SSPX Sermons

Passiontide opens up a period for us to reflect on all that Our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us, including above all His Passion. We have two sources to meditate upon: the Gospel accounts of Christ's suffering and His holy relic, the Shroud of Turin. It is the Shroud that reveals the extent of Our Lord's physical suffering—suffering that He undertook for the salvation of our souls.

Lent, as we know, is a time of preparation for Our Lord's Resurrection. However, what good are our sacrificial acts during this time unless we first have charity? And while this charity must begin in the home, it must extend outward to all those around us in our churches and wider community, even even it is difficult.

God works through human instruments. And unlike the everyday instruments we use, be it a pen or a paintbrush, human beings have the capacity to be willing instruments of Our Lord and therefore give glory back to Him. Moreover, by using us as His willing instruments, particularly in the context of the Church, God demonstrates His love for us through the Church's ministry.

At every moment we can discover how the Church guides us to find joy in every moment and situation. By sharing in God's divine nature, embrace authentic happiness and rejoice in His presence.

Our Lord provides us the grace to persevere in this life, though too often we fail to recognize it. Even during His earthly ministry, He revealed Himself to the Apostles and those He ministered to and they also did not realize it. While Christ does not owe us another chance to realize this great gift of salvation He has bestowed upon us, through His love and the ministry the Church and the sacraments, we are able to come back into a state of grace.

We can go through our time on earth performing every act we are called to do, be it reciting prayers and refraining from sin, and yet do so lifelessly. Unless we act out of love for God and a sincere desire to live in His presence, our efforts, including those we make during the penitential season of Lent, will be wasted while leaving us susceptible to succumb to our faults.

Our daily duty of state requires a series of “little martyrdoms.” Although these duties differ from person to person, and circumstance to circumstance, none can be accomplished without renouncing ourselves and submitting to God's will for us.

If we are to define progress in the spiritual life, we often think of it in terms of avoiding sin. A better way to conceive of spiritual progress is the act of growing in virtue. But to grow in virtue, to become truly holy, we must open ourselves to God's grace so that we may become partakers in divine reality.

Although devotion to any particular saint is optional, devotion to Our Blessed Lady and St. Joseph is not. For St. Joseph presents to us a model for holiness and happiness. For as St. Joseph's life demonstrates, perfect happiness comes from embracing the perfect good, which is God.

Even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, not to mention the myriad of other elements and infrastructure that must be in place so that we may walk forward. What is true in the practical realm is true as well of the spiritual realm. This is why Our Lord, through the Church, supplies a supernatural infrastructure comprised of the sacraments and prayer to allow us to achieve our eternal end with God.

In order to move closer to perfection, we must fast—not only from food, but from sin as well. By chastening the body, we elevate our spirit and instill charity in our soul.

The sin of presumption is especially dangerous. All of us fall into it at times, believing that we can place ourselves in danger of committing mortal sin or falling into temptation without worry. How many times do we tell ourselves that nothing is wrong, God will forgive, and continue on our wayward path? But in doing so, we tempt God and imperil our souls.

As Catholics, we are called to have a love for the sacrament of confession. Along with the Eucharist, confession is the primary means by which we may save our souls. Yet many of us find it difficult to confess our sins regularly and too often make excuses for not devoting ourselves fully to this great gift of grace.

How should we perform our penance? That is, what should be our heart's disposition? Two indispensable dispositions are, first, to love God and, second, to unite our penance with the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. For our acts penance will lack fruit unless they lead us back to God.

We fast and abstain during the Lenten season in order, among other things, to control the concupiscence of the flesh while elevating our souls to God. Both practices also offer us an opportunity to make reparation for our past sins and imitate Our Lord, fasted in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights.

Every apparition of Our Lady has one consistent message: prayer and penance. For while we may wish for our bodily or material maladies to be addressed when we appeal to the Blessed Virgin and Christ, these temporal cures mean nothing if we do not first heal our souls. And so in this time of Lent, we must focus on what is eternal, namely our salvation, which can only come about by dedicating ourselves fully to God.

We must enter Lent with a spirit of charity, for if we are charitable with others, God will be charitable with us. Yet to begin on the path of charity, we must recognize that the greatest battle we have in his life is within our own souls. Cowardice often drives us from confronting this hard truth. With charity and reliance on Our Lord, however, we will have the strength to face our faults and overcome them.

To arise in humility, we must have a fear of pride. Moreover, we cannot rest on our own abilities and virtues. We must, rather, look to God with humility so He can work in our souls while remembering that we can only claim our weaknesses for ourselves.

In the midst of life's trials, do we rejoice in them and see them as an opportunity for spiritual growth? Without trials, we are often tempted to believe we do not need God while remaining attached to the passing things of this world.

If we are not watchful, our minds quickly lose focus on the one true thing needful. When we do not put our whole selves into our prayers and devotions, we begin to see our spiritual lives as a burden and oppressive. Before we know it, our connection with God begins to unravel and we become susceptible to destructive temptations that place our salvation in peril.

As we approach the season of Lent, Holy Mother Church prepares us for the penitential effort this time of the liturgical year demands. This is not a negative. Penance is not just a burden or a pain we must endure, but an opportunity to grow in virtue. Moreover, by detaching ourselves from the world, we are given an opportunity to draw closer to God.

Sloth is a voluntary and repugnant repudiation to effort. It is a vice that encroaches upon every aspect of our lives. If we give in to it, we risk losing our connection with God and thus imperil our salvation.

God's love for us as friends is a great gift. Yet how is it possible for us, as mere humans, to be friends with God? But as St. Thomas Aquinas points out, the union between God and man arises from charity. For as God loves us, so are we called to love God--and it is in this mutuality that friendship lies.

According to the Church's rubrics, the Candlemas candles can only be blessed if they will be lit and carried in procession. In this way, these candles are a symbol of the light we, as Catholics, must carry out into the world as a sign of our life in Christ in a state of sanctifying grace.

If an all-good God exists, why is there evil in the world? This objection has been used by persons from ancient times to modern days as a basis to reject Christianity. The answer to this objection is that evil does not come from God, but from creatures. What this means concretely and how it relates to man's free will is the subject of this sermon.

The Feast of the Purification commemorates the offering of Our Lord as a sacrifice to God the Father. In the Catholic Church, when a young man offers himself as a cleric, he imitates the offering of Our Lord and accepts God as His only reward. And it is in this offering of self that a cleric finds meaning in his life, one that is lived for God, whom he loves.

The mystery of presentation of the Child Jesus in the temple expresses to us the reality of Christ as the true Light of the world. Our mission, as followers of Christ, is also to be a light in the darkness. The blessed candles that are given to the faithful on this day, express each Christian's mission to be a light that draws souls to God, guides souls to God, by our faith and by our charity.

The miracle of Our Lord calming the tempest on the waters is an allegory for how he calms the tempest in our souls. Like the apostles of old, we are buffeted by turmoil and temptations. And like them, we must reach out to God, knowing always that our lives and salvation depend upon Him.

To no man should we render evil for evil, even the "enemy of the hour," that person who may momentarily vex or wrong us in some way. It could be a neighbor, a friend, or even a family member. Instead of contemplating revenge or relishing in the pain of our "enemy," Our Lord calls us to show charity and therefore manifest His love in the world.

What has God given to us? Everything--and that is why we must acknowledge and give thanks for Our Lord's gifts. We must never forget that God owes us nothing; everything is a free gift of His immeasurable love for us.

What has God given to us? Everything--and that is why we must acknowledge and give thanks for Our Lord's gifts. We must never forget that God owes us nothing; everything is a free gift of His immeasurable love for us.

So many of us think that evil justifies evil, at least when evil is done unto us. In the context of the family, this pernicious principle manifests itself when spouses keep a running tally of the other's apparent wrongs or, worse, use the faults of extended family members to cover up their own. The only true way to overcome evil is by embracing the good, even if this means we must suffer the wrongs of others.

Our Lord begins his public ministry by instituting the sacrament of marriage. This is why we must be mindful to treat the occasion properly, never forgetting that the true joy we should feel is for the public sacrament that was just effectuated and God's blessing over the union.

The Cross is a necessary part of any great undertaking, including the sacrament of marriage. This is because the Cross represents a sacrificing of oneself or, rather, a consecration to any cause that is good and noble. For to have a truly Christian marriage, one must be prepared to set aside oneself for one's family.

To receive the sacraments fruitfully, we need to receive them with good dispositions that can only come through prayer. An easy and fruitful way to strengthen our interior life is by making visits to the Blessed Sacrament.

Without faith, we cannot please God or weather life's storms. Faith is a supernatural gift; but we must do our part to receive this gift and strengthen our resolve to serve God. In this sermon, four keys to developing and maintaining a stronger faith in the new year are set forth.

God has created man and woman with distinctive characteristics and roles, particular in the life of the family. Fathers, for instance, are directed to lead their families in all things, including spiritually. But in order to accomplish this, fathers must cultivate a strong interior life and draw themselves closer to God.

It is not easy for human beings to come to knowledge of the truth. To relieve us of our ignorance, God uses patterns throughout history, such as the example of the family as a model for parishes, religious orders, and society writ large. When it comes to our salvation, Jesus Christ is the pattern that we must follow. For though we are not perfect like He is, his obedience to the Father and purity of worship remains a model for us all.

This time after the Nativity is a period to deepen our contemplation of God's revelation, particularly why the elderly Simeon and Anna could recognize Who Our Lord is. In a period where our society disregards and mistreats the elderly, we might ask why the Infant Jesus graced two elderly persons to know Him while others remained ignorant.

The name of Jesus was selected by God even before Our Lord's conception. Consider then the great reverence we should have for the Holy Name and the many reparations we should make for the misuse of this name on the tongues of men.

The virtue of generosity makes life beautiful. It is highlighted in particular during the Octave of Christmas, which is a time to both receive a great grace from God and to give unto others for their benefit. But to be truly generous, we must both be mindful of the needs of others and give more than what is expected of us in a spirit of joyfulness.

Every year, Holy Mother Church invites us to reflect on the mystery of the Incarnation. It is a time to acknowledge the great love God has for us while appreciating the extent to which He goes to ensure our salvation.

The feast of Christmas is one that everyone loves for it is a celebration of God's love for us. Through the Incarnation, God became man without losing His divinity. He gave Himself to us out of pure love and for our salvation. It is a great mystery--one that we are called to reflect upon and celebrate during this time of the liturgical year.

During the time leading to the Nativity, we are invited through the liturgy to spend time with Our Lady and consider why she makes the tumultuous journey to Bethlehem to give birth to Our Savior. She does this to fulfill the promise that God gave to His people.

The season of Advent can be related to almost every aspect of our spiritual life. From Advent springs forth our spiritual journey with Christ, from the moment of His birth to His salvific death on Calvary. Moreover, the season of Advent relates in a special way to the priestly vocation and the development of seminarians into ordained clerics of Christ.

Joy is the echo of God's life in us. Through the Incarnation, God wishes to give His life to humanity and His life is one of joy. And this joy is a supernatural joy, a spiritual joy, and it orients us ever toward Our Lord and our eternal destiny with Him.

The Nativity, which is one of the most important feasts of the year, offers an opportunity for Catholics to reflect on Our Lord's mercy. As Scripture, particularly the Old Testament attests, God is willing to forgive even the gravest sins of those who seek His mercy. We may find ourselves turning away from God frequently, but Our Lord never turns away from us.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is followed immediately by the commemoration of Our Lady of Guadalupe's first apparition to St. Juan Diego nearly 500 years ago. This event and the spread of Catholicism in what is today Mexico reminds us of the power of the Faith to overcome the darkness of idolatry and the barbarism of religious practices that disregard the sanctity of life while resisting God's desire for mankind's salvation.

Why did God not give those angels who rebelled against Him a second chance yet He came and died in agony to save us from our multitude of sins? This sermon explores four reasons for Our Lord's decision, with special emphasis on God's unique compassion for mankind.

When God created the world, He placed mankind at the pinnacle of that creation. Yet through our first parents, Adam and Eve, original sin came into the world and was passed down through the human race. War, disease, deprivation, and death itself resulted. Yet Our Lord in His infinite mercy and love raised up good out of evil by exempting His mother from this stain and thus prepared the way for His coming.