Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 05/24/20 Exiles: Restoration

Episode Date: May 25, 2020

Homily from the Ascension of the Lord. Live the reason. Return from exile is not about a change in location, it is about a change in vocation. It is less about geography and more about mission. The goal is not Resurrection, the goal is Restoration. Mass Readings from May 24, 2020: Acts 1:1-11 Psalms 47:2-3, 6-9Ephesians 1:17-23 Matthew 28:16-20 Download the Homily Study

The Lord be with you. And with your spirit. You're reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. Chapter 28, verses 16 through 20. The 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshipped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them,

All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age, the gospel of the Lord. So the other day, I was outside because it was a nice day in Duluth.

We got there one nice day, 2020. It was great. It was awesome. I was outside the whole day. And I heard this big rumbling noise. I don't know if you guys heard it at all. But the campus has been pretty much barren, and no one's on campus. But there was this rumbling because there was maybe half a dozen,

maybe eight or so of these classic cars that had the muscle cars that had been completely fixed up. And like they were just driving through campus, like it was a parade or something. I was like, wow, that's amazing. Because if you're a car person, you might have this idea that like, I want to have that classic car. I want to have that, that, you know, a 1969 Corvette or that 1976 Chevy Impala. I don't know if they made those back then. But like the idea is like I don't, I want to have that kind of car. That's the kind of car I want.

But you don't just want the old beat up 1969 Corvette, right? You're just like, no, I have the husk of a car, the remnants, the remains of a car I have in my garage. I possess that thing now. You want to do something to it. You want to restore it. And that's the thing. It's like you take this old car that is not what it's not what it was meant to be and you restore it, which means you make it what it was supposed to be.

You give it what it was supposed to have. It now is, once again, what it was meant to be. And that's what it is. That's what all these cars was driving through a campus the other day. They were just like, no, they took these old cars that were probably beat up, destroyed, ruined, wrecked, and they restored them. They made them to be what they were meant to be. You know, last week we pointed out the fact that we've been kind of an exile away from the church during the quarantine and all these kind of things, and we're going to get back soon. Maybe some of you already had the opportunity to go back to your churches, back to Mass.

And the question we asked was, why go back? Because if we're living in exile, why go back? because remember we had the Babylonian exile. And for 70 years, the Jews lived in Babylon. And then King Cyrus of Persia came to power. He conquered Babylon. And Persia was now the ruling empire. And King Cyrus said, okay, you can go back.

You don't have to live in exile anymore. And all those Jews who went back, they all went back because they had, for one reason, they had a reason to go back. For one thing, they had a reason to go back. But the interesting thing was that wasn't the end. because they couldn't go back to Jerusalem and then just lived like they were still in Babylon. They couldn't go back to Jerusalem and say, okay, now we're just back to normal here, and now we're back in Jerusalem.

They couldn't go back to Jerusalem and live like they lived before. They had to go back and live changed, and that was a painful process. So what God did is he raised up a couple people. He raised up a man named Zurbable, and Zurbable recognized. The reason we came back, remember we had a reason to go back. The reason we came back, the reason why God brought us back through King Cyrus is we could worship him. That's why he brought us back to Jerusalem, so we could rebuild the temple and reordered the priesthood and give God worship.

So Zurbil realized it's not just enough to be in this location, we have to restore worship. And then there's a guy named Nehemiah, and Nehemiah was, he realized, okay, we have this city of Jerusalem, but the walls have fallen down. And so we're completely open to attack. And if we're going to actually be a city, if we're actually going to be a community, if we're going to be us, then we have to restore the walls. to restore this city. Not just enough for us to live here, we have to live here protect, we have to live here in a certain kind of way. So Nehemiah rebuilt the walls. And

there's a third man, Ezra. And Ezra said, yep, we need to restore worship. Yes, we need to restore these walls, but also we said we need to restore the heart of the people. Because they were so used to living in Babylon, yeah, they might have gotten out of Babylon, but they didn't get Babylon out of them. And so Ezra was like, you realized, he said, no, we have to restore the people. people's hearts to the Lord. See, because coming back from exile is good, but why did God bring his people back from exile? Not just because he desired them to live in a certain address. God didn't desire for people to have a certain location. He brought them back from exile

because he desired them to have a certain vocation. That he didn't just, this whole move from exile to home was not just about geography. Like I want you to live here. It's about mission. I want you to live like this, there wasn't just about having a reason to come home. It's about a new thing. It's about restoring something. Not just recapturing the past, but about restoring the relationship. And this is the key thing because here Catholics living in exiles, living as exiles. That we could have a reason, powerful reason to come back to church, come back to the church to say, this is why I'm Catholic. And we could still end up just going through the motions. We could just default back to like, no, these are the habits. That's why I do.

this because I have to, that's why I do this. And if after last weekend you realize, no, no, no, I have a reason to be Catholic. I have a reason to come back. I have a reason to leave exile and come back to the church. That's great. That's really good. But I'm afraid that too many of us will have a reason, but won't live the reason. That will come back, but we won't really come back.

That we have a reason to believe, but we won't necessarily live like we believe. I mean, because that's the thing is I think, that was that, right, last weekend was talking about, like, having a reason. And I think sometimes we look at belief, like believing on God, that that's all God wants from us. Like, no, I have a reason. I know Jesus is God. I know he's established a church. I know he wants us to go to Mass. I know he wants us to worship like this.

I know all of that and I believe it. But sometimes it's so funny because I think we look at that and say, I have a reason, I believe, as if that's all God wants. that that's all God is asking us. As if all God wants from us is for us to acknowledge the fact that He exists. But if that's all, then why the ascension? If that's all God is asking of us is that we just have a reason and we're like, oh yeah, Jesus is God, yep. Then why the ascension?

Why? You have everyone if you ever asked this question. Why didn't Jesus just keep his resurrected body on earth? And you could show everybody. Like, yeah, I'm still me. I'm really, really me. You have a reason to believe in me. You have a reason to be Catholic.

Or maybe not even just like always. How about just once a year? Once a year, God just shows up once again, resurrected body and says, okay, everyone, see, put your hands in the nails, put your hand in the side-my-side, whatever. And like, R-CIA starts Tuesday, so sign up, like, now you know. You have a reason. Why would Jesus ascend to heaven and take that resurrected body with him? There's a scripture scholar who points this out,

and he points out the fact that the Ascension, today's feast, is the climax of the Pascal mystery. I think about the Pascal mystery. That goes, starts all the way back to the incarnation, that God becomes one of us. That's amazing, incredible, right? World changing. But that's not the climax.

And then in the body, Jesus lives this life with his humanity and divinity, and that's still not the climax. And in his body, he suffers, everything we suffer, and more. That's still not the climax. And he dies. He suffers death as God, as human, as human, being united to his divinity, he suffers death. And then even in rising from the dead, that's still not the climax.

Because Jesus' resurrected body is not the end. The resurrection is not the end. Restoration is the end. Resurrection is not the goal. Restoration isn't just a matter of having a reason. Restoration is being willing to live the reason. That's why in Matthew's Gospel, I don't know if you heard this, it says that they saw Jesus. they saw Jesus at the mountain before he's about to ascend to heaven.

They saw Jesus and they're a very powerful line. It says, when they saw him, they worshipped, but they doubted. They worshipped but they doubted. Now think about, they had seen with their own eyes. They had seen the resurrection. They had seen the crucifixion. They saw Jesus rise from the dead. For the last 40 days, they've been in his presence.

They have seen him. They don't need any more proof. In fact, Acts of the Apostle, chapter 1 says, with many proofs, Jesus revealed himself to them. They don't need any more proof. They don't need any more reasons. They had enough reason. So why did they doubt?

I think it's one of these things like we realize, okay, doubt can be intellectual, right? I don't have a reason to believe. I don't necessarily intellectually believe these claims. That doubt can be disbelief. But more often, doubt isn't rooted in our intellect. I think most often doubt is rooted in our will. Doubt's not just rooted in our head.

It can be, right? I don't agree with that. I don't believe. that claim. But most often, for those of us who have proof, we have a reason, doubt then is rooted in our heart. So they worshipped him because, yeah, you're Jesus. It wasn't like, they're like, is that really Jesus? I can't tell. No, you are really Jesus. We worship you. And they doubted. I don't think they doubted him. I don't think they doubted the resurrection. I think they doubted the way you and I doubt. Because that's what we do, right? We go to Mass, we worship God,

and then we doubt. Not that he's truly, not truly present in the Eucharist. Not that he's not really speaking to us through His Word, but I think what we doubt is, Jesus, what if you leave me again? I think sometimes what we doubt is that, well, God, Jesus, what if I fail again? I think a lot of times what we doubt is we have this, I worship you, God, I know you're really you, but I'm afraid of what's next. Or maybe that doubt is, God, Jesus, I know you are resurrected. I know you're the restorer.

I know you conquer death. But what if like my task, the task you've given to me is too big for me? Because we know this. Real faith, just like real love, demands a change in our lives. Like real faith, just like real love demands a change in our lives. I don't know if you've ever had this situation, maybe it's heartbreaking, where you tell someone for the first time that you love them and they look at you and they go, oh, that's sweet.

Or, oh, thanks. Or awesome. You're like, okay, don't you know something you want to say back to me at all? Or imagine there was someone out there in the world that you knew wanted to marry you. That there's a person out there and you're like, yeah, I know they want to marry me. Absolutely. I totally know that. And I'm not sure. No, I know they want to marry me.

I believe it with everything I have. I mean, you don't do anything about it. There's nothing that's changed. It's one thing to know it. I have proof. I have a reason. It's a whole other thing to live that reason. They worshipped, but they doubted.

I don't think they doubted the Lord. I think they might have doubted themselves because Matthew's Gospel and Luke's Acts of the Apostles, they're kind of the same scene from two different perspectives highlighting two different things. And what happens in the Acts of the Apostles? The Apostles know that resurrection is not the end. They know that resurrection is not the end.

That God has war in store. That's why they look at Him, they look at Jesus and they say, Jesus, they ask the big question, Jesus, are you at this point going to restore the kingdom? Because they knew it. It was not a mystery to them. They knew that resurrection was not the point. Resurrection was a point along the way to the point,

and that point is restoration. So, Lord, are you at this point going to restore the kingdom? And Jesus gives this answer. First, he says, basically, it's not for you to know the times or seasons, what I'm going to do, what I'm going to do. But then he looks at them and he says, okay, you want to know if I'm going to restore the kingdom? He says these words.

He says, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. and you will be my witnesses here in Jerusalem throughout Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth. If I were one of the apostles, I'd be like, oh no. Like, are you serious? Why? Because Jesus, they just asked them the question, God, the entire plan of salvation is restoration. Are you going to do it now?

And he looks at them and he says, no, you are. Like the entire plan of saving the entire world, redeeming the entire world, of restoring the entire world. Jesus, go. And he's like, no, you go into all nations, making disciples of all of them. I'll give you my power, I'll give you my spirit, but you're going to be the witnesses.

And I can imagine. Yeah, that would be really scary. So they see them and they worship because they have reason to believe, but they doubt because now we have a, now we have the mission of restoration. Because now we have to live the reason.

And the reason for the resurrection is restoration. And the reason for redemption is restoration. And the reason for all of this is that you and I could have a particular kind of relationship with Jesus. That's what's restoration. Because again, as we said, you can live as an exile anywhere. That's not based on geography.

It's not based on location. But you also can live as a restorer anywhere because that's not about your location, it's about your vocation. It's not about geography, it's about mission. And it's not about just having a reason. It's about having the relationship. So why does Jesus ascend to heaven? Because when he ascends into heaven,

when Jesus ascends to heaven, he can then... When Jesus ascends to heaven, he can then send the Holy Spirit. Jesus says that. He says, unless I go, I won't sin the advocate. And you need that advocate. Why? Because you have a reason. You need to live the reason. And you don't have the power to live the reason. So I'm going to give you the Holy Spirit. I'm going to send you the Holy Spirit. So I'm going to send to Heaven to order to give you the power to be restorers yourselves. He is the restorer of the breach. He's the repairer of the breach. But he says, I want you to do this with me. That's the second reason. One is so he can go to heaven so he can send the Holy Spirit.

But the other is that Jesus ascends to heaven. And what does he do? do there? Scripture says he lives forever to make intercession for us. He lives forever to make intercession for us. So I'm going to go to heaven. Why do we have to send? Because I'm going to intercede it on behalf of you to my father. Why? Because the thing, you know that last piece of Matthew's Gospel, what's it called in Matthew 28? It's he says, go therefore make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I've commanded you. That little section in the scripture is called the Great

commission. Think about the great commission. You might say the great sending out, and that might be what that means, commission, but really would break it down, break the word down. The great co-mission. Here is Jesus saying, my mission is to restore. Now you go, making the disciples of all nations, baptizing them of the Father's and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I've commanded you, and behold, I am with you always till the end of the age. What Jesus is saying is, I'm going to the Father, and I'll make intercession on your behalf forever because you share my mission. This is the thing, not just a reason, it's a new relationship. What's been restored is not just a new why.

What's been restored has been a new what, and that what is our relationship with God. And he said, I'm not going to do this alone. I'm not going to do this on my own. I want to do this with you. You're my co-missionaries. So first, Jesus ascends to heaven to send His Holy Spirit, to strengthen our hearts because we doubt. Second, Jesus ascends to heaven because I have a new relationship where I'm going to intercede on behalf of my father,

and you're going to be co-mationaries with me. And the third thing is, blows my mind. It's just incredibly, completely incredible, completely incredible, that the church declares this. It says, one of the great mysteries of the Incernation, or the ascension, one of the great things that happens to the ascension is, Jesus then, irreversibly unites humanity to divinity. We know what happened, right? The incarnation, is that God himself, the divine being becomes one with human nature and lives in that human nature for 33 years. And you think like, okay, I'm done with the human nature,

leave that body here, leave that human nature here, I'm going back to heaven just as God. But the ascension demonstrates this, that God so dramatically, so powerfully wants to change our relationship with him, that the catechism says he irreversibly unites humanity to divinity. Like, that's how deeply profound the ascension is. that God doesn't want to restore the kingdom on his own. He wants to do it with us,

and that God doesn't want to leave us orphan, and he doesn't leave us orphan, because he forever unites humanity to his divinity. The ascension reveals what we're supposed to be. The ascension reveals what we're made for. It's not about having that classic car all beat up, rusted out, just in your garage because you own it now. It's about restoring it.

and saying it's now the vehicle it was supposed to be. It's now the thing. It can now do the thing it was supposed to do. It is now what it was meant to be. Because returning from exile means more than just living in a new place. It means living a new life. And so here we are. Returning from exile.

And we have a reason. But are we willing to live that reason? It's kind of the last thing. I say kind of because it's going to be a couple of take a little minutes. So where do we start? Where do we start with that? Like how do we start restoration? restoration. Because that seems like a pretty big mission to like just go restore the world.

Okay, where do we start? I love this because Jesus makes it very clear where we start. In Acts chapter 1, he says, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you'll be my witnesses. Where? You'll be my witnesses here in Jerusalem, then Judea Samaria, then to the ends of the earth. But he basically, but start here, he says, essentially, start where you're living right now. You're living in Jerusalem? Start in Jerusalem. Like, you're living in Duluth? Start in Duluth. You're not a missionary.

It goes out to the entire world. I'll start with your family. Start where you are right now. Jesus says, where do you start? You start right here. And so be used to rubble in your life who said, okay, no, the temple needs to be restored. The worship of God needs to be restored. So where in your life does the worship need to be restored?

We're in your heart. Are there places there are altars to other gods in your heart in your life? to be like Zerububable and say, you know, I need to tear down those altars in my heart to other gods, to foreign gods, to the idols, the things that own me. Like Zerububal, I need to tear those down and realize that, no, only the living and true God gets my worship. Only the living and true God gets my heart. Be Zerubable.

Where? In your heart, in your life? Or Nehemiah. Nehemiah, we said, okay, listen, we need to have walls here. We need to have boundaries here. And that thing of, what are the boundaries for? The boundaries, the walls were to keep the enemies of Israel out. Because there were enemies of Israel.

In fact, when they rebuilt the walls, at some point they had to say, okay, half of you rebuilding the walls, rebuild the walls. The other half have to stand there with swords and with bows and arrows because there were so many enemies who didn't want the wall to be built. Now, here's the little thing, a little caveat. When I say a wall, people are like, oh, I get it, father, you're being political now. Bologna, that's Hebrew for bologna. Because there are sometimes when walls make sense.

Right? There are some people who will be like, no, no, no, always build bridges. That fools say that. Some people who say, oh no, always build boundaries. No, fools say that. Like we know that, right? This isn't CNN. This isn't Fox.

We get to be actually Catholics right here. We know there are times in our lives when it's important to build boundaries. There's times in our lives when it's important to build bridges. And that's the question, like, again, not politically, not geographically, in your life and my life. In our families, we know that. this is true. We know this is true about our family relationships. There are some people who are like, I need to reach out to them. I need to build a bridge with them. There's other relationships in our lives, even in our families where we're like,

it's not helpful. This is not a good relationship. It's not healthy. I need to build a boundary here. Because it's not a one-size-fits-all. Always build bridges, always build boundaries. Now it's the thing is restoration. What will help restoration? So in your life, and not out there in your life, in your heart, in your family, in your friendships, what are the bridges that need to be built? Or be in Nehemiah, in your life, in your relationships, what are the boundaries that need to be built?

Because the goal is not the boundary, and the goal is not the bridge, the goal is restoration. And lastly, not just the rubble with worship and not just Nehemiah with the walls, but Ezra, who said, the people have lost their heart for me. They've lost, they've forgotten who they are, and they've forgotten who God is. So where in my life does something need to be restored? Like we're in my life. I have a reason, but I am not living the reason.

Because I'm afraid that too many of us will go back to Mass and will be the same. And I'm afraid that it's not because we don't believe. It's not because we won't have a reason. It'll be because we're not living the reason. I think it's going to be because we're not living like, here's Jesus who has sent it to the Father to send us the Holy Spirit to give us power that we can worship and not doubt. There's Jesus who ascended to the Father

and he continually makes intercession for us. So we have, it's now our role, but it's his power. And that we have a bunch of reasons. But we're not living the reason because we won't be living the commission of restoration. I just invite you, imagine, all of us, imagine. What it would be like if I was truly Zerububel in my life and I restored worship?

The only thing in my heart is an altar to God. What if we were Nehemiah and we built the right walls and the right bridges? What if we were Ezra? And we committed everything we have to being in right relationship with God. that every day we walked out into the world and we lived the commission of restoration. That wouldn't just be a change of location, that would be a change of location. It wouldn't just be a change of geography, it would be a change of mission. And it wouldn't just be living, having a reason.

It would be living the reason.