Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 07/07/19 Declaration

Episode Date: July 8, 2019

Homily from the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Father has uttered His declaration; we are offered the chance to answer. All of Christianity comes down to one question: does God have permission to love you? Mass Readings from July 07, 2019: Isaiah 66:10-14 Psalms 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20Galatians 6:14-18 Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

So I've noticed something, I noticed something about us as Catholics. And one of the things I've noticed is that, generally speaking, we have a tendency to really complicate things. Like, just in the sense of, like, we have a tendency to make the idea that Christianity is really complicated or that Catholicism really complicated when it's absolutely not. It's the simplest thing in the world. In fact, if you really want to talk about it, it all comes down to one question and one answer. Everything that we do here, everything that is in, like, under the world. the umbrella of Catholic or of Christian, it actually, it's so simple, it comes down to one

question, that's it and one answer. And we'll get to that later on. So, first, I want to wish everyone happy 4th of July. In fact, actually, happy 7th of July. In my head, it was funnier. Okay, so, but no, I've been, I've been actually reflecting on the 7th of July thing. Actually, I've been really, so before I go any further, I understand that independence was declared on July 2nd, 1776. Congress approved of that on July 4th, 1776, and the Declaration of Independence wasn't actually signed until August 2nd of 1776. I just want to say that so no one yells at me after mass, like, oh, really, did you know that exactly not July 4th? I know stuff. I went to school. I took AP American history for crying out loud. But I was thinking about

this all week, that, okay, on the 7th, or on Thursday was the 4th. But I kept thinking about the 5th. Like, I kept thinking about, like, if you were in 1776 and you declared independence from the country, Great Britain. I know what it's called. I just wanted to give you some suspense. You declared independence from Great Britain on the fourth. Just because you declared it doesn't mean you have it. Just because you've said, now we're independent, now we're free from British rule. Doesn't mean you all of a sudden have freedom from British rule. It reminds me of that one scene, if you've ever seen the TV show The Office where Michael Scott is having some money problems and he walks into the room and he cries out he says, I declare bankruptcy. And one of

his co-workers, you know, he says, Michael, just saying bankruptcy doesn't make it so. And he says, I didn't say it. I declared it. But the truth is, just declaring independence doesn't make you independent. Just declaring freedom doesn't make you free. And I kept thinking of what happens on July 5th, what happens on July 6th, what happens today on July 7th. Because you might declare independence, but at some point you have to choose to live independence. You might declare freedom from British rule, but at some point you have to, have to fight for independence from British rule. Because it's one thing to say it.

It is an entirely other thing to live it. And it's that part, it's the living it part, that for so many of us, it just stops us. So what's the simplicity of Catholicism? What's the simplicity of following Christ? What's the one question? It's incredibly simple. The question that God asks of every one of us is this,

will you let God love you as you are? That's the entire church. That's it. That's all Catholicism is. It's this invitation. It's this proposal from God himself. God's speaking to your life, to my life, to our mess, to every stupid thing we've ever done,

to every evil thing we've ever done, every good we've tried. He speaks into this and says, will you let me, will you give me permission to love you as you are? And again, before you're like, oh, Father, interesting. I thought, I didn't realize you one of those touchy-feely priests. So like, listen, this isn't touchy-feely. This is the difference between heaven and hell.

This is the difference between life and death. This is this kind of love that God asks us, will you give me permission to love you, is as hard as nails. In fact, it was pierced by nails. But a lot of times I think we might avoid the question, or we avoid answering the question. Like, again, God says, will you give me permission? Will you let me love you as you are? We're like, well, I mean, not now.

You don't want to love me. Maybe when I'm better, Lord. Like maybe when I'm holier, maybe when I'm older, maybe when I'm just whatever I am but er, that, just more of whatever. I think you want that, God. And he looks at you and says, no, no, no, no.

Not you later, not you better, not you holier. Will you let me love you as you are now? And salvation actually hangs in the balance. because what it all comes down to is his love. Like everything comes down to this. Everything we do comes down to his offer of love. It doesn't come from our goodness, doesn't come from our performance,

doesn't come from our doing X, Y, or Z. It all comes down to heaven and hell rides on his love. Basically, the Father's declaration of love. That's the truth. The Father has declared his love over us. He has declared his love for you. And that's why the only question we have to answer is, Will I give him permission to love me?

It's his love. So the question is, is that what I trust in? Like today, at Mass, and life, when I get out of bed every morning, is that what I'm trusting? Another way to say it, another way to ask it is, like, what do I trust in? If, let's phrase it like this, if I died today, if you died today, and you stood before heaven, you stood before God, God, and he asks you the question, why should I let you in? What's your answer? So imagine this,

because it's going to happen at some point to almost every one of us. Kidding. The death rate for humans hovers roughly around 100%. So just keep that in mind. When you die and you stand before God and he asks you, why should I let you in? What is your answer? A lot of us we'd say, Well, I don't know, I'm a good person. Like, really? Really? Really, you are? Compared to what?

Like, honestly, let's answer this question. I'm a good person. Compared to who? Well, you know, Stalin and Mao, Saitong. Like, actually, if you were even to, if you were maybe Stalin's neighbor, you might think he's a nice guy. He's got cats, you know? He's got some dogs.

I've seen him with his kids. He's really, really sweet. Like, if you were Hitler's neighbor, you might be like, that guy, I mean, he has a terrible sense of style, the mustache, I don't like it. But like, other than that, he, when I need to borrow sugar, he helps me out. Like, he helped me move my stuff into my apartment. Like, you actually might think that for all intents of purposes, he was not a bad guy. And yet, compared to Stalin, compared to Hitler, I'm pretty good person. But the reality is, I'm not. And the truth is, compared to how good you could be, you are nowhere near.

You are nowhere near the kind of person that you are actually made to be. And neither am I. not even close. Why should I let you in? Because I keep the commandments. Oh, really? Again, all of them? Or just the ones that I kind of like, the ones that are easy. I know that myself, in any given moment,

I'm keeping at least nine out of the ten commandments. Except for the one that I'm being currently tempted to give into at the moment, right? Because that's how we do it. I kind of edit our reflection on the course of our day. Like, I had a pretty good day. I think I kept most of the commandments, at least, again, the ones that weren't really tempted to give into. So that's why I should go into heaven.

Or we say, like, well, I go to Mass on Sunday, even on vacation. I'll give you that one. You can have that one. But the question comes down to when I get asked that question, why should we let you in? God asks you this question of as your father who knows you and loves you. Why should I let you in? What could you point to? What will I be able to point to?

What will I be, what will I trust in? Another way to ask it is, what, what will I be, what will I be, what will I trust in? Another way to ask it is, what will you boast in to get access, entrance into heaven? You know, back in the day, there were these things called ritual boasts. If you're going into battle, again, they called them ritual boasts. And basically it was like the ancient way of trash talking before you would go into some kind of battle. And so you basically say, here's why we're going to beat you. You trash talk the other army.

Like, we're going to beat you because we'll boast in. We have 10,000 archers. You got nothing. That's why we're going to win. We have 2,000 horsemen. You got nothing. That's what we're going to win. We have an army. We have a Hulk. That's why we're going to win. This whole thing is your boast is what you point to as this is the reason why we are going to conquer. This is the reason why we're going to have victory. This is the reason why we're going to win. This is what we're trusting in. And St. Paul, you know, it's so interesting. St. Paul talks today in the second reading. Galatians chapter 6. He says, here's what I'm going to boast in. But before he does this, he actually, in another letter, Second Corinthians, St. Paul, goes to the list of the things he can't boast in, or that people might want him to boast in, but he's not going to. He says, some people think that they're going to be in the Father's presence, they're going to be in God's presence because they're Jewish.

He's like, okay, this is in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11. He's like, he says this. He's like, if anyone dares to boast, I also dare. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are the Israelites? Me too. Are they descendants of Abraham?

Like, they're actually, he is of the same blood as Jesus himself. Like, me too. Yep, absolutely. He says, are they, if he goes on to say, are they ministers of Christ? Like, do they actually work really hard for Jesus? Like, maybe they've been ordained? Are they ordained? Are they ministers?

It's like, me too. So this whole idea of like, well, you know, I don't know, I go to church and stuff, and I actually even serve Jesus. That's why I should boast. That's what I should trust in. He's like, nope. he goes on this is so great he says I am still more

a minister with far greater labors far more imprisonments far worse beatings and numerous brushes with death so here's a question for you could ask everyone as anyone in the church have you ever had a brush with death because you were serving Jesus so fully that people wanted to kill you

have I ever been imprisoned because of my faith in Jesus Christ or being threatened to being imprisoned my faith in Jesus Christ Paul's like I did all that stuff he actually even go, he kind of line items the next part. He says, five times, five times at the hands of the Jews, I received 39 lashes.

He was whipped five times. Each time, 39 times. He says, three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three days, three times I was shipwrecked. I passed a night and a day on the deep. On frequent journeys, in dangers from my own race, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city,

dangers in the wilderness. There's no way I can go. dangers at sea, dangers among my false brothers, in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fastings, through cold and exposure. These are all the things you can boast in. Through frequent nights of going without sleep. How many times I've ever skipped a night of sleep for Jesus? Fasting for Christ out of love for him. Well, I mean, Father, I didn't eat hardly anything last good Friday. There's been wine at the end of the day, but other than that, you know, I did, you know, regularly on Fridays during Lent, I eat two small meals and one regular-sized meal

with no snacking. Father, that's my boast. St. Paul goes on and says, none of those things, I can boast in none of those things. Because why? Because none of those things will do the trick. In Galatian 6, he says it. He says, may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ? May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ? Which means when I get one, when I stand before the Lord and he says, why should I let you in? The answer is not, here's all the things I've done. The answer is I'm going to point to what you've done, God. The answer is not because I love you so much.

The answer is because you've loved me so much. St. Paul said, my only boast after a life spent literally pouring out his blood out of love for God. Why should let you in? Because I love you? No, because you love me. Because I gave my life for you. No. He gave his life for me.

St. Paul says, he says, Christ loved me, and he gave himself up for me. Here's a question. When did you first realize that the cross was about you? What I mean by that is, when did you first come through the awareness that Christ really died for you? Like, you know, sometimes we walk into the church and we see the crucifix and we look and think, well, I know Jesus died because I failed because not when did you realize Jesus died because of you. when did you realize that Jesus died for you? Not just because of you, but for you. When was the first time you walked into a Catholic church

and looked up at the crucifix and said, oh my gosh, you love me so much? Because that's the moment that all of this becomes personal. And I'll boast in the fact that I showed up and I boast in the fact that I keep trying. I boast in the facts, all these things. But I'll miss the whole heart of it. It's what Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 66.

It's the very end of the book of Isaiah. He says, the Lord's power shall be known to his servants. It's the power emptied out for love of you. Why should I let you in? Because I love you. No. Because, God, you love me. You gave yourself up for me.

The truth of the matter is the father has declared his love over you, every single one of you. Me too. Thank you, God. the Father has declared his love over every one of us. He is unstoppable and unchangeable love. He will not change his mind. There's been a declaration of love. The only question is now, what will I do?

Because there's one thing to declare independence. It's another thing to live independence. It's one thing to declare freedom. It's another thing entirely to live freedom. And it's one thing to realize that the Father has declared his love over me, and it's entirely other thing to let him, to give him permission to love me, and to live as someone who's loved. I think too many of us we limit the power of the cross

when we're actually invited to live in the power of the cross. Again, we limit the power, we limit the love of God through the cross when we're called to live in the love of God through the cross. So what do we do? Oh, this is the last thing here. In 1776, the fathers declared independence, and every moment since then, and every generation since then, has had to make a choice, whether they live independence or not.

And in the year 33, the father declared his love over this entire world. And every moment since then, and every generation since then, every person since then, is faced with one question. In light of that declaration of love, in light of that declaration of love, the cross, will you let him love you? My invitation today at this Mass is to answer God, to give him an answer. Does God have permission to love you? And if yes, I mean, think about this, if yes, every time you go to pray, you're letting him love you. If the answer is yes, every time you hear his commandments where you're given as gifts to us, you say yes, you're

letting him love you. Every time you mess up and you go to confession, You're letting him love you again. And every time you come to Mass, and you're fed by him and you're invited to worship him, you are letting him love you. This is not complicated. It's one question and one answer. Does God have permission to love you as you are right now?