Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 02/16/20 More Than A Criminal Heart

Episode Date: February 17, 2020

Homily from the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. God wants you to have a heart like His. The Sermon on the Mount reveals the truth about our hearts: we need the Law. But God wants us to be free from the Law. Not by abolishing the Law, but by making our hearts like His. We can let Him do this by taking responsibility, taking action, and taking hold of the strength He offers. Mass Readings from February 16, 2020: Sirach 15:15-20 Psalms 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-341 Corinthians 2:6-10 Matthew 5:17-37

So this was a big year for me. My niece, my 10-year-old niece and I have something in common now. This was the year that we both got our first buck. Now, she got it because she went out shooting with her dad. She went out practicing, training. She got her, you know, firearm safety permit, the whole thing. That's how she got her. She got it early in the morning.

She was quiet. She saw the deer. She nailed the deer. She got her first deer. I, on the other hand, last Friday night was driving in the dark and didn't see the deer. And that's how I got my first buck. So that's the thing. So it's really interesting.

So I got my first buck, as I said last Friday, a week plus ago. And it was on the way to the upper classman retreat. So I had to get back on Saturday night in order to be here last week on Sunday morning. And so my car was kind of inoperable at least that night. And so Heather, you might know Heather. She's the coordinator here. Super gracious. She let me use her car to drive back again in the night to get back to Duluth,

which is also not just gracious, but maybe a little foolish. And she just trusts me that much. So good. I'm driving back. It's probably 12.30 at night to get back to Duluth. I'm on 210, getting close to I-35, when I passed this vehicle that when it passed me, it looped around and started following me. And I thought, it's one of those gang stories. You've heard about those, right? And then it turned out. No, it was the 5-0. And he turned on his lights, and I knew what to do, because this was not my first rodeo. So I pulled over to the side of the road. And this guy, I think he was just lonely in the middle of the night. He just wanted to talk, you know?

So I give my license and I don't have registration. This is a friend's car. I'm borrowing a car because I hit a deer last night. He was like, oh no, bummer, man. I'm like, that's right, bro. And so he takes my license, comes back and just, he doesn't even give me like a verbal warning. He's like, all right, maybe he does.

Like keep it down, something like that. And I'm making conversation in the middle of the night because also I too am lonely. And I say, well now, you know, this is a friend's car. As you know, as I said earlier, I didn't see that there's cruise control here. Now I can see it. Officer, I'll set it at 60 for the rest of the way.

And he looked at me and he said, the best thing I've ever heard from a police officer in my entire life, he said, 65 is fine. And I thought, you're my hero. To be told by a police officer in the 60 mile per hour zone, 65 is fine? Freedom. Freedom. My world changed that night, and I'm so glad. It was worth the buck.

It was worth the deer. It was worth having it. No, no. At that moment, honestly, I experienced it as like, I was so relieved. I felt freedom, but I wasn't free here. the problem. You know why? Because when he said you can go 65 now, I'm like, hmm, is that all? Because I have the kind of heart that when you tell me to go 60, I'll go a little faster. I'll tell me you go to 65. I want to go a little faster. This is what's wrong with me.

The only reason I don't speed all the time is maybe the only reason you don't speed all the time is because I don't want to get caught. If I'm driving in an area where I know there's police, oh man, I am obeying all of the traffic signs. All of the laws, they're like completely because I, why? Because I have a criminal's heart. I mean, this is, sorry you guys, Father Mike, so I have a criminal heart. Here's what I mean. So you might know this. If you study criminology, I know some of your criminology majors and whatnot. So they've found that when it comes to deterring criminals from committing crimes to have increased penalties, like so more severe penalties doesn't do anything. So you'd be like, no, a capital punishment, if you commit this kind

of crime, that doesn't actually deter people from committing crimes. The one thing that deters more people from committing more crimes than any other thing is if the criminal, the person, perceives that they're going to get caught. That's it. Regardless of whether the penalty is small, the penalty is huge, the likelihood of them getting caught is the only thing, or the main thing, at least, that deters criminals from actually doing the thing. And that's why I'm looking at myself going like, oh, my gosh, I have a criminal's heart.

because I will obey the rules as long as there is a chance that I will get caught. And you guys, you don't have to tell me, I know what's a problem. I'm working on it, okay? But here's the thing, is even if I obeyed every traffic law for the rest of my life, there is something in me that is bound and something in me that is broken, that I will break the law if I have relative certainty that I won't get caught. Obviously traffic laws are one thing, but the one of them are really talking. talking about the gospel today.

You know, the Sermint on the Mount where Jesus, this is a section in Sermon on the Mount where Jesus goes through these, what they call it, six antitheses, where he says, you heard it was said, but I say to you, these are the first four. And if we're going to understand these, what we have to do is the first thing we have to understand is one of the very first lines of this scripture and the very last line that we'll hear next week at the end of next week's gospel, kind of sum up with what gives the context. The first line that Jesus says, he says, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees. Now the first century hearers of Jesus at the time, they would have been like, what

Are you kidding? The Pharisees, they would have been like me. My first Bible, I got it at the Crowing County State Fair. I was walking along the booths and they were like handing out free Bibles. I'm like, heck, yes, I'll take a free Bible. And I'm like, I know I have a Bible. It's little green one. You've ever seen those little small Gideon Bibles? They had the New Testament, the Proverbs and Psalms. I remember, I'm going to read the Bible. So I'm going to read Matthews Gospel. I'm trucking along, read in chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 is I read this. You hear Jesus saying something like, you heard it was said, do not murder. Like, yeah, check, haven't done that yet. 15 years old.

I'm living good. But I'm telling you that even if you're angry with your brother, you have murdered. I'm like, what the? You don't understand. My brother's a fool. My brother's a jerk. And if you call your brother a fool or a jerk, I'm like, no, I've done this already. Imagine you maybe have done this when you're 15, 16 years old, reading the next line.

Don't commit adultery. I'm like, no problem. Had not had the opportunity. But if you look at a woman lustfully, you've committed adultery, I'm like, I'm 16, Jesus. What the heck? Like, it can be such a, like, huge thing. When the people heard Jesus' preaching this in the first century, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees.

You guys, no one obeyed the law like the Pharisees. They were meticulous. They obeyed every single law. And Jesus is like, that's good, but you have to be better. I'm like, oh, my goodness. How? What do you mean better? And he sums it up with the last line.

You're going to hear it next Sunday. I'll tell you what it is, though. He says, because you need to be. perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect. Again, like condemnation on my head. That's not what he's saying. What he's saying is, here's the deal. The Pharisees, they're obeying all the rules. That's good. That's good. But what I need is for you to be better. What I mean is the goal is not to obey the rules. The goal is to have a heart like the father. That's the key. In this whole thing on the sermon on the Mount, you've heard it was said, this was the rule, but here's the deal,

Here's the problem. You have a criminal heart. Because if you could, you'd get away with it. If you could get away with it, you'd break the rule. Jesus is looking into all of our hearts going like, that's the rule. And the Pharisees, they're abiding by the rule, but that's good. But there's abiding by the rule with a criminal's heart. The goal is to have a heart like my dad's.

Because this is what God wants for us. He doesn't want condemnation. God wants freedom for us. And not the false freedom of no rules. Not the false freedom of, you can go 65 or 70 father if you really want to. It's the true freedom of a changed heart. See, the problem is not breaking the law or breaking the rule. The problem is that in our chests we have a criminal heart

that is willing to break the rule if we can get away with it. It's not interesting about the rules. I mean, think about all these four things that Jesus points to today. You heard it was said, don't murder, but I say, if you look at your brother and you act out in anger, and demean him by calling him worthless or calling him a fool, that reveals something about your heart, it reveals that I have the kind of a heart

that's willing to demean someone I should be loving. It reveals something about my heart is I have the kind of heart that's willing to denigrate their humanity. That's what Raqqa means. It means you're worthless. When he says, you should not commit adultery, I say to you look lustfully, no, that Jesus isn't condemning the idea of finding people desirable.

That's just natural. Same with anger. It's normal. Neither desire nor anger. are in of themselves good or bad. They just are. But what Jesus is saying, when he says the term, look lustfully, the actual original phrase means something more along these lines.

If you're willing to use another person and you see them, you give in to the thought, you give in to the desire of, I would if I could. If I could get away with using them, I would do that. He's not just about breaking a rule.

It's about having the kind of heart that we're willing to use someone else. Going on, when he says the bill of divorce thing, He says, actually, no, no marrying another. Because Jesus says, you have the kind of a heart that's willing. Every one of us, we have the kind of heart that's willing to break the most important, most solemn promise we've ever made. That's marriage. To have the kind of heart that's willing to break that vow.

He says, I know that's in you. It's a criminal heart if you can get away with it, but you have to love, like my father. How is Jesus' father's heart? Faithful. And that last piece, of course, of, don't take false oath. And Jesus is saying, actually, no, this is the deal. The only reason you're taking oath in the first place is so you can manipulate people, so you can deceive them.

Rather, just let your yes mean yes, let your no mean no. And this is the problem. We have criminal hearts that are willing to demean others if we can get away with it, willing to use others if we can get away with it, willing to break our promises if we can get away with it, and we're willing to manipulate others or deceive them if we can get away with it. That's why John Paul II, St. John Paul, he said those bound by lust or those bound by anger, those bound by deceit, those bound by this,

they experience God's law as a burden. And I can totally identify with that. When Jesus comes along and has this new law, and I'm like, oh, gosh, Lord, those who are bound and broken by whatever it is in our hearts that make our hearts criminal, we experience God's law as a burden, as if the law is a problem. As if that's the, instead of my heart being the problem, we see it as a restrict, restriction. on our freedom, but the actual restriction is in fact that in my chest I have a bound and broken and criminal heart. The only reason why the law for me is a problem is because I want

to break the law. Does that make sense? The only reason why for any of us, the law is a problem is because we actually want to break the law. We have hearts that are willing to demean and use and manipulate and lie to others. But Jesus in today's gospel is saying, but you're meant to have hearts like my dad's. But you're meant to have heart like the father. Not merely restrained. Not merely confined, not merely forced. But hearts that are reformed, not merely restrained.

The hearts that are converted, not merely confined, and hearts that are free, not forced. There's good news in this. And the good news is it's fully possible. This change, the change of our hearts, is actually possible. In fact, I'll go back to the traffic thing because I've already confessed that to you. I don't need to go on the list of the other sins.

And I get it. I get this is a totally lame example, but my attitudes towards traffic signs, I don't know what it is. I see a traffic sign, and none of them change me. I see a sign on the side of the road, and I'm like, yeah, maybe. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. It does not. And I always push the limit. I mean, oh my gosh, Arrowhead, 30?

Are you serious? that's at least a 55. That's at least a 40. I mean, 42 kind of a thing. But 30 in there. I see that sign going 30. I'm like, that doesn't make any sense. And it doesn't change my heart.

I experience that as a restriction on my freedom. But there's one sign, you guys, there's one sign that I see that actually changes my heart. There's one traffic sign that when I see it, I'm like, I'm going to slow down. And I want to. When I see a sign that says school zone, I'm like, yep, no, no, no.

When I see a sign that says school zone, I'm glad I saw the sign. Because there's something, not all bad, you guys. There's something good in my, that I want, I, I'm grateful for having seen it. I'm grateful that I know that's the law. I'm grateful that I know that's the rule. Because, gosh, I don't want to be the cause of something like that. And my guess is you're the same. So we know what it is to experience freedom.

and we don't just know what it is to experience that restriction. We also know what it is to say, that's the law, and I want it. But we don't know that in every area. So how do we get those hearts? Like how do we get the kind of heart like our father? To move away from a criminal heart to a heart like dads. There's three steps. I'm going to go through them really kind of quickly.

There's three things we can do. The first is we can take responsibility. We can take action. We can take hold. So we're going to talk about just for a bit here. We take responsibility. I know a lot of times in my life, I resent the fact that I have to, my circumstances, right? I don't get to choose my circumstances.

So I can end up resenting them and say, like, what the heck? I didn't put myself in this situation. I didn't cause this circumstance. So I can end up resenting my circumstance. We can't choose our circumstances. And sometimes, similarly, when it comes to the consequences of our choices. Like, we don't get to actually choose the consequences of our choices. Because they're going to be what they are.

In fact, that's what the first reading talks about in the book of Syrac. It's so powerful. where the author, Syrac, says, God is set before you fire and water. To whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man or life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given to him. And one of the things that God is saying to us in that is like,

you're responsible for your choices. Yes, you can't choose your circumstance. You're right. Sometimes a lot of us find ourselves in awful circumstances. You can't choose that. But you can choose how to act in those circumstances, and we can't choose our consequences. But we can choose what we choose.

And Ben Syrac says here, whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand, and it will be given to you. Take responsibility. The first line, he says, if you choose, you can keep the command. If you choose, you can keep the commandments. It's one of the reasons why in the gospel, Jesus says, you'll be answerable. If you lash out an anger to your brother, you'll be answerable. What is he saying? You're responsible for that.

But my brother's a jerk. You have no idea. Yes, I can't, you can't choose whether your brother is a jerk or not. You can't choose whether someone hurts you or not. You can't choose whether another person treats you justly or not. But you can be responsible for how you. So the first thing we need to realize is that our choices matter and that God looks at our choices and says you'll be answered.

We have to answer for all of them. Take responsibility. Second piece is take action. And I love this. I never noticed this in the gospel before. You know that in all four of those examples Jesus uses when it's like, okay, here's some of the ways we have a criminal heart that rises up. He also gives us an action to take if you found yourself in that brokenness.

So is an example. Gosh, this is so good. Jesus says, yeah, there are going to be times when you run into conflict. When you act out in anger, there have been times when you said the thing you shouldn't have said, you acted on anger in a way you shouldn't have acted out. But here's some actions you can take that will change your heart. Basically, Jesus says, when that happens, and you're on your way to worship, and you realize you have something against your brother, stop.

go first to your brother and be reconciled. See, I recognize, I have this broken heart, and I can act out in anger. And Jesus says, yes, that's going to happen because you have a criminal heart. That's going to happen. You have a broken and bound heart. When that happens, stop.

Go to the person and tell them your story. Stop. Go to the person and apologize. Humble yourself. Think about how anger doesn't stop with anger, right? I act out on anger, but then all of a sudden I'm frozen now. I'm frozen in my pride because I don't want to admit that I did something wrong.

I'm frozen in my, like, I resent this person. He goes, yeah, well, I did something wrong, but they shouldn't have provoked. All those things. Jesus is like, no, no, no, that's your bound, you're broken, your criminal heart. If you realize your heart's been broken like that, stop and say you're sorry. Stop and be reconciled. Same thing when it comes to adultery, lust. Again, remember, this is not just, I desire someone, or noticing attractiveness.

just normal, but the interior disposition of, like, I'm going to choose to use this person. Like, I would if I could. What is Jesus' response? He said, okay, you find yourself like that. Pluck out your eye, cut off your hand. Now, there's this thing called hyperbole, which is exaggeration to make a point. I do that like a million times a day. What is Jesus saying?

When he says, okay, you find yourself with a broken heart, right? You find yourself with a bound heart, and you find that this is a problem for you, that you, when you have the opportunity, you would choose. to use someone if you could. He said, ask the question, what are your sources of temptation? And for us, we ask ourselves the same question. It's not your eye, it's not your hand. What is it?

Because if anyone has bound themselves, finds themselves in a position where they're bound by lust, they realize there are occasions, there are sources, there are avenues that have access to this. It's not everything. Possibly it's my computer. Possibly it's my phone. Possibly it's my iPad or my device. And Jesus is basically saying, if that's a source of temptation for you,

Get rid of it. But I can't, I can't live without my computer. It is better for you to enter into heaven without a computer than to die MacBook in hand. It's one of the reasons why I just, when it comes to this question, because this is such a big issue for so many people's lives, I have two pieces of advice. When it comes to that, when it comes to plucking it out, it comes like cutting up. One is this, be patient with yourself. Every person, if you struggle with anger or lust or any of these things, number one,

be patient with yourself, but number two, be ruthless with your environment. Be patient with yourself, but be absolutely ruthless with your environment. Like, I know myself, and I'm really bound in this way, I'm really broken in this way. Okay, don't beat yourself up. Be patient with yourself, but also do not tolerate these sources of temptation that are in your life. To make that decision to purify your environment with the same degree of drama, same degree of passion that Jesus is saying when he says, Look out your eye, cut off your hand, get rid of the phone. There's this thing called Covenant Eyes, you don't have to get rid of your phone on your computer.

This thing called this commercial for Covenant Eyes right now. So Covenant Eyes is basically this thing you put on your computer, on your device, on your phone, and whatever it is. And it doesn't necessarily filter anything out, but it's accountability software. It's so good for so many people. Because what it does is wherever you go online, it sends a report of that to an accountability partner. And so basically, one of the things that people get bound up when it comes to pornography or another kind of things is that it's so anonymous. And then when you have an accountability partner, it is no longer anonymous. Because they get a report at the end of every day saying, this is all the places you've been today.

And it'd be so good for so many people because it's like, listen, I need my phone for my life. I need my computer for my work or whatever this is. But I also have this thing on there and I have purified my environment. I'm ruthless with my environment, but I'm patient with myself. The third and fourth example Jesus uses, again, he gives us advice. He says, whoever divorces another, except for cases of the Greek word is Pornaya, which can be translated as unfaithfulness. So here's the thing.

He says, whoever divorces their wife, except for cases of unfaithfulness, causes her to commit adultery. Now, what does that exception call? Does that mean like you can divorce someone if they have committed adultery or been unfaithful? No, that's not what it means. Because the whole context is this. Anyone who divorces their spouse except when they've been unfaithful causes them to commit adultery. If they've been unfaithful already, they've caused themselves to commit adultery. Does that make sense?

That's what he's saying. It's the point he's making. He says, but basically then he says, You, but you may not marry another without committing adultery because you're already married to someone. Even if they were unfaithful to you, you have a choice. This is like a really hard one because, again, I can't choose the circumstances. I can't choose whether or not my spouse was faithful to me or not faith to me, was good to me or not good to me. I can't choose that.

But Jesus is not saying you get to choose your circumstances. Right now he's saying you get to choose. There's two options. You can either be reconciled with them or you can remain single. That's a hard word, but Jesus also is giving us a step forward to take action. Okay, either remain single or be reconciled with them. And that last time when Jesus talks about words, to summarize it really quickly, basically he's saying, okay, you get wrapped up in all these oaths.

Here's why I want you to live instead. Always tell the truth. That's it. There's a psychologist out of Canada, and one of his rules for life is this. He says, always tell the truth or at least never lie. Always tell the truth or at least never lie. As what Jesus is saying, we find ourselves in the midst of this desire to deceive or manipulate. Just no, no, no.

Just always tell the truth or at least never lie. So take responsibility, take action. This last part is essential because we're not on our own. The last piece here is essential. So take responsibility, yep, that's me. Take your action. Yep, that's me. That's us.

But here's the deal. God wants us to have a heart like his. Like he wants us to have a heart like his. That means he wants to help us have a heart like his. So we take hold of the help he's offering us. So the last story, and then we'll conclude. There's this guy, his name was Augustine. And you might have heard of St. Augustine's life.

At one point, he was like, he was incredibly successful. in the Roman Empire back in the third, fourth century. He didn't believe in Christ. His mom was a Catholic Christian, but she prayed from all the time. But he was thus caught up in this life of, he loved violence. He was kind of, I guess you might say, in the third or fourth century version of like a sex addict as well. Like he had a brokenness in his life.

One of St. Augustine's big prayers when he came to belief in Jesus Christ was, okay, God, make me chaste, like make me like, you know, have an ordered sexual life. Make me chased, but not yet. That was one of his big prayers. Because he looked at this and like, okay, I'll take responsibility. It's my decision. Take action. I can do these things.

But then he saw in himself this, like, I don't have the power to do this. He looked in his heart and he said, I have this criminal heart. It is bound and it's broken. And I want to choose Jesus. He would hear, you guys, he would hear these stories about other Christians who had lived lives of it. They had gone from being like big sinners to like incredible saints. And he was so inspired by them.

But then he tried to look at himself and he's like, but I can't do that. I don't think they've ever been discouraged. when you hear about saints. You ever been discouraged when you hear someone else's life? Well, they did it, and you're like, yeah, what the heck's wrong with me? They did it. That was Augustine. At one point, he had this moment of, it crushed him, and he describes how he, he's on the verge of this.

I just want to choose Jesus. I want to take responsibility. I want to take action. I don't want a criminal heart anymore. And he goes outside, and he just starts, he goes underneath this tree, and he just starts weeping. This grown man, just starts crying out. to God like, what the heck is wrong? Why am I so broken? You've ever felt like that? Like, why

am I so broken? And in that moment, Augustine, he heard this, like a child's voice. He just started saying, take up and read. Take up and read. And so he's like, I don't know what that means. I've never heard that song before. So I'm going to take this as a sign from God. He goes into the house, and he picks up the scriptures, and he picks up the First Corinthians chapter 13. This is like, let's his eyes fall on first Corinthians 13, 13, verses 13 and 14. And the line says this. Let us conduct ourselves properly, as in the daytime, not as in darkness, not in orgies or drunkenness or promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. These are all the things that Augustine had had in his heart. He's like, I'm bound by this. I have a criminal heart like this. All those things were named.

And here's the Lord speaking to him saying, let's not do that anymore. But put on the Lord Jesus, Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh. He said, when his eyes read those words, it was as if there was this freedom that opened up in his chest and he realized, I don't have to do this on my own. I don't have to do this on my own. That God's help is right there for me. Imagine time traveling from like 200 years ago to right now. And walking around one of these, that's your house right now, walking around your house, the house you live in, and being like dying of thirst. Like walking around your house like going like, I just, I'm so, where's the well?

Like, where's the nearest creek? Like, I am so thirsty. Also, I need to use the restroom. Imagine the whole thing, right? Just go with me on this one. Imagine, you're transported to now, and you're walking around this house, and you're like, I'm dying of thirst. I have to go to the bathroom.

I don't know where to go. And someone says, oh, no, no, no. You have to go to the bathroom? Just over there. So you show you to the toilet. And then, what do I do with it now? And you put this little handle thing. And it's gone.

You ever just stopped and praise the Lord for that? It didn't have to be this way. Could have been otherwise. You're like, oh my gosh. So all my, all the stuff that's in me that I don't want in me anymore, it can be out of me and gone and taken away. This analogy is terrible, you guys. I'm so sorry.

You're dying of thirst. And someone walks over to the tap and they're like, oh, just turn this on. And there's this unlimited, virtually unlimited supply of water. And if you live in Duluth, it's a virtually unlimited supply of the best water in the world. So good, you guys. You realize, okay, I'm dirty. Oh, step into this room where there is turn the tap again, and there's access to this hot and cold and everything in between water.

So many of us Christians were like, man, I'm just so, I have this gunk in me, I just can't get away from it. I stink, as is awful. I am so thirsty, and we don't realize, you guys, we have access to the Father. We have access to His grace. The sacraments, they're basically like the faucets. It's the sacraments. Reconciliation.

You dump it up. out, takes it away. You guys, it's so bad. Why did I not think this through? I just, I'm trying it out on you, it's okay. Baptism, you get clean. You die in a thirst and you go to Holy Communion. Like every, every strength we need, every gift we need, take hold of it. Because it's that, those three steps, take responsibility, take action and taking hold that can change everything. Because anger or lust, dishonesty, any of those things that make us have a criminal heart, any of those things that have the heart that kind of says if I can get away with it, but to take responsibility and to take action and to take hold of the grace he's offering right now.

Well, that's the kind of thing that can change that criminal heart into a heart like his, into a heart that's free, into a heart that's like the fathers. And that's the entire point.