Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 06/30/19 We'll See

Episode Date: June 30, 2019

Homily from the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Transfer your primary allegiance. When following Jesus, the first things He invites us to give up are safety and control. Mass Readings from June 30, 2019: 1 Kings 19:16, 19-21 Psalms 16:1-2, 5, 7-11Galatians 5:1, 13-18 Luke 9:51-62

So this gets to be my first weekend back here in the parish for all summer, which is just, it stinks, but I'm really happy to be here. It's one of those kind of situations where, you know, you drive back to where you grew up and like all the great things. You're like, oh man, I love that place. Like the chocolate ox. So good. But then also, you know, you can see, you can feel your age too because I used to work there. I worked there for five years, five summers. And it was called the Niswah Country Store.

And I'm like, I don't like improvement. Don't change things on me. Because I like the old one. The new one is cleaner. Yes. It's fancier. And it's worse. That's just how it goes.

Because back in my day, you know. But it's interesting because you come back and there's some of the good things that have changed. But there's some things that never change in that even like thinking about the chocolate ox or the Niswaw country store. What never changes is the fact that everyone wants to go there. Like you get to come into town and it's like, okay, when are we going to go to the chocolate Or the secret, you know, it's funny because that question, can we go to the candy store? Almost always will elicit this, it's like a parent's superpower.

Or maybe a parent's secret weapon that every parent has, at least every parent that I've ever met, has this secret weapon. It's only two words. But basically, whenever a kid asks to do the thing, whatever the thing is, maybe it's the candy store, maybe it's anything else. this secret weapon that every parent has. We'll see. And it's so good.

It's so powerful. Are there, you guys, anyone who's youngish, are there any, are there two more annoying words in the English language when you really want to do something than, oh, we'll see? But on the other hand, parents, are there two more helpful words in the English language other than we'll see? Because, I mean, think about, why do we say this? We typically say something like, we'll see when we mean, like, I mean,

like, I don't want to give you an answer right now. For any number of reasons. It could be because I don't want to have to deal with your response to my answer right now. So we'll see. Or it could be, that actually could be true. I haven't made it by mind. Actually, I really, those two words are really powerful. They're actually really, as I said, they're really, really helpful.

Because to be able to say, we'll see, it gives you time. It allows you, gives you the opportunity to wait. Because who knows what will have. happen. Maybe in the future I will change my mind. So I'm not going to commit to yes or to know. We'll see. Maybe it'll change. Because here's whenever I say we'll see, whenever I hear that, what I realize is there's this desire to hold on to my answer. Like there's a desire to be in control. Like I want to have the, I want to give myself the opportunity to negotiate in the future. Whenever we say, we'll see, I think it's a, I think it's a, I think it reveals.

a temptation, I want to be safe. That's it. That's what it comes down to is I want to be safe. And again, that makes perfect sense. It makes total sense because what if? What if things change in the future? I want to be able to negotiate. What if I change in the future?

I want to be able to negotiate. So it's better to be in control and just say, we'll see. It's better to be safe and just say, we'll see. Now I was thinking about that, that desire we all have to be in control, that desire we all have to play it safe. In light of the gospel today, at one point, you know, this is such an interesting moment where someone comes up to Jesus and says, I'll follow you wherever you go.

And Jesus' response is just so weird. He says, well, the birds of the sky have nests and the foxes have dens, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. And I imagine the guy coming up saying, okay, that's not what I'm talking about. I was saying, I want to follow you. So why does Jesus say this? Why does he say the birds of the sky have nests and the foxes have dens,

son of man has nowhere to lay his head? Some people will say that's because Jesus is basically warning him and says, you know, I'm living a life of poverty. I don't, I'm not a homeowner. And so if you're going to come follow me, that is going to mean that you're also going to probably live a life of poverty. That could be what it means. But I was reflecting on this.

And think about what is a nest? It's shelter. That's where birds go for shelter. What's a den? That is where, boxes go for shelter. To have a home is where we go for shelter. What's shelter? It's where

you're safe. So the nest is where the birds are safe. The den is where the boxes are safe. Home, hopefully for us, home is where you're safe. And what Jesus is saying really, really clearly to anyone wants to come follow him, he's like, okay, here's the thing. If you follow me, there's a

precondition for following me, and that is you can't choose to be safe. If I'm in my house, I'm in control. there's some degree that I'm just like, okay, I'm in control of this whole situation. And I think, I wonder if what Jesus is saying when he says, okay, you're not going to have shelter, you're not going to have this place where you're safe, you're not going to be in control. And this is a precondition for following Christ. Because, I mean, the fact of the matter is, this is probably not your first time to church.

Right? I mean, maybe it is. And if it's so, welcome. Hi. But it's probably you've been to church before. So you know, like, I know the deal. I get it. When you follow Jesus, you're going to have to give stuff up. So here's the call of the disciples here. The call of these actually would-be followers of Christ

is to give stuff up. And you might be like, I've come to a place where I get it. I get that I have to give stuff up. But the next step is, okay, when it comes to control, when it comes to safety, I know that I'm willing to give up things, but I don't want to give up the right to determine which things. Does that make sense? Like, yes, God, I know. Jesus, I know following you. I'm going have to give stuff up. I get it. I've already come to peace with that, come to terms with that, but I don't want to give up the right to, for me to determine which things. Because why? Because at the end of the day, I want to still be in control. When it comes to following Christ, I still want to be safe because it's a big risk. I mean, it's a big thing. You know, it's funny,

our students, I work at UMD, Minnesota Duluth. A bunch of our students graduated about, you know, a month and a half ago, give or take. And a lot of them have already started their first big kid job and it's really interesting. A lot of them are still praying for their first big kid job and so pray for those kids too. But like, you know, whenever I'm talking with them about, wow, they're going to take this job or this other job, a lot of times there's this like, well, I don't know, you know, it's a big commitment. They're asking me to like be there for like, at least a full year and like, yeah, it's a big commitment, the one whole year. You're 22 years old. It's going to be fine. But at the time, like it seems like a huge deal, doesn't it?

seems like, okay, I have to be here, I have to like, you know, commit to this whole thing. But the reality is if after a year it's not the job you want, you actually have permission to negotiate or you have permission to leave. I mean, that's actually what you can do. So it is a big deal, right? But you have still have a lot of control over this. You can renegotiate. You could leave. You could get another job. And I think we like that because it's good. It's fine when it comes to work. It's good when it comes to work. I'm retaining control. I'm retaining some safety because I have the opportunity to renegotiate. Or even though some of you have actually bought houses, unlike Jesus, but you have, I cannot

imagine, I'm so grateful to be a priest because I will probably never be a homeowner. I'm grateful for that for many reasons, but I just think of like, if you can look back when you first bought a house and you're like signing the contract for this and like, this is how much, like this, how, for how long am I going to be paying this off for 30 years? like a 30-year mortgage. You know what the word mortgage means? It comes to the word mort and gauge, which is death pledge. Mort means death and gauge means pledge. Yes, exactly what it is. It is a death pledge for the next 30 years or until I die, whichever comes sooner. It's a huge commitment. But here's the crazy thing is when you buy that house, you own it now. That's yours.

You can do whatever you want to it. You're still in control. Yes, huge decision. Yes, you have to give up some things, but now it's yours. You can remodel. It's not like you buy a house and it's like, well, this is what it's going to be like for the rest of time. You get to say, we don't like those cabinets, putting new cabinets in. I don't like this color of the wall. I'm going to repaint the wall. Don't like this carpet.

You know how remodeling goes. So, like, you have the ability, even though it's a big decision, you're still in control. And you still get to negotiate. You still get to remodel. And sometimes we bring that to Jesus and say, okay, Lord, if I say yes, can we negotiate here? If I say yes, I mean, I'm following you and everything, but like, is there a chance to kind of like maybe remodel the system a little bit

once I get inside? And that's why, even though it's a big decision to buy a house to get a job, it's not like the decision to follow Jesus. The decision to follow Jesus is a lot more like the decision to get married. This last weekend, I was able to be part of two weddings, of four of our students, not all to each other, two. They pair it off. It was good. So wedding on Friday night, wedding on Saturday yesterday.

And it was so, it was incredible. You guys, there's something really powerful about going to a wedding or you know that the couples, they love Jesus more than they love each other. So incredible to realize that they're like, no, actually, we're getting married because we're followers of Christ and we love each other and we love him. It's amazing. But when they say yes, when they said the couple yesterday, when they said yes, what their yes is, is, is a yes that encompasses all future yeses. And I think about this, if you had the chance to get married, when you said yes that day,

that was encompassing all future questions. All future questions were contained in that yes. Not with the idea of like, well, I'll say yes today, but in six or seven years, we'll renegotiate. It's like, no, there's, like, okay, let's revisit this whole richer or poorer thing. Like, how poor are we talking? Like, I just want to know.

Let's revisit the sickness and health thing. Okay, so what are we looking at? It also, it's not a situation where it's a big commitment of buying a house where you get to remodel, because that is not a way to approach marriage. Listen, it's been 15 years. Let's look at some remodeling here. I bet we can do this, knock out that wall and tuck this in.

No, the reality, of course, is when it comes to that kind of relationship. Again, this is a yes, where I'm saying it is a yes for all future questions, but I'm not in control. It's a yes that's not safe. It's a yes that when it comes down to you or anything else, it's you. And this is what Jesus is making so clear in the gospel today.

I mean, he says, come follow me, and the guy says, let me go bury my father first. You know, this is where Jesus makes things very uncomfortable for us. Because what Jesus does is he goes to the extreme. He goes to like, in that culture, will be the highest value. The highest value in that culture will be caring for your family.

The highest value in that culture will be caring for your parents, which is a good thing. But Jesus is making it really clear that like, okay, when you say yes to me, that encompasses all future questions. There's no negotiation at the end. So if you're like, wait, is it Jesus or my job?

Well, it's Jesus. My job conflicts with Christ, then I choose Christ. is it Jesus or my country if it conflicts you choose Jesus is it Jesus or my family if it conflicts Jesus goes there right away

it's Jesus he's saying it's it's me he's because he's making it incredibly clear that once you're in once you say yes there is no safe anymore there's just yes Again, it's like marriage in the sense that whenever I do marriage prep with couples, I let them know.

I like, okay, you have family and you love them, keep loving them. You have friends, you love them, keep loving them, you have the hobbies and jobs you do, keep loving those things. But what you're doing when you get married is you're transferring your primary allegiance to your spouse. Yes, you can still be faithful to all these other people, but your primary allegiance goes to your future spouse. So if there's a contest between spouse or parents, it's spouse. kind of being a spouse or kids it's spouse. In fact, I remember talking to a priest once, he told me that at one point when he and his brothers were growing up,

their dad sat them down for the talk. But this was the priorities talk. And his dad said, sons, I need you to know, I need you to know your father's priorities. And he said, number one, my number one priority is God. Number two is your mom. You boys are number three. And I remember telling that to some students that are like,

oh, poor guys or like the bronze medal for crying out loud. And the priest, he was like, no, no, it was great. He said it was so good for us and me and my brothers to know because of two things. He said, one is because that's how our dad lived. It was so clear that God was his priority and that our mom, he loved our mom more than he loved us. And he said, secondly, it was great because we had this freedom then.

You know, so often there's all this pressure on kids, to perform for their parents. Because the kids are number one. We got to revolve our entire lives around the children. Which is the first, you know, that's the first time that's ever happened in human history is where families are revolved around the kids that never ever happens in any culture at any time, at least a culture that's survived. But he was saying it's good for us because why? Because we knew we were loved. We also knew that our dad wasn't looking to us for his worth. he already had it

he already had his worth in the father he already had his worth in his bride and so he just he was free to just love us why because he had transferred his primary allegiance to Jesus first to his bride

and then whatever comes after that here's kind of the last thing a little bit because we're going to get there so here's the invitation at this point it'd be like okay guys so who wants to transfer their primary allegiance to Jesus, let's go. That could be the question. That could be the thing. But if you haven't thought about it in these terms, that, yes, Jesus, I know you're calling

me to give something up, but one of the things you're calling me to give up is my right to determine what you want me to give up. Jesus, I know you're calling me to transfer my primary allegiance to you. Maybe you're not ready. Because, again, this couple, this weekend, the Friday night couple, they didn't meet Friday night. That wasn't the first time they met. Their names are Mitch and Grace. And Mitch and Grace. met years ago. And they were only able to say yes

in that definitive way on Sunday night because they had said smaller yeses on a regular basis leading up to that day, leading up to that night. And so for us, it's the same thing. Jesus is inviting you to transfer your primary allegiance to him. That's the call of the gospel today. But I might not be ready to do that today.

So if I say, are you ready to transfer your primary allegiance to Jesus? You might just say, we'll see. I don't know yet. But if you were Mitch and you thought, maybe I'd like to marry Grace one day, what would you do? You'd spend time with her. And this is the thing we all have to do.

If we're going to give God an answer better than we'll see. The answer we have to give is, okay, Lord, today. Today I'm willing to talk to, I'm willing to spend time with you today. and if I'm not willing to spend time with him today, I'm giving him my answer. Because in that case, we'll see means no. I remember years ago I was doing marriage prep with this couple where there were long-distance relationship. He was at UMD.

She was somewhere else. And they were engaged. And I was talking with him and I said, hey, how often do you guys talk on the phone? Because, you know, long distance can be hard. And so I was like probably every day, right? He's like, oh, no, not every day. I was like, well, every other day. He's like, well, we text almost every day.

We talk maybe once every two or three weeks. I was like, okay, bro, bro, we need to talk right now. I was like, no, you need to talk. You can't, you're engaged to this woman. You only want to talk to her. You're okay with only talking with her once every two, once every three weeks. He's like, yeah, it's okay. You know, we're both really, really busy.

And that's when I busted out the thing that students hate when I tell them, that you're very busy in college. You have more free time in college than you will ever have for the rest of your lives until you graduate from college. And they hate it, and I love it so much. I love telling him that. If you're not willing to make time for your bride on a regular basis, then how are you going to make time for your bride?

If you can't say a small yes on a regular basis, how can you give her a yes that will encompass all future questions? Because then will we talk today? We'll see. Will you spend time together today? We'll see. As opposed to saying, will you talk today? Absolutely.

I love her. Will you make time for her? Absolutely. I love her. So today, this week, when it comes to transferring your primary allegiance to Jesus, will you talk with him this week? We'll see. When it comes to getting closer to him, will you spend time with him this week? We'll see. I'm very busy. There's a holiday.

Or in answer to that question, will you spend time with the God who loves you so much? Can the answer move from we'll see to something more powerful, something that can change your life and can change the world. The answer of absolutely I will. I love him.