comes to Us from the Church (Sep 23, 2007)
The canon of Scripture is the Church's authoritative list of inspired books: the Old Testament used by Our Lord and the Apostles, the Greek Septuagint with its 46 books, was received by the Church and confirmed with the New Testament by Pope St. Damasus and the Councils of Hippo and Carthage, and the list was closed by Pope St. Innocent I. Since only the Church's authority assures us which books are the Word of God, it is a contradiction to accept the Bible while rejecting her teaching office; as St. Augustine said, he would not believe the Gospels unless the...
A Bundle That Cannot Be Broken (Dec 12, 2010)
On Gaudete Sunday and the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange's teaching on the four ends of the Holy Sacrifice, adoration, thanksgiving, reparation and petition, shows that Christ's intercession continues in the Eucharist after Mass, and that prayer united to it for the Church, her bishops and priests, sinners and the peace of nations is certain to bear fruit. With St. Louis de Montfort's teaching that prayer in common is an army attacking the devil, like a bundle of sticks that cannot be broken, the parish is called to pray together right after Holy Communion, while Our...
First, Do You Love Your Neighbor? (Oct 11, 2009)
Holy Communion is meant to be received often, and because its grace is given at the very moment of reception, in measure with the devotion brought to it, careful preparation matters. Following the Catechism of the Council of Trent, the first step is an act of faith in the Real Presence, and the second is to ask, "Do I love my neighbor?"
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Blessed Is He That Watches (Nov 20, 2011)
At the end of the liturgical year, the Church's teaching on the last things is set against popular errors: there is no rapture or earthly millennium, and no one may fix the date of the end, yet Our Lord commands us to watch. St. Paul's prophecy of a great apostasy before the Antichrist is studied through its type in the apostasy recounted in Maccabees and the warnings of the popes of the last century; the remedy is simply to stay in the state of grace and do our duty, with the daily Rosary, frequent confession and fervent Communion.
<...That in All Things He May Hold the Primacy (Oct 30, 2005)
On the Feast of Christ the King, instituted by Pius XI, the faithful are reminded that Christ's kingship demands a change of life: He must hold the primacy in all things, His reign may not be shut out of public life or kept merely private, and His kingdom must be actively fought for. If sports fans and patriots give such zeal to their causes, how much more should Catholics devote themselves to seeking first the Kingdom of God.
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Blood and Water from His Side (Jul 1, 2015)
On the Feast of the Most Precious Blood, St. Thomas Aquinas's teaching that Christ's Body was formed from the purest blood of the Virgin leads to a meditation on the blood and water from His pierced side as the source of the Church and her sacraments, including Holy Matrimony. Because marriage between one man and one woman was willed "from the beginning" and images Christ's indissoluble union with His Church, no union contrary to it can draw life from His Blood, and those living in such unions may not be admitted to Holy Communion.
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Our Brother's Keeper, Not His Judge (Jun 27, 2010)
Following St. Thomas Aquinas, fraternal correction is a work of charity, distinct from the correction given in justice by those in authority, and it binds us only when the fault is serious, the sinner is unaware of it, there is hope he will listen, no one better placed can act, and no grave harm will come to us. Where there is doubt we should refrain, praying and giving good example instead, for we are our brother's keeper but not his judge, and a harsh or proud correction can wound a soul as surely as detraction.
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Body and Soul into Glory (Aug 15, 2006)
On the Feast of the Assumption, the dogma defined by Pius XII in 1950, that Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, is explained through its fitting reasons: her freedom from sin, her divine motherhood, her perpetual virginity and her share in her Son's work of redemption. Her Assumption calls us to follow her in detachment from earthly things and desire for union with God, through the daily Rosary and the three Hail Marys for purity.
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<...The Most Important Thing We Will Ever Do (Nov 1, 2004)
On the Feast of All Saints, the most important moment of our lives is shown to be our death, for all eternity depends on dying in the state of grace; final perseverance cannot be earned, but it is obtained by humble, faithful prayer such as the three Hail Marys, the Brown Scapular and the First Fridays and Saturdays. Heaven, both a place and a condition, is then described as the beatific vision, in which the blessed see God face to face in the light of glory, each according to the grace in which he died.
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First the Priest, Then the Angel (Apr 17, 2014)
On Holy Thursday, the feast of the institution of the priesthood, the sublime dignity of the priest is recalled through the saints, such as St. Francis of Assisi, who would honor a priest before an angel because his consecrated hands bring Christ upon the altar. Clerical celibacy, far from a mere custom, is shown from Scripture and the early councils to be an apostolic tradition befitting men who stand daily at the altar, and the faithful are asked to pray that priests remain pure and faithful to their post.
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The Humility of the Just Man (Dec 24, 2006)
Drawing on the doctors of the Church, St. Joseph is presented as the holiest of the saints after Our Lady, a virgin spouse and a just man adorned with every virtue. On the Gospel of Christmas Eve, Sts. Jerome, Bernard and Francis de Sales explain that Joseph never suspected Mary but, in humility, judged himself unworthy to remain with the Mother of the Messiah, until the angel told him to take her as his wife.
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See Him, Adore Him, Embrace Him (Dec 30, 2012)
The shepherds saw the Christ Child, the Magi adored Him, but Simeon and Anna embraced Him; of St. Teresa's three requirements for growth in prayer (detachment, humility and love of neighbor), this sermon dwells on detachment from a passing world, following St. John Eudes. The martyrs Sts. Timothy and Maura, a young couple crucified together after he strengthened her to choose death rather than sin, show how spouses must help each other to heaven instead of urging each other to give in to the world.
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Holiness Is Here and Now (Sep 18, 2011)
Peace and holiness are always within reach because, as Fr. de Caussade teaches in Abandonment to Divine Providence, God's will is found in the present moment and in the ordinary duties of each day. Accepting what is, rather than wanting what is not, and doing even the smallest tasks for love of God, frees the soul from self-will and opens it to the marvels grace works in those wholly given to Him.
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Unfurl the Sails This Lent (Feb 23, 2014)
Ahead of Lent, this sermon teaches that the season's penances are not suffering for its own sake but a time of special grace to root out a particular vice by practicing the opposite virtue. Taking impatience and anger as examples, it gives a practical method: pray for the virtue, choose small daily mortifications and regular fasting to strengthen patience, temperance and meekness, and meet each temptation with the same resolve: "this is so that I can grow in patience."
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He Who Prays Will Be Saved (Aug 12, 2012)
From the Gospel of the deaf-mute brought to Christ by his friends, this sermon teaches that prayer is necessary for salvation ("he who prays will be saved," says St. Alphonsus) and that we may ask for spiritual and temporal goods according to God's will. We are to pray for the Pope and bishops, our rulers, family, benefactors, sinners and the holy souls, invoking Our Lady and the saints with faith and perseverance, above all for the grace of a holy death.
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Loving God Back it up with Action (Jul 24, 2005)
Love of God is an act of the will, not a feeling, and, as Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen teaches in Divine Intimacy, charity is the form of all the virtues, without which even the greatest works profit nothing. The sermon offers a simple plan for daily mental prayer (adoration, contrition, meditation on the mysteries, petition and thanksgiving) so that our love for God is backed up by action.
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Compassion and Faith The Leper and the Centurion (Jan 25, 2009)
On the Third Sunday after Epiphany, the healing of the leper shows that Christ never turns away a sinner who humbly confesses and does penance, for leprosy is an image of mortal sin. The centurion's compassion for his dying servant leads him to faith and humility ("Lord, I am not worthy"), and St. Paul's command to overcome evil with good calls us to show that same charity to all, even our enemies.
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The Sacraments Holy Eucharist (Nov 5, 2006)
Series on the Sacraments, The Holy Eucharist
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The Sacraments Confirmation (Oct 22, 2006)
Series on the Sacraments, Confirmation
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The Sacraments Baptism (Oct 8, 2006)
Series on the Sacraments, Baptism
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The Sacraments Prologue (Sep 24, 2006)
Prologue to a series on the Sacraments.
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