tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-112938482024-03-17T23:03:04.893-04:00Father Ray's 'Other' Corner"I charge you to preach the word, to stay with this task whether convenient or inconvenient--correcting, reproving, appealing--constantly teaching and never losing patience." 2 Timothy 4:2
Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comBlogger870125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-35521830061724327332024-03-17T12:07:00.001-04:002024-03-17T12:07:26.194-04:00Learning Obedience from What We Suffer<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoh-LO58OHqwCwDvBcRQynVO9-2JN_BHrddzxXoB7Bz4oDyMumHgbKMAEsoEjumt8a0auJQaItxdU3xybIgOg2P16Pz8p3uvEMknYgpS7Zzahxt2_CRkqe8Chm_fUEciIROHkCxrwlDmxIrcjIUsWSu5XjrhYSWDm-9-S3upqHMcCbJoQ0Mkzb/s500/stuart_scott.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="413" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoh-LO58OHqwCwDvBcRQynVO9-2JN_BHrddzxXoB7Bz4oDyMumHgbKMAEsoEjumt8a0auJQaItxdU3xybIgOg2P16Pz8p3uvEMknYgpS7Zzahxt2_CRkqe8Chm_fUEciIROHkCxrwlDmxIrcjIUsWSu5XjrhYSWDm-9-S3upqHMcCbJoQ0Mkzb/w330-h400/stuart_scott.jpg" width="330" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stuart Scott<br />1965-2015</td></tr></tbody></table></p><p class="MsoNormal">(Fifth Sunday of Lent (B): This homily was given on March 17,
2024 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:3-15; Hebrews
5:7-9; John 12:20-33.)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/5lent2024b.wma" rel="nofollow">Fifth Sunday of Lent 2024</a>]</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Stuart Scott was a sportscaster and anchor on the ESPN
television network.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was definitely a
familiar face to anybody who watched SportsCenter on a regular basis a decade
or so ago.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 2007, he had what was supposed to be routine surgery to
remove his appendix. However later on,
when the doctors tested the tissue they had removed during the operation, they
discovered that it was cancerous. For
the next seven years Scott battled the disease courageously, and for the most
part he continued to work at ESPN. However,
on January 4, 2015 he passed away from the cancer at the young age of 49, leaving
behind a wife and two children.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But before he died he wrote a book—a book that was
co-authored by a man named Larry Plath.
The book is entitled (appropriately enough), “Every Day I Fight.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now the reason I mention this today is because I saw Larry
Plath interviewed on television not long after Stuart Scott’s death, and one of the things he said about Scott during that
interview really struck me. You know, it
always strengthens my faith when I hear people in a secular environment echoing
the truths of the Bible and our Catholic religion (especially when they do it
without realizing that they’re doing it!).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And so it was here. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In today’s second reading the author of the Letter to the
Hebrews says that Jesus “learned obedience from what he suffered.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Well Larry Plath said something very similar about Stuart
Scott with respect to his battle with cancer.
In fact Scott also said it himself.
He said that his suffering had taught him some very important lessons
that he might not otherwise have learned in his life.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let me quote now Larry Plath’s words in the interview. He said:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"></p><blockquote>There was an element of wisdom that came [to Stuart Scott].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He learned patience as a result of
cancer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, that’s the
paradox—right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[Stuart] says in the book
that the paradox is that cancer just might make you the man you always wanted
to be.</blockquote><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The sportscaster who was interviewing Larry Plath responded
to that remark by saying, “Unbelievable.”
I think he said that because he was well aware of the fact that many
people in our world today just get angry and bitter when they experience a
cross like cancer. They rebel against
God in the face of their pain, such that they actually end up learning “<i>dis</i>obedience from what they suffer!”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And even when people do respond positively to their
sufferings with a greater obedience to God, that obedience sometimes comes
after a period of disobedience. For
example, how often have you seen people come back to the practice of their
Catholic faith after somebody in their family dies?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It happens all the time.
These men and women are living lives of disobedience to God, but
suddenly their suffering “wakes them up” (so to speak) spiritually.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And that’s great!
Praise God that they’ve seen the light.
They’ve learned obedience to the Third Commandment (“Keep holy the
sabbath day”) <i>through their suffering</i>—and
that’s wonderful! We should rejoice
whenever that kind of learning takes place.
Better late than never! </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But this is where we differ from Jesus. When we sinful human beings learn obedience
from what we suffer, we often learn it after some <i>dis</i>obedience; whereas Jesus, because he was perfect, learned
obedience<i> through obedience</i>—always! In other words, in every situation of
suffering in which he found himself (like the Garden of Gethsemane), he said
the same thing: “Thy will be done.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He never said, “<i>My</i>
will be done.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We see this illustrated beautifully in today’s gospel text
when Jesus says (in reference to his upcoming passion and death), “I am
troubled now. Yet what should I
say? ‘Father, save me from this
hour’? But it was for this purpose that
I came to this hour. Father, glorify
your name.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“He learned obedience from what he suffered.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What have <i>you</i>
learned through <i>your</i> suffering?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That’s a good question to reflect on during this last full
week of Lent.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I did that myself in preparation for this homily, and I came
to realize that I’ve learned a lot of things—a lot of good things—through my
experience of having Parkinson’s Disease—and then prostate cancer—and now
multiple myeloma. That doesn’t mean I’m
happy that I’ve had these illnesses!
(Don’t misunderstand me here!) It
just means that I am aware of certain blessings that I’ve experienced in the
midst of it all. For example:</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><i> </i></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><i>I’ve learned to be more empathetic (and
hopefully more compassionate) in dealing with the sick and the elderly.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><i><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->I’ve learned to rely on God more.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><i><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->I’ve learned to put more trust in him.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><i><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->I’ve learned to take the power of prayer more
seriously (since I believe that I’m doing as well as I’m doing in large part
because so many people—even some people I don’t know—are praying for me every
day!).<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><i><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->I’ve learned how important it is to focus on
what I have, not what I don’t have; and I’ve learned to be more grateful for
the health and abilities that I do still possess.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><i><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->I’ve learned once again not to put all my hopes
in this earthly life, because this mortal life is very fragile (a lot more
fragile than you think it is when you’re young and healthy).<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><i><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->And I’ve learned that God is in control, and
that I am not (even in those areas of life where I always thought I was in
control).</i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those are just some of the positive lessons I’ve learned
from the otherwise negative experience of having these illnesses. And that has made me more obedient to the
Lord.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At least <i>sometimes</i>
it has. Unfortunately I have had those
moments when I’ve allowed things like anger and frustration and impatience to
get in the way of my obedience. Usually
that happens when I’m trying to do something “really difficult” like getting
dressed in the morning or turning the page of a book or cutting a piece of meat
at dinner—all those fine motor activities that you never give a second thought
to when you’re healthy, but which become really big issues when you have a
neuro-muscular disorder like Parkinson’s.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My point in sharing this with you today is that learning
obedience through suffering <i>is an ongoing
process</i>—for all of us.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But it’s worth the effort.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As Stuart Scott made clear, the sufferings of this life do
have the potential of changing us for the better. They can make us, as he said, into the people
we’ve always wanted to be.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For a Christian, that means they have the potential to help
us become what Matthew Kelly calls, “the best possible versions of ourselves.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Or, as the Church would say, “They have the potential to help us become saints!”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-53400334181229310162024-03-10T12:08:00.006-04:002024-03-10T12:08:54.095-04:00The Wrath of God: What Exactly is It?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkkRD_V1TqPxsg8GFZnVYaUARCESkwgwGyBOavnV1Gs27LNKo-wsdNzTsSlKuuwjNvHElxSUpb6c1tE9f33xEMDzNR6dW7bcQjlkIbVKKZoNg0N2_3dgvMR8Pr70ujSgK-dZf6uz4Eyj4SsmDMfXqWlXevfs437OrFSowXZ4C99LwH6NM71kb4/s600/56529311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="450" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkkRD_V1TqPxsg8GFZnVYaUARCESkwgwGyBOavnV1Gs27LNKo-wsdNzTsSlKuuwjNvHElxSUpb6c1tE9f33xEMDzNR6dW7bcQjlkIbVKKZoNg0N2_3dgvMR8Pr70ujSgK-dZf6uz4Eyj4SsmDMfXqWlXevfs437OrFSowXZ4C99LwH6NM71kb4/w300-h400/56529311.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />(Fourth Sunday of Lent (B)”: This homily was given on March
10, 2024 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23; Psalm
137:1-6; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21.)<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/4lent2024b.wma" rel="nofollow">Fourth Sunday of Lent 2024</a>]</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Little 7-year-old Raymond gets into a fight with his sister
and he purposely breaks one of her toys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At that point his mother happens to come into the room and she sees
what’s going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She says, “Raymond
Nicholas, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Apologize to your sister right now!” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Little Raymond says, “No way. I’m not apologizing to her. She asked for it. She got what she deserved.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Raymond’s mother turns 8 shades of red and says, “Then go to
your room! Go to your room right now and
you stay there for the rest of the day.
No TV; no radio; no stereo; you just sit there and think about what
you’ve done, and why you need to apologize to your sister.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Little Raymond gets upset and says, “But mom, I’m supposed
to play football today with my friends.
They’re expecting me; I need to be there. I want to be there!”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">His mother says, “Too bad.
You should have thought of that before.
Go to your room.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Little Raymond shouts out, “You’re bad! You’re a bad mother. You’re the meanest mother in the world. You’re the meanest mother who ever lived! You hate me!”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And he storms off to his room where he moans, and groans,
and lives in utter agony for the rest of the day while all his friends happily
play their football game.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now before I go any further let me issue this very important
clarification: the fact that the boy in this story happens to have my name is
merely a coincidence.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was always a perfect brother.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Just don’t tell my sister I said that; she might have a
different opinion!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But in all seriousness, my brothers and sisters, the point
I’m trying to make in telling this story is that if you understand the dynamics
of it—in other words, if you understand what’s going on here between little
Raymond Nicholas and his mother—you will understand what the Bible means when
it speaks of the “wrath” of God.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This, of course, is a concept—an idea—that confuses many
people. And that’s understandable. After all, St. John explicitly tells us in
his first Letter that “God is love.”
Psalm 103 tells us that “the Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger
and rich in kindness.” Romans 8:38 says
that “neither height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to
separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus our
Lord.” In our second reading today from
Ephesians 2 St. Paul says, “God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great
love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to
life with Christ.” And finally in
today’s gospel Jesus says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have
eternal life.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">These are just a few of the many Scripture verses that speak
to us of God’s incredible, eternal love.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But there are also other passages of the Bible—like today’s
first reading—that tell us of God’s “anger” and his “wrath”.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Listen again to the words of that reading:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="background: white;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="background: white;">Early and often did the Lord,
the God of their fathers,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="background: white;">send his messengers to them,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="background: white;">for he had compassion on his people and
his dwelling place.</span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="background: white;">But they mocked the messengers of God,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="background: white;">despised his warnings, and scoffed at his
prophets,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="background: white;">until the ANGER of the Lord against his
people was so inflamed</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="background: white;">that there was no remedy.</span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="background: white;">Their enemies burnt the house of God,</span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="background: white;">tore down the walls of Jerusalem,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="background: white;">set all its palaces afire,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="background: white;">and destroyed all its precious objects.</span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="background: white;">Those who escaped the sword were carried captive
to Babylon,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="background: white;">where they became servants of the king of
the Chaldeans and his sons</span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="background: white;">until the kingdom of the Persians came to
power.</span></blockquote><span style="background: white;"></span> <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How do we makes sense of this apparent contradiction?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is our God a God of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">love</i> or is he a God of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wrath</i>—or
is he somehow a God of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">both</i>?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But how can he be a God of both, since love and wrath appear
to be mutually exclusive realities, diametrically opposed to one another?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Well, here’s where I think little 7-year-old Raymond
Nicholas and his mother can help us.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In this regard, I would say that the words of St. John serve
as a good starting point. St. John tells
us explicitly that “God is love”—all love, complete love, <i>perfect</i> love.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Okay, that’s great Fr. Ray.
But what about God’s wrath? If
God is pure, total, perfect, complete, 100% love, how does “wrath” fit into the
picture? </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Well, very simply, the
wrath of God is just the way that certain people experience his</i> <i>LOVE</i>.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yes, you heard me correctly: the “wrath of God” is the way
that some people experience his love.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Specifically, people who defiantly and obstinately cling to
their sins.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Think of little Raymond Nicholas. He broke his sister’s toy and then he refused
to repent and say he was sorry. If had
said he was sorry he would have been happy for the rest of the day playing
football with his buddies at the local field.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But he said, “No way.
I’m not apologizing to her. She
asked for it. She got what she
deserved.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And he ended up spending the rest of his day sulking in his
room—alone.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So I guess that means his mother hated him.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No, not at all! His
mother loved him! She loved him
deeply. She loved him more than he
knew. But because he stubbornly refused
to repent of his sin, little Raymond EXPERIENCED THE LOVE OF HIS MOTHER AS <i>WRATH</i>!—which is why he responded to his
punishment by shouting, “You’re bad!
You’re a bad mother. You’re the
meanest mother in the world. You’re the
meanest mother who ever lived! You hate
me!”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Israelites in today’s first reading could very easily
have related to the plight of poor little Raymond. As we heard a few moments ago, they were
defeated and carried off to captivity in Babylon because they stubbornly
refused to repent of their idolatry—even though God, <i>in his love</i>, had sent them many prophets over the years to warn
them about the consequences of their disobedience.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And so they, too, experienced love as “wrath”. Their sentiments were captured perfectly in
today’s responsorial psalm: “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we
remembered Zion.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now the good news is that little Raymond Nicholas eventually
got out of his room, and God’s people eventually came home from Babylon.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That’s because in this life, we can always change for the
better, such that we move from experiencing God’s love <i>as wrath</i> back to experiencing God’s love <i>as love</i>.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But there will be a moment—the moment when we take our final
breath on this earth—when that kind of change will become impossible. Which means that if we are still stubbornly
clinging to our sins at the moment of our death, we will experience God’s love
as wrath <i>for all eternity</i>.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In fact, that’s really an accurate description of what hell
is. Hell is where people experience
God’s <i>love</i> as wrath—forever. That’s
why repentance is so important—and why the sacrament of Confession is such a
blessing.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Which leads to the obvious question: Have <i>you</i> made a good, thorough confession yet
during this season of Lent?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And if not, what are you waiting for?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-40386500865213746992024-03-03T12:20:00.002-05:002024-03-03T12:20:28.533-05:00Commandments, Consequences—and Confession <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXhptDumvldK0Lsh2bVF6eh9lPwIK6Fsw-Fuc9YVsNbOJmvIHuf9k5s2pAfkFgTmAMvSDOUR7B7nRVyeYzUum0NT90vsBCS1GIAPBTE6yGkl4gAZ_RGiSb7mM148JWPPXmk49eUJ4LmGPt44zLjopIK7unjlfap3RjvHCcGtBidlsalkbA0X8/s396/angrydriver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="396" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXhptDumvldK0Lsh2bVF6eh9lPwIK6Fsw-Fuc9YVsNbOJmvIHuf9k5s2pAfkFgTmAMvSDOUR7B7nRVyeYzUum0NT90vsBCS1GIAPBTE6yGkl4gAZ_RGiSb7mM148JWPPXmk49eUJ4LmGPt44zLjopIK7unjlfap3RjvHCcGtBidlsalkbA0X8/w400-h260/angrydriver.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">(Third Sunday of Lent (B): This homily was given on March 3,
2024 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Read Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19:8-11; 1
Corinthians 1:22-25; John 2:13-25.)</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/3lent2024b.wma" rel="nofollow">Third Sunday of Lent 2024</a>]</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="color: windowtext;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>One day a man was being
tailgated by a stressed-out woman as he drove down a busy city street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly, the traffic light just ahead of him
turned yellow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Realizing that it would
be red by the time he actually got into the intersection, he stopped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He made the right decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I can’t say I always have in similar
circumstances!—but he did.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Well the tailgating woman, who
was obviously in a big hurry, wasn’t very happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She began honking her horn, screaming
obscenities, and making obscene gestures (you can use your imagination to fill
in the details there!).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>All of a sudden, she heard a
tap on her car window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a
policeman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told her to get out of the
car and to put her hands up.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Then he took her to the local
police station, where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and put
into a holding cell.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Two hours later, the policeman
came to get her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He took her to the
booking desk and gave her back her personal effects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he said, “I’m very sorry for the
inconvenience, Mrs. Jones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But let me
explain what happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pulled up
behind your car while you were blowing your horn, cursing and swearing
uncontrollably, and making some not-so-nice gestures with your hands toward the
man in the car in front of you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the
same time, I noticed the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder on your vehicle, as
well as the ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ bumper sticker, and the Christian fish
emblem on the trunk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Naturally, I
assumed you had stolen the car!”</i></span></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">That’s an old story, but it illustrates a timeless
truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It shows that there is a close
connection between COMMANDMENTS and CONSEQUENCES—a connection that many people
today fail to recognize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mrs. Jones violated the 2</span><sup style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">nd</sup><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> and the 5</span><sup style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
commandments (since anger is at the root of killing), and she suffered several
negative consequences in her experience with the local policeman.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In today’s first reading, Moses delivers to the people of
Israel the Ten Commandments that he had received from God on Mt. Sinai.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Now it’s very important for us to understand
what these ten directives are: they are the moral laws that </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">GOD</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> has built into the very framework of
reality.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In that sense, they’re a lot
like the </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">physical</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> laws of the
universe: if you honor them, many good consequences will follow; if, on the
other hand, you disobey them, you court disaster.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">For example, if you decide to walk to the
edge of a 1,000 foot cliff, and then take one giant step off the edge, you will
not be able at that moment to determine the consequences of what you’ve
done!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Reality will dictate the
consequences to you.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You made the choice
to do something foolish—you made the decision to violate one of the laws of
nature—and now that law (the law of gravity) will take over and you will
fall.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s a simple as that.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You can’t drive your car into a brick wall going 70 miles
an hour and then expect your car to be in showroom shape afterward.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It will be broken into a million pieces!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(And so, in all likelihood, will you!)</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You can’t drink lethal poison and expect to be in perfect
physical health an hour later.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(You’ll
be lucky to still be alive!)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If you violate the laws of the material universe, you can
be sure that there will be negative consequences you’ll be forced to deal with.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So why do some people expect things to be entirely
different in the </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">moral</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> and </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">spiritual</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> dimensions of reality?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Why do they think they can violate God’s </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">MORAL</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> laws with impunity?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Why do they think they can disobey his
commandments without suffering any negative consequences in the process?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s impossible.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This, incidentally, is a not a complicated idea.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s a basic concept that even a small child
can understand if he wants to (or if he’s forced to!).</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Here’s a little story that illustrates the
point.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Several years ago a woman from
the parish went to visit her great nephew, who was then about 5 years-old.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The little boy spotted his aunt coming up
the front walk toward the house.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He
stuck his head out a window on the second floor and yelled to her, “I can’t
come out of my room today.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’ve got consequences</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He understood—at 5 years-old!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He had done something wrong, and his parents
were teaching him a very valuable lesson.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s the same lesson, incidentally, that C.S. Lewis taught
the world in “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As most of us know, in that story Edmund
betrayed his 3 siblings, and violated the “Deep Magic”.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And what exactly was the Deep Magic?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Very simply, it was the </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">MORAL</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">LAW</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">that Aslan and his Father (the
Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea) had built into the magical world of Narnia.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Edmund violated one of the principles of that
law, and the White Witch was well aware of the </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">necessary</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> consequence of that act: Edmund had to die!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So she demanded his blood.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And even Aslan had to agree that she was
right in her demand.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As St. Paul said in
Romans 6:23, </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“The wages of sin is death.”</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What really disturbs and worries me (and this is why I
bring it up at this Mass) is the fact that so many people nowadays don’t seem
to take this truth very seriously.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They scoff at the idea that there’s any intrinsic
connection whatever between commandments and consequences.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Perhaps, in some places, that’s because those who have this
attitude don’t know the Ten Commandments.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They couldn’t distinguish commandment 1 from commandment 8 or 9.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But I’m sure that’s not the case here.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’m sure Fr. Paul has taught you well.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I‘m sure </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">all</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">of</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">you</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> know them by heart.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(Don’t worry, I won’t quiz you during the
homily.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But the question still remains, even if we know what they
are: Do we really think that we can violate them without suffering any negative
consequences in the process?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Do we really think that we can put other things before God,
use his name as a curse word, miss Mass without good reason, disrespect our
parents and others in authority, murder someone’s reputation, support evils
like abortion and euthanasia, commit sins of impurity, steal, lie and covet—and
not have it affect us (and those around us) in a negative way?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Are we living in a dreamworld?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If we haven’t done so already, it is time for
us to wake up to reality!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Commandments and consequences—those two “c-words” and what
they represent—cannot be separated.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Which brings us to another important “c-word”: confession!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In fact, to end my homily today I’ll put the 3 of them in
one sentence (and if you forget everything else I’ve said today, try to
remember this one line):</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Confession</span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> helps to undo
the <i>consequences</i> of violating the <i>commandments</i>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Confession undoes the consequences (especially the ETERNAL
CONSEQUENCES) of disobeying the commandments.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And that’s why we should go—frequently.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Do you?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-5438583383915172712024-02-25T12:06:00.002-05:002024-02-25T12:30:20.069-05:00Life is a Process of ‘Letting go’<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuPTE5z9kAcrg5Tw7tEymMAVY-YzRVTfVWIEDWZIXbA9Qi1tDYNCc0iWGXH9sVsMDKGyo3ny11X0FoReoZwjArHJlLW5-jR44uDywROrjTgYE84U833mZ049FZ7YtmOaVThLp_svdBBM3YkZGXI0MtYyaw5Ltwm7V1FOjejhezM7LePiocHABN/s320/Letting-Go-Open-Hands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="213" data-original-width="320" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuPTE5z9kAcrg5Tw7tEymMAVY-YzRVTfVWIEDWZIXbA9Qi1tDYNCc0iWGXH9sVsMDKGyo3ny11X0FoReoZwjArHJlLW5-jR44uDywROrjTgYE84U833mZ049FZ7YtmOaVThLp_svdBBM3YkZGXI0MtYyaw5Ltwm7V1FOjejhezM7LePiocHABN/w400-h266/Letting-Go-Open-Hands.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(Second Sunday of Lent (B): This homily was given on February
25, 2024 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Read Genesis 22:1-18; Psalm 116:10-19; Romans
8:31-34; Mark 9:2-10.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/2lent2024b.wma" rel="nofollow">Second Sunday of Lent 2024</a>]</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">An elderly woman from the parish went to see her orthopedic
surgeon on a Friday morning.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She had
been under his care—and homebound—for a few months after falling in her home
and hurting her shoulder.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Well, happily,
the doctor gave her a clean bill of health during that office visit, and she
was looking forward to getting back to Sunday Mass and her normal routine.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But, unfortunately, shortly after she returned home that
Friday, she tripped on a rug and fell again, this time breaking her pelvis and
elbow!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The surgeon’s assistant later
told me that when he received the call that this woman was in the emergency
room at Westerly Hospital, he didn’t believe it.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He said to the nurse, “Oh no, that must be a
mistake.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We just discharged her from our
care a few hours ago.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But, of course, it was not a mistake.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">IT WAS LIFE!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">For that elderly woman—and for each and every one of
us—life is a process: a process of ‘letting go.’</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Sooner or later, for example, we all have to
‘let go’ of many things.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We have to ‘let
go’ of our physical health because of a fall—or because of Parkinson’s Disease
or cancer or heart problems or something else.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And it’s not easy.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Just
ask that elderly woman!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We all have to ‘let go’ of loved ones when they die—which
can be extremely hard if we’ve loved them deeply or had them in our lives for a
really long time.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We have many funerals at
St. Pius of parishioners who die in their late 80s or 90s.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The children of those parishioners are
blessed to have had their parents in their lives for 60 or 70 years.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But that makes it all the more difficult for
them to let go.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When people retire, they have to ‘let go’ of their
work.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As we move on in life, we have to
‘let go’ of some of the recreational activities that brought us enjoyment in
our earlier years.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We have to ‘let go’
of the control we’ve had over our daily activities.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ultimately, we have to let go of what’s most precious to us
on this earth.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Just like Abraham did.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In today’s first reading, we heard the famous story of how
God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son, Isaac.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But we need to be clear about it: the test
here was not, “Are you willing, Abraham, to kill your son for me?”—after all,
we know that God never intended for Abraham to take his son’s life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The test was about Abraham’s willingness to ‘let go’.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Lord said to him, in effect, “Abraham,
are you willing to </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">let go</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> of your
son, Isaac?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He’s the child of the
promise.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You waited 100 years to have
him.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You love him deeply; you treasure
him and the special bond you have with him more than anything else that you
have in this life.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So, are you willing
to let it all go?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Are you willing to let
go of what’s most precious to you in this life and trust totally in me?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We call Abraham “our father in faith” because he said
yes—even though it had to have been the most difficult ‘yes’ he had ever said
in his life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In one way or another, we all face this very same test,
don’t we?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Usually it involves someone we
love.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But, unfortunately, not everyone
responds like Abraham did.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As I was preparing for this homily, I thought of a scene
from C.S. Lewis’ book, </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Great Divorce</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">—which,
by the way, is </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">not</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> about marriage!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s a fictional book about an imaginary bus ride from hell
to heaven.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">All the people on the bus
have the opportunity to go to heaven, but only if they ‘let go’ at some point
on the journey.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">First and foremost, of
course, they have to be willing </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">to let go
of their sins thru repentance</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But
they also have to be willing </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">to let go of
their attachments</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">—their unhealthy, selfish attachments—to people and
things; and at the same time they have to be willing to grow in their desire
for God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">One person who has trouble doing this is a woman named
Pam—whose son Michael died when she was still living on earth.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Her brother, Reginald, who’s already arrived
in the kingdom, speaks to her at one point, and challenges her to love God
first, and to let go of 0the selfish, possessive, manipulative love she had for
her son when he was alive.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Reginald says
to her, “[God] wanted you to love Michael as he understands love.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">[And] you cannot love a fellow-creature fully
till you love God.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But Pam will hear none
of it.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She blames God for her son’s
death, and refuses to let go of that anger and the disordered love she had for
her child.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A sad ending.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Thankfully other stories in </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The
Great Divorce</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> end much more happily!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There’s an old saying that most of us have heard before—and
there’s a great deal of truth in it: </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Let
go, and let God!</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Pam did neither of those things.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Abraham did </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">both</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">—and
because he did both he was rewarded beyond what he could possibly have
imagined!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Lord said to Abraham, “I swear by myself, that because
you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless
you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky
and the sands of the seashore.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That prophecy was fulfilled, as we all know, on the natural
level, in that Abraham became the father of the nation of Israel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I suppose he could have imagined that</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> natural dimension</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> of the blessing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But, as we also know, by making this promise God was
telling Abraham that he would become the </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">spiritual</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
father of all the redeemed!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That’s yet
another reason why we call Abraham “our father in faith”!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Spiritually speaking, we all trace our
“lineage” back to him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Now there’s no way that Abraham could possibly have
understood that </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">spiritual dimension </i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">of
the promise when he first heard it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But it was there!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If we follow Abraham’s example, by letting go AND by
letting God take control and do his work in our lives, then we will, like
Abraham, experience many blessings—sometimes even greater than what we can
possibly imagine!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When I think of my great role model for dealing with
Parkinson’s Disease, Pope St. John Paul II, I think of what that illness forced
him to let go of: his health, his skiing, his mobility, etc.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And yet, because he also “let God”: because
he let God work in him and through him when he was battling that despicable
disease, he did some of his most effective work in those later years of his
life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That fact certainly gives me a great deal of encouragement.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Some of you, like that fictional woman Pam, have lost
children.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But, in the process of dealing
with their deaths, you’ve actually grown closer to God and stronger in your
faith.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You were forced to let go of
someone who was very precious to you (you had no choice in the matter), but you
did have the ability to choose how you’d respond to the tragedy.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And, thankfully, you made the choice to ‘let
God’!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You made the choice to let God
help you and console you and strengthen you and heal you and give you hope.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">For that you have been greatly blessed; and,
if you persevere in that trusting faith, you will be blessed beyond your
wildest imaginings in eternity, where God will reunite you with many of your
deceased relatives and friends.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Life is a process of letting go—and as such it provides us
with many opportunities to ‘let God.’</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">May the Lord help us to take advantage of those opportunities in
imitation of Abraham, and John Paul II—and all the other great saints of the
past.</span></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-38633409186228757652024-02-14T10:23:00.001-05:002024-02-14T13:12:26.701-05:00Lent: It’s About Love <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54biUpH9Abvq-_jHb4OGtCjMBE_gFtT6S3Ri34l7y5scplmkLhLkDJgkiCZpPYD59qOsgs8Co8Hd8PnI1Ik0eSVcgMeywVk8V5NIUeIP7e_rnW7Zqo3ZqfAz2rNMF5clLqf38HHRcIq6Qy58Clg0amywkxz8leex8mt-_kLf45GtoiumrCyxr/s320/lovegottodowithit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="175" data-original-width="320" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54biUpH9Abvq-_jHb4OGtCjMBE_gFtT6S3Ri34l7y5scplmkLhLkDJgkiCZpPYD59qOsgs8Co8Hd8PnI1Ik0eSVcgMeywVk8V5NIUeIP7e_rnW7Zqo3ZqfAz2rNMF5clLqf38HHRcIq6Qy58Clg0amywkxz8leex8mt-_kLf45GtoiumrCyxr/w400-h219/lovegottodowithit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">(Ash Wednesday 2024: This homily was given on February 14, 2024 at St.
Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Joel 2:
12-18; Psalm 51; 2 Corinthians 5: 20-6: 2; Matthew 6: 1-18.)</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: </span><a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/ashwed2024.wma" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ash Wednesday 2024</a><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">]</span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It’s both meaningful and providential that Ash
Wednesday falls on St. Valentine’s Day this year—because if there’s one thing
that most of the world is totally mixed-up about it’s the meaning of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">love</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Love, contrary to popular belief, is not a synonym for sex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not a reward for being good (or, at
least, it shouldn’t be).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not an
emotion (although when we love we sometimes might experience good feelings).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Real love is an act of the will.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Real love is a decision.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s a
decision to desire and to seek the good for another person.</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Parents, for example, are said to love their
children when they seek what’s truly good for them.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">They love their children when they selflessly
make the sacrifices that help their children to grow spiritually, emotionally
and physically.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Real love, therefore, is not selfish; it’s self</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">less</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">If you truly love someone you put that person before yourself (as good
parents put their children before themselves, and their children’s needs before
their own).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Real love is also </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">patient</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">If you truly love
another person you’ll make every effort to be patient with them when they don’t
fully meet your expectations (which will probably be quite often!).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Real love is </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">forgiving</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">If you truly love another person, you’ll be
willing to forgive them when they disappoint you or offend you in some way
(which they will certainly do—at least from time to time—because they’re not
perfect).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And finally, real love is </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">self-sacrificial</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Real love
is about giving yourself, in care and service, to others.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">As Jesus told us, “Greater love than this
nobody has, than to lay down his life for his friends.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">St. Valentine was a man who demonstrated this kind
of love in his life.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">He lived in Rome in
the third century, and it was there that he gave the ultimate witness to his
love for Jesus Christ and the Church through his martyrdom.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">So what does this have to do with Ash Wednesday and
Lent?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Well, this is precisely what Lent is about (or, at
least, this is what Lent is </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">supposed</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
to be about!).</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Love.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Our disciplines and sacrifices during this
holy season are supposed to help us to grow in our </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">love</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> for God and one another.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That’s</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> their purpose.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Their purpose is not to make us miserable and
ornery because we’re giving up things that we enjoy!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">This, by the way, is why getting to confession
during Lent is so important!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Confession
either strengthens—or re-establishes—our bond of </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">love</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> with the Lord.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Real
love, as I said earlier, is forgiving.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">God, in his great love for us, wants to forgive us!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">He wants to forgive us more than we want to
be forgiven!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">He wants to forgive us for
every sin we’ve ever committed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">But we have to </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">ask</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
for that forgiveness!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">He will not force
it on us.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">He respects our freedom too
much to do that.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">So today, on this Ash Wednesday morning, we ask St.
Valentine to pray for us—that we will have a good Lent, a fruitful Lent, a
love-filled Lent: 40 days of growing in our love for God and others that will
make us better men, better women, better disciples of Jesus Christ when Lent is
over—and for the rest of our lives.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-25783790207391555362024-02-11T12:20:00.000-05:002024-02-11T12:20:12.889-05:00The Leper’s Request: A Model Prayer for us<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8qv8sa6FerzBt6oflc0wWGP9IBaGxAV7jcyyAcOs6W16nvgBl58vDFXZtEGlO85f-LYxhzQC98RLrR_O9MnyxhsocJmOWakssT7yPRthhCRRxcCooeUKgTgnemHVK7DY3DUtrJ7pr8q4yWfT6cbRnSKX3Y956_-pg2O_cmII6PqmwyLyEyR7-/s1000/81CQpA+o78L._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="995" data-original-width="1000" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8qv8sa6FerzBt6oflc0wWGP9IBaGxAV7jcyyAcOs6W16nvgBl58vDFXZtEGlO85f-LYxhzQC98RLrR_O9MnyxhsocJmOWakssT7yPRthhCRRxcCooeUKgTgnemHVK7DY3DUtrJ7pr8q4yWfT6cbRnSKX3Y956_-pg2O_cmII6PqmwyLyEyR7-/w400-h398/81CQpA+o78L._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify;">(Sixth Sunday of the Year (B): This
homily was given on February 11, 2024 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by
Fr. Raymond Suriani.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify;">Read Leviticus
13:1-2, 44-46; Psalm 32:1-11; 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1; Mark 1:40-45.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/6sun2024b.wma" rel="nofollow">Sixth Sunday 2024</a>]</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">"If you
will to do so, you can cure me."</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">That’s the translation of the first line of today’s gospel reading in
the old New American Bible: "If you will to do so, you can cure me."</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">10 words.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">1 short sentence. . .. Spoken almost two thousand years ago by a
suffering leper in Palestine.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">And yet I
would say that these words have an incredible relevance for us today in
2024—because what we have here, my brothers and sisters, is really </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">a model
prayer</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In my humble estimation, these
10 little words convey to us the attitude that should be in our hearts whenever
we go to the Lord with special needs—which is something that most of us
probably do every day.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Consider,
first of all, the last four words of the sentence: "You can cure
me".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those words are packed with
faith, are they not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those words convey
a deep and unwavering confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
leper had no doubt whatsoever that Jesus Christ had the power to set him free
from the horrible disease that was killing him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He believed in the Lord's ability to do what was otherwise
impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that the mindset we have
when we pray?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we go before the Lord
do we have confidence that Jesus can do the extraordinary?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or do we put limits on the Lord?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we believe he can help some people but not
others?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we believe he can forgive
everyone except us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we believe he can
forgive everyone except, perhaps, our enemies?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Do we believe he can heal only a certain segment of the population? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I remember
giving a homily many years ago in which I spoke about two women who had
recently experienced physical healings after I gave them the sacrament of the
sick.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The power of Jesus Christ present
in the anointing restored them to health.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">After Mass the following Sunday a nurse from the parish came up to me
and said, "Father, I’m glad you told those stories last week.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Over the years I’ve found that a lot of Catholics
don't take this sacrament very seriously.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sometimes I’ll say to a patient, ‘Would you like me to call in a priest
so he can anoint you?'</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">and the patient
will say, 'Oh no, don't bother.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">It's not
that important.'" </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The leper in
this story would never have reacted in that way.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">He would have wanted to be anointed, because
he would have been convinced that the strength, and the forgiveness and the healing
power of Jesus were available to him in and through the sacrament.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Now look at
the first half of the leper's 10-word prayer: "If you will to do
so".</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Here we have a man who was
willing to place his problem totally and completely in the Lord's hands.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">He knew what Jesus </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">could</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> do—he knew
what our Lord was capable of—but he didn't presume to know the perfect will of God
in this situation.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">He realized that it
might have been his time to leave this life and go home to the Lord.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">If it was, then he was willing to accept that
fact, even though he wanted to be healed.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">His attitude was, "Lord Jesus, whatever YOU decide, I will
accept.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I won't write the script for
you as to how to answer my prayer.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I
simply lift up my need to you; your will be done."</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">This man obviously had a deep trust in his
heart that Jesus would do what was best for him in the long run.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Now that makes him quite different from all
those people who like to give God orders when they pray.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">These people think they know exactly what God
needs to do in a given situation, and when he doesn't follow every detail of
the blueprint they've drawn up, they get angry with the Lord and accuse him of
abandoning them.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Perhaps we've all
embraced that attitude at one time or another.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Or at least we've been tempted to embrace it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I think this
leper knew that we human beings don't always know what's best for us in the
long run.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">We think we do, but we
don't.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I was reminded of that once when
a woman told me about a prayer she used to say for her daughter.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">She said the prayer over and over again for
many, many years without ever getting the answer she wanted.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">But she told me that eventually she became
glad and grateful that the prayer wasn't answered according to her blueprint,
because she realized that everything had worked out for the best.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Then she quoted the refrain of an old song by
country music singer Garth Brooks. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I’m
sure many of you have heard the words of this song before.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">They make it clear that God sees things
differently than we do, and that he knows what’s best for us in the long
run.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I’ll conclude my homily today with
his words.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">(Don’t worry, I won’t torture
you by trying to sing them!) …</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Just
the other night at a hometown football game, my wife and I ran into my old high
school flame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as I introduced them
the past came back to me, and I couldn't help but think of the way things used
to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She
was the one that I’d wanted for all times, and each night I’d spend praying
that God would make her mine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if
he'd only grant me this wish I wished back then, I’d never ask for anything
again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well
she wasn't quite the angel that I remembered in my dreams, and I could tell
that time had changed me in her eyes too, it seemed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We tried to talk about the old days—there
wasn't much we could recall—I guess the Lord knows what he's doing after
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as I walked away, I looked at
my wife, and then and there I thanked the good Lord for the gifts in my life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sometimes
I thank God for unanswered prayers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Remember when you're talking to the man upstairs, that just because he
may not answer doesn't mean he don't care, some of God's greatest gifts are
unanswered . . . Some of God's greatest gifts are all too often unanswered . .
. Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.</span></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">"If you
will to do so, you can cure me."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May
those words of confidence and trust serve as a model for every intention that we
bring to Jesus in prayer from this day forward.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-26213641201367736652024-02-04T12:07:00.001-05:002024-02-04T12:07:36.145-05:00The Big Difference Between Job and Monsignor Aloysius Schwartz<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMWDWOcnu6ZWkl4GCpJ1cdbQi0sZ0FjspmENoFbhTzpnM2RLxKjIGEdpVOAzgamJ1DJPmsqFHF2LoqeEJN5jLfH_6FFE4rPRahNtuuC-oXrIUPHVDcY0k9mfxJvvCYpQYjTx6Vmh4asCe3TSZh7YwYCSEyYctbUhK40bMp6LKHIv3qoD9EajbW/s300/father_al_children.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="300" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMWDWOcnu6ZWkl4GCpJ1cdbQi0sZ0FjspmENoFbhTzpnM2RLxKjIGEdpVOAzgamJ1DJPmsqFHF2LoqeEJN5jLfH_6FFE4rPRahNtuuC-oXrIUPHVDcY0k9mfxJvvCYpQYjTx6Vmh4asCe3TSZh7YwYCSEyYctbUhK40bMp6LKHIv3qoD9EajbW/w400-h269/father_al_children.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">(Fifth Sunday of the Year (B): This homily was given on
February 4, 2024, at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read Job 7:1-4, 6-7; Psalm
147:1-6; 1 Corinthians 9:16-23; Mark 1: 29-39.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/5sun2024b.wma" rel="nofollow">Fifth Sunday 2024</a>]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">The title of this homily is: “The Big Difference Between
Job and Monsignor Aloysius Schwartz.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I know—it’s not the most catchy title in the world, but
it’s accurate nonetheless.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Most of us, I’m sure, know the story of Job.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Bible tells us that he was a deeply
religious man, </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“who feared God and avoided evil”</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He was also quite wealthy.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And for many years he led a very happy life;
that is, until the day when he literally lost </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">everything</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">First, his herds
and flocks were either destroyed or stolen; then his ten children died when a
house collapsed on them during a severe windstorm; and, finally, he was
afflicted with a terrible disease that left his entire body covered with painful
boils.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">At that point, along came Mrs. Job, who took one look at
her husband and said to him, </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Are you still holding to your innocence? Curse God and die.”</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(Obviously, Mrs. Job never received the “Wife
of the Year Award”!)</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then three of his closest friends came on the scene </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“to give him sympathy and comfort.”</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">However, all they ended up giving him was a
lot of bad advice, more aggravation—and probably a really big headache (which
was the last thing the poor guy needed at the time!).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In the midst of all this intense suffering, Job uttered the
famous words we heard in today’s first reading: </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?
Are not his days those of a hireling?
He is a slave who longs for the shade, a hireling who waits for his
wages. So I have been assigned months of
misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me. . . . My days are swifter
than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. Remember that my life is like the wind; I
shall not see happiness again.”</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What’s important to note in this context is that Job had </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">faith</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> in God—always!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Even at his worst moments—even in the midst
of all the pain and suffering he experienced—he still </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">believed</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> in the Lord.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And
yet, as this passage I just read vividly illustrates, that was </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">not</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> enough to give him any real peace or
hope!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If it had been enough, he
certainly wouldn’t have called life “a drudgery,” and been so close to
despair.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Most of us, as I said earlier, know at least the basic
outline of the story of Job.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But, if I
had to venture a guess, I would say that very few of us know the story of the
other man I mentioned at the beginning of my homily, Monsignor Aloysius
Schwartz (although some of our recently confirmed young people probably
do.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">More about that in a few seconds.).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Monsignor Schwartz was born in Washington, D.C., in 1930,
and was ordained a priest in 1957.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Until
1992 (the year he died), he served as a missionary—mostly in South Korea and
the Philippines.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Among his many
accomplishments in the missions were the following: he founded two religious
orders—one of women and the other of men—to work with the poorest of the poor;
he established “Children’s Villages” to provide care and educational
opportunities for orphans and those abandoned by their families (which is why
some of our young people know who he was.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Our confirmation classes have had fundraisers for the last few years to
raise money for the Children’s Village in Mexico—and they’re planning to do the
same thing this year).</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Monsignor
Schwartz also started hospices for the homeless and the handicapped, and was
involved in pro-life work.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And, in the
process, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize twice (in 1984 and 1992).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Monsignor Schwartz was a powerful witness for Jesus during
the years he served God in good health as a priest.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(That should be obvious from the brief resume
I just shared with you.) </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> But he was just as powerful a witness at the
very end of his life, after he was diagnosed with ALS. </i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">ALS, of course, is the sickness commonly
referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s a fatal, neuromuscular disorder, in which a person’s voluntary
muscles become weaker and weaker over time, until they finally become immobile.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But the person’s intellect and senses are
often unaffected by the illness—</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">which
means that the person enters into his suffering with a complete awareness of
what is happening</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">From a purely
human perspective, that’s a scary thought!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Many years ago, I came across a brief but very powerful
meditation that Monsignor Schwartz either wrote or dictated at some point
during his final months on earth.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As I
share it with you now, please keep in mind that this was composed by a man who
was in the process of experiencing a long, drawn-out, horrific death.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I think you’ll agree that the good monsignor
definitely had faith in God—as Job did.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But there was something </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">else</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
that he possessed, that Job did not have.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He wrote:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;">I believe that for those whom God loves he makes all things
work for their good.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;">I believe that God
loves me with an everlasting love.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;">He
loves me more than I love myself.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;">He
loves me to such an extent that he sends his only Son, Jesus Christ, as a
living sacrifice to redeem me.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;">He loves
me so much that he sends anew each day his Son, Jesus Christ, as my food and
drink in the Eucharist.</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;"></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">So, I believe that ALS is sent to me as a sign of God’s
love and it is given to me for my own good and happiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The object of faith is not what is seen but
what is not seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who can grasp the
designs of God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who can understand his
wisdom?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My ways are above your ways, as
the heavens are above the earth and my thoughts are different from your thoughts,”
says the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, I do not understand
with my reason and intellect why this should be so, but I believe he has sent
me ALS as a sign of his love and special favor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I believe this and I try to renew this belief at each instant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it is, I do not look at ALS as an enemy
which I fight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I accept it, embrace it,
and welcome it as a friend.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">I believe in the words of St. Paul that God is faithful and
he does not permit us to be tried beyond our strength.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With every trial he gives us the strength to
endure it and he shows us the way to overcome it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe God gives me this pain and
suffering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe at the same time he
gives me the strength and grace to accept it, endure it, and cope with it . . .
I believe the grace of Jesus will always be adequate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem is, I would like it to be more
than adequate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is enough, just
enough, for that moment, and that instant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As Jesus on the cross, I do not look back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not consider the future but I trust
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe in his grace from instant
to instant.</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Job had faith in God, and so did Monsignor Schwartz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the good monsignor <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">understood</i> God on a much deeper level than Job did, because he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">knew Jesus</i>—the Second Person of the
Blessed Trinity who had redeemed him and had given him the hope of eternal
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, he didn’t understand <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everything</i>, as he himself admits
there—but he definitely understood an awful lot!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He understood, for example, the power and the
meaning of the cross of Jesus Christ, and how all of that applied to him in his
terminal illness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He understood the
writings of St. Paul, and the truths contained in those writings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consequently, he had a strength and a hope in
his heart that Job did not have in his.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Today you often hear people say, “It doesn’t really matter
what religion you profess, because all of them are pretty much the same.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They teach the same basic ideas; they have
the same basic moral principles.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Have
you heard that before?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I have—many
times!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Can you imagine how Monsignor Schwartz would have responded
to a statement like that?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Based on what
he wrote in this little meditation, I’m convinced he would have said something
like this: “My friend, you are sadly mistaken.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">All religions are </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">not</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> created equal.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Other religions may teach certain aspects of
the truth, but only Catholic Christianity teaches God’s revealed truth </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">in its fullness</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And because I believe it—because I believe
all that the Church teaches and meditate on that truth daily—I have a </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">power</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> and a </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">peace</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">and a <i>hope</i></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
in my life right now that other people in my situation do not have.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Job had faith, and that was good; Monsignor Aloysius
Schwartz had faith </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">and understanding</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">,
and that was even better.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As Catholics, we all have the potential to be like
Monsignor Schwartz—which is very good news!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We’re not like Job, who lived many centuries before Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We have Jesus; we have the New Testament; we
have the teachings of the Church; we have the sacraments; and we have the
example and writings of holy people like this faithful monsignor.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Thus we have the potential to understand God
as deeply as he understood him, and to experience the same power and peace that
he experienced, in the midst of our own personal trials and sufferings.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Let’s pray at this Mass that, by the grace of God, we will
all come to realize our potential.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-15309074564912922432024-01-28T12:07:00.001-05:002024-01-28T12:07:43.827-05:00How Jesus Teaches Today—With Authority!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1n1-QL_dVf_MUU3WuKWw-qQejhjDStKRcoczRODRa2nfcwFLlJvSTiFfSVrxSRdN1bqf_5kkqoA-yZFgDJ0sVCvW-QyYWCEwl-EQ3qALXsOoEJKCIBqGKh-II_vbtZ4BE_jw6gpBkETF_TmjsTPFYOiagB3EjgIJawgKsxjDBZJAtgCaGyfl3/s320/mi550x.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="252" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1n1-QL_dVf_MUU3WuKWw-qQejhjDStKRcoczRODRa2nfcwFLlJvSTiFfSVrxSRdN1bqf_5kkqoA-yZFgDJ0sVCvW-QyYWCEwl-EQ3qALXsOoEJKCIBqGKh-II_vbtZ4BE_jw6gpBkETF_TmjsTPFYOiagB3EjgIJawgKsxjDBZJAtgCaGyfl3/w315-h400/mi550x.1.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Icon of Christ the Teacher</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">(Fourth Sunday of the Year (B): This homily was given on
January 28, 2024 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Read Deuteronomy 18:15-20;
Psalm 95:1-9; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35; Mark 1:21-28.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/4sun2024b.wma" rel="nofollow">Fourth Sunday 2024</a>]</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">I’ll begin my homily this morning with a few stories about
teachers, and about those associated with the teaching profession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps you’ve heard some of these before.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A
little girl came home from school one day and said to her mother, “Mommy, today
I was punished in school for something that I didn’t do.”</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The
mother said, “What? I can’t believe
it. That’s so unfair! I’m going to have a talk with your teacher
about this. By the way, what was it that
you didn’t do?”</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The
little girl answered, “My homework.”</span></i></p>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">
<hr align="center" size="2" width="100%" />
</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">A
little boy came home from his very first day at school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His mother said to him, “What did you learn
today, Johnny?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Johnny
replied, “Not enough. I have to go back
tomorrow.”</span></i></p>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">
<hr align="center" size="2" width="100%" />
</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Nine-year-old
Joey came home from CCD one night, and his mother asked him what he had
learned.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Joey
said, “Well, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a
rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his
engineers build a pontoon bridge, and all the people walked across safely. Then he used his walkie-talkie to radio
headquarters and call in an air strike.
They sent in bombers to blow up the bridge, and all the Israelites were
saved.”</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">His
mother said, “Now, Joey, is that REALLY what your teacher taught you?”</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He
said, “Well, no. But if I told you the
story the way the teacher did, you’d never believe me!”</span></i></p>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">
<hr align="center" size="2" width="100%" />
</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Finally,
one day not too long ago the phone rang in a school office at 8am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The principal picked it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The voice on the other end said, “My son has
a bad cold and won’t be able to come to school today.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The
principal responded, “Okay. Thank you
for calling. Now who is this?”</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The
voice on the other end replied, “Uh . . . uh . . . this is my father
speaking!” </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">To the young people here this morning I say, “Don’t get any
ideas from that last story!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Which brings us to Jesus Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">First and foremost, Jesus is a Savior—our
Lord and Savior.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He came to die, so that
we might live.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He offered his human life
on the cross so that we might share in his divine life forever.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But Jesus is not only a Savior; he is also a </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">teacher</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In fact, when you read the New Testament, you see that our Lord spent
most of his earthly ministry doing three things: healing the sick, casting out
demons, and </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">teaching</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> people the
Gospel message in its fullness.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In today’s Gospel text from Mark 1, for example, we’re told
that Jesus taught in a synagogue and then performed a spectacular
exorcism.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Immediately afterward he
healed many people who were sick, including Simon Peter’s mother-in-law.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So here—in this one chapter of the Bible—we
see Jesus engaged in all three of the activities I just mentioned: teaching,
healing and casting out demons.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Obviously the healings and exorcisms Jesus performed were
unique and extraordinary.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Very few
people would dispute that fact.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But
there was also something unique and extraordinary about the way our Lord </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">taught</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To put it quite simply, Jesus was </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">not</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
your typical teacher!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That’s clear from
this Gospel, in the line where St. Mark tells us, </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“The people were astonished at [Jesus’] teaching, for he taught them as
one having authority and not as the scribes.”</i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Now what exactly does that mean?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What is St. Mark telling us when he says that
Jesus taught with “authority,” and not like the scribes did?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">Basically
he’s telling us that Jesus spoke with the voice and authority of God himself!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Whenever the scribes taught, they would always try to
bolster their arguments by quoting other teachers and other scholars of the
Law.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And that’s quite
understandable.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They did that because
they were fallible human beings.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But
Jesus was (and is) God!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Consequently, he
spoke </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">in his own name</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He didn’t
need any other authority on this earth to verify the truth of what he said.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Thus it should come as no surprise to us that
Jesus demanded </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">obedience</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">—total
obedience from his listeners!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Since </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">his</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
message was also </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">God’s</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> message, he expected everyone to heed his words
and put them into practice—for their own good!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As he said at the end of the Sermon on the Mount: </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Anyone who hears my words and puts them into practice is like the wise
man who built his house on rock. When
the rainy season set in, the torrents came and the winds blew and buffeted his
house. [But] it did not collapse; it had been solidly set on rock.”</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Isn’t it too bad that Jesus isn’t still with us today?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Wouldn’t it be great if we had a teacher
among us like him—a teacher with that type of God-given authority?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then we would know with absolute certitude
what the Lord expected of us in this life!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then we would know what we needed to do to be happy—and to save our
souls!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Well, guess what. We do have that teacher among us
today!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And it’s not the pope (although
he’s her official spokesperson).</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This
teacher—whose authority comes from Jesus himself—is a Bride and also a Mother;
she’s the Bride of Christ, and our holy, spiritual Mother.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We commonly refer to her as “the Church.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Whenever the Church speaks to us officially on matters of
faith and morals, we need to understand something: At those moments </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Jesus
Christ</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> is speaking to us as authoritatively as he spoke to people during
his earthly ministry 2,000 years ago!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Do we listen?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And,
even more importantly, do we say “Amen” to what we hear?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(Of course, we have to make sure we’re saying
“Amen” to what the Church actually teaches and not what the secular media says
the Church teaches.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Because they usually
get it wrong—as they’ve done quite often with things that Pope Francis has said
over the years.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Today, as we all know, many Catholics “pick-and-choose”
which teachings of the Church they’re going to follow.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But that’s really nothing new.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The very same phenomenon occurred back in the
first century!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The fact is, people respond to the Church today in the very
same ways that they responded to the historical Jesus 2,000 years ago: some
believe; some don’t believe; and some “pick and choose” which teachings they
will accept.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Think, for example, of the
many people who heard the famous Bread of Life discourse in John, chapter
6.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Jesus told this crowd that in the
near future he would give them his Body and Blood for their spiritual nourishment.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He said (among other things), </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“I am the
bread of life”; “If anyone eats this bread he shall live forever”; “If you do
not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in
you.”</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When Jesus finished this incredible sermon, we’re told that
many of those who heard him walked away!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">His 12 apostles didn’t, but the Bible tells us that many others who had
previously been his devoted followers—his disciples—stopped being so that day!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They accepted everything else Jesus had said
up to that point in his ministry, but they rejected this teaching on the Holy
Eucharist.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The rich young man that we hear about in Mark 10 was
another “picker-and-chooser”.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Scripture
tells us that he accepted all the commandments—he said “Amen” to all the
precepts of the Decalogue—but he rejected Jesus’ command to sell his
possessions and become his follower.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">True disciples of Christ accept </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">all</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> of his teachings on faith and morals as well as all of his
commands—not just the easy ones; not just the appealing ones.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And they do their best to pass those
teachings on to their children, because they want their children to be happy,
and healthy—and</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> holy</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To underscore that point let me conclude my homily now with
one last story.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">One day a second grade
teacher said to her students, “Children, suppose there were 12 sheep, and 6 of
them jumped off a cliff.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How many would
be left?”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Little Norman raised his hand
and said, “None.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The teacher responded,
“Norman, you don’t know your arithmetic.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Norman replied, “No, teacher.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You
don’t know your sheep.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When one goes,
they all go!”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As the Lord’s sheep, it’s essential that we follow the
right teacher—and that we help our young people to do the same: the teacher who
wants what’s best for us; the teacher who speaks with the authority of Jesus;
the teacher who will keep us—and our young people—away from the “cliffs” of
this life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-12735764816694109202024-01-21T12:29:00.006-05:002024-01-28T12:14:04.792-05:00Repentance: It’s The Best Thing You Can Do—For Yourself!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPMTx7i6hNjl8QjRTmXNoxjFBNWLNafBLppFwE5xWd5Q1irj_o9advc9k9Kh3WsnLeYTDfLPsJq9z0OWAbBNX1S1DbQhHNKMgLvBwOPH9NDXfVc8UycX9WmNEEfrgylmQjIKqPDTT-ZITLFP8vB7XoRxgE-uUAgDiYD6JH3XprHowu_SlLE4V/s263/repentance_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="150" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPMTx7i6hNjl8QjRTmXNoxjFBNWLNafBLppFwE5xWd5Q1irj_o9advc9k9Kh3WsnLeYTDfLPsJq9z0OWAbBNX1S1DbQhHNKMgLvBwOPH9NDXfVc8UycX9WmNEEfrgylmQjIKqPDTT-ZITLFP8vB7XoRxgE-uUAgDiYD6JH3XprHowu_SlLE4V/w228-h400/repentance_2.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><br /><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;">(Third Sunday of the Year (B): This homily was given on
January 21, 2024, at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;">Read Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm
25:4-9; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20.)</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/3sun2024b.wma" rel="nofollow">Third Sunday 2024</a>]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">Repentance is good for you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Repentance is healthy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Repentance is liberating.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Repentance is the best thing you can do for </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">yourself</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">—as well as the best thing you
can do to improve your relationships with other people when they go sour.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And to all this, we should say, “Thank God,” because the
other noteworthy fact about repentance is that it’s </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">not</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> an option!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It’s a requirement.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It’s a mandate.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It’s a command
that comes from Jesus Christ himself!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">So
the fact that it’s beneficial on so many levels is an added bonus!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The importance of repentance should be obvious from today’s
Gospel passage.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">There Jesus says, </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel!”</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">According to St. Mark, these were the very
first words our Lord spoke during his earthly ministry.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">In a certain sense, they form the </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">foundation</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> of everything else he taught
during the next 3 years.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And his message
to his listeners was clear and direct.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">He said, in effect, “This is what you have been waiting for; this is
what the entire nation of Israel has been anticipating for centuries!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Old Testament prophecies are now being
fulfilled, and God is beginning to establish his kingdom among you.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">If you want to be a part of it, you need to </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">repent</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">—and you need to believe!”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Repentance obviously improves your relationship with God:
that’s a given.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">But it also improves
your relationships with other people.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The simple statement, “I’m sorry” (spoken from the heart), coupled with
a desire to make amends for what you’ve done, can make a big difference in
healing the rift between you and the people you’ve offended.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">On the other hand, failing to repent and to say you’re
sorry when you’ve done something wrong can have a disastrous effect on a
relationship.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It reminds me of a little story that a parishioner emailed
me a while back . . .</span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">A husband forgot his 25<sup>th</sup> wedding anniversary
(which was definitely not a good idea!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His wife, as you might imagine, was extremely upset, especially since
she was expecting a brand new car as an anniversary gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Her husband had promised her that several
months earlier.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">She said to him, “Tomorrow, there had better be something
sitting in our driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 2 seconds flat!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">She obviously expected a pretty fast car!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">Anyway, the next day she woke up, ran outside to the
driveway, and saw a small package sitting on the pavement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She immediately opened it up, and found her
present—a brand new <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">bathroom scale</span>!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The husband’s funeral was the following Tuesday!</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">This extremely foolish man would certainly still be among
the living, if he had simply said, “I’m sorry.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His wife might even have settled for a Hyundai instead of a Corvette!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">On a more serious note, the following is a letter that
really does show how failing to repent can have terrible psychological,
emotional—as well as spiritual—consequences in our lives.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It was sent to me many years ago—along with a little prayer
book—by a woman who used to be a parishioner of St. Pius.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">I saved the letter because it illustrates so
well the importance of repentance.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The
letter read as follows:</span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">Dear Fr. Ray,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">It is with the deepest sorrow and regret that I have to
write to you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">I attended St. Pius Parish in the 1980s, when you had just
gotten there (at the time the church was struck by lightening when Fr. Besse
was pastor).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that time, I made many
visits to the church, in addition to coming to Mass on Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">I am so ashamed to say that on one of my visits to pray, I
was in the front pew on the right hand side of the altar, and I noticed a
beautiful little prayer book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t
know what I was thinking, but I stole it, and have had it for over 15 years.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">It is not just the fact that I took it, but that it
belonged to someone who used it daily.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">Over the years I have wanted to return it—just slip it back
into the pew, and maybe the owner would somehow find it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">Everywhere I have moved, it went with me, along with my own
prayer cards.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">I started picking it up every once in a while to pray from
it—but every time I tried, I couldn’t. . . . Guilt about this book has lasted
all this time. . . . <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">My greatest sadness is that the prayers from this book were
not said for over 15 years—for someone’s family, their church, their nation,
the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know how to get it
back to its owner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps showing the
book at all Masses might help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only
hope that the person who owns this book can forgive me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">May God forgive me, a poor sinner, and have mercy on me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">PS: I hope and pray it doesn’t belong to Monsignor Struck
or Sister Dorothy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have both helped
me—and probably prayed for me from that book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Again, I am so very sorry.</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">We can deny our sin; we can pretend it doesn’t exist; we
can sweep it under the rug (so to speak)—but in spite of all these efforts, it
will <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">always</span> affect us in negative
ways! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The woman who wrote this letter to me had been guilt-ridden
and without peace for 15 years because of a sin she committed and then tried to
ignore.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">But it didn’t have to be that
way!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">All she needed to do 15 years earlier
was repent, go to Confession, and then make a sincere effort to return the
prayer book to its owner.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It was that
simple!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">On that note, it was fitting that today’s first reading was
taken from the book of the prophet Jonah.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The verses we heard this morning occur in the middle of the book.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Here the Lord commands Jonah to go to the
city Nineveh and preach a message of repentance.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And Jonah goes—</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">which he did NOT do at the beginning of the book when God called him
the first time! </i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">In fact, after the
initial call he received, Jonah got on the very first ship that he could find
that was headed in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION, away from Nineveh!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Why, you ask?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-transform: uppercase;">Because Jonah hated the Ninevites,
that’s why!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> Nineveh was the
capital city of Assyria, which, at the time, was Israel’s arch-enemy. Jonah knew the Lord was not only just; he
knew the Lord was also <i>forgiving</i> and <i>merciful</i>. And he had a sneaking suspicion that if he
went to the Ninevites and told them to repent—and they actually <i>did</i> repent—then God would not allow
their city to be destroyed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-transform: uppercase;">But Jonah wanted the place
destroyed!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> He wanted to see the city of
Nineveh go up in flames! He wanted to
see it “fry” like Sodom and Gomorrah had many years earlier!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">So he ran away (actually, he sailed away—on a ship that was
headed west toward Tarshish).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">God said, “Not so fast, Jonah!” and he threw the ship into
a terrible storm.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Jonah was tossed
overboard in the middle of it and swallowed by a gigantic fish (which is
sometimes referred to as a whale).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">After spending 3 days and 3 nights inside this whale’s
belly, God commanded the creature to spew Jonah up onto the shore—which is
where today’s first reading picks up the story.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The Lord said, “Ok Jonah, let’s try this one more
time.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Go to the people of Nineveh and
tell them that unless they repent within 40 days their entire city will be
destroyed.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Now, to his credit, Jonah did learn his lesson.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">He learned that it was probably not a good
idea to defy God a second time!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">So, as
we heard a few moments ago, he went to Nineveh—albeit begrudgingly—and he
delivered the message the Lord told him to deliver.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And, almost immediately, the whole place repented—which, of
course, was precisely what Jonah did NOT want to happen!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">At that point, Jonah had a choice to make.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">He could either repent of his hatred, forgive
his enemies and find some peace, or he could persist in his hatred and unforgiveness
and be miserable.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Unfortunately, Jonah
ended up choosing the latter.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">He whined; he pouted; he sulked; he told God that he had a
“right” to be angry (I’m not sure where that right came from, but Jonah
insisted that he had it).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It got so bad that he eventually prayed for death!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">He said, “I can’t deal with this anymore,
Lord, so please take my life.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It’s ironic, isn’t it?—the Ninevites were the pagans, yet
they repented and found peace; Jonah was a believer, an Israelite—one of God’s
chosen people—but he refused to repent, and consequently had no peace.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">I’ll end my homily this morning as I began it:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Repentance is good for you.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Repentance is healthy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Repentance is liberating.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Repentance is the best thing you can do for </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">yourself</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">—as well as the best thing you
can do to improve your relationships with other people when they go sour.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And that’s why the sacrament of Confession is such a great
blessing!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">When was the last time you went?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-62656243204624467542024-01-07T13:07:00.002-05:002024-01-07T13:08:28.885-05:00Self-Absorbed Herod and the Self-Giving Magi<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_FzyCeaLdScCKqEKCd9OSSRWAoCni0dwlP-xjrzeKXrf0hMii97E50ZpeJ7k7qB6XCWWY0LznmVxtIgUkeytaMFgxkTr5HADhbfzOAg4jJRTpseWv3Uw7F2mTIn7cfrvbTMORH_h4Bh1331pWqW_UXAU6FEM_xVscR1oCz20D1upMYysRpE2/s387/The_Devil's_Arithmetic_(film).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="258" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_FzyCeaLdScCKqEKCd9OSSRWAoCni0dwlP-xjrzeKXrf0hMii97E50ZpeJ7k7qB6XCWWY0LznmVxtIgUkeytaMFgxkTr5HADhbfzOAg4jJRTpseWv3Uw7F2mTIn7cfrvbTMORH_h4Bh1331pWqW_UXAU6FEM_xVscR1oCz20D1upMYysRpE2/w266-h400/The_Devil's_Arithmetic_(film).jpeg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">(Epiphany 2024: This homily was
given January 7, 2024 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani. Read</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> Isaiah
60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-13; Ephesians 3:2-6; </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Matthew 2:1-12.)</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/epiph2024b.wma" rel="nofollow">Epiphany 2024</a><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">]</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“The Devil’s Arithmetic” is an
excellent movie that was released back in 1999.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It stars Kirsten Dunst, who plays a 16-year-old Jewish girl from Long
Island named Hannah Stern—a girl whose perspective on life changes radically at
a Passover meal she celebrates with her family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When the film opens, Hannah is in
a tattoo shop in New York with a teenage friend.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">From her conduct in the shop and from her
interaction with her parents when she gets home, it becomes very clear to the
audience that this girl is a spoiled, self-centered, materialistic
adolescent.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Like many young people—and
like many not-so-young people today—Hannah is all wrapped up in herself and in
her own concerns and desires.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And this
was before cell phones and social media came on the scene!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She probably would have even been worse if
they had been around.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Later that evening she goes with
her parents to the home of her Aunt Eva, for the annual Passover meal (which,
of course, commemorates the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt at the time of
Moses).</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She goes reluctantly.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Her Jewish faith means very little to her,
and she knows that when she’s there she’ll be forced to listen to her older
relatives talk about their experiences during the Holocaust—all of which she
finds quite boring.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Well, toward the end of the
Passover ritual that evening, Hannah is asked to go and open the door so that
Elijah can come in.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(There’s an old
Jewish tradition which says that Elijah the prophet spiritually visits every
home where Passover is celebrated.)</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When
Hannah opens the door, she’s mysteriously transported to Poland in the year
1941.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There she experiences firsthand
the horrors her older relatives had been forced to live through: the
deportation from their homes, the sickness, the pain, the humiliation, and the
horrible executions.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She finally comes back to the
present—she re-awakens on the floor of her aunt’s home—and, needless to say,
she’s a changed person.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Her attitude is
different (especially toward her religion and family); her priorities are
different; her outlook on life is different.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hannah finally had learned to look beyond herself
and her own selfish desires.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
Before her “trip” to 1941 Poland, her biggest concerns were what tattoo
she would get and what her friends thought of her. That’s fairly typical in our western,
affluent, materialistic culture: life is all about “me, myself and I.” It’s all about what I want, and what will
make me feel good.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But the sad irony is that her
excessive self-concern did not make Hannah happy.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Quite oppositely, it made her miserable.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In that respect, she was very
much like King Herod, one of the main characters in the Epiphany story which we
heard a few moments ago.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Now there are 4
different Herods mentioned in the New Testament—that’s something we need to be
clear about.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This one was known as Herod
the Great—which, by the way, he was not (unless your idea of greatness includes
people who murder their wives and children!).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Herod the Great was a paranoid
individual who saw rivals to his throne everywhere.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(He definitely would have been a good case
study for a modern psychologist.)</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And
this fear he had of losing his earthly power led him to kill (or at least to
try to kill) everyone he suspected of wanting to de-throne him—including
members of his own family, and the Holy Innocents!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Herod was all wrapped up in
himself (like Hannah was before her mysterious “trip” to 1941 Poland); and this
intense self-absorption was at the root of his paranoia.—“I’m the king; this is
</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">my</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> kingdom, and no one will take it
away from me! I rule; it’s what I want that matters; life revolves around me;
everyone must bow to me; they are to serve me and respond to my needs.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Herod’s self-absorption was also
what prompted him to kill the Holy Innocents.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They died because he was convinced that somewhere among them was a
newborn king who would steal his crown—and that was a threat he could not
tolerate.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Think of the “innocents” of our
age: the unborn, the elderly, the terminally ill.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">These human beings are killed in our day for
the very same reason Herod killed the Holy Innocents—because of obsessive
self-concern.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">People, you see, are just
too busy with their own wants and desires to be bothered with little babies or
sick old people.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Their comfort is
threatened by these “innocents,” and the threat cannot be tolerated.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Herod thought his excessive
self-concern would bring him happiness, but it only brought him paranoia and
misery—much like Hannah’s self-absorption brought her unhappiness.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Along these lines, here’s an
interesting question: What was the difference between King Herod and the Magi—aside
from the fact that Herod was Jewish and the Magi were Gentiles?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The answer is: the Magi looked
for their happiness outside of themselves and through self-giving.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They weren’t wrapped up in their own egos,
like Herod was.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Think about it: their
purpose was to find the newborn king of the Jews and to give </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">him</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> the honor </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">he</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> deserved—they weren’t making the trip for their own glory.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And, lest we forget, they didn’t travel to
Bethlehem in limousines on nicely paved roads; they came riding on camels
(ouch!), on rough, treacherous roads with danger around every corner.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And when they finally arrived at the house
where the Holy Family was, they gave Jesus 3 precious gifts: gold, frankincense
and myrrh.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They came to give, not to
receive.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Thus what Scripture says about
them is no coincidence.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It says </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“they were overjoyed at seeing the star”—</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the
star which was leading them to Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Can you imagine how much happier they were when they finally saw the
Lord in the flesh?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Magi gave: they gave their
time, they gave their energy, they gave their resources, they gave the most
precious gifts they had—and they found the happiness that selfish Herod didn’t.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The lesson for us should be
crystal clear.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Let me conclude today with a
story Bishop Sheen told in one of his many books.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The good bishop wrote:</span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“</span><span class="QuoteChar"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Not very long ago a father brought me his young son, a very self-wise,
conceited young delinquent, who had given up his faith and was bitter with
himself and everyone he met.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next
day the boy ran away from home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was
away for a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The boy came back as
bad as ever, and the father brought him to me and said, ‘What shall I do with
him?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I said, ‘Send him to school, but
not in the United States.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I
recommended a certain school to him, and about a year later the boy came back
to see me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said, ‘Would you be
willing to give me moral support for an enterprise that I have undertaken in
Mexico?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a group of boys in the
college I attend who have built a little school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have gone all around the neighborhood and
brought in the children to teach them catechism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will also bring in a doctor from the
United States once a year, for one month, to take care of all the sick people
of the neighborhood.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked him how he
became interested in this work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Well,’
he said, ‘The boys went down there during the summer, and I thought I would go
down too.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[This young man] recovered
his faith and his morals and everything else, in his neighbor.”</span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Here we have a young man, who,
like Hannah Stern, was all wrapped up in himself—until he lived among the poor
in Mexico, and learned to be a giver and not a taker.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Let’s pray that we will learn the
same lesson on this feast of the Epiphany—and live it throughout the year.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-80230995633969647812023-12-31T12:26:00.007-05:002023-12-31T12:26:52.590-05:00Why Practicing Your Catholic Faith is Good for You and Your Family<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqrBA2xJgxLBz3rh6nW4kSPHwKvR9uTRxvBiD_9nQeYqBwSi4PT-2_zKsymSO6-azVmmI3phg8g4Mr1zPrEtywSqIT4lIzJ-IE22rpTKgMMTqe6WQMwRX_lqi7yQPpm5ZzA8csuPVFRgz3eDohB1mxNpkso077r4wyTk9Lkc_3X0C0zot6PhG3/s299/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqrBA2xJgxLBz3rh6nW4kSPHwKvR9uTRxvBiD_9nQeYqBwSi4PT-2_zKsymSO6-azVmmI3phg8g4Mr1zPrEtywSqIT4lIzJ-IE22rpTKgMMTqe6WQMwRX_lqi7yQPpm5ZzA8csuPVFRgz3eDohB1mxNpkso077r4wyTk9Lkc_3X0C0zot6PhG3/w400-h225/download.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">(Holy Family 2023 (B): This homily was given on December 31,
2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read Sirach 3:2-14; Psalm 128:1-5; Colossians
3:12-21; Luke 2:22-40.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/hfam2023b.wma" rel="nofollow">Holy Family 2023</a>]</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">On the first Sunday </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">after</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
Christmas, there are definitely many people in church for Mass who were also
there on the Sunday </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">before</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
Christmas.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’m sure most of you fit into
that category.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But, hopefully, on the
very first Sunday after December 25</span><sup style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> there are at least a few
people in church for Mass (here and in other places) who were NOT there on the
Sunday before December 25</span><sup style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">—or on the Sunday before that; or on the
Sunday before that; or on the Sunday before that!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">These are the souls who were touched by God’s grace in some
way during the celebration of Christmas, and who made the decision to start
practicing their Catholic faith again.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Well, if you’re one of those people, I want to reinforce
your decision today in and through this homily.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And if you’re not one of those people—that is to say, if you’re someone
who was in church last Sunday and has been faithful all along—I want to
increase your level of dedication to your Catholic faith through what I say
this morning, on this Feast of the Holy Family.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the title of my
homily today is: “Why practicing your faith is good for you and your
family.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s very clear from today’s gospel reading that Jesus,
Mary and Joseph—the members of the Holy Family—were Jews who took their
religion very seriously.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Jesus was
consecrated to God in the Temple in obedience to the Law of Moses, which stated
that “every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We heard that a few moments ago.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And notice it says that the members of the
Holy Family did not go back to their hometown of Nazareth until (and here I
quote) “they had fulfilled </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">all</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
the prescriptions of the law of the Lord.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Later on we read in Luke that Mary, Jesus and Joseph
traveled to Jerusalem </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">every year</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> to
celebrate Passover, the most sacred feast in Judaism.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Our Lord attended synagogue regularly—not
just on the High Holy Days.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They were a family of </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">practicing</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
Jews.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And practicing their religion was
good for them: it gave their lives the right center; it gave their lives
meaning and direction; and it taught them how to love and serve God and one
another.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That, of course, was 2,000 years ago.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We live in a different time, and in a
different culture.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But I believe the
truth still applies: When you go to church and practice your religion, it makes
a positive difference in your personal life and in the life of your
family—especially if your religion is Catholicism (which teaches the fullness
of God’s revealed truth)!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And this is something that even honest secular researchers
will acknowledge.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If they’re researching
deviant behavior, for example, and they divide people into two groups: people
who practice their religion, and people who don’t, there will almost always be
a huge difference in the numbers!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The
amount of lying, and cheating, and stealing, etc., will almost always be much
greater in the “non-practicing” group.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In preparation for this homily, I made a short list of some
practical benefits that I’ve observed in families that practice their Catholic
faith.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(This is not an exhaustive list;
you could probably name many others.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">#1 </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When a family
practices its Catholic faith, parents have another authority—the Ultimate
Authority—to appeal to in dealing with their children!</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Do it because </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> say so” can only get you so far, parents.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If that’s the only weapon in your arsenal,
sooner or later your children will say (or at least think), “And who are you,
mom?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And who are you, dad?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">With all due respect, you’re just an
imperfect human being like me.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But if
you can say, “Do it because Almighty God wants you to do it; do it because it’s
HIS will”—that carries a lot more weight.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">#2 </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When a family
practices its Catholic faith, everyone learns the importance of forgiveness.</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And let’s face it, no family—no marriage—no
friendship—no interpersonal relationship—survives for very long without
forgiveness.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">And beyond that, practicing your Catholic faith also
provides you with concrete examples of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">how</i>
to forgive (especially in Jesus).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">#3 </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As was the case
for Jesus, Mary and Joseph, practicing your religion presents everyone in the
family with the right set of priorities—the right “center,” so to speak.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">#4 </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When a family
practices its Catholic faith, everyone learns to be accountable and responsible
for their actions</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">—which apparently is </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">not</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
a lesson that most high school students are learning these days!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A couple of years ago the Josephson Institute
did a study of almost 30,000 high school students in our country: 64% of those
polled said that they had cheated on a test in the previous year; 30% admitted
that they had stolen from a store; 42% had lied to save money—but 93% of them
said that they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Not a lot of responsibility and accountability there,
unfortunately.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I wonder how many of those students go to church every
week.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That’s a question they didn’t
ask—but should have!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">#5 </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When a family
practices its Catholic faith, everyone learns the importance of thinking of
others; everyone learns the importance of helping others.</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That’s another benefit.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As Jesus said, “Whatever you do to the least
of my brothers and sisters, you do to me.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And finally, #6 </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">when
a family practices its Catholic faith, every family member has the opportunity
to get on—or to stay on—or to get back on—the road to heaven</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">, which is the
ultimate goal of our existence here on earth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So aren’t you glad you’re here at Mass today?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You should be!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hopefully this will motivate you to come back next Sunday
and every Sunday thereafter—and to practice your faith on the other six days of
the week as well—for your own good, and for the good of your family.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-34725115285059821392023-12-25T22:19:00.002-05:002023-12-25T22:20:25.267-05:00A Christmas Lesson from ‘Santa-to-the-Stars’<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxhtYDBhzug7a3ZzxUm9AK6Dtb4zLo7x9uHOzKR9p1ykKjwtpujKH_qD6V4h0S0_IjhqOHBGWl3i3gk7Ki9WhUOrMcMfIe6i6_MUvbjme52CQQIeLTQwX65kOkq0h4Z4TXw6tUp_SwdrjPqp1Y9dCzHUSAJolzKGs4ZFeSJ9NTeJFWvYKesX1k/s320/bra-10a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="253" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxhtYDBhzug7a3ZzxUm9AK6Dtb4zLo7x9uHOzKR9p1ykKjwtpujKH_qD6V4h0S0_IjhqOHBGWl3i3gk7Ki9WhUOrMcMfIe6i6_MUvbjme52CQQIeLTQwX65kOkq0h4Z4TXw6tUp_SwdrjPqp1Y9dCzHUSAJolzKGs4ZFeSJ9NTeJFWvYKesX1k/w316-h400/bra-10a.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My cousin, Michael Chellel</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>(Christmas 2023:
This homily was given on December 25, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly,
R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read
Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98:1-6; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-14.)</p><p class="MsoNormal">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/chris2023b.wma" rel="nofollow">Christmas 2023</a>]</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">The
day after Thanksgiving this year, the majority of the front page of the
Providence Journal was devoted to an article about Santa Claus—complete with
several pictures. Actually the article
was not about the real Santa Claus, but about a man from Rhode Island who made
a living playing Santa Claus, and who had passed away a few weeks earlier. That man was a cousin of mine, Michael
Chellel.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Many people knew Michael by his stage name, Brady
White.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if they lived in Hollywood,
and worked in the movie or television industry, they probably also knew him as
“Santa-to-the-Stars”.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">That’s because, in addition to his modeling work for
the Christmas catalogues of stores like Nieman Marcus, Michael played Santa
Claus at the Christmas parties of famous celebrities every year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Journal article the other day gave a
short list of some of his many clients:<span style="background: white; color: #303030;"> Stallone, Madonna, Travolta, Clooney and Streisand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Michael once told me that he often spent
Christmas Eve at the Kardashians—which must have been very interesting, to say
the least.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #303030; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The New York Times once
called my cousin “the ultimate Santa,” and I would agree with that assessment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(No bias there, of course!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He even had his beard insured by Lloyd’s of
London—that’s how seriously he took the role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But what made Michael special to me and to a lot of other people was not
his fame and worldly success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather it
was his faith, and how he grew in his faith during the last two decades of his
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #303030; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It all started on a
trip he took to Italy back in 2002.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There he heard about a Franciscan friar named Padre Pio, who was soon to
be canonized a saint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As many of us
know, Padre Pio, who died in 1968, was a priest who had extraordinary spiritual
gifts.</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like St. John Vianney he
could, they say, read souls; in other words, he could sometimes tell you your
sins before you confessed them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
would you like to go to confession to him?!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Count your blessings that you have Fr. Najim and Fr. Ray!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also had the stigmata: supernatural wounds
on his body that corresponded to the wounds of Jesus on the cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’ve ever seen pictures or videos of
Padre Pio saying Mass, you will recall that his hands were always wrapped, and
blood could be seen coming through the wrappings from his bleeding wounds.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Well Michael was intrigued by all
this, so he decided to visit the monastery in San Giovanni Rotondo where Padre
Pio had lived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said he felt like
Padre Pio was calling him there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well,
to make a long story short, that led to a real conversion in Michael’s
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, for many years afterward
Michael would live with the Franciscans in San Giovanni Rotondo for several
months of the year and help them in any way he could—especially with the many English-speaking
pilgrims who would come to the monastery on pilgrimage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would come back to the United States only
to do his Santa work for a few months to earn enough money to pay the bills.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #303030; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In a paper he once
wrote about his conversion experience, Michael said this:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">I could not understand why Padre Pio
wanted me, because I was a sinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
lived in Hollywood and New York; I lived in what one would call the “fast
lane”—keeping company with Hollywood celebrities and the world’s social elite.
Flying in private jets, riding in limousines, staying in four-star hotels; my
life was surrounded by glitz and glamour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I lived in a very material world and I thought I was happy there. . . .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
something was missing. When I came to know Padre Pio, I came to know real faith
and the meaning of love. Love for our brothers and sisters; learning that all
of us are put here to serve and love one another. Through Padre Pio I found
true happiness and joy in my life.</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Michael said there, “I could not
understand why Padre Pio wanted me, because I was a sinner.”<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Well join the club, Michael!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus said, “I have come to call, not the
self-righteous, but sinners.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Mt 9: 13)<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">What my cousin had to learn—and what he thankfully did learn—was that Jesus
Christ came into the world 2,000 years ago to save <i>him</i>—and to save the
rest of us—from our sins, and especially from the eternal consequences of those
sins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, that’s what the name
“Jesus” means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>As the angel said
to St. Joseph, “[Your wife Mary] will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">because he will save his people from their
sins</i>.”<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The name Jesus literally means
“Savior”—not “teacher,” not “wise man,” not “philosopher,” not “all-around nice
guy”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His name signifies what he was,
first and foremost: <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">the one who saves us
from our sins</span>.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">If we let him!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My cousin Michael “let him” in 2002, when he
first went to San Giovanni Rotondo—and he continued to do that, as far as I know,
for the rest of his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He went to
Mass faithfully and to confession regularly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Inspired by Padre Pio, he took his faith very seriously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And knowing Michael as I did, I’m sure he
shared that faith with his celebrity clients whenever God gave him the
opportunity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Praise God!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">There is nothing more important
in this life, my brothers and sisters, than being saved from your sins—because
the consequences of not being saved are eternal!<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It reminds me of something that happened here in Westerly just a few
weeks ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a Sunday morning; the
10:30a.m. Mass had just ended, and I was having a conversation in the vestibule
with a visitor—</span><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">a
woman who used to be a parishioner of St. Pius.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One of her sons was an altar server here when I first came to the parish
in 1988.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was in town because her
husband was in Westerly Hospital in the final days of his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said to me at one point that the hospital
chaplain had mentioned Baptism to her husband when he visited him the day before
(her husband had never been baptized).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So I went to the hospital after Mass and asked him point blank, “Would
you like to be baptized?” He said, “Yes”—enthusiastically.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So
I came back to the rectory, told Fr. Najim what had happened, and the two of us
went back to the hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there,
surrounded by his wife (who was crying tears of joy) and his 3 sons, this man
was baptized by Fr. Najim (which, among other things brought him forgiveness
for every single sin he had ever committed in his entire life up to that point!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fr. Najim then confirmed him and gave him his
first Communion; and I gave him the sacrament of the sick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Five days later, he died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Five days later, the Lord called him home.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
think he was ready.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Baptism he
received the grace of salvation that Jesus Christ came into the world and died
on the cross to give him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he had
lived longer and had committed a mortal sin at some point along the way, he
could have gotten that grace back into his soul by making a good confession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so can we.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Like
my cousin Michael Chellel—Santa to the Stars—this man came to understand and to
experience the truth that Jesus came to call sinners—like him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s my prayer on this Christmas morning that
every single one of us in this church today will have the very same
understanding and the very same experience.</span></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-80528366043302030542023-12-24T13:27:00.008-05:002023-12-24T13:27:58.383-05:00Do You Have Doubts, or Do You Simply Have Difficulties?<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKgA9R6-wiGaeqBSlPzFh6LlMgwMWK6VGDw6dnUP23nBqMWMRQUhwBNnnrcoWpvzfoSt8lLld3lIwbpVovzroQ55v1A4bzGJQ43G3q6F0S2rYo8Ar_K9bvJ62ToOw_474NAFzLYoMXRr6DcwfbmKhV7C0NbyD22YtLhnEpw5ibVC4wTLjmuFX/s250/ppnewman220408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="181" data-original-width="250" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKgA9R6-wiGaeqBSlPzFh6LlMgwMWK6VGDw6dnUP23nBqMWMRQUhwBNnnrcoWpvzfoSt8lLld3lIwbpVovzroQ55v1A4bzGJQ43G3q6F0S2rYo8Ar_K9bvJ62ToOw_474NAFzLYoMXRr6DcwfbmKhV7C0NbyD22YtLhnEpw5ibVC4wTLjmuFX/w400-h290/ppnewman220408.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. John Henry Newman</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: start;"><span style="text-align: justify;">(Fourth Sunday of Advent (B): This homily was given on
December 24, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Read 2 Samuel 7:1-16; Psalm 89:2-3,
4-5, 27, 29; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/4adv2023b.wma" rel="nofollow">Fourth Sunday of Advent 2023</a>]</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Do you have doubts, or do you simply have difficulties?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">People will sometimes tell me that they have </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">doubts</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> about certain teachings of the
Catholic Faith: it might concern something strictly theological, like the
Trinity or the virgin birth of Jesus; or it might be about a moral matter, like
the proscription against artificial contraception or in vitro fertilization.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But what I want to know is this: Do these people actually
have doubts, or are they simply experiencing what St. John Henry Newman
referred to as “difficulties”?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">One of
Newman’s best known sayings is this one: “Ten thousand difficulties do not make
one doubt.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s normal to have </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">difficulty</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
understanding the Blessed Trinity; it’s normal to have </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">difficulty</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> grasping how God became man in Christ Jesus; it’s even
normal to have </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">difficulty</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
understanding the reasons behind some of the Church’s moral teachings.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But all those difficulties put together and multiplied by
10,000 do not add up to one single doubt!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As Cardinal Newman indicates in that line I quoted a few moments ago,
difficulties and doubts are qualitatively different things!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This is something that many sincere believers do not seem
to realize; hence they confuse the two realities.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">ponder</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
and </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">wonder</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> and </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">question</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">, and they think they’re having doubts, when in actuality
they’re simply experiencing </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">difficulties</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">—some of which even the great
saints experienced!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Take Mary at the Annunciation.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If you read this story from Luke 1 that we
just heard, without knowing the difference between difficulties and doubts, you
might make the mistake of thinking that Mary actually doubted the
Lord—especially when she said to Gabriel, “How can this be, since I have no
relations with a man?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But that’s not true.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mary didn’t doubt: not for one single second!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">However she did experience a number of </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">difficulties</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
that she initially couldn’t make sense of.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">For example, when the angel first appeared to her and extended his
famous greeting—“Hail, full of grace!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Lord is with you”—it says that Mary was “greatly troubled at what
was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mary had difficulty understanding </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">why</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> God’s angel would appear to her—a lowly maiden of Nazareth—and
what the purpose of his visit was.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Now
you might say, “But Fr. Ray, Mary was so holy; why wouldn’t God send an angel
to her?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Yes, she was; and to us it makes perfect sense.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But people who are truly holy don’t think
they’re special!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They think they’re
ordinary, because they’re so humble.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And
Mary, because she was sinless, was even more humble than all the other great
saints of Church history!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So her reaction was completely understandable.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It was a </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">difficulty</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">,
not a doubt.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then we have her famous question about how the conception
of the Son of God would occur.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It begins
with the words, “How can this be . . . ?” which seem to imply doubt.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">At first glance it appears as if Mary is
saying to Gabriel, “</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Can</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> God possibly
do such a thing?”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But once again, we’re in the realm of </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">difficulty</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">,
not doubt.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This verse is one of the clearest indications in Scripture
that Mary was always a virgin, even after the birth of Jesus.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Many Protestants, of course, don’t believe
that.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They believe Mary was a virgin up
until the time of our Lord’s birth, but that she and Joseph lived a normal
married life afterward.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">However, if the Protestant position is true, then Mary’s
question makes no sense!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If Mary
intended on living a normal conjugal life with Joseph, why would she have asked
a question about how the conception of the Savior would occur?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We have no reason to think that Mary was ignorant of the
basic principles of biology!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The way the question is phrased indicates that Mary and
Joseph</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> intended to refrain from relations
during their entire marriage</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">, which supports the Catholic teaching that
Mary’s virginity was perpetual, not temporary.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And so, once again, we’re dealing with a difficulty, not a
doubt!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Based on the vow she had made to
the Lord to be continent even </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">after</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
her marriage, Mary had </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">difficulty</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
understanding how she was going to get pregnant and have a child.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Gabriel, of course, told her how, and that eliminated the
difficulty—after which Mary expressed the faith that had been in her heart all
along!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She said, “I am the handmaid of
the Lord.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">May it be done to me according
to your word.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mary needed the help of Gabriel to deal with the
difficulties she experienced at the Annunciation.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">At times we may also need help dealing with
ours.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Do we seek that help and deal with our difficulties quickly
and effectively?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Or do we just sit back
and let them multiply?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ten thousand
difficulties do not make a doubt—that’s true; but even a few difficulties </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">can lead to doubt</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> if they’re never
addressed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Just ask your ex-Catholic friends who are now Jehovah’s
Witnesses or evangelical Protestants or Scientologists—or atheists!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Obviously, they all had </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">difficulties</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
with the Catholic faith that were never addressed in a satisfactory way;
consequently, they ended up embracing another religion—or rejecting religion
entirely.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This is one of the reasons why we have our youth group for
teenagers here at St. Pius every Thursday night.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We want them to have a place where they can
come to deal with the spiritual and moral “difficulties” they have as young
people.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My pastor, Fr. Pat Rotondi,
helped me address my difficulties when I was a teen (a few years ago), and I
know what a positive difference that made in my young life.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">At a crucial time in my development, it
helped me keep my head on straight (more or less!).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The bottom line is this: None of us can avoid
difficulties!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(In a sense, that’s the
bad news.)</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Everyone with faith
experiences them; even our Blessed Mother did.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But the good news is that even if our personal difficulties are serious
and challenging and numerous, </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">we can
always avoid doubts</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">—if we want to.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-31691052416598284142023-12-17T13:59:00.003-05:002023-12-21T12:47:29.747-05:00The One Reason to Rejoice Always<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDiA6FINcpA8OSOVC1RD1V6pch_I4TezfjsNzqFC0RzbZbkd5bTlZwJUnatLL7tieK8d-UJQGbmxLD-2aiDf-4MRSdv7YbzJ-3_6t5W9TSCG9mOuXFACXB6IbkYtc-f3uRrIT3d3aPHzYB6kvG0FOO_9rsi4Mv7v02-Yn8DbUrE8_2KlZ59lip/s262/imagesO5XTQAZZ.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="262" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDiA6FINcpA8OSOVC1RD1V6pch_I4TezfjsNzqFC0RzbZbkd5bTlZwJUnatLL7tieK8d-UJQGbmxLD-2aiDf-4MRSdv7YbzJ-3_6t5W9TSCG9mOuXFACXB6IbkYtc-f3uRrIT3d3aPHzYB6kvG0FOO_9rsi4Mv7v02-Yn8DbUrE8_2KlZ59lip/w400-h293/imagesO5XTQAZZ.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">(Third Sunday of Advent (B): This homily was given on
December 17, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read Isaiah 61:1-11; Luke
1:46-54; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; Luke 1:46-55.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/3adv2023b.wma" rel="nofollow">Third Sunday of Advent 2023</a>]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Gaudete!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It’s a command that can be very hard to follow, even if we
really want to.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Today is known as “Gaudete Sunday”.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It’s the Sunday when we light the third
candle—the rose one—on our Advent wreath, signifying that the season is now
more than half over and that Christmas is fast approaching.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And so the Church tells us to do what St. Paul tells us to
do in that text we just heard from 1 Thessalonians 5.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The Church tells us to REJOICE!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">In fact, she not only tells us to do that,
she COMMANDS US to do it!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">“Gaudere” in
Latin is the verb that means “to rejoice,” but “gaudete” is the </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">imperative plural form</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> of the verb—which
means it’s a command!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It’s a command
that’s being given to you, to me—to all of us—and to every single human person
on planet earth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">“REJOICE!”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Which is why I said what I said at the beginning of my
homily: </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s a command that can be very
hard to follow, even if we really want to.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Because we can always find a reason NOT to rejoice!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Even if we’re relatively happy and content
with the way things are going in our life right now, there will always be some
reason for us not to rejoice.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It might
be something we’re personally experiencing which is pulling us down
emotionally; it might be something negative that somebody else is
experiencing.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Think of the shootings at
Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut that occurred eleven years
ago this week.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Most of us didn’t know
any of the victims or their relatives, and yet I dare say that all of us who
were alive at the time were deeply affected by that tragedy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">How could we not be?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">As I see it, there are two major categories of reasons for
us not to rejoice.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The first is the
general state of </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> world; the
second is the particular state of </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">our</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The general state of </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
world is determined by the kinds of things we read about in the newspaper every
day: the murders of innocent people—like those that have taken place in the
Middle East in recent weeks; the rioting; the terrorism; the wars; the greed;
the abuse of various kinds.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">You get the picture.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The particular state of </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">our</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
world is determined by what we are experiencing in our life at the present
time, or by events in our past that are still troubling us today.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">For example, some of you have lost loved ones
suddenly and tragically—for some of you that’s happened in the recent
past.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Some of you have lost your jobs
recently; some of you have been diagnosed with a serious illness recently; some
of you have relatives or friends who are going through difficult times.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The possibilities, unfortunately, are almost endless.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And this why it can be hard to rejoice—especially around
Christmas, when the general perception is that everyone around us IS filled
with joy!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">That, by the way, is a false perception—everyone out there
is NOT filled with joy!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">But, because of
all the decorations and music and parties at this time of year, that’s the way
it can </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">appear</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> to be.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">So what’s the answer?</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Is it possible to fulfill that command to rejoice even when bad things
are happening in </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> world out there
and in </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">our</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> own little world in here?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The answer, I’m happy to say, is yes!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Yes, it’s possible to “gaudete”—to rejoice—in
times of suffering.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Yes, it’s possible
to rejoice in times of trial.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Yes, it’s
possible to rejoice even in the worst of circumstances!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It’s possible because, in the midst of all the reasons—all
the many reasons—that each of us has NOT to rejoice, there is always one reason
for us TO rejoice.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">AND THAT REASON IS JESUS CHRIST AND WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR
US!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">First of all, let me make the necessary distinction between
“feeling joy” and “rejoicing.”</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Feeling
joy is </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">an emotional response</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> to
something that pleases us.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Children, for
example, will see their presents under the tree on Christmas morning and they
will </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">feel joy</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">That will happen quite naturally.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And if they’ve been particularly good during
the previous 12 months, they will feel a lot of joy!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Rejoicing is different—very different.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Biblically speaking, rejoicing is not an
emotion or an emotional response to something that we find attractive or
pleasing.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Rejoicing in the Bible </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">is an act of the will. </i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It’s a conscious and deliberate </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">decision</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">: a conscious and deliberate
decision to praise and glorify God regardless of what we happen to be dealing
with at the present time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And it’s a decision which is made </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">on the basis of things that we know to be true</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">I don’t always “feel joy.”</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Neither do you, and neither does anybody else.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">But even when I’m not feeling joy I can still
make the conscious and deliberate decision to </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">rejoice</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">, based on what I know, by faith, to be true.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And there we have the key to it all.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">If I want to be able to rejoice on the third
Sunday of Advent (and on every other day of the year), I have to make the
effort—the conscious and deliberate effort—TO LOOK BEYOND all the reasons that
I have </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">not</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> to rejoice, and then focus
my attention on those things that my faith tells me are true.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">For example …</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;"> </span></span><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">I need to focus my attention on the fact that Jesus Christ
is Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">I need to focus my attention on the fact that Jesus loves
me with an unconditional love even when I fail him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">I need to focus my attention on the fact that Jesus is with
me always and that he will never allow me to be tested beyond my strength.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">I need to focus my attention on the fact that Jesus will
always forgive me if I repent—especially in the sacrament of Confession.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">I need to focus my attention on the fact that
everything—including my sufferings—will work for my ultimate good if I love the
Lord and stay close to him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">If my mind and my heart are focused on truths like those
(and not on all the reasons that I have to be sad and depressed), then I can
rejoice, and I can rejoice ALWAYS (as St. Paul says I should).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Here Mary, our Blessed Mother, is a great example for
us.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">How providential it was that today’s
responsorial psalm wasn’t a psalm at all!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Did you notice that?</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">In between the first and second readings at Sunday Mass we normally hear
one of the 150 Old Testament psalms (or at least part of one of the
psalms).</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">But today was different.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Today, in place of a psalm, we heard a brief
excerpt from our Blessed Mother’s Magnificat.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">(That was the beautiful prayer she said when she went to visit her
cousin Elizabeth.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The prayer is found in
the gospel of Luke, chapter 1).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Mary, like the rest of us, had many reasons not to rejoice:
she was poor; she and her people were being oppressed by the pagan Romans; she
lived in a violent and dangerous period of human history.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Death, literally, was all around her.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">And yet, as this prayer indicates, SHE WAS ABLE TO LOOK
BEYOND ALL THOSE NEGATIVE THINGS AND MAKE THE CONSCIOUS AND DELIBERATE DECISION
TO REJOICE!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Listen again to her words:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">My soul
proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices</span></i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> <i>in God my Savior …</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">[Notice she does not say, “I feel joy”; she says “my spirit
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">REJOICES</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in God my Savior” …<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">She then lists some of the things that she knew, by faith,
to be true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She says …]<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The Almighty
has done great things for me, and holy is his name.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">He has mercy
on those who fear him in every generation.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">He has shown
the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">He has cast
down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">He has filled
the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">He has come to
the help of his servant Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the
promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">In the midst of all the reasons that she had not to
rejoice, Mary found—and Mary consciously and deliberately focused on—the one
reason she had to rejoice </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">always</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">:
GOD, and all the great things he had done for her and for her people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Holy Mary,
Mother of God, pray for us, that we will follow your example, not only during
these days before Christmas, but throughout the entire year. Amen.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-69554966144630447372023-12-08T09:48:00.001-05:002023-12-23T14:22:56.900-05:00Eve, Mary, and the Oldest Game in the World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih4VS-CcVxN2E1fE6dFXrwDKwxH1CoutJKDb0cG84UU0i7VJpDlnUnQFLE5ur9YcEYsH2JvnyM4BerUNbaUqtkQQaq80aEeaWRg9wjmbK799i5uT2sJbdYBNKOAFw4Dn67gZiE1x6ziOF7UEMPHZ_-nnYI8eiZeP7ryVbxGJWieRecLkkz7buK/s320/chickenblame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="311" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih4VS-CcVxN2E1fE6dFXrwDKwxH1CoutJKDb0cG84UU0i7VJpDlnUnQFLE5ur9YcEYsH2JvnyM4BerUNbaUqtkQQaq80aEeaWRg9wjmbK799i5uT2sJbdYBNKOAFw4Dn67gZiE1x6ziOF7UEMPHZ_-nnYI8eiZeP7ryVbxGJWieRecLkkz7buK/w389-h400/chickenblame.jpg" width="389" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(Immaculate Conception 2023: This homily was given on
December 8, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Read Genesis 3:9-15, 20; Luke
1:26-38.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> [For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/immacconcep2023.wma" rel="nofollow">Immaculate Conception 2023</a>]</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What is
the oldest game in the world?
(Hint: You’ll never see a report about it on SportsCenter!)</span></li></ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What’s
the most popular game in the world today?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Those two questions, believe it or not, have the same
answer.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The oldest game in the world, as well as the most popular
game in the world today, is none other than “the blame game!”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It goes back to the Garden of Eden, as we heard in our
first reading from Genesis 3.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Adam and
Eve commit the original sin, and God confronts them about it.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And what does Adam do (Mr. Responsibility
himself!)?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Why, he plays the very first
round of “the blame game!”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">God says,
“You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” Adam
responds, “The woman whom you put here with me—she gave me fruit from the tree,
and so I ate it.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">First of all, God is blamed.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Notice what Adam says—“the woman whom </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">you</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> put here with me”!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then he blames his wife: “She gave me fruit
from the tree, and so I ate it.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Oh sure, Adam, she forced it down your throat!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Of course, Eve is no better.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She proves to be a real “chip off the old
rib,” so to speak, by immediately playing round two of the blame game and
pointing her finger at the serpent.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When
God says to her, “Why did you do such a thing?” she replies, “The serpent
tricked me into it, so I ate it.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The blame game: We’ve all played it, have we not?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Perhaps some of us play it all the time!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“It’s not my fault.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“It’s his fault.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“It’s her fault.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“He did it.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“She did it.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“He made me do it.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“She made me do it.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You know the lines.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There are lots of them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And then we have Mary, who was </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">not</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> personally responsible for even one single sin, because she was
immaculately conceived in the womb of her mother, Ann, and remained sinless
throughout her entire life by the grace of God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Yet, out of love for God and neighbor, Mary did assume the
responsibility of giving birth to and raising a Savior for Eve, and for
herself, and for the rest of us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Eve’s denial of personal responsibility for her own sin
helped to bring death into the world; Mary’s assumption of responsibility in
bringing the Son of God into the world and raising him to manhood brought the
possibility of forgiveness and eternal life to us all.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So the bottom line for each of us is this: We can choose in
our earthly life to be a “blamer” like Eve (and Adam), or we can choose to be a
person of responsibility, like Mary.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">For us, of course, being a responsible person includes
taking ownership of our sins!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It means
admitting that we’ve done bad things that we shouldn’t have done, and failed to
do good things that we should have done.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(That’s because we were </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">not</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
immaculately conceived like the Blessed Mother was!)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">For those who </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">do</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
want to follow this noble path of personal responsibility, remember that
confessions are heard here at St. Pius every Wednesday from 5 until around 5:30,
and every Saturday afternoon from 3:30-4:30.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">These are opportunities for you to take responsibility for your sins,
and to receive the forgiveness that Mary’s Son won for you by his passion,
death and resurrection.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To encourage you to choose this noble and better path, let
me make one final point about the blame game: It’s a game in which nobody
wins!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Whenever we play the blame game,
we lose our honesty and our integrity, and the people around us have to deal
with the sad consequences of that.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">On the other hand, when we take responsibility for our sins
and sincerely repent, everybody wins!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We
win God’s incredible forgiveness, and the people around us win by getting a
much better and a much nicer person to deal with every day!</span></p>
<p> </p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-11420999748858462102023-12-03T12:30:00.003-05:002023-12-24T13:28:32.906-05:00You Can’t Change History, But You Can MAKE History!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgthTgbu_BzE1U7oxSWhq2CAhsdhy9wuNqtwLeWTXOyIMsZ2gqZFsk9P83wTazMKaM2r0mh1byUKg4IyxFlpA2CPw6RG9RDLAsr8vwOxoaSKanYz8gyF9WIrxiOrYs7YEA50XVkIGYeUi5mbW8eBdNQAuSN2UffGWIUTsTbEPI13GyiDGjkxXoA/s1200/the-science-fiction-tv-series-the-time-tunnel.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgthTgbu_BzE1U7oxSWhq2CAhsdhy9wuNqtwLeWTXOyIMsZ2gqZFsk9P83wTazMKaM2r0mh1byUKg4IyxFlpA2CPw6RG9RDLAsr8vwOxoaSKanYz8gyF9WIrxiOrYs7YEA50XVkIGYeUi5mbW8eBdNQAuSN2UffGWIUTsTbEPI13GyiDGjkxXoA/w640-h240/the-science-fiction-tv-series-the-time-tunnel.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify;">(First Sunday of Advent (B): This homily
was given on December 3, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr.
Raymond Suriani.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify;">Read Isaiah 63:26b-17,
19b; 64:2-7; </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify;">Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19;
1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:33-37.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/1adv2023b.wma" rel="nofollow">First Sunday of Advent 2023</a><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">]</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Way
back in the late 1960s there was a program on television called "The Time
Tunnel".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was all about the
adventures of two scientists who had discovered a way to travel through time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On every program they would find themselves
in a different historical situation—either in the past or in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Well
during this past week I happened to catch an old Time Tunnel episode online.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">And it brought back a lot of pleasant
memories, because this was one of my favorite programs when I was in grammar
school.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">I always found the idea of
traveling through time intriguing.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Perhaps a lot of people do.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">But
anyway, on this particular episode the two scientists found themselves on the
Titanic (of all places)—in the middle of the North Atlantic </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">on the day when that famous ship hit an
iceberg and sank</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Now
if you woke up one day and found yourself in that situation, I’m sure you would do
exactly what the two scientists tried to do: you would desperately try to
convince the Captain of the ship that you knew what was going to happen.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">You would tell him to turn the ship to the
south—to warmer waters—in order to avoid disaster.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">The Captain, of course, would think you were
out of your mind and would probably put you under arrest, which is exactly what
happened to the two scientists!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">And
so the ship struck the iceberg, just as they had predicted.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">To
me there's a very important spiritual lesson to be learned here, and the lesson
is that </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">you cannot rewrite history</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">As much as you might like to, you can't.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">As much as the two Time Tunnel scientists
wanted to rewrite the story of the Titanic, they were unable to do it.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">And
this is true of all history: the history of the world, our family history and
our personal history.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">It cannot be
changed; no aspect of any of it can be changed.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Which from one standpoint, at least, is </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">not</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> very good news, because there are
experiences we have all had in our lives that we wish we never had.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">I
know some of you in this church this morning have fought in wars.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">You've lived through some violent,
frightening situations you wish you had never experienced.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">All of us have seen relatives and friends
die.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">I'm sure there's a part of us that
wishes we could rewrite some of those stories.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">I know that I would not have had my parents pass away at such young
ages, 46 and 60.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">I would have changed
some of the other circumstances surrounding their deaths.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">And
then there are the sins we've committed.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">If we truly are growing in our relationship with Jesus we will deeply
regret some of the things we have done in the past, and some of the things we
should have done that we didn't do in the past.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">For example, I am sure that after his conversion St. Augustine wished he
could rewrite the history of his first 30 or so years, which were filled with
self-indulgence and sexual promiscuity.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">I am sure that after his conversion St. Paul wished he could wipe away
all the terrible things he had done to Christians.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">I'm sure he wished he could rewrite the
history of the stoning of St. Stephen.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Remember,
Paul was an accomplice to that murder.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">He stood there approvingly while the others threw the rocks.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">I'm sure St. Peter always wished he could
rewrite the story of Holy Thursday night—minus his three denials of Jesus.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">But he couldn't; they couldn't; none of us
can.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">And
this is something we must accept—especially if we want to be ready to meet
Jesus on Judgment Day.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Jesus
tells us in today's gospel to be ready for his second coming </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">always</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Because when that moment arrives—when Jesus comes for us either at the
end of our lives or at the end of time—we will not be able to rewrite our
personal history.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">There is no
reincarnation.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">The Bible is very
explicit about that (read Hebrews 9:27).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">There
are no second chances!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">You don't come
back as a frog, or a cow, or as your favorite movie star or sports hero.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Our earthly history ends when the Lord comes
for us, and that history is the basis on which we will be judged.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Of course,</span></span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> there's another dimension to all this, and this is something we also
must be clear about.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Yes, it's true, you
can't rewrite your past history.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Yes,
it's true, you can't rewrite your history at the end of your earthly life.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">But,
until you take your last breath, you can choose to </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">MAKE</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> history!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">You can choose
to make history with the Lord.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">In other
words you don't have to be shackled by your past, whatever your past might
be.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">If
your past is filled with sin, you can choose to let God in and be washed clean
of your offences by making a sincere, honest confession.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">When
we repent of our sins in that great sacrament and receive the absolution of the
priest it's as if we never committed the sin.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">I hope you realize that. Even though God knows we did it, it never comes
between us and him again.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">All
of us need to make that kind of history with the Lord.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Even if we are not in serious sin.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">If
your past is filled with pain you can choose to allow God to help you deal with
that pain; you can choose to allow him to teach you and strengthen you in and
through the suffering, and you can choose to let the Lord bring good out of
your pain.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">If you choose to do those
things, believe me, you will make great history with the Lord.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Fr.
Najim and I had the privilege of watching someone make some crucial history
with the Lord a couple of weeks ago.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">After the 10:30a.m. Mass that day I happened to strike up a conversation
in the vestibule with a woman who used to be a parishioner of St. Pius.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">One of her sons was an altar server here when
I first came to the parish in 1988.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">She
was in town because her husband was in Westerly Hospital in the final days of
his life.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">She said to me at one point
that the hospital chaplain had mentioned Baptism to her husband when he visited
him the day before (her husband had never been baptized).</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">So I went to the hospital after Mass and
asked him point blank, “Would you like to be baptized?”</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> He</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> said, “Yes”—enthusiastically.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">So
I came back to the rectory, told Fr. Najim what happened, and the two of us
went back to the hospital.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">And there,
surrounded by his wife (who was crying tears of joy) and his 3 sons, this man
was baptized by Fr. Najim (which, among other things brought him forgiveness
for every single sin he had ever committed in his entire life!).</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Fr. Najim then confirmed him and gave him his
first Communion; and I gave him the sacrament of the sick.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Five days later, he died.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Five days later, the Lord called him home.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">I
think he was ready.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">That’s
called making decisive history with the Lord—history with eternal consequences:
history with eternal, GLORIOUS consequences!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">If
I were to sum up the Lord's message to us today on this first Sunday of Advent
it would be as follows (and please try to hear this as addressed to you
personally):</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">"My son, my daughter—don't try to do what you cannot do. Don't try to change what you cannot
change. Don't spend your life in a
fantasy world, wishing you had a time tunnel to take you back 2 years or 4
years or 40 years. Focus all your
attention on MAKING HISTORY with me in the present moment, by allowing me to
forgive you of the sins of the past; by allowing me to heal you of the hurts of
the past; by allowing me to strengthen you; by allowing me to teach you. Begin doing this today, begin doing it this
Advent. And don't stop until we see each
other face to face."</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-56155626679246643082023-11-12T17:25:00.003-05:002023-12-24T13:29:00.617-05:00Avoiding the Ultimate Consequence of Neglect<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgSmiCv7NVsq5RU7Y-bcAsKGcuWnhxJpn6EVKE_7ra3DgNHrPV15E4WPLBg-Z3BW2VBv4yVoTfEwV6sxtUEYFTO2bsWgz7lWFVHtoHR57WkzJ-lyu0032I5ad1k9lkcQQT2YsovfbNHS2gFEP0Dih3tK9jcSsHJM84gSvnx0rTqI2NZQRWYnZ/s960/20150816.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgSmiCv7NVsq5RU7Y-bcAsKGcuWnhxJpn6EVKE_7ra3DgNHrPV15E4WPLBg-Z3BW2VBv4yVoTfEwV6sxtUEYFTO2bsWgz7lWFVHtoHR57WkzJ-lyu0032I5ad1k9lkcQQT2YsovfbNHS2gFEP0Dih3tK9jcSsHJM84gSvnx0rTqI2NZQRWYnZ/w400-h300/20150816.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;">(Thirty-second Sunday of the Year
(A): This homily was given on November 12, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly,
R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;">Read Wisdom
6:12-16; Psalm 63:2-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13.)</span></p><p><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/32sun2023a.wma" rel="nofollow">Thirty-second Sunday 2023</a>]</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Late, late so late! and dark the night and chill!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Late, late so late! but we can enter still.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">No light had we; for that we do repent;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And learning this, the bridegroom will relent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">No light: so late! and dark and chill the night!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">O let us in, that we may find the light!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Too late, too late: ye cannot enter now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Have we not heard the bridegroom is so sweet?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">O let us in, tho’late, to kiss his feet!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">No, no, too late! ye cannot enter now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Those words of Alfred Lord
Tennyson, the famous English poet, allude to the parable we just heard from
Matthew 25.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they express what I
would call <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">ultimate</span> consequence of neglect</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Happily, none of us has ever experienced this
consequence, and hopefully none of us ever will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now the parable itself may sound a bit
strange to us, but it would not have sounded strange to the people who first
heard it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s because Jesus was
speaking about the ordinary wedding customs of his day and using these as a
vehicle to speak about “the four last things.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hopefully all of us know what those are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should, if we've studied our catechism
lessons well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The four last things are:
death, judgment, heaven and hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And by
the way, they haven’t changed since Vatican II.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The four last things were, are and always will be the four last
things!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The wise virgins who had oil in
their lamps when the bridegroom arrived symbolize all those who are ready for
judgment when Jesus comes for them (either at the end of their earthly lives or
at the end of time).</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The foolish virgins
represent all those who are not ready for that decisive moment.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">But what I find extremely significant is the
reason </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">why</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> these virgins are judged
unworthy, why they are told (in Tennyson’s words), “Too late, too late! ye
cannot enter now.”</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It’s not because they
were a bunch of wild, crazy, cannibalistic serial killers. </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s because they were slothful and
negligent. </i><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They simply failed to get oil for their lamps.</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">That was it.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Now--it’s interesting—I read several commentaries on this text in preparation
for this homily, and almost all of the authors said that the oil in the story
symbolizes good works.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Well, at the risk
of disagreeing with several prominent biblical scholars, I think there’s more
to it than that.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Most people—even very
evil people—do </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">some</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> good works now
and again.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Every once in a while, at
least, they get it right and do something nice.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">But Jesus tells us at the beginning of the parable that these virgins
brought no oil whatsoever!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">If the oil
simply represented good works, I think Jesus would have said that they had
brought “a little bit” of oil with them.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Not enough, of course, but at least a tiny bit (signifying the few good
things they had done).</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">The fact that he
says they brought none at all leads me to believe that the oil actually
signifies what the Church would call </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">sanctifying
grace</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Sanctifying grace is the
grace that makes us pleasing to God—the grace we first receive at Baptism.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It’s the grace we lose if and when we commit
a mortal sin, but which is happily restored when we make a good
confession.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">If a person dies without
this grace in his soul, he cannot enter God’s eternal kingdom.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">This is
something I’ve thought about more and more in recent years, with all my health
issues.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">First Parkinson’s; then prostate
cancer; now multiple myeloma.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">It makes
you realize how fragile and short this life really is, and that we always need
to be ready to meet the Lord.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">These virgins knew they weren’t
ready.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">They knew they didn’t have the
oil they needed; which means they represent all those who know they need to
repent and go to confession because they’ve missed Mass without good reason or
committed some other serious sin.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">But
even though they knew they needed oil, these foolish virgins still decided to
postpone their trip to the store.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And
what was their reasoning?</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They
figured they had plenty of time.</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Which, of course, is the very same reason why some people avoid
repentance and confession!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">By the way, I
think this is one of the most effective lies that Satan uses on human beings:
the lie that says, “Take your time.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">There’s no rush.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">There’s always
tomorrow.”</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Well, we all know of
instances where certain people looked forward to tomorrow, and tomorrow never
came.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">They died, unexpectedly, that very
day.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">This parable also reminds us that
when we leave this life we will be judged on our own merits, </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">not</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> on the merits of others.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">As St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:10, </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“The lives of all of us are to be revealed
before the tribunal of Christ so that each one may receive his recompense, good
or bad, according to his life in the body.”
</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">On Judgment Day we won’t be able to borrow (or buy) sanctifying
grace from someone else.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">We will either
have it, or we won’t.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">We all know that neglect has
consequences.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">We know that from our
daily experiences.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">For example, if we
neglect our physical health, our blood pressure goes up, our waistline goes
out, and our risk of having a heart attack or a stroke goes through the
roof!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">If we’re a student and we neglect
to do our homework, our grades go down, and our parents’ blood pressure goes
through the roof!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">If we neglect a family
member or friend in some way, our relationship with that person gets damaged,
perhaps severely.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">From common, daily experiences
like these the Lord wants us to learn not to neglect our souls! That’s the
“bottom line message” of this homily!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Don’t
neglect your soul—ever!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">God wants us to
examine our consciences frequently and honestly, so that we can take swift
action against our sins and avoid what I referred to earlier as “the ultimate
consequence of neglect.”</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">In case you
haven’t figured it out yet, that ultimate consequence is hell—eternal
separation from God.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Jesus, our Savior,
died to give us life—eternal life. But that life is not automatic. </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Eternal life is the consequence of
vigilance—of standing guard over the gift of sanctifying grace first given to
us in Baptism.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Sanctifying grace is what
you might call “spiritual oil”; it’s the spiritual oil that burns, not just for
a day, a month or a year—but FOREVER!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It’s the spiritual oil that allows us to gain entrance to the eternal
wedding feast of the Lamb!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Today I pray
that each and every one of us will have an abundance of THAT oil in our lamps,
whenever our time comes to leave this mortal life and go out to meet the
eternal bridegroom—who is, of course, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-35178347520467443302023-11-05T12:21:00.001-05:002023-12-24T13:30:03.821-05:00When Priests Don’t Meet Your Expectations<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXamCSoVgLxikpG4433YyH5Lg-ymBe6x3dJ4IJp3oPJbJ_hQNUJQh0cD6cA609asFhyQP4UgHZ4wEqZP9eAAzGw4YhAWYubWMW1DnICGv61cN6LXs8IphxkfnBjR86ZNTggLx0Cg2jX6Tp7hyphenhyphenpdW_z_RXxzeYF8aXmLccOv0xcuGWQZgXV5c8f/s320/Snts_Peter_and_Paul_Catholic_Dioses_By_Catherine_Welch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXamCSoVgLxikpG4433YyH5Lg-ymBe6x3dJ4IJp3oPJbJ_hQNUJQh0cD6cA609asFhyQP4UgHZ4wEqZP9eAAzGw4YhAWYubWMW1DnICGv61cN6LXs8IphxkfnBjR86ZNTggLx0Cg2jX6Tp7hyphenhyphenpdW_z_RXxzeYF8aXmLccOv0xcuGWQZgXV5c8f/w400-h300/Snts_Peter_and_Paul_Catholic_Dioses_By_Catherine_Welch.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bishop's 'Cathedra' in the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul in Providence.</td></tr></tbody></table></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">(Thirty-first Sunday of the Year (A): This homily
was given on November 5, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr.
Raymond Suriani.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read Matthew 23: 1-12.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[For the audio version of this homily. click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/31sun2023a.wma" rel="nofollow">Thirty-first Sunday 2023</a>]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpLast"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Some of you have probably heard this before, but it
bears repeating today: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></p><blockquote>If a priest
preaches more than 10 minutes, they say he’s long-winded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If his homily is short, they say he didn’t
prepare it well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the parish funds are
in the black, they say he has business savvy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If he mentions money, they say he’s money-mad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he visits his parishioners, they say he’s
nosy; if he doesn’t, they say he’s a snob.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If he has dinners and bazaars, they say he’s bleeding the people; if he
doesn’t, they say there’s no life in the parish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he takes time in the reconciliation room
to advise sinners, they say he takes too long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If he doesn’t, they say he doesn’t care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If he celebrates Mass in a quiet voice, they say he’s boring; if he puts
emphasis in his words, they say he’s an actor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If he starts Mass on time, they say his watch must be fast; if he starts
late, they say he’s holding up the people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If he’s young, they say he’s inexperienced; if he’s old they say he
ought to retire.</blockquote><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I guess that last one applies to me now (probably a
few of the others do as well—but we won’t go there!).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The point of this little reflection, of course, is
that sometimes people have expectations of their priests and religious leaders
that are excessive and unrealistic.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Not
even St. Peter or St. Paul could live up to them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And sadly, these unmet expectations sometimes cause
people to leave the Church and abandon their Catholic faith—and, in certain
extreme cases, to lose their faith in Jesus entirely and perhaps even to
abandon their belief in God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">One day a woman emailed me about a priest who
embarrassed and humiliated her publicly (this didn’t happen locally—let me make
that clear), and she was honest about the fact that she was hurt so deeply by
what he did that she was tempted, for a moment at least, to abandon her faith
entirely.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Thankfully she didn’t.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But others have in similar circumstances.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This problem of religious leaders who don’t
practice what they preach is nothing new, and it’s certainly not something
that’s peculiar to the Catholic Church.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Every religious group has experienced it—including the Jews of the first
century (as Jesus makes clear in the gospel text we just heard from Matthew
23).</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Our Lord says there, “The scribes
and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">One note of clarification here: This wasn’t
literally an old chair from the time of Moses that the scribes and Pharisees
took turns sitting on!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The “chair” in
this text is a symbol: a symbol of authority—a symbol of the legitimate
religious authority that the scribes and Pharisees had in the Jewish community
of the time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We employ the same symbolism in the Catholic Church
today when we use the word “cathedral” to describe the principal church of a
diocese.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The English word “cathedral”
comes from the Latin word “cathedra” which means “seat”.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A cathedral, therefore, is the place where
the bishop has his “seat”—which is literally a chair (the big, presidential
chair in the sanctuary) which only </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">he</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
is allowed to sit in during Mass.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If I
or any other priest celebrates Mass in a cathedral, we have to sit in another
chair—because only the diocesan bishop possesses the authority that the
“cathedra” (the big chair) symbolizes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The scribes and Pharisees taught the people the
Mosaic Law, so in a certain sense they possessed the authority of Moses in the
first century Jewish community. And because they had this legitimate authority
Jesus tells his disciples, “You must obey them!”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“The
scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things
whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice.”</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I think Jesus would say something similar to us
today when we encounter an uncharitable priest (or bishop or deacon) like that
woman did whom I mentioned earlier in my homily.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He’d say, “Yes, you must obey them when they tell
you to live the Gospel, but don’t do the things they do.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This is a very important message for you to take to
heart, my brothers and sisters, because God does not want your faith damaged or
destroyed by an unpleasant encounter with “Father Pharisee”—or when your parish
priest fails in some way to meet your expectations.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And it CAN be damaged or destroyed in such
circumstances, as I said earlier—especially if your expectations are excessive
and unrealistic.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Which leads to this very interesting question: What
</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">should</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> you expect of your priests?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What are some </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">realistic</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
expectations that you should have of your clergy?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Well, here are a few that I think you should have …</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">You should expect them to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">believe</i>—not just in God and Jesus, but also in everything the
Catholic Church teaches and professes to be revealed by God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically that means everything in the Bible
and the Catechism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s what we expect
of converts to the Catholic faith, so it shouldn’t be too much to expect the
same thing of our clergy.<br />
You should also expect them to teach <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">these</i>
doctrines—and not their own personal opinions—to their congregations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">You should expect your bishops, priests and deacons
to acknowledge the fact that they’re sinners on the same pilgrimage that you’re
on—like Pope Francis did when he was elected to the papacy and was asked to
describe himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said, very simply,
“I am a sinner.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That kind of humility
goes a long way in ministry.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">You should expect your clergy to avoid scandalous
behavior, and to pursue holiness in their personal lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s just basic Christianity 101!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">You should expect your clergy to be obedient to the
authorities that God has placed over them—especially their bishops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some priests, unfortunately, are not obedient
to their bishops, and yet they expect their parishioners to be obedient to
them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s wrong!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">You should expect your bishops, priests and deacons
to have the courage to address the hard issues of the day (like abortion and
euthanasia and so-called “gay marriage”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In other words, you should expect them <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> to be spiritual wimps!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">You should expect them to avoid opulence and
materialism.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">You should expect them to live simple, detached
lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">You should expect them to care about the poor and
those in need.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">You should expect them to be men of prayer—who even
pray about their ministry, so that God can help them to see what they’re doing
right, what they’re doing wrong, and what he wants them to do next.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">And, of course, you should expect them to be men
devoted to the sacraments of the Church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Those are all reasonable, realistic
expectations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s nothing outlandish
or excessive about them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So in closing I
ask you to pray for us!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pray for all
bishops, priests and deacons in the Church today: pray that we will meet or
exceed all these expectations in everything that we do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And if we fail to meet them from time to time
because of our human weaknesses (like the scribes and the Pharisees failed),
don’t give up on your Catholic faith, and certainly don’t stop praying for
us—because </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">that’s</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> precisely when we
need your prayers the most.</span></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-9461559190811878262023-11-01T09:35:00.010-04:002023-12-24T13:30:39.671-05:00Fifteen Common Misconceptions About the Saints<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf0PC3gbfQOAFfpF0kujlVfe8i3eZ1MVKVXsutlnSpoJc_jhVPFMlO3wMC8FAzWetiZGoFpX9hO-va07xA0-c4zGaHoMgyEJjK8Yyue6f8dJ7rM_h6c8cn0E6Xu3IZnlFFJPUMqo6w6XnRV5zt-9ok7uGpPcucMWpaMaaT92ZPuMY-P8oSuyHQ/s300/girl_angel_with_halo_0071-1008-1315-0213_SMU.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="244" data-original-width="300" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf0PC3gbfQOAFfpF0kujlVfe8i3eZ1MVKVXsutlnSpoJc_jhVPFMlO3wMC8FAzWetiZGoFpX9hO-va07xA0-c4zGaHoMgyEJjK8Yyue6f8dJ7rM_h6c8cn0E6Xu3IZnlFFJPUMqo6w6XnRV5zt-9ok7uGpPcucMWpaMaaT92ZPuMY-P8oSuyHQ/w400-h325/girl_angel_with_halo_0071-1008-1315-0213_SMU.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">(All Saints’ Day 2023: This homily was given on November 1,
2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read Revelation 7: 2-4, 9-14; 1 John 3: 1-3;
Matthew 5: 1-12a.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p> [For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/allsaints2023a.wma">All Saints 2023</a>]</o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">When you hear the word “saint,” what thoughts and images
come to mind?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Do you think of someone who’s strong and happy and wise, or
do you think of a person who’s weak and melancholy and naïve?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Today we celebrate the feast of All Saints—a day in which
we are reminded that we are</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> all</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
called to sanctity.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">St. John tells us in
our second reading that “we are God’s children now.”</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">His implication there is that we are to LIVE
in accord with this identity.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">In other
words, we are to live as God’s children </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">now</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">—in
this life—by being holy, and by putting into practice the Beatitudes that we
heard in today’s gospel text from Matthew 5.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And the good news is, if we do that, we will eventually
become part of that immense crowd that John saw in his vision in Revelation 7:
that group of fully redeemed souls “from every race and tongue and people and
nation.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">That is to say, we will be saints!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And this is not optional!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Indeed being a saint </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">can’t</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> be
optional, since at the end of time there will be only two groups of people: the
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-transform: uppercase;">redeemed</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> and the </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-transform: uppercase;">damned</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">; the </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-transform: uppercase;">saints of heaven</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> and the </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-transform: uppercase;">condemned
souls of hell</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">So it’s very important that we “strive for that holiness .
. . without which no one can see the Lord,” as the author of Hebrews tells us
in chapter 12 of his letter.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">But many people don’t do this—they don’t actively pursue
holiness—because they have a number of misconceptions about the saints
(especially those saints who are officially canonized by the Church).</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Which is why I asked that question that I
asked at the beginning of my homily: When you hear the word “saint,” what
thoughts and images come to mind?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">In preparation for this Mass, I made a list of some of the
common misconceptions about the saints that I’ve encountered over the
years.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">I ask you, have you ever believed
any of these things in the past?</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Do you
believe any of them now?</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span></p>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints said yes to everybody; they never offended
anyone by saying no.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints didn’t care at all about this world; all
they cared about was heaven. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints were not practical people; their heads were
always “in the clouds,” so to speak.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints didn’t experience temptation like ordinary
people do.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints were all celibate.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints never had any fun. (This, apparently, is
what Billy Joel thinks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember
that line from his song, “Only the Good die Young”? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joel sang, “I’d rather laugh with the
sinners than cry with the saints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The sinners have much more fun.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That song had a great tune, but a rotten message!)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints prayed all day.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">All the saints started off as good, holy people.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints never got discouraged or depressed.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints were always happy; they were always on a
“spiritual high.”<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints allowed people to walk all over them: they
had no backbone.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints never thought about or talked about
anything or anyone but God.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints loved people less because they loved God
more.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints got along with everybody; they never had
conflicts with other people like ordinary men and women do.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints were all perfect and sinless, like the
Blessed Mother was perfect and sinless.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">Each and every one of those 15 statements is false.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The great saints of the Church did not say yes to
everybody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because they were men
and women of such strong conviction, they often said no—especially to
sin!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they offended some people
in the process.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints didn’t only care about heaven. (As the old
saying goes, most of them had their feet firmly planted on the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most saints, in other words, appreciated
the blessings of this life, and they had a great deal of common
sense.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints were tempted just like the rest of us
are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints sometimes got discouraged and depressed
(just think of the prophet Jeremiah and how discouraged he got because of
all he was forced to go through).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">Many of the saints were married people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints knew how to enjoy life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact you could make the case that
saints have much more fun than worldly people do, since they know how to
properly enjoy the good things of this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don’t abuse them. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">The saints didn’t love their families and friends less
because they loved God more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
truth it was exactly the opposite: because they loved God so much, they
were able to love the other people in their lives more completely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that includes their enemies.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">If you’ve read St. Paul’s letters and the Acts of the
Apostles, you know that the saints didn’t always start off as holy
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>St. Paul certainly
didn’t!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And even after their
conversions they didn’t always get along with others—which means that they
weren’t perfect and sinless, like our Blessed Mother was perfect and
sinless.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">I mention all this today because, if you believe any of
these 15 falsehoods that I’ve outlined in this homily (or any others that I
didn’t mention), you will probably think that being a saint is impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, of course, if you think it’s impossible
to be a saint, you won’t actively pursue the holiness necessary to be one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Which will put you in grave danger of losing your soul!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">But it is possible!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">That’s the good news!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">As St. Paul
said in Philippians 4: “I can do </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">all
things</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> in Christ who strengthens me.”</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And that includes being a saint—even if we’ve been very </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">un</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">-saintly in the past.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">May God help us to believe that—and to </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-transform: uppercase;">live</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> like we believe that—so that
someday the possibility of being a saint will become a reality for us all.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-49406346183785170692023-10-29T12:06:00.001-04:002023-12-24T21:30:24.771-05:00If You Love Someone With ALL Your Heart, How Much Love Do You Have Left To Give To Others?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinrlcnk78i8A27qcCzvG9CnUi__eRlFLNONzyuMhD56dyJh2vA18P2nTeFk9HoPdVsR3mDT91oYVtdhNkDDB43Wkvdfak_m3SNcl9v_kj0iKfLS6QsbitjWIAOtrNrK9Sd425svseKCMkU6UMlk08fucxNJIOWU1mn8BnjMed4_RVNEq45Ztx6/s350/27173018v3_350x350_Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="350" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinrlcnk78i8A27qcCzvG9CnUi__eRlFLNONzyuMhD56dyJh2vA18P2nTeFk9HoPdVsR3mDT91oYVtdhNkDDB43Wkvdfak_m3SNcl9v_kj0iKfLS6QsbitjWIAOtrNrK9Sd425svseKCMkU6UMlk08fucxNJIOWU1mn8BnjMed4_RVNEq45Ztx6/w400-h400/27173018v3_350x350_Front.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">(Thirtieth Sunday of the Year (A): This homily was given on
October 29, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Read Exodus 22:20-26; Psalm
18:2-4, 47, 51; 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10; Matthew 22:34-40.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><o:p>[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/30sun2023a.wma" rel="nofollow">Thirtieth Sunday 2023</a>]</o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I begin this morning with a spiritual math question:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If
you love someone with ALL your heart, how much love do you have left to give to
others?</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Some?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A lot?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">None?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If you love someone with ALL your heart, how much love do
you have left to give to others?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The answer is: It depends on who the “someone” is.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If the “Someone” is God, then to figure out how much love
you have left, you’ll need to MULTIPLY.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">However, if the “someone” is anyone other than God, then to
properly compute the amount of love remaining in you, you will be forced either
to </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">subtract</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> or to </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">divide</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Let me explain . . .</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In today’s gospel passage from Matthew 22, Jesus proclaims
the two fundamental commandments: the commandment to love God, and the
commandment to love your neighbor.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But even though they are both commands to love, there’s a
crucial difference between the two—a difference that’s often missed or ignored
when people read these well-known verses of Scripture.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Notice that it says you are to love </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">God</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> with your whole heart; it does </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">not</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> say that you are to love your neighbor in that way.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Neighbor” here, incidentally, is a very
broad term.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It does </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">not</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> refer exclusively to the wonderful people who live next door to
you (although it does include them!).</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The word “neighbor” in this text signifies </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">all</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> the human beings with whom you share your life—even your
spouse and your children and the members of your extended family.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And yes, it even includes your enemies!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Thankfully, all it says is that you must love these human
beings </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">as you love yourself.</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Backing up for a moment, this means that,
from a Christian perspective, it’s okay to love yourself!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That may sound strange to some of us, but
it’s true nonetheless.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Too much
self-love, of course, is not a good thing: they call that narcissism and pride;
but too little self-love is equally bad!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Contrary to popular belief, self-hatred is </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">not</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> a Christian virtue!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There’s obviously a balance that needs to be achieved here,
which is something we should pray for: “Dear Lord, help me to love myself as
you want me to love myself—not too much, but not too little either!”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This is key because if a person doesn’t love himself
rightly, he won’t be able to love anyone else rightly!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The proper love of self is the necessary
pre-condition for the proper love of neighbor, according to Jesus Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Notice the wording of this verse: “Love your
neighbor </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">as you love yourself</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But what happens when you try to love your neighbor </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">with your whole heart</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">—which, according
to Jesus, is the way you’re supposed to love God and God alone?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Let me answer that question with a story.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I knew a woman many years ago, whose husband
died very suddenly of a heart attack.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She was a daily communicant at her home parish (which was in another
part of the state).</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As a couple, she and
her husband had been almost inseparable: they were blessed with 3 or 4 children
as well as several grandchildren; they had a great marriage; they spent most of
their free time together.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And so you can
imagine how I and many others felt when, 3 months after her husband died, this
woman tried to take her own life!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(Thankfully she failed!)</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I was a
newly ordained priest at the time and I remember being stunned—absolutely
stunned—especially since this woman was at Mass every single day!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It didn’t make any sense to me—until I
thought about it in light of the gospel passage we just heard.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It was then that I realized that this lovely lady had made
the fatal mistake of loving her husband </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">with
her whole heart</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And so, when he
was gone, so was most of the love in her life—including, it seems, her love for
God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If you love someone with your whole heart—and that someone
is anyone other than God—then to calculate how much love you have left to give
others you have to </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">subtract</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> or </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">divide</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This is why there are two commandments in this passage, and
not one!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You know, Jesus could have
easily said, “You shall love the Lord your God—</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">and your neighbor</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">—with all your heart,” but he didn’t.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That’s because Jesus understood human nature
a lot better than we do.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He knew that we
need to love and to be loved, but he also knew that even the person on earth
who loves us the most—and whom we love the most—will sometimes let us down and
fail to be there for us.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They might even
stop loving us for a time, or refuse to forgive us for something we’ve done to
them.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That’s to be expected, because
this person—as good as he or she might be—is only human.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Only God is divine—which means that only God can always be
there for us with his mercy and strength and comfort!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But it even goes beyond that.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I said earlier that if you try to love God
with your whole heart, you will have to MULTIPLY in order to figure out how
much love you’ll have left to give to others.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In other words, when you try to love God the most, he
responds by multiplying the love within you (since he himself is love!).</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And that leaves you with more than enough
love to show to others (including your enemies).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This is what we see in the lives of holy people, and
especially in the lives of the great saints of the Church.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Because St. Maximilian Kolbe, for example, tried to love
God with his whole heart, he had plenty of love left in him for others,
including the prisoner that he died for in the concentration camp at Auschwitz
during World War II.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Because Mother Teresa of Calcutta tried to love God with
her whole heart, she had plenty of love left in her to share with the poorest
and most destitute souls on planet earth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Because my mother tried to love God with her whole heart,
she had more than enough love left in her for my dad, for my sister, for me—and
for a lot of other people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“You shall love the Lord your God </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">with your whole heart</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">; you shall love your neighbor </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">as yourself</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">May the Lord help us to be faithful to these two great
commandments AS THEY ARE WRITTEN </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">down
for us in </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">THE BIBLE—so that we will have all the love that we need for
the Lord, for ourselves </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">and</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> for other
people.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-88746702783824398272023-10-22T12:27:00.001-04:002023-12-24T21:31:23.557-05:00Hypocrisy: What it is, and What it Isn’t<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRxLNL58poDpK67VIRYBFIf1uIwgxPOhiGbR1hFd8tv69qlL_qfE1JKNS0O4Fyx2JJFAAi2R-l15G5uz2t1vXeahknFOM4j1_uwkllmecP3TxDUQM8FqnelhrnIZfFQcg0d_OU6PZzs_rYPYlD2IKHjjE8tNWXDTPMVduuU33dydiRKTKlt5p/s629/Julius-Caesar-Denarius-44-BC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="629" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRxLNL58poDpK67VIRYBFIf1uIwgxPOhiGbR1hFd8tv69qlL_qfE1JKNS0O4Fyx2JJFAAi2R-l15G5uz2t1vXeahknFOM4j1_uwkllmecP3TxDUQM8FqnelhrnIZfFQcg0d_OU6PZzs_rYPYlD2IKHjjE8tNWXDTPMVduuU33dydiRKTKlt5p/w400-h266/Julius-Caesar-Denarius-44-BC.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
(Twenty-ninth Sunday of the Year (A): This homily was given on October 22,
2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read Isaiah 45:1, 4-6; Psalm 96:1-10; 1
Thessalonians 1:1-5; Matthew 22:15-21.)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/29sun2023a.wma" rel="nofollow">Twenty-ninth Sunday 2023</a>]</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hypocrisy can be a tool—a very useful and effective tool—to
get what you want, when what you want is evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We see a classic example of this in today’s gospel story of Jesus’
confrontation with the Pharisees and the Herodians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But before I get into that, let me make it
clear to you what I mean when I use the word “hypocrisy.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think if you asked a large number of people
on the street the question, “What is hypocrisy?” most would say that hypocrisy
is when you don’t practice what you preach.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But that’s wrong!—although it is true that most if not all
hypocrites don’t practice what they preach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But that’s not the proper meaning of the term.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The English word hypocrisy comes from a Greek
word that means “to play a part” (like an actor would in a show) or “to
pretend”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which means that hypocrisy,
properly speaking, is not when you don’t practice what you preach, it’s when
you don’t BELIEVE what you preach!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A hypocrite puts on a mask when it comes to what he really
thinks, when it comes to what he really believes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He says one thing with his mouth, but
believes something very different in his heart.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Which brings us to today’s gospel reading from Matthew
22.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here Jesus is challenged by a group
of Pharisees and Herodians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This, in and
of itself, is noteworthy, because these two groups normally did not like each
other or agree with each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
example, the Herodians had a positive view of the Romans who were occupying
their country, whereas the Pharisees did not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And this was at the root of their attempt to trip Jesus up with their
question about taxes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Jesus had said
it was unlawful to pay taxes to the Romans, the Herodians would have told that
to the Roman authorities and in all likelihood our Lord would have been
arrested; whereas if Jesus had said it was lawful to pay, the Pharisees would
have denounced him to the people, most of whom did not like the Romans and
wanted them out of their country.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But it’s what they said to Jesus before they asked their
question that revealed their hypocrisy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They said, “Teacher, we know you are a truthful man and that you teach
the way of God in accordance with the truth.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now the Bible doesn’t tell us everything that happened 2,000
years ago when this event took place historically, but we can certainly
speculate on the matter. And so, I wonder: when the Pharisees and Herodians
said this to Jesus—when they said to him, “Teacher, we know you are a truthful
man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth”—did our
Lord laugh in their faces?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He could
have—because he knew they didn’t believe a word of what had just come out of
their mouths! These, after all, were the very same guys who had been telling the
people, “This Jesus casts out demons with the help of Beelzebul the prince of
demons.” These were the same guys who were plotting our Lord’s death because
they thought he was a blasphemer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
that’s why our Lord calls them hypocrites here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If they said what they really believed, they would have told our Lord,
“Teacher, we know you are a liar and that you teach the way of the devil in
accordance with his lies and deceptions.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Because that’s what they really thought.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I said at the beginning that hypocrisy can be a tool—a very
useful and effective tool—to get what you want, when what you want is evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Pharisees and Herodians used it in an
attempt to discredit Jesus and perhaps even get him arrested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was the evil they were seeking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully they failed, and the evil they
desired never became a reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But it doesn’t always happen that way. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of our leaders in this country, for
example, who identify themselves as “devout Catholics” do everything in their
power to promote practices that Jesus Christ, through his Church,
condemns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It starts with abortion, but
unfortunately, with some, it doesn’t end there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With some, it involves a whole host of issues.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That’s hypocrisy—pure and simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You say your Catholic, but you really don’t
believe in Catholicism because you reject basic, fundamental moral teachings of
the Church.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But it goes far beyond the religious dimension of life;
hypocrisy can be a problem regarding many things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, I’m reading a book right now by
Dr. Bill Donahue of the Catholic League called “War on Virtue”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s about the cultural and moral decay
that’s currently taking place in our country and which has been going on now
for several decades.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At one point in the book Dr. Donahue talks about an
invitation he received in the late 1990s to a big conference in California—a
conference for people in the entertainment industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s what he wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoQuote">In the late 1990s, David Horowitz invited me to attend a huge
conference in California—with actors, producers, and directors—that addressed
various controversial issues that were brewing in Hollywood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After listening to many of the speakers, I
got a chance to say a few words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After I
spoke, the man sitting next to me on the platform turned to me and said,
“They’re going to have to get you extra security to escort you out of here.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoQuote">What did I say that was so controversial?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told the crowd they were a bunch of
phonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One after another, I said, you
came to the microphone to tell us that you don’t allow your children to watch
the television shows that you make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No,
you said, your children watch Nickelodeon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I asked, “So whose children are your shows good for?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They knew exactly what I meant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was dead silence.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No doubt those actors, producers and directors would have
told you that their work was of the highest quality, but that’s not what they
actually believed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they believed that
their programs were of the highest quality, they would certainly have allowed
their own children to watch them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
they did not.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That’s hypocrisy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember,
hypocrisy is not when you fail to practice what you preach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(We all do that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all fail in various ways to live the faith—to
practice the faith—that we profess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s why we have the sacrament of Reconciliation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Praise God!)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hypocrisy occurs when you don’t actually believe what you
profess. May the Lord help us to avoid
all hypocrisy in our own lives, and may he change the hearts and minds and
attitudes of those who, like the Pharisees and the Herodians, have fallen into
it, and who are currently using their hypocrisy as a tool for evil. May these
men and women finally come to believe—and to live—the full truth of the Gospel. Amen.<o:p></o:p></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-78223848677824517022023-10-08T12:12:00.001-04:002023-12-24T21:32:03.980-05:00In a World of Moral Confusion, There Can be no Peace<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfNhuXslMbflSHnuhlD9HK7bYId0XMGGwdOg05KY2VauJ1qvo5a7a6lOpqaxsLU4pOpWa52qH5EWQyJ2h5ShOT1DUW8v_GolZSGVv5wfIrfbDCmYCGuhsVRf5fEyNt3-aqmQ9HjOBdCYbB6JUy3j-4fZHYJ200IBpla0px3hx7jB-5XoNuWCVk/s320/AAAABaGGEqMlmx_-1tVtG51FKhWZweyvfHhOtJql_LzZMBPJDkmp14HFlMhdZeQ2dPgb-cOtdKwOYSRM7USknn2AWA_p14YpVSXkeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="320" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfNhuXslMbflSHnuhlD9HK7bYId0XMGGwdOg05KY2VauJ1qvo5a7a6lOpqaxsLU4pOpWa52qH5EWQyJ2h5ShOT1DUW8v_GolZSGVv5wfIrfbDCmYCGuhsVRf5fEyNt3-aqmQ9HjOBdCYbB6JUy3j-4fZHYJ200IBpla0px3hx7jB-5XoNuWCVk/w400-h225/AAAABaGGEqMlmx_-1tVtG51FKhWZweyvfHhOtJql_LzZMBPJDkmp14HFlMhdZeQ2dPgb-cOtdKwOYSRM7USknn2AWA_p14YpVSXkeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">(Twenty-seventh Sunday of the Year (A): This homily was
given on October 8, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm
80:9-20; Philippians 4:6-9; Matthew 21:33-43.)</span><span style="color: red; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/27sun2023a.wma" rel="nofollow">Twenty-seventh Sunday 2023</a>]</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">In the movie, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Schindler’s
List</i>, Amon Goeth, the commandant of the Nazi labor camp, took a young,
Jewish girl to be his personal maidservant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At one point in the film, this girl had a private and very disturbing
conversation with Oskar Schindler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With
deep fear in her voice she said to him, “I know that someday my master will
shoot me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Schindler, at first, couldn’t
believe it, and he tried to assure her that the commandant was really quite
fond of her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But she insisted, “No,
someday he will shoot me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She then
spoke of what she had seen the previous day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She said that she had seen him walk out of his quarters, draw his gun,
and shoot a Jewish woman who was walking by with a bundle in her hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Listen, now, to her description of the woman—and her very
insightful comment.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She said, “Just a
woman on her way somewhere.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">No fatter,
or thinner, or slower, or faster than anyone else; and I couldn’t guess what
she had done [to provoke him].</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The more
you see of the commandant, the more you see there are no set rules that you can
live by.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You can’t say to yourself, ‘If
I follow these rules, I will be safe.’”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That girl was absolutely correct: </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In a world of moral confusion, there can be no safety, and,
consequently, no peace.</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She
understood that in the “world” of that Nazi labor camp, right and wrong had
been blurred to such an extent, that she couldn’t determine what was “right” in
the mind of the commandant.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What pleased
him at one moment might not please him in the next.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And if he happened to have a gun in his hand
when he wasn’t pleased, she knew she could easily end up like the woman with
the bundle in her hand.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In today’s world, most people say they want peace, do they
not?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And yet, many of them also want
their moral relativism: that is to say, they want to be able to define right
and wrong for themselves.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But you cannot
have both.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s not—and it never can
be—peace </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">and</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> moral relativism; it’s
either peace </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">or</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> it’s moral
relativism.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Consider, for example, terrorism.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Terrorism—which has been undermining efforts
for peace all over the world for decades now—is a practice rooted in moral
relativism.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The terrorist does not
accept the objective, moral truth that the direct killing of innocent people is
always wrong.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In his moral relativism,
he’s convinced himself that killing innocent men, women, and children is acceptable—and
sometimes even virtuous.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">The people at
Planned Parenthood think the very same way with respect to unborn babies, as do
some of our politicians (starting with the guy at the top).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So do many of the people who’ve incited riots
and attacked the police in major cities all over the country in recent years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of these rioters are professed
Marxists—like the founders of the Black Lives Matter Movement—who want to
literally tear our society and culture down and try to create their own
socialist utopia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And speaking of people
who are into destroying things, how about the hundred or so young people who
went on a looting rampage in Philadelphia last week—whose actions were
coordinated on social media?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s a
perfect example of young moral relativists acting like moral relativists.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If there’s ever going to be peace—the true peace that
people say they want—then the moral relativists of this world have to accept
the objective, moral norm that innocent human life is always to be respected.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Basically that means they need to accept the
fact that the Ten Commandments are commandments, not suggestions or
recommendations!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In
a world of moral confusion, there can be no safety, and, consequently, no
peace.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 76.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">By the way, please remember this the next time you vote.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If you vote for people who reject objective,
moral standards, and support things like abortion, sexual immorality, violence
and the like, then you are indirectly undermining world peace—whether you realize
it or not.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Now I know this message about objective morality is not a
popular one these days.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But the fact of
the matter is it never has been!—as today’s Gospel text from Matthew 21 makes
very clear.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Here Jesus tells a parable
about a landowner who leased his vineyard out to tenants and then sent servants
to the tenants at harvest time.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Those
“servants” were the Old Testament prophets, who preached the Ten Commandments
and “objective morality” to the people of Israel.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And what kind of reception did these prophets
receive from the moral relativists in Old Testament Israel (of which there were
many!)?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Jesus told us, using the imagery
of the parable.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He said, </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“The tenants seized the servants and one
they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more numerous
than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way.”</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What a comforting thought to those of us who continue to
preach this message!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’ll give the final word today to St. Paul, who also knew and
taught that objective morality is the only path to happiness and peace.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What he said to the Philippians in this
second reading, he says to all of us this morning:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;">Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever
is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever
is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of
praise, think about THESE things.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;">Keep
on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;">Then [and I might add ONLY then] will the God
of peace be with you.</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: left;"></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-82493442769701850862023-09-24T12:16:00.001-04:002023-12-24T21:32:31.247-05:00Equality: What It Means, and What It Doesn’t Mean<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWZZwD0zWbHV_wWDf_zZzeTXfe9aU9o7dZL1a82Y8o8vYm-h5_DqW1m4QjN1gj6KnFarEFqzA33oeQ6T9baXZ36aNC93Uw2AXINOsYudqDVxTAl9LIYx7SNgPVlki_1ZUSrLAHcgrmwArSgiaxjWB8Qab0NGDjwcpBX0S51ZOzbF-do43wxVaS/s320/stmax.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="174" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWZZwD0zWbHV_wWDf_zZzeTXfe9aU9o7dZL1a82Y8o8vYm-h5_DqW1m4QjN1gj6KnFarEFqzA33oeQ6T9baXZ36aNC93Uw2AXINOsYudqDVxTAl9LIYx7SNgPVlki_1ZUSrLAHcgrmwArSgiaxjWB8Qab0NGDjwcpBX0S51ZOzbF-do43wxVaS/w217-h400/stmax.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">St. Maximilian Kolbe</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="text-align: justify;">(Twenty-fifth Sunday of the Year (A): This homily was given
on September 24, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond
Suriani. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Read
Isaiah 55:6-9; Psalm 145:2-18; Philippians 1:20-27; Matthew 20:1-16a</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">.)</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/25sun2023a.wma" rel="nofollow">Twenty-fifth Sunday 2023</a>]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">It’s not fair, is it?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">From a purely human perspective, the people who worked a
full day in the hot sun were treated unfairly by this landowner, who gave the
very same pay to the people he hired at 5 o’clock in the afternoon—who ended up
working for only one hour!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But, of course, we can never look at this or any other parable
that Jesus told from “a purely human perspective.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Although even on that level it’s a great
story, isn’t it?—because it reminds us of the simple truth that </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">life</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> is not fair!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hard working people sometimes suffer and
experience great hardships; lazy people sometimes prosper and have it
relatively easy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 233.75pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But the
primary point of the parable is NOT about the fairness or unfairness of life! </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> The
primary point concerns the generosity of God, who makes heaven possible to
Gentiles like us, and to those who come to him in repentance even at the very
end of their time on this earth.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This means that, in a certain sense, WE GENTILES are just
like those 5 o’clock workers!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The
Hebrews—the Jews—on the other hand, are just like the workers hired at the
beginning of the day.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Remember, the
Hebrews were called by God centuries before we were!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But now we are also called; consequently we
have just as much right as they do to become members of the Church—and an equal
possibility of attaining eternal salvation through Jesus Christ.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Now
that you realize that those 5 o’clock workers symbolize people like us, I’ll
bet the landowner doesn’t seem so unfair anymore, does he?</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You could say that this parable is ultimately about
EQUALITY: It teaches us that God loves all people equally; it teaches us that
we all have an </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">equal dignity</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> in
God’s eyes as human beings created in his image and likeness, and it teaches us
that we all have an </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">equal opportunity</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
to go to heaven by the grace of Jesus Christ—even if our conversion happens at
the final moment of our life.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It also
teaches that we have an </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">equal obligation</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
to give God our complete obedience and service.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We are all called to be workers in his vineyard.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What the parable does NOT teach is that everything else in
life is supposed to be equal!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I mention this because there are some who seem to believe
that this gospel teaches that everyone on earth is supposed to have the same
amount of everything—including money and material possessions.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But that’s not true!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Yes, the Catechism, based on the teaching of Jesus, does condemn
materialism and greed and what it calls “excessive economic and social
disparity between individuals and peoples,” but this doesn’t mean that it’s the
will of God that those who have a lot should be taxed or robbed into poverty!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Several years ago I came across a great writing of St.
Maximilian Kolbe on this very subject.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Listen to St. Maximilian’s words.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If you’re like me, you’ll react by saying, “Wow, he’s right.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That makes perfect sense!”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He wrote:</span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">“Let us imagine that one day all the inhabitants of the
world would assemble and put into effect this sharing of all goods; and that in
fact each person, granted that the world is very big, received an exactly equal
portion of the wealth existing on earth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">“Then what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
very evening one man might say, ‘Today I worked hard: now I am going to take
rest.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another might state, ‘I
understand this sharing of goods well; so let’s drink and celebrate such an
extraordinary happening.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other
hand, another might say, ‘Now I am going to set to work with a will so as to
reap the greatest benefit I can from what I have received.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so, starting on the next day, the first
man would have only the amount given him; the second would have less, and the third
would have increased his.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">“Then what do we do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Start redistributing the wealth all over again?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">“Even if everybody began to work right away with all his
might and at the same time, the results would not be identical for all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are, in fact, different kinds of work
which are unequally productive; nor do all workers enjoy the same identical
capacities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This leads to a diversity of
results achieved, and consequently to differences in people’s profits.”</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">St. Maximilian was right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Here on earth, not everyone will be equal in every way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase;">But that’s also the way it will be
in heaven!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Did you realize that?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Yes, everyone has the potential </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">to go to heaven</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">: even if they’re not Jewish, and even if they come
to Jesus in repentance on their deathbeds—at “the 5 o’clock hour,” so to speak,
of their lives.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We learn that, as I said
earlier, in this parable.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But this doesn’t mean that everyone’s experience of God in
heaven will be exactly the same!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In
heaven, not everyone will be “equal” in that sense.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We know this because Jesus often spoke of
“the least” and “the greatest” in the kingdom of his Father.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Those two terms, “least” and “greatest” imply a difference
in people’s status—and in their experience.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The key here, as usual, is HOLINESS: the holier a person is
when he leaves this life, the greater his capacity will be to experience God in
heaven—which is why it’s not good to wait until your deathbed to repent!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">May this be all the motivation we need to “work” for
holiness every day: to pray often, to get to Mass at least weekly, to get to
Confession regularly, to forgive everyone in our lives, and to be charitable to
the poor and the needy, according to the means God has blessed us with.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p></div>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-9296555635088505152023-09-17T12:02:00.003-04:002023-12-24T21:33:08.837-05:00Ten Good Reasons to Forgive <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi17TfGgOwaNci1_tP_xEDuMBLEg5ecA7TdzCBfV7NypIhwQTB5M0jB6IH1731yXJ1qgGJdJmqmp4k2EexK4b0on2wfUSi0ObaoMuji0fU_bhBdqsbQ0PJVwz-pE2bLDk__odpVaMCaklREnwl0-dmrb8-KLm_BPmD4kH_0eXaNZhiPJWLmzNK/s320/download.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="137" data-original-width="320" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi17TfGgOwaNci1_tP_xEDuMBLEg5ecA7TdzCBfV7NypIhwQTB5M0jB6IH1731yXJ1qgGJdJmqmp4k2EexK4b0on2wfUSi0ObaoMuji0fU_bhBdqsbQ0PJVwz-pE2bLDk__odpVaMCaklREnwl0-dmrb8-KLm_BPmD4kH_0eXaNZhiPJWLmzNK/w400-h171/download.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;">(Twenty-Fourth Sunday of the Year (A): This homily was
given on September 17, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond
Suriani.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;">Read Sirach 27:30-28:9; Psalm
103:1-12; Romans 14:7-9; Matthew 18:21-35.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/24sun2023a.wma" rel="nofollow">Twenty-fourth Sunday 2023</a>]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">About a year after the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001, Bishop Kenneth Angell of the Diocese of Burlington, Vermont (and formerly
of the Diocese of Providence), wrote the following lines in a magazine article:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">The Lord says that we have to love him
first and foremost.</span><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">But we have to love
our brothers and sisters as well, including the people who committed this
terrible act.</span><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">Acts of terrorism are
evil, but we have to love those who committed this evil—and that is hard to
do.</span><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">I suppose I’ve preached that my
entire priesthood.</span><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">And I’ve tried to
live it, but when it comes to something like this, it’s difficult.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoQuote"><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><i>Yet we know that this is what the Lord
wants of us: We have to forgive those that perpetrated this terrible violence
against our country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have to say,
“Lord, they know not what they do, and so we forgive them.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoQuote"><span color="windowtext" face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Bishop Angell’s brother, David, and his sister-in-law,
Lynn, were among those killed on American Airlines Flight 11 (one of the two
planes that hit the World Trade Center)—which means he wrote these words about
a situation that had affected his life on the </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">personal</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> level.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">He was not
just offering some pious advice for the rest of us to follow.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Peter said to Jesus in today’s Gospel text from Matthew 18,
</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Lord, if my brother sins against me, how
often must I forgive? As many as seven
times?”</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Peter obviously thought he
was being generous!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Jesus answered him, </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“I
say to you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">(Which, in today’s terminology, means “as
often as necessary!”)</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Forgiveness, unfortunately, is a much-misunderstood
concept.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Some think that it means we
must condone whatever evil was done to us; others think it means that we’re
supposed to pretend that nothing bad ever happened in the first place; still
others believe that if they forgive, they must automatically dispense with
justice.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Thus, if we forgive a known
terrorist who’s on the loose (like Osama bin Laden was for so many years), we
should stop trying to find him and let him go free. And, finally, there are
those who believe that forgiveness is always a “once-and-for-all” decision.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong!—although the people in the
last group have it half-right: forgiveness </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">is</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
a decision!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">It’s an act of the will, not
an emotion!</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">And, in some cases, it must
be a daily or even hourly decision: once is not enough!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">But exactly </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">why</i><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">
should we do it?</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Why should we make this
difficult choice to forgive one another?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Glad you asked.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Here
are ten short reasons why.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">(You may be
able to think of others, but these are the ones that came to me in preparation
for this homily)—</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span></p>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">We should forgive, because of how much we have been
forgiven</span></i><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many people
have an unreal assessment of themselves: they think they’re God’s gift to
the world, because they’re not like all those bad folks “out there.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consequently, they don’t have a true
sense of how much God has forgiven them in their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They take his mercy for granted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that was precisely the problem with
the unmerciful servant in today’s Gospel parable, was it not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had no sense of how much he had been
forgiven; thus, he wasn’t ready to show any mercy to his fellow servant.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">We should forgive, because of how much the Lord WILL
forgive us.</span></i><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God is ready,
willing, and able to forgive every sin—including the ones we haven’t even
committed yet!<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">We should forgive, because, if we don’t, we won’t be
forgiven and we risk eternal damnation!</span></i><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aside from being sorry for our sins,
this seems to be the one condition the Lord puts on our receiving his
pardon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In today’s first reading
from Sirach, we were told that the Lord remembers the sins of the vengeful
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“in detail.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Jesus said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“If you do not forgive others, neither will your heavenly Father
forgive you.”<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--></i><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">We should forgive, because Jesus did.</span></i><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(He even went so far as to forgive his
murderers!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Christians, we say
we want to imitate Jesus, do we not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, here’s a great opportunity to do that on a daily basis!<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">We should forgive, because, if we don’t, “the
torturers” will come.</span></i><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this
parable it says that the unforgiving servant was turned over to “the
torturers.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I heard one commentator
say that the modern day “torturers” are things like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anger</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">depression</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">resentment</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think there’s a lot of truth in
that!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unforgiveness ultimately
makes us miserable.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">We should forgive, because our loved ones will have to
bear the consequences of our unforgiveness.</span></i><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It should be obvious: if we are filled
with anger, resentment, bitterness, and the like, we will take it out on
the people we love the most—our family, and our close friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It almost always happens that way.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">We should forgive, because it contributes to our own
sanctification, and can bring other people to conversion.</span></i><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Charlie Osburn, the Catholic lay
evangelist, forgave the man who had molested his children, the molester
had a conversion, and returned to the Church and the sacraments before he
died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, in the process, Charlie
himself grew closer to the Lord and stronger in his faith.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">We should forgive, because it frees us to move on with
our life.</span></i><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unforgiveness
keeps us trapped in the past; it keeps us focused on the evil that
happened to us “way back when.”—which can keep us from doing God’s will in
the present moment and moving forward in life.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">We should forgive, because there can be negative
physical consequences—as well as spiritual and emotional consequences—to
unforgiveness.</span></i><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sirach says, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Could anyone nourish anger against
another and expect healing from the Lord?”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve known many people who have
experienced physical healings after they’ve made the hard decision to
forgive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their unforgiveness was
making them sick—literally!<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">And, finally, we should forgive others, because it’s
very good practice for forgiving ourselves</span></i><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of us may have great difficulty
forgiving ourselves for things we’ve done in the past—even after we’ve
taken those matters to Confession!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, if we develop the habit of forgiving the sinners “out there”
who hurt us every day, maybe it will become a little easier for us to
forgive the sinner we see in the mirror every morning.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Those are my ten good reasons to forgive.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">Of course, the real question is, “Are those
ten reasons good enough for you?”</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif">I pray
that they are, and that they will motivate each of us to respond to God’s grace
every day by forgiving others—even our worst enemies.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif"><br /></span></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11293848.post-90263505319119864102023-09-03T12:37:00.004-04:002023-12-24T21:33:40.467-05:00Persevering Peter<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMBjh3XQTj9qQigH25GqsuQ16VQmWd-0CX22qqTEDOknFAnZNZ-RXDc570KDUCN9y6gNaSQqbv1SLO2mS0shCzbC20l7cHoCU1yaeDQaTSM56wb15MKeqCaraAV57oujybcyMYMnXFI0ytCipTERUdv51KjakHLATdhcMTFuiAc-la3YIMC3ve/s320/419px-domine_quo_vadis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="224" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMBjh3XQTj9qQigH25GqsuQ16VQmWd-0CX22qqTEDOknFAnZNZ-RXDc570KDUCN9y6gNaSQqbv1SLO2mS0shCzbC20l7cHoCU1yaeDQaTSM56wb15MKeqCaraAV57oujybcyMYMnXFI0ytCipTERUdv51KjakHLATdhcMTFuiAc-la3YIMC3ve/w280-h400/419px-domine_quo_vadis.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Quo vadis, Domine?"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">(Twenty-second Sunday of the Year (A): This homily was
given on September 3, 2023 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalm
63:2-9; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[For the audio version of this homily, click here: <a href="https://www.cfpeople.org/frray/audio/22sun2023a.wma" rel="nofollow">Twenty-second Sunday 2023</a>]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Persevering Peter.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That’s the title of today’s homily: </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Persevering</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Peter.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Now when we think of Peter—and here I’m talking
specifically about Peter </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">before</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> the
Resurrection (in other words, the Peter we encounter </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">during the earthly ministry of Jesus</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">)—</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">perseverance</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> is probably not the first word that comes to
mind.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Some words that do come to mind
when describing the Peter we see during Jesus’ 3-year ministry (at least they
come to my mind!) are words like: impulsive, weak, inconsistent, impatient,
erratic and hot-headed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But even back then he was also a man of perseverance—almost
incredible perseverance.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Which is probably one of the biggest reasons why Jesus
chose him to be the very first pope!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Can you imagine how frustrating and how discouraging it can
be at times to be the spiritual leader of a worldwide community of faith that
includes not only some of the greatest saints on the planet, but also some of
the worst—some of the most reprehensible—sinners on the planet?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Obviously our present Holy Father, Pope Francis, needs an
immense amount of perseverance to lead the Church in the midst of those circumstances.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And so did Peter 2,000 years ago!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Well, by the grace of God, the man had it—in great
abundance—even before Jesus rose from the dead and anointed him with the Holy
Spirit at Pentecost.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We see Peter
exercising perseverance throughout the gospels, but especially in passages like
the one we heard last Sunday and the one we heard this morning (these two texts
from Matthew, chapter 16).</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Recall, for a
moment, what we were told last weekend in our gospel reading: Jesus was with
his apostles at Caesarea Philippi and there he asked them a crucial question:
“Who do you say that I am?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Peter spoke up and gave his famous answer: “You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God”; to which Jesus immediately responded,
“Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my heavenly Father.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And
so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and
the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I will give you the keys to the kingdom of
heaven.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Whatever you bind on earth shall
be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Peter must have felt like a million bucks when Jesus said
those words to him.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I know that’s how I
would have felt!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’m sure he didn’t
fully understand what our Lord meant in telling him these things, but he knew
it sounded pretty good—especially the part about having “the keys to the
kingdom of heaven.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Well today’s gospel reading picks up where last week’s left
off.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Jesus begins to teach his apostles
that he will be a </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">suffering</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Messiah,
not a great earthly ruler like King David (which was the kind of Messiah the
Jews were expecting at the time: someone who would get rid of the Romans and
make Israel a great earthly nation again).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It was also the kind of Messiah Peter was expecting—which
explains his reaction to this prophecy of our Lord about his suffering and
death.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Peter says to him, in effect, “No
way, Jesus!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That can’t possibly happen
to you!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You’re the Messiah—you’re God’s
anointed one—you’re gonna help us get rid of the Romans and become a great
nation again!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You can’t suffer and die
like that.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Jesus immediately turns on Peter and says, “Get behind me,
Satan!”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Why, oh why, did he call Peter, “Satan”?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s
because at that moment Peter was saying to Jesus exactly what Satan would have
wanted him to say to Jesus!</span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Satan, you see, did
not want our Lord to go to the cross on Good Friday, because he knew that if
Jesus died on that cross his kingdom would be destroyed—since the sacrifice of
Jesus would make it possible for every human person to avoid hell and go to
heaven!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This, incidentally, was the constant and most serious
temptation that Jesus faced during his time on this earth: </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the temptation to abandon the mission the Father had given him and
forget about the cross</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It was the
temptation Satan threw at him in the desert just before his earthly ministry
began; it was the temptation that Satan presented to him through the mouth of
Peter in this event at Caesarea Philippi; and it was the last temptation our
Lord faced as he hung on the cross.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(No,
the last temptation of Christ had nothing to do with Mary Magdalene.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Please tell that to film director Martin
Scorsese!)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Coming back now to Peter’s dialogue with Jesus: If you had
been in Peter’s shoes that day, what would you have done?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How would you have responded?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Try to imagine this: Jesus, the Messiah, the
only-begotten Son of the Father, doesn’t just reprimand you (that would have
been bad enough!); he doesn’t simply tell you that you’re wrong—he actually
goes so far as to call you “Satan”!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He equates you, in some way, with the devil himself!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I think most people, if they’re truly honest with
themselves, would tell you that they would have been so undone—so completely
devastated by these words of Jesus—that in all likelihood they would have
walked away in despair and never come back.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I know I would have been tempted to respond in that way.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But Peter didn’t!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That’s what’s so amazing about him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He didn’t throw in the towel; he didn’t despair.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In spite of the horrible feeling he must have
had on the inside, he didn’t walk away like the rich young man did when Jesus
challenged him to give up all his possessions.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Peter took the rebuke, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and
persevered</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He kept on following the
Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Peter’s perseverance was also evident at the end of the
Bread of Life Discourse in John 6: Jesus told the people that he intended to
give them his Body and Blood for their spiritual nourishment, and most of them
freaked out!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Even a lot of our Lord’s
disciples walked away.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But not Peter!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He
persevered—as usual.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When Jesus said to
his apostles, “Are you going to leave me, too?” Peter immediately responded,
“Lord, to whom shall we go?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You have the
words of eternal life.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We have come to
believe; we are convinced that you are God’s holy one.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Even on Holy Thursday, after he denied the Lord 3 times, he
didn’t give up!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Judas did, but Peter
didn’t.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And let’s remember, their sins
were both grave: both betrayed their Lord and Savior.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Judas despaired and hung himself, but Peter
came back and repented.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He always did.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I mention all this today because there are many times in
our lives when we can be tempted to give up on God and our Catholic faith: when
a loved one dies suddenly and unexpectedly; when we come down with a serious
disease (Parkinson’s, cancer, heart disease—whatever it might be), when we’re
praying for something for a long time and God doesn’t seem to be answering;
when we find ourselves falling into the same sins over and over and over again.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In situations like these it would be good to say a prayer
to St. Peter, asking for his special intercession so that we might receive from
God the grace we need: </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the grace of
perseverance</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">—a grace that Peter had in such great abundance.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We need to pray because even persevering people can be
tempted at times NOT to persevere!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Such
was the case, apparently, even for Peter himself—at least on one occasion.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Some of you have probably heard the story.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s not found in the Bible, but in a very
ancient Christian tradition.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The event
happened during the terrible persecution of the Church under the Roman Emperor
Nero.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Peter, of course, was Pope by
then—the official leader of God’s New Testament people—but, in the midst of all
the violence and confusion, he decided that enough was enough.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So he left the city.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He abandoned his post—and his flock—in fear,
and fled from Rome on the famous Appian Way.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But as he was going along he ran into
somebody—Jesus—walking in the opposite direction toward the city.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Peter said to him, “Quo vadis, Domine?”
(“Where are you going, Lord?”)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Jesus answered, “I’m going to the city of Rome, to be
crucified again.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Peter got the message.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He turned around; he went back; and he courageously led the Church until
he was martyred—crucified upside down—in that area now known as St. Peter’s
Square.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">People who persevere can sometimes be tempted—even strongly
tempted—not to persevere.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But in the
end, by the grace of God, they remain faithful.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Just like Peter.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Fr. Ray Surianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10433724118232878031noreply@blogger.com