Update: To see what’s going on with the U.S. House of Reps, The State Department and… and… the Federal Election Commission with this great sermon, go to this update post on this blog.
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Here’s the transcript of Father Jeffrey Montz’s post-election sermon that a reader of HSH sent in. I would only note that I think there was massive voter election fraud. This doesn’t affect the incisiveness of his sermon, however. Even if someone else was elected, I think that that would have only slowed down the process he talks about. He’s a great homilist. Thanks, Father Jeffrey, for the inspiration!
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I want to begin today by thanking those of you who went out on Tuesday and voted for the sacredness of human life. Just as the widow’s deed in our 1st reading will never be forgotten as long as the Scriptures are read, be assured that no righteous deed that we ever undertake will be forgotten by Almighty God.
This past Wednesday, the day after the election, I received a message on my phone at the parish office, from a gentleman who didn’t identify himself by name but who said he was a parishioner. And in this message, this gentleman ranted for several minutes about Tuesday’s election results. And here were the first words out of his mouth, “You lost Father; you lost!” Well, the first thing I want to say about Tuesday night’s election results is that I didn’t lose on Tuesday night our entire country lost!
Now, having said that, I know that there are several of you who have just decided to tune me out, or you’re now burning up with anger at me because of what I just said and you can’t wait to give me a piece of your mind. But let me say two things in this regard. Number one, I am a priest of Jesus Christ, not because of any merit of my own, not because I’m any better than anyone else. God probably chose me because I am nothing and He wants to make something out of me. But I have been anointed and consecrated by God to preach His truth. And so, you can tune me out, but be warned, you do so at your eternal peril.
Second, if you’re angry because you read into my words that this homily is going to be about one elected official that you probably voted for, you’re wrong. What I have to say today goes far beyond just one elected official. What I have to say is about the over all trend that was put on display in Tuesday’s election results.
Did you know, for instance, that on Tuesday several states voted by popular majority to legalize the recreational use of marijuana? Did you know that a plan to legalize physician assisted suicide was barely rejected in Massachusetts? Did you now that for the first time in our country’s history several states, by popular vote, chose to legalize gay marriage? Did you know that two of these states are run by Catholic governors who actively encouraged their constituents to vote in favor of same sex unions? Did you know that in Florida, a ban on tax payers funding of abortion was rejected by the people? Add to all of this the fact that some who were elected in Tuesday’s elections are pathological liars, people who have been exposed in their lies numerous times. Apparently, a majority of Americans now condone lying, or perhaps worse, for them the lie has become the truth, evil has become good. Now can you begin to see the trend?
In the days after the elections all the talking heads in the media have been trying to explain how this all happened. But not one person in the mainstream media has gotten it right. You see, these election results are not about one party’s marketing advantage over another. Ultimately, they’re not about the appeal of one person over another, nor are they about one party being more up-to-date while the other is behind times. What we saw on Tuesday night IS about the moral decline of our nation.
Tuesday’s voting results are a mere confirmation of a choice that a majority in this country made, some as far back as 50 years ago, to reject God and to embrace evil in one form or another! And who’s to blame for this choice? Well, ultimately, each individual is responsible for his or her choices. Those who chose to vote with evil are to blame for their own choices, and they all have to answer to God for the way they voted. But the reality is I don’t think any of us can take ourselves completely off the hook on this one. Why? Because one of the worst contributing factors to the moral decline of our country has been the lukewarmness that has plagued the Catholic Church for years all the way from the Bishops down to the people in the pews.
Pope St. Pius X once said that “All evil in the world is due to lukewarm Catholics. Think about that for a second,
All evil in the world is due to lukewarm Catholics.”
Well, I have to be honest with you. I’ve seen this lukewarmness in every church parish at which I’ve served. But you know where else I see this lukewarmness? I see it when I look in the mirror; I see it in myself. And if we’re honest with ourselves I think all of us would see one or more area of lukewarmness in our own spiritual lives.
My brothers and sisters, each one of us has a moral obligation to do all that we can to try to reverse the moral decline of our nation. And the first place that we have to begin is within ourselves. We have to begin by responding to that vocation which is common to all of us, what the Church calls the universal call to holiness, the call from Jesus to each one of us to become a saint!
In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul says, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” How many of us, each day, tremble as we strive for holiness?! How many of us live with a lively fear of hell, a place that is real and a place where souls go for all eternity?! Or have we instead accepted mediocrity in our spiritual lives? ‘Oh, I’m too busy to pray Lord; I just don’t have the time… I’m too tired to pray; I’ll get to it tomorrow… Oh, I don’t like that teaching of the Church, I am not going to do that, who do they think they are coming up with this stuff… Well, I think I’ve done enough for God; what more do I have to do for Him…’
In one of His parables Jesus poses an important question that we would all do well to ask ourselves. “Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion?” Well, what cost is Jesus talking about? He’s not giving construction advice to builders and contractors. The context of that Gospel is the cost of discipleship, what it costs to be a saint, ultimately what it costs us get to Heaven. But all too often we act as if that cost is cheap! ‘Well, I go to Mass on most Sundays. I’m a good person; I haven’t murdered anybody. Of course I’m going to Heaven!’
Jesus dealt with this kind of cheap discipleship in the Gospels when He said, “Not everyone who says to me -Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” On the day of judgment many will say to Jesus, ‘Well, didn’t we go to Mass fairly often on Sundays and didn’t we put some money in the collection basket? Didn’t we accept at least some of the Church’s teachings? Besides, as I said before, I’m a good person; I didn’t murder anybody.Then Jesus will declare to them, “I never knew you; go away from me you evildoers!”
My brothers and sisters, in ordinary times lukewarmness in our approach to salvation is deadly. But we are not entering into ordinary times. We are not moving forward into ordinary times. There is a great battle brewing; in fact this battle is already upon us, a battle in our country between good and evil and I can feel this battle in the very marrow in my bones. If we are not striving for holiness with every fiber of our being we will not have what it takes to pay the cost of discipleship, we will not have what it takes to get to Heaven! As Jesus says near the end of Matthew’s Gospel, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now and never will be. And if those days had not been shortened, no one would be saved…no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.”
It’s clear from the trends that we see in Tuesday’s election results that people of faith in this country are going to be attacked relentlessly over and over again by one wave of evil after another. And so we must be sure that we have included these attacks in our calculations. A lukewarm faith will never survive the attacks of an army of evil that is Legion. We must become saints! And do not wait for tomorrow to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for tomorrow may be too late. Today let us resolve to root out all sin from our lives! Today let us resolves to remove all evil from our hearts! Today let us double our efforts at prayers! Today let us pray that Mary, the Mother of God, our Mother, will once again crush the head of Satan, and intercede for us the grace of perseverance!
Today, let us resolve to take up our cross and be a disciple of Jesus Christ! Christ, who in the words of the Servant of God Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, “will restore within us moral indignation, Who will make us hate evil with a passionate intensity, and love goodness to a point where we can drink death like water!”
The final message that I received from that gentleman’s call on Wednesday was that I need to stop preaching the way I do. I need to stop telling people how they ought to live their lives, what teachings of the Church they need to follow. “If he wants to support gay marriage I just need to shut up and give him a choice.”
Well, sir, in answer to your request I give you a choice: You can either come here to this Catholic Church and listen to the Word of God and to the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Church or you can leave and go somewhere else!
Accompany me, Father George David Byers, S.S.L., S.T.D., as I begin life as a Catholic Priest-Hermit by choice. Holy Souls Hermitage is dedicated to the sanctification of my fellow priests, bishops, deacons & seminarians going through the purgatory of this life or the next. Prayer and sacrifice go up, of course, for both Benedict XVI and the next Successor of Saint Peter. 
Fr Montz is obviously a very perception man whose eyes are not clouded by the trappings of modern culture. We need more priests, and more Catholics, like him!
What a wonderful homily! I know parishioners aren’t supposed to applaud during a Mass, but I hope he got a standing ovation!
Thankyou Father!
Thank you. A priest with a back bone. Very exciting to here. Your encouragement is well received! I will look at my own lukewarmness and draw strength from your powerful message and I will pray that God continues to work thru you and all priests!
Love that priest. We need 10,000 like him here in the USA.
Well spoken Good Father
That was reaaaly good!
At last a priest that is willing to stand up an fight the evil devouring us from within and outside of the Church. Pray, pray that God will raise up more priest like Fr. Jeffery!
Wow, this sermon was awesome. I’ll keep him in my rosary intentions today since with sermons like the one he preached he will have a tough time with his superiors and probably many in his own parish.
Deo Gratias! And thank you too, Fr. Byers, and Fr. Montz!
Thanks Father for taking a stand!
Thank you Father! Your homily is what all Catholics need to hear. Myself included.
Like you, I was disappointed by all of Tuesday’s results. The only bright light was that physician assisted suicide was rejected in MA. I see the results as a clarion call to the Church to be the Church and not just play at being the Church. We need to do more to become the hands and feet of Jesus and not just His mouthpeice. We are only known for being anti-abortion, anti-same sex marriage, anti-embryonic stem cell research, anti-euthanasia, but not known for the things we stand for. That perception of the Church will only change when we commit to reaching out to a lost and hurting world. Yes, the preaching from the pulpit needs to be ramped up and Jesus Christ and Him crucified needs to be at the center of that preaching. But the “reaching” must take precedence over the preaching. “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care”-Theodore Roosevelt
Hello Kevin: Well, of course. I’ve always found that liberals are the absolute last people to do anything, unless they are so ideologically driven that they are using helping others as a promotion of their own agendas. In fact, it was commonplace for liberals to continuously damn Mother Teresa of Calcutta for picking people literally out of the gutter, because they said that that would mean that no one would see such terrible scenes, and therefore no one would start a revolution, you know, because violence is the only way. I’ve always found that true believers are the only ones to do anything with no strings attached. Sure, they also share the greatest love in their lives, if that is possible. Why not? I bet Father Jeffrey Montz does more for anyone in one day than all his detractors put together do in a lifetime.
Thank you, Father, for telling it like it like we are and for helping to remove the bitterness that has been churning in me since election night. Holiness requires positive thought and action, not bitterness and resentment and I shall endeavor to heed your reminder of Christ’s call.
Wow! A friend sent me this…fantastic homily, Father. With your permission, I may borrow some parts of this, actually.
Amen Father!
I agree wholeheartedly with Fr. Montz. Unfortunately, most priests don’t have his boldness when it comes to preaching. Most Sunday sermons are a watered-down version of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, which explains why the expensive seats in a Catholic church are at the back. As to whether I am a liberal, that is for others to decide. I am a baptized catholic(baptismal certificate available upon request), but more importantly I am a born again follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus, of course preached and taught, but he also reached e.g. the Samaritan woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, the tax collectors Matthew and Zaccheus etc. And I don’t doubt that Fr. Montz is not involved in similar works. My earlier post was not an attack on his person or his calling, and I apologize if that was how it was perceived. The election results, as disappointing as they were, should serve to reignite God’s people to be about His business-the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Only then will we see the power of the gospel transform lives. I apologize again for any earlier misunderstanding.
Kevin: Exactly.
We are at war with the powers of this world. It’s time to wake up and put on the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness and take up the sword of repentance.
Thank you, Father Montz, for your courage and comitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.I think of Revelation 2:1-5 and see myself, my church and my nation as leaving our First Love, I am 75 years old and never thought I would live in such a time as this…I pray I have the same time of courage and commitment that you reveal in this sermon. God Bless and keep you, Sir.
You are a true servant of the Lord, Father. God bless you for being faithful to your calling. About you Catholics and other Christians who voted for Obama and other Marxist liars, shame on you for your lazy thinking, and susceptibility to Big Lies. I’m afraid many of you voted for the promise of one more dollar. When you can turn your back on the continuous slaughter of the unborn, and vote for evil, I don’t know what the point of your church attendance is. What weak vessels we Christians have become.
Thank you Father. You have stated so much of what is in the Fathful Cathoic’s heart, but we need more than speech; we need a leader to come forward to direct our love and devotion. We can not do it alone. The Clergy must be stirred into action! Please pray to this end. We are here, ready to die for what we believe, but we need the discipline and direction from those whose hands give us the Body and Blood of Christ.
Tess208
Rock on Fr. Montz! There are a LOT of good priests out there and Fr. Montz is one of them. As a member of the laity we need to uphold these courageous men of God. It is also our duty to stand with them and not behind them. The laity needs to step up to the plate and renew our commitment to the Culture of Life. The priests cannot do it alone — nor should they. It is our Church — all of us.
Superb Homily! Thank you Father Montz!
If there is any good news for the American Catholic Church it is that Fr. Montz represents the future of the priesthood. It is my understanding that the vast majority of our new, young priests are totally committed to ALL of the teachings of the Church and are courageous enough to speak uncomfortable truths from the pulpit. These brave young priests will hopefully convert some of the “Catholics” in their flocks who pick and choose the doctrines they will follow. But I am also hopeful that those who insist upon calling themselves “Catholics” while refusing to adhere to the most basic teachings of our Faith, will eventually become so uncomfortable that they will, as Fr. Montz suggests, “leave and go somewhere else”.
All I can say is DITTO to all of the beautiful comments and praise be to GOD for priest like Fr. Montz.
Very well said. It may seem the darkness won several battles, but it only seems that way. In their darkness, they propose nothing in the sight of God. His Truth, is a light “they” can never overcome. Faith, Home, Love reign eternal. And He always will.
Just beautiful. I have stood alone when I voice my opinion, but there is not much gray area with me. I would love to go to one of his sermons. Thank you & God Bless. You are in my prayers now.
Marilyn (Gillis) Dabaldo
Father Montz’s homily was AWESOME ! ! I was visting his church in Kenner Louisiana on November 11th the Sunday after the election and yes he did get a standing ovation ! I He is a REAL servant of GOD !! Thanks for touching our hearts and souls,Father Montz
Priscilla-Lafayette ,Louisiana
Father Montz, Thank you so very much. I am wondering what happened to all the faithful Christians and those so called Catholics for the elections. I am Catholic and also my family. I also am a Knight of Columbus and I cannot understand why these people did not vote according to our TRUE FAITH. May God forgive them.
You struck a chord with me when you spoke of people being lukewarm. I’ve often wondered, “Am I good enough, am I doing enough to merit heaven?” When I speak to my friends about this, they always assure me that I’m a good person and yes, that’s enough. I still have doubts. I attend mass regularly, follow all Church teachings, have taught religion for years, volunteer to help others, receive the sacraments regularly, etc. But is that enough? I’m not sure.
Hello Karen: When the Jews asked our Lord in John chapter 6 what the works of God were so that they could do them, Jesus responded by saying that they were to believe in the One whom the Father sent. The upshot of that is that one will do perhaps the same things, but with the effectiveness of Jesus’ love manifested through us. People know when you are doing things to be patronizing or better than others blah blah blah. They love to see love. That doesn’t mean horrific suffocation, but rather is seen in the humble reverence one always has before Jesus throughout the day. I know you know that, but sometimes it just helps to hear it voiced. May the Lord bless you abundantly.
this message is truth as it should be spoken. the church needs more straight out,” say it as it is”, and less compromise. I am inspired by its utter frankness and biblical truth. this world is and has been in a moral decline for a long time, and we as church must take a stand for gospel values as the only true way to live. either we are with Christ or against Him. there is no in between! we either love Him or we don’t. thanks for being a light in a dark world!
Thank you Father Montz! Well said and we need a lot more people like you to speak out about these most evil days.
St. John Vianny says, “We don’t need to pray for more priests, we need to pray for holy priest”. Fr. Montz is just that, a holy priest willing to speak in truth with courage. May his fellow priests follow suit. Amen!
I’m a Latter-day Saint, Mormon; I just happened to be reading another Catholic site and found your sermon on it. I was amazed with your courage in Christ, pleased and amazed. I would to the Lord God Almighty there were more Preachers like you. I hope you continue to stir the hearts of all who will listen to have a mighty change of heart and. If all who “say” they are followers of Christ would have a white hot faith, and a heart filled with pure love, just as you suggest what would our world be like. Thanks for this sermon!