Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 08/22/21 Consumer Catholic: The Church of Me

Episode Date: August 23, 2021

Homily from the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. Everything I like and nothing that I don't. The temptation to create a God in our own image and have a church in our own image is strong. But God has revealed Himself to us, which means we either choose Him…or we choose “not Him.” We don’t get to create our own personally curated version. Mass Readings from August 22, 2021: Joshua 24:1-2, 15-18 Psalms 34:2-3, 16-21Ephesians 5:21-32 John 6:60-69

So one of my first jobs, like the real job, like the W2, you need to fill that out, not like mowing lawns where it was all under the table, off the books. But like one of my first jobs was working in Niswa at what was then referred to as the Niswa country store, but is currently referred to as the chocolate box, which you probably understand, right? So it was an incredible opportunity to work in an ice cream shop and a candy store. I'm in an ice cream shop, I'm in a candy store, I'm in a combination ice cream cup and candy store. Some of you get that. One person here gets that. It's never mind. Moving on. So one of the great things about working at the Niswa Country Store or today's chocolate ox is when you go in, it's the best.

Because what happens is if you have kind parents or kind grandparents or if you are a kind parent, a kind grandparent, what you say to your grandchild or to your child, do you say, okay, you get a bag and you get a bag and you get a bag. And the person behind the counter, me, got to say, I can not. make your day. Whatever you want, I'll put it in the bag, and then we'll weigh it up, and then that's what you'll get. And I even write their name on the bag, like this belongs to Catherine, this belongs to Heidi, this belongs to Sophia. And you, everyone gets their bag. The great thing about the Niswan Country Store, aka Chocolate Ox, is you get whatever you want. You don't

have to, you do not have to take what you don't want. It's the best thing. You get everything you want and nothing that you don't. That's why I love. This is a great way to run a candy store. It's a great way to run a grocery store. Take what you want, leave what you don't want. It's a great way to have a cafeteria or like a buffet. Think of a buffet. You have every kind of food you could possibly ever want, ever. You don't have to take it all.

You take what you want. You don't have to take anything you don't want. It is great. I love it. Again, that's a great way to run a candy store. It's a great way to run a grocery store or a buffet. It is not a great way to have a relationship. with God, to take what you want and leave what you don't.

You know, in the Old Testament, we, as Christians and our Jewish older brothers and sisters, like we belong to what we call the revealed religion. So Christianity, Judaism, they're what we refer to as a revealed religion, which means that we don't invent God. We don't create a God of our own. That he actually reveals, he reveals himself to us. He says, this is who I am. He says, this is my heart.

He says, this is what I love. He says, this is what I hate. and he actually gets to tell us who he is. He gets to tell us who we are. And our choice, the thing we get to do is we get to make a decision. And the decision is, okay, after God has revealed his heart, after he's revealed who you are, after he's revealed what he loves, what he hates,

the question you and I get to answer is, do you want to have a covenant relationship with this God as he is? Do you want him? Basically, that's the question. That's what the upshot of having a revealed religion is, is okay, this is a God who's revealed himself like this. Do you want to have a covenant relationship with him as he's revealed himself? So the first reading today is from the end of the book of Joshua.

So if you know anything about the context of this story, it's the end of the book of Joshua, which means a lot of history came before this. What's the history? Is that God enters into a covenant relationship with Abraham and then Isaac and Jacob, and then all the people of Israel, they go to Egypt and become slaves for 400 years.

But then, God sets them free through the 10 plagues, right? They get to the Red Sea, and he leads them through the Red Sea. And then he leads them and feeds them for 40 years in the wilderness. Now, not only that, but then Moses dies on the one side of the Jordan River. God, once again, does this miracle with the Jordan River. They cross into the promised land, the land of Canaan, right, with the Jebusites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Hivites and the Pisite. That's the wrong word.

Termites, budlites, they have them all. And what does God do? fights for them. That's the whole book of Joshua. Is God fighting for his people? And now this is the last chapter in the book of Joshua. And Joshua says, okay, here's the thing. After all of this, after God has freed you, after he's fed you, after he's led you, after

he's fought for you, you now have to make a decision. Do you want him? He says, he says, you can turn to the gods of the Egyptians where we came from. You can turn to the gods of the Amarites and the Jebusites and the Canaanites. all these people, you can turn to their gods too. But here's the thing, you have to decide for yourselves whom you'll serve, the real God or an idol. No, again, we can look at this, we think, like, that's crazy. Like, Father, I'm not about to, like, turn in my crucifix for a statue of Buddha.

I'm not going to exchange my rosary for a pentagram. I'm not going to turn in my Bible for a book of Mormon. I'm not about to, like, abandon the Lord. I'm not tempted to be an idolater, like, to turn to these other false gods. But have you noticed something about our culture? There's something really unique about our culture is how permeated our culture is, what I like to call,

the personally curated version of everything. So our music, we have personally curated versions of music. So you don't have to listen to the radio. You have your Pandora channel. You have your Spotify playlist. You have your Apple Music. I remember when people had to listen to the radio

and if the song was on, you had to listen to it, or turn it off. But you don't have to now. You can listen to. whatever you want, you don't have to listen to anything you don't want. TV stations, TV channels. Remember when TGIF was a thing, if you're a certain age, you know? It was Friday night, everyone's going to watch these shows.

It was Thursday night. Remember, like NBC Thursdays where it was either Seinfeld or Cheers or Friends or something like this, you had to watch. If you're going to watch TV, that's what you're watching. Now, whatever streaming service you have, you get to watch whatever you want, you don't have to watch anything you don't want to watch. Or even just, we have personally curated movie things. theaters. That magic rectangle in your pocket right now that pulls up anything you want to possibly

watch. And those are incredible gifts, incredible inventions. The problem again is that we have personally curated versions of Jesus. A lot of us have personally curated versions of the church. In fact, we've been kind of doing this little mini-series if we've been together at all in the last five weeks where we're talking about what it is to be a consumer Catholic. Like I'd show up because I just want to receive. I show up because I just want to take. I show up because I just want to be fed. And one of the things, one of the things we're tempted to do

is show up and then what we do as consumers is we just ultimately pick and choose. Like ultimately we just have this kind of cafeteria style, buffet style version of Christianity where basically I'm not going to turn to a false God. I'm just going to turn to my own version of God. Again, I'm not going to abandon Christianity. I'm not going to abandon the Catholic Church.

I just have my own version of Christianity. I just have my own version of what it is to be Catholic. And it's everything I want and nothing I don't want. I'm a good Catholic because I show up and I accept what I want. And I just ignore what I don't want. You know, Augustine, St. Augustine in the 4th century, this is nothing new. No, they didn't have Spotify then, but they did have our hearts. One of the things St. Augustine once said in the 4th century, he said,

if you believe what you like in the Gospels and reject what you don't like in the Gospels, it's not the Gospels you believe, it's yourself. If you're willing to accept whatever you like in the Gospels and reject whatever you don't like in the Gospels, it's not the Gospels you're accepting. It's just yourself. It's just ourselves.

And so I think that a lot of us show up and we belong to the church on paper, but in our hearts we actually belong to what you might call the Church of Me. I say, no, I'm Catholic. belong to Catholicism. It's like, no, I belong to meism because it's my own private version, own personal version of Jesus, my own personal version of what I would like the church to be. Because if I accept what I like about the church and reject what I don't, it's not the church I belong to.

It's just the church of me I belong to. No, it's interesting. There was a Christian musician, not a Catholic who was like captivated by the Catholic Church. He was so intrigued by the teaching on the Eucharist. He was so intrigued by having a mom in heaven like Mary, the of God is actually his mom too. He was so intrigued by so many components of what it could be to be Catholic. He started investigating more and he was talking to a Catholic friend of his. And ultimately, the Catholic friend said, you know, if you become a Catholic, you have to believe everything the church teaches. And this man, he was really honest. He said, he said these words that I just have stuck with me ever since I heard them. And he said, I don't think I've ever

believed everything about anything. I don't think I've ever believed anything about anything. and yet if you've gone through RCIA, if you became Catholic as an adult, you know that the day came on Easter vigil where you had to stand up in front of the whole church in front of family in front of friends, in front of the priest or the bishop, and you had to say these words, I believe and professes all that the Catholic Church believes,

professes and proclaims to be revealed by God. Because that's what it is to be Catholic. And if we're raised Catholic, we might have never had to stand up in front of everyone and say, actually, I believe everything about this. But if I don't, I have a personally curated version of Jesus. I have a personally curated version of what it is to follow Jesus. I belong not to the church.

I belong to the church of me. And again, that can sound extreme. You really believe everything about this thing? That's why I love the fact that we have that really annoying middle reading today, that second reading. That's so awesome and everyone loved it. I know when we perked up Ephesians 5, you're like, yeah, go. Talk about that one.

But think about it, when the Lord talks about marriage, I mean, think of what marriage is to people from the outside. Because what do you say when you get married? You basically say, I'm completely yours. Like, my heart is yours. My body is yours. My money is yours. My debt is yours. Like all the things.

Like everything I have. From the outside, that looks nuts. From the outside, that looks crazy. From the inside, what's it look like? It looks like love. From the inside, it looks like, no, I know you so. well, I'm willing to trust you with everything I have. And you know me so well, you're willing to trust me, a broken person, with everything that you have. It's not perfect. But you know what

St. Paul says? He says, okay, so here's the deal. In marriage, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Again, the words surrender to each other out of reverence for Christ. That what marriage should be is a race to surrender. That part of like the beauty of marriage is, surrender to each other, and that's the part of the beauty and the power, and the life-giving element of marriage is this race to surrender to each other out of reverence for Christ. But here's the question. Is it really surrender if I love my spouse and do whatever they ask as long as it's something I was already going to do? Is it really surrender? Is it really submitting to the one I love and the one I said, no, I love you with everything if I will do anything you ask

as long as it's something I was already planning on doing. And that's not extreme, because that's not even love. That's just we happen to intersect right here. Because if that's what I want, then I don't want marriage. And if I want my own personally curated version of Jesus, then here's the truth. I don't actually want Jesus. We're going to say that again because it's a really hard word,

but I'm going to say it like a really nice person. If I only want my personally curated version of Jesus, then I don't actually want Jesus. At the end of the gospel today, what is it? John chapter 6 for the last five weeks, except for last weekend we had the assumption of Mary, for the last five weeks, been deep in John chapter 6.

And Jesus has made it so clear that he's going to feed all those who belong to him with his very body, blood, soul, and divinity. And now what happens? People finally understand, oh, he's not speaking metaphorically, he's not speaking figuratively, he is speaking literally. And what did they do?

It says in John chapter 6, verse 66, it says, as a result of this, many of his disciples, his disciples, who had left everything, their family, friends, everything, left their homes, left their jobs. Many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompany them, because that's the thing. Jesus is basically saying it's either me and everything I teach or walk away. It's either me as I'm giving myself to you, or you can go. And this is the test, this is the choice for every one of us.

in the 21st century, I fear, I wonder this. I don't know if this is true, but I, I'm afraid in too many of our hearts, this is true. That maybe most of us, we show up and we pray on Sundays. We show up and we go to Mass on Sundays. We show up and say, yeah, I'm Catholic, but it actually belonged to the church of me. Because it's my own personally curated version of the church. And Jesus says, okay, here's the thing. That's not an option.

That's not an option. Either me or you can go. Either the church I've founded or you can walk away. That's why Jesus says to the apostles. I mean, think about this. Picture the scene. There were thousands of people who came out for Jesus because he fed 5,000 at least the day before.

Hundreds of disciples, they're all walking away. And imagine the 12 apostles are like, whoa, okay. This is how are you going to get them back, Jesus? And he looks at you and he says, do you want to go to? That's what he says. You also want to leave? That's what I love.

You know, sometimes St. Peter gets a bad rap. Always talking, always putting his foot in his mouth, always saying stuff on the fly off the cuff. And what St. Peter says right now is so encouraging for all of us, encouraging for all of us. Because Peter doesn't look at Jesus and says, listen, Lord, I get it. These knuckleheads over here, they don't understand.

Like, they still have questions, they still have struggles, they still have problems. I don't have none of that. Peter doesn't. say any of that. Peter basically looks at Jesus and says, I have no idea what you just said. You just said you were going to feed us with your body and blood. That, I'm out. I have no idea. And that could be us. We can show up for Sunday Mass. We can show up from prayer and say, no, I'm Catholic, but I don't get it. I'm Catholic, but I struggle. That's okay.

Because what Peter then goes on to say is so important for every one of us. He says, Lord, I have no idea, no idea how you're going to do this. He says, but here's, I've come to believe and I'm convinced that you're the Christ. You're the Holy One of God. So where else am I going to go? Here's Simon Peter who says, doesn't say I don't struggle. He doesn't say I don't have questions. He says, I know what you're teaching.

He says, Jesus, I know you. So I'm not going to go anywhere. I know you, so I'm not going to go. Not just my personal version of you, but you. This is the last thing. Here's the question, do I know him then? Here's the thing because Jesus says, okay, me or there's the door, and I want to let you know you don't go to the door, but go to him.

You know, years ago, Mother Teresa, before she had passed away, she was talking to her sisters, she was talking to the nuns who were in missionary sisters of charity. Now think about this, these are a bunch of nuns who, they've given everything to belong to Jesus. They've given up not only their freedom, they've not only given up the possibility, marrying, they're not only giving up their worldly possessions, but I mean, those missionaries of charity, they have nothing, they have no human possessions. They've given up everything for Jesus, and Mother Teresa looked at them and she said these words, she says, I worry that some of you still have not really met Jesus, like one on one, you and him alone. And Jesus wants me to

tell you, once again, how much love he has for each one of you. you. She said, we might spend time in the chapel, but have you seen with the eyes of your soul how he looks at you with love? This is the invitation. Here's these women, here are these women who have given up everything. And here's Mother Teresa who says, but I still worry. And I'm looking at a church full of people who have given up their Saturday night and multiple Saturdays and multiple Sundays and a lot of parts of your life to belong to Jesus. And maybe you can hear Mother Teresa's words to your heart too. But I worry if you actually, do you know him not just, your personally curated version of him.

Like as a consumer Catholic or as a, is my own version. Here's my invitation to myself as well as everyone. Because you got, y'all, here's the deal. When a priest is preaching, if he's any good at it, he's talking to himself. I could have a mirror right here as well. Like, hey, buddy, you listen to this.

Here's the invitation. To put aside whatever version of Jesus we have. To put aside whatever version of Christianity that we might have. and whatever personally curated version of the Catholic Church we have, because anything else, everything else is a copycat, everything else is idolatry, but to accept him and the church that he founded.

To not accept it. To not accept him is to not be a Christian. It's to not be a follower. So I present to you the choice. Will you follow the God who has freed you, who every Sunday feeds you, who has fought for, you, who has died for you, or will you follow your personally curated version of him?

Will you say, okay, I'll leave? Or will you say like Joshua, I know he's here? I know he's true. I don't know everything, but I know him. And as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I invite you to stand as we profess our faith that we truly. do believe as we say I believe in one God the Father the Almighty maker of heaven and earth of all things visible and invisible I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God