Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 5/26/24 Gift and Mystery: The Spirit of Adoption

Episode Date: May 25, 2024

Homily from the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. God wants to spend time with you. The Mystery of the Holy Trinity is the Mystery of God's identity. The tri-Personal God is more than an abstract concept, yet the Trinity can often remain in our minds as a vague "idea". And yet, in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God has claimed us, brought us into a new relationship with Him, and made us a new creation. Mass Readings from May 26, 2024: Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 Psalms 33:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22Romans 8:14-17 Matthew 28:16-20

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 Matthew. Chapter 28 verses 16 through 20. The 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw him, they worshipped, but some doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I'm with you always until the end of the age. The gospel of the Lord. Praise you, Lord Jesus Christ. I should have a seat. So this is Trinity Sunday, as I mentioned. Also, I forgot to mention it was Memorial Day. It's Memorial Day weekend.

You know, you get so preoccupied. I got so preoccupied because what they say about Trinity Sunday is they call it the preacher's nightmare. Because how do you understand? How do you unpack the Trinity? That's the thing. It's like, well, you can say it. I mean, we can say all the things we need to say, which is, how about this?

Yeah, there's one divine being, God. God is one, and three divine persons, Father's and Holy Spirit. Right? So the mystery of the Trinity is that God is one what and three who's? But then what? I mean, it's kind of one of the situations like, I think this is fascinating. That the mystery of the Trinity is what?

The mystery of the Trinity is that God is love. That God is a communion of persons, right? The God is one, but he's a communion of persons. and Jesus reveals this innermost secret of God. All of that sounds so abstract. The fact that God is a personal God becomes to us so abstract. I don't know if that makes any sense. That makes sense kind of in a certain way.

The fact that here's Trented to Sunday that becomes this like, yeah, I don't get it. I don't get him. I don't understand this whole mystery. Because that's what we were talking about for the last three weeks and next week two, this gift and mystery. The greatest gift God has ever given to us,

not just salvation, but the greatest gift is he's revealed to us his identity, but his identity remains a mystery. Not only is it a mystery, it seems to be such a foreign mystery to us that, as I keep saying, it's just like a concept. Okay, three, three, who's one what, I got it. We realize, yes, that there's one God, the son is God, the father's God, the Father's God, the Father's not the Son, and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and this Holy Spirit's not the Father. Like, how can the most personal God simply be an abstract concept? The reality is he's not. The reality is that Jesus reveals and Jesus brings us into the life of the Father

in a way that has never been possible. The Holy Spirit makes this actual. And I just think again, here's what Jesus reveals. Jesus reveals something about the Father that we never would have known. So when I was growing up, my dad, I was always, he was an orthopedic surgeon, he was always very busy. He was the first orthopedic surgeon in my... area and so he was on call constantly. And I just remember him always being gone. I remember him just always being worked, always working. And my mom was always like, yep, that's okay. That's the

arrangement. And I remember my mom even telling me, she said that the arrangement I had with your father was he takes care of his patience. I take care of you guys. And that was kind of how we split it up. And I don't know if that was wise. I don't know if it was foolish. I don't know if it was a good idea or bad idea. I don't know if they regretted it or if they are glad they did it. But that That was how they did it. Dad takes care of the patience, mom takes care of the family. But there's something about my dad that I knew without a doubt when he wasn't taking care of patience, because there were people who immediately needed him, right?

They needed him right now. When he wasn't taking care of patience, he wanted to spend time with us. And that was, that's something I didn't reflect on until this last week. That I kind of always knew it, but I didn't like really pray about it until this last week. And I realized, wait a second. Yeah, I've always said, yeah, my dad was really busy. He's really busy. He made time for us, but it wasn't just he made time for us.

It was he wanted to spend time with us. Like his number one thing that he loved doing, he just wanted to spend time with us. If there's anything we need to grasp and understand about Trinity Sunday, about the Trinity, is this is the heart of God, the heart of the Father, is he just wants to spend time with us. He just wants our attention. Here's God who's got all these things. He's got so important things, so many important things, do. But what he really wants to do is he wants to spend time with you. This is the mystery

of the Trinity. This is the gift of the Trinity. This is the gift of the Father. And this is something about this. That says, okay, so in theology, here's a couple of Greek words. In theology, there is an understanding of the Trinity. That's this. It's, you have the Oikonamia. That's the Greek word, Oikonamia, which is the actions of God in the world. And there's the Theologia, which is the identity of God himself. So, it's super abstract, right? I thought you were talking about personal. The oikonomia is the actions of God in the world,

and the the theologia is the person of God himself. The catechism describes it like this. It says, because of the oikonamia, these are the works of God. Because of his works in the world, we understand his identity. And the more we understand his identity, the more we understand his works. And this, and catechism even makes a point of saying, this is how we experience this in human relationships, too. The more you know a person, the more you understand why they do what they do.

And the more you see what they do, the more you understand the heart of the person. Does that mean? Does that kind of make sense too? So here's a God who has come into this world and not only has he given us his son, not only has he given us his Holy Spirit, not only has he given us himself, but also he brought us into himself. Not only has he done this for us, but also he wants to be with us. And that reveals something about his heart. St. Paul writes about this to the Romans today.

He says, those who are led by the Spirit of God, are sons and daughters of God. You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. You received a spirit of adoption that cries out, Abba Father. And this spirit of adoption, I want to talk about the spirit of adoption, because I think, even as Christians, our big temptation can live with the spirit of slavery. Sometimes, again, we look at the Father, we think, okay, what do you need for me? What do you want for me?

We can look at the son and say, my gosh, the demands you put up. I mean, even the Holy Spirit, who's the Spirit of freedom, the Spirit of power and love and self-control, can be like, okay, what's the Spirit going to lead me? Where's the Spirit going to take me? So often, Christians are living still in a spirit of slavery rather than a spirit of adoption. But what Jesus Christ has done for us, and what the Father has done in giving us the Holy Spirit is three things. First, he's claimed us. He's brought us into a new relationship, and he's made us into a new kind of being. He's given us a new identity.

And this is so powerful, right? So go back to what Jesus did on the earth. What Jesus did on earth and his life, death and resurrection, is he made being recognized with the Father possible. When God gave the Holy Spirit, he made that actual. So every single Mass. Right, what Jesus had done, offering himself up to the Father, conquering death, because of the Holy Spirit,

that makes it's actual. What Jesus made forgiveness of sins possible. The Holy Spirit, working through the priest, makes forgiveness of sins actual. And what Jesus had done is he made it possible for us, to be claimed by the Father, when you receive the Holy Spirit, you actually were acclaimed by the Father. And this is so powerful.

Again, when St. Paul writes to the Romans, he says, you have a spirit of adoption. Now, the spirit of adoption for the Romans would be a massively important thing. Why? Because in Roman culture, in the Roman society, a natural-born child, the father could come, this is what they would do. The father would come along and would inspect the child.

If there were their natural-born child, the father would come along and inspect the child, if there was any kind of defect in the child, anything that Father didn't like. Maybe it wasn't even a defect. Maybe it just was the gender the father didn't prefer. The father had a right to take that child to the dump and dispose of it. So you could actually, in the Roman culture, you could dispose of your child.

You're not your born child. But if you adopted a child, you could never abandon them. If you adopted a child and you claimed them, you could never unclaimed them. Again, think about this. Think about the Romans hearing. St. Paul said, you didn't receive a spirit of slavery, you received a spirit of adoption. The Romans knowing that they escaped death when their father picked them up and chose not to abandon them. But now here's God the Father, who said, I've claimed you and I will never abandon you.

I mean, this is even in the Old Testament, right? What does it say in the book letter, the book of the prophet Isaiah? It says, I've written my name, I've written your name on my hands. Now, this is fascinating. I have a friend named Nick, I've mentioned before. Nick, at one point he came across that line. I've written your name on the palms of my hands. And so what he wanted to do, when he got married to his wife, he wanted to have her name tattooed on the palm of his hand. But he went to a tattoo place and they said they don't do palm tattoos

because they fade. And then he did some more digging. So he doesn't have a tattoo. He got it on his wrist. It was fine. But there's more digging. In scripture, Isaiah, it doesn't say simply, I've written your name of the palm of my hands.

This is God's saying. I've written your name of the palm of my hands. it's actually the word not written, it's the word carved. I have carved your name in a palm of my hands. This is the depth to which God has claimed you as his. This is what that spirit of adoption is. It means that God has looked at you and said, you're mine. And in claiming you, he can never unclaim you.

This is the mystery of the Trinity. This is the gift of the Trinity that the father sent his son, who made claiming you possible, makes your claim actual and brings us into what, brings us into a new relationship. That's why St. Paul goes on to say, you receive a spirit that allows you to cry out Abba Father. And I know you know this, I know you guys know this a thousand times.

I say it all the time. But what does it mean to say Abba? When I was a kid, they would say, oh, Abba means, they were trying to communicate to me that Abba doesn't just mean like this distant father, that Abba is like a personal thing. So they told me as a child, they said, you know, so Mike, you know, if you want to call God Daddy, you can.

And I'm like, please no. I prefer not to. I don't want to call God dad. I'm not like a Southern Bell, like, I'm Daddy. Like, I just, that doesn't fit. I tried it. I have to admit, I tried it. Felt weird.

So then there was this nun in Louisiana. Her name is Sister Dulcie. And Sister Dulce, she calls God Papa. And I'll say this, I tried that as well. Because I thought, Papa, Papa sounds good. I got it today. Coming out of that Louisiana nun's mouth sounds cool. Coming out of me, it sounds like Fival from American tale.

Like, Papa, and like, it doesn't fit. And so I was like, Daddy doesn't work, Papa doesn't work. And then I was in Israel. And I remember I was outside, I think it was the Damascus gate in Israel. He was walking on the sidewalk. And there was this man who walked past me and he had the Kipa, the Yamaka on right, and he had the white button-down shirt, black pants and the frills coming out. And walked past me.

And then behind me, I heard this voice just say, Abba, Abba. I turned around, there's this little spitting image of this guy. you have to keep on the curls and the white shirt and the black pants racing past me and his dad turns around and he leaps into his arms and i'm like oh aba just means dad and this new relationship is st paul is saying from now on you received a spirit of adoption which means you call out dad so i just started doing that in my prayer and i have to tell you i maybe i started this maybe seven eight years ago it was like a a switch was flipped like when i'm I'm praying and I say, dad, here I am. I realize, oh my goodness, when I say Father,

I keep God at a distance, but he doesn't want to stay at a distance, right? The mystery and the gift of the Trinity is he's not a concept, he's not abstract, he wants to come close. And God is Abba. It means he's dad. It's different than Allah. When we've heard that, and Allah is fine. Allah means master. The mystery of Christianity is this, is that God doesn't want to be master. Minister of Christianity is that God reveals that he's dad, that he's Abba, not Allah.

It reveals that he is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that you actually have been made a new creation. That's the third thing. You've been claimed, God is now your father, a new relationship, and now you're actually a new creation. Which is, which is, it boggles the moment. to realize this. To realize that not only does God want to spend time with one of his creatures, God actually wants to adopt you so fully that you are now a new thing. You're now a new creature,

now a new creation. And the image that I can think of is this, is that we realize, not everyone is a child of God. Only those who receive the Holy Spirit, only those who are baptized actually become God's children. Why? Because if God looked at us and simply said, I'm going to call you children, that'd be fine. It'd be like going down to the courthouse and quote-unquote adopting your dog. Like you can change their life, make their last name legally, your life. last name, but they're actually not your child. They're simply your property still. And if God were to simply say, okay, you guys, I'm going to call you my children for now on, that would, we'd be his property. But he's telling us, I'm not Allah, I am Abba. I'm not master,

I'm dad. And you're not creatures. You're not mere creations. You're not mere creatures. You're my children. And in baptism, what Jesus made possible, the Holy Spirit makes actual, and you're not only were claimed, not only is God now your father, but you are now a new creation. You know actually share in the life of the Trinity. Here's the analogy is this. You guys have heard this a thousand times. I'm so sorry, but the story of Pinocchio, here's Pinocchio, right? Chepetto is a carver. And Juppetto makes a marionette. And he makes the marionette Pinocchio in his image and likeness. And so Pinocchio can walk like Jepetto. Pinocchio can live like Jepetto. And Jepetto loves Pinocchio because Pinocchio is

Jepetto's beloved creature. But Pinocchio is not Jepetto's son. He can't be. There are two different things. Jepetto's a human being and Pinocchio's a marionette. If Jepetto is going to look at Pinocchio and say, my son, and have it not just be a legal fiction, something has to change in Pinocchio. He has to become a...

He has to become a real boy. He actually has to have the nature, the same nature as his father. or as his creator, as Geppetto. The magic thing happens. He becomes a real boy. Jepero can look at Pinocchio and say, you're my son. And Pinocchio can look at Jepo and say,

that's my father. This is what happened to you at baptism. You are brought into the life of the Trinity, and now the life of the Trinity lives in you. This is the craziest thing. That's why it makes no sense for Trinity Sunday to be the preacher's nightmare. Because it's simply a reminder of the fact that,

wait a second, you're no mere creature. You are no mere creation. You are a creature, a creation who's been transformed. now you share in your very self, if you're baptized, you share in the life of the Trinity. It's not just you're now a temple of the Holy Spirit. You're a temple of the Holy Spirit, but realize where the Holy Spirit is, the Father and the Son are also. Where the Holy Spirit's working, the Father and Son are also. And if you are a Temple of the Holy Spirit, which you are, if you're baptized,

the Father and Son dwell inside of you as well. You actually are a sharer, a partaker in the very divine nature of God. And that's the gift. And that's the mystery that we are invited into to celebrate and to live not only in Trinity Sunday, but every day of our lives. God wants to spend time with you. And he's claimed you. He's changed his relationships that he is now Father and you and now a beloved and adopted child of God.