Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 09/15/19 Are You Saved? From What: Fatherlessness

Episode Date: September 16, 2019

Homily from the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Jesus saves us from being orphaned or abandoned. I was saved at my Baptism. I am being saved. I hope to be saved. The Father has adopted us in Christ. And He cannot take it back. But do we live as children of the Father? Mass Readings from September 15, 2019: Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14 Psalms 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 191 Timothy 1:12-17 Luke 15:1-32 Download the Homily Study

So, man, we're going to get there, but I just, that gospel, man, oh man. Thank you, Jesus. So good. I mentioned last week, the student activities fair, right? The thing that happens, a couple of years ago, just a little story from the student activities fair. A couple years ago, we were out at our Newman booth because we had one a couple years ago, I suppose, to this year. Whole other story. I apologize.

Back on track. So, Student Activities Fair. This one student came up to me, and he wanted to kind of debate. He wanted to play a little Bible ping pong because he was like, okay, Catholics, what's up with you guys? and are you really Christians? And like, yeah, we really are. Believe me. But at one point he asked the question, he said,

okay, but here's the deal. I want to know. Are you saved? And I was like, good question. Have you ever heard anyone ask that question, like as a Catholic? You know, just like, hey, are you saved? Some of us heard this.

Some of us haven't. I mean, it's really interesting. In response to that question, are you saved? There can be any number of different responses from people who are raised Catholic, everything from like, of course, duh, I'm Catholic, of course I'm saved, to all the way to like, wait, what? Do we talk like that? Do we say those words?

Even people like, from what? That can be actually a legitimate response. I mean, you know, what we're going to do? We're going to start a series today. We have a four-part series. It's called Are You Saved? And for the next four weeks, one of the reasons we do series here at UMD is one is because sometimes you have like the one-off and you're like, okay, that's.

That's one thing to know about this one thing. It's a random Sunday. And other times it's really good to have kind of like a deep dive into like really this. How do we understand? How do we live this question or how do we live this aspect of, like a serious aspect of our faith is by spending time there. The other reason is because, as I mentioned at the end of Mass last week, as Catholics, we grow better in circles than we do in rows.

And so we come to Mass and we sit in rows, which is awesome. It's super important. But we grow really, really well in circles, meaning we get into small groups, have Bible studies. And so what we always do is on our website. we post questions in our series that are meant to spark conversation, meant to actually get you together with your friends and say, okay, let's listen to this homily.

Now, let's take a deep dive as brothers and sisters in this. That's what we do the series is, and again, the series is it said, is called, are you saved? The people ask, are you saved? And our response sometimes as Catholics is, like, wait, do we say that? Is a good question. Do we say that as Catholics? No, it's a good question even though the answer is, duh, yes, we do.

because, I mean, think about it. Like, the Bible talks about Jesus as the Savior. Like, constantly. Jesus is our Savior. In fact, think about every single Sunday Mass. What do we say? We stand up in a bit from now. We're going to stand up and say,

for us men, and for our salvation, he came down from heaven. Like, even, even, wait, there's more. There's the thing called the mystery of faith. And, you know, the priest stands behind the altar and says, the mystery of faith. And we all respond. One of the options is, save us, O Savior of the world, for by your cross and resurrection,

you have set us free. Like every single mass, we say, yeah, save us. You're the Savior. In fact, okay, when Gabriel appeared to Joseph, what does he say? He says to Joseph, you shall name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. The name of Jesus means God saves. So, do we believe in that whole thing? Yes is the answer. Like, and it should not escape us. It should not be new. We just don't always talk like that. In fact, we don't just always notice that. But should we be comfortable with it? Mm-hmm. Should we be excited about it? it. Yeah, we should be quite excited about that. But I think a lot of times when I talk to Catholics, and we talk to talk about the question like, are you saved or are you being saved? The answer would be

like, well, sure, I guess. And listen, I totally get that. Like I complete, I think, I, because in response to the question, are you saved? Is that other question? Saved from what? I think that's a legitimate question. Every one of us can ask. Are you saved? Saved from what? You know, St. Paul says in the second reading today, this letter to Timothy, he says, this saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.

And that might be the moment we were like, oh, I get it to save sinners. You mean other people? I understand now. Like, no, to save us, like to save us because what is it? Jesus, his name is going to be Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. And this might be in one of the situations where we're like, that doesn't mean anything to me.

Like that doesn't, I mean, I get it, but doesn't mean anything to me. A little story. There's a note in the catechism that says this line. It says, since sin is universal, those who pretend not to need salvation are blind to themselves. What that means is like since we all experience sin, we all experience this broken hearts, we all are not the people that were actually made to be. that's just the truth of the matter. Since we all experienced this, to pretend I don't need salvation, is to be blind. You guys, I have to tell you, I spent a big chunk of my life really blind. I sometimes still spend a big chunk of my life really blind. But I remember I was raised Catholic,

so my parents, so they made us go to Mass every single Sunday, and I hated them for it. I mean, honestly, it was one of those rules where like every single Sunday, the only reason you could get out of going to Mass is if you were too sick to do anything for the rest of the day. And so there were numerous times when rather than spending one, One hour in mass, I pretended to be sick so that I would spend the rest of the day sitting on my bed because we didn't have any devices, we didn't have a computer, we didn't have anything. I couldn't even read books and I said to sit in my room and I thought that was a good trade because I didn't have to go to church.

I got to sit in my room by myself being bored, so bored I wanted to throw up. But I hated, I hated church so much. I didn't see the point. You know, it's full interesting. I went to Catholic school as well. I'm like, every year I was like, mom and dad, don't make it. me go to Catholic school. I don't want to go to Catholic school. You're going to Catholic school. Fine. As long as I live under your roof. Anyways, back to

I'm just taking out my frustrations now apparently. But when I turned 15, something happened when I was in like 15, 16 years old. And it changed my life. I don't know what, I don't know what it was. Well, I know it was God, but I don't know what sparked it. But all of a sudden, I knew what the sins were, right? I knew the commandments because I went to Catholic school, went to Mass. And all of a sudden, one day, I just had this awareness of like, oh my gosh, that's not just external. That's not just other people.

That's me. I remember having the scent of like, oh my gosh, that's in, like, I knew what the sins were. All of a sudden, like, that's in my heart. It was this like moment of almost like panic, almost terror of like, oh my gosh, that's what I do. And I was this overwhelmed by this awareness of like, I am so, I can't forgive myself. It was this clear awareness of like, oh my gosh, like I need someone to forgive. me, I need a savior. And if you ever see a cartoon or whatever where someone has a light bulb over their head and goes, bing, that was the moment. I remember going like, oh my gosh, like,

I need a savior. It was like, oh, I have one. Oh my gosh. And all of a sudden, like everything they'd ever told me when I went to Mass, like, it all makes sense now because up until then I was a good kid. Up until then, when they brought me to confession, it was like, okay, what do I need to make up? You ever have that situation where you're like, you have to go to confession? Everyone, I'll go into confession. They're like, oh, shoot, I don't know. What did I do? I'm going to pull my sister's pointy tale just to say something there, you know? But all of a sudden, at this moment, it was like, oh my gosh, all of the clarity of my broken heart was revealed to my mind. And it was so clear that I need a savior.

And it was also so clear that my whole life, I've had a savior. I just didn't care. So what I did, 15, I was like, I know I need to go to confession. I know that Jesus, as my savior, wants to heal me in confession. So I didn't know the rules. I just got on my bike and rode over to the priest's house. didn't know, like wait till Saturday. It was Tuesday. And I'm like, oh, I know where he lives in that house next to the church. So I get on my bike right across town, knocking his door

at 10 o'clock on a Tuesday morning. And he was there, of course, because priest only worked one day a week. And he answers the door. And I'm like, Father, can I go to confession? He's like, sure, come on in. Went to confession. And it changed my life. From that moment, that moment changed the rest of my life. So then you can ask, oh, Father, that's when you were saved, right? That's when you were saved. And I'm like, that's where it gets problematic. Because yes, yes, that is when I was saved then. But here's the Catholic response to the question, are you saved? It's not necessarily the same as all Christians' response,

but this is our response to are you saved? Are you saved? Yes, I was saved at my baptism. I am currently being saved by God's grace, and I hope to be saved in the future. This is how we live as Catholics. That for us, salvation is an event, but it's also a process. It's an event, but it's also a process.

Yes, I was saved and I was baptized. I am being saved, and I hope to live. to be saved. It's the first reading today. First reading book of Exodus. It's the people of God's story. They were slaves in Egypt and what did God do? He saved them. They didn't do anything. They didn't deserve it. He set them free. But then in today's story, what did they need? They needed him to keep saving them. They were set free from slavery. He saved them. But now they're in the wilderness. They need him to keep saving them. And they're hoping that he would lead them to the promised land, that he would ultimately save them.

And this is the same story as us. Salvation is an event, an event, and it is still a process. I have been saved. I am being saved, and I hope to be saved. And this is the crazy thing. This is what blows my mind about God's offer of salvation, the reality of salvation in our lives. It's not merely being forgiven.

That's not the end of it. Just being forgiven is not the end of it. end of it. Also, it's not merely what people call fire insurance. Sometimes like, are you saved? Meaning, you don't have to go to hell now. Salvation is not just fire insurance. Not just to get out of hell free card. It's so much, you guys, the Bible reveals salvation is so much more. There's a guy, his name is, he's a scripture scholar named Dr. Michael Barber, and he wrote a book on salvation that's going to be kind of going to give a lot of, give us a lot of details in the next four weeks. And when he says salvation is just, I mean, it can't.

killed me, it crushed me, it's going to be one of the threads that goes throughout the next four weeks. He said, salvation is being saved from being unchristlike. It's not just about past forgiveness, not just about some future hope of heaven. It's about a current transformation that God's doing something, you're being saved. He's doing something in your life, he's changing right now. It's about participation. You're actually cooperating with this, and it's about a way of living. Salvation is being saved from being unchristlike. because when the salvation began,

what happened was you were brought into the relationship that the son has with this father. Think about this, when you're baptized, you were brought into the relationship that the son has with his father. That the love the father has for the son actually lives inside of you right now. That's the Holy Spirit.

The love the father has for the son lives inside of you right now. We like pretend... Sorry, it all sounds so really churchy. Doesn't it sound really churchy? churchy language, like super abstract. It's just, okay, so, okay, so what does it mean to be saved from being unchrist-like? Here's the first step. It's the first step in this series. Father, what do you mean that we're saved from being unchrist-like? It means this. You are

saved from fatherlessness. To be saved from being unchrist-like means you're saved from fatherlessness. You're saved from that orphan spirit. You're saved from being abandoned. You're from being dadless. See, so many of us, we walk through this world, we walk through this life, and we just, we walk as if we don't have a dad. You know that Council of Trent, it was a big Catholic council happened like 500 years ago? One of the things they said of all the images of salvation, all the images of are you being saved, they'll transfer from darkness to light, transfer from the kingdom of slavery to freedom, transfer from forgiveness to righteousness. They said the number one image is being transferred from being a slave to being a son, being actually adopted by our dad.

that actually because we're saved we can actually look at God and say you're our dad now that being saved means you and I are saved from fatherlessness but here's our problem here's the massive problem so many of us have we've been adopted

we've been saved but we don't want to live in the father's house he's made us into his kids but we're like the prodigal sons remember the two of them we go back and forth right I mean even think about the last it's been what four weeks since we've been on campus And some of us are trying to figure out, like, how do I live on campus?

Like, do, am I going to go to church or not? And maybe you're still here. Well, you are. You go, so that's fine. But I'm here, but I want to be somewhere else. With the younger son. I'm here, but I just want to be somewhere else. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it.

Dad, you love me and whatever. But I just, I'd rather, I don't like this whole church thing. And I still haven't made up my mind whether I'm going to live in his house or maybe just take a, why not take a break for the next four years? Why not like put that whole thing on hold and not actually live as a son or not actually live as a daughter? Why do I have to in the next four years

live like God is my dad? Some of us have that temptation in our hearts of just like, I just want to bolt. I want to try to do it on my own. With that younger son or sometimes maybe even worse, I'm not sure. Or say, okay, here's the deal. Here's our arrangement, God.

Next four years, I'll show up on Sunday. That we'll talk about Bible studies and stuff. No, no, no, no. I'll talk about getting involved other ways, praying every day. That's not on the table, non-negotiable. I'll give you Sunday. And sure, I'll work for you occasionally.

And so we think our arrangement is, okay, God will stay in your house, but I'm going to live here as a slave. I don't want to live here as your daughter. I don't want to live here as your son. And that's craziness. Because you've been adopted. You've been saved.

Why live like you don't have a dad? Why would anyone do that when he's claimed us? Again, this adoption. You know, when I was up in Hibbing, I was a priest. I still am. When I was first ordained a priest, I, man, gosh, I think sometimes right now I'm like, I don't know anything.

When I was first ordained, I knew I did not know anything. I didn't even know how much I didn't know. It was the worst. And at one point, I was in Hibbing, and the hospital called me and said, Father, come to the maternity ward. There's a couple here, and they want to talk to you. I'm like, oh, that's rarely good news. And so I got to the hospital, and I walk in, and I'm like baby priest.

I'm like 15 years old as the next day after I went to confession. That's why I felt. And the nurse stops me before I went to the, to the parents' room. So here's, she said, you need to know the story. This is a couple that came up here from the Twin Cities. They're going to adopt this baby. They've had this arrangement with the birth mother,

and they're going to adopt this baby. But the baby has a wine stain. What's it called? A little birthmark on her face. And they don't want to take her home. And I was like, oh, okay. I was instantly, like, furious, but just like, calm down. Bro, it's okay.

Go into the room. And so when you don't know what to say, I think in many times in my life, when I don't know what to say, the best option is just play dumb. So I walked in, like, I didn't have any idea what was going on, and I saw this couple, this very attractive couple. I imagine that for a lot of their life, they just longed for a child, right? Because couples who are adopting, typically have a big heart. They want a child of their own. But what happened was this child wasn't perfect. So they didn't want to take her home.

So at one point I walked in, I'm like, hi, you guys. Well, congratulations. This is your baby. This is so great. This is amazing. And they're like, yeah, she's just, she's so, you know, she's so neat and so we're so happy. And they said, I said, what can I do for you, you know? Again, play dumb, Father Mike.

Just, what can I do for you? I'm so excited for you. And they said, well, we just don't think we can take her. And this, you know, this woman is holding the baby. And I said, well, okay, play dumb. Why? And it was just the most tragic thing. She just kind of, like, held her up and said, well, look.

And I was like, all I see is a beautiful baby. I said, well, do you have to look at it on her face? We don't think we can handle that. And I knew I couldn't still keep pretending to be dumb. I had to show them that I was. And I said, that's your baby. If your baby was born, if you biologically had a baby like this, that would be your baby, right?

Yeah. You committed to this baby. That is your baby, right? We don't know. So I said, I think you call me here because you want me to bless this decision for you to abandon your baby. and I can't do that. I have to go, but I'll come back later if you want, if you're still here. So I went, I just had to calm down and I was like, oh gosh, what the heck, I went for a run.

And so then I got back to the car and I called them and called the hospital and said, so I was just there, my name's Father Mike, blah, blah, blah, is that couple still there? And they said, no, they left. And it's just my heart just sank, my stomach dropped. And I said, did they take the baby with them? And then they said, yeah, they took the baby with them. You know, it's so interesting. St. Paul, he said, St. Paul says, you were given the spirit of adoption

that makes you cry out, Abba, dad. He said that in the letter to the Romans, that you've been given the spirit of adoption that lets you cry out, Abba, father, dad in heaven. It's so incredible. I don't know if you know anything about when the Roman law, when it came to being a father, or being a mom and having a child, that if you were,

this is so interesting, I have a buddy's father, Dave, he told me about this. In Roman law, according to Roman law, if you were adopted, it meant a number of things, meant at least four things. The first thing I meant was you were given a new identity. You were no longer the person you were. You're given an entirely new identity. New name, new person, new relationships. You were given an entirely new identity.

Number two is if you owed any debts, for whatever reason, if you owed anything, thing, when you were adopted, those debts were canceled. Once that person adopted you, new identity, any debts you had were canceled. The third thing is, once you were adopted, you had the full rights and inheritance of any natural-born child. So you weren't loved less or loved more because you're adopted. You were loved with all the rights, all the inheritance of a natural-born child. But there's something that was fascinating. The fourth thing of this absolutely blew my mind when Father Dave told me this. that in the Roman law, if you were a natural born child, if you were a natural parent, you

actually under Roman law, if you found your child to be defective, you could abandon it. If you found your child was in the right sex, not the sex you wanted, you could just, you take the child to the dump and just leave the child to be exposed to the elements or be eaten by dogs. If your child had some kind of birth defect, if your child had a birth mark, you didn't like, you could take your child to the dump, you could abandon it. if it was your own natural child. But the crazy thing under Roman law

is if you adopted someone, you could not abandon them. Then if you found out that they had some defect, you found out that there was something wrong with them, you found out later on that something was amiss, you could not, you're prohibited from Roman law from abandoning him. You could never walk away. So St. Paul, when he says, you've been adopted.

He says, okay, now you are been saved from fatherlessness. One of the things he's saying is, you've been saved by a God who looks at your defects and doesn't do what that couple did, which is like, well, look, he's broken. Look, she's not perfect. But by our God in heaven who says, that's my daughter,

and now she's mine, and I'll never walk away from her. This year is my son, and he's mine, and I will never abandon him. Because while we as human parents can mess it up, walk away, abandon, maybe I know a lot of people in this room,

you've been abandoned. but are you saved? You're saved from being unchrist-like, which means you are absolutely, definitively, never-endingly saved from fatherlessness. Because the father speaks over you and says, she's my daughter, he's my son, this is my child.

One of the many things he's saying is, and I will never let go, and I will never abandon. And I will never walk away. Are you saved? Yes. God save me when he made him, made me his child. He is saving me so I can live and walk and love as his child. And I hope he will continue to save me.

So one day I will be able to walk into the father's house as his child, free from fatherlessness, saved.