Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 07/03/22 Be A Saint

Episode Date: July 4, 2022

Homily from the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time What else is there? Many of us want to grow spiritually. But what does that really mean? What is it that we really want? What is the actual goal of life? Put in the words of Jesus, what should we truly rejoice in? Christ's answer is nothing less than having our names written in Heaven. Mass Readings from July 3, 2022: Isaiah 66:10-14 Psalms 66:1-7, 16, 20Galatians 6:14-18 Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

So one of the things I've been thinking about recently is I think there are stories that we tell children. They have some important truths to them. And that's why we tell them to kids, because they have some kind of truth to them, even like fairy tales and fables. Because we want them to remember them. We want them to know something critical, and we want them to never forget this. But I think even those kids stories, those important kids' stories, as adults, we're often tempted to forget them. And then we're going to come back to that in a second. Speaking of kids, about, I guess it must have been a month or two months ago,

I was invited to kind of speak to a group of young professionals. There was kind of a Catholic young professionals group down in the Twin City, St. Paul, Minneapolis. There was like 400, 500 of these young adults who showed up. And it was a really cool event. But at one point, there was this Q&A. And the Q&A was a lot of the questions were, okay, here we are in the state and life. And they were in all states.

Basically, we just got done with college. If they went to college or the military, they were either single or they were dating someone, they were looking to de-aiding someone, they were engaged, married, newly married, married, with kids. So it's kind of a gamut of that particular demographic. But the same question kept being asked, whether we're single, whether we're married, whether we have no kids or kids, whatever it is. The question was, how do we keep growing spiritually?

Like, how do we, because a lot of them had a community in college. A lot of them had some kind of formation in college, and they found themselves with less community. They found themselves with less formation. They found themselves with less disposable time. And so one of the things, the question again was, how do we keep growing spiritually? That's so good, especially, I mean, we can ask that in any stage of our life. How do I keep growing spiritually?

And so, you know, you can throw out a bunch of things there. I mean, the church has 2,000 years of tools that have worked. Like, they work every time. They work like a charm. So I kind of throw out, here's some tools. A great tool is the rosary. A great tool is the chaplain of divine mercy. A great tool is reading scripture.

A great tool is the liturgy of the hours, going to daily mass, going to Aderati. These are all great tools. And I invited people, like, choose one, choose two, and just do them regularly. Just consistently choose those things. And I think that's, I think that was good advice, if I do say so myself. But I think before that, before the disciplines, we have to ask and answer one question. Before we pick up some tools, we have to ask and answer a more important question. That more important question is, what's the goal?

Like, what do you want? I've heard it being, I've heard it said before that, that you never have an interviewer ask the team after they won the Stanley Cup or the World Series or the Super Bowl. You never have an interviewer ask an Olympic gold medalist. How did you get here? And the athlete says, I have no idea. They never say that. They always know exactly they had a goal.

And they knew exactly the path they were going to take to get to that goal. It was, it was never a matter of, I don't know if I really want this. They knew exactly what they wanted. And so the question we have to ask and answer, before we do any of the disciplines, any of the tools, any of anythings, is what do you want? Because I think the question is, I want to grow spiritually. How do I grow spiritually?

Behind it is maybe this, well, I want to be slightly better than I am right now. I want to be slightly nicer than I am right now. I know I need to be more generous. I need to be more patient with other people. Or even I just want to get rid of this annoying fault. I have this maybe besetting sin. I don't like it. It's embarrassing. I'm ashamed of it. I just want to get rid of that. That's maybe what I want all I want. Maybe it's even something more. Maybe it's something like,

I want to be secure. I want to find my vocation. I want to raise a family. I want to make a difference. Maybe that goal is I want to do something incredible with my life. Maybe it's even like something in the gospel. In the gospel today, what do we have? We have Jesus who calls these 72 people to them. Imagine being one of those 72. And Jesus does what. He commissions them and sends them out two by two, basically saying, go and preach in my name. Heal the sick in my name. Imagine, he's sending them out into these villages saying, yeah, if you find anyone who's blind or deaf or unable to walk, just in my name, speak my name over them and they will be able to see, they'll be able to hear, they'll be able to walk. And they go and do it. In fact, they come back. Like, Jesus, even the demons

are subject to us because of your name. That would be kind of incredible. In fact, I remember, I know a number of exorcists. I've met in my almost 20 years of being a priest. And just, I'm always, I'm not jealous, not jealous at all. I am in awe of that particular ministry. It is remarkable. In fact, I know some lay people who work with the exorcist. You know, the exorcist never works alone. He always works under the authority of his bishop, in case you're wondering, and he always works with a team of people, both ordinary lay people as well as a physician, psychiatrist, this whole kind of thing. It's basically a way to, you know, be transparent and protect the person involved,

but also it's kept private for like spiritual HIPAA. They don't have to broadcast who it is they're working with. But some of these people, these lay people I've worked with, who are part of this healing ministry of exorcism, they've shared how that ministry has not only strengthened their faith because they've described, here they are in the room. And there is this clear battle between good and evil. and this clear healing of this person at the powerful name of Jesus,

just like in the gospel today, but also they've shared how honored and humbled they are to be a part of that healing ministry, which goes on right now. Again, this is kind of a side point, but it's important to know that the church makes a distinction between mental illness and demonic activity because sometimes in our modern minds we think,

well, this is all the same thing. It's not. So that's why the church demands that, if someone says I have some kind of issue with demons, one of the first steps is always talk to a professional psychologist or psychiatrist or therapist. We have to figure out if this is mental illness. We want to help you and help you get healing in that way. But if it's something demonic, then we have another way of healing.

You know, there was a book and a documentary came out a couple of years ago called an interview with an exorcist and it's about a priest from Spain who I think he has the first PhD in exorcism. And so he's read virtually everything there is about exorcism that's ever been written in the last 2000 years of Christianity. And he was asked the question, does there seem to be a rise in demonic activity recently? And if so, why?

And this guy who's read almost every account that's been written at least, he said, well, you know, from the very beginning of Christianity, from literally even in the gospels today, wherever the gospel advances, there is always a need for exorcism. and throughout the whole history of the church. Every mission territory has always required exorcism, but what happened was in Christendom. So basically when everyone in Europe and in Africa

and in parts of the West were baptized, there was less of a need for exorcism. And his theory was because everyone was baptized. They were all transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Jesus. And he says, now there's been a rise, and his theory was the rise is because people are just not baptizing their children that they're not actually walking with Christ.

And he's basically pointing out this is real. And this ministry of exorcism in the gospel today is a powerful ministry. And I'm so grateful for those who are called to it. And yet, back to our story, and yet, Jesus says, those people who, again, in Jesus' name, they were able to heal. In Jesus' name, the demons are subject to us.

Jesus says what? It says, do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. That's why you should rejoice. That your names are written in heaven. Question, what do you want? With these Catholic young adults, question is, what's your goal?

Because a lot of them are like, Father, we have to just play the game. We have to play the game. We have to play the game of putting in the hours. I get it. We have to play the game of getting out there and meeting new people. I get it.

We have to play the game of accomplishing this and that and having this kind of success and that kind of success. Totally understand. But what do you want? like what's the one thing because every single one of us

we have so many things that we desire so many different things we desire that we need a single unifying purpose a single unifying goal that takes all of the different things I desire and brings them into one because we know this we know that desire dictates our destination

what we want will always determine where we end up what we focus on will always chart the course for where we end up. And so many of us, we want so many different things. We're like, I don't know. In fact, that's not a problem.

It's not a problem to want so many things. As long as we know what's first. Like our students, I've said this thousand times, maybe even have said it here on the virtual front pew. But in the 1400s, in the English language, a word was coined and the word was priority. It comes from the Latin word, which means first. And for about 500 years, the word priority was singular.

You had one priority because there's only such a thing as one first. And in like 1940 to 1960, somewhere in there, we took this singular word priority, one first, and made it into a plural. So now you don't have your priority. We have our priorities. But we know this. We know that, yes, there's a lot of things I desire. But they can't all be first.

In fact, there can only be one first. And so, but I got to play the game. Yes. But what's first? Out of all the accomplishments, out of all the attacks we have, out of all of the struggles we experience, out of all the strengths that we have? What's first? What do I want first? Because the truth is, no matter what other incredible or incredibly painful things there are in my life,

the one thing, for a Christian, the one thing is the love of God poured out for us in Jesus Christ on the cross. So what do you want? Like if God could ask you the question today, what do you want? What would be your answer? What would be my answer? Because there's a lot of things I want. You know, Psalm 27 says this. It says, one thing I ask of the Lord, for this I long for,

to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. If I could ask for one thing of God, the one thing I long for is just, dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. That's why Jesus, he says, do not rejoice out of all these other incredible things. Incredible service to me, incredible making a difference. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. There's a man his name is Charles Pegui.

Charles Peggway has this quote that I think I heard in high school that stuck with me. And I would say if there's any one quote that's determined the course of my life, and it's kind of one of those touchstone quotes that I come back to on a regular basis, it's this. He says, you know, there's a lot of suffering in our lives. There's a lot of tragedies in our lives. There's a lot of loss in our lives and a lot of great things in our lives. But he says there's only one real tragedy in life to get to the end of your life and to not have been a saint. There are a lot of tragedies in our lives.

There's only one real tragedy in life to not have been a saint. So what is that? What is it to be a saint? We know that it doesn't mean to be at the top of a list. It doesn't mean to have capital S-T period in front of your name. It doesn't mean that you spent your life doing incredible things like casting out of it. demons or healing the sick or all night in poor, all night in prayer. What am I even saying? It doesn't mean we've done all these things. What it means is basically this. It means to have

become the person that God created and redeemed you to be. Because the truth is about me is I'm not yet that person. And my guess is if you're anything like me, you are not yet that person. Yes, you are loved as you are. But you are not yet the you that you're meant to be. That if you're like me, you're still petty and still small and still easily hurt and offended. If you're like me, you have a heart that only loves the people that love you. And even that, not very well. If you're anything like me, you are still selfish and still self-willed and only really happy when you get your own way. We're not yet the people that were meant to be. You are loved as you are, but you're not yet the you that you were created and redeemed to be. You and I are not yet the saints

that God wanted us to be. And that doesn't mean here's an important distinction. That doesn't mean you're not perfect because holiness is not perfection. It's so important for us to just really interiorize that because some people they say, well, that's what I have to be. I have to be perfect and everything. No, no, no, not at all. Holiness is not perfection. It's nothing like this. I remember hearing a priest who just, it changed my life when he said this. He said, a saint is very simple. A saint is very simple. A saint is someone who says yes, to God and then just never stops saying yes. In all things. So on the great days where there's blessing, say yes, God, your will be done. On those difficult days that are challenging, you have to

get up and go after it again. Okay, yes, Lord, your will be done. On those days where I have failed and fallen flat on my face and he offers his mercy and confession, and I say, yes, Lord, you will be done. In those days where it's just a struggle and it seems like all there is is a suffering to surrender in that moment and say, yes, Lord, your will be done. You know, so many of us, we just, I don't know what I want. In the midst of a world with so many victories and so many failures, so many accomplishments and so many sufferings, and I measure my life by all those things. Imagine getting to the end of one's life after playing the game and realize that you

missed the entire point. The only real tragedy in life is to get to the end of it. and not have been a saint. There's a man I know he has a podcast in a show. At the end of his show, he always says this line. He says, be a saint. What else is there? So many of us, again, we're playing the game. What else is there?

There's all these other things, but the reality is there's nothing else. That nothing you or I do or fail to do matters in comparison to that. I think that's one of the reasons why in the second reading letter to the Galatian, St. Paul says, He says, may I never boast of anything except for the cross of Jesus Christ? I think it's a reminder that our greatest glory will never be what we have done, but our greatest glory will always be what God has done for us.

Like at the end of our lives, we'll never be able to say, God, here's what I have all of the things that I've done. Our greatest glory will never be what we have done, but we'll always be what God has done for us. Yeah, of course, that means we say, doesn't mean we just don't do anything, doesn't mean we just never show up. We still have to move. We still have to work.

We still have to love. We still have to show up. But how do we show up? St. Paul says it like this. He says, I have been crucified to the world. And a lot of us, we say, I still have to play the game. St. Paul is saying it like this. I've been crucified to the world.

I think that means everyone else is playing a game that I no longer agree to be a part of. I'm playing a different game. I'm living for a different goal. I want something else. Which brings me back to the children's books. There's a man, he's an author, his name is Max Lakato, or Lakato. I don't know, you say Lakato, I say Lakato. And he has a bunch of books for adults.

He also has a bunch of books for kids. And one of his books for kids that I don't know when I read it, I might have been in seminary, maybe later, maybe last year, I don't know. It tugs on my heart. And it's about this group of people, wooden people, named Wemicks. His wooden people were made by this craftsman Eli. They all live in this small town, the small little village, and they walk around all day, and some are big, some are small, some are crafty, some are silly, some are talented, some

are not talented, some are scuffed up, some are beautiful. But every one of these Wemicks, they have a box, and in the box they have gray dots and gold stars. And so when they find another Wemick who is beautiful or successful or intelligent or strong or talented, they give them a gold star. And when they find a wemick that is scuffed up, maybe not as beautiful, maybe foolish, maybe clumsy, they give them a gray dot.

So there's this one wemec named Punchinello. And Punchinello is clumsy. And Punchinello doesn't speak eloquently, and Punchonello is scuffed up. And so everyone gives Punchinello these gray dots. And he hates it. People love getting gold stars. Punchonello hates getting gray dots.

He says sometimes even in the book says sometimes people even give and give Punchinello a gray dot just because he doesn't have any gold stars. And he never wanted to go out, never wanted to see any of the other Wemicks because he just hated the fact that all he had was gray dots. Until one day he saw this other Wemich

he had never seen before. Her name was Lucia and she had no gray dots and she had no gold stars either. People will come up to her and they try to put a gray dot on her because they hate it, don't have any stars. You must deserve a gray dot. but it would fall off.

Some people would have a gold star and say, well, you don't have any gray dots, here's a gold star, and it wouldn't stick. And so Punchinello was captivated by this idea of a wemec who the gray dots and the gold stars don't stick to her. And so we asked her, how are you different? And she says, well, every day I walk up up the hill and I spend time with Eli, the craftsman, the one who made us.

And because of that, gray dots no longer stick to me. And gold stars no longer stick to me. And you need to go up, You should see Eli yourself. And so finally, Punchinello, the whole story, like he gets the courage to go walk up. He walks into the craftsman's workshop, and he turns around, he's gonna leave.

And all of a sudden, he hears this voice, say, Punchinello, you came to see me. Of course, this little wooden person is floored by the, he says, you know my name. He says, of course I know your name. I made you. He says, how come Lucia's stars and dots don't stick to her? And Eli says, because Lucia knows the secret.

And the secret is, it doesn't matter what the other Wemix thing. it only matters what I think. And I'd like you to come back and see me every day because I know that you hate these gray dots on you. And as Punchenello goes to leave, Eli, the craftsman, he says, Punchinello, you are special because you're mine. Says in that moment, Punchenello said,

I think he's telling me the truth. And in that moment, a gray dot fell to the ground and rolled away. See, I think so much of our lives we are caught up and playing the game. But St. Paul says, I don't play the game anymore. Why? Because I know I've been crucified to the world. I no longer agree to be playing this game. Why?

Because I don't boast of anything. I have nothing to glory and except for what God has done for me. Why? Because what matters is not all my accomplishments or all my attacks. What matters is not all my struggles or all my failures or my successes or my losses. What matters is being able to be. belong to the Lord for all eternity. What matters is that your name is written in heaven. What matters is to be a saint. So, what do you want? What do you want?

To be a saint? To be his? Then choose that. Spend time with him. Do his will in all things. Say yes to God and never stop saying yes. Be a saint. What else is there?