7th Sunday After Pentecost (2025)
Sermon of Father John A. Perricone on the 7th Sunday After Pentecost given Sunday, July 27th, 2025 at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Jersey City, New Jersey. Father urges Catholics to study the catechism, remain vigilant against false teachers, rescue unformed Catholics with charity and truth, and pray for the conversion of those who mislead. Media courtesy of Cantantes In Cordibus. Please like the video, subscribe to the channel, and share with your Catholic Friends!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.
Every intelligent Catholic knows of what our Blessed Savior speaks today when He warns us about wolves in sheep's clothing. That moment of our Savior has become ingrained literally in the common parlance of our own culture, when even those who are not Catholic facilely refer to a wolf in sheep's clothing. Of course, we know who they are, and the fact that our Lord warns us about them, when He was walking here upon earth, was a sure guarantee that they would be with us until the end of time. So we should not be alarmed or unnecessarily fretting over the fact when they appear.
What are wolves in sheep's clothing? Well, they are in sheep's clothing, and that simply means they wear the consecration of being priests or even higher of the Roman Catholic Church; those who should be shepherds—sheep's clothing. What does our Savior mean by wolves? It means that some of them, some of them will not be about the salvation of your soul, but undermining the salvation of your soul.
So the question then becomes: how do we know who these wolves in sheep's clothing are? Are they conspicuous? No, they try to hide themselves so that their mischief can be more effectively accomplished. But who are they? They are those who are teaching things that are opposed to the constant teaching of the Catholic Church. And where can you find that? You find it in the catechism. You know the Baltimore Catechism; I teach it every other week in my lectures, but it's available to every one of you. You, as good Catholics, have a solemn obligation to know the teachings of the Catholic Church perfectly. Otherwise, you will become the victim of the wolves. Why? Because you will not be able to contrast what they are saying compared to what the Bride of Christ is teaching.
That will mean a great sacrifice, especially for all of you who are so busy with all the obligations to your state in life. It means that you must sit down every day and not only be acquainted with the teachings of the Catholic Church in the catechism, but you must come to understand them well enough to be able to defend them and perfect enough to be able to contrast them with what you hear wolves saying. So you too will not be devoured. Yes, this will involve sacrifice, but we are in an unusual time, my dear Catholic friends. And we cannot hesitate before sacrifices like this. Our Lord is depending upon us to not be devoured by wolves, which will happen if we are simply sitting by complacently, living the Catholic lives to which we are accustomed. These are different times. They need for you to act and make sacrifices in a different manner.
It might almost mean that today you leave church resolving that every day you will spend 15 minutes at least studying the catechism, or our Lord will look at you and recognize that you are not really serious about avoiding wolves. That imposes upon all you good Catholics an obligation, an obligation to go out to all the other Catholics who have been torn to pieces by those wolves. In holy charity, you must go out and rescue them. You must whisper in their ear the salvific words of our Savior. You must carry them on your shoulders metaphorically and bring them back to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
How will you do that? You literally have to begin with ground one; sometimes actually having to bring them to a Catholic church and tell them, “You see the tabernacle?” They may say, “But it no longer is there, Father.” Then you must bring them to a tabernacle, find it, and tell them, “This is where God lives, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity.” They will be surprised. And then teach them how to genuflect. They will be hypnotized by that act of adoration which they had never known before. You will have brought a soul to heaven.
When you confront these unformed Catholics, these Catholics who have been torn by the wolves, you must not become angry with them because it is not their fault. You must be firm, but not hysterical. But then you must exercise charity. But always remember this formula, my friends, that the spine of charity is truth. The face of charity is oblation or sacrifice, but the activity of charity is strength.
And finally, what do we do with the wolves? We have to pray for them, because God wants them to be saints as well. And even though they have been misled by the wolves in sheep's clothing, who will be dealt with by our Savior, now they need you. Remember, great saints in the Church were once wolves. Saint Paul. Saint Paul prided himself on being the finest of the Jews, monitoring sacrifices, the deaths of the early Christians, proud of what he had accomplished. And then our Lord turned him around.
My dear Catholic friends, I do not have to tell you that the wolves have already gained too much ground in God's Holy Church. It's about time that you win it back.
God bless you.