Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 01/01/25 The Power of "Yes"

Episode Date: January 1, 2025

Homily from the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. When we know God's will, we must respond with "yes". There are truly horrible and troubling things that can happen in each one of our lives. And yet, at every moment, we have the opportunity to respond in faith and love. Our response of trust can be summed up in one word: "Yes". Mass Readings from January 1, 2025: Numbers 6:22-27 Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8Galatians 4:4-7 Luke 2:16-21

Welcome to Sunday homilies with me, Father Mike Schmitz. I hope today's homily inspires and motivates you, and I also hope that it leaves you hungry for the one who gave everything to feed you. If you want to get this in other Sunday Mass resources sent straight to your inbox, sign up at ascensionpress.com slash Sunday, or by texting Sunday to 33777. You can also follow or subscribe on your podcast app for weekly notifications. God bless. The Lord be with you.

He reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke, chapter 2 verses 16 through 21. The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds, and Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God, for all they had heard and saying, seen, just as it had been told to them. When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him

by the angel, before he was conceived in the womb. The Gospel of the Lord. Wait should have a seat. So there's this relatively famous podcaster in business management is Jock Willink. Jock, I don't know you guys heard of Jocko. So Jocko is a former Navy SEAL, and he has a cool podcast, and he has a couple of business, private business ventures kind of a thing. But there's this one talk that he gives.

It's basically a podcast. He's getting into an interview. And he's talking about his disposition when he was on the SEAL teams. And his disposition, especially talking with a man he was leading, was his default. He said, good, was his answer. So someone would come to him. One of his men would come to him and say, hey, there's a problem.

We don't have the equipment we need. And Jocko would say, good. Say, okay, you know, we didn't get approval by the brass to do X, Y, and Z. Jock would say, good. Or he'd say, you know, we have enemy, you know, on the right side, da, da, da. good. And anytime, anytime, someone came to him with news. It doesn't have to be horrible news. Didn't have to be good news. It was just his response was good. In fact, one of his men, he came to him and said, I know what you're going to say. He's going to complain. I know what you're going to say.

And Jaccoe says, what am I going to say? He said, you're going to say good. And Jacko says, yeah, because why? Because everything that comes to us, based on our response to it, can be for our growth. And this is Jacco coming. I don't know if he's a Christian or not. I don't know if he has a relationship with Jesus or not. But there's a perspective there that is really, really true. Now, obviously, there are things that are bad that happen. Evil is real in our world. That suffering is real in our world.

The injustice is real in our world. We wouldn't say that evil is good or suffering is automatically good or injustice is good, not at all. But the opportunity that we're given to just look at the circumstances we're in with a different kind of vision and simply say, good. Like, what would that do, even just what would that do interiorly? I came across this, I don't know, is a claim from someone who also claimed to be a scientist, and so don't quote me on this fund.

But they said that there are some words you can say that actually kind of, in some ways, rewire your brain. What I mean by that is we face an obstacle and we say things like, ugh, or I hate this, or I have to do this, or I can't do X. But if we were to say the word, yes, there's something that I think it really, releases serotonin or something along these lines. It's just there's a something according to the person. I've sort of followed it up, but just I've been doing this and I realize, oh, that, it does change.

Maybe it's a placebo. I don't care because it works. But when I find something, I don't want to do if I simply say yes. Like even saying the word yes, or like Jocko, good. There's something about this that helps me engage. Because I know, I know that when I'm facing difficult situations, I know what I'm facing that situation, I would rather not be. I'd rather be in or rather avoid that I would,

my tendency is to complain. To hear Jacco say, okay, good. Or to hear this person who said, you know, your response could be, yes, there's something powerful about this. And even in a deeper spiritual level, here we are on the first of the year, celebrating the solemnity of the feast of Mary, the mother of God. Here's Mary, who is the disciple.

She's the example for every single one of us when it comes to what it is to follow after Jesus. Even just think about, not today's reading necessarily, but think about when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to marry him. And he announces to her, okay, here's God's plan for your life. What's her response? Now, if you were to know, here's God's plan for your life,

what would your response be? Or maybe this, You know, we've talked about, I think, before Adamant even started, we talked about the reality that you were consecrated at your baptism, consecrated a king or queen in the kingdom. You're consecrated a priest. You're consecrated a prophet. What if you knew the word that God wanted you to speak? Like, what would your response be?

I think at first our response would be, awesome. This is great. Like, I finally know God's will for my life. Or I know the word God wants me to say. You know, initially, I think we'd have this relief. I think initially we'd have this like, awesome. I can't believe. I know God's will for my life.

I know what he wants me to say. I know what he wants me to do. It would be great at first. In fact, it reminds me of the book of Revelation 10. There's a scene in Revelation 10. Here's John the beloved, right? John, the beloved disciple, who an angel of the Lord hands him a scroll and tells him to eat it.

And so John eats it. And he describes it. He says, when I tasted it, it tasted sweet like honey. But it became sour in my stomach. And there's the people who are like, what does that even mean? that you ate a, that you ate a scroll, B, that it would taste sweet like honey, C, that it turns sour in your stomach.

And there's a lot of different theories, but here's, I think, the best theory. Here's the word of the Lord, a scroll, which is God's word, that John is given because they're God's very words, and they taste sweet like honey, right? Because how awesome would it be? To actually be able to take in the word of God

to know what it is that God wants you to do or to know what it is God wants you to say. That's what this symbolizes, right? Because John has given a word, like literally a word. he has to eat, that God wants John to speak to the world. But the word is a difficult word. The word that John's given to speak is on the condemnation,

the judgment that's coming upon the world. And so it's a hard word. Now, imagine, it tastes sweet at first. Why? Because, oh, gosh, Lord, I know what you want me to say. And I know exactly what you want me to do. So it's sweet. But then it turns sour and a stomach.

Why? Because so often, when we finally discover what God's will is for our lives, or God's word is that he needs us to speak, wants us to speak, it is a hard will. It is a hard word to say, and so we'd rather not. So if we keep it in, it, it spoils. You can look at Mary, go back to Mary. Lucky, Mary, you got to know God's will for your life. But without the power of her saying, yes, God's will for her life would be sweet in her mouth but sour inner stomach. I don't know if you've ever had this experience where there was a moment where you knew

and you knew in a definitive way, this is what God needs me to say. This is what he's asking me to say. He's asking me to say a hard word. And at first, at first, I'm like, great, I can't believe. God, I know what you want me to say. But if I keep it in, it is going to eat me up. Or you know what God's will is. Here's this next step he's inviting you to take.

But God, I don't want to take this next step. So at first, the joy of I know what you asking me to do. The longer we put it off, the more just like John in Revelation chapter 10, the more it turns in our stomach. But the power of just being able to say, okay, God, here is your will or here is your word. Yes. It's so incredibly powerful to be able to be able to be free to do this, to be free to be like Mary. Be free to say, okay, yes to everything that God has brought into your life. and to be free to say yes to all of the things that he's kept from you in your life.

And it's a hard word, right? It's a hard will. But imagine the freedom and the power of being able to simply utter that one word, yes. What was the consequence? What's the consequence of Mary's yes? Well, all generations will call me blessed. She says that and that's true. Think about this.

Think about for the last, the reality, for the last 2,000 years, I don't know of any Christian who hasn't looked at the example of Mary and has said, okay, if she was able to do this as a child, right, as a 14 to 16 year old young woman, if she was able to say yes to the Lord, not knowing where this was going to lead, not knowing what it was going to cost her, not knowing what it was going to lead, would take her,

then I can say yes. I mean, think about the fact that her one yes has been the example for virtually every Christian who's come after. her. Because she could have said no. She could have said maybe. She could have said wait, but she said yes. And what did it do? It changed the world. Last week, last Sunday I guess, we pointed out that Jesus is the single most influential person on the world in spite of the fact that he lived a quiet life. Here's Mary, who I would maintain is the second most influential person in the history of world. And what did she do? You know, this woman, a person named Carol Houselender. And

Carol Houselender once said these words, God will never ask you to do anything more than he asked of Mary. And all he ever asked of her was that she say yes. Here's the reality for your life. The word God has for you to speak, the will he has for you to do. God will he has for you to do. God will never ask you to do any more than he asked the Blessed Virgin Mary. And all he ever asked for her to do was to say yes. To be able to be in a place today, literally today. We practice a bit today. We practice in decent seasons because it's easier to do in decent seasons than it is to do in difficult seasons. So if today, on the first of the year, you're going through a decent season, practice this word. Like Jocko, good. Like Mary, yes.

to be able to say, okay, God, all the things you brought into my life, yes. All the things you've kept from me, yes. To be able to go before the father, knowing we trust him, knowing he loves us, knowing that he is a good, he's a good, good dad. And to be able to today, say, look at, I mean, take an assessment of your life. Here we are on January 1st. Here we are on the first of the year and say, oh, he, there's all the things in my life. Father, yes.

Here's all the difficulties in my life. Father, yes. You know all the things that I prayed for, asked for, begged for that I don't have. Father, yes. To be able to practice that response in this decent season. Maybe you're in a difficult season, but to practice in a decent season is to prepare your hearts, all of our hearts, to be able to say that one word in the most difficult season of our lives. Because without this one word, we cannot be disciples of Jesus.

Without this one word, we will never come close to being the kind of disciples that Jesus. as inviting us and giving us the grace to be. Without this one word, we can never be like our mom, marry the mother of God and our mother. And that one word is yes. God, this is what you brought into my life? Yes. God, this is what you're keeping from my life?

Yes. You will never, ever be asked to do more than Mary. And all she was ever asked was to say yes. Thank you.