Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 06/28/20 Something to Lose

Episode Date: June 28, 2020

Homily from the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. It is a gift to have something to lose. Every good thing in our lives comes from Jesus. Since He is the source of everything, He must be more important than anything. Mass Readings from June 28, 2020: 2 Kings 4:8-11,14-16 Psalms 89:2-3,16-19Romans 6:3-4, 8-11 Matthew 10:37-42

The Lord be with you. A reading from the Holy Gospel, according to Matthew, chapter 10, verses 37 through 42. Jesus said to his apostles, whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose his life.

it. And whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Whoever receives you, receives me. And whoever receives me, receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet, because he is a prophet, will receive a prophet's reward. And whoever receives a righteous man, because he is a righteous man, will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink, because the little one is a disciple. Amen, I say to you. he will surely not lose his reward. The gospel of the Lord.

So a bunch of years ago, I was kind of captivated by the idea of minimalism. And if you've been to the house, you realize I haven't, like, embraced that. But, like, I came across the story of this guy's named Andrew Hyde. And Andrew Hyde was, he is as a tech entrepreneur, and he started a number of companies. And he owns 15 things. This was like back in 2010, I think. He owns 15 things. That's all he has.

Cairs around in the backpack. He sold his house. And sold all this stuff. and then traveled the world and he has a laptop among his 13 things. What does he have? He has this backpack. He has two sets of clothes, like a pair of pants and like two shirts. Some workout clothes.

He has a pair of socks, a pair of running shoes, a pair of sunglasses, and a pair of sandals. I think that's it in his computer. And that's 15 things. And it's just like, I remember seeing that going, that's amazing. And then reading more about his life, like if you have 15 things and you don't own a car and you don't have a house or an apartment, what he basically does, is the couch surfs on his friends. He's a mooch, basically, because he doesn't have any stuff. He just has to like rely on people around him to give him stuff, give him a ride,

give him a place to sleep, or he'll like stay in a hotel because he's like, I don't pay rent anywhere, I don't have a mortgage, so I might as well just sit up my money in a hotel. But there's something as good about this, like the idea of like divesting yourself of stuff, like getting rid of stuff. And in fact, I wonder if during quarantine that was Marie Condo, you got a little Marie Condo. Because Marie Condo, because Marie Condo, It has this movement about getting rid of your stuff that you don't use anymore. So we have a lot, over the course of our lives typically, when you're young, this isn't as much of a thing. But as you continue to grow, as we continue to like move along, we can become attached to the things in our lives.

And so Marie Kondo has this thing of like you go through your closet, you go through your drawers, maybe you did this during quarantine. And if you see something that doesn't, what's her phrase? Yes, exactly. That doesn't spark joy. You just say, you thank your sweater. thank you sweater for being a good sweater to me, and I'm now going to give you away. Like this, it's kind of corny. But at the same time, it's not bad because if we did that, if we did what this guy had done with his stuff and only 15 things, or what Marie Kondo has kind of advised people to do,

let go of everything that doesn't spark joy. I guess that would be fine. But I think at the same time we'd still end up in the same place we were in the beginning, because all the stuff we would have would still be. stuff that we loved. And that's, again, that's not bad. All the stuff you have is stuff you love. That's great. But we recognize that we have a tendency to become attached to the things in our lives. And even if we got rid of most of our stuff, it makes sense that, I don't know, the more we grow, the more we have, and the more we have, the more we have to lose. And even

if it's only a limited amount of things, I think all of us have something to lose. I think it's just important to maybe just stop for a second on that. All of us have something to lose. And it's worth noting that that's actually a gift. I mean, to be able to kind of be, to be the kind of person who has something to lose is a massive gift. You have things in your life that are valuable enough to hold on to means you have things in your life that are valuable. And again, I'm not just talking about things. I'm talking about people as well. Like there are people in your life who are valuable to you. I think it's worth again as we kind of enter into this mass and keep moving forward in this life is just to stop and think oh my gosh

I've been blessed I have something to lose and not only stuff but the people who have loved you people who have loved me that you've been given someone to love too. I mean I did last Sunday we celebrated Father's Day a couple weeks before that we and to think about the incredible gift that if you had been blessed with a father, if you have been blessed with a mother, it's almost irreplaceable. It's that big of a gift. Someone who loves you, or if you are fathers and mothers, that ability, you have a child. I remember I've talked to some friends, some graduates from here who have gone on and had kids

and they'll say something like this, they'll say like, they talk to these dads, and these dads will say, the first time I held my child in my arms, I did not realize until that moment that it was possible to love someone this much. I couldn't even imagine until that moment where I actually held my daughter, I held my son in my arms, I did not realize that it was possible to love a person this much. That's a gift. Like that's massively a gift to have parents, to be a parent, to have friends. It's powerful. Again, it's just, it's a gift. And then today's gospel, Jesus says, yes, mothers and fathers are gifts. And children are gifts.

I mean, it's so important. Again, just keep this in mind. Before we move on to what he says about this, keep in mind that in the scripture, in the Old Testament, the book of Exodus, book of Deuteronomy, book of numbers, God says the Fourth out of ten. Fourth out of ten. So this is top. It's just off the podium.

Like, this is that God says that honor your father and mother is one of the top ten. the top five commandments. So Jesus here isn't denigrating family. In fact, God is the one, Jesus invented family. But when he says this, he says, whoever loves father and mother more than me, this gift, father or mother, is not worthy of me. Whoever loves their children, their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And what is Jesus doing? One of the things he's doing is he's establishing his place. He's saying like, okay, all these gifts you have, like I'm actually first. They're a great gifts. And not only he's established his place, he's establishing his identity because, going back to the Old Testament, there is almost no more sacred

relationship than between a parent and a child, between a child and a parent. The only relationship that is actually more powerful than this is the relationship between God and his people. So when Jesus does this today in the Gospel, Matthew's Gospel, what he's not, he's not just saying, this is my role, he's also saying this is who I am. This is the bomb of this. Jesus is saying, I am the source of all of the role. those things that you love.

Like those relationships you have that are incredible gifts to you, yeah, they came from me. All of the people you love in your life, I gave them to you. And I think we need to pause on that. In all of them are gifts and all of them are blessings. And Jesus is saying, and I alone am the one who gave you those gifts. I'm the one who gave you those blessings. and everyone you love is because of me. Because why?

Because I first loved you. This is this truth of the gospel. This hard saying that I can't be a disciple of Jesus if I love anyone more than I love him. Jesus is saying, I'm the reason you have something to lose. I'm the reason why you have something to lose. Therefore, the right relationship here is to love the giver more than the gifts.

That's his place and that's his identity. And I think a lot of us Christians, we seem to miss this. It's really easy to miss this. It's really easy to not do this. I was talking with a friend the other day who's a student. He went to school here and then he transferred to Franciscan University of Steubenville and he's like a guy who's on fire for the Lord. He wants everyone to know Jesus.

And he said that he was talking with another missionary and they were talking about what it's like to evangelize on our campus here in Duluth, the secular campus versus what it's like to evangelize on the campus of Franciscan, which is just like to evangelize on the campus of Franciscan, is just a great Catholic university. And he said that the goal on our campus, typically here is secular school, is to get people from nothing to something.

Is to get people from having no faith, no relationship with Jesus, to having something, to have some faith, to have some relationship with Christ. And he says, that's a victory, that's a win. But he says, you go to a place like Franciscan, and this isn't a slam on them, it's just like how we are. He says, most of the students at Franciscan, they have something. That's why they're there. They've chosen to go to this Catholic, this faithful and alive vibesic.

Catholic school because they have something. But the challenge there is to go from something to everything. That's what we want as well. We also want our students on campus to go from nothing or to something to where Jesus is everything. But I think a lot of us stop at something. I think a lot of us when it comes to a relationship with Christ are following after Jesus, we're like,

well, least I don't have nothing, at least I have something. But in the gospel today, this is the hard teaching of Jesus. Jesus is basically saying, he's absolutely clear in saying that he's in saying that if he is just another something in our lives, then that is the same thing as him being nothing in our lives. That if Jesus is just another something in our lives, that's the exact same thing as him being nothing in our lives. And we all have something to lose, and you all have something to lose.

But if Jesus is not everything, then you've already lost it. If Jesus is not everything, you've already lost, it's as good as gone. It's literally only a matter of time. It's only a matter of time until everything and everyone that you love, every one of those gifts, every one of those blessings, will be taken away. And we realize this, it's already started. It's already started.

I mean, if you're at any decent age at all, your youth is gone. That gift of youth, it was a gift you had, and now it is a gift that's gone. your energy is gone. The possibility of a whole life ahead of you, that's that gift, incredible gift, that's already been taken. That's already gone. It's already been spent. Your health in many ways, so many of us,

it's taken away bit by bit. Our looks, our attractiveness, our independence, our mobility, friendships. Sometimes even the most powerful and important relationships in our lives, you know what it's like to have the heartbreak of losing a parent or the heartbreak, of losing a sibling or the heartbreak of losing a child. We all have something to lose, and everyone in one of us will lose everything. That's one of the reasons by St. Paul in his letter to the Romans today. He's basically like, do you realize this? Like, were you sick that day when we taught this in Catholic school? Like Jesus, Strait Paul in Romans, he says, are you unaware?

Like, did you not notice? Did you not realize that those who were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death? Like, a lot of times you think of baptism. I did a baptism last weekend. It was awesome. It was so gift, such a gift. I can't wait to baptize my nephew. Man, we gotta get on top of that.

Anyways, back to our story. Paul says, are you unaware? You're baptized into Christ, you're baptized into his death. We don't often think of that when we look at a baptism. We think, oh my gosh, they've been made into a son or daughter of God. They've been forgiven of all their sins. They have been brought into the church. All those things are true.

But St. Paul is like, and also what's also true? he says, you are buried with him also. Paul also goes on to say, if then we have died with Christ, then we believe we shall also live with him. St. Paul is saying, you have nothing to lose because he's already died.

You have nothing to lose because you've already let those things go. In other words, to say, St. Paul says, you have nothing to lose that hasn't already been surrendered. Because if Jesus is not no longer nothing, he's not even just something, he's everything, then it's all his. And it's all his.

And all that's his will be taken back. Or all that's his will be freely given back. And most of us don't know when. Most of us don't know when that's going to be. Some people have a better idea, though, of when that's going to happen, when that needs to happen, whether it's going to be taken, happen whether it's going to be taken back or freely given back. About three weeks ago, my mom went into the doctor and the doctor let her know that day that she has pancreatic cancer. And they don't know exactly how long she has to live. All the tests that have happened over

the last three weeks, my mom says they keep looking good. They look as good as you could look when you have cancer and you're dying. She said that the doctor originally said that the doctor originally that she has a max of five years unless there's some kind of miracle. And just really interesting, last Monday of this week, I was at my parents' place and I was able to have a just a time out on the porch with my mom like two hours. This never happens. I'm one of six kids. We don't ever get one-on-one time with our parents. That's also my fault. My mom calls me the secret agent man of the family

because I keep to myself a little bit. But last Monday, I got like two hours with her out on the porch. We just, just got to talk and about everything about life, about cancer, about her death, about Jesus. And she was so at peace. Actually, it was kind of matter of fact about it, which I wonder if that might be her Viking blood in her, or maybe it's her faith in Jesus Christ, where she just kept saying, she was like, no, I know it'll be okay. Like no matter what the outcome is, she said, no matter how much longer I get, it's going to be okay, it's going to be fine. It was incredible to realize that she has a timeline now.

We're all in a timeline. We don't know where we are in a timeline. And she said, look at how much time he's already given me to be here. She said, I had no other moms who, they don't get half the time with their kids that I've gotten. Some of her friends, she said, they don't get half the life that I've gotten. She just kept saying, look at how much he's given me. And the time is coming for me to be able to give it all back. And at the same time, you know, it's always really hard because we can know that, we can

know that, that's going to happen. And then we actually make it tangible and like real, you realize what am I to have to give back? What am I going to have to give up? And so my mom and my dad, my three sisters moved back to my hometown. And so my parents get to see them and they get to see their spouses and they get to see the grandkids all the time, like they're an active part of their lives. And mom said, she said, well, that's what makes me sad.

I'm not going to see those grant kids grow up. But again, she said, but I've been given so much already, that just seems like it's fair to just give it back. And this is the last thing. I think the key of all this, not just with my mom, but the key of this scripture in Matthew's Gospel, the key of what Jesus is saying is is when we have something to lose,

when we have everything to lose, that we're not just relying on faith in Jesus. It's not just about faith in Jesus. It's not just about faith in Jesus. Because what does Jesus say? He says, unless you love me more than Father and Mother, unless you love me more than son or daughter. See, the key is not just faith.

Like, I know it'll be okay. The key is love. This is the game changer of the whole thing. This is why this is the last thing. It's the game changer of the whole thing. Jesus saying, love me more, not just believe in me, not just trust me, but actually, like, get to know me in such a way that your heart burns with love.

Yes, you love all the gifts. Like all the gifts, love the people in your lives, love the blessings in your lives. But just, you know what's going to make this giving up everything? Like not just a thing you have to do, but a thing that gives you joy, is if you know that when you give those things up, you get me. That's the difference that love makes. The difference that faith makes is I'm not afraid. The difference that love makes is I'm excited.

The difference that faith makes is like I can walk forward confidently knowing that God has me in his hands. But the difference love makes is joy. One of the priests in my hometown, the last few months, I don't know, I don't know when this started, but he started sending me pictures on his phone, texting me pictures of my mom's car in the parking lot of the church, because the church was still open, and she would drive over to spend time with Jesus in the Eucharist. And he just sent a picture after picture and say, this is a very familiar sight for me. pulls into the parking lot, it's empty, but just that one car on my mom's.

He even actually snuck up behind her once in adoration, took a picture of her. That was creepy, but anyways. How do we get to love Jesus more, not just to have faith in him, but to love him more? Is that, we just spend time with him. Spend time with him to such a degree that we get to the place where we want to be able to be on our deathbed saying that I'm sad to say goodbye, but I can't wait to say hello. I'm sad to say goodbye to all these blessings in my life, to say goodbye to all these gifts in my life. But I can't wait to see him because he's not just something.

He's not just one of the gifts. He's not just one of the blessings because he is everything. And you and I have something to lose. We have, in fact, everything to lose. But when Jesus is everything, then you have nothing to fear and nothing to lose.