Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 02/27/22 Words Disclose

Episode Date: February 28, 2022

Homily from the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Our words disclose, disguise, and direct our hearts. The words we use are powerful. They can build up and they can destroy. But they can also reveal our character. Mass Readings from February 27, 2022: Sirach 27:4-7 Psalms 92:2-3, 13-161 Corinthians 15:54-58 Luke 6:39-45

So when I was a kid, I thought, so I memorized a ton of stuff because I thought, like, if I knew stuff, I thought it'd be really impressive, one of those. I don't know if you ever did that. So, like, for example, when I was younger, much younger, a long time ago, there was this thing called the McDonald's menu song. The commercial was like this. Someone walked up to the counter at McDonald's and they said, can I take your order? And they launched into the entire menu. And I thought, I'm going to memorize that. It was like big MacMet, DLT, a quarter pound of the wisdom seeds for a lay, a fish, a hamburger.

It kept going on. I have it in my head right now. I could do it if you wanted. But I thought it was so cool. I didn't memorize anyone. I thought the day was going to come one day when I walked into McDonald's and they were say, sir, can I take your order? And I would just do this and they'd be like, no way.

You're so cool. You're the king of McDonald's. You're like, our burger king. But also comedians, like I listened to Bill Cosby himself. Not the CD, not the MP3. I had the album of Bill Cosby. You listened to Bill Cosby himself. I knew the entire thing front to back.

And the whole thing I'd memorized. I also memorized Eddie Murphy, which was not allowed in my family, delirious and raw, that was not looked upon with favor. And if you were to ask me back then, which of those two comedians will be making kids' movies and which one would be in jail, I would have guessed wrong. I would not have called that one ever my entire life. And then I got a little bit older, I was like, okay, I want to impress the ladies. So I don't, people talk about memorizing poetry.

I did it. Remember Sonnet 116 from William Shakespeare. Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments. Love is not love which alters when an alteration finds or bends with the remover to remove. Oh no, it is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken. It's the star to every wandering bark whose worths unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not times fool. The rosy lips and cheeks within its bending sickles compass come.

Love alters not with its brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I I never writ, nor no man ever loved. How did I not have a date? Like, honestly, you guys, that is swoon, city. So it was all these things I wanted to learn by heart. McDonald's band was a song, these comedian things. And then it comes to a point where it's like, okay, listen,

you can't just memorize someone else's word. You can't just know someone else's words by heart. You have to actually do this yourself. So I set out, I wrote my comedy thing. I wrote my songs. I literally wrote sonnets. I got no word, no big deal. Anyways, but it was one of those things

where it's one thing to speak, to know something by heart, it's another thing to speak from your heart. They're both good. But knowing something by heart is good. You learn something someone else once said, but speaking from one's own heart is like, okay, that does something different, that does something unique. That reveals something about what's in your heart. So the first reading today from Syrac, he even says this. He says, as a sieve is shaken, the husks appear, and so do one's faults when one speaks. He goes on to say that, One's speech discloses the bent of one's mind.

Because that's what words, words have the power. Words have the ability to disclose one's character. Words have the ability to reveal who we actually really are. Words have the power to disclose our identities. No, of course, words also have the ability to disguise. I mean, we all know of con artists. I don't know if you've ever seen any of the documentaries on Netflix. There's one that came out recently called the Tinder Swindler.

Have you seen the Tinder Swindler? It's about this guy who basically a con artist went all around Europe. and he would just con people. He'd meet them on Tinder, and then by the end of his reign of terror of conning people, he had swindled people conned them out of $10 million total. It's incredible. Because why?

Because not only do our words have the power to disclose, our words also have the power to disguise who we really are. Because every one of us knows I can learn something by heart. Those are not my words. I can rehearse them. Those are not my words. But every one of us also knows that that can only go so far. At some point, even our rehearsed words, even our rehearsed words are going to give way to truly

what's in our heart. So I was talking with a friend and we were both miced up. We had mics on. We were doing like a broadcast kind of a situation and I said, oh, give me one second after or into the restroom. And he said, okay, hey, make sure you turn your microphone off because everyone knows the stories, right? Maybe this happened to you at church at one point where, like, the priest right before Mass goes into the restroom and like, no, Father, turn off your microphone. I heard a worse, and so we were talking about, like, all the mistakes and mishaps a person could have when they don't turn off the microphone going to places like the restroom.

But he shared. He's a good man. He wasn't talking out of school. He didn't tell me who it was, but he said that he knew a man who was a presenter, basically go to churches and give talks. And he was invited to this one church, and it was packed. Like the entire city came to the entire region came to this place. a full house in this church. And before he went out of the little sacristy, it's like the room off the front of the church, he was back there talking to somebody and he was just going off

about, he didn't like the priest when invited him to give this talk. And so he was saying, oh, this pastor here, he is just a clown. Like the guy's a total joke. And he said, well, I better get out there now and get my talk. And he walked out into the church and he said, I mean, the guy describing it to me said, you could hear a pin drop. He's every, he's a little, he said, he And he realized in that moment, everyone in that church just heard everything he had just said. And I remember he told me the story. I'm like, what did he do? I was like, I can't even imagine what you would do in that moment.

Like, I would have to say, I'm sorry, you came here. I have to leave. Like, I can't give my talk. Why? Because even if what I have to say is right, even if what I have to say is true or good and even helpful for people, you will not be listening to a single thing I had said. Because why? Because I already revealed to you.

My speech, what I didn't think you were listening, my speech revealed to you what's actually in my heart. My speech disclosed who the person in front of you actually is. Because that's what our words do. Our words disclose what's there. Especially in our unguarded moments. This happened to me about, I think maybe it was last, it was this last summer, so recent.

I was visiting my parents back at the Lake Place and all the siblings were back. And so one of these nights, you know, we're staying up late. All the adult kids and my parents were sitting around the kitchen table and we're talking smart. And at one point, my older brother, whom I love, my older brother, he is incredible. I respect him so much. But he said something, and I just unloaded on him.

I'm like, no, you don't get to say that. I had the finger out and everything. You don't get to say that, man. And I was going, and he's like, do you listen? Gosh, I'm so excited about this. I said, you need to listen to me. This is what you need to know about yourself. And my brother was sitting.

He's an older brother, and he's just kind of smiling. It's kind of, hmm, sitting back in his chair. As I was just like, you need to know this and this. And he's like, huh, okay. And then after I was done, I felt so bad. Went to bed. The next morning, it was Sunday morning. So I was saying mass for my family at 8 a.m.

5 hours later. We were up very late. And I'm like, I know I need to track down my brother because I need to apologize. Jesus said, if you have something against your brother and you go to leave your gift at the altar, leave it there, be reconciled first. And then I'm like, Mark, I'm so sorry.

No problem. My dad even came up to me. I was like, hey, I heard that you guys had a little some words last night. I'm like, how did you know this? Later on, my brother, we were out for a walk and he came up next to me, he's like, so, you get pretty mad at me. I was like, no, Mark, I wasn't mad at you.

He's like, no, no, no, it was great. Like, what? He said, that was awesome. It's like, how was that awesome? Me, like, yelling at you. And he said, listen, it was so good to hear from you, to hear what you really think. He said, Mikey, I sometimes think that you don't actually say what you really think. I think sometimes you're so careful with your words that you don't tell me what you really think.

so it was good to hear and I thought well I'm grateful for that because A my brother is a tough guy he could destroy me easily and B because that's true I really do I try to be very very careful with my words I think for a good reason

maybe even for three good reasons one is because I know that not everything I think needs to be said second reason is I know not everything I think is actually true and the third reason is not everything I think is actually what I think So not everything I think needs to be said, and I think this is probably true for us.

We know that not every thought that goes through my mind needs to be said. Not every thought that goes through my mind is actually going to help. Why? Because I think those of us here right now, we love people. And we know that our words have the ability to heal. Our words have the ability to help people, but also our words have the ability to hurt. I know that, yes, our words have the ability to disclose, but our words also have the ability to destroy. You know, Jesus in the gospel today, he says,

from the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks. And that's great. If my heart was full of nothing but goodness and truth and rainbows and butterflies, then I just, yeah, say whatever you want to say. I could do that. But I know my heart, and maybe your heart's like this too. My heart's a mix. I think it's got some good stuff in there,

but I know also there are some stuff in my heart that I do not want to say out loud. So I need to filter. Like in the first reading, I need a sieve. Because St. Paul says, he says, Say only the good things that people need to hear. Things that will really help them. And I've got stuff in my mind.

I've got stuff in my heart that people don't need to hear. Things that actually won't help them. So if I want to do what St. Paul says, which is say only the good things people need to hear, things that will really help them, then I need a filter. Because not everything I think needs to be said. And also not everything I think is true.

I don't know if you've ever had this experience where you might just come upon a person or a situation or a scenario and you just like, oh my gosh, I can't believe this. horrible human being or this horrible situation and you're like everything is just horrible and then someone's like hey you want a snickers you have a little snack here and you realize oh i guess i just needed to nap i just needed some food i was just hungry that is that can happen to any single one of us not everything we think is actually true sometimes we need more information that's one of the reasons why st james in the new testament st james he says these so important words to us he says be quick to hear

and slow to speak, and slow to anger. Be quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to anger. Why? Because not everything that I think is actually true. There's a man in his name is St. Ignatius of Loyola. He founded the Jesuits. This community of men who not only live together, but they would go on mission together. And so if you know anything about people living in community, it's really easy to misjudge people.

It's really easy to see the worst. If you have roommates, they left their cereal bowl out, once again, because they're trying to destroy my life. I mean, we can jump to conclusions, and we can hear what someone says and jump to a conclusion. We can see what someone does and jump to a conclusion. So St. Ignatius said, that's what you're going to want to do. So my advice, he says,

everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as they can other people's thoughts, words, and deeds in the most favorable way. These are his words. He said, every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another's statement than to condemn it. that just to pause you know when someone said oh you said this busted you know we should be more inclined to have a favorable interpretation to what someone said than to condemn it he goes on to say but if you can't do that let him ask how the other one understands it like what did you mean by that maybe i'm

misunderstanding what you meant to say because he says if the latter understands it badly then you can correct them with love and if he does not suffice let the christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved. That idea that we could be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. Why? Because not everything I think needs to be said and not everything I think is true.

Not only that, but not everything I think is actually what I think. I don't know if you've ever noticed this about yourself. Not everything I think is actually what I think. Because there are so many, our thoughts go largely, I think, unexamined and unfiltered in the course of it. day there's so many thoughts we have, so many inputs all around us, so many, all of them, that we might not even know what is it that we actually think. I might think, I think, I don't even know what's in my heart. I don't even know what's in my mind sometimes.

I don't even know myself. It's one of the things I discover every single weekend. Like I read the gospel, oh, I totally know exactly what Jesus. And I start, sit down, I start to write it out, and like, oh, I have no idea what Jesus was talking about. So what do we do? If we, not everything we think is, it needs to be said, not everything we think is true, and not everything we think is actually what we think. What can we do?

I think we can do three things. The first thing, I think we can stop and pray. There's a really help. In the course of every single day, just to stop and pray. So my final year of seminary, I was invited over to the Archbishop of St. Paul, Minneapolis's house. His name was Archbishop Harry Flynn. Me and my class,

we went over that we had a holy hour in front of our Lord in the Eucharist. We just praise and worship. And then we had dinner. But before dinner, at the end of the holy hour, Archbishop Flaney sat us all down. He said, man, here's what you need to do. You're going to get ordained.

You're going to be sent out into the parish. You're going to be sent out into this world. I need you to do this one thing every single day. I need you to make a holy hour in front of Jesus in the Eucharist every single day, no matter what. So because what's going to happen is you're going to be ordained a priest and you're going to go out into this world and you're going to talk a lot. You're going to have to say stuff all day.

You're going to have to make this same. all day. You're going to have to do stuff all day. What's going to happen is you're just going to say more things and say more things and do more things and do more things. You're just going to go from one thing to the next and not realize. But if you stop, if you pray, if you have that moment of silence in front of Jesus, not only do you have intimacy with Christ and get to know him better, become holy, that's nice, but also in that silence, you'll realize there were things that you said that you shouldn't have said. There were things you should have said that you didn't say. There are things you did, you shouldn't have done, and there are things you should have done,

but you didn't do. And unless you actually stop and pray, you can basically waste your entire life going from thing to thing and not realizing, not pondering, not examining, what are the thoughts and feelings that are actually in my heart right now? Can I put a name to what I'm going through? Can I have a handle on what I'm experiencing right now? Can I understand where these thoughts, where these feelings are coming from, and what to do with them? That's so important to stop and to pray. The second thing I think is to write. And you might not be a writer, but I really truly believe that we don't really know what we think until we try to articulate it.

I don't really know what I believe until I try to capture it in words. So the hardest class I ever had in my entire life was my sophomore year of high school, and it was an AP history class. The teacher was Mr. Lottie, and he was a tough teacher, a great teacher, but he demanded a lot of out of us. And it was really hard for me. I mean, just at my development level, I was not ready to work that hard for school. But every week, Mr. Lottie had us write a thesis statement, just one page. And the thesis statement was make a statement and then back it up. Every single week, and virtually the entire year, I got the lowest grades I've ever gotten in my entire life. Because

I'd fill up every week, I'd fill up the page with words. And every week, he would say, Mike, what's your thesis? I don't know what a thesis is. Say, back up your thesis. I'm like, I don't know how to back this up. Every week, I put words on the page, but they weren't true. They weren't clear. I didn't know what I thought. So it was that repeated process of going back into working it out, trying to get the right words down.

In fact, there's a man whose name is Michael Hyatt. Michael Hyatt is a businessman and an author and a speaker. And he said this, he said, our thoughts unpangle themselves passing over the lips and through pencil tips. which not only is a nice little rhyme, but I think it captures really what happens. Our thoughts can be as jumble. I don't even know what I think, but they entangle themselves

as I'm trying to work it out with somebody as I'm speaking or try to work it out as I'm writing those things down. Because when I do that, those words disclose what's in my heart. Remember Syrac, what do you say? He said, the fruit of a tree shows the care it has had.

And so too does one's speech disclose the bent of one's mind. So the fruit of the tree. of a tree discloses what I've exposed it to, what I've done with it. So we have the third thing. You have stop and pray. We have right. But the third thing is this thing, it's a psychological principle called the law of exposure.

You might have heard about the law of exposure before, but basically it means this. What is in my mind. What is in my heart? What is in my heart? It's in my mind. Is there because I put it there. What I've exposed myself to, that's what's in my mind. What I've exposed myself to, that's what's in my heart.

What I expose myself to, that's what shapes me. So I have a love-hate relationship with the gram. Instagram, like, I love some of the reels. They're fun. I get workout tips. Learn how to, you know, the bro-split, got the creatine commercials. But I find myself, you guys are judging me hard right now. I just, but I find myself deleting it like every other day.

Not only is a massive waste of time, but also when I, is the more and more I expose myself to some of the stuff on Instagram is the more I start wanting things that I don't actually want. How many of you, I'm not going to take a poll, I was going to ask how many have actually ever bought something off an Instagram ad? I'll just volunteer. You know, someone says, these are the most comfortable men, this is the most comfortable pants you'll ever own. I'm like, well, I want the most comfortable pants I'll ever own. Here's a cutting board made with real bamboo with containers attached to the cutting board. You just cut your vegetables and scoop them right in, put them in the fridge.

Genius. Sign me up. And you can buy one click. It's amazing. But also, I find myself not only wanting things. This is crazy, and it's actually shocking. But I love my life. I love what Jesus, what he's called me to.

But if I expose myself to some stuff on social media, one of the things I find myself is I find myself wanting a different life than I actually have. It's crazy. Again, I love my life. I like being with you guys. It's great. But the law of exposure is real. And that's true when it comes to online.

It's true when it comes to TV or movies. In fact, I was talking with one of our missionaries, and she said that part of the focus training for missionaries is at some point they highlight the fact that whatever we expose ourselves to, it gets in our heart. And so they do this kind of exercise where here all these missionaries are gathered together and one of the presenters gets up and says, I'm just going to read the lyrics of a couple of the top 20 songs from the last year. And these are songs everybody knows.

These are things that probably everybody in that room might have even listened to that morning. But they just simply read the lyrics. Like there's no sick beat. There's no great harmonies. There's an, you know, all it is is just unfiltered. These are the words that you put in your mind when you were listening to this song. And she said, it was everyone, it gets so uncomfortable. Because not only is the person reading, like maybe a priest or a religious sister,

you're surrounded by a bunch of missionaries, it's out of context. But also it's just one of those things you realize, oh my gosh, that's what I put in my mind every time I go to the gym. I was going to actually read lyrics this morning and I looked him up and I was like I can't I like pushing the edge I'm like I can't do this I was so embarrassed I would not be able to say this out loud I have to simply describe what I would have said

because that's what happens what's in my heart is there because I put it there and it happens every single time here's the last thing not only do words disclose our hearts they have the ability to disguise our hearts but I think words also direct our hearts. They don't simply reveal, they also reframe.

Like the words we choose to use can actually change our hearts. So there's an author, his name is James Clear, and a while back he has a book about habits, it's called Atomic Habits. And one of his points in his book Atomic Habits is he says, if we would be intentional with the words we use, we could actually change how our hearts live in this world.

So say someone's trying to, to eat healthier or someone's trying to be more fit or get more sleep, they get offered a piece of cake. They could say, oh, no, no, no, I can't eat cake. I'm on a diet. They could also change one word and say, instead of saying, I can't eat cake, say, no, I don't eat cake. Can't is some of the things restricting me, some things holding me back.

I don't is a, I own this. This is who I am. Do you want to go stay out late? I'm sorry, I can't stay out late. I have to get to bed. I go to bed early. I get enough sleep. It might seem small, it might seem simple, but it actually is incredibly significant and powerful.

The words that we actually choose to use don't merely have the ability to disclose our hearts. They have the ability to direct our hearts because words have power. And so what we're going to do is, as I mentioned at the beginning of Mass, Lent starts this week. So starting next week, what we're going to do for the next seven weeks is we're going to pay attention to some of the most powerful words ever. uttered on this planet. For the next seven weeks, we're going to spend time with Jesus, and not just Jesus anywhere. We're going to spend time with Jesus on the cross.

From the cross, Jesus uttered seven words. He uttered seven things that revealed the depth of his heart, that disclosed what was actually in our Lord and Savior's heart. For all of Lent, we're just going to stay with him on the cross. And we're going to stop and pray with those words. We're going to speak and write down those words. We're going to expose ourselves to those words, and when we hear them, those words will disclose the depths of Jesus' heart,

and they'll also do something else. They will also direct our hearts. So that's next Sunday, where we begin to pray about, to think about, to reflect on, to expose ourselves, to the words of Jesus from the heart. To the words of Jesus from the heart of the cross.