Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 05/23/21 Kingdom Gifts

Episode Date: May 23, 2021

Homily from Pentecost Sunday. Am I willing to use the gifts that God has already given? At Pentecost, the disciples received the Holy Spirit and the subsequent gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts glorify the Father and have changed the world. If we were given these gifts, we could also glorify the Father and change the world…but would we? Mass Readings from May 23, 2021: Acts 2:1-11 Psalms 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 341 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13 John 20:19-23

I think it was the last mass of Lent. It was, I think Palm Sunday, where we talked, mentioned icebreaker questions. And some of the icebreaker questions that we will typically ask when we have these youth events or we have any kind of event. The one we asked that day was the scar stories, what's your favorite scar story? But also the what's your favorite condiment out of your belly button? That was a hit.

Everyone loved that one. But my favorite icebreaker question, I think, is the question. I mentioned it on Palm Sunday, but it is the question, if you could have any superpower in the world, what superpower would you choose? And it's interesting. I have just always fascinated when people answer this question because I would just automatically think that they would say flight because that seems like a pretty normal thing. But people like break into things like teleport.

I think that's good to answer too. And a strange number of people have said invisibility, like they would like to turn invisible, which kind of creeps me out because I think, what do you want to get away with? Is my question that kind of arises up? But someone actually, I mentioned that, I made that joke at one point, and someone wrote to me and they said, well, actually, some people just don't like to be seen. Like, you know, you have so much wound or so much shame that maybe just to be able to be invisible would be a gift. And I thought, wow, there's some depth here because not a lot of answers have that kind of depth. In fact, I'm often disappointed.

Because I think people have not put the necessary amount of thought into answering this question because, okay, you want to teleport. Great. Can you take people with you? Have you thought about that? Like if you can teleport, can you take them with you in your mind? Do you have to be touching them? Can they have to be touching another person who's touching another person touching you? Is that, what's the rules?

If you could fly, great, can you just float? You just hover there or can you go really, really fast? If you can turn invisible, do your clothes turn invisible as well? Or do you have to have that awkward transition back and forth from being visible and invisible all the time? See, people need to think with their brains, people. This is one of those important things. Because I would say that when I answer this question, I would say yes.

I would like to fly. But I would like to fly what, I don't know, close to the speed of light. If that's going to be the case, you need to think this thing through. And here's, if I'm going to fly close to the speed of light, that means I also have to be relatively invulnerable because I imagine the friction gets pretty big deal when you're flying at close to the speed of light. Also, I need to have a brain that works faster than just close to the speed of light or also you just run into all these things and you can't move.

You need to have reflexes that are fast enough. Also, you need to be able to like breathe in outer space or not need breath because it Imagine flying at the speed of light around the earth just in the atmosphere. That would be so boring. You would get old really, really quickly. Also, I don't just want to be able to, I want to be able to withstand cold because space gets relatively cold. I want to be able to withstand heat because imagine if you go to the sun, it gets hot.

I'm not an expert, but I think it is. I think it does get hot there. Also, you don't just want to be able to fly to it, like a scene of a crime or scene of an accident and just be like, I wish I could help you, but I'm not that strong. So you also want super strength. So you need to be able to fly really, really fast. of light, be invulnerable, and be super strong. So basically, I'm saying I would like the powers of Superman, which is, that's not inaccurate.

That is completely accurate. That's what I would say. Also laser beans from your eyes. But other than that, it'd be awesome. You know, here's an interesting thing. I think all this is interesting, but here's another thing that's interesting is we word this question. If you could have any superpower you want, what superpower would you get?

you have? We worded it very like that very intentionally. Because it's not worded, if you could be any superhero, who would you be? It's if you could have any superpower, what would you have? That's a very, very different, those are two very different questions. If you could have any superpower in the world, what would you have? If you could be any superpower in the world, who would you be? Because the fact of the matter is, even with all of the powers, all the abilities, all the strengths, all the gifts, all the, you can have all the powers in the world. And really, you'd still just be you. You'd just be you with a new power. You'd simply just be you with a new ability. So yes, you could fly. Yes, you could put out the fire. Yes,

you could catch the school bus as it cranes off of the bridge. Yes, you could save that, rescue that cat from the tree. But the question is, would you? The question is would I? Because, okay, you'd be able now, but would that matter? Because at the end of the day, I would still just be me. You'd be able, right? You'd be capable. Thinking about this word, you'd have the ability, and abilities mean that you're able, you're capable. In the first reading today, the Acts of the Apostles

at Pentecost, right? This day we're celebrating today. So the Holy Spirit came upon them in power. Jesus had promised last Ascension, the last Mass we had at the Ascension Mass. He said that the Holy Spirit will come upon you in power, the dynamite power of the Holy Spirit will come upon you. And it says that the Holy Spirit came upon them

and it says they began to speak in different languages as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. So they had the ability, and then what they do, they acted on it, they used the ability. Can you imagine this moment? Imagine this moment. You are one of the apostles, one of the disciples, gathering together with the apostles and with Our Lady.

And you've been walking with Jesus. You know him. He's your friend. He's your rabbi. He's taught you everything. You witnessed his crucifixion. You witnessed his resurrection. And he promised to you that you would receive the power of the Holy Spirit.

And then today, it's like, bam, I mean, this is the promised Holy Spirit. Now, what does the Holy Spirit enable you to do? The Holy Spirit enables you to do what Jesus had done. The power of the Holy Spirit makes it able that you can now do what Jesus did. That's been amazing. It's just overwhelming. But I imagine there's also an overwhelming temptation to just kind of stay in that holy huddle. Right?

Here are the apostles. here's our lady, here's the disciples, and they get the gift to the Holy Spirit, which I imagine was pretty incredible. Imagine they just said, wow, we can do all these things. Let's just stay here. Like it's, again, this holy huddle. Let's just stay right here and keep experiencing what it is to have these abilities, what it is to have all these strengths, what is to have all these gifts,

and be tempted not to use them. But why were these gifts given? Now, keep in mind, every one of these people, they've all of them baptized. So every one of them, they've been made into sons and daughters of God. Everyone. The apostles, they've already been ordained. They're already priests. They've already been given the gift of ability to infect the Eucharist, the ability to forgive sins. They already have the gift of the Holy Spirit. Why did Jesus promise this gift of the Holy Spirit? Why did Jesus promise? Why did He give this gift of the Holy Spirit? Because again, they already have the

Holy Spirit. They're already baptized. The men, the apostles, already ordained. Well, St. Paul says it in the second reading today. He says, To each individual, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. It's given for benefit. So the Holy Spirit, when you're baptized, was given for your own holiness. It was given to make you holy. But these gifts are not given to you for you. These gifts are given to you for others.

It's why I call them kingdom gifts. Why? Because they're given so we can build up the kingdom. that Jesus intentionally, specifically gave these kind of gifts, this gift to the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, so that we can actually help, that we've been enabled to build up the kingdom. So we have the gifts of the Holy Spirit, right? We have wisdom and understanding and counsel and knowledge and piety, reverence, fear of the Lord.

Those gifts, I mean, to build up the kingdom, but there's also those charrisons that happened when we receive the Holy Spirit in power. Those chasms can be things like mighty works, like miracles, healing, being able to talk about demons, the ability to be able to speak in tongues and understand tongues and discern tongues and discern spirits. All of those gifts are what we call kingdom gifts

because all of them are meant to build up the kingdom, which would be so incredible, right? That's why we pray for these gifts. And I invite you on this day, on Pentecost, and every day, pray for those gifts. Pray God, give me that gift of counsel and understanding and knowledge and piety and fear of the Lord and reverence. Give me the gift of mighty works.

Give me the gift of the ability to heal. St. Paul says, he says, strive for these spiritual gifts. They pursue them. They're good to ask for. But imagine that God gave you all these gifts. Would they be wasted? Imagine God gave every single one of his gifts, the fullness of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Would they be wasted? How would you even know? I mean, how would you know the answer to that question? I think every one of us, we know the answer to the answer to the Holy Spirit. that question right now because we know that your life, my life, are filled with gifts. You are the recipient of God's manifold blessings, his gifts, and I am the recipient of God's so many, this is the test. And this is what I think I need to consider. I think so many of us need to consider is the question, why in the world would God give me the supernatural gifts I pray

for if I'm not willing to actually use the natural gifts he's already given me? Why in the world? What God give me the supernatural gifts I'm praying for on the The Thesis of Pentecost, if I'm not already willing to use the natural gifts he's already given to me. So I say, God, give me this supernatural strength. God, give me this incredible gift of strength. You say, okay, well, have you used the strength you already have to help anyone? I could say, God, give me the supernatural gift of counsel where I could just like understand and speak wisdom into someone's life.

And he says, okay, well, do you even listen to anyone right now? Do you even make time to listen? on the natural level right now? Because why should I give you the supernatural gift of counsel if you don't even use that natural gift of listening? Or God, I want to have the gift of wisdom or a gift of faith, being able to speak that word that just unlocks something in a person's life,

the supernatural gift. And he could say, okay, fine, when was the last time you talked to someone about Jesus? Even just on a natural way, just talked about Jesus. But God, if you give me the gift of healing, I would love to be able to go to plague people that are hurt and broken and be able to extend your healing to their lives.

And you can ask the question, okay, when was the last time you visited a nursing home? When was the last time you visited someone you already love who was in the hospital or when they were sick? Because I can give you the supernatural gift of healing. But when was the last time you offered to bring someone a bowl of chicken soup when they were sick? Because I look at myself and I just think, oh man, I don't know.

This is why today is such a convicting day because I want to be like this. I want to be like the apostles. I want to be like my friend Nick. So I've mentioned my friend Nick before. He and his wife became Catholic a bunch of years ago, maybe, gosh, or maybe over a decade ago now. And Nick is a really good, he's in so many ways,

but he is a really good speaker. He talks about Jesus all the time, all over the place. A number of years ago, he was driving from Minnesota to Wisconsin. I know going from the promised land to something other than the promised land. Thanks, you guys. And he was on the interstate, and it was getting dark. And up ahead of him, there was a car accident. And so unlike what I would have done, I would have gotten around the accident and be like,

okay, great, I made it past this. Now I can get to the event. I'm going to. Nick saw this as an opportunity. So he pulls over, it gets far enough off the road, and he's safe. And then all he had was his phone. And on his phone, there was a flashlight like most phones right now, right? So he runs out into the traffic with his flashlight on his phone and starts directing traffic.

Like, hey, there's a accident up ahead. And so just moving people over to the lane. And basically, he's helping all these people. So no one's running into anybody and he is flagging them down. Well, this guy drives up in a truck and he pulls up to Nick and he says, hey, do you want a vest? And Nick goes, no, no, no, I'm not even cold. And the men stops and says, son, do you want a reflective vest? He's like, oh, yeah, that'd be great.

So he gets a reflective vest on. And then a state trooper pulls up and he says, is that your only flashlight? He's up, yes, sir, it is. He says, well, he says, you want a big flashlight? Yes, sir, I do. And he gives him his mag light, the state trooper, like a million candlewatt light. So he's got this candle, this massive flashlight. And then the trooper says, son, do you have any cones?

And he's like, wave in traffic. He's like, no, sir, I do not have any cones. He's like, well, you do now? And he gives them, you know how to lay these out? I know how to lay out cones. Yes, sir. You know, so he has these cones. He got the reflective vest.

He's got this massive mag light. He's directing traffic. And it's incredible because he started with a phone and a flashlight on his phone and a willingness to help. But because he used the gifts he had, he was given more gifts. He started with this flashlight and a willingness to help and he ended up with this reflective vest and these cones and this incredible mag light that the state trooper took back from him at the end.

And that's why, you know, Jesus, he, in Matthew's Gospel, he gives this principle, he says, to those who have more will be given. And from those who have not, even what they have will be taken away. Basically another way to say it is to those who have and use what they've been given, more will be given to them. But we've been given so much and we don't even use what little we have. And so the question is, how am I using God's gift for the kingdom? Not just the spiritual gifts that we pray for. And please, again, St. Paul, strive for the spiritual

gifts. But how am I using the gifts that he's given me for the kingdom? Because ultimately, it's not about abilities, right? It's not about powers. It's not about us, that's for sure. Jesus says, in the gospel, he says, the spirit will be given and he will glorify me. Jesus says the Spirit will be given to all you. When you exercise these gifts, the Spirit will glorify me. The world will come to know me. The loss we talked about last week, the lost will come to be found. Those who feel unloved will know that they are loved.

Because it's not about us. And again, as I said, it's not about the abilities. It's not about power. It's not about gifts. Ultimately, it's about the relationship. And this is the last thing, because this is the key for every single word. of us. Jesus promises, before he leaves, he says, I will not leave you, orphans. I'm not going to leave you alone. I'm going to send you the Holy Spirit,

who will dwell in your hearts, will live in your hearts and will move you. And you know when Jesus says, um, he says anything you ask in my name I will give you, that's not Jesus saying, if you ask it the right way, I'll give you what you want. Jesus is saying, if you live in my will, that's what it means. When he says, if you ask in my name, what he's saying is if you live in my will, if you live in a relationship with me, if what you are asking for is what is in my heart to give, then absolutely I will answer every one of your prayers. And how do we know how to live that way unless we're living in relationship with him? I get a chance to do a bunch of weddings. And at weddings, people get a lot of gifts. But I have

yet, I have yet to meet a couple that says, I'm so glad we got married, look at all these gifts we got. Well, there's that one couple, but it's just kidding. They just say, no, these gifts are extra. This is what we're going to use to build a family with these gifts. But the gift of this marriage is this person. The thing I'm here for is not for these gifts over here. They're great and I'm going to use them. But the reason why I'm here is because I want to give my life and live my life for this

person next to me. And that's what it is to be a Christian on the Feast of Pentecost. We ask God, give us the gifts, but more than anything else, God, let me live my life and give my life for you. And these gifts that you're going to, they're even come out of this, never let me waste them. Never let me say, I could have helped. I could have been there. I could have healed. Let me say, Lord, you were there.

And with you, I did help. with you I did heal and with you I was there because you were there