Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 01/09/22 Children of the Father

Episode Date: January 9, 2022

Homily from the Baptism of the Lord. Jesus changed the water. Now the water changes you. Why was Jesus baptized? Not because He needed it, but because we need it. We need baptism to be saved, to be children of God, and to be in a new and real relationship with God. Mass Readings from January 9, 2022: Isaiah 42:1-4,6-7 Psalms 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10Acts 10:34-38 Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

So on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, one of the questions that comes up, I think, is a question that I've been asked a lot, and I've even asked the question, is, so why did Jesus have to get baptized? We know why we have to get baptized, we have to get baptized, because we need it. Did Jesus need to be baptized? And kind of the short answer that's come back in the last 2,000 years of the church has been, Jesus did not need to get baptized, but when he got baptized, he changed the waters. So, John was, clearly, John was baptized, and we just heard that in there.

gospel today, John was baptizing. But when Jesus allowed himself to be baptized, when Jesus submitted to that, when he surrendered to that, he did something to the waters. And that's the crazy thing is this. Since he did something to the waters, now the waters do something to us. And this is remarkable. Like when it comes to our baptism, I'm not sure if you've ever reflected on your own baptism, but it's worth it. It is worth recognizing that baptism actually changes us. It actually does something. In fact, St. Peter says, baptism saves you now. In fact, St. Paul's letter to Titus. He said the exact same thing. We've been saved through baptism. regeneration. So it's not optional is what I'm trying to say, that baptism saves you now,

that it transferred you from the kingdom of darkness to be part of God's kingdom. I think it's worth noting that we're born, not as we should be. That we're, I think it's worth noting that when we're born, we're not just not the person, I'm not just the people we should. be, we're not the thing we should be. Here's what I mean, because baptism saves us. One of the most incredible things that baptism does, right, is it washes away original sin or heals that original sin, that original wound. So Father Benedict Rochelle at one point, he talked about original sin and he wrote a book

called the original wound because he said that people misunderstand original sin. You think we have original sin because of Adam and Eve's fall, right? Sure, but I didn't do anything wrong. So we're born in this, we were born with this original sin and he said it's actually more appropriate, more accurate to describe it as the original. original wound, that we're made for relationship with God. We're made for relationship with each other. We're made to actually have integrity in our hearts, in our minds, and who we are.

And we're born with that wounded. We're born with our relationship with God wounded. Our relationship with each other is born wounded, and even our relationship in our own hearts. We don't get ourselves. We're broken. We're wounded. And so he calls that that's the original wound. That you didn't ask for, you didn't deserve.

But every single one of us experiences that. What baptism does is it heals the original wound. right I just in this in this sense we're born out of a relationship with God now God for his part loves us right he God for his part he wants us to be saved he wants us to be his but we're born in a state where we're not his born in a state where we are his beloved creatures and he is our creator who loves us but we're born in a broken relationship in fact baptism doesn't just heal that original wound it actually changes us as I said we're not the people we

should be, not even just, we're not even the right species. What I mean by that is that baptism doesn't just save us. Baptism changes us. St. Peter said, Baptism saves you now. He also said this. He also says by baptism, we become partakers of the divine nature. Here's the second thing baptism does. It doesn't just begin to heal that original wound. It also changes who we are, changes what we are. That here's the kind of a controversial statement, but it shouldn't be, is that we're so used to living in a post-Christian world and kind of Christendom that we look around. We say, well, everyone's a child of God. And the reality, of course, is that that's not true, that we're not born children of God.

We're born beloved creatures of God that God absolutely loves with everything He is. But we're not born children of God. We're born beloved creatures of God. It's only through baptism that we become God's children. Which is remarkable. The example would be kind of this. God could call us his children, but unless we're changed, we're not his children. So I have a sister who likes her pets, and so she's one of those people who says, like, you know,

when she comes home and she says to her cats like, hi, mommy's home or to her dog, like, mommy's home. There's my babies. I'm like, Mom, Beth, like, seriously, you're not that hairy. You can't be their mom. But the truth is, she can say that she's their mom. She can even go down the courthouse and legally adopt her pets, but that wouldn't make her into their mom.

That wouldn't make those pets her kids. Again, you might love pets. That's awesome. You might even say I'm a pet mom or a dog dad or whatever we want to say. That's fine. I don't care. But when it comes to reality, it's not true. You're their owner.

You're their master. They're your property. They're your pets. You can love them absolutely, but they will never be your children and you will never be their mom or their dad. Why? Not because you don't love them enough, but because you're two different things. You're a different species. You're a human being, I assume, and your pets are whatever being they are. Same thing is true for us and God. God is divine. We are not. We are human, again, God's beloved creatures, but we don't share the same nature until what happens. At baptism, we become temples of the Holy Spirit. God shares his nature with us. So when the Holy Spirit comes upon you at your baptism, when it came upon you at your baptism,

you became a different creation. In fact, as St. Peter said, you'll become partakers of the divine nature. You're different now. You're new now. You're something else now. And the example I'd love to use is, and they've heard a thousand times, is the example of Pinocchio. Right. So we have the story of Pinocchio, and Pinocchio is made by Jepetto. Jepetto's the master woodcarver. And he makes Pinocchio out of love and he makes Pinocchio in his own image and likeness. He can walk like Chepetto, Pinocchio can talk like Jepo. Pinocchio can think like Chepetto. Pinocchio is broken like Chepetto is broken.

But Pinocchio is not Jepetto's son. And Jepo is not Pinocchio's father. Jepto is Pinocchio's maker who loves him and Pinocchio is the beloved creation. But they're not father and son. Something that has to happen to Pinocchio in order for him to be able to look at Jepetto and say, that's my dad. And what has to happen? He has to become a real boy, right?

He has to have the same nature as his maker. And when he does become a real boy, then he can look at Chappetto and say, you're my father, you're my dad. And Jepado can look at his creation and say, now, Pinocchio, you actually are my child, you are my son. Because they share the same nature. You guys, I don't know if you realized. On the moment you, the day you were baptized,

the moment you were baptized, not only was that relationship with God, healed, that original wound began to be healed, but you were made into his daughter. you were made into his son that day, never before that, but forever afterwards, God is your father. You were brought into a real relationship, and I want to capitalize on this, to highlight this. Not only was, again, the original wound began to be healed, this relationship with the Lord, relationship with each other, relationship in our hearts, when you were transformed so that whenever you pray, you can say what St. Paul says.

You can pray the way Jesus prayed, who says, Abba, or dad, and the Father looks at you and he says, you're my child. No, again, to say that not everyone is a child of God is not contrary. Sorry, it's not trying to be mean to people who aren't Christians. Because there is no religion, there's no philosophy, there's no belief anywhere until Christianity came on the scene that even claimed that we were God's children.

Muslims do not think they're God's children. They would actually believe that would be blasphemy in Islam. Jews would only be God's children by analogy. and Buddhists and Taoists and Hindus, nothing, not even close to God's children. They don't even claim that. It is only Christians who claim to be God's children because he has adopted us in Jesus Christ.

He's given us a share of His Holy Spirit. Again, which brings us into what? It brings us into a real relationship with God. If we're going to have a real relationship with God, that means two things. That means we have real rights. Think about what that means. If you have a real relationship,

with God, that means you have real rights, which means you have access to the father. I love this, the reality. If you're God's son, you have access to the father. So there's a story that we tell our students every fall through the Alpha program. And it's a story of this during the Civil War. There was this union soldier who was on the front lines, essentially. And he heard that his father and his brother had gotten killed in battle. And he knew that his mom and his sister were back at the farm.

And he knew that unless he got there and helped them, that they would lose everything. but he was enlisted. His commanding officers needed him on the field. And so his only hope, his only hope for leaving the front and going to help his mom and his sister was if Abraham Lincoln, President Lincoln, had given him permission for this. So he goes to Washington, D.C. And he tries to go up to the front door of the White House. And no one lets him in, of course, because he's just this normally average union soldier common.

And they say, the president doesn't have time for you, essentially. And so the story is he goes out to this picnic bench or park bench. He's just weeping, sobbing, going, like, no, not only if I lost my father and my brother, but my mom and my sister, they're going to be lost without me. And as the story goes, this young boy comes up to this soldier and asks him all he's crying, and he tells him his story about his father, about his brother, about his mom and his sister. And he just, he says, I could have just talk to the president, I would have hope. So the little boy says, you want to talk to the president, follow me, okay,

takes the soldier by the hand and leads him around, not to the front door of the White House, on the back door of the White House, he opens up the door, walks up the steps, opens up the door, walks through the hallways, past all the generals and all the other people who are in charge there, all the people who are guards,

and he walks to the Oval Office door, and he doesn't even knock, he just opens the door, walks in, and behind the desk in the Oval Office is the President of the United States who looks up, and he says, Tad, what are he doing here? And this little boy says,

Dad, this soldier needs to talk to you. You have access in Jesus because of your baptism. You have access because of Jesus, the son of God. God, who's given you his Holy Spirit, so you actually now are also a son of God or a daughter of God. You have access to the Father because a real relationship, that's a real relationship, gives you

real rights, which means whenever you need him, you can call out to your father and he hears you. Whenever you're broken, you can ask your Father for wholeness and he gives it to you. Whenever you're lost, you ask for the Father and he finds you. Because this is a real relationship. You could actually make demands on God, which is crazy. bonkers, it's bananas. But this is a real relationship,

so you have real rights. But also, if this is a real relationship, then you have real responsibilities. Because a third thing that baptism does doesn't just begin to heal the original wound, doesn't just make us into God's sons and daughters, it also brings us into his family. If this is going to be a real relationship,

then you have real rights. Every church you ever go into, every Catholic church you ever go into as a baptized Christian, that's your home. That's your place. Now, they might have hours and stuff. You can't break in. Like, that's meant to be your home where you can actually say that, no, I belong here.

No matter where you've been, no matter what you've done, you always belong. Real rights. But you also have real responsibilities. Which means God can say, hey, I need you. And you have to say, okay. The church can say, hey, I need you. We need you. And if this is a real relationship, then the answer is okay.

How can I serve? How can I help? I think sometimes we have forgotten that this is a real relationship. with God because we're afraid that the real rights that couldn't possibly be true. But it is true. I think sometimes we forget that we have a real relationship with God because we're afraid of the real responsibilities and ask, could I ever live up to that? To say no to myself and yes to the church, no to myself and yes to God. But that is the call on this feast of the baptism of the Lord.

We not only hear about Jesus who when he, entered the waters, he changed them. We also get to reflect on the fact that when you were baptized, those waters changed you. So you're never alone. You're never abandoned. You're never so far from the Father that he can't hear your voice,

that he can't see your tears, that he can't bring you home. Because you are, and always will be, a beloved child of the Father. with whom he is well pleased.