Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 01/27/19 Disqualified: Prevented or Prepared?

Episode Date: January 28, 2019

Homily from the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. What great work may God be preparing you for right now? In Christ, your past might not be the thing that prevent you from being a part of God’s great work… It might be the thing that has prepared you. Mass Readings from January 27, 2019: Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10 Psalms 19:8, 9, 10, 151 Corinthians 12:12-30 Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21 Download the Homily Study

So I may have mentioned before that when I was growing up, I was a swimmer. I also might have mentioned that when I first started swimming, I was a bad swimmer. Like a really bad swimmer. I had to start swimming competitively at six years old, and I remember so clearly I didn't like practice. And I really didn't even like the meets because, and one of my first meets, I don't know if, well, here's what happened. I got it behind the blocks right here's the deal, and you're just a little kid, and you're waiting for your race to start, and they're calling you. and you walk down the pool deck and stand behind your block and they say okay swimmers take your blocks get up on the block and I totally false started and if you know anything about swimming and

fall starting at least for us back then it was one and done like it wasn't like you get another shot it was you fall start once and your race is over and I remember you know but you've jumped off the blocks and now you're in the water everyone's standing looking at the one kid in the water as you're just like man you don't get to swim now you have to pull yourself out of the water and everyone steals it on that gets on their blocks and everyone's watching you and you have to like I remember this so clearly just like walking on the pool deck, everyone else is getting ready to swim, but watch you walk by yourself, back to your sweats. And like, no one can say anything, right? Like, because you're disqualified. Not like, hey, good job. No. I'd be like, hey, you tried.

Like, no, I just jumped too soon. Like, and it's one of those things. Like, you didn't even get a shot, right? That your race was over basically even before it started. You didn't even get a chance. You're just as qualified. You race is over even before you had a chance to try. And I just think about this a lot because I think sometimes that idea

of just being disqualified is something that really can get into our hearts. In fact, I think that a lot of us when it comes to maybe even come to Mass and we might hear something like hey, God has a great plan for your life. God has a great purpose for your life. That God has great things he wants to do, a great work that he has created you for. We can think, I don't know, I don't think so.

I think I might be disqualified. I think my circumstances, my situation, I think my past may have disqualified me from any kind of great work that God has maybe possibly in store for me. I think what happened to me, it disqualifies me. You might be in this place right now and thinking, no, that's nice and everything, but my race is over before I got a chance. And I'm not going to have a shot because it's over. That feeling of being, that maybe I'm disqualified, I think it's more common than a lot of us think. I think it might be a lot of us in this room right now who have that sense somewhere at some point in our lives

they're just like maybe that's it, maybe my race is over, maybe my chance is done, maybe I'm disqualified. Because of that, I've been thinking about this a lot and so we're going to start a series. It's just a mini three-part series for the next three weeks we're going to talk about this and it's called disqualified. Because at some point in our lives, a lot of us will say this, my past, what I've done or what's happened to me,

it's disqualified me and my race is over and there's nothing I can do about it because I'm disqualified. So in order to start talking about that tonight, though, I want to start with the first reading today from Nehemiah. It's the Nehemiah chapter 8, and this is the powerful moment that we just heard about in the first reading, where this whole people of God, they're in little context. Let me rewind. So you know this, that the kingdom of God, the people of God were in Jerusalem. They were in Israel. And then what happened in 586, the Babylonians came in, and they just demolished

everyone. They destroyed the city. They destroyed the temple. They took the altar and completely obliterated that, and then they took a bunch of Jews and they put them in exile in Babylon. That was about 140 years before this moment in the MII. Chapter 8. And what happened? This is post-exile. The people, they've lost the temple. They've lost their altar. They've lost the law. In fact, they even lost their identity. In all that time in Babylon, they forgot who they were because they forgot whose they were. And now, again, and today, this first, this first reading, Nehemiah chapter 8, this is the great moment where Ezra and Nehemiah stand up and say, no, this is who you are, this is your true identity, you're not disqualified. But the crazy

thing is the two people are most responsible for doing God's great work and bringing the people back to Jerusalem and bringing the people back to their identity are two people who themselves would have been disqualified. The two people who reminded the people, the people of God, that they were still the people of God, that they were not disqualified, were two men, Ezra and Nehemiah who themselves spent their entire lives as people who were disqualified. fallified. Ezra, they describe him as Ezra the priest's scribe. So he's a priest. He's really kind of important to understand. Ezra's not just any priest, though. Remember in the Old Testament, if you're a priest, you have to be born of the tribe of Levi. So Ezra's of the tribe

of Levi. But he's even like hyper-priest because he's like the great, great, great, great-great-great-grandson of of Moses' brother. Remember Moses' brother of first high priest? Aron. So he's the great, great, great, great, great-great-grandson of Aaron, the high priest. So he's like super-priest. Not just Levitical priest, ironic priest, massive priest. But here's the problem. He has never spent one moment offering sacrifice. Remember, the main job of a priest is to offer the sacrifice. Remember that the only place you could offer sacrifice was on the altar,

and the only place you could have an altar was in the temple, and the only place you could have a temple was in the city of Jerusalem. And here's Ezra, super priest, who has never even seen Jerusalem. Here's a person whose whole life is like, dude, you're created, you're born to be a priest, and he's never even seen worship happen. He's never even seen a sacrifice being offered. I talk about someone whose race is over before he even got a chance to start.

Talk about someone who's disqualified, but not only Ezra. If that wasn't bad enough, there's Nehemiah. And if Ezra is a priest without a temple, Nehemiah is even worse, because Nehemiah, the book of Nehemiaheimai opens up by describing what his job is. And in Babylon, he's the cup bearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes. So if you don't what a cup bearer is, it's basically, if you want to think of it in a really cool way, it's like he's the king's bodyguard.

If you want to think of it in a more accurate way, he's like the king's butler. So both of these guys are nobodies. Both of these men had great promise. Both of these men were disqualified even before they started. Ezra, a priest without a temple. and Nehemiah, a born leader who's born without influence, a born leader who's born a slave. Both of these men completely disqualified.

Their situations, their circumstances, and their pasts were preventing them from ever being part of God's great work. Or did it. Because think about Ezra. For his whole life in Babylon, he didn't have a temple, he didn't alter it. He couldn't offer a sacrifice. So what could he do? Well, he had God's word.

So Ezra's whole life he dedicated in Babylon when he couldn't offer sacrifice, when he couldn't worship God, when he couldn't lead the people on sacrifice. What he did was he devoted his entire life to three things, to the study of God's word, to the living out of God's word, and to the teaching of God's word.

That's all he did. His whole life, he was just like, well, I can't offer sacrifice. What can I do? I will devote my entire life to these three things, to the study of God's word, to the living of God's word, and to the teaching of God's word.

So what happened? So when the king says, Ezra, I'm going to send you back to Jerusalem and you're going to restart, kick off worship. What do you need? Ezra is ready to go. He knows exactly what he needs. Why? Because he's been studying God's word his whole life.

And then even better than this, when the moment comes, this day, Nehemiah chapter 8 comes along. And 42,000 Jews show up, eager to say, okay, who are we? Who are we again? Ezra, who spent his entire life studying God's Word, living God's Word, and teaching God's Word, to small groups of people, he can stand up in front of 42,000 people, and he can teach them from the Bible for seven days straight in a way that's so powerful that cuts them to the heart and reminds them of who they really are,

and reminds them of whose they really are. See, Ezra's past did not prevent him from being part of God's great work. Ezra's past prepared him for being part of God's great work. Same thing is true with Nehemiah. Nehemiah, the beginning of Nehemiah, chapter 1. It starts out. Nehemiah knew that Ezra had. had already gone to Jerusalem about 12 years before this.

And so he asks, how is it to Jerusalem? Is it amazing now? Is God's kingdom? Is this a city back in established? And they say, actually, no. Ezra is there trying to pray, but the city's in ruins. No one lives there anymore. People are scattered all over.

There's no wall. There's no safety. There's no security inside the city of Jerusalem. It's demolished. And Nehemi describes his heart was broken and he just fasted and he prayed, God, let me do something. So he goes on to say that he went into the king's presence and he was all grief-stricken still and so he notes he says, the king had never seen me grief-sticking before because

he was a good butler and he didn't bring his baggage into his work. And the king says, what's wrong? And Nehemiah tells him. Here's an important thing. Nehemi has spent his entire life as a slave, right? But he spent his entire life in the presence of King Art Exerxes, who's a really, really good ruler, not like Christian good, like now he was in the nice guy. He was really good at this job. He was an excellent strategist. He was an incredible leader. He was an

incredible person who knew how to get things done. And what did Nehemiah do? He spent his entire adolescence and adult life in the presence of this man who knew how to get things done, who knew how to rule, who knew how to build, who knew how to strategize. So much so that when he says to Ardizerxes, here's why my heart's broken because my city, the city of God, the city of my homeland of my people, it's in ruins and I want to rebuild it. And Artaxerti says, well, if you were sent back home, what would you need? Nehemiah, who's been prepared for this moment for his entire life, it says, well, King, you know, since you asked it, like you direct you to this little PowerPoint that I whipped up,

and indicating how much time I need, how many resources I need from you, and how many resources I need from the other governors that you lead. So if you don't mind, can you hand me? And Artaxerxes says, absolutely. Why? Because Nehemiah, his past did not prevent him from being part of God's great work. Everything in his past was preparing him for being part of God's great work. And when he got back to Jerusalem, I wish, I wish I could go into all the details.

Because when Nehemiah got back to Israel and got back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city, he faced so much opposition. He faced so many people who were trying to kill him as he was building the walls of the city of Jerusalem to protect these people and give them a place where they could safely listen to the Word of God. But his past didn't prevent him. His past prepared him. And all of that led to this moment in Miamiah chapter 8. when they could stand up in the city of God without fear because in Eamaya, they made the city secure.

Or they could stand up and hear the word of God because Ezra had dedicated his whole life to study of the Word of God and teaching the Word of God. They could live as the people of God because God had prepared both these different men in different ways for one single great work. Their past didn't prevent them. Their past prepared them. Here's another thing that's really important. Because sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking that our past is preventing us from being part of God's great work. We can also sometimes think that our differences disqualify us. Because I've got to tell you, one thing that really annoys me, it's like a burn in my saddle, it's a little thorn in my side. It kind of chaps my hide is not only when people disqualify themselves is like, oh, no, I've done something wrong or other people have done something wrong, so now I can't do God's great work.

One thing that really, really irritates me is when someone disqualifies themselves by saying, like, well, no, I couldn't possibly do this. Why? because I'm not like so-and-so. You look around the room and say, they seem so holy, they seem so smart, they seem so smart, they seem so much better than me, and God could not possibly use me because I'm not like them. And we can sometimes fall into the trap,

the lie, there are differences disqualify us. That evil, like the poison of comparison. I'm disqualified because I'm different. God couldn't use me because I'm not like so-and-so. We know this in so many different ways. even in funny ways there was a guy who became Catholic last year and one of my favorite sayings that he has

is he's on fire Catholic now whenever there's something like new he's like listen father don't look to me I've only been Catholic for like a day and a half so like you know but there's people who know him are like man I wish I could be a Catholic like that guy

I was raised Catholic I wish I was like him I wish I became Catholic in college too because his gifts are so incredible that he's bringing to the church and he looked at them as like I wish I was Catholic from the day I was born because the gifts you bring to the church our differences don't disqualify us. Our differences actually are our strength. Like think if Nehemiah was jealous of Ezra. Like Nehemiah is saying, man, I wish you knew the Bible like

Ezra. Nehemiah, you're not supposed to you. Or if Ezra was jealous of Nehemiah. You're able to say, I wish I could build things. I wish I could lead people like Nehemiah could. Their differences didn't disqualify them. Even in their piety, and there's an interesting little note in the scriptures, even in their piety, and this is important because sometimes you can think like, well, they seem so holy, they just trust God completely. Where I need a little back backup. When Ezra got sent back to Jerusalem, he was given a ton of stuff, like a gajillion dollars worth of whatever. And so in order to prepare himself for the journey, he says this. He said, I fasted and I prayed. And I knew it was going to be a dangerous

journey, but he says this, but I was too ashamed to ask the king for an armed guard because that would seem like I wasn't trusting in the Lord fully. So he didn't. Just fasted and prayed. off we go. When Nehemiah, it's time for the king says, you can go back to Jerusalem. When Nehemiah does, he says, I fasted and I prayed, and then I asked the king for an armed guard and for letters to help us get to the most difficult parts of the journey because

I trust in God, I'm also really smart. And both of those guys had different pieties. They were not the same. But God used their differences for his single great work. You know, it's so interesting. We can sometimes think that our different gifts, our different histories, our different dispositions, they disqualify us.

But what does St. Paul say in the second reading today? He says, we're a bunch of different parts, many parts. And the hand can't say to the foot, I don't need you, and the I can't say to the ear, I don't need you. That also means that the I can't say to the ear, you guys don't need me. And the foot can't say it in the hand, like I'm disqualified because I'm not a hand.

That this difference actually becomes potentially powerful. Let me say that like that. our differences are potentially powerful. Some people say things like, I think the relatively silly things like our diversity is our strength. I think that's partially true. Because I need diversity is good, right? We're on a college campus. Everyone loves diversity.

Diversity is a good thing, right? Diversity is an interesting thing. It is great to have, even scripture says this. You don't just want to have an eye. You want to have diversity. Diversity on its own. is interesting and it's good. But diversity that's not united by something bigger

is just, I mean, do the mental image, it's just a pile of body parts. Bunch of hands, bunch of toes, bunch of feet, bunch of eyes. Don't go too deeply into it and imagine it. But diversity on its own is good. Diversity that's united by a common mission, by a common purpose,

by a common spirit is powerful. Again, diversity, difference is good, but differences, diversity that's united by something even bigger, by a common spirit, that actually has the power to change the world. That your differences and my differences don't disqualify us, but those differences united can do something that none of us could do on our own. That your past doesn't prevent you and your differences don't disqualify you. Because God at this moment is preparing you for a great work. He did it back then.

He's still doing it now. And this is the last thing. I just want to share a story. I shared it years ago, but it's one that just came up in my heart this last couple days. So a number of years ago when John Paul II was still the Pope, John Paul was Pope a couple of popes ago. And there was an American priest who had studied in Rome. He went to seminary in Rome. And he was back in Rome for a meeting with the Pope, which is kind of a big deal.

If you ever, if you're wondering if that's a big deal. I've never met a Pope in my life. It's kind of a big deal. And so he's on his way to meet the Pope, the Holy Father, and he's, in Rome, there's a lot of homeless. There's this homeless man on the street. I don't know if you ever had the chance where you're, like, look in the face of someone who's homeless.

It's important to do. So his priest's American priest is walking by, and he looks in the face with one of these homeless men, and he recognized him. He's like, well, I think I know that guy. And he looked again, and he knew him. It was a man he had gone to seminary with. In fact, it was a man he had been ordained with.

that he looked down at this man who could barely recognize a little, but he's like, wait a second, that guy's a priest. So he stops, and he's like, wait, you know, Father so-and-so, is that, is that you? And the guy looks up and yeah, it's me, and he's all embarrassed, he's all ashamed of himself. And the guy stops and says, what, how'd you get here? And in a couple moments, the priest just tells him the story about how he just had made some bad decisions, addictions involved and some other things involved. He just made a shipwreck of his life, and he ended up on the streets.

And that's where he's been living for a couple years now. He said, these are my people now. I just live here. A failure. And the American priest was like, well, I want to stay. I want to talk with you, but, dude, I'm meeting the Pope now. And this is a big deal. But will you be here if I come back?

And he says, yeah, I don't have anyone else to go. This is where I live. So the American priest goes on. He says, I'll come back someday, and he goes to meet the Holy Father. and during the meeting, the one meeting in his life, he gets to meet the Pope. He's so distracted that John Paul II asked him, he says, what's wrong?

He says, well, Holy Father, on the way here, I was rushing to get here on time, and he told him the whole story. Met this priest who he was ordained with who just had made some terrible decisions and wrecked his life, and now is homeless on the streets. And John Paul looks at him and says,

can you find him? Yeah, he told me where he stays. He says, tomorrow, at this time, bring him here. So the guy goes out and goes back and says, okay, sorry about this, but I kind of like told the Pope about you. And he wants to meet you. You can imagine what he was thinking. It's just like, man, I've been beating myself up my whole life since everything went down the crapper. Like I've been like pouring it on myself.

Now I don't need the Pope to like beat me up too. So I don't think he wants to do that. Okay, fine. So the next day, the America priest comes by and picks up the homeless priest. and they walk to the Vatican. As they go into the Pope's office, the Pope says, Father, can you excuse this homeless priest and me? And they're in there for like an hour.

Pretty soon the door opens up and the man walks out. In this kind of this daze and they don't say anything until they get to the street and finally the American priest is like, what happened in there? And he said, I just, I told the Pope my story and he said, okay, I'm going to hear your confession now. So I knelt down and I just I spilled everything

I told him everything I confessed everything I'm so sorry to God for this and the Pope gave me absolution and as I stood up he got out of his chair and he knelt down and he said okay now you're going to hear my confession

I Pope went to confession to me and it was the most powerful, beautiful humble confession I've ever heard in my life I gave him absolution I gave the Pope absolution and he stood up and he looked at me and he said, okay now, you are a priest and you're homeless, but your

past has not disqualified you. I'm sending you back to the streets of Rome. I'm sending you back to the people who are homeless that you've been living with for the last couple years, and you're going to be their priest. From now on, you're going to be Jesus to them. And that's what he's been doing for these last 20 years. See, our past doesn't need to prevent us from being part of God's great work. His past prepared him for being part of God's great work. And our differences don't need to disqualify us for being part of God's great work. Right now, at this moment, God is using this moment and your life right now to prepare you for some kind of great work. And you are not disqualified. You are being prepared.