Homily, 11-4-24; Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo:
Yesterday, in his homily, Fr. Hurley touched on some of the difference between the three different levels of ordination: deacon, priest, and bishop. In the current Church, the levels are very distinct and the requirements for ordination to them are very rigorous. But it wasn’t always so.
Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Charles Borromeo. He lived in 16th century Italy and was a prominent figure at the Council of Trent to counter the Protestant Reformation. As a young man, Charles dedicated himself to the Church. After his father died, he struggled as he took on responsibility for his family. But then his uncle was elevated to the papacy and became Pope Pius IV. The new pope asked his nephew to assist him and named him a deacon at the age of 21. No four years of formation and classes at the seminary for him. Then four years later he was ordained a priest, and only three month later he was ordained a bishop at the age of 25. A meteoric rise for sure—something that could never happen today.
In today’s responsorial psalm we heard: “I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child. Like a weaned child on its mother’s lap, so is my soul within me.” This fits in well with St. Charles’ focus on meditation to quiet ourselves to improve our focus on our prayer. In a sermon at a synod, he said: “My brothers, you must realize that for us churchmen nothing is more necessary than meditation. We must meditate before, during and after everything we do. The prophet says: I will pray, and then I will understand.”
We all fight distractions as we try to pray or during Mass. I know I often get distracted during Mass by thoughts of other issues and matters in my life. And I sometimes get distracted as young altar servers need a little extra guidance and I get so preoccupied that I fail to focus on the miracle of the consecration before me. St. Charles prescribes mediation to counter our distractions in prayer. He preached that we must “resolve to use suitable means, such as penance, prayer, the avoidance of evil discussions and harmful and dangerous friendships.” He challenges us to consider how we prepare before we come to Mass.
He posed this solution in that sermon: “Would you like me to teach you how to grow from virtue to virtue and how, if you are already recollected at prayer, you can be even more attentive next time, and so give God more pleasing worship? Listen, and I will tell you. If a tiny spark of God’s love already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown out. Keep the stove tightly shut so that it will not lose its heat and grow cold. In other words, avoid distractions as well as you can. Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter.”
It’s good advice for us, but it is a challenge to quiet ourselves in the midst of a noisy world around us. It takes work. It takes practice to avoid our distractions during prayer.