God’s Great Spiritual Remedy for All the Noise in Our Lives

(Nineteenth Sunday of the Year (A): This homily was given on August 13, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a; Psalm 85:9-14; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14: 22-33.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Nineteenth Sunday 2023]

“Leave me alone!”

“Give me some space!”

“Give me some time to gather my thoughts.”

“I want some peace and quiet for a change!”

“I need to get away from the rat race!”

All those common expressions are ways of affirming the very same truth: Quiet is good!

Or to use another well-known adage, Silence is golden.

And these days, very few of us have enough of it—including yours truly.

We live, unfortunately, in what has to be the noisiest era of human history—most especially because of all the technological gizmos that we have at our disposal, many of which were sold to us with the idea that they would make our lives simpler and easier.

And, to some extent, I suppose, they have.  But they’ve also caused us to be bombarded by noise—lots of noise—almost incessant noise—all day long.

We even have what I would call “silent noise” to contend with.  (I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but it isn’t.)  Silent noise includes activities like text-messaging and tweeting and emailing—you know, all those things we do when we’re not talking on the phone, listening to the iPod or the radio, playing a video game, or watching television or a movie!

Is it any wonder that so many people in our modern world can’t deal with silence?  The lack of noise positively freaks them out!  Is it any wonder that so many of our young people can’t focus their attention on one thing for more than 2 minutes?  Psychologists say it’s ADD or ADHD, but at times I think it’s because these young people “OD”!  They OD—they “overdose” so to speak—on the non-stop noise in their lives!

I mention this today because this noise saturation that we all have to deal with directly affects our relationship with God.  That’s because our most profound encounters with the Lord usually happen in the quiet silence of our hearts.  Based on this morning’s first reading you might choose to call this “the Elijah-rule of the spiritual life.”  There, as we heard a few moments ago, Elijah the prophet encounters God on Mt. Horeb.  But notice that this encounter does NOT happen in the noise!  It doesn’t happen in the howling wind and crashing rocks; it doesn’t happen in the earthquake or in the noisy havoc caused by the fire.  Elijah meets the Lord in the “tiny whispering sound”; that is to say, in an experience of almost total silence.

Today’s gospel, in its own way, makes the very same point.  Yes, the apostles meet Jesus on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a very noisy storm, but their deepest encounter with the Lord happens afterward in the silence of their hearts, as they allow the experience they just had to sink in and strengthen their faith.  The text reads, “After they got into the boat, the wind died down.  [In other words, it got very quiet.]  Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God.’”

So, I ask you, how often do you go before the Lord in silence?  Do you ever go to the Lord in that way?  Do you make an effort, for example, to be here early for Mass each week so that you can spend a few moments in quiet prayer, preparing to meet your Lord in word and in sacrament?  How comfortable are you with the longer period of silence that Fr. Najim has asked us to have after Communion here at St. Pius?

And how about Eucharistic Adoration?  Have you made that a part of your spiritual life?  Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament provides us Catholics with the perfect opportunity to encounter our Lord in silence.  And that’s true even if the Eucharist is in the tabernacle and not exposed in the monstrance on the altar.  Now if you’re like me you do way too much talking and not enough listening during Adoration (and that affects the quality of the experience, for sure)—but at least during Adoration the atmosphere is right for us to have a profound encounter with our God.

I sat down once and made a little list of some of the great benefits that can come to us from spending time each week in quiet prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.  Here they are: 

1.    First of all, Adoration provides us with an opportunity to hear God speak to us through a word of Scripture that we might happen to read, or even in the silence of our heart.

2.    Adoration provides us with an opportunity to take our important decisions to the Lord, and to receive guidance and insight from him on those decisions.

3.    Adoration opens us up to special blessings from the Lord.

4.    Adoration gives us an opportunity to evaluate our own lives soberly and accurately in the light of God’s revealed truth (that is to say, it gives us an opportunity to examine our consciences—which we all need to do from time to time).

5.    Adoration gives us an opportunity to “get away”.   (And it’s a lot cheaper than a ticket on Southwest Airlines!)

6.    Adoration gives us the chance to reprioritize and to be revitalized.

7.    And, finally, adoration gives us the opportunity to—in the words of the Letter to the Hebrews—“cast all our cares on the Lord” who cares for us!

This, of course, is not an exhaustive list of possible benefits.  Some of you could add others, I’m sure, based on your own personal experience of praying to the Lord in this way.

Let me close this morning by giving the last word on the subject to some holy men and women of Church history.  Here’s what they said about Adoration:

First, St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa).  She wrote, “The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the best time you will spend on earth. Each moment that you spend with Jesus will deepen your union with Him and make your soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in Heaven, and will help bring about everlasting peace on earth.”

St. Peter of Alcantara said, "Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament has His hands full of graces, and He is ready to bestow them on anyone who asks for them."

Archbishop Fulton Sheen (who made a Eucharistic Holy Hour every single day of his priestly life) said, "Neither theological knowledge nor social action alone is enough to keep us in love with Christ unless both are preceded by a personal encounter with Him. Theological insights are gained not only from between two covers of a book, but from two bent knees before an altar. The Holy Hour becomes like an oxygen tank to revive the breath of the Holy Spirit in the midst of the foul and fetid atmosphere of the world,"

And again, Mother Teresa: "When the Sisters are exhausted, up to their eyes in work; when all seems to go awry, they spend an hour in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. This practice has never failed to bear fruit: they experience peace and strength."

And, finally, my own insight (which is far less profound than these others but equally true, I believe): “Eucharistic Adoration can be for us a remedy—God’s remedy—God’s great spiritual remedy—given to us so that we don’t overdose on all the noise in our lives.”

 

Transfiguration Experiences: They’re Given so That They Will be Remembered

 

(Transfiguration (A): This homily was given on August 6, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Daniel 7:9-14; Psalm 97:1-9; 2 Peter 1:16-19; Matthew 17:1-9.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Transfiguration 2023]

They were supposed to remember.  The apostles were supposed to remember what they saw on Mt. Tabor when Jesus was transfigured before their eyes.  That was why Jesus gave them this experience; it was why he removed the veil of his humanity for a few brief moments, and allowed Peter, James and John to get a little glimpse of him in his divinity.  He wanted them to remember the vision they saw that day on the mountain, so that they would be strong on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, when he would be condemned to death and nailed to a cross.  He wanted them to remember the glorious vision they saw, so they would not give up hope and despair.  He wanted them to remember so that they would persevere and be faithful.

And yes, they did remember the vision—that’s why we have the event recorded for us in the gospels: Peter, James and John obviously told the story in their preaching and in their teaching. 

But at “crunch time” they forgot.  At crunch time—when the soldiers arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and his passion began—the apostles all ran away.  The glory and splendor of the Transfiguration, unfortunately, was the furthest thing from their minds at that moment.

But, thankfully, their spiritual amnesia was only temporary.

Applying this now to ourselves: we should thank God from the bottom of our hearts for whatever “transfiguration experiences” he allows us to have in our lives: experiences in which we’re deeply aware of God’s love and presence.  It’s very important to call to mind those experiences often, because sooner or later we will have to face our own Holy Thursdays and Good Fridays.  But if we remember our transfiguration experiences, we will be able to face those crosses with greater strength and greater perseverance.  A lot of our teenagers have transfiguration experiences when they go to the Steubenville youth conference in the summer.  I tell them never to forget those special moments, especially when life becomes difficult for them.  I tell them that remembering their transfiguration experience at Steubenville will help them to deal with whatever trial they’re experiencing, and pass through it.

I’ll give you a few real-life examples of what I mean.  This year, on the bus ride home from the conference, we invited the young people to share some of their reflections on the weekend in writing—and several did.  Here’s what some of them wrote:

One young man said, “I felt an abundance and a rush of happiness all weekend.  I felt full.  I went with my two brothers, something I will only be able to do once.  It was special to share that with them.  It’s so powerful and life-changing when that many people come together and praise.  It was truly beautiful.”

A teenage girl wrote, “This year I experienced the presence of God in a peaceful way.  Every year, I look forward to being around like-minded people and seeing God touch others’ lives.  It’s life-changing to witness.  Seeing their experiences gave me peace and an overwhelming sense of happiness.  Adoration is always powerful and emotional and this year I truly let go and focused on God.  Overall, Steubenville is always an amazing time and where I feel at home.”

And finally this one, from another teenage girl: “This was my first year going to Steubenville.  This experience was so life-changing that sharing it with others is hard to explain.  Growing up in a Catholic family, I’d say my faith wasn’t as strong as it should’ve been.  Going into Steubenville I was longing for a real relationship with Jesus.  On Saturday morning, I went to confession. … I think this was the first meaningful confession I’d ever had.  I really felt God’s presence and forgiveness through the priest.  [But] it wasn’t until Saturday night that I developed a real relationship with Jesus.  When the speaker Lisa Cotter talked is when my thoughts on Jesus really shifted.  Her talk was just so relatable.  Then the worship music began and I was in awe.  I looked at other people and saw their eyes closed with arms lifted up and then I began to do the same.  I became incredibly focused on the words and phrase after phrase as I started to feel God’s love.  Then adoration came and I sang my heart out to Jesus.  It was then that I found the answer I was looking for in order to have a strong relationship with Jesus.  That night was the turning point for my faith.”

Those are powerful transfiguration experiences—experiences that those young people will hopefully remember and call to mind in the future—when trials and crosses and challenges come their way.  If they do that, it will make a difference—a positive difference—in the way they respond to those trials and crosses and challenges.

I’m sure this is something Mother Teresa had to do (and did do) during her life, especially in her many years of spiritual darkness (which is something we learned about after her death from the things she had written to her spiritual director).  I’m sure that in her later years Mother Teresa thought back quite often to the moments earlier in her life when God had revealed his presence to her in some extraordinary and powerful ways. And I’m sure that that act of remembering made a huge difference!  I’m sure it made her stronger—and helped her deal effectively with the lack of spiritual consolation that she experienced during the rest of her life.

My point in all this is that transfiguration experiences are given for a reason.  They’re given to be remembered; they’re given to help us persevere in faith; they’re given to help us to deal with the Holy Thursdays and Good Fridays of our lives.  But most importantly they’re given to remind us of heaven, our eternal home, where everyone will have a transfiguration experience that won’t have to be remembered—because it will never end.

 

The Kingdom of God: It’s Present Wherever and Whenever Jesus Rules!

(Sixteenth Sunday of the Year (A): This homily was given on July 23, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Wisdom 12:13-19; Psalm 86:5-16; Romans 8:26-27; Matthew 13:24-43.)

 [For the audio version of this homily, click here: Sixteenth Sunday 2023]

“The kingdom of God”—a biblical concept which is very important and VERY CONFUSING!

Let me illustrate the confusion with a couple of questions.  Question #1: Is the kingdom of God something that is inside of us, or is it something that’s outside of us?  I ask that because in Luke 17:21 Jesus explicitly says, “The kingdom of God is within you”; but then in John 18:36 he seems to contradict himself by saying, “My kingdom is not of this world.”

Very confusing.

Question #2: Is the kingdom of God something that we can experience NOW on this earth, or is it something we can only experience AFTER WE DIE?  The answer to that one is not immediately obvious, because in Matthew 10:7 Jesus tells us, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (as if it is something we can experience right now!); but then, in Matthew 25, in the scene of the Last Judgment, Jesus says to those who are saved, “Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world”—as if the kingdom is something totally different from what we experience here on earth.

Very confusing.

But in spite of all the confusion, this is a biblical concept that we need to try to understand—because according to Jesus Christ the kingdom of God (whatever it is!) is extremely important!

We know this simply because Jesus preached about the kingdom all the time!  He wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t want us to take it seriously.  Believe it or not, in just the 4 canonical Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) the expression “the kingdom of God” or “the kingdom of heaven” is used about 50 times (I know that because I made a quick count once).  In today’s gospel alone, Jesus mentions it 3 times, using 3 analogies to drive home his message.

My purpose in this homily is to give you one key insight that can help you to make sense of this Gospel reading from Matthew 13 and every other passage of the New Testament where the kingdom of God is mentioned—including the ones that seem to contradict one another.  The insight comes from our former Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, and it can be found in chapter 3 of his book, Jesus of Nazareth.

I’ll paraphrase it in this way (which should be fairly easy to remember): According to Pope Benedict, the kingdom of God is present wherever and whenever Jesus is enthroned as Lord.

The kingdom of God is present, in other words, wherever and whenever Jesus rules!

Think back, now, to the questions I posed at the beginning of my homily.

Question #1: Is the kingdom of God something that is inside of us, or is it something that’s outside of us? 

The pope would say “It’s not an either/or situation.  Both can be true.  The kingdom can be inside of us and outside of us at the same time!”—which is precisely why Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you,” and “My kingdom is not of this world.”

You see, whenever Jesus is ruling our inner thoughts and attitudes, the kingdom is present.  Whenever we decide, by the grace of God, to forgive another person; whenever we choose to be patient or compassionate or pure; whenever we say no to sin and yes to what’s right, the kingdom of God is, in a very real sense, present within us!

But, of course, none of us is perfect.  So even though the kingdom is present within us whenever we resist sin and practice virtue, it will never be fully present inside us—or outside us for that matter—as long as we’re in this world.  That’s why Jesus’ second statement, “My kingdom is not of this world” is also true!

The fullness of the kingdom of God will only be experienced in heaven, simply because that’s the place where Jesus “rules” completely!  In heaven, there is no sin.  Jesus truly is the Lord of all that happens and the Lord of everyone who’s there.

So, is the kingdom of God something that we can experience NOW on this earth, or is it something we can only experience AFTER WE DIE? 

That was the second question, and, once again, Pope Benedict would say to us, “It’s not either/or; it’s both/and.  Because of the nature of the kingdom, both can be true.  Whenever we make Jesus Lord of a particular situation in our lives and do what he wants us to do, we experience a little bit of his kingdom.  Right here, right now.  But, once again, the fullness of that kingdom will only become a reality for us in heaven, where there’s no sin or death, and where Jesus is Lord completely.”

All of this is implied, believe it or not, in that simple phrase “thy kingdom come” in the Lord’s Prayer.  We’re saying, “Lord, may your kingdom be present inside of me—in my thoughts and in my heart; may it be present outside of me in my words and acts of love and service.  Help me, through my attitudes and choices, to experience your kingdom right now to the extent that I can; and prepare me for that glorious moment when I will experience the fullness of your kingdom in heaven.”  With those 3 little words—“thy kingdom come”—we’re implying all those things.  Let’s keep that in mind when we pray the Our Father later at this Mass, and whenever we pray it publicly or privately in the future.

 

Was Jesus Christ a Schlep?

Jesus expels the moneychangers from the Temple.

(Fourteenth Sunday of the Year (A): This homily was given on July 9, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Zechariah 9:9-10; Psalm 145:1-14; Romans 8:9-13; Matthew 11:25-30.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Fourteenth Sunday 2023]

Was Jesus Christ a schlep?

I hope no one is offended by that question.  I ask it in all seriousness, based on an all-too-common misinterpretation of the word “meek” as it appears in the Bible.  In our first reading—in this famous text from Zechariah 9—we are told that the Messiah will be “meek,” and that he will enter the city of Jerusalem on a donkey.  (This prophecy, of course, was fulfilled on the very first Palm Sunday when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem.)  And then, in this well-known Gospel passage from Matthew 11, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.”

So, what exactly does it mean to be “meek?”

Well, I submit to you that most people today think being meek means being a schlep!  Now just in case your Yiddish is a bit rusty, I should mention that a schlep is someone who just plods along clumsily through life—without any initiative, without any assertiveness, without any backbone.

The pop singer Frank Zappa was certainly no prophet, but he did accurately express this misunderstanding of meekness in one of his songs, when he wrote: “Some take the Bible for what it’s worth, when it says that the meek shall inherit the earth; well I heard that some sheik bought New Jersey last week, and you . . . ain’t gettin’ nothing!”—the implication being that “meek” people are wimpy schleps who allow others to take advantage of them.

That’s wrong! 

If that were meekness, my brothers and sisters, then “meek” Jesus would never have driven the money-changers out of the temple or reprimanded the Pharisees!  Clearly Jesus was not a schlep!  Neither was Moses, who tossed the Ten Commandments down Mt. Sinai at Aaron and the Israelites after they had sinned by worshipping the golden calf!  And yet, in the book of Numbers, this same Moses is called “the meekest of men.”

Biblically speaking, meekness is not weakness, it’s strength!  Meekness is the strength to deal with adversity without complaining; meekness is the strength to accept God’s will even when we might not like it or understand it (which can happen quite often!); meekness is the strength to keep our emotions under control when they could easily get out of control—like when we’re driving around Westerly in the summertime!

That’s why Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek!”  If you can deal with adversity without complaining, and accept God’s will even when it’s difficult and you don’t understand it, and keep your emotions in check all the time—even when the summer traffic in our beautiful town is at its worst, then you definitely will be a blessed person!  No doubt about it!

And how can we learn this virtue of meekness?

According to Jesus, we can—and we should—learn it, first and foremost, from him!  As he said to us today, “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” 

No one of us has faced more adversity than Jesus Christ faced, because no one of us has had to take the sins of the whole world upon himself.  No one of us has been challenged to accept God’s will more than Jesus was challenged, since for him God’s will was the Cross!  And no human being alive today is as “emotionally together” as Jesus was.  For example, consider the very common emotion of anger.  Whenever Jesus Christ got angry, you could be absolutely certain of three things: it was justified, it was not sinful, and it was not excessive.  Would that we could always say that about our anger!

Jesus says here that he wants to give us “rest”—which signifies his peace.  But it’s clear from the text that meekness is a pre-requisite for receiving this peace in its fullness.  It’s not optional.  Consequently our prayer at this Mass should be, “O Lord Jesus, please help me and teach me to be meek, as you were meek—help me to imitate you—so that I might experience a greater measure of your peace in my life. Amen.”