Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 03/01/20 Un-Done: We've Come Undone

Episode Date: March 1, 2020

Homily from the First Sunday of Lent. The decision that broke the world. This world is not perfect. And we are not perfect. But imperfect does not mean unloved. Mass Readings from March 1, 2020: Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7 Psalms 51:3-6, 12-13, 17Romans 5:12-19 Matthew 4:1-11 Download the Homily Study

So I'm sure that you've all had the experience like talking to someone. And when you're talking to this person and something's clearly like something's clearly up with the person like, you know, they are clearly upset. There's clearly something going on and you ask the question, what's wrong? What is almost always their answer? Nothing. Okay, good. Thank you so much. I was like, I was expecting getting a bunch of different answers.

The answer is always, ah, nothing, nothing, nothing. And sometimes, I don't know. Sometimes that can be absolutely infuriating. Just like, just tell me, please. Please. What's wrong? Nothing. What's wrong?

Now sometimes there is. You're just like, sometimes I don't have an answer, right? Sometimes I'm just like, I want you to dig it out of me. Because sometimes we need to know that the person asking us what's wrong, they really actually care to know what's wrong. But sometimes when we are asked that question, what's wrong and we say nothing? Sometimes I think it's because the real answer is I don't know. Like I'm not sure.

I don't exactly know because something. Have you ever had this experience where something's wrong, but you're like, but I don't think it should be. Like, I should be happy. Maybe you had that experience where you, like, maybe when you came to college, or maybe when you got your first job, or maybe, you know, here's two weeks after you got married, that kind of thing of like, what's wrong? I don't know because I should be, it should be all good.

And sometimes it is. Sometimes I am. But even then, something's wrong. And I think when we come up against that, that, that, that question of what's wrong. I think a lot of times either our default is denial, again, nothing, or our default is distraction.

Where I don't know what it is, but I'm not going to think about it. So I'm just going to go back to find... You know, you ever got into the thing where you finish a series on Netflix or Hulu or whatever, and you're like, I need to find my new show. Like, I need to find the next series. I need to find the next thing. I see you looking at each other.

Yeah, so we've had that experience. Why? Because, okay, I was distracted. It was really good. And while I was into the show, It's like, wow, this is great. This is compelling. And now it's done.

And now it's quiet. And now it's like either I go back to the start again or I need to find a new show. Because in that silence, like in those honest moments, we have to admit something's wrong. Like when we can't escape it. Look at those nights maybe when you can't go to sleep and your roommate's such a light sleeper that if you turn on your phone and do something with that, they're like yelling at you. And you just have to sit there. have to just lie there in the dark and in that silence, we have to admit the fact that our default

state in life is, life is broken. Like our default state in life is that something is broken in the world. That when we can't avoid it, we have to realize this truth, that something's broken in me, and I don't mean to be dramatic about this. Like, you can give me something simple. Like, think of like the simplest thing. Think of back when you were in junior high or high school. And did you ever do this?

You ever have your parents drop you off like a block away? ever did that kind of thing? Or like, Mom, no, no, no, no, I'll walk down the street, I'll meet you outside down the street. Because I don't want my friends, crazy. I don't want my friends to see my parents, like, as if they were, like, didn't know that they existed or something. Like, it'd be better if my friends that my parents didn't actually drive a car. Like, why, what was it? I mean, think about, like, that's so normal for us, right?

There's such a small thing. But think of how crazy that is. That at a certain point in our lives, I did not want to be associated with the one or two people who actually know me. me. I don't want to be associated with the one or two people who actually love me because of what some people who don't even know me and don't even love me necessarily, what they might think about me. And we just look at that and like, oh, yeah, junior high, oh, yeah, high school. And we just, we think it's completely normal. We just think of, yeah, this is how it is. Or even the fact that here we are. And we're just, we're willing to use each other. We're willing

to lie to each other. We're willing, you know, my gosh, so often. I mean, think about this. You might be here. You might be married. You might be getting ready to get married. might dream of marriage someday. And you think about this reality that even in marriage, the one person that I promised, I said, I choose you out of every other human being in the planet, as if you had a shot.

I mean, come on, let's be real. I choose you out of every other human being on this planet to be the one person that I get my entire life to, and now I cannot stand the way you chew. I cannot stand the way you watch TV. I cannot stand the way you start your sentence with always, but um, like this, whatever that thing is, how crazy is that we're so broken

but we come to this place where we think that's normal the hard thing is that actually is normal again he says we've become so used to broken being the normal that we've forgotten that it's still broken we've become so used to that fact that this world has come undone to being normal that we forgot actually it came undone but we have to hear this truth this morning

things as they are are not actually as they're meant to be. Things as they are are not actually as they're meant to be because we live in a world that has come undone. And there are hearts in our chests that have come undone. So at the top of this land, that's where we're entering this new series. And for the rest of the lent, we're going to do this series. And the series is undone.

Because we become so used to the fact that undone is normal that we forgot that it's undone. When we're going to do this series, for the rest of this season, because we realize that things as they are are, not as they're supposed to be. No, again, that might be something you might be uncomfortable right now because it might fly directly in the face of the message that the culture tells us.

Like when we ask the question, if the culture asks the question, what's wrong? The culture always asks the question, nothing. Like, nothing is wrong with you. I don't know if you've ever heard. I mean, maybe no one's ever said this to you, but we know the message is what. The message is you are perfect just the way you are. You're perfect just the way you are. You're like, really?

Have you spent time with you? No offense. But I mean, I spent time with me, and I know that that you are perfect, Father Mike, just the way you are, is not true. That is not even close to being true. Like, one of the most obvious truths in life is I am not okay. Like, spend more than five minutes with me. My gosh, you guys, I love having, like, I do the little YouTube things

because people think I'm good. And I'm like, that's five minutes edited. You have five minutes unedited with me. You're like, oh, wow, he's not. that great. True. Now you might be 10 minutes. I don't know. But we quickly realized that I'm not okay, that I'm not fine, that something is wrong. No, no, no, no, you're perfect just as you are. Like, no, because that's what you have to say when you don't know what to do with a heart that's come undone.

You have to say you're perfect just the way you are. If you don't know what to do with a world in the widths of a world that's come undone. But we do, this is the great news about being a Catholic Christian, is we know what to do in a world that's come undone because we know how it's supposed to be in the beginning. That's the first reading today. We know actually the world that God made was not like this. That the world God made, okay, here's the key. Genesis chapter one, two, and three. God made the world good because he's good. God makes this world whole and complete. And it's actually where we belong. That this world doesn't hostile to us and we're not hostile to each other. Like here he is, this man and this woman.

And they're whole. And they get to walk in this world that was made for them. and here's Eve because look at this man who's made for her. And the ad looks at this woman who's made for him and just like, oh my gosh, this is so good. And they look at God and like, and God, you made all of this for us? You're so good. Think about it even how Genesis describes the paradise. Every single tree is described as being beautiful and pleasing to the eyes and good for food. And God says, yeah, and it's all yours.

So then there's one rule. There's one rule. You ever follow that Twitter account? You had one job. This is Adam and Eve. You had one job. Do not eat of this fruit. You know, a lot of us, we look at that and say,

why would God say that? If he's so good and he made this world so good, why not just not have that tree there? Like, have it on the fence outside of the garden or something. Don't even let that tree exist. Why does that tree have to exist? It's because of this. Because God made these human beings, like him.

God made these human beings in his image and likeness. And who is God at his very core? God is love. which means God made us for love. And love necessitates the possibility of rejection. Love necessitates the possibility that we actually... If I can't say no, then my yes doesn't mean anything. So God had to put this tree in the garden.

It had to have at least just one. And it wasn't a thousand rules. We had not have a thousand rules because we were broken into a thousand pieces. But in the beginning, they were whole. These had one rule. Just love me. And just don't eat of that fruit of that tree. And that's enough.

and the rest of it all is yours. Can you imagine? Can you imagine what that would be like? Ladies, can you imagine what it would be like to have this man in your life who just looks at you with his gaze of just, he just adores you, he just loves you, never wants to use you. Men, my brothers, can you imagine that woman looking at you just like, oh my gosh, where she thinks like she's the lucky one?

That would be amazing. You know, God doesn't, the book of wisdom says that God did not make this. God did not make death. He made this world good, made it whole, made us whole. Wikimism says, God did not make death, and he doesn't rejoice in the destruction of the living. God never, never, ever wanted us to choose that, never wanted us to come undone. What happens is says, but through the envy of the devil, death entered the world. That's what scripture says. Through envy of the devil, death entered the world. No, it's important for us to understand the difference between jealousy and envy.

Because jealousy isn't always bad. Jealousy can be bad. We know that, right? Where if I become overly possessive or something, or I become greedy, I want more and more of that, that can be a bad kind of jealousy. But God is jealous. Spouses who love each other are jealous. Like think of the husband who's like, no, no, no, you can't steal my wife's heart away from me. That's good. The wife who says, no, you can't steal my husband's heart away from me. That is good. She wants to guard his heart.

And God puts us in the garden. He's like, no, no, I'm jealous of you. Not because I want to be possessive of you, not because I want to be greedy for you, but because I want to guard you. But Satan has envy. The difference between jealousy and envy, jealousy is like, I want that thing. I want it to be mine. Envy says this. Envy says, I don't even care if it's mine.

I just don't want you to have it. Envy says, I don't even care if it's mine. I just don't want you to have it. And we already know the truth, right? The story already has unfolded that the devil has already said, I don't want your love God. I don't want to be in relationship with you.

I don't want your life. All these things, all this goodness you wanted for me, I don't want it from you. and then he sees God pouring out his love on this man and this woman. He's already said he doesn't want it, but he looks at that and he says, I don't want you to have it either. That's envy. I don't want it back.

I just don't want you to have it. And so what does he do? Satan goes up to the Eve and challenges. You know, it's so interesting, the challenge that Satan levels against this woman, this good woman, she's whole, she's intact. And what does he say? he doesn't say does God really exist? Because she's like, uh, duh, look at the garden.

We walk with him every afternoon around 4 o'clock. It's pretty awesome. Like, he doesn't say, does God really exist? What Satan says is, did God really say you can't eat of any of the fruit of the trees in the garden? Like, no, no, no. He said we can eat of all of them except that one tree because if we eat it or even touch it, we'll die. And then what does Satan do? No, no, no.

You will certainly not die. God knows well that the moment you eat of it, you'll be like him. And he doesn't want you to be like him. This is devastating for two reasons. The one reason, there's the lie. God doesn't want you to be like him. How did scripture just describe Adam and Eve? That he made them in his image and likeness.

Like Eve, you already are. Adam, you already are like God. Like, you don't have to get more. You are fully like him as possible. You are whole, you're intact. You are loved by him and your love like him. This first deception is that God doesn't want you to be like him. but the truth is you already are.

This is so true for so many of us right now. We always think we have to be more. We have to grasp after more things. And God's like, wait, wait, wait. But you already are like me. You still are like me. But the second tragedy of this whole thing is not only that you're not like God yet,

but God doesn't love you. Yesterday we had the men's conference and this deacon Harold, Brooke Sivers, gave a bunch of talks. On Friday then, I had a chance to go out with him with some other people who organized the conference. And he shared this story, I'm not sure if he shared the story at the conference as well, but he talked about this priest he knew from Australia.

He visited Australia to preach the gospel and whatnot. And this priest, when he was a young priest, he was assigned to teach at a Catholic high school. Because when you're young priests, they push you with the youth and stuff. So, and one of the first days of class, he went to the chalkboard, and he wrote on one part of the chalkboard, he said, I believe God exists. And then drew a line, and the other part of the chalkboard, I don't believe God exists. and said, I want to know where you're coming from.

So go stand underneath that section. I believe God exists. I don't believe God exists. Stand wherever you are at. And he said 90% of the kids got up and they stood under, I believe God exists. You know a couple atheists in high school, they got up and stood under it. I don't believe God exists. Okay. Great. Thank you. It's good to know.

Erased it. Went to the board again and wrote, I believe that God loves me. The other side of the board wrote, I do not believe God loves me. And waited. And he said, a couple students got up. And they stood under, I do not believe God loves me. And he waited. And he waited.

And this entire classroom of students, high school students in a Catholic high school. I absolutely believe. 90% of them, I believe God exists. Not one of them got up and stood underneath what said, I believe God loves me. Everyone else just sat there in the classroom. Because I don't know. I don't think he hates me. But I don't believe that he loves me.

And I think too many of us, too many of us, that's where we fall. That too often we don't believe that God loves us, we believe God tolerates us. We believe he exists. Maybe we even believe that he's good. But when it comes down to me, as I am, I don't necessarily believe, just like Eve. Because that choice that she made, that choice that Adam made, that's come to us. It's affected us. It's wounded us.

That's why they call it original sin. It's the first sin. And now that's part of us. Because it didn't just open their eyes. they're not willing to use, their hearts have come undone. They didn't just want to hide from God after that. Their trust has come undone. That doesn't just describe that now men are willing to dominate women.

These relationships have come undone. It doesn't just mean, oh, now we die. What it means is now this world has come undone because that choice didn't just break a rule. That choice broke the world. That choice didn't just break a rule. That choice broke the world. And now we live in that broken world.

We live in a world that's come undone, with hearts that have come undone. Like, that's what it is, that have original sin. Original sin is not like we've committed sin. Here's this baby with original sin. Does it mean like the baby committed sin somehow in the womb or something like this. It doesn't mean that. It's not sin that we've committed. It's sin we've inherited.

It's not something we've done. It's a lack of something. I remember someone describing it like this. They said, imagine your grandparents or your parents were inherited billions of dollars. But at some point in the course of their lives, they just swantered it, they just got rid of it, they lost it. You know, what was supposed to come to you, billions of dollars that was supposed to come to you, now they don't have it to give. It can't come to you now. Here's our first parents who inherited this whole, a life, a world that's whole, a relationship

with God that is intact, hearts inside their chests that are actually as they're supposed to be. And then everything came undone. And now what we get is what? We get the brokenness. We get a world undone. We get hearts that are undone. We get this wound. And that relationship with him has come undone. And so then into that brokenness, our world says what?

No, no, no, no, no. You're perfect just the way you are. And we know that it's true. We know, like in the silence, in those moments, we know what doesn't know. I am not as I was meant to be. I think you know this too. Like, you are not as you're meant to be. And the real truth is we're not even as we could be. So our culture does this thing about self-esteem

because we don't know what to do with people who have come undone. So we pretend that nothing is wrong. Even as the world around us and the world inside us keeps collapsing. So let's pause. Can we just stop and admit that something is wrong? I mean, I think this is...

Can we look at the world, just admit, like, okay, something is wrong? Can we look at our hearts and just admit that something is wrong? And we even ask the question, okay, what's wrong? So you might know of a guy named G. G. K. Chesterton, who's an atheist back in the early part of 1900s, he became a Catholic, and he was an author. Incredibly prolific author. And people wanted him to weigh in on stuff all the time. People wanted him to write for their stuff all the time. At one point, the London Times was doing the series, right, this is the time of World War I. And so, like, the world

is devastated by violence. The world is devastated by all this antagonism and just the death around it. And so the question that London Times wanted all these famous authors to answer is the question, what is wrong with the world? That was the headline, the question of this series of essays, they asked all these people to write. What is wrong with the world? People, they wrote essays on like, you know, well, it's our socio-political climate. It's about poverty.

It's about education. Here's what's wrong with the world. It's always someone else. It's someone else's race. Someone else's ethnicity. Someone else has anything. Someone else, Gika Chesterton, who was never at a loss for words. I don't think he ever met a paragraph that he didn't learn how to rewrite 12 times.

Like he, in answer to the question, what is wrong with the world, he sent back a letter. and all it said was, Dear sirs, I am, sincerely G.K. Chesterton. In response to what is wrong, his answer was just true. I am.

My heart's come undone. In a world that's come undone. Now, how could he be so confident in this? I think it's because, A, he knew himself and he knew the truth. And I think a lot of times we can pretend that we're good, as long as we get what we want. Right?

You know what I'm saying? Like we can be like, oh my gosh, I am so patient and generous. I am so kind and loving. I am so, such a good person, as long as I get everything that I want. As long as I don't have to go out of my way to make sacrifices for someone else. And then what happens again, let's go into, I'm a very good roommate as long as you stay out of my stuff. And then, again, marriages. Here's the person you've said, out of everyone in the world, I want to yoke myself to you

for the rest of my life. And then why am I holding on to these petty grievances? Why am I holding on to these little resentments? Why do I become envious of the people that I should love? In fact, I remember this story of this man. He's 90-plus years old. And at one point, one of his granddaughters, or even great-granddaughters, had a baby. And I was saying, great-grandfather.

Like, this is your great, great grandson. Like, how amazing is this you live this incredible life? And look, it keeps on going. This 90-year-old plus man, he wouldn't even look at his great-great-grandson because he was so envious of this baby that had his entire life ahead of him. And he was like, my entire life is behind me. What's wrong with the world? I am.

Because with the person that I should be loving, I wish they just didn't have it. Why could Chesterton say this? He knew the truth. but the second reason is because he knew an even profounder truth than what's wrong with the world I am. He knew this. This is what we all need to know.

Yes, I am not perfect as I am, but I am loved as I am. This is the key. This is what the culture can't offer us. That's why the culture has to keep saying you're perfect as you are, because God himself says, no, no, you're not perfect as you are,

but you are loved. You are loved as you are. No, you are not perfect as you are. But you are called to be more than you are. And no, you're not perfect as you are, but you are fought for by a God who wants you as you are. Like, this is what they can't offer. This is the only thing that God offers. This is the gospel today.

This is the gospel today. Why is Jesus in the wilderness? Because he has come to undo what's been undone. Jesus is in the wilderness because he has come to undo what's been done. He's in the wilderness because he's like, no, you're not perfect. So I'm going to fight for you to make you mine. No, you're not perfect. you're worth my laying down my life for you in your imperfection.

Yes, I get it. This world has come undone. I'm going to step into this world to undo what has been undone. And yes, I get it. Your heart has come undone. But I'm going to step into this world to undo what has been undone. I don't know if you know this. The three temptations that Jesus went through,

these are the three temptations that the Israelite people in the wilderness failed at. First temptation, complaining against God, like God, why don't you feed us? and here is Satan who says, hey, chain the stones into bread. And Jesus says, no, no, no, I trust my father. And Satan says, I'll cast yourself, prove, prove, let me God prove to you that he's going to care for you. Israelites in the desert, they lost their faith. God's abandoned us in the desert.

But Jesus says, no, no, no, I trust that my father loves me. And that last temptation that Israelites fell into is idolatry. And that's what Satan tempts Jesus with. Like, bow down and worship me. And what does Jesus say? No, I trust in my father. in that threefold trust, he has undone what has been undone. Even envy.

This is the last thing. Satan would say, you have the good and I don't even care if it's mine. I just don't want it to be yours. And Jesus in the wilderness and Jesus in the cross, on the cross, he says, you're made for the good. And I don't even need to hold on to it. I just want you to have it. You're made for the father.

And I don't even need. I can even be in his shadow. I just want you to have him. Because we look at this world at all these things that have come undone. These things in me that have come and done, these things in the world that have come and done, and God has come to undo what has been undone.

So it's going to be two weeks until we see each other again on Sunday. His next two weeks over this week of class and the week of spring break, my invitation is to see it, to see what's come undone and to note it, right? So in my heart I realized, oh, my gosh, there's envy, there's jealousy, there's rivalry, there's bitterness. Like, oh, that's right, I have a heart that's come undone. What's wrong? My heart's come undone.

We look out of the world and we're like, oh my gosh, there's so much violence, so many people who are hurting, like so many people who are ignored and abandoned. What's wrong? Oh, that's right. That's right. The world has come undone. You see someone and they're acting crazy. You're like, why are they such a jerk? Why are they so horrible? Why are they such a mean person? That's right. They're a person come undone.

Maybe you see a relationship that's really even important to you, and those people are not treating each other well. You're like, what is wrong? You're like, mm. I see it. It's a love that's come undone. So the next two weeks to be able to realize this, to see it, to note it, to not be shocked by it, but then in the midst of a world come undone, a heart come undone, relationships and love has come undone, say, okay, but Jesus, and trust in this, Jesus, you can undo everything that has come undone.