Reflections on 40 Years of Priestly Service

 

(This homily was given on October 12, 2025 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read 2 Kings 5:14-17; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Twenty-eighth Sunday 2025]

The 3 Scripture readings we just heard are being read in Catholic churches today all over the world.  They’re the readings for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary time.  But I believe they were also chosen by the Holy Spirit especially for me on this, the 40^th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood.  I want to begin by thanking the Holy Spirit for doing me that favor.  He made it relatively easy for me to prepare this homily.

The first reading was about Naaman, an army commander in the Syrian army who was afflicted with leprosy, and who came to Elisha the prophet to be healed. But the healing almost didn’t happen.  Elisha told Namaan to go and wash 7 times in the Jordan River and the leprosy would be gone.  Well, Naaman didn’t like that idea—the Jordan wasn’t on his list of the top rivers in the Middle East and so at first he refused to go.  Thank God his servants talked some sense into him, and he eventually went.  And he was very glad he did.  As we heard in that text a few minutes ago, he plunged into the Jordan 7 times, and the leprosy left him.

This is a great story for my anniversary Mass because 37 years ago I was a lot like Naaman.  37 years ago, in September of 1988, when Bishop Gelineau assigned me here at St. Pius, in all honesty I didn’t want to come. I was very happy where I was at St. Francis de Sales Church in North Kingstown.  And besides, St Pius was “all the way down there in Westerly”.  Yes, I have a Rhode Island mentality when comes to distances!  I admit it.  Anything over 10 miles is a major road trip.  One priest friend at the time described Westerly as “exit 1 and then some.”  He had a Rhode Island mentality too!

But it turned out to be the best move of my life!  God has done some incredible things at St Pius in the last 3-plus decades—and I’ve been blessed to be a part of it all.  Bishop Tobin once called St Pius a “spiritual powerhouse” in the Diocese of Providence.  To me there’s no greater compliment that a Bishop can give to a parish.  This really came home to me in a powerful way several years ago on a Sunday afternoon.  I was standing on the front lawn of the rectory—and I noticed a car pulling into the parking lot.  A Dominican priest dressed in his white habit got out and began walking toward the front door of the church.  Well the church was locked at the time so I went over to open it and let him in.  I said, “Father, what brings you to Westerly this afternoon?”  (I recognized him immediately.  He’s a well-known priest—an expert on medical/moral issues.)  He said, “Well, I’ve always wanted to come to this place, but I’ve never had the opportunity.  But today I did have some extra time.  I’m on my way back to PC from New York City where I gave a talk at a conference and I decided to take a detour here to St Pius.”  We talked for a few minutes, and then I let him into the church so he could pray for a while.  As I was walking back to the rectory afterwards, the thought occurred to me, “Fr Ray, think about what that priest just said (“I’ve always wanted to come to this place.”)  That’s what you said when you got off the train in Lourdes for the first time.  That’s what you said when you arrived in Fatima the first time.  That’s what you said when you walked into St Peter’s Basilica for the first time.  Well this priest—this well-known, highly respected priest—just said that about little old St Pius X Church in Westerly, Rhode Island!  I guess this place really is special!”

Yes, it is.

Which brings us to the second reading, that text from 2 Timothy, chapter 2.  Timothy was a young priest at the time, and St. Paul in this letter gives him some fatherly advice on how to conduct his priestly ministry and what he can expect as he serves the Lord.  And he uses his own experience as a priest to do that. He begins with a little dose of reality—which is always a good thing.  He says, in effect, “Tim, don’t expect your priestly ministry to be a picnic, because it won’t be!  Don’t expect everyone to love you and tell you you’re great, because that’s not gonna happen.”  Paul writes, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David: such is the gospel for which I am suffering, even to the point of chains, like a criminal.”

But it’s important to note that this suffering Paul is talking about is suffering with a purpose; it’s suffering with a goal.  And that makes all the difference in the world! People will suffer willingly if there’s a good purpose and goal that they have in view.  Parents suffer with a good goal in view: to raise their children well; soldiers and professional athletes suffer through pain and physical training with a good goal in view: to win a war or to win a championship.  Well, a priest suffers because he has a goal in view—the highest and most important goal of all—the salvation of souls!  Which, not surprisingly, is exactly what St.  Paul says here.  He writes: “Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus together with eternal glory.”

Finally St. Paul mentions in this text some important things that Timothy needs to remember as he conducts his priestly ministry.  Paul’s message to the young priest is simple and clear.  He basically says. “Tim, as you do your priestly work remember: If we have died with Christ in baptism and by living a life of faith—we shall also live with him; if we persevere in living the faith we shall also reign with Christ in his eternal kingdom. But if we deny the Lord by our words and actions [we have that power because we have free will] then he will deny us.  But if we are unfaithful in some way to him he still remains faithful to us—faithful to his promise to be merciful to us—faithful to his promise to take us back if we sincerely repent and ask for his forgiveness.  That’s why there’s always hope for a sinner—until his dying breath.”

Another way to say all that is, “Tim, your priestly vocation is to get people right with God; to help them stay right with God, and if they get estranged from God, to help them find their way back to God.”

That’s what I signed up for forty years ago on October 12, 1985—and for that I thank God.  Which is how I’ll conclude my homily today, in imitation of that one healed leper who came back to thank Jesus in today’s gospel story. (This, by the way, is not an exhaustive list of the things I’m grateful for today.  It’s just a list of some of the more noteworthy highlights.)

First of all, I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for calling me to serve him in the priesthood.  I didn’t deserve that calling; I didn’t merit that calling.  It was the Lord’s undeserved and unmerited gift.  I thank him for giving me a family that supported me and encouraged me—but never pressured me—when I was discerning my vocation, and who’ve supported me throughout my priestly ministry.  I thank the Lord for blessing my life with good priests like Fr. Giudice and Monsignor Struck, who were great role models for me in the priesthood.  I thank the Lord for giving me a love and reverence for his word in Sacred Scripture.  I thank the Lord Jesus for giving me the awesome power to change ordinary bread and wine into his Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist, to spiritually nourish his people on earth.  I thank the Lord for giving me the awesome power to forgive sins in his name—even the worst sins imaginable—in the sacrament of Reconciliation.  I thank the Lord for bringing me to this parish 37 years ago: I thank him for making this place a “spiritual powerhouse (to quote Bishop Tobin).  I thank him for the conversions that have taken place here, especially in the lives of our youth.  I thank him for the vocations that have come from this community.  And I thank the Lord for all of you (as well as the people of St. Francis de Sales) for putting up with me and for supporting me with your love and with your prayers for the last 40 years.  I ask you to continue to pray for me, that I will continue to be able to be active in ministry for a long time to come.  With prostate cancer, multiple myeloma and Parkinson’s Disease on my medical resume, I’m not exactly sure what I have “left in the tank” so to speak.  But I already told the Lord, “Whatever I’ve got left, you can have.”

Pray it’s a lot.

A Lesson from Habakkuk and Our Lady of Fatima: The Vision Still Has Its Time

 

The three children to whom Our Lady appeared at Fatima: Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia.

(Twenty-seventh Sunday of the Year (C): This homily was given on October 5, 2025 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Habakkuk 1: 2-3; 2:2-4.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Twenty-seventh Sunday 2025]

It was sometime between 605 and 597 B.C.—during one of the darkest periods in the history of God’s chosen people.  At the time idolatry was the internal threat to the Kingdom of Judah, while the nation of Babylon with its strong army was the external threat. 

In the midst of this terrible situation the prophet Habakkuk cried out to God.  He cried out in the words that we heard in today’s first reading: “How long, O Lord?  I cry for help but you do not listen!  I cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not intervene.  Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery?  Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and clamorous discord.”

The Lord then answered Habakkuk with these important lines of Scripture: “Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily.  For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.  The rash one has no integrity; but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.”

For the vision still has its time.  God was saying to Habakkuk, and to the faithful people of Judah, “My plan for you will be fulfilled; this I promise.  It may not happen instantaneously, or as quickly as you would like it to, or even in the way you would like it to.  But don’t give up!  Continue to live by faith, even if the fulfillment of this prophecy is delayed for a long time.”

These were important words for the people of Judah to hear and take to heart, because in point of fact things would get a lot worse before they got any better!  At the beginning of my homily I told you that this prophecy was given between 605 and 597 B.C.  Well in 597 B.C. the Babylonians invaded the holy city of Jerusalem and captured its king; ten years later they destroyed the city and burned down the Temple.  Then they took most of the people of Judah with them to Babylon, where they would remain in exile until 537. 

That means that this prophecy of Habakkuk wasn’t fulfilled for 70 or so years!  And I’m sure that many of the Lord’s chosen people wondered during those 7 decades whether it would ever be fulfilled.  They were hoping and praying—and hoping and praying—but for a long time nothing seemed to be happening!

Was that because God was slow in responding?

Not at all!  It took almost 70 years because human beings are slow to respond to his grace—the grace that he pours out on us and on the world whenever we pray and intercede!

The vision still has its time.  This is also an important message for us to hear and take to heart.  We need to apply it to our own individual lives, and to the current situation of the world in which we live.  Most of us, for example, pray for peace in the world.  We pray for justice; we pray for conversions.  Many of us actively and vocally oppose immorality.  Some of us devote our time and our talents and our resources to promote a greater respect for human life.

And yet, in spite of our many prayers and efforts, the positive changes don’t come instantaneously!  That can be very discouraging. 

But the Lord is still at work; the vision still has its time—that’s God’s message to us today!  And so we need to pray perseveringly and to work for peace and justice perseveringly, knowing that if we do those things God will continue to pour out his saving grace on the world.  And if grace is continually poured out, eventually some people will respond positively to it.  

Let me give you one historical example that illustrates what I’m talking about, and why this type of perseverance in prayer and good works is so important.  On October 13 in 1917 the so-called Miracle of the Sun  (when the sun seemed to spin and plummet toward the earth) occurred in conjunction with one of the apparitions of Our Blessed Mother at Fatima in Portugal.

This supernatural event, which was witnessed by tens of thousands of people—including a number of non-believers and atheists—was a sign that was sent by God to verify the messages Mary had given to the 3 children (Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia) beginning on May 13^th of that year.

This, of course, happened toward the end of the First World War.  That’s important, because Mary told the children to (and here I quote) “pray the Rosary every day, in order to obtain peace for the world, and the end of the war.”

Then she gave a warning about Russia—which is very interesting because at the time Russia was not the world power that it was for most of the rest of the 20^th century.  The Bolsheviks, in fact, were just coming to power during the month when the last Fatima apparition took place. 

Mary said that Russia needed to be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart and that prayers needed to be offered for the nation—especially in the form of the First Saturday Devotion—so that it would be converted.  Here are Mary’s words as Lucia later wrote them down: “If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, and the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated.  In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

Well, we all know what happened.  Russia was not converted; Soviet Communism was exported to a number of other nations—by force; and the world lived under the threat of nuclear war for decades.

But then, amazingly, in late 1989 the Berlin Wall came down and Eastern Bloc Communism as we knew it quickly disintegrated.

If you had told me back in the 1960s that the powerful Soviet Empire would break up, and that communism in Eastern Europe would come to an end in a relatively peaceful manner and without a major military conflict, I would have said you were crazy—and so would almost everyone else who was alive at the time!

In my humble opinion (and in the opinion of many other people) this peaceful collapse of Soviet Communism was not primarily the result of politics and diplomacy (although politics and diplomacy were involved, to be sure).   Rather, the primary cause of the collapse was spiritual: it was the combined spiritual effect of all those millions of Rosaries and Communions and prayers that had been offered for Russia’s conversion since the apparitions at Fatima in 1917.  All of that, coupled with the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Pope John Paul II, was at the heart of this peaceful miracle of recent history. 

And speaking of our former Holy Father, I definitely don’t think it was a coincidence that he was one of the primary human instruments that God used (even in the diplomatic arena) to bring this about.  As a Catholic man, he was deeply devoted to the Blessed Mother; and, as pope, he was consecrated to her in a special way.  As you will recall, his papal motto, “Totus Tuus”—Totally Yours—referred to Mary!

The vision still has its time.

In 1917, Mary set forth “the vision”—the vision of a world without Russia’s atheistic system of government.  I’m sure that many believers doubted if the vision would ever become a reality—especially believers in Communist countries who were suffering for their faith during the years when the Soviets were directing their governments. 

But the vision still had its time.  Because of the prayers of so many, grace continued to be poured forth from the throne of God, until enough hearts were softened in the world, and positive changes began to take place.  In the words of the Lord to Habakkuk, the vision “pressed on to [its] fulfillment, and did not disappoint.”

The “visions” of today (especially the visions of a more just and peaceful world) also press on to their fulfillment—which is why we should never stop praying for God’s will to be done, or doubt God’s ability to do the “impossible”.

The Sin of ‘Neglect’

 

(Twenty-sixth Sunday of the Year (C): This homily was given on September 28, 2025 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Luke 16:19-31.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Twenty-sixth Sunday 2025]

My homily today is about the sin of “neglect.”

In that regard, I don’t know how many of you have seen the Tom Hanks’ movie “Sully” which came out in theaters in 2016.

“Sully” is about what some have called the “Miracle on the Hudson,” which took place back on January 15, 2009.  As most of you will probably remember, that was the day that U.S. Airways’ Captain Chesley Sullenberger (“Sully” for short) made an emergency landing of a jet airplane in the Hudson River in New York City.  He made the decision to land in the Hudson because the plane had hit a flock of birds shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport, and had both of its engines knocked out in the process.

Sullenberger had to literally “glide” the plane into the river.

Amazingly—some would say “miraculously”—all 155 people on board survived the landing and were rescued shortly thereafter.

Most of the movie dealt with the investigation that occurred later on by the National Transportation Safety Board, which tried to determine whether there was some kind of pilot error in how Sullenberger handled the situation; that is to say, was there something Captain Sullenberger NEGLECTED to do that he should have done—like turn the plane around and try to land back at LaGuardia?

As the film portrays it, some people on the Safety Board were prepared to blame Sully and accuse him of failing to act as he should have in the crisis, but in the end it turned out that the members of the Board were the ones guilty of neglect.

And what exactly did they neglect?

You’ll have to see the movie yourself in order to find out!

No spoiler here.

Neglect, it’s important to note, is not always a sin.  For example, in this movie the members of the Safety Board were ready to make a judgment on Captain Sullenberger’s performance based on the information they had at their disposal.  They didn’t realize that they were neglecting to factor something into their analysis—until someone made that clear to them.

But there are other times when neglect is a sin—as we see in this famous gospel story of the rich man and Lazarus.  Notice why the rich man suffers after death.  It’s not because he killed Lazarus; it’s not because he hated Lazarus and physically attacked him in some way.

All he did was ignore the guy!  All he did was to NEGLECT the poor, sick man on his front doorstep—someone whom he could easily have helped.  That was his sin.

And from the way the story is written it appears he neglected Lazarus in this way not just once, but every day!

The challenge of being a Christian—the challenge of living as an authentic disciple of Jesus Christ—is, from one standpoint at least, the challenge to eliminate sinful neglect from our lives.

And this involves more than simply reaching out to help the poor, the sick and the needy—although it certainly includes those things.

The fact is, sinful neglect can take many different forms.  I’ll give a few examples: 

1.    Neglecting the condition of our soul.  That’s definitely a form of sinful neglect.  How many people think about the condition of their soul each and every day?  From the relatively small number of people who go to confession on a regular basis, I would say that very few do!  And yet the condition of our soul—in other words, whether or not our soul is in the state of grace—is what will determine where we spend eternity: in heaven or in hell.

Neglecting to reflect on it (at least occasionally) is a big mistake.

2.    Neglecting our relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s yet another form of sinful neglect.  As Catholic Christians our relationship with Jesus Christ is supposed to be the most important relationship we have in this life.  But, since we don’t see Jesus in the same way that we see our relatives and friends, it’s very easy to put someone else in the number 1 position—or to neglect Jesus entirely.

3.    Neglecting to teach children how to put the Lord first in their lives and how to set their priorities properly.  This is a form of sinful neglect that we have to face every year in our religious education program.  Every CCD director will tell you how frustrating it is to deal with certain parents, who attach a greater importance to their children’s involvement in sports and dance and other extra-curricular activities than they do to their children’s religious education and formation in the Faith.  Without realizing it, perhaps, those parents are teaching their children that it’s okay to neglect your spiritual life when something “more important” comes along.

4.    Neglecting our human relationships (especially in our families); in other words, putting things before people.  Being a better mother or father or wife or husband or son or daughter or brother or sister or friend takes a back seat to buying some unnecessary luxury or to getting ahead professionally.  People made in the image and likeness of God are neglected in favor of “stuff”—stuff that we will eventually leave behind when our earthly life is over.

In closing, I would ask you to take that word “neglect” home with you today and to pray about it.  Say to the Lord, “Lord, help me to recognize any sinful neglect that’s present in my life right now, and give me the strength and determination I need to deal with it.”

Because, as the rich man in today’s gospel story would surely attest, it’s far better to deal with your sinful neglect in this life than to deal with it in the next.

  

The ‘Children of This World,’ the ‘Children of Light’—and the ‘Ungodly’

 

(Twenty-fifth Sunday of the Year (C): This homily was given on September 21, 2025 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Amos 8:4-7; Psalm 113:1-8; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Twenty-fifth Sunday 2025] 

Here we have a very strange parable from Luke 16—a parable that's extremely difficult to interpret.  And yet, I would say that this little story has a very important and timely message for all Americans of the early 21^st century—especially all Catholic Americans.  It concerns a corrupt steward who was guilty of squandering his master's property.  That means quite simply that he was an embezzler.  His boss had given him authority to manage his estate, and he had deceitfully taken his boss “to the cleaners” in the process.  (The thought occurred to me the other day: perhaps this guy was a first century ancestor of Bernie Madoff.  Remember him?  He’s the financier who got a 150 year prison sentence in 2009 for taking his clients to the cleaners to the tune of over $50 billion dollars!)

Anyway, this steward in the parable finally gets caught with his hand in the till, and he's given the proverbial “boot.”   But before the boss dismisses him, he tells the embezzler to render an account of his stewardship. Now at this point, the corrupt steward knows two things for certain: he knows that his present job is history, and he knows that he'll soon be out on the street without any friends.  (You see, in first century Palestine, stewards like this were deeply hated, because they normally charged their master's debtors HUGE amounts of interest.)  So the crafty steward makes a very prudent decision: he decides to dispense with his “commission” in order to make some new friends.  He calls in his master's debtors, and tells them to pay only the amount that they owe the master.  Well, to put it mildly, those debtors must have been ecstatic to hear this news!  They probably said to the steward, “Wow, you're a great guy.  Thanks so much!  If you ever need a favor, if you ever need a job, just come and see us.”  At that, the steward probably responded (under his breath), “That's just what I was hoping you'd say.  You'll all be hearing from me very soon.”

At that point, the master commends the steward for “acting prudently”.  Not for being dishonest and embezzling his money, but rather for being “prudent” and enterprising.  The steward had a worldly goal (settling affairs with his master and providing for his future), and he did what was necessary within the law to achieve it.  Then Jesus offers this biting comment on the whole story: “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.”  In other words, “People with worldly ambitions will do almost anything to achieve their goals: they'll make sacrifices, they'll plan, they'll study, they'll work extremely hard like this steward did.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if people of faith had as much zeal for the things of God?  Wouldn't it be wonderful if people of faith had as much concern about moral righteousness and about getting to heaven?!”

I really believe that Jesus told this parable in order to shake us and wake us up!  And boy, do we need a wake-up call right now in the United States of America!  Because in our culture at the present time it's not only the “children of this world” who take more initiative than the “children of light”—it's also the UNGODLY who outdo the children of light in zeal and determination.  Think of the zeal of militant atheists like Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher; think of the shameless leaders of Planned Parenthood, who’ve turned baby-killing in the United States into a multi-million dollar industry in recent decades.  When they were exposed several years ago for selling fetal body parts, they should have been embarrassed and humiliated.  But they weren’t.  In fact, many of their leaders and supporters are more militant now than ever before!

Or how about the gay-rights activists in this country?  For the last 40 or so years, mostly through their willing accomplices in Hollywood and the media, they’ve effectively “de-sensitized” the majority of our citizens to the immorality of homosexual activity.  That took a lot of hard work—by a lot of people.  But they had the zeal and determination to do whatever needed to be done to change public opinion on the matter.  And for the most part, sad to say, they’ve succeeded.

The same thing is now happening with transgenderism.  Transgenderism used to be listed as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association.  Then, late in 2012, it was suddenly removed from the list.  And what incredible, monumental scientific discovery led to this radical change, you ask?

Well the truth is there was none.  There was no science behind the change.  The guys and gals at the American Psychiatric Association simply bowed to social and political pressure from those who wanted to make what’s abnormal seem normal.

And it’s only gotten worse since then.  In recent years we’ve even had drag queens reading stories to little children in public libraries all over the country.  Now isn’t that a great way to help young people to understand their identity as male or female?

Can you imagine something like this happening 50 or 40—or even 20—years ago?

I can’t.

Those of us who want to be numbered among the children of light need to get a healthy dose of prudence and zeal ourselves—and we need to get it quickly, because western culture is decaying all around us very quickly.

And this all has to begin, I believe, in Catholic and Christian families, with parents who have prudence and zeal and who are willing to discuss these difficult issues with their children—so that their children will develop prudence and zeal in their young lives and not be taken in by the lies of the world.  Don’t count on their schools or colleges to do it!  Even though we have many great teachers out there, all too many of them these days are among those who are promoting the lies (and that includes many who teach at Catholic institutions!).  St. Paul says in today’s second reading that God wants everyone to be saved and to come to know the truth.  That truth should be learned first in a person’s family, and then it should be reaffirmed and reinforced in a person’s church—which is what we try to do here at St. Pius.

“For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” 

That was true when Jesus walked the face of this earth 2,000 years ago; unfortunately it’s still true today.  But it doesn’t have to be true in the future!

At least for us, as individuals, it doesn’t have to be true.  By the grace of God, if we choose we can be more prudent and zealous and passionate and have more initiative than those who oppose us.  And, if enough of us—enough “children of light”—make this same choice, the decay can be stopped and the culture can be turned around and saved.

Which means that we have to do our part as individuals and as families; and then, as Msgr. Struck used to say, we have to “pray, pray, pray”!