Hi everyone, and welcome to Weekly Homilies with Father Mark Suslenko, Pastor of SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut. I'm Carol Vassar, parish director of communications, getting us started on this episode with a quote from St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross: 

“Lay all your cares about the future trustingly in God’s hands, and let yourself be guided by the Lord just like a little child…” 

St. Theresa Benedicta’s quote is truly relevant to Father Mark’s Homily for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 4, 2024, which centers on deepening one’s spiritual life. First, though, our Gospel reading, which is from John Chapter 6: verses 24-35.

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal."

So they said to him, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” So they said to him, "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? 

Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” So Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

So they said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

The Gospel of the Lord 

“Deepening Our Faith,” by Father Mark S. Suslenko, Pastor, SS. Isidore and Maria Parish, Glastonbury, Connecticut

Every single one of us gathered here today comes with their own personal, intimate relationship with God. Even if God is still just an idea for you, and his presence hasn't yet become real for you, you have notions and conceptions, and ideas about who God is. You have come to a measure of faith, and each one of us can articulate that journey of faith of what has brought us to a belief in Jesus Christ. And that story is different for every face here in this place today, and that story is personal and intimate unto each soul who is here.  

When we choose to have a relationship with God, when we acknowledge the truth of God, then, that relationship begins to unfold.  And as with human relationships that we treasure and share, each one of those relationships has a particular place in our lives. We can look at those closest to us, and each one of those people serves a function that is unique unto them. And whether we realize it, we also have expectations of those people: expectations of their role in our life and what we're looking for them to do. Sometimes, those expectations are very realistic. Other times, those expectations are not.  

As we look to our relationship with God, as we do with our human relationships, we find ourselves asking God a very profound question in prayer, and whether we've actually articulated it this way or in other ways, it's a question that is asked, and the question is this:  Okay. God, I believe in you, now what do you do? What do you do? What does this faith that I proclaim in you really mean, and what can I expect out of you in my life? It's a reasonable question, and we all ask it, but what is the answer? What are reasonable expectations of God, and what are unreasonable expectations of God? 

Well, as we go through our lives, we tend to lead our lives with eyes cast downward. The cares and the concerns that are brought to us each day are what preoccupy us. They become the source of our anxiety. They become the source of our worry. We live our lives sometimes as if the sole aim and purpose of who we are is to somehow maintain this, to get through this with the least amount of scars to get through with the least amount of anxiety, to get through with the least amount of effort. We believe in the back of our minds and even in our hearts that if we pray hard enough, then God is going to take our boat and bring it to calm waters; that somehow we're going to hop, skip, and jump over all the ugly difficult stuff and be brought to a better place. And those expectations of God are brought to our life of prayer, and what happens when we get disappointed? What happens when we storm heaven and the answer doesn't seem to come? What happens when we pray and pray and pray, and the furniture of our lives stays exactly the same? What happens when I cry out to God in that pit of grief that's in my soul is still there? What happens when God does not meet my expectations?  

You see a lot of folks have expectations that if God is God and God is love, and the world in which we live shouldn't look like this. That somehow God would intervene in some eternal way and fix all of this nonsense that we tend to fumble up against all the time. That somehow God would take his wonderful creation and make it better,  but yet God allows it to be. And so, one of the greatest struggles of faith is reconciling this God of love with all of the ugliness of life, and some people can't. But when we begin to understand our faith more deeply, we can.  

One of the most interesting things about spiritual lives is that they often do not find their depth when we're gazing on green pastures when the terrain is flat and all is well. They often flourish when the bottom falls out, when those things we are dependent upon are taken from us, and we're left alone with God.  

A lot of the wonderful saints who have offered us tremendous legacies in our history attest to this fact. People who have unlocked the mystery of God's love have done so stripped of every privilege, stripped of every comfort, and left alone. One such story is found in a woman by the name of Edith Stein. Edith Stein was an amazing, amazing woman. Her writings were incredible. One of her most notable works is called The Science of the Cross, a very profound understanding of the mystery of the cross in our lives. 

She started out as a Jewish woman, became a convert to the faith, embraced the faith so much, and a life with God so much that she actually then entered the convent and became a nun and became Sister Theresa Benedicta of the Cross. And as a nun, as a religious, she had this tremendous faith in God, but her life was anything but easy.  And she and her sister, one day back in those days of World War II, and life was so horrific for many, were whisked off and brought to a concentration camp, stripped of everything, and then killed. But yet, in the midst of all of that suffering and heartache, her faith shined. And we look at that, we who are so concerned about the particulars and the stuff of our lives, and wonder how can that be? How can you take everything away from someone, strip them of their dignity, and how do they come out still having faith? In fact, a faith that's even deeper than before all that happened. Well, the answer to that. It is also the answer to that profound question we ask of God: what can you do? 

I will tell you what God can do, and it's something that only God can do and no one else, and it has nothing to do with the arranging of the furniture in our lives. And if we receive a consolation or a blessing or an answer to prayer, express one's gratitude and then move on and try to find God where he's really calling you, which is in the depth of your soul. Because what God can do happens here. What God can do is right before us every time we gather at this table, at this altar, and that bread and that wine is transformed into the body and blood of Christ, that's what God can do. 

Because Edith Stein and many others like her unlocked the mystery of that cross. And the mystery of that cross is brought forth in the Eucharist. There, we see the profound love that can only come from God. There, we receive a presence that is so precious and deep that it's to be held sacred in our souls. It is only here at the table of the Eucharist when we receive the body and blood of Christ, that we also receive the three gifts that God can give and what can God do? God can give us these gifts: the gift of faith, the gift of hope, and the gift of love. Yes, God allows things to be in the world and in our lives, but we have to remember that we see the small picture. We see today and maybe a glimpse of tomorrow. We don't see where life is going to bring us. We don't see how the story ends. God does. And if we come frequently to the Eucharist and receive the body and blood of Christ and we receive those three profound blessings that only God can give faith, hope, and love, then we have what we need to encounter anything that happens to us in this life, not doubting, whether God is present in the midst of that pain, but never losing grasp of his hand and having the courage to persevere in spite of what is happening around us. 

That is what God can do, and if we can adjust ourselves by coming here frequently and receiving God's greatest gift, then we take our sight off of the small picture of our lives, and remember the big picture to which each one of us is called. 

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.