Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 06/16/24 Always Courageous

Episode Date: June 15, 2024

Homily from the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. Courage is the willingness to do God's will on your own accord. We find ourselves in a place where we face uncertainty and difficulty. And yet, we are called to nonetheless move forward with courage. We walk by faith and not by sight. We choose to trust in God's Word more than our fears. Mass Readings from June 16, 2024: Ezekiel 17:22-24 Psalms 92:2-3, 13--162 Corinthians 5:6-10 Mark 4:26-34

Welcome to Sunday homilies with me, Father Mike Schmitz. I hope today's homily inspires and motivates you, and I also hope that it leaves you hungry for the one who gave everything to feed you. If you want to get this in other Sunday Mass resources sent straight to your inbox, sign up at ascensionpress.com slash Sunday, or by texting Sunday to 33777. You can also follow or subscribe on your podcast app for weekly notifications. God bless. The Lord be with you.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark. Chapter 4, verses 26 through 34. Jesus said to the crowds, This is how it is with the kingdom of God. It is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day, and through it all, the seed would sprout and grow. He knows not how.

Of its own accord, the land yields fruit. First the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once for the heart. harvest has come. He said, to what shall we compare the kingdom of God? Or what parable can we use for it? It's like a mustard seed that when it is sewn in the ground is the smallest of all seeds on the earth. But once it is sewn, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade. With many such parables,

he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables, he did not speak to them. But to his own disciples, he explained everything in private. The Gospel of the Lord. Wait to have a seat. So there's this TV show that I used to watch a little bit of, I'm not sure, we're not going to say the name of the TV show out loud because I don't really recommend it, but there was a character in this TV show as a comedy who was from Minnesota. And he was a lovable character from Minnesota, as all Minnesotans are. And at one point, it was the episode where his dad died. And he was talking about his dad

because this character had a great relationship with his father. And he was talking to his best friend about what it was like to grow up with his dad in Minnesota. He said the whole family would take these trips and they drive north in Minnesota up towards Canada.

And he said all the other, you know, his mom would be asleep and his brothers would be asleep. But he said, I would stay up. And I'd sit there in that middle seat behind my dad and I would just watch as he drove into the night. And he said this, he said, I always felt so safe. Even driving a night because my dad was driving.

He said, he was like some sort of superhero who could just see out into the darkness. And now he's just gone and it's pitch black and I can't see where I'm going. I can't see anything. Now, I was thinking about that, especially here on this day, on this father's day, like the role of dads in so many ways, The role of good dads, the role of great dads is that. It's that they keep their lives moving forward, keep their families moving forward,

even when it's pitch black, even when you can't see anything down the road, you can't see anything beyond the headlights. But there's something about good dads who just keep on going even when they can't see ahead. And this is the truth for all of us. This is the truth for every Christian. Something about Christians that what we're called to do

is we're called to just keep going, keep moving forward, even when what we're facing is something that's overwhelming. So the second reading today is from 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, St. Paul is talking about the uncertainty. Basically, St. Paul is saying, like, we don't know what's going to happen. Like, not only are we in a place of uncertainty right now, we have no idea what's coming down the road.

In fact, in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, right before this, Paul talks about what his experience of life is like. He says, we find ourselves as these Christians and we find ourselves afflicted, we find ourselves perplexed, we find ourselves persecuted, we find ourselves struck down because that was the ordinary situation to be a Christian, to be afflicted, to be perplexed, to be persecuted, to be struck down. And you can imagine that situation just like, what would be the emotion that would dominate your life? Here's this character, right, in the TV show, in the middle of the night, driving into the darkness. He's like, but I wasn't afraid. Because what happened? Because, he said,

my dad could see beyond the headlights. That's why St. Paul says, he says, yeah, we're afflicted, but, but, we're perplexed, but, he says, we're constrained, but we're struck down, but he says, we're afflicted, but we're not constrained. He says, we're perplexed, but we're not driven to despair. We're persecuted, but we're not abandoned. And he said, we're struck down, but we're not destroyed. In the middle of all this, we have this first reading, the second reading today.

In middle of all of this, he says, we are always courageous. That's what he says. I mean, again, look about, go back to our lives. Because we're driving through this life, we realize we cannot see beyond the headlights. There's so much of life that is completely uncertain, so much of life that is dangerous for us. And yet St. Paul says, no, no, no, no, we're courageous. He doesn't just say we're someone to educate. He says, we are always courageous.

Basically, this is what marks our lives, not fear, but what marks our lives of the Christian, even in the midst of danger, is courage. Now, let's pause in this for a second because I think it's important. I think we have to realize that courage is not the absence of fear. And maybe you've heard that before, we need to hear it again. To feel fear, to experience fear is not to experience failure. Courage is not the absence of fear. The most courageous people among us are the ones who experience fear,

but who nonetheless are willing to move forward. That's the key. People who are courageous are those who experience fear, but who nonetheless are willing to move forward. Those who are experienced fear, but nonetheless are willing to do God's will. because if there's anything we know, we know that it is, it's easy to be courageous when there's nothing to be afraid of. Every one of us knows that.

It's easy to be courageous when there's nothing to be afraid of. In fact, at the same time, I would say this. I would say it's impossible to be courageous when there's nothing to be afraid of. It's actually impossible. Why? Because, so we put on this camp every summer. And I think it was last summer we put on the camp on the virtues. And one of the virtues, virtue of courage or virtue of fortitude, is, you know,

has a unique definition. And one of the definitions of the virtue of fortitude is all of the other virtues at the moment they're needed the most. So all the other virtues at the moment they're needed the most. So you have prudence, you have justice, you have, you have temperance, you have all these other, you have honesty, you have this, the virtue of even, virtue of prayer. Fortitude is what helps us be honest or be just, or be prudent, or be temperate. It helps us show up to prayer, when we least feel like being honest or just or prudent or temperate or showing up for prayer, we realize that courage, fortitude, is the ability to do the right thing when the right thing is hard to do.

Because, again, we don't need courage. You don't need courage when it's easy to do the right thing when the right thing is easy to do. But courage is doing the right thing when the right thing's hard to do. because we all know this. Again, it's easy to be courageous when the sun is shining and you're feeling good and everything's going your way. It's easy to be an armchair, courageous person. That's why St. Paul says, no, no, no, here's the thing.

We're not armchair courageous. We're not just courageous on sunny days. We're not just courageous when things are going well. We're perplexed and courageous. We are struck down and we're courageous. We're persecuted and we're courageous. He says, we're afflicted and we're still courageous. I mean, this is so important.

basically they're saying, all these things are happening. And still, nonetheless, we're still going to walk into an unknown because God has called us there. This is the secret for every single Christian. To have the courage to walk into the unknown for one reason because God has called us there. I don't know what's going to happen. In this day and age right now, think about our culture.

I don't know what's going to happen with our culture. I don't know what's going to happen with our country. None of us knows what's going to happen with our future or with our families. And that's one of the reasons why, you know, dads, like really, really good dads, they just keep their families moving forward. And here's the thing. Maybe they're pretending. Like, honestly, I think maybe sometimes dads are just like, I don't know, I'm in charge.

They gave me this baby. I left the hospital. And now I have to act as if I know what I'm doing. And I think sometimes, I think sometimes I wonder if this. I wonder if dads are so used to pretending that they know what's going on. that it's actually pretty scary for them to admit that they don't. I wonder if that's one of the realities in our lives that dads, again, good dads are so used to pretending they know what's going on, used to pretending like, yep, yep, I got it all together,

that they're unable to actually admit when they don't. Brne Brown is, I think she's a psychologist or sociologist or somethingologist, and she writes books, and she studies vulnerability, she studies shame. And at one point she tells the story about she was doing a book signing after one of her talks. and there's all these women lined up. And amongst all these women was a man. And this man walked up to her and he said, that he said, how come you don't have any stories

about vulnerability and shame when it comes to Ben? How come all you talk about is women in vulnerability or women and shame? And Brne Brown said at the time, she said, well, I told him, well, I don't study women. Or sorry, I don't study men. And this man looked at her and said, well, that's awfully convenient.

And she said, what do you mean? He said, because he was there with his daughters and with his wife. and he said, because I have these three daughters and this wife who would rather see me die than see me fall off my horse. Like, they would rather see me actually end up dead rather than see me as someone who actually needs help.

Rather than see me as someone who actually is vulnerable, as someone who actually is wounded. Because, why? Because this man in particular, now that might not be your dad. Your dad might be like, no, I'm very vulnerable. I'm very open to my shame. But some men aren't. Because why? Because that takes a lot of courage.

The courage to actually say, I need help in this moment. St. Paul, saying this, the sense of, okay, here in the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of the unknown, it's when I don't know what to do as followers of Christ, that in the midst of fear, to choose to still move forward. There's, I don't even, I don't know if you've heard of the Army Rangers. The Army Rangers are among the most elite, highly trained fighting force on the planet. You know the Navy SEALs. Everyone knows about the SEALs. Not as many people know about the Rangers. The Rangers are basically the Army's equivalent of the Navy SEALs. They're incredible. They're amazing. Again, one of the most highly trained fighting forces in the world, in the history of

humanity. They're amazing. And one of their mottoes is Rangers lead the way. In fact, that's one of the reason why St. Andrew, the Apostle, is the patron saint of the Rangers. It's because Andrew was the first called. and so the Rangers are the first ones, they're the ones who lead the way. That's one of their mottos. The Rangers have another motto, though. And this motto is just so, it's so understated. Because there are some models that are like, you know, like, like, Rangers lead the way. That sense of like, we're the first in the battle.

We're the ones who, like, you know, we bleed the most. We kill the most. We do the most violence. The Ranger, the official Ranger motto, though, is this Latin phrase, suaspante. And suasphante doesn't mean, like, yeah, we're totally, that we're the toughest. Suisvante doesn't mean that we're the baddest. Suisvante doesn't mean that we're the biggest killers out there.

Suisphante simply means voluntarily. Or, the more literal translation is, of their own accord. The idea behind this is, okay, if you're going to be a ranger, whatever you do, you're going to go into battle. You're going to be, again, Rangers lead the way. You're going to be the first battle. And you're going to do this of your own accord. If you're going to be a ranger, you're going to be asked to go rescue people from the clutches

of death. And you're going to do this, not constrained, you're not going to do this in a way that you're commanded to do that. You're going to do this because you volunteered for it. You're going to do this of your own accord. In fact, there's a guy who wrote about this. And he said this so powerfully, he says, suesponte, or voluntarily, it means that they didn't have to do this, that they signed up to be held to a higher standard.

And he said, the rest of life is like that. too. He said, there's, here's, we have to understand, there's honor in doing what you have to do. There is, right? There's honor in doing simply what you have to do in getting your working on time, in making ends meet and being a solid employee. Doing the minimum is still doing, and even the minimum can be really, really hard. I think we have to need to understand that. Doing the minimum is still doing. And sometimes the minimum can be really, really hard. And that's why it's so special when people do more than the minimum of their own accord. That's why it's so special.

I mean, for anyone to join the military is a really big deal. For anyone to join the military and say, no, I'm placing myself at the service of my country. That's amazing. But to be able to be someone like a ranger and say, I'm actually going to go above and beyond. And not only am I going to go above and beyond, I'm going to do this in a particular way. I'm going to do this of my own accord. I'm going to do this sua sponte. And this is one of the reasons why Christians are called to this.

called to say, we're always courageous. Why? Because to simply bear your burden and walk into the future and to the unknown, that's not just for dads. It's not just for Rangers. It's for grandmas and grandpas and moms and single people. In fact, every Christian is called to do this. Paul says, we, not just the apostles, not just the other disciples, not just, we are always courageous. So how do we do that? Like how do we say, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm I'm going to walk into the future. I'm going to walk into the unknown. I'm going to walk into the place of fear with courage.

And I like how St. Paul says it. He says, how we do that is we walk by faith, not by sight. How do we actually, how are we always courageous? How do we walk into the unknown? How do we walk into danger? We walk by faith and not by sight. So what's walking by faith? Well, A, walking by faith is not turning off your brain.

Walking my faith is not shutting down your critical thinking systems. Talking by faith is not choosing to be willfully blind, but it is to be willing to continue to walk even after things have grown dark. Because we realize this, there is evidence to our senses, right? We look around and sometimes it feels like, oh, there's no hope. We look around at our lives and say, it seems like there's no answer.

We can look around and think, like, okay, what I see is, it seems like there's no way out, there's no way forward. Sometimes we look at this and say, actually, you know what, it'd be easier to cheat, and I could probably get away with it. We can look at our situation and say, well, this would be easier to lie, and I'd probably get away with it. But we look at other people and think, well, some people seem to be happier if they just live outside God's law. And it seems like nothing's happening to them.

Again, this is what we see. This is living by sight. It seems like sometimes we just are tempted to say, maybe that's what I should do. Maybe I should just do what I want to do. That's what it is to walk by sight. It seems like people can get away with this. why shouldn't I? But then we have God's law.

Then we have God's word. Then we have the fact that God has spoken. That Jesus has come into this world and that He sent His Holy Spirit among us. And the reality is, yeah, I might choose the good and not get what I want in this life. I might actually choose God's will and not get what I want in this life.

That actually choosing God's law and choosing what God has asked us to do might cost us something. In fact, it might cost us everything. It might cost us every visible good. That's why St. Paul says, therefore, we don't walk by sight. Because what we see can be deceiving.

We walk by faith, meaning, I strive to please him, basically saying, God, I'm going to trust your word over my fears. That's walking by faith. God, I'm going to trust your word over my insecurities. That's walking by faith. God, I'm going to trust in your word over this world. That's walking by faith. That's what it is to be courageous. and it can look different in everyone's life.

I may have shared this story before, but it's not about dads, but about a grandma. My mom's mom, Helen, Grandma Helen, she was a nurse down in the Twin Cities at a hospital down there. She was actually the head nurse of the hospital. So she had worked really, really hard to get her position. She had worked really, really hard so many years. She had given up so much. sacrifice so much of her family. She had sacrificed so much of her life, so much of herself, to be able to be there for her nurses and to be there for the patients. And then at one point,

this hospital she worked at decided that they were going to perform abortions at the hospital. And my grandma went to the administration and she said two things. One was she asked them to stop performing abortions. Like, no, this is wrong. We're here. We're dedicated here. Our lives every one of us here as a medical professional, our lives are dedicated to saving lives, and now you've just actually committed this hospital to ending lives intentionally to murder. She asked them to stop.

And at the very least, she said, you have to not ask my nurses, the nurses she's in charge of, to carry the dead bodies of these babies and just throw them away, just dispose of them. She says, my nurses will not dispose of these babies that you killed. And she said, either you stop doing abortions or I leave.

I said to say that hospital continues to do abortions, and my grandma left. She's courageous. She had no idea what would happen, how her family would suffer financially, how she would suffer emotionally and spiritually, how her kids actually would have to carry that burden as well, because her kids, my uncles and my mom, carried that burden that my grandma had to shoulder because she chose to say,

I trust God's word over this man's world. She's courageous. St. Paul says, we have to be. We're always courageous. That if God has asked me to do one thing and the world tells me to do another, to do another, I choose what God has asked me to do. Even if I don't know where it's going.

And this is the very, very last thing. The reality is we can't know where it's going. In fact, the kind of the final line in that TV show where this young man is saying, my dad, he was a superhero. He could just drive into the night and he, and he could see beyond the headlights. At one point, there's a scene where his dad says, actually, son, you want to know a secret? I couldn't see worth the darn either. I just kept driving. This is what we're called to.

We are always courageous and even in the midst of fear we move forward nonetheless and even in the midst of things that being struck down or being perplexed or being persecuted, being confounded. We say, I will follow you God and walk by faith, not by sight. And I will do this voluntarily. I will do this of my own accord.