A Teenager’s Lesson On Receiving The Holy Eucharist

(Twentieth Sunday of the Year (B): This homily was given on August 17, 2003 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read John 6: 51-58.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Twentieth Sunday 2003]

If we believe the words of Jesus in this Gospel text we just heard from John 6—words that indicate his Real Presence in the Eucharist—then we won’t be surprised by the content of the following letter, which was written by a teenager who attended one of the Steubenville Youth Conferences a few years ago:

“Something awesome happened to me at my Steubenville weekend. Like many other people, it happened during Eucharistic adoration because that’s when I was thinking the hardest about Jesus. When the priest came with the monstrance to where I was sitting, I was taken by God. I started praying while a million thoughts raced through my mind. The best thing was that I had gone to reconciliation just before adoration, so I felt truly pure.

I waited for God to take all that I was, and he did. I felt so different after I surrendered to him. It was the best feeling in the world. I opened my heart, and he came right in. I never want him to leave. I also have been telling people that I made a new best friend. It was Jesus. He took over everything, and I really talk to him. He is my best friend forever.”

This was the experience of a young person who was simply in the presence of Jesus during a period of Eucharistic adoration. Just think how many more graces are available to him—and to the rest of us—whenever we actually receive the Lord’s Body and Blood at Mass!

And yet, we don’t always have such a conscious, direct awareness of the Lord’s presence in the Eucharist, do we?—even when we receive him in the Blessed Sacrament.

And that’s a real concern for some people. As one teenager said to me after Saturday night adoration at Steubenville East this year: “This is so great!—but why don’t I have these feelings back home when I pray or go to church?”

Well, the first answer to that question is that God doesn’t give us “special feelings” all the time because he wants us to walk by faith and not by our emotions. Following your emotions is a dangerous way to go through life.

Secondly, the graces we receive from the Eucharist are not usually evident to our senses—thus we shouldn’t expect to have marvelous feelings every time we receive. Remember when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments? The Bible says that his face was radiant after having communed with God on that mountain. But the amazing thing is: he had no awareness of it! He was a “human light bulb,” but he didn’t realize it.

Just as Moses wasn’t aware of all the graces he had received from communing with the Lord, so we aren’t fully aware of all the graces which come to us when we receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist.

What matters most is that we are open to these graces, and allow them to bear good fruit in our lives. That’s much more important than how we “feel.” And here we can learn an important lesson from this transformed teenager. His life was different after simply being in the Lord’s presence during adoration, but this transformation he experienced wasn’t a coincidence. It happened, I would say, for 3 reasons which are clearly evident in his letter:

1. His mind was focused on Jesus. He said that he’s convinced he had this experience of the Lord’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament because “that’s when I was thinking the hardest about Jesus.”
2. His heart was filled with expectant faith. He believed Jesus was there, and he was convinced Jesus was going to touch his life in some way that night.
3. His soul was in the state of grace (at least from all external indications). As he put it, “The best thing was that I had gone to reconciliation just before adoration, so I felt truly pure.”

If our reception of the Holy Eucharist at Mass is not bearing much good fruit in our life at the present time, perhaps we can find the reason right here. Maybe, just maybe, it’s because our mind isn’t focused on Jesus, as this teenager’s was. He was thinking hard about the Lord at adoration. What are we thinking about when we come to Mass? There are lots of possibilities, aren’t there?

Or maybe it’s because we aren’t coming to the Liturgy with expectant faith. This teen expected to meet Jesus on Saturday night at Steubenville. Do we expect to meet Jesus in word—and especially in sacrament—whenever we attend Mass? Or do we simply come out of habit or obligation?

Or perhaps it’s because we’re not in the state of grace when we come to worship—which means we need to get to Confession. This young man believed that his openness was directly related to his repentance—and he was absolutely correct! If he had had serious, unrepented sin on his soul, I’m convinced that his experience at adoration that night would have been a lot different—and a lot less powerful!

This means that before every Mass it would be good for us to go through a little mind, heart, and soul “check.” Is my mind focused on Jesus? Is my heart filled with expectant faith, and is my soul in the state of grace?

If the answer is “yes” in each case, then we still may not have a big, emotional experience when we come to Communion that day, but, in all likelihood, the graces we receive from the Eucharist on that occasion will bear good fruit in our life—and that is far more important.

The Holy Eucharist and Eternal Life

(Nineteenth Sunday of the Year (B): This homily was given on August 10, 2003 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read John 6: 41-51.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Nineteenth Sunday 2003]

We know what Jesus said, but what exactly did he mean?

Here’s what he said: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Jesus appears to be saying that whoever receives the Eucharist (even once) will definitely go to heaven—as if receiving Holy Communion guarantees a person’s eternal salvation.

Is that what he meant?

Well, to answer that question, we need to think of the natural food we eat every day, because there’s always a parallel between the natural and the spiritual. (God has designed the universe in this way: by means of the natural world he gives us insights into spiritual realities like the Eucharist.)

Consider, now, the natural food we eat at breakfast, lunch and dinner. For that food to nourish us in the way that it’s supposed to, certain conditions must be met. First of all, the quality of the food has got to be good: spoiled food can make you seriously ill. (Some of us, I’m sure, know this from our own experience! We’ve been in the emergency room at some point in the past because we ate something that we shouldn’t have.)

But that’s only half the story. Even if a plate of fresh, well-prepared, gourmet food is set before us at a given meal, it will still not have its proper physical effect in us if our personal health is bad.

This is also easy to illustrate: Most of us have had the very unpleasant experience of getting sick and then losing our desire to eat. All of a sudden, our appetite is gone. The foods we normally love become distasteful to us. And if we try to “force them down,” so to speak, our body may actually reject them. (I don’t think I need to go into greater detail on that point. You know exactly what I mean!)

So, on the natural level, if food is to nourish us, it must be good and our physical health must be good.

Well, not surprisingly, a parallel truth applies on the spiritual level. Simply put, if we are to receive spiritual nourishment from something, the spiritual food we are consuming must be good, and the health of our soul must be good.

And this is the key point, which will help us to make sense of what Jesus says in this text concerning the connection between the Eucharist and eternal life.

Now with respect to the Blessed Sacrament, there can be no question about the quality of this spiritual food: it’s the best—the very best—since it’s the Lord’s own Body and Blood.

But if our soul is not in good health—that is to say, if we have committed a mortal sin, and not brought it to Confession yet (a sin like missing Sunday Mass, or an act of sexual impurity)—then the Eucharist will not have the spiritual effect that it’s supposed to have in us! When we’re physically sick, our bodies can’t process good, natural food properly; and when we’re spiritually sick, our souls can’t “process” the Eucharist properly.

This is why St. Paul told the Corinthians to examine themselves before they came to Communion. He wanted them to receive strength, comfort, peace—and eternal life!—from the Body and Blood of the Lord. But he knew that that wouldn’t happen, if the Corinthians were in the state of mortal sin. They would commit a sacrilege instead.

So obviously there’s an implicit condition present in those words of Jesus we heard a few moments ago: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

The condition? To be in the state of grace! Eternal life comes by receiving the Eucharist, yes—but only when a person receives it worthily.

Personally, I can’t think of a better reason to go to Confession often!

St. Paul: The Pagan Life Begins In the Mind!

(Eighteenth Sunday of the Year (B): This homily was given on August 3, 2003 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Ephesians 4: 17-24.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Eighteenth Sunday 2003]

Our second reading today was taken from Ephesians, chapter 4. There St. Paul writes these very important words: “Brothers and sisters, I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do [in other words, as the pagans do], in the futility of their minds; darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance, because of their hardness of heart.”

As Fr. Francis Martin and others have rightly pointed out, St. Paul is telling us here that the pagan life actually begins in the mind: it begins, in other words, with how a person thinks—not with how a person acts. Of course, if a person does think like a pagan—that is, like an unbeliever—then he will certainly end up living like an unbeliever. (St. Paul also makes that clear in this chapter.)

Now I hope you realize what all this means, my brothers and sisters: it means that it’s possible for a baptized, professed Christian to be a pagan at heart. Oh yes, the person’s name may be in the baptismal register at the local parish rectory—he may even come to Mass every Sunday—but on the practical level he will be no different from those who do not know the Lord, because his thoughts will be guided and shaped by the world and not by the Word of God.

Let me give you a few concrete examples now of how a contemporary pagan (baptized or unbaptized) thinks, and how a true Christian thinks.

A pagan (baptized or unbaptized) says, “It’s my body, and I’ll do what I want with it.”

A true Christian says, “My body is a gift from God. As St. Paul tells me in 1 Corinthians 6, ‘You must know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within. . . . So glorify God in your body.’ And that’s what I try to do.”

A pagan says, “It’s free speech.” (He usually says this to try to justify immorality or blasphemy in what he watches or listens to.)

A Christian says, “I will use my gift of freedom to do what’s right and to pursue what’s good. As St. Peter tells me in his first letter, ‘Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cloak for vice.’”

A pagan says, “Homosexuality is not immoral, and anyone who says that it is is a homophobe! Homosexuality is simply an alternative lifestyle.”

A Christian says, “Homosexual activity is contrary to the natural law and the teaching of Scripture. As it says in Leviticus 18, ‘You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; such a thing is an abomination.’ But even though I hate this sin, I love and respect the sinner as a person created in God’s image and likeness—although I will never support his sin in any way. I love and respect him too much to do that.”

A pagan—specifically a baptized one—says, “I am a Catholic, but I don’t accept all the official teachings of the Church.”

A Christian—specifically a Catholic Christian—says, “I am a Catholic, and I accept everything the Church authoritatively teaches as revealed by God. I accept these teachings, because the voice of the Church is the voice of Christ on earth, and Jesus Christ is the Truth! To reject the Church’s teaching is ultimately to reject Christ himself. And I always remember what Jesus said, ‘Whoever disowns me before men, I will disown before my Father in heaven.’” (Mt. 10: 33)

Now I could go on with many other examples, but I don’t think that’s necessary. Concerning the ones I just shared, let me ask you: Did you identify more with the pagan or with the Christian? Whose words would be more likely to come out of your mouth in casual conversation with family or friends?

Answering those questions, my brothers and sisters, will help you to determine where your thoughts are at right now—whether they’re with the Lord, or with the pagan world. And knowing where your thoughts are at, will help to determine where your soul is at—in other words, whether your soul is currently in the state of grace and “on the road” to eternal life.

Let us pray at this Mass that all our thoughts will get “with the Lord”—and remain with the Lord—so that we will live the faith we profess, and so that our souls will be saved on the Day of Judgment.

Faith And Fear

(Sixteenth Sunday of the Year (B): This homily was given on July 20, 2003 at St. Pius X Church by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Jeremiah 23: 1-6; Mark 6: 7-13, 30-34.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Sixteenth Sunday 2003]

A 7 year-old Jewish boy named Zachary was failing math class. His parents had tried everything: tutors, flash cards, special classes—but nothing seemed to motivate him. When it came to math, he was a straight “F” student.

Finally, as a last resort, they enrolled him in the local Catholic school.

When Zachary arrived home after his first day, his mother noticed that he had a very serious look on his face. In fact, he was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t even say ‘hello’ to her. Instead, he went straight to his room, opened his math book, and started studying.

His mother couldn’t believe it.

Later she called him down for dinner. He ate quickly, excused himself, and went back to his math problems.

This went on every single day for the rest of the quarter.

Finally, little Zachary brought home his report card. He handed it to his mom, and then went straight to his room to begin his studying for the day.

His mother opened the card and looked at it. She was absolutely amazed—Zachary had gotten an “A” in math!

She immediately ran upstairs to his room. She said, “Son, I’m so proud of you. Your father will be thrilled when he gets home from work. This is wonderful! But I need to know—what motivated you? What made the difference? Was it the nuns?”

He shook his head and said, “No.”

“Was it the books, the discipline, the structure, the uniforms?”

“No.”

“So what was it, then?”

Little Zachary looked her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I sat down in class and saw that man on the wall nailed to the plus sign, I knew they weren’t fooling around.”

Now the danger in telling a joke during a homily is that people will remember the joke and forget the point the preacher was trying to make.

So here’s the point: One of the most powerful “motivators” in life is fear. And this story provides a perfect illustration of the phenomenon. Fear—specifically the fear of death—motivated little Zachary to do his math homework and succeed where he once had failed miserably. He was afraid that if he didn’t shape up quickly, he’d end up on one of those “plus signs.”

In this case, fear prompted him to do the right thing.

But more often than not, my brothers and sisters, fear motivates us to do the wrong thing! Business owners fear that they won’t make a big enough profit, so they cheat their customers. People fear what the future will bring, so they gamble excessively trying to make that “one big hit” that will give them the security they want. Or they simply cheat on their taxes! People fear getting old, so they’ll waste all kinds of money on plastic surgery—and they still get old. Teenage girls fear losing their boyfriends, so they compromise themselves sexually. Their parents fear that they’ll get pregnant, and so they put them on birth control pills instead of teaching them good morals. [And, by the way, by putting them on the pill, they increase the chance that their daughters will contract breast cancer by 40 %, according to some studies.] Then, when some of these girls do get pregnant, they fear how their parents and others will react, and so they go out and get abortions. Some young people fear losing their friends who are into drinking or drugs, so they begin to drink or abuse drugs themselves.

In today’s first reading, we hear the Lord’s harsh words to some of the religious leaders at the time of Jeremiah, the prophet. They were leading God’s people to compromise their faith. And why were they doing it? Out of fear!—they were afraid that if they taught the truth they would be persecuted and have to suffer; they were afraid that if they stood up for what was right they would lose their social standing. So they told the people what they wanted to hear and not what they needed to hear.

Fear is a very powerful motivator—no doubt about it. But there is one reality that’s more powerful than fear and which can overcome fear—and that’s faith! We can choose, by grace, to live in faith, to walk in faith, to act in faith—and if we do, our lives will be qualitatively different, qualitatively better—both here, and in eternity! That’s the good news!

For example, in today’s Gospel text from Mark 6, it says that the apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. What was that all about? Well, you see, earlier in this chapter, Jesus had sent these apostles off two by two to minister to the people in the towns surrounding Nazareth. Now this was the first time these men had gone on a mission like this without Jesus—and I’m sure they were a bit nervous about it. They had to be. But by faith they overcame their fear and they went. And what happened? St. Mark says (and here I quote): “They expelled many demons, anointed the sick with oil, and worked many cures.”

Good things like that happen when faith trumps fear.

Jesus wants to build up our faith at this Mass, and at every Mass we attend; he wants to do it when we read Scripture and engage in personal prayer and adoration. He wants to build up our faith, so that by this faith we can conquer the fears we face each day.

The only question is: Will we allow the Lord to do it?

I pray that we will!