Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 01/19/20 Underestimated: Single Unifying Principle

Episode Date: January 20, 2020

Homily from the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The single unifying principle unites all of the various threads of our life into one whole image. It is “too little” to remain who you are instead of becoming who God needs you to be. Mass Readings from January 19, 2020: Isaiah 49:3, 5-6 Psalms 40:2, 4, 7-101 Corinthians 1:1-3 John 1:29-34 Download the Homily Study

So it's been one week. Last week was the date. Literally a week ago, last Sunday on January 12th, was the date that if you're a person who sets New Year's resolutions, January 12th, last week was the day that most people who set New Year's resolutions quit. They stopped. That was last week a whole week ago.

12 days into the New Year, people have these incredible plans, right? The kind of people who set New Year's resolutions, it's the kind of people who want a difference. They want to change in their life. But in 12 days, you know that only 8% of people who even set New Year's resolutions actually accomplished their New Year's resolution? And the majority of them quit, the majority of us, let's just be honest, the majority of us quit in under two weeks.

I don't know if you're New Year's resolution people, but that kind of thing. Like, you know, there could be school resolutions, okay, this semester, here's the deal. I'm going to study, I'm going to live in the library. That'll be my new PO box. Or this semester it's all about I'm at the gym, this time, this is my spot, this is my treadmill, no one gets on it, I'm on there at 6 o'clock, that's your thing. Or it could be like, no, this semester, last year I gave myself, last semester, it was too much about work. This is all about relationships.

I'm going to make time for friends. And then we just fall on. We have these big plans. That's the thing is one of the things we do when it comes to making New Year's resolutions is we overestimate the big moments. We overestimate the big plans. And we underestimate the daily choices, right? We underestimate the small decisions.

Another way to say it is, I would say this, when it comes to any kind of desire for change in our life, we end up underestimating what God sees, what God sees in us. We end up underestimating the power of a single unifying principle for our lives, and I believe we underestimate too often, we underestimate the impact of those small daily decisions. Because we underestimate so much,

you're here at school because you want to change. change, right? Because you want to grow, because your default mode is growth. Like, you're only here because of that, because your default is, I can be better. And so what we're going to do is, too often we underestimate what better is. Too often we underestimate ourselves. Too often we underestimate what God wants to do with us. So for the next three weeks, we're doing this little series, little mini, three-part series, just underestimated. Because too often, we underestimate who God sees us to be. Too often we underestimate what God wants us to be. Too often we underestimate what God can do in our So we need to sit here and say, okay, where am I underestimating myself?

Where am I underestimating God's power in my life? There was maybe years ago I read an article about the British cycling team. And this team was awful. In fact, since 1908, I think, the British cycling team had won one Olympic gold medal. Like they were so bad, and over 110 years, no person, no cyclist from Great Britain had won the tour to France. They were so bad that European bike manufacturers didn't let British cyclists ride their bikes because they were too embarrassed.

Like, no, you're too bad. You're awful. You can't ride our stuff. You don't want to be associated with you. That's how bad they were. And if you were to look at them, you wouldn't underestimate them. And you would estimate that they were not good. They were mediocre at best.

Now, I mean, these are professional athletes, but at the same time, they were not great. And then in 2003, the British cycling team hired this guy named Dave Brailsford. and Dave Brailsford saw this team, and he saw what they could be. He refused to underestimate them. He said, actually, they have the potential to be amazing. They have potential to be far more than everyone else sees them. Everyone else is underestimating their potential, and Dave Brailsford looked at them and said, you have more, you are more.

Therefore, because you have the potential to be more, you need to be more. This is what the Lord says in Isaiah 49 tonight. I don't know if you caught this. The beginning of Isaiah is so cool. So here's the context for Isaiah 49. Here's the prophet. His name is Isaiah. Okay.

And he's speaking to Israel. What happened to Israel? Israel's his kingdom made up of 12 tribes. And God promises this kingdom is going to last forever. But then what happens is the kingdom splits in two, ten tribes in the north, two tribes in the south. And then the Assyrians come in from the north, and they destroy those ten tribes in the north. Like they're lost forever. They're gone.

And Isaiah comes along and he says, you're my servant. You are mine. You're my servant. And you are going to restore those tribes. You're going to restore Jacob. No, imagine this. Isaiah the Prophet speaking this powerful word of like, no, no, no. You think this about yourself?

You're going to restore the... You're going to do an impossible task. That's who you are. You're my servant. But then God steps in in the same reading. And he says, actually, you're underestimating your role. And he says, it's too little. The Lord says, it's too little, the Lord says, for you to see.

simply restore the kingdom. Imagine this. Here's God speaking into your life saying, I've called you this impossible task. You're my servant. And he's like, actually, that's too small. Impossible is too low for you. The bar of impossible is too low for you. It's too little, he said, for you to be my servant. You will not merely restore the kingdom to Israel.

You are going to be a light to the nations. You have underestimated what I can do in you. You've underestimated your role in my life. And here's the thing. When you underestimate your role in God's plan, you also underestimate who he needs you to be. That's what Isaiah is saying. You've underestimated your role.

And because you've underestimated your role, you've underestimated who I need you to be. This is the truth for so many of us tonight. In this room, I'm telling you, I think the Lord wants to speak to us and said, you know, you're probably good. I mean, you're at Mass on Sunday night. I mean, you're doing okay. And you're like, no, I'm a child of God.

That's awesome. That's amazing. That is true. But I believe, I believe that many. of us have underestimated our role in God's story. I think maybe you might be someone tonight who has underestimated your role in God's story. Because of that, we have underestimated who God needs us to be. Because if you have a great role, that means you need to be a great person. That means if you have that kind of plan, that kind of role in his plan, that means you need

to be that kind of person in his plan. No, at the same time, I realized that some people might be like, oh my gosh, I was already overwhelmed. I was already had this daunting of, you know, this school year, the new year 2020 was already intimidating for me. And now you're telling me like, oh, you're not even where you need to be. Like, you need to be more. Well, yeah. But here's the thing. Because we can be so exhausted, right?

Like so exhausted by trying to be perfect in everything. You have so many roles that you and I, we have so many roles we need to play. Okay, you've got to be a good son, got to be a good daughter, got to be a good brother, sister. You've got to be a good employer or employee. You've got to be a good, all these things, disciple of Jesus, you've got to be a good roommate, you've got to be a good friend, you got to be good. goes down the line. And we can feel so torn. Like, honestly, how many times you get to the end of the semester, right?

And you're just exhausted. Why? Because your whole life is split, because you're being torn in all these different directions. You end up having a divided heart and a divided life. And here I am saying, like, wait, there's more. And it can be exhausting. So that even, like, Sunday Mass is a burden. And even daily prayer is a burden. Because it's just one more, just one more direction on being.

pulled in. But what if, what if this year, what if this 2020 was the year we realized the power of your role? Like, what if this year was the year you didn't underestimate who God needed you to be? What if this year was the year that we also realized the power of a single unifying principle that could govern our lives? Like, there's one thing that would, like, all the things that are tearing us in these different directions, that one thing that would actually unite all of those all the different strands, right, there's a can pull the part and pulled apart. What if there was,

what if we didn't underestimate the power of a single unifying purpose that could actually knit all those separate threads together to make some incredible image? The power of a single unifying principle that guided and governed 2020. This is the life of John the Baptist. Like John the Baptist had a big role. Like he didn't, he couldn't possibly underestimate,

his role. Like he was the greatest prophet of all time. So that's kind of a lot to live up to. You know, like, oh yeah, you have Isaiah and you have Moses and you have all these prophets. Like, yeah, John's the Baptist. Like, you're going to be the greatest prophet of all time. So you got a big role. Here's who you need to be. But John was able to do this. Instead of being like torn apart by the demands of that incredible role we needed to be, he lived his life by one single unifying principle. And he actually says it in today's gospel in the gospel according to John. Where he says, he says, the reason why I came. Now let's stop here. The reason why what?

You know John's story. His parents were infertile for years and years and years until they're criminal. The reason why my parents couldn't have a child until they were both incredibly old is the reason why God appeared to my dad, Zechariah, in the temple, is the reason why I was consecrated from the womb and I have not cut my hair or drink, drank, haven't drunk, haven't had any wine, haven't had any alcohol. The reason why, here's John the Baptist saying, the reason why I've lived in the desert my entire life. the reason why I eat nothing but honey and grasshoppers.

The reason why I dress in camels here, he says it today. The reason why I came baptizing was so that Jesus might be made known. He says the reason I've done everything. Everything that's happened in my life is united by this one single unifying principle, this one reason so that he could be known. Actually, it's more than that. It's not just so that I could know Jesus. and so that Jesus would be made known.

If you want to know, what was John's guiding principle, why did he do anything he did his entire life? He did incredible things for that one reason so that he would know Jesus and that Jesus would be made known. You know, it wasn't perfect. It wasn't like he knew this this whole time. He didn't actually know Jesus.

I don't know if you knew this. He says in the gospel today, he says, I did not know him about Jesus. He was John the Baptist saying about Jesus, I did not know him. Now I grew up with the idea that the truth is that John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins. We knew that. So I just imagine that, you know, they spent Christmases together and Thanksgiving together and every summer a couple weeks at Grandma and Grandpa's Place on the Lake. Because that's how I knew my cousins. Like that's how it goes. But John is saying I didn't even know him. It actually, he said,

how did you not know your own cousin, bro? He didn't know him because it's in Luke's gospel. Luke says that when John Baptist was born and raised, just became a little bit older, he's weaned, essentially. he was sent to the desert to live with the community called the Aesnes near the Dead Sea. So John was separated from his entire family. He actually literally didn't know Jesus. He didn't know his own cousin. But he knew the single unifying principle of his life was,

but someday I'm going to know him and someday I'm going to make him known. Because this can be true about our lives too, right? I'm going to know everything that God wants me to do. But if I live according to this single unifying principle, to know Jesus and to make it known, make him known, there is nothing, there is no way that you couldn't possibly be the kind of person God wants you to be.

We cannot underestimate the power of that single unifying principle to know Jesus and to make him known. And John gave his whole life for this. Again, it's intimidating, it's daunting. John gave his whole life for this. But how did he give his whole life? He gave his whole life one moment at a time. He gave his whole life one choice at a time.

Is that the big things? It's not the big moment. It's those small moments. I mean, think about any couple that you know who's like getting older, and you're just like, oh my gosh, that couple is amazing. They love each other so, so well. Think of any great real life love, not like movie love, but like real life love. They gave their whole lives to each other.

How did they do that? They did it one moment at a time. How did they give their whole life to each other in love? One choice at a time. Think of any person who's ever done anything incredible, anything great. How do they give their whole life to that movement, to that passion to that project? They did it one moment at a time. One choice at a time.

Think of any saint. Saints aren't made in big moments. Any person who gave their life to Jesus, it was never a big moment. It was the one choice at a time. It was one moment at a time. It was those people who did not un-examination. underestimate who God needed them to be. People who did not underestimate the power of a single unifying principle and the people who refused to underestimate the impact of small decisions.

What are saying? Saints are people who just, they just did what was in front of them. They have that single unifying principle and they just did what was in front of them. St. Francis of Assisi. We all know St. Francis of Assisi, right? Everyone loves him. When he was like 20 years old, he had a conversion and everything in his life was knitted together by the single unifying principle to know Jesus and to make him known. But he didn't know what to do. So he's praying and all of a sudden in front of a crucifix, the crucifix speaks to him, so that's kind of a big deal.

And the crucifix says, Jesus in the cross says, Francis, rebuild my church for it is falling into ruin. And at the time in the 13th century, here's this 20-year-old. It's like, well, the Catholic church at that time was kind of really experiencing a lot of corruption. So St. Francis didn't get up and go to Rome. It's like, I'm here to fix things. Francis, he looks up and he's like, well, the chapel I'm in,

he's falling down. so what I'm going to do is I'm going to take this stone and put it on top of another stone and rebuild the actual literal chapel. Because why? Because that's what saints do. They don't underestimate the power of small decisions. Jesus, you tell me to rebuild your chapel, I see a chapel falling down,

I'm going to rebuild the chapel that's falling down. That's the power of the small things. And too often we underestimate the power of the small things. But Dave Balesford, the coach for the British cycling team, he refused to underestimate the power of small things. So what did he do? It becomes the coach in 2003. And he had a single unifying principle, a single unifying pursuit to become the best cycling

team in the world. And so he believed in this thing called the aggregation of marginal gains, basically get 1% better every day. Like we're not going to ditch the team and get all new athletes. We're just going to take these mediocre athletes, make them great athletes. How? 1% better every day. So they start with the obvious things.

they adjusted the seat height, you know, and adjusted the seat angle to get the maximum power output. They actually started wearing these basically heated shorts. So fancy, it's the future. Heated shorts to keep their muscles at the proper temperature whenever they're riding for recovery. They were going to wind tunnels and experiment with different fabrics, different angles.

But they also looked at odd things too. So it's like less after really hard workouts to get massages. And so they experimented which massage gels actually help recovery better than the others. other massage gels, 1%. That's all it matters. They looked at things like they brought in a doctor, a physician, to show these athletes the best way to wash their hands to prevent illness. I think, well, that's stupid.

Yeah, until you get a cold. They experimented with different kinds of pillows for each one of the athletes. Which pillow maximizes the rest these athletes can get? And they made sure this is the best pillow for them? 1% better? No problem. 1% better sleep every single night. In fact, they painted these.

inside of the team truck, team van, where they would fix the gear, painted it white so that if there's any dirt in the van, they'd be able to spot it and wouldn't get in the gears and wouldn't muck up the equipment. They just, every little thing, 1% better. They didn't, he didn't, the coach, did not underestimate the power of those small decisions. And after he started doing this five years later in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, they won 60%, six, zero percent of the gold medals in cycling. Four years later, in London, they won, they set nine new Olympic records and seven world records.

They hadn't won the Tour to France for over 110 years, right? In 2012, they won, 13, they won, 2015, 2016, 2017. In six years, they won the Tour to France five times. In fact, in those seven years, from 2007, 2017, they won 178 world championships and 66 Olympic and Paralympic gold medals. like this is the aggregation of marginal gains this is what other people underestimate the underestimate the power the impact of small decisions so for us what do we do we can't underestimate who god needs you to i can't underestimate who god needs you to be and you can't underestimate the power of that single unifying principle of like 2020 here's what god needs for me

he needs me to know him to know jesus and make him known that's going to be the single unifying principle of my entire 2020 to know Jesus and to make him known. It's not underestimate the power of like 1%. What would 1% change in your life look like? Something simple, not big. You know, for athletes, they know they're going to work out the next day. What do they do? They set out their clothes.

I had the night ahead of time and get to bid on time. What if that was us? That my unifying principle is to know Jesus and make him known. So tomorrow, tonight, I'm going to go to bed in time. And I'm going to set up my Bible and set out my journal, set up my whatever I'm going to pray with, set that out tonight, so it's there ready for me tomorrow when I get up. Athletes, they don't decide what they're going to do when they're in the gym. They decide what they're going to do before they get to the gym.

So same kind of thing with us. If my unifying principle is to know Jesus, what kind of way can I pray to make sure that I'm going to know him by the end of 2020? I know a lot of you have Apple watches. What does it do every hour? It vibrates and tells you to stand up. Want to close that ring? Every time it celebrates and tells you to stand up, maybe you pray in our own.

our father. Maybe every time he tells you a stand up, you glance at your phone and pull up a scripture verse and just reflect on Jesus for 10 seconds. One percent gain, one percent better, to know Jesus, to make him known. You know, we even have these in the back of the back of the room. We have this thing called the Word Among Us. And it just, you're like, I don't know how to start praying. Well, it has the daily mass readings. We're giving away for free. The daily mass readings for the rest of the month. And we have a whole bunch of them coming next month, too. Say, okay, this is all I'm going to pray. I set this out the night before. And I pick it up, every morning and I'm going to read through the gospel reading, one percent better.

Because if you want to read through the mass readings, you can probably get through all of them in about 20 seconds. If you want to take your time, it can take as long as you want. To know Jesus and make him know. Now, I know, like, how do you make it simple? How do you make it as simple as possible? 1% better. I know a lot of you have water bottles because you hydrate.

And a lot of us, we have stickers on our water bottles. And they say everything from, like, I've been to Yosemite to, like, I've climbed this mountain. We also have things like in the back of the room, Bold Dot Catholic. And I remember I had the scene known and loved these stickers that go on your water bottle, on your computer. I was in an airport not too long ago, and I didn't have the clerics on, incognito. But I had my computer up, and this guy next to me, I had this scene known and loved and had UMD Newman.

He's what's seen known and I like that, scene known and loved? What is that? He says, Bold Dot Catholic, what is that? The next 20 minutes I got to talk to this Army service. soldier about what we do here, what I do, and the fact that God has a plan for his life. 1%. 1% sticker. Because the reality is this.

We may not underestimate who God needs you. You can't underestimate who God needs you to be. We must not underestimate the power of a single unifying principle to know Jesus and to make him known. And we cannot underestimate the power of those small steps. steps, because that has made Olympians out of mediocre athletes. It has made saints out of ordinary people. And if it's done that with mediocre athletes, if it's done that with ordinary people, what could

God make out of you if you refused to underestimate what he can do?