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 31 of Season 7 for the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time  - September 29, 2024. Our Gospel reading is from Mark Chapter 9, verses 38-43, 45, 47-48. 

At that time, John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’”

The Gospel of the Lord 

“The Courage of Authenticity,” by Father Mark S. Suslenko, Pastor, SS. Isidore and Maria Parish, Glastonbury, Connecticut

St. Oscar Romero was an archbishop in El Salvador. He was martyred in the year 1980, and he was martyred for speaking the truth, ruffling some feathers of folks who are creating some grave injustices at the time. He is, in every sense of the word, a contemporary martyr. He remarked very often that we live in a difficult hour, a difficult hour. And his day is very similar to our own, as not much has really changed over all of those years. And I quote, "It is a difficult hour because it is very difficult, very hard to live as a genuine follower of the one Lord." It is a difficult hour because it is very hard to live in it as a genuine follower of the one Lord. "It is easier," he continues, "to keep on following the same easy lords, the same easy lords that are set up as idols of the moment: money, power, prestige, and so forth." It is much easier to keep following the many easy idols of the moment: money, prestige, power.  

We can add to that list things like a sense of entitlement, self-satisfaction and pleasure, immersing ourselves in the secular world and following its pursuits, our own self-interests, and the list goes on. He also said that mediocrity is always the majority. Mediocrity is always the majority, and the courage of authenticity, the minority.  

And so his words are, indeed, very true. As you look out and about at our world and all the conflicts and the disagreements and the arguments and the places in which we find ourselves, many of them have their root in a pursuit of these easy lords, these idols that we set up of money, power, wealth, privilege, all of it. 

We keep a view of that outside of ourselves, but we also have to remember that you and I struggle with this as well. Each one of those things can be moments that stumble us and trip us up, and we can find ourselves even when wanting to be people of deep faith, falling victim to those easy lords, those idols that are around us. 

For example, if I went to the Glastonbury Citizen this next week and put a blurb in there that on such and such a Sunday at six o'clock in the morning, we are having a Mass here at St. Paul Church, and during that Mass, one person - one person - will walk away with $1 million, we won't have enough seats for the people who will suddenly find the faith, and come here on that particular Sunday hoping to be that one. You see, there's something inside of us that doesn't want to lose hold of plan B. So, in other words, we believe in plan A. We believe in the Gospel. We believe in the words of Jesus. But then, in our back pocket, we wanna have the plan B. So, in other words, we don't want to risk our earthly security. So, we find ourselves dabbling a little bit in both worlds. Whereas Jesus says, you have to bring yourself only into one world. It can't be both. Because if you follow those easy lords, those idols of the moment, they're going to lead you to disaster and error. 

And so what is Jesus really saying? Is he saying that we can't have money? That we can't live in the world, that we can't have possessions, that power is absolutely no good and the list goes on and on? No, he’s not saying that at all. What he is saying is there's a place for everything. But when one thing like power and wealth and prestige and privilege and all of that stuff runs amuck,  you're headed for a disaster because you've made that a God. Whereas Jesus said use those things intentionally and with proper purpose. In short, orientate yourself not to the ways of the world but to the sacred. Orientate yourself to the sacred, not to the ways of the world.  

And this is the trap we fall into, and why so many people often find themselves with an emptiness and an ache inside because they’re trying to find happiness in all the wrong places. Because Jesus very readily says, you know, those plan B's that you're putting so much time and effort into? Those can be taken away tomorrow. That can all go, and then where's your plan B? And then what about Plan A, which you should have been putting your time and energy into? Will you have enough resources there to rely upon? 

And so when we orientate ourselves to the sacred, then we begin to live life with intention; with intention. So, it's not so much about renunciation. It's not about just giving everything up. It's more about intention. What intention do I bring to the goods of the world, to the management of money, to power, to privilege, and to prestige? Because money, with the proper perspective, can be a very good thing. Power, used properly, can do a lot of good. It can empower those who are powerless. And what's wrong with a healthy sense of self, of esteem. No one can take away that from a human being. But it's when we become self-indulgent in those things, and they begin to own our lives that we're headed down that slippery slope. And Jesus says, be careful, be very careful.  

And so it's very difficult for the Christian who wants to be a genuine follower of the Lord, and anyone who's ever tried this can say that it’s very true, to go out into the world and do that because we're constantly moving upstream, going against the tide. Because, as Oscar Romero says, mediocrity is the norm. So, most of the folks are mediocre, and if you have a courageous authenticity and have what you know to be the truth and you're trying to go into a mediocre world, you're not going to be received very well, and people are going to push back. You know, it sounds, at first, like the message is great. And it is good news if you wholeheartedly believe it and accept it, to live a life intentionally focused on love, with purpose, in the design of God's kingdom, doing God's work, that sounds great. But when you announce that to somebody and say, "Hey, listen, you gotta change up the way you're doing business,"  suddenly that message that seems very positive and ,welcoming all of a sudden receives pushback because we don't wanna get rid of those easy lords.  It's easier to follow those things,  and to live a life just coasting along rather than a life that is challenging.  

You know, it's almost like looking through a window that's dirty. You're trying to see reality on the other side. You're trying to see what's over there, but you can't because it's just filled with mud and dirt and grime. As a Christian, we want to clean up that lens. And the only way we can do that is with a life of prayer and devotion and  commitment to the Eucharist. Without those things, we can't clear that lens so that we can look out and see an illuminated world, a world that burst forth with God's presence, with God's love, with his mercy. A world that is bright, a world that has promise, a world that has hope, a world that is not tethered to the material things of life, or to self-interest. And we can see that bright world through that cleaned up lens. And that's the whole point of coming together as a community and receiving the Eucharist and working at lives of prayer and devotion so that we can see clearly through that lens of love that can so easily get mired and dirtied by the secularism of the world and fogged up. 

And so as we have an opportunity today, if we ever feel that as Christians, we're pushing upstream, that we're really not making as much progress as we would like to make, that we wonder just how far the Good News is reaching in these corners of the world then take heart. There are many others before us who fought that same battle, but our faith tells us that we have to keep pushing on. Of taking the mediocre of the majority and challenging it to truth, so that all people can come to see and know Christ. So that all deeds done in the name of the Lord are done for the good and as a part of the plan of God's kingdom. 

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.