Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 09/01/24 The Floor

Episode Date: August 31, 2024

Homily from the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. It's the least you can do. We are made to strive. We are made to pursue the ideal. But we also need to know what the minimum is. We also need to know: What is the least I can do? (And still give the Lord access to my heart!) Mass Readings from September 1, 2024: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8 Psalms 15:2-5James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27 Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Welcome to Sunday homilies with me, Father Mike Schmitz. I hope today's homily inspires and motivates you, and I also hope that it leaves you hungry for the one who gave everything to feed you. If you want to get this in other Sunday Mass resources sent straight to your inbox, sign up at ascensionpress.com slash Sunday, or by texting Sunday to 33777. You can also follow or subscribe on your podcast app for weekly notifications. God bless. The Lord be with you.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark. Glory to you, Lord. Sorry. We'll start again. We'll start it over again. Sorry, because you got to do. Sorry, guys. Sorry, recording people.

Apologize. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. The Lord be with you. And with your spirit. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark. Chapter 7, verses 1 through 8,

verses 14 and 15, and verses 21 through 23. When the Pharisees hurt with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean that is unwashed hands. For the Pharisees, and in fact all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders.

And on coming from the marketplace, they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds. So the Pharisees and the scribes questioned him, why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders, but instead eat a meal with unclean hands? Jesus responded,

Well, did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written. This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines, human precepts. You disregard God's commandments, but cling to human tradition. He summoned the crowd again and said to them, Hear me all of you and understand.

Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person, but the things that come out from within are what defile. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from within and they defile. The gospel of the Lord. Great.

I should have a seat. So I was thinking the other day how just, I mean, you know sometimes we have these phrases, like especially phrases when someone says thank you, like how we respond to someone who says thank you. There's all these different ways, there's the common you're welcome. But I actually came across something that said that, uh, Gen Z right now, maybe Gen Alpha. They don't say you're welcome. They'll just say no problem.

I think that's interesting because I say no problem. I like the Australian, no worries. Yeah, not at all. All those things are kind of fun. But there's one phrase that I think is kind of just interesting. When someone says, hey, thank you. Our response is, it's the least that could do. And I think about that because it's just, it's an interesting thing to say.

But I think, like, well, no, that's not true. Like, it's, I don't know, it's not the least you could do. Like you could have done less, probably. I mean, you could do nothing. But at the same time, at the same time, it also is true. And what I mean by that is this. I think what you're saying, when we're saying, we say it's the least I could do. We're saying is, this is the least I could do as your friend.

Or this is the least I could do as your son. Or this is the least I could do as your sibling. Or this is the least I could do as your coworker. Another way to say it is, this is the least I could do and still have a relationship with you. because I think that's real. That's probably true. I mean, really truly, if that's accurate, if someone says thank you, and you say that's the least I could do, if that's accurate,

what you're saying is, I did the minimum, which I think is, that's fine. I mean, I had a friend back in the day, and he said, if the minimum wasn't good enough, it wouldn't be called the minimum. So the minimum must be good enough. I think it's really good to know the minimum. I think it's really good to know, like, what is the least that could do? I think it's good to know where the floor is. Another way to say it like that.

You know, a couple weeks ago, a couple different Sundays, we were asking about the ideal, right? So we had a homily on rest. And the question was, do you have a picture of your ideal rest day? Like, what's the heights? What's the perfect rest day? Another couple weeks ago, we asked the question, in your stage of life, in your season of life, what does a win look like?

And in both those questions, we're asking about the ideal, right? We're asking about kind of the thing you strive for, which is awesome. It's so good to have a clear picture of what a win looks like. It's great to have a clear picture of what does rest look like. I think it's really great to know, okay, what am I striving for? Because we're made to strive. It's good to know, where's the ceiling? but I think it's also as valuable to know where the floor is.

That on a daily basis to know, okay, what actually is the minimum? What actually is the least I could do? You know, with myself, like, what's the least I could do and still be okay as me? What's the least I could do in life? What's the least I could do as a married person, if you're a married person? What's the least I could do as a son or daughter of... your parents, what's the least I could do for my friends? What's the least I could do for my health and still be okay?

Like, still be, like, we're not talking the ideal. We're not talking what we're striving for. We're not talking about the ceiling. We're talking about where's the floor? And I think we need to go there because here we are at Mass. It's good to ask the question. What is the least you could do when it comes to the most important relationship in your life? What's the least you could do when it comes to God?

When it comes to God, what's the minimum? Like when it comes to God, where is the floor? Because remember this, the minimum isn't nothing. But to ask the question, what is the least you could do and still have a relationship? And I'm not saying something like, what's the least I can do in the sense of just checking a box? That's not where we're going for. Because like Jesus said in the gospel today, he says, there's people, they honor me with their lips. Like, they're checking boxes all the time.

But their hearts are far from me. And that's the problem, right? Because the least I can do is not just get by, skate by, check boxes. what's the least I could do and still give the Lord my heart. I think one of the biggest frustrations we all have. This is like everyone across the board as Christians, as Catholics. It's that I have faith in my head, but it hasn't reached my heart, right? That reality that I believe, like I know, but I haven't been able to cross those 12 inches, right, from my head to my heart.

I've heard it said many times that the longest 12 inches in the universe, is the foot of space that lives between my head and my heart. The hardest distance to travel is that distance between my head and my heart. And so the question is, what's the minimum? What's the least I could do to cross that distance between my head? Even is it possible? How do we do it? How do we, right now, today, cross that distance between our head and our heart?

So we don't end up like Jesus says. These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Well, I think this, I think James gives us a clue. It's a second reading today, the book of James, the letter of James. And it's the most simple and it's the most straightforward way to bridge the gap between our head and our heart. James says it kind of like this. He says, okay, all those things you believe, act on them. Like all those things you know about God, do them.

That's why he says, he says, be doers of the word and not hearers only who delude yourselves. You're fooling yourselves. I would say this. the most direct way from your head to your heart passes through your hands. All those things you know, put them into action. It turns out that that's the least we can do. And I think this is fascinating because James goes on to talk about two of the three essential things that we need.

So here's the interesting thing. James already presumes that we're going to be worshipping God. James already knows in the book of James, letter of James. He already knows we're worshipping God. That's the first thing. We need to be worshipping God. But he also talks with two other things we need to be doing. He says, religion that is pure and undefiled does two things.

It is where you care for orphans and widows in their affliction, and you keep yourself unstained by the world. So here's James. He says, here's the minimum. Here's the floor. The minimum is this, these three things. Worship, love of neighbor, and holiness. Those are these three things that every one of us needs to do.

These are the least that I could possibly do. another way to say it is love God in your actions, that's worship, love your neighbor in your actions. That's charity, right? That's helping, that's service. And then thirdly, reject everything that keeps you from these things. That's holiness. Again, love God in your actions, worship, love your neighbor in your actions, charity, service, and reject everything that keeps you from these things.

Pursuit of holiness. Because we know this. We know this, that our actions, our choice. that's the most direct route between our head and our heart, and it goes through our hands. It's what we do. So James was on to say, if you don't do this, you're diluted. James says that if you don't do this, if you're a hearer and not a doer, you are fooling yourself.

Because why? Because every act of worship is meant to get to our heart. Every act of caring for our neighbor is meant to get to our heart. every act of rejecting sin and choosing grace is meant to get to our heart. Another way to say it is every act of worship, of love, and of holiness is meant to draw us closer to God. Do you know that actually the Hebrew people, the Jewish people, they had a word for something that draws you close to God.

You actually probably heard this word before. The Hebrew word that means to draw, something which draws close is the Hebrew word Corban. So in the Jewish world, if something were there, it was there to draw. you close to God. That's what Corban means, something which draws you close. If there is something that would draw you close to God, you call that Corban. And so there were sacrifices that were Corban because they draw you close to God. There are prayers that are Corban. There are acts of charity, acts of love that are Corban. There's prayers that are Corban. Why? Because

all of those actions are something that draw you close. The problem is this. The problem is there's more than one way that we can delude ourselves. There's more than one way we can fool ourselves. One is, as St. James says, by being a hearer and not a doer, another way is by being a doer, but doing the wrong things. I don't mean doing the wrong things in the sense of doing sins. I mean doing the wrong things in the sense of tap dancing at a ballet, right? That's not the right place, not the right time, not the right thing. Or another way to say it is fasting when it's time to feast. I'm doing the wrong thing. And there's an example of this in the gospel today. So the Here's this whole story of Jesus' disciples are being criticized by the Jews because they're eating with unwashed hands.

And Mark goes on to say that's actually tradition of the elders, tradition of the Pharisees, is that, you know, you don't eat with unwashed hands. He's not talking about cleanliness. He's not talking about sanitation. What he's talking about, or hygiene, what he's talking about is that the Pharisees had this mindset. It was not a bad mindset. The mindset was this. Hey, we were given rules about how to worship God in the temple. And so if you worship God in the temple, you wash your hands a certain way.

If you worship God in the temple, you wash your vessels in a certain way. If you worship God in the temple, you wash your clothes and all these things in a certain way. Those are all good things. The Pharisees said, you know what, those are good things. And those are meant to do what? They're meant to be the route from the head to the heart. They're meant to be Corban. That's something that draws you close.

How about this? How about we bring temple worship into daily life? That'd be awesome. that if washing like this in the temple is great, that purification is great, I'm going to wash like that at home. If taking care of the vessels of worship are important like to do. I'm going to take my home vessels and treat them like this. What I'm going to do is if I do this, if I bring this into my daily life,

then my whole life will be marked by an awareness of God's presence. It's actually a really, really good thing. But that really, really good thing is a ceiling. That really, really good idea is an ideal. And there's a problem there because they began seeing what was optional as now being essential. They started treating that ceiling like, oh, that's the new floor. They started treating that maximum, that's the new minimum. They started treating that ideal is now that's the least you can do.

And that is heavy. That's burdensome. I know what people would say this. They say, like, well, you're one to talk. Catholics, I know you guys too. You guys have so many rules. are you kidding me? Like, what's the minimum for Catholics?

I think that's a great question. What is the minimum for Catholics? In fact, what are the precepts Catholic to have? I mean, in the gospel today, it says you're teaching as mere, as commandments, mere human precepts. Does the Catholic Church have any precepts? And the answer is yes. And these precepts are this.

So basically, we have the commandments, obviously, that's not precepts. Those are the commandments of God, Exodus. You have the beatitudes, Jesus himself, in Matthew's Gospel. And then the church has five precepts. At least five precepts of the church, this is like what the church says, hey, you want to know the least you can do these five things. And here's what they are. They're very, very simple.

Number one is attending Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of obligation. Okay, so Mass and Sunday worship. While at Mass, at least once a year, the second one is at least once a year receiving Holy Communion during Easter season. Now, the reason it was only once a year is because there was a time where people were so intimidated by the holiness of the Euchar that they would go their entire lives and never received communion because they're like, no, that's really Jesus. I need to stay away. And the Pope was like, listen, guys, at least once. So go to Mass every Sunday and Holy Day. Receive communion at least

once a once. And then third is go to confession at least once a year. So this is this, this first two is worship. Second, go to confession once a year. The third is to observe days of fasting and abstinence. So that's holiness. And the fourth is to provide for the needs of the church according to your ability. and that's caring for others. So think about these. The three aspects that James talks about are the essential to religion. The church and the five precepts of the church

say, okay, this is the floor. This is the minimum. This is the least you can do. And I think the least we can do is just let's put this in context. Because again, we can be so overwhelmed and say like, no, the church has this whole big, big, big thing you have to do all these things.

No, it's so simple. Go to mass every Sunday and Holy Day. Once a year, at least, receive Holy Communion. Once a year, go to confession. Observe days of fasting and abstinence. That's overwhelming. No, there are two days of fasting and the Fridays and Lent that are also days of abstinence.

So it's not a whole lot. And lastly, is give. Provide for the needs of the church according to your means. It doesn't say you need to have 10% you give. Just whatever you have, whatever your means are, give. Just like St. James said. Love God in your actions worship.

Love your neighbor and your actions. service, and reject all the things that get in between you and there's other things. Worship, charity, and holiness. This is the least we can do. So let's go back to the gospel. As we said, in the gospel, there were people who are saying now, okay, here, we're taking the optional and making them essential. It went even further.

Now, in some readings that we omitted today for the reading, they're still there in the Bible in Matthew's Gospel, Mark's Gospel. Jesus also condemns folks because he says this. He says, what you've done is some of you even do this. You know the commandment number four of honoring your father and mother, caring, taking care of your parents. Some of you are actually saying, okay, the help that would go to take care of my parents, I'm declaring that, here's the Hebrew word, I'm declaring that Corban.

And now it's dedicated to God. And now I don't have to take care of my parents anymore because I've dedicated that to God. Remember what Corban means? Something which is meant to draw close. What happened, when Jesus, is condemning is not only did people take what was optional make it essential, people began to say that what was meant to be the route to the heart had been made into a roadblock. They were using the optional to avoid the essential. It was a way to do things and at the same time withdraw my

heart. So here's the question. What do we do? Well, we know we have to be doers of the word, not hears only, that the route from my head to my heart passes through my hands in worship and service and in holiness, we have to ask the question, I think, how can I strive after this? Like really, what is the ideal? Like when it comes to your relationship with the Lord, when it comes to your giving him worship, when it comes to taking care of your neighbor, when it comes to holiness, like how can you strive after that courageously? How can you live heroically? That's awesome. What is the ideal of this day? What's the ideal of this month? What's the ideal of my life? What's the ceiling?

That is a great question to ask. But we also have to ask the question, where is the floor? Then that's just how can I live this on my best day? How can I live this every day? Even on my worst day. Well, we have the precepts, but also what do you have personally? So back years ago, there was a man, his name is, now his name is Father Ben. I've talked about Father Ben here many, many times.

When Father Ben was 17 years old, he decided, okay, his minimum was every single day he would read a minimum of 15 minutes of the Bible a day. That's what he would do. And he did. I mean, he still does. He's had multiple strokes. He's had multiple, like, just things just happen to him again and again. But Father Ben's minimum is 15 minutes of Bible a day. I mention this also.

I have a nephew who heard that when he was in sixth grade. And he said, okay, 10 minutes. His minimum was 10 minutes. And remember even just when he got into high school and he was like, man, overwhelmed by homework and sports and all these things. And his mom called me up to say, like, Max is still doing this 10 minutes a day. Can he have a break?

I'm like, oh, hey, it's his minimum. Whatever you think your minimum is, because that's an incredible minimum. When I was in high school, I wanted to pray a rosary a day, at least. But I had a minimum. That was my ideal. My minimum was, and this is embarrassing,

but it's my minimum. My minimum was I would pray one hour father, one Hail Mary, one Glory B, and then a prayer that, in the name of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I spiritually adopt an unborn baby who was in danger of abortion. And I would do that, like I'd be exhausted.

I'd have not only have a busy day, sometimes when I was just like, man, I'm in sin. I can't even lift my eyes to the Lord. Like those are the prayers that I'm going to pray. One our father, one glory be, one Hail Mary, and this prayer to spiritually adopt a baby in danger of abortion. That was my minimum. And that, I'll tell you this, that helped me navigate high school. Because why? Because I think it's really important.

We need to strive. We need to have a ceiling. but we also need to have a floor. And this is the last thing. This is the last thing. I don't want anyone to walk away from this. Thinking that, well, that's super easy. Like, just take a minimum thing, that's going to fit.

It's going to be perfect. I don't have to rearrange anything in my life. Because why? Because even the minimum sometimes is disruptive. So, like 15 to 20 years ago, my mom, she found this thing, she found a hutch, right? a place you put plates and dishes and cups and kettles and beds. But just, you know, a hutch. She found a hutch that she really, really liked.

And she went to my dad and she's like, this hutch is my dream hutch. I don't know if everyone has a dream hutch, but she had a dream hutch. She said, this is the hutch. And she said, but it doesn't fit in the kitchen. And so after many, many conversations, my dad agreed that they would remodel that part of the house, the kitchen and dining area in order to fit the hutch. And so I remember when they were under construction, I thought, oh, they just expand this a little bit, knock out a wall, maybe push out this,

or rearrange the tables. They tore down everything. I remember showing up on the site at one point. There were no walls. There was no ceiling. There was simply a fireplace and a chimney sticking up into the sky. In order to fit the minimum, this small little piece of furniture, this hutch, it involved a big rearrangement of life.

So again, as I'm saying, we want to strive after the ideal. We want to live courageously, he live heroically, pursuing the Lord in worship and in loving our neighbor and in holiness. But we also need to find our minimum. Sometimes that minimum is nothing. Sometimes that minimum is something that causes us to need, that we need to remodel completely the lives that we're living. But we have to remodel. And we have to have a ceiling. We also have to have a floor.

We also have to have the ideal. We also have to have the minimum and we have what's the most I can give but I also have to know What's the least I can do?