Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 05/30/21 Secret Identity

Episode Date: June 1, 2021

Homily from the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. What is God's deepest secret? What is yours? What we are is shaped and revealed by what we choose. Who we are is established by relationships. Mass Readings from May 30, 2021: Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 Psalms 33:4-6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22Romans 8:14-17 Matthew 28:16-20

So last week, yeah, on Pentecost Sunday, and asked the question, you know, that life-breaker question of if you could have any superpower in the world, what superpower would you have? And how that was not the same thing as asking the question, if you could be any superhero, what superhero would you be? So I've had superheroes on the brain. And one of the things you note, right, if you ever get into the genre of superheroes, you realize that almost all of them have secret identities, right? They have, there's the person that most people believe them to be, and then there's the person they actually are. And of course they have this because it's for the protection of people they love, right? It's for their own protection. It's really to protect themselves.

That's what secret identities do. They protect us. Because there's a difference a lot of times between the person most people think we are and the person we actually are. So speaking of referencing other homilies, I referenced with a couple weeks ago we talked about Into the Woods as a musical. There's another musical that just I came across it a number of years ago and it's kind of recent, but it's just, it's just, I love it.

It's called Dear Evan Hansen. Okay, we know Dear Evan Hansen. And so my friend Nick introduced me to it by he said, okay, listen to this one song. It's called For Forever. He said, listen to the song. And he described it. He said, it's a kid singing about what a day with his best friend would be from the perspective of someone who's never had a best friend.

So Evan in the musical, he's never had a best friend. He doesn't have anybody really in his life. He's kind of an outcast. He's kind of just, he always feels alone, feels like no one really knows who he truly is. And the title of the musical, Dear Evan Hansen, comes from the fact that his therapist has given him an assignment. And every day he has to get up and write a letter to himself, like, dear Evan Hansen, this positive, encouraging kind of letter. So on the first day of his senior year in high school, Evan goes to school. And there's another kid, his name's Connor.

And Connor's also kind of an outcast. And Connor kind of, he has a not very pleasant encounter with Connor. And Connor takes Evans' letter and he signs Evans' caps. He kind of feels bad, so he signs Evans cast, Connor. Later on, in the course of the story, Connor takes his own life. And in their grief, his parents and Connor's sister, they find this letter on Connor that seems like he wrote it to Evan. Dear Van Hansen, sincerely me, you know, all these things.

And so in their grief, these parents and this sister, they reach out to Evan saying, like, we didn't even know, we didn't know our son and we didn't know we had a friend. We didn't know you were close, you must have been close. And Evan's trying to like, no, no, no, that's not true. But he sees how heartbroken they are. They see, he sees that they're in this place of just desolation and sadness. And so he makes up this friendship to try to give them some comfort and tries to let them know. Actually, no, Connor said he really loved you as his mom and dad and Connor really loved you as his sister.

And in return, basically, Evan finally feels seen. He finally feels known. And in the midst of this lie, he feels love. loved for the first time. And at some point, as you know, the story has to go, he has to come clean. He has to tell this mom and dad who have loved him, this sister who has loved him, what he's done. And it's the third to last song, it's called Words Fail.

And in it, Evan, he has these words, he says, I know this is just, he says, he says the line, right? So this was just a sad invention. It wasn't real, I know. But we were happy. And I guess I couldn't let that go. I guess I couldn't give that up because I guess I wanted to believe, because if I just believe then I don't have to see what's really there.

I don't want to see what's really there. And he goes on and he says, no, I'd rather pretend that I'm something better than these broken parts. Pretend that I'm something more than this mess that I am because then I don't have to look at it and no one gets to look at it and no one really sees. What if everyone saw? What if everyone knew? Would they like what they saw or would they hate it too?

And this is just him looking inside thinking, again, what if they saw it? What if they knew? Would they like it or would they hate it too? And that's that word of too is so powerful because it reveals everything, right? It reveals the fact that here is Evan who's hiding, what he thinks is his mess, his shame, his broken parts. he hates it. Then when it comes to like who he really is, his secret, his secret identity, if they

saw it, they would hate it too. And again, just this musical, the whole story, the thing just moves me and it moves me not only because of course we see ourselves and this kind of thing, but also I just see so many people that I work with, to talk with, interact with, that is exactly how they feel. That's that sense of I have to walk around with the secret identity. Here's the, here's the me. Most people believe me to be. And then here's who I really am.

This, not just the secret identity that I'm hiding from people, but a secret identity that I actually hate. And the awful thing for Evan is that he doesn't even, he doesn't actually even know the truth. And the awful thing for so many people, he doesn't even know his actual secret. So many people, they actually don't. They don't know the real secret. They don't know the real secret identity, ultimately, you know, because we've lost the story. And we've lost our place in the story.

We've lost the reality of, of, of, of, where we come from and what we are. But if we remembered that, if we remembered where we came from, if we remember what we are, then everything changes. So where do we come from? What are we? In the very first chapter of this book,

God makes it very, very clear. Here's what you are. I have created you. You are a person made in my image and likeness. This is what God is declaring. What we are is we are a person. What you are is you are a person made in God's image and likeness. What does that mean?

That means that you have a worse. that can't be taken away. You have a dignity that can't be erased. Maybe God's image and likened this means you have an intellect. You can think. It means you have a will. You can create. Like you can choose.

In fact, what you are means you have to choose. In fact, God made you in such a way. What you are is in his image and likeness. And because of that, we have to choose. In fact, because of that, our choices matter. Every decision that we make matters. Our choices, what we do makes a difference. Because here's the thing.

Our choices, what we do do two things. They give shape to what we are and they reveal what we are. What we do gives shape to what we are and what we do reveals what we are. So you're maintaining God's image and likeness and our choices to either clarify, confirm, and strengthen what we are. Because we're making God's image and likeness and those, if we make choices according to that, yes, it clarifies, it confirms, it strengthens what you are. Or it can disguise, it can distort, and it can destroy what we are.

So our choices shape what we are. And secondly, our choices reveal what we are because it's through our words and actions, what we say or we don't say, what we do or what we don't do. Our entire life, every choice reveals to others what we are. In fact, we only know a person through what they do. We can only know a person through what they say. So again, what we do gives shape to what we are. What we do reveals what we are.

And the same is true when it comes to God. It's same and different, right? different because God doesn't change. Is that becoming something more? God just is, right? So God is perfect. He doesn't grow. So that part is different.

But the same part is what God does reveals to us what He is. And what God has done is he's revealed his attributes, right? God reveals that he is holy. God reveals that He is one. God reveals that He is wise. God reveals that He's just, he's powerful, and he's good. Again, scripture, God reveals what He is. He's the Creator.

He is the Redeemer. He's the sanctifier. I think it's worth pausing and just asking the question why. First second, I don't know if you've ever asked that question. Like, wait, why does God reveal himself? Like, why in the world? If you're God and you are omnipotent, omniscient, you don't need anyone else to know who you are. Why would God do this?

And I think sometimes people fall into the trap of thinking, well, it just seems like God wants attention like, okay, everyone, guys, God wants attention over there. Like, let's give him some attention. He wants to be worshipped, he wants to be adored, he wants all these things. That's not the reason why. God is not desperate for you. He's not desperate for me.

He's not desperate for attention in any way, shape, or form. What God is, is, in fact, there's this line in the Catechism. In fact, it's not just any line. It's the very, very first line in the entire Catechism. It says this. It says, God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself. Right? So God doesn't need anything.

God infinitely perfect and blessed in himself in a plan of sheer goodness freely created humanity to make us share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to humanity. Again, God doesn't need anything. He isn't needy. He isn't desperate. It's out of his fullness that he wills to create. Out of his mercy, he wills to redeem and out of his love, he wills to sanctify. Those three things that create redeem, sanctify. Those three things are what God does, but there's something even deeper. Because yes, to create, to redeem, sanctify, those are what God does.

But love is what He is. And I think it's worth asking the question, too, how is that possible? How is it possible to say that God is love? Because people will say that all the time, right? I talk to people who always say, will say things like, you know, I'm spiritual and not religious. Like, I don't believe in any organized religion kind of thing. But all I know is that God is love.

And I think that's really cute. Because you can't actually say that. You can't say that and know what you mean, know what you mean, unless you believe in the Christian Revelation. What I mean by that is this, is to say that God is love is to say that you know the secret identity of God. And only Jesus has revealed the secret identity of God. In fact, I would say, yes, God is love.

But you only know that through the Christian Revelation. We only know that because Jesus reveals God's secret identity. In fact, the catechism, again, says this, says by sending his only son and his spirit, the spirit of love, God has revealed his innermost secret, that God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That the deepest, most important, most hidden, most mysterious truth about God is that he is three divine persons in one divine being. That he's try, right, three, and unity, one.

That Trinity, it comes to it, three and one. That the Father is God and the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, but the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Spirit and the Spirit is not the Father. That the Son is begotten of the Father and the Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son. Again, that sounds so complex. It's all these kinds of words.

Another way you can think of it is, God is one, what, and three. three whos. And these three whos, the Father's Son, Holy Spirit, are co-equal and co-eternal, that from eternity the Father pours himself out in love to the Son. The Son receives that love and pours himself out in love to the Father. And that love between the two of them is so real. It's actually another person. It says, what is important, but who is deeper? That what is the nature, who is the identity, that what is critical, but who is relational.

And that's why some of our choices, there are some choices that actually change our who. So there are some choices that actually change our identity. Someone gets married. And now all of a sudden, they go from just simply being a what to being a who. I am now so-and-so's husband. I am now so-and-so's wife.

You have a child. Okay, now you're a mother. That's your identity. That's who you are now. You're a father. That's who you are. Even being someone's brother or someone's sister. See, identity almost always is

is almost always relational, which is why when you're baptized, you were not baptized into the Creator, the Redeemer, and the sanctifier. That's not God's identity. Those are just what God does. You are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. You are baptized into his very identity. Here's the relationship, the eternal relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. that when you're baptized, you're baptized into that identity, into who God is,

not simply into what God does, which is remarkable, which is one of the reasons why St. Paul wrote in the second reading today to the Romans. He says, that's why you get to cry out, Abba, Father, you actually, why? Because you've become a new who. Because you've been brought into this relationship. And this is crazy. Baptism changes what we are because it changes who we are. that if you want to know your secret identity, if you want to know your true identity,

this is it by being baptized into this relationship, this eternal relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are now a daughter. You are now a son. Even more than that, you are now a beloved daughter. You are now a beloved son. This is the last thing. So Evan, Evan Hansen hated what you. what he thought was his secret identity, the idea, like if they knew the truth about me. But what if he knew the deeper truth? What if you knew the deeper truth? There is an antecedent to euness, right? There is a you before any of your choices.

That beneath and more profound than any of the brokenness that you and I find in each other, that's something as true as the broken part, something that's as true as the mess. In fact, it's something that's more true. It's this truth that you are someone made in the image and likeness of God, which means, yeah, you can create and you can choose and you can think. But what's God's deepest identity? What's God's inner-most secret identity? It's that He is love.

If God is love and you're made in God's image and likeness, then what's your secret identity? your secret identity is at your very core is someone who is made for love. At your deepest core, your secret identity is someone who's made to love. So why would you hide that? Why would you hide from that? Our only response is we just say, okay, God, I'm going to let you love me. So let God love you and be what you are. and be who you are and be love.

That is your secret identity because that is your father, son, and Holy Spirit's secret identity.