When the Mind Wanders: Challenging the Distracted Heart

 

readings/091025 

I’ve heard it said—more times than I’d like to admit—that homilies are boring.
That some priests and deacons just aren’t good preachers.

And I understand.

I’ve sat there in the sanctuary,
next to the altar and the ambo,
in front of the people of God—
and my own mind has wandered.

I’ve watched lips move and words tumble,
while my heart drifted elsewhere.

Sometimes it’s my fault.
Sometimes it’s the preacher’s.
But always, it’s a moment that calls us back.

Because whether we are proclaiming the Word or receiving it,
we cannot expect the Holy Spirit to work in us
if our minds are rooted in the world
and not lifted toward the Kingdom.

Before I proclaim the Gospel, I pray—
not just for clarity of speech,
but for fire.

I ask the Holy Spirit to come upon me,
that my tongue may not trip,
my lips may not stumble,
and that my simple message might touch hearts.

I begin each homily with this prayer:

Come, Holy Spirit,
fill us with joy
and set our hearts ablaze
with the fire of your presence.

Because preaching is not performance.
It’s surrender.
It’s dying to self so that Christ may speak.

St. Paul reminds us in Colossians:

“If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above…
Think of what is above, not of what is on earth…
You have taken off the old self…
and have put on the new self,
which is being renewed…
in the image of its creator.”

This is the preacher’s task.
And it is the listener’s task too.

To put away distraction, anger, malice, and slander.
To stop lying to one another—
not just with words,
but with the masks we wear in church.

To be renewed in Christ,
who is all and in all.

Jesus, raising His eyes to His disciples,
didn’t offer comfort.
He offered truth:

“Blessed are you who are poor…
who hunger…
who weep…
who are hated for My sake.
Rejoice and leap for joy!”

That’s not boring.
That’s revolutionary.

So if the homily feels dry,
maybe it’s not the words.
Maybe it’s the soil.

Maybe we need to ask again
for the Spirit to till our hearts
and set them ablaze.

Because when the Word is alive,
even a whisper
can shake the pews.

Prayer Before the Word

Lord Jesus,
quiet the noise within me,
that I may hear Your voice.

Strip away distraction,
and clothe me in Your presence.
Let my heart burn with Your Word,
and my lips speak only what You have planted.

May those who listen be stirred,
not by eloquence,
but by Your Spirit alive in the message.

Come, Holy Spirit—
make the soil ready,
and let the seed take root.

Amen.