Hi everyone, and welcome to Weekly Homilies with Father Mark Suslenko, Pastor of SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut. We are part of the Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford. I'm Carol Vassar, parish director of communications, and this is Episode 27 of Season 6 for the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord: August 6, 2023. Our Gospel reading is from Matthew, Chapter 17, verses 1-9.
Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased: listen to him.”
When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone.
As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, "Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
The Gospel of the Lord.
“Navigating AI's Impact with Divine Guidance.” by Father Mark S. Suslenko, Pastor, SS. Isidore and Maria Parish, Glastonbury, Connecticut
Today's Feast of the Transfiguration can become a very powerful reflection for us as we continue to work out our identity as Christians, believers in Jesus Christ. Today, we realize, in the revelation that has occurred, the true identity of Jesus himself. With a few friends by his side, he is transformed into his glorified self, not only confirming his identity as the Son of God but proclaiming to them who he really is and whom he will become.
It also confirmed for those few that were gathered at that time what their identity would eventually be as well in Christ. That they, too, as believers in the Son of God, believers in Jesus Christ, have a destiny of transformation, of transfiguration, of glorification in Christ as the ultimate end goal of their existence.
Both of those two realities are so important for us as we continue to live out our Christian lives here and now because they remind us, as baptized people, that we, too, share in that same relationship that Jesus has with the Father. We have that intimate connection with God in our identity as sons and daughters of God is pivotal to us understanding who we are and what life is all about.
But it also brings with it the gift of hope that even in the midst of the struggles of life, even in the midst of life's disappointments and its rockiness, the end goal of our life is to be in Christ, radiant in glory. If we hold fast in belief to the Son of God, that all will eventually be well in the eternity of God's kingdom. And that Proclamation of Hope brings a renewed sense of life to the world, but also a deep experience of profound love as well. And so, going forward into our lives and into the world, we carry those banners with us: radiant new life, the virtue of love, and the virtue of hope.
Now, as you look at our everyday lives as Christians, being a radiator of new life and a beacon of hope, and an embracer of love is a challenge indeed. We struggle, even in the simple things of life, to bring those charisms to how we act and how we think. If it's a challenge to do this in the normalcy of our everyday lives, how much more difficult is it when we look at the world, and the virtual journey that it's on these days, the role of artificial intelligence and the technology that seems to be advancing at light speed day after day? There's always something new, always something intriguing, always something challenging. How does a transformed person relate to this ever-growing complex world?
Pope Francis, at World Youth Day this year in Portugal, cautioned the young people against the illusions of the virtual world, and he told them to remain rooted in reality, in what is real. And he emphasized that point primarily because God is not found in the virtual, but God is found in the real, in the real.
Artificial intelligence offers us many possibilities, but it also causes us to then discern what is real and what is artificial, and what's the role of this new technology and these new developments in our lives - in our Christian lives?
Let's face it; this technology is already at our disposal to some degree. Priests can use artificial intelligence to construct an awesome homily. Ministers can use artificial intelligence to perform a sermon that would inspire everyone. You can go on the artificial intelligence mode and develop a speech for an award that you have received; problem solve, something that is a work-related matter. Artificial intelligence can provide so many things to us at our disposal. Students can use them to craft papers, to do their homework. We look online, and we look at the Internet to discern whether something is real or something is virtual is very hard indeed because we are coming very close to replicating what we understood always as being human. In some circles, the marketing of artificial intelligence is poised to be even better than what a human being can do; a degree more perfect, more accurate, surpassing anything that we could construct ourselves, and we're led to believe that this artificial world is bigger and better.
The artificial world: it even can influence the conducting of war. I was intrigued by a documentary that Netflix put out, and it's entitled "Killer Robots." "Killer Robots." If you have Netflix, this is worth taking the time to see. It will certainly open your eyes, not to what's possible in the future, not what's possible tomorrow, but what is happening today!
See, at some point, as Christians especially, we have to define our relationship with the artificial virtual world. How much do I give myself over to what that world can do for me that I once did for myself? Let's face it, we all sometimes err on the side of laziness. And so, if the virtual world can provide a function for me that before took time, why not give it a shot and use that to resolve my issue rather than put forth the energy myself?
But human lessons are best learned often through taking the more difficult road, not the easier. And we run the risk of truncating ourselves and our development because an easier option is available that requires little or no effort. And so, in this virtual world, we have all of these opportunities. But imagine this: in a virtual world that is using its instruments to conduct war, which in and of itself should raise the back of the heads of any committed Christian who is called to pursue a life of love, especially of one's enemies. Imagine a piece of intelligence at the hands of a human being that can do what a human being used to do without the risk of anything happening to the person itself.
It's one thing to orchestrate the use of artificial intelligence, to guide it with a personal conscience, to guide it with personal intervention. But imagine artificial intelligence unleashed, able to make decisions on its own without the need of human intervention.
Something for the future, perhaps? No. Something that's available right now. And so for the Transfigured Transformed Christian, it is important for us to discern our relationship with this new and rapidly developing world, especially the young people who are here today who are going to be the primary drivers of this virtual world, that are going to have more at their fingertips than we can even imagine to negotiate the complexities of life.
Let's face it; artificial intelligence can do great things. There's no reason not to believe that it can't have something to say and do about world hunger. Artificial intelligence can perhaps help us unlock the doors to diseases that we know very little about today. Artificial intelligence can help promote the cause of humanity. But, artificial intelligence without a conscience, without prudent judgment, without a sense of discernment, and without a soul and a rootedness in God can certainly and very quickly lead to destruction.
And so it is important for the Christian to go out into the world as a transformed, transfigured person with a new life and the knowledge and the love and the hope that proclaims to this world struggling to understand who they are, that their life is rooted in Christ, and that their destiny can be something much more glorified and dramatic and wonderful, and that everything that his human in every sense of that word is something always and everywhere to be celebrated, not overlooked, not surpassed, and certainly not replaced, and that we are the primary drivers of all of the gifts that we have before us to use for our good and not for our destruction.
But in this world that has this life of its own, how does our voice get into a discussion about these very catastrophic and dire concerns? I don't have an answer to that question, but I can only place before us today that this Feast of the Transfiguration begs the discussion in our own social groups as we interact with folks about how we can be beacons of light, beacons of hope, and beacons of love in a world that sometimes spins out of control. And how we can use the gifts that we have around us, not haphazardly or without care or concern, but with prudence, with discernment, and, most importantly, with a conscience. These are dire questions to ask and answer indeed because the implications can when you think about it, become very drastic.
Father Mark Suslenko is the pastor of SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Learn more about our parish community at www.isidoreandmaria.org. And follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Our music comes free of charge from Blue Dot Sessions in Fall River, Massachusetts. I’m Carol Vassar. Thanks for joining us.