You may be Surprised

Homily given at Malden Catholic High School
On Friday 20th of September
By: Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd

This is a great priveledge for me to be able to celebrate with you this holy Mass at the beginning of your new school year and at the beginning of my priesthood.

My name is Fr. Ron Floyd, and just 10 years ago I was sitting where you are. I was a senior, here at MC I had just come off MCLI and was looking forward to a new year, my senior year—and all that this entailed SATs; Prom; Graduation; a semester off of Christian service; college applications—you senio\rs know the story.

My class, the class of 1999, was on top of the world! And it was a great year! We partied like it was 1999, because in fact it was.

I left MC in the spring of 1999 pretty sure about where life was taking me—and let me tell you,
it wasn’t here. Back then I was into politics, as some of my old teachers may remember— by that time I had already started to get involved with a few campaigns,

I left MC and moved to Washington, DC where I went to Catholic University.as a political theory major, with a pre-law concentration At Catholic I got myself ready for Law school and was very involved with a dozen or so campaigns. By my junior year in college I had landed a job working for the US Senate—as one of the youngest paid staffers I was being consulted by senators, and given a voice in the legislative process. This was my dream come true and it seem like the sky was the limit.

I even got a job offer from a friend at the White House. It was amazing—all my plans for my life, were suceeding. I was getting everything I ever thought I wanted—I had good friends, a nice apartment, a car, a good job, career opportunities, and I hadn’t even finished college yet!

And yet something was wrong—something was out of whack—in my heart I wasn’t happy, despite all of my sucesses. Thank God I had some good friends at the time, who gave me some good advice—they encouraged me to pray to God, and ask Him about His plan for my life.

You see—God made the world, he made everything and everyone and he made it because he loves us. He wants us to be happy and holy, He wants our lives to be filled with joy, happiness, and love, and He knows what will make us happy, because He knows us better than we know ourselves!

In my Junior year of college—I realized that I had been so busy following my own plans, that I forgot to ask God about His plan for me. I forgot to listen to His plan—and so I gave God a chance
Let me tell you it was as much a surprise to me as to anyone when I heard Him, calling me to be a priest.

Its not that I had never thought about it before, its just that I had never really given that thought a chance. Not here at MC and not in college to that point. It was a tough decision to let go and let God, to take a chance on God, putting my life and my career on hold. To be quite honest I was afraid to let go.

But I did it, entering Seminary five years ago and I stand before you now, five years latter, a new priest to tell you that if you, like everyone I know, want to be happy. You’ve got to listen to God’s plan for you.

I was suprized by God’s plan, but even moreso by the intense happiness and satisfaction following God’s plan has brought me. God has a plan for each of us and a plan for the World and when we follow his plan the world becomes truly good the way God made it to be.
In the Gospel today we hear about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, on the first Christian Church. Do you remember what does Jesus say, when he comes among them? He says: Peace be with you.

Just as elsewhere he says: Be not afraid. He says this because following God’s plan for us, growing in love for God and our neighbor, always involves a risk—the risk of our reputation, the risk of our livelihood and even the risk of our lives. Christians in places like China, India, Belerus and Saudi Arbia are taking that risk today, just like Christians have always taken that risk

Because Christ tells us not to be afraid, because Christ gives us His peace—the peace that comes from being a beloved son of God. And with this peace he gives us the Holy Spirit that fills us with the gifts of courage, wisdom, counsel, and fear of the Lord.

The gifts we will need to bear witness to our faith to listen to and to follow his plan for us, and to become the saints we are meant to be. Men today, at the beginning of this school year
you are presented a choice, whether you are a freshman or a senior.

Today—God, who has graced you with so many gifts, is calling you and asking you, to listen to his voice speaking to you in your heart. Today Jesus is giving you His peace, telling you not to be afraid, and strenghtening you with His Body and Blood and Holy Spirit.

Today you can choose to accept and cooperate with God’s plan to go plus ultra more beyond your fears and limitations and embrace the heroic destiny that God made you for or you can choose to remain the same, to participate in this Mass, but not to be transformed by it.

God is calling you today, as he does at every Mass, to go into the world like his disciples and spread the good news that God loves us and died for us. He is calling you today, to do this by following a unique plan that he designed for you from the first moments of your conception. He is calling you to holiness, to sainthood, and to true happiness.\Take a chance on God--listen to God and follow Him.

—Accept the peace of Christ offered in this Mass—
And be not afraid.

God gives us our life as a gift, a surprise to the world and to ourselves. Accept the gift God gives you today the gift of life and of His plan for you. You may be suprized by what it holds in store for you like I was—but I guarantee you, following God’s plan is worth it!