Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 06/05/22 Given For Some Benefit

Episode Date: June 6, 2022

Homily from Pentecost Sunday. The greatest gift is to make yourself available. The Holy Spirit, poured out on the apostles (and the entire Church) at Pentecost would have gone to waste without the most important reality: the disciples made themselves available to be used by God for the service of the people around them. Mass Readings from June 5, 2022: Acts 2:1-11 Psalms 104:1, 24, 29-31, 341 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13 John 20:19-23

So sometimes you do these like icebreaker questions and I mentioned that before. I think I might have even mentioned this icebreaker question in the past. It's one of my favorites because it comes up. I probably ask it of people multiple times a year, but the question is this. If you could have any superpower, what superpower would you have? And most people, there are some people who are thoughtful. Most people are just like, oh, I like to fly and then someone says teleport and then it's like, oh my gosh, I'd rather teleport.

Like I don't know. I have been, again, I might have mentioned this before, but flight makes sense. teleportation makes complete sense. Someone who says, I want to be able to breathe underwater. All those things. So cool. The number of people who have said they want to be invisible is disturbing to me. Because I'm like, what do you want? Hmm, what do you want to do with that? Like, I don't know what that is. No, I remember saying that one point, someone says, sometimes people just don't want to be seen. They want to be. I was like, okay, that's the thing. But why would you have a superpower to not be seen? Like, you could fly away or teleport somewhere else.

Anyways, the question, the answer I always have is I think it's probably the most thought thoughtful answer I've ever heard, my own answer. But because someone could say, I want to fly. And say, okay, great, we mean hover, like float or like how fast? And I would say, well, how about the speed of light? I want to be able to fly at the speed of light. But if that's the case, then I need to also be invulnerable because there's debris in the air. There's also friction. And so I need to be invulnerable. Also, I need to have really quick reflexes because it doesn't do any good to probably really fast, but not be able to turn fast enough. So you have to have that. Also, you need to have sight that can see really far because, I mean, for many reasons,

but one is you need to see what's coming, that kind of thing. Also, you should probably be able to not to be able to go without oxygen, like live in space kind of a situation because there also just be doing laps around the earth and that's kind of good boring after a while, I think. Also, because of that, you should be able to handle extreme cold because the depth and heat because the depths of space has both heat and cold. Also, you don't just want to be able to fly up to like, here's a burning building. You flew there.

but now I can't help you because I'm not strong enough. You need super strength as well. So basically, all of those things go to say, I want to have the superpowers of Superman. Basically, it's all wrapped up in him. It's interesting, though, to go back to this. The question is, I would say, I'd be Superman. The question wasn't, what super hero would you be?

The question is, what superpowers would you have? Here is something that just strikes me again and again, every time I think about this. Because if through some freak of accident or through a gift of the Holy Spirit, gift of the Lord, I was given superpowers, or you were given superpowers. You wouldn't become Wonder Woman. You wouldn't become the Flash. You wouldn't become Batman, or he's a human being, you wouldn't become Superman. You'd be you with powers. So you wouldn't actually be the superhero.

I wouldn't be Superman. I would be me with Superman's powers. And that's a huge difference. When I was in high school, it was my time to be confirmed. So Pentecost, you know, just coming to an 11th grader. And they told us about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. these seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, prudence, fear of the Lord, piety, fear of the Lord, fortitude, last one. And I remember they said, pick one, just get to pick one of the spiritual superpowers. And I remember asking, can I have all of them? Because even then I wanted the Superman. You know, and they said, yeah, go ahead, go pray for all of them. There's something fascinating about that, though. Here I am asking God on the day of my confirmation and many days,

thereafter. Many years. In fact, here we are even now, praying for those gifts. And my problem is, am I waiting for God to give me supernatural gifts without being willing to use the natural gifts he's already given? Because again, maybe I was given, you're given the powers of Wonder Woman or of the Hulk or of Superman, whoever it is. I would still be my selfish me. I would still be my, I can't be bothered me. I would still just be me. Because those superheroes are superheroes for a reason. It's not because of their powers.

It's because of what they do with those powers. And the same thing is true when it comes to us. St. Paul is writing in the second reading today. And he says, to each, the spirit has been given for some benefit. And I know for myself, I'm like, oh, yeah, I want these powers. I want these gifts. I want these supernatural gifts to the Holy Spirit. Why?

Because I think it would be cool. I think it would be amazing to be able to do marriage. would be able to speak in tongues, remember they interpret tongues, they'd be able to do mighty works. But Paul says, no, to each those spiritual gifts are given for some benefit to build up the church. They're kingdom gifts. They're not personal gifts to make me holier. They're kingdom gifts to build up the kingdom. They're gifts that are given not just to be possessed. They're gifts that are given to be used. You know, Pope Paul the 6th back in the 1960s, he wrote about how the church has to be missionary. In fact, he says something along the lines of he says,

to the degree that the church is missionary, she is the church. And to the degree that the church is not missionary, she's not the church. To the degree that we are willing to go out and take care of those who are, no one else takes care of, to the degree that we're willing to go out and bring the gospel, the good news to people, to the degree that we're willing to go out and bring the sacraments to people, that's the degree to which we really are the church. These are gifts that have been given to us. The question is, are we using those.

gifts. Am I a disciple? Am I a missionary? I remember years ago hearing this definition of a disciple or at least a metric of a disciple. What's a disciple? A disciple is someone who's willing to change their own schedule in order to get closer to Jesus. That was really helpful for me because it solidified some things. A disciple is someone who's willing to change their own schedule in order to get closer to Jesus. But a disciple maker, like a missionary, is someone who's willing to change their own schedule in order to help someone else else get closer to Jesus.

And that's where I just all of a sudden realize, okay, there might be a lack. I might be constantly asking God for these supernatural gifts and he's constantly asking me, okay, great, that's wonderful. I want to bestow my gifts upon my children. I love you very much. Question, what are you doing with the natural gifts I've given you? Because that's the question for all of us.

In fact, we keep talking about mission so much on campus here that's just like every disciple has to be a missionary, right? To change my schedule, to get closer to Jesus, but also be willing to change my schedule to help someone else get closer to Jesus. But so often we fail, right? In that moment of being a missionary, we fail. And a lot of times, I'm talking to students, and they come back and they're saying, hey, here's the situation.

Whether it's like someone was talking about the church and they were bashing it or I was in class and the teacher was saying this or that, or here's an opportunity for me to witness, to share, to help. And I didn't do it. There's my opportunity to help someone to really serve them. And I didn't do it. And I'm a failure. I'm like, okay, well, maybe you're a failure.

know. Probably not. But rather than just like short-circuit that, rather than just like disqualify yourself, let's ask the question. What are you missing? Because a lot of times, I know for myself, when I fail to be that disciple of Jesus, when I fail to be the missionary, when I fail to use the gifts, I'm lacking something. Maybe I'm lacking more than one thing, but at least one of these three things. I'm either lacking wisdom. I'm lacking courage, or I'm lacking love. I think every one of us, when we fail to be missionaries, when we fail to take the gift that God has given to us and use them,

it's because I lack wisdom. Like, I don't know what to do. Here I'm in class, and my teacher is going on and on about the Catholic Church, there's bashing this or that about Jesus. And like, I didn't say anything. Why? Because I didn't know what to say. Here's someone sitting on the side of the road,

and I wanted to help them. I didn't act. Why? Maybe it's because I didn't know what to do. I lacked wisdom. That's important to make a distinction between lacking wisdom, and lacking courage. Courage could be something like,

well, I know what to do, I know what to say, but I'm afraid of what people will think. I know what to do, I know how to help, but I'm afraid of the ramifications. I'm afraid of where this will take me. I'm, again, afraid of others, opinions. I'm afraid of what this means. So lacking wisdom, I need more experience.

But maybe I know exactly what to do, and I failed to do it. And I'm merely lacking courage. I think in both of those situations, I think there's something really good. I was talking to Father Josh Johnson just the other day, actually a while ago, and we were talking about this, what it is to be a missionary.

And I mentioned those three things. Oftentimes we have this lack of wisdom, this lack of courage or lack of love. We'll get to that in a second. And he pointed out, he said, yeah, you know, it's so fascinating that even the night of their ordination to be priests, the apostles, they have the last supper,

given this gift of the Holy Spirit, they're made priests, and then what does Jesus ask them to do? He asked them to watch and pray with me. And there's something about that, like stay with me and watch and pray with me. That it meant to make up for our lack of wisdom because I'm with the Lord. And so he reminds me of the truth. It's meant to make up for our lack of courage because I'm with the Lord and he's the one who's strong. But it's also meant to make up for our lack of love. Because there are sometimes when, you know, I know the right thing to do.

or the second guess, I have the courage to do it, but I'm lacking that third piece. I'm lacking love, meaning I'm just not willing to do it, not because I'm afraid of anything, not because I'm afraid of anyone's opinion. I just can't be bothered. And how many of us would be,

how many of y'all would be incredible missionaries of the Lord if it wasn't for that? How many would there actually be superhero saints in the church right now? because you have all the knowledge you need. You have all the wisdom you need. You have all the courage you need. You don't care what people think.

But that third piece is I'm just can't be bothered. I mean, I could think about any of the people in the comic books, those comic book movies. Why are these superheroes? Not because of their superpowers, but because whatever strength they have, whatever gifts they have, they're willing to use them.

They're available. And that's, I think, the key. I think the superpower of any superhero, more than anything else, is that they're available. I think the thing that marks the difference between most of us and those incredible saints is not an abundance of gifts. It's not they have more Holy Spirit. It's not they have more supernatural gifts. It's simply this one thing. They've made themselves available.

So we have focus on our campus for the last number of years. And Focus stands for Fellowship of Catholic University students. they love their acronyms. They love their acronyms. And so one of the first acronyms I learned from focus was the acronym fact, and it stands for faithful, available, contagious, and teachable. That if you invite someone into discipleship, they should have these four marks,

these four kind of qualities about themselves. They're faithful. So they want to strive after the Lord. It doesn't mean perfect, but they strive after the Lord. They're available. They're available. They're contagious in that sense of like, you know, they're not off-putting.

They're people like being around them, and they're teachable. They're open. they're docile, right? They're open to being taught. Open to being led, open to being disciples. So we have so many students who fit that description. But I had to learn the hard way because before Focus got here, I just learned these things. We're like, well, I'll just do them here by myself without any focus missionaries here. And I found so many people who were faked. They were faithful. They were faithful. They were contagious. They were teachable. But they just

weren't available. And I beat my head against the wall, trying to convince these guys and these gals like, no, here's what you want to do. And they say, yeah, Father, we want to do that thing. But I just don't have the time. I just don't have the availability. I'm just not there. And it's remarkable because they're still blessed. They're still gifted.

They're so incredible people. They're good people. But the difference between someone who's gifted, the difference between someone who's blessed and the difference between someone who's a gift, who is a blessing, is that one word. is that one trait. The difference between someone with superpowers and a superhero

is who's available? Too often, too often. We aren't even beginning to use the natural gifts God has given us. Yet we keep coming back to them and saying, God, give me supernatural gifts, give me even more. So not too long, a couple months ago, my computer just went on the fritz. It was just, it was old, it was over a decade old,

and I'm getting it that far. I'm proud of it. But then it just went down. And so I'm online and I'm looking at all these things. And you don't realize that you can have your base computer, but for a couple hundred dollars more, you have more RAM. A couple hundred dollars more more, you have more memory. You have more processing, all these kind of things,

all these extra core, whatever. And I was like, wow, that adds up really quickly. So I called my cousin, because my cousin, he built computers for his living. That's what he does for his job. And like, hey, Mikey, what do I need when it comes to my computer? And he says, what do you use it for? I'm like, well, I surf the internet and I write things. So he's like, okay, so you need a web browser and a word processor.

Yeah, so basically a typewriter with the iPhone. Basically, that's kind of what my computer is. He says, you don't need all those things. In fact, the old computer that I had, I probably didn't use three quarters of what it was capable of doing. I probably used only less than even one quarter of what my computer is capable of doing. But I want to get this, but I want more. I want this new one that has even more processing, even more memory,

even more all these things. but if I'm not using power I have, why should God give me any more? Why should I pay for any more? All that power, all the gift wasted. I was reflecting on this when it comes to like the sun too, kind of another analogy. As you know, the sun is a sphere, right? So it's round all the way around. It's like a basketball because those liberal arts majors.

So it's all the way around. which means that the entire sun, like coming off of it, is all of the heat, all the energy, all the light, but it's going in all directions, all the time. And here's the earth that's just in like a speck, that it's, we're receiving just a speck, a fraction of the heat and the light, the energy coming off of the sun. There have been some scientists who have studied this. They said that if you collected all of the energy of the sun coming off in all directions, right?

for 10 minutes, that would be enough energy to power all life on Earth for more than 5 billion years. In the space of 10 minutes, the energy coming off the sun would be enough to power all human, not just human life, all life on Earth for over 5 billion years. That is so much energy just gone to waste. Like maybe a lot of us, Christians, because our lives are full of blessings. Yes, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles, but what did they do? Immediately, they received the power of the Holy Spirit, and they went out and used the Holy Spirit. They received the gift of tongues, the gift of prophecy, gift of preaching, and they went out and they prophesied. And they went out and they preached.

They went out and they used the gifts God had given to them. So here I am asking God, God, give me tongues, the gift of tongues. And he could say, okay, sure, but when was the last time you talked about Jesus in your own? language. He said, God, give me the gift of mighty works. I go, okay, great. I will. I like to. But when was the last time you use the strength you actually have to help your neighbor? Oh, God, give me the gift of counsel, the gift of wisdom. He said, okay. But when was the last time you simply just listened to someone who needed a friend? We are filled. This church is filled with people who have natural gifts. And God wants to give us supernatural gifts.

but we could ask the question, what for? If I'm not willing to use the natural gifts God has given me, why in the world would he give me supernatural gifts? Well, the answer is because he's good and he loves you very much, and he wants you to use both the natural and the supernatural gifts. This is the last thing. Last weekend, at the Feas of the Ascension, the first reading was from Acts chapter 1.

In Acts chapter 1, Jesus promised. He said, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. You receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. and you'll be my witnesses here in Jerusalem throughout Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth. Now, I love this because Jesus basically doesn't say, hey, go to the ends of the earth. He's basically, he essentially says, start here in Jerusalem. Because we can ask the question, God, okay, I've got these natural gifts, supernatural gifts, the Holy Spirit is coming upon me.

Where do I start? And Jesus tells us where to start. He says, start where you are. Just right with, right there. With who? The people who are right next to you. People who are right with you. I am so convinced of this.

I am so convinced that when it comes to sharing the gospel, when it comes to Christianity, once again, just being able to be on the move, a church to be missionary, that the church will not be missionary through people giving talks. We'll be missionary necessarily through things like YouTube. It'll be a missionary church. People will come to know the gospel through two sources, through family and through friendship.

Because of what's missing, what is the wound in almost every single one of our hearts right now? is this wound of isolation and loneliness? And the gospel will be proclaimed, the gospel Jesus Christ will reign. But the means I believe that he will use to once again get that good news to the world is through family and through friends. And so what do we do? Start in Jerusalem throughout Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth.

We start where we are. Our problem, my problem is, I often look at what I lack. I often look at where I'm not. at where I'm not. I often look at the opportunities I don't have. But Jesus is saying, use what you've been given. Start where you are and put to use what you have. And the world will be saved. And God will be glorified.