Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 08/08/21 Consumer Catholic: Farther to Go

Episode Date: August 9, 2021

Homily from the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The best of your life is ahead of you...you will need food for the journey. The worst days of our life often come after the best days of our life. But even in those "worst days", you are not done yet. God has more for you to do and further for you to go. He wants to feed you with what you are going to need to have enough strength for the journey. Mass Readings from August 8, 2021: 1 Kings 19:4-85 Psalms 34:2-9Ephesians 4:30—5:2 John 6:41-51

So as I mentioned, it's kind of the season of transitions, and I just, whenever we hit like August or even mid-August, whatever, it says the season of goodbyes as well. I don't know if you remember just even this time when you first, like, moved off to college or when you first, like, had to leave home. Or I just, I just know that, again, whenever it comes to August, I always think of like my brother went off to the military or when I went off to college. We have a student right now who graduated and she's going to the same mission field that I was part of. I remember we left, I left, I think, this exact week back in like 1998, 1997, I think it was. And it was just, I remember all, it's not just the journey, right? It's not just that, that whole thing. It's the, you remember the night before?

Like, the night before you had to leave. It's just, like, there's all the, like, the packing, the last minute planning. There's all the nerves that just, just, because, you know, you want to be alone, but you don't want to be alone. Like, you want to talk to people, but you don't want to talk to anybody. And my family does this thing. Maybe a lot of people will do it. but we have a goodbye meal.

And I remember all the times when we did it, we had the goodbye meal. And also all the times when we're just like, oh my gosh, how can we not have a good my meal? Because there's something about this where you have this goodbye meal because, you know, I can't go with you and I can't go for you and I can't do whatever the thing is that you're about to do, whatever you're about to embark on,

I can't do that thing for you. But I want to do something. And so we have the goodbye meal. And the goodbye meal is a way to like honor the moment. It's a way to say goodbye. to the person. It's a way to tell them that you love them. It's a way to tell stories and say, just look back and laugh. And it's also, you know, it's also in a way to provide them with something that you think that they'll need. And that's what the goodbye meal is all about. In fact,

in the Mediterranean, the Greek cultures, they called this meal the Hoda-Porion, because you want to know what Greek is. And so the Hodoporion is, there was this phrase in Greek that was, say, it's a feast for them that gives them provision for the journey. That goodbye meal is a feast for them that gives them provision for the journey. Because they knew this, just like what we know, is that this journey, this next step, whatever this thing is, it's going to be difficult. It might be full of joy, it might be full of promise,

might be full of opportunity, but it's going to be a battle. And so because it's going to be a battle, because it's going to be difficult, there are things that you're going to need. That's one of the reasons why I love those epic stories where before someone starts on the journey, there's like the wizard or the wise person who gives the magical, maybe I don't know,

I'm kind of nerding out here. But like here's the magic bow and hero. Here's that special dagger you're going to need. Here's the invisibility cloak. Here's this special shield. Whatever those gifts are because the idea is this thing I'm going to give you now before your journey is something you're going to need.

Again, this gift I'm going to give you before your journey is something that will get you through this. because what you have right now, it's not enough to get you through this. And that's what that goodbye meal is all about. This thing, this thing is going to get you through. So in the first reading from First Kings, it's Elijah. And this is Elijah's, pretty much Elijah's worst day. But it comes after Elijah's best day.

If you know anything about the scriptures right now, you know that right before this, Elijah had had the showdown on Mount Carmel, right? So there's 450 prophets of Baal. And here is all the people of Israel come out, to Mount Carmel with a showdown between one prophet, Elijah, he's the one faithful prophet of the Lord God, and there's 450 prophets of Ba'al. Now remember, the people of Israel,

they've been brought into covenant with Gai. They've been brought into covenant with the Lord God. And yet, and even Elijah says, decide today, who are you going to serve? And they're like, we don't really know exactly. And so to Elijah says, okay, here's the challenge. You 450 prophets of Baal, if you can call down, fire on your saccharacter.

in the name of Baal, then he wins. But if I can call them fire in the name of the Lord God, then God wins. And what happens is the Prophet of the Ball, they cry out, they do all these things, and nothing, nothing at all happens. And then Elijah, he goes to this whole process of like filling this trench around the altar with water and dousing everything with so much water so that it's just got completely soaked. And then he just calls on the name of the Lord God and God answers with fire and burns up

the entire sacrifice, and then what all the people say, they all cry out, the Lord is God, the Lord is God, and it's one of the, Elijah's again, one of his best days ever, why? Not because he's won, but because he's won the hearts of the people over to the Lord God. And it's massive, it's huge. And then this massive rain comes and Elijah has to run away because Ahab and his wife, Jezebel are trying to kill him. And that's what we find the reading today.

Where here's Elijah, the day after his best day ever, and he's having his worst day ever where he just says, Lord, let me just die now. And this is the reality for a lot of us. For a lot of us, our worst day will come after our best day. That our lowest point, well, often comes after our highest point where we just go, what now? I mean, honestly, the Olympics got over with however long ago. And I remember watching a documentary about Michael Phelps and how here he is,

one of the most celebrated, decorated athletes of all time after he won the Olympics. Just like, what now? And this happens to almost every Olympian, whether they lose or whether they win at the top of their game is the big question. Okay, so what do I do now? And in fact, if you've ever, if you've retirement, I mean, I know so many people who have made it through, like they've built a career, right? They've built a profession. They've even maybe raised a family. And at some point, okay, now it's time to retire and you're like, wait a second, all of that work, all of that life that I just crafted and created and like striped, gave everything for even if you won.

Like even if you won at your profession, even if you won at raising your family, at some point you're like, okay, now it's time to retire. What now? Now your kids are grown. They're out of the house. Okay, what now? And that worst day can come after the best day. And we ask the question, what now?

And the answer is, there's more to do. You know, that's what Eilash is hearing? The question we have is, what now? Okay, I did it. I thought I did the thing you asked me to do, what now? And the answer is, there's more to do. In fact, speaking of Olympians, Eric Hayden is one of my favorite Olympians of all time. So back in the 1980 Winter Olympics, Eric Hayden, he was a speed skater, American speed skater,

and he won every event in speed skating. So basically, I mean, if there's five events in male long course speed skating, he won every single one of them, from the 500 meters to the 10,000 meters. I remember someone explaining us and said, it's the equivalent of if you're in track and field, winning every event from the 100 meter dash to the marathon. To have that kind of like range, that kind of giftedness, that kind of talent, that kind of like hard work, that was Eric Hayden in 1980 Olympics. He won every single gold medal he possibly could win.

And I remember watching an interview with him years ago where he said, you know, at the end of that, he could have looked back over his life and said, okay, I peaked at 22 because that's when he won. 22 years old. Peaked at 22. And now it's just I can look back the rest of my life. or I can look ahead and say, okay, there's more to do. What now there's more to do? So he went to Stanford, went to medical school, became an orthopedic surgeon,

he continued to work with Olympians because he had this mentality that would say, okay, yes, that was maybe my best day ever, but I cannot live like my best days in my past. Because why? Because there's more to do. And the same thing is true for Elijah. This huge day where he defeats 450 prophets of Baal in the name of the Lord God,

He says, let me just die now, God. And God says what? No, no, no, get up and eat. Why? Because you have more to do. There's further for you to go now. Like basically saying, you're not done. That was a big moment.

God gave him incredible victory. But you are not done. There's still more to go. In fact, here was the angel of the Lord say, get up and eat. Or else the journey is going to be too long for you. So we started this kind of mini-series thing called ConsumerCast. a couple weeks ago, where we talked about kind of the negative aspects of being a consumer

Catholic, where we show up to take, we show up to receive, we show up to get what we want to get, and then we just move on. But there's a really positive element of consumer Catholics. And what is that? It's the fact that God wants to feed us. I mean, the fact that God is saying to you today, today, that you're not done. Now there's more to do, wherever you're at in life, whether your best day is in your past or your best day is in your future, regardless of that,

what God is declaring now is not only does he want to feed you, but he, A, B, he needs to feed you. Because you're not done. There's more for you to do. There's further for you to go. And he says to you and me what he spoke to Elijah, which is get up and eat or else the journey is going to be too long for you. In fact, I think, gosh.

think about the people of Israel in the wilderness, in the book of the Exodus. They're wandering through the desert for 40 years. And what does God do? God says, okay, this is a long journey. But you're my people, so let me feed you. I mean, this is the case. This is such clear thing.

This is a long journey, but you're my people, so let me feed you. And he gave them bread from heaven, right, called manna. And then here is Jesus in John chapter 6, who says, not only was not Moses gave you bread from heaven, but my father gave you bread from heaven. And here, I am the two living bread that came down from heaven. Those who eat it will live forever. And then he drops this massive bomb.

And the bomb is, and this bread is my flesh for the life of the world. That Jesus promises that he's going to give us the Eucharist. He's going to give up to himself as the Eucharist. That it's not just this kind of sprinkled thing on the ground that fed the people of Israel through the wilderness in the desert. but it's actually himself. The very body and blood, soul and infinity of Jesus is going to be our food. And he gives it to us. Why?

Because he says, if you don't eat of this, the journey is going to be too long for you. Why? Because you have more to go. That you have more to do. And so here is Jesus who says, so let me feed you. Like actually, in a positive sense, be a consumer Catholic, but consume me. I think sometimes it's so easy, easy for us to say, well, I went to Mass, you know, and I, I mean, that was, I'm done. I mean, I went to Mass, and I received Holy Communion, and I didn't feel any change, didn't feel any different.

I didn't, I wasn't given any extra strength. And you realize that Elijah got up, right? And he ate once. And what the angel said, the angel said, get up and keep on eating, or else the journey is going to be too long for you. and that's the true for all of us as well. Sometimes you get to the point where like, well, I'm done.

I'm tired of going back to Mass because I've already done it in the first place and I'm over it. And the Lord says, now get up and go. Get up and go to Mass. Why? Because there's more for you to do. There is further for you to go.

And if you don't eat of this, the journey is going to be too long for you. And you could say like, well, no, are you kidding me? I'm so old. There's nothing for me to do. like my life is so boring there's nothing more incredible I don't have any great adventures to go on at this point and I would say that is 100% false because you might think your life is humdrum

you think that your life is ordinary you might think you have nowhere to go after this but there's no such thing there's no such thing as a humdrum ordinary boring life why because you have a destiny and that destination right this journey the destination you have is eternal life with God in heaven and you're not there yet which means you have somewhere to go Like you're not there yet, which means you have more, you have more to do. Like this is the most incredible thing I've ever, you could ever possibly imagine. You go back and say, well, I never got a chance to go off to college. I never went off to the military.

I never went on a big journey. Listen, the biggest journey of your entire life is still ahead of you. The biggest journey of your entire life is still ahead of you. Your best days literally are not behind you. You have more to do. You have further to go. And that journey, a journey will be too great for you without the food of the Eucharist.

You know, your life matters so much. Your life matters so much. This destination is so profound that it would be impossible for you to get where you need to go on your own. Which is why Jesus says, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don't have life within you, that eternal life, that food for the journey.

You know, it's, it's, there's, that's, that's, that's huge, right? That's an honor, but it's also a burden. Because one of the things we realize about receiving Holy Communion is that if we receive Holy Communion worthily, it brings us eternal life. But do you know that if we receive Holy Communion unworthily, we eat condemnation upon ourselves? I don't know if you've ever heard that before, but if we receive Holy Communion worthily, in a state of grace prepared for this,

then it brings us eternal life. It's the energy, it's the strength, it's what we need for that next stage of the journey. But if we receive Holy Communion unworthily, meaning if we receive in the state of mortal sin, we're actually eating condemnation upon ourselves. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, St. Paul writes about this. He writes the Corinthians and he says,

some of you are doing this. Some of you are guilty of basically committing mortal sins and then receiving Holy Communion. And he says, you're guilty of the body and blood of Christ. Basically, you're eating and drinking condemnation upon yourself. And this is one of the things that I think some Catholics, we don't even pay attention to this. We forget, maybe we never learn this,

maybe we've forgotten it, maybe we've ignored it. Maybe we've dismissed it because we're just like, well, that seems strange. But it is the words of God that says that if we approach the Eucharist without having gone to confession for mortal sins, then we are eating and drinking condemnation upon ourselves, which I think is incredibly terrifying. Now, at the same time, that doesn't mean we stay away from the Eucharist. It means that we go to confession and get healed and reconciled to the Lord.

Now, someone might say, well, yeah, but, Father, I thought you said, I thought Pope Francis had said that Eucharist isn't a reward for those who are strong, but it's medicine for those who are sick. I would say, yes, absolutely. Holy Communion. The Eucharist is not only food for the journey, it's medicine for those who are sick. But here's the important word. Holy Communion is medicine for the sick, but it's not medicine for the dead. And if I found myself in mortal sin, it's called mortal sin because it brings spiritual death.

And so, yes, when you're wounded, when you're sick, venial sin, receive Holy Communion, gives you strength. But when we're mortally wounded, we have to go to confession and then communion. Or else we're eating and drinking condemnation upon ourselves. But this is. this is the great gift of God that you have a destiny this is the great gift of God that you still have more to do

this is the massive gift of God that you have further to go and that Holy Communion is called bread for the journey it's food for the journey just like for the Israelites in the Old Testament that manna was bread

that fed them all the way through the desert just like for Elijah that get up and eat and drink because he was able to walk then for 40 days all the way to Mount Horib. And for you and for me. There's this thing called Viaticum. And Vieticum is what's known as the last time you and I will ever receive Holy Communion.

The last time you and I ever receive Holy Communion on this life, that last time we get to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, hopefully thank if God willing, it's worthily. It's called Vieticum, and that means it's food for the journey. My invitation for us today is to not only pray, God, please, make my heart worthy to be able to receive you. I'm not worthy. We're going to say that in a few moments at Mass.

I'm not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word of my soul shall be healed. Yes. But if I am not prepared to receive the Eucharist because of conscious mortal sin, to go to confession, like to let your heart be changed. Why? Because you have further to go. You have more to do.

And God wants to feed you with himself, but he also wants to bring you back to life from spiritual death. through confession. But also to ask the Lord to prepare your heart for that last time, you'll be a consumer Catholic. To ask the Lord to prepare your heart for that final time, you'll receive him in the Eucharist. That Eucharist that will be known for you in part of your life

and for me and part of my life and into eternity as our Vieticum, as our food for the journey. At that last time we received the U.S. Christ. Because if we don't receive him, the journey will be too long for us. But this is a journey that God has in store for you. Because whether you have many great days behind you, or maybe you have so many great days ahead of you, the reality is you have more to do. You have further to go. So just like the angel said to Elijah, Jesus, now says to you get up eat