19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 9 Homily

Homily in English

August 9

When I was a child in 2nd grade, I remember learning lots from a dear nun who taught us.  CCD we called it back then.  Here at St. Francis, we call it PREP – Parish Religious Education Program.  Which, if you’re children are not attending Catholic school or receiving religious formation in homeschool, they should enroll and attend PREP.  Well, among the many things I remember Sister Assunta telling us was that God was a Trinity.  She said He was one God, but, at the same time, this one God consisted of three divine persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  And because He loves us so much, God wants to hear from us in prayer.  So after class, I remember going home and talking to God in prayer.  But then, I wasn’t sure who to pray to.  Should I start out talking to the Father, and then move to the Son and then the Holy Spirit?  If I just say, “God” will He know that I mean all three of them?  I was confused.  Did you ever face a similar dilemma?

Now, we all know what prayer is.  As Catholics we have lots of prayers and lots of types of prayers, right?  The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that prayer is “the elevation of the mind and heart to God in praise of his glory; a petition made to God for some desired good, or in thanksgiving for a good received, or in intercession for others before God.”  Wow!  Did you know you could do all that when you pray?  But it’s what comes next in the definition that’s really at the heart of what prayer is: “Through prayer, the Christian experiences a communion with God through Christ in the Church.”  And that’s what prayer is all about – it is about communication and communion with God Himself – with the most holy Trinity.      

Now, in our modern world today, we pride ourselves on our ability to communicate – we’re consumers and producers of all types of communication: newspapers, news channels, the Internet, social media, text messages, AI – communication is at the tips of our fingers – instantly.  And as helpful as all of this can be, I think it’s also one of the reasons why many people – and that probably means a good deal of us – have difficulty with prayer.  Why?  Because communication and communion with God aren’t instantaneous.  

The word communion (‘com-union’) literally means “union with”.  And like any real relationship, union with God requires time, not to mention openness and vulnerability.  When it comes to prayer, it’s not on our time table, though, it’s on God’s.  And it’s not as we would prefer it, but as God does.  That means prayer, in its deepest sense of communion, isn’t so much about us quick offering up a bunch of words to God – launching them up in the air, hoping He catches them – but rather, listening for God’s voice in silence and stillness over and over again.  That’s hard to do!  And that’s exactly what the Prophet Elijah seemed to learn in our first reading today.  He was looking for the almighty and all-powerful God in the “strong and heavy wind”, in the earthquake, and in the fire.  But God was not so much found in all this commotion, as He was in “the tiny whispering sound” – that still small voice.  St. Peter had to learn this too as we see in today’s Gospel.  He had to drown out all the crashing waves and the ferocious storm to hear the voice of Jesus beckon him, “Come.”    

My brothers and sisters, one of the greatest ways to pray is to listen to the magnificence of God’s whispers to our hearts.  But if we don’t make a dedicated time to sit in silence and prayer with God regularly, we’ll end up being distracted by the wind roaring, the earthquake shaking, the fire blazing, and the storm crashing in the din of our busy lives, and likely miss hearing the voice of God.  We need silence and stillness. 

When it comes down to it, what brings us back again and again to God in prayer is a desire to have a personal relationship with Him in prayer.  But have you every said to yourself, “I do pray.  But it still feels like something’s missing.”  Have you ever thought to yourself, “There just has to be more!”  There is indeed more.  And to discover this more, I’d like to invite you personally to join us for Discovering Christ this fall.  Discovering Christ is a seven-week course that creates a welcoming environment where we hear the Good News proclaimed in order to personally encounter Jesus Christ through the Catholic Church.  Each session includes good food, a brief time of prayer and worship, a video teaching, and small group discussion.  The high point of the course is a day retreat where guests have the opportunity to ratify their personal commitment to Jesus Christ and be renewed in the Holy Spirit.  Anyone, including non-Catholics, can participate and attend.  

You see, in baptism we have each been introduced to the person Jesus Christ.  We became members of His Body, the Church, after all!  But every relationship needs to grow in order to flourish.  For this to happen though, faith needs to make the journey from the head to the depths of the heart.  Discovering Christ gives us the welcoming, non-threatening context for just that to happen.  You’ll be able to register for Discovering Christ beginning August 15.  But please visit our parish homepage now for a short video and further information.  Please join us next month for Discovering Christ.  God bless you.