Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 8/13/23 The Enemy of Focus

Episode Date: August 12, 2023

Homily from the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time A distraction issue or a decision issue? In order to achieve any worthwhile goal, we need to focus. Yet, distractions abound in our world and in ourselves. A distraction is anything that takes our focus away from what we need to be doing. But in order to know what a distraction is, we first have to know what it is we need to be doing.Mass Readings from August 13, 2023:1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13aPsalm 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14Romans 9:1-5 Matthew 14:22-33

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 14, verses 22 through 33. After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and preceded him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening, he was there alone. Meanwhile, the boat already a few miles offshore was being tossed about by the waves,

for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. It is a ghost, they said, and they cried out in fear. At once, Jesus spoke to them. Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid.

Peter said to him in reply, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. He said, come. Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was, he became frightened and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter and said to him, Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt?

After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat with him did him homage, saying, truly, you are the son of God. The gospel of the Lord. So I don't know why I was thinking about this. I think it was hanging out a little bit with my family. I saw my nieces and they're all in elementary school, pretty much all of them. And I was thinking about report cards and just, I kind of live in the

school system here at the University of Minnesota Duluth. We don't have report cards as much, but I was thinking back to my nieces and how elementary school report cards not only had grades. I don't know if you guys had this, but our elementary school report cards had our grades like here in reading and history and science and math, all those things. But we also had kind of like behavior report cards. And so did you guys have that at all? Was that? Okay, that's kind of a thing. I was weird and brainered. But it was a couple things. I remember. There were two kind of assessment areas in behavior that I remember really wanting to do well in. And one was, the student, whoever it was, their ability to focus. And there was like, you had

like, we had an O outstanding, S satisfactory, U unsatisfactory was kind of a thing. So the ability to focus was one. I always wanted to be outstanding in that. But there's also kind of the opposite because I really wanted, I don't know, I wanted to do well in a lot of things. But I think there was something about like just, no, because I want to have the ability to focus. One of the things we realize is focusing is an ability. It's something you actually can grow in. It's like it's a skill. But the opposite of this ability to focus was, is, I remember it so clearly on the back of the report card, is often a distraction to others.

And that was one year, I remember one year one of my teachers put, like, yes, that was that Mike is often a distraction to others. And I remember thinking, like, well, I'm Mike S. There was also Mike L. Mike L was a bigger distraction to others. I wasn't the biggest distraction in that class. But I remember thinking, like, I don't want to be a distraction because I really valued this idea, this reality, this ability to focus. And like, I don't want to be the person who distracts other people.

Unless I made them laugh, which was totally worthwhile. But the reality, of course, is in our lives, if we're going to do well, we have to have the ability to focus. And again, focusing is an ability. It's something that we can grow in, it's something we can develop. and if we're going to do well in life through focus, we have to be aware of the enemy, and the enemy of focus is distraction.

And the reality, of course, I don't need to tell any of you. We already know this. We are surrounded by distractions. In fact, that's one of the reasons why distractions are so sneaky is because anything can be a distraction. In fact, that's kind of what a definition of a distraction is. A distraction is anything that takes our focus away from where our focus belongs.

A distraction is anything that takes our attention away from where it should be. A distraction is anything that takes us away from where we should be. And so, yes, your distraction might be your phone or it could be social media or it could be the latest show or could even be like a really good book that you, all people are hanging out in your house, but you're like standing in the stairwell of your house reading this book because you're so distracted by this thing. Those can be distractions, but also a distraction could be something like doing the dishes. A distraction could be something like vacuuming the floor if doing the dishes is not the task. you're supposed to be doing in this moment, if vacuuming the floor is not what you're supposed

to be doing at this moment. So distractions are all around us. And distraction can be anything. And so we need focus. We need to be able to pay attention to the things that need our attention. We realize, of course, that at the same time, while focus is really important, focus isn't the goal. Like attention isn't the goal.

It's one of the things we need to reach the goal. And so I would say it like this. In order to identify distractions, all those things that take us away from what we should be, I need to know where I should be. In order to identify distractions, which is anything, it takes my attention away from where it should be, I need to know where should my attention be.

This is why this whole process is not so much a distraction issue as much as it is a decision issue. Because I have to decide what's the goal. And not just what's the goal for productivity, what's the goal in school, or what's the goal in my goals for life. But what's the goal of life? In fact, you know, I love the gospel today, Matthew Chapter 14.

It's just remarkable because you can see, like, this is the life of a disciple. Like, this is actually in this one story we have of Jesus walking on water and him calling Peter onto the water. This is what it is in this microcosm of what it is to be a disciple. Here's Jesus who is revealing himself. By walking on the water, we have to understand. By walking on the water, Jesus is revealing his identity. He's revealing that he is divine.

revealing the fact that he's God. And here are a boat full of, here's a boat full of disciples. Now remember, remember, a disciple, Jeff gave in stocks with this all the time. A disciple is not simply someone who learns from his rabbi. There's more to that. A disciple is someone who lives like his rabbi. And so I look at the story. I go back over it and say, here's Jesus walking on the water.

They cry out, it's a ghost. And Jesus says, do not be afraid. It takes courage. It's I. And Peter's response is, Lord. if it is you, command me to come to you on the water, which I think is ridiculous. I think that's just like, who in the world would ever say that? Well, a disciple would say that.

Here's Peter, who's been living with Jesus all this time and following Jesus as a disciple, following his rabbi. And remember, a disciple is not someone who simply learns from his rabbi. A disciple is someone who lives like his rabbi. So it makes sense that here is Peter, I'm a disciple, Jesus, my rabbi is walking on the water. So if it is you, if this whole thing is real, that a disciple learns how to live like his rabbi, then command me to do what you do.

It's remarkable, but that's what it is to be a disciple, is to be able to do what the rabbi does. And so there's this massive moment where Jesus says, okay, come. And I just, I wonder, I wonder, I want to someday be able to actually, I don't know, in heaven if we can see all of time at one moment and be able to see what was that scene like

where Peter, you know, throws his legs over the side of the boat and he begins walking on this water, because it's incredible. This is the supernatural life. This is the, again, this is the life, it's a microcosm, a snapshot of what the life of every disciple should look like. Because all Christians are called to this. Not necessarily walking on water, but here's the supernatural life. So what do I mean by supernatural life?

We all have the natural life. And the natural life are all the gifts that you and I have been given. So all of your strength, all of your intelligence, all of your humor, all the talents you developed over the course of your life, To live that way is awesome. So you have a doctor who has taken time to learn how the body works so that when that doctor encounters a body that's sick or hurt or injured or damaged, they know what to do.

Or a teacher who studied, here's how people learn. And so when they encounter their students struggling with a concept, they know how to use their talents, natural life, to communicate wisdom and knowledge to their students. Or an auto mechanic who has spent time a lot of time working on cars so that when here's, I know of mechanics who have just, they would hear the engine and say, oh, this is the problem. Those are all incredible things.

Those are natural gifts. Those are natural talents. That's natural wisdom. Those are good. But Jesus is calling us as disciples, not merely to develop our natural gifts, but to live the supernatural life. I mean, just to realize,

Peter's doing something impossible. The moment he steps out of the boat, you know, Jesus wasn't just calling him, I mean, you can imagine if Jesus is calling someone to, hey, jump off a boat into a stormy sea. And just like swim. Just show me how courageous you are. Show me how much faith you have that I'm going to take care of you if you jump into the storm. That would be amazing.

That'd be great. But anyone could do that. Like literally anyone could do that if they have enough courage, if they have enough kind of boldness, they have enough trust in Jesus. But Jesus didn't ask Peter. He didn't command Peter to jump into the storm. commanded Peter to do what he was doing. It is impossible to walk on water. And this is the life of faith. This is the life of grace. This is the life of a disciple. We are asked to do what we cannot do on our own natural power. And people do this. Peter did this. He did this impossible thing.

And he had his eyes fixed on Jesus. He had his attention on Jesus. He had his focus on Jesus. And then what happened? There was wind. There were waves. And Peter got distracted. Remember, the goal of a Christian is Jesus. Jesus is the goal. And wind and waves became a distraction.

And when Peter took his eyes off of what he should have been focused, where he took his attention away from where his attention belonged, he began to sink. You know, it's so interesting. Where we focus. will determine how we live. There's a story of a man named Warren Buffett. You probably know who Warren Buffett is.

He's this brilliant genius investor, you know, kind of a guy in America, United States. And at one point, there's this story about how Warren Buffett had a pilot named Mike Flint. And he really respected Mike. He thought Mike Flint was a great pilot. But he also said, he respected him so much. And he said, you shouldn't be my pilot for the rest of your career. You must have goals. And Mike Flint said, well, you like me to coach you on what to do with those goals?

And Mike Flint's like, yeah. I wouldn't take your advice. So Warren Buffett said, okay, Mike, I want you to sit down, take some time, and write down, what are your top 25 career goals? And so Mike Flint did this. And he actually took some time. It wasn't just kind of like off the top of his head. It was he took time and wrote down, what are the most important goals I have for the rest of my career,

25 of them. And he brought them to Warren Buffett. And he said, okay, Warren Buffett said, okay, I want you to circle the top five. Out of that 25, what are your top five? And so again, Mike went back. And these were very, very important goals to him. So it was hard work, but he narrowed it down. These are the top five, and there's the other 20.

So the top five were list A and the other 20 were list B. And Warren Buffett said, okay, you have your top five and you have your 20. What are you going to do about those 20? And Mike said, well, like what any of us would say. He said, well, I'm going to focus on the five because they're really, really important. But these other 20 are very important too. so I think in my free time, you know, I'll kind of like work on them intermittently. And Warren Buffett said, no, that is what you must not do.

Because, you know, you've identified your top five. These other 20, this list you have to refer to as your avoid at all costs list. But you can't do anything with these other 20 until these five are accomplished. Because we recognize that if there's a goal that's worth your life, then we need to learn how to focus on that goal, which means we need to learn how to ignore all of the things that would distract us from focusing on that goal of our life. In fact, there's a guy named James Clear.

James Clear, he said, focus can only occur when we've said yes to one option and no to all other options. That Peter was called on the water as a disciple to focus on Jesus. That when he saw the wind and he saw the waves, he was distracted. And anything, distraction is anything, that takes our attention away from what it should be. So the question is, what do we do? What do we do with this? I would say there's four simple steps or four simple reminders.

Really, really simple. The first is, remember, we need to decide. This is not as much a distraction issue as it is a decision issue. This is primarily a decision issue. So we have to decide what or who gets your heart. What or who gets your focus? What or who gets your attention? And for the Christian, of course, the decision to place God,

God at the center is to focus on Jesus. You know, Tim Ferriss is also an author and a podcaster and a speaker, and he said this. He said, what you don't do determines what you can do. What you don't do determines what you can do. We need to decide. And this is even in our daily tasks. Like, to be able to decide, can, this is all for the Lord.

Therefore, this moment is God's will for me. Whatever I'm doing, okay, this is, I'm doing this. this is God's will for me at this moment. So first thing I need to do is I need to decide what or who gets my focus, what or who gets my attention, what or who gets my heart. And the second thing is, again,

this is super, super simple. First decide. Second is action. You know, the last two syllables of the word distraction is the word action. And so I decide and then what I need to do is I need to attend to the task at hand.

This is so important for us. And I just basically, another way to say it is, wherever you are, be there. whatever you're doing, do that. Wherever you decided to focus on, focus on it. Essentially, be where your feet are. And that means something obvious. Like if you're in prayer, obviously, pray.

That's the intention of the moment. That's the purpose of this moment. That's what I'm going to do in this moment. But also, when you're with your kids, be there. When you're with your spouse, be there. And this doesn't have to be for the next hour, for the next 12 minutes, or 12 days. could mean just, oh, in this moment, this is, you know, focus isn't something permanent. It's simply being present.

It's not a permanent yes to everything. It is a present yes to this thing. That here's someone you're called in this moment to talk with, your coworker, okay, be there. Or maybe it is actually a task. And like, this is the task. This is God's will for me at this moment. And so that's what I'm going to do. That's what I'm going to give my focus.

Maybe the task at hand is to rest. I'm going to actually rest. If I've decided that in this moment, what I'm supposed to be doing is resting, then act on that and actually rest. The third is to notice. So I decide, I act, and then notice. Basically, the distractions are going to come. They're going to come from exterior. Most distractions will be internal. And so the great thing about distractions is they reveal something to us. Notice, what are my distractions telling me?

Notice, what are your distractions telling you? So there's this psychological principle. It's an exercise called non-judgmental observation. So basically, so often times when we have a behavior that we identify as like, well, that's not good or that's not helpful, maybe it's something like distraction, we kind of shut ourselves, maybe kind of even blame, accuse ourselves, we condemn ourselves. And non-judgmental observation is just like, no, no, no, no, don't condemn yourself. Just notice.

I'm being distracted. Okay, what are my distractions telling me? Because most often, our distractions reveal what we love most, trust most, or fear the most. Our distractions often reveal those things. What I love the most, what I trust the most, or what I fear the most. So in the midst of that distraction, I'm going to notice this and say, okay, what is happening here? Like, what am I running from?

What am I looking for? So simply notice. So I decide, I act, notice the distraction. And then fourthly, all throughout this whole thing, just listen. And in order to listen, there needs to be silence. Not always silence, but there need to be times, like creating a space, a time where there is just listening, where there's just silence so that I can hear God's voice. I mean, the first reading today, here's the prophet Elijah.

And God says, I'm going to speak to you. And so Elijah is on the side of the mountain. And he knows God is going to speak to him. What happens? Well, there's an earthquake, there's a storm, there's fire, but God wasn't in the earthquake. God wasn't in the fire. God wasn't in the storm.

But Elijah listened in the silence. And then there was that still small voice. If we're going to hear the voice of God, we're going to hear what God is trying to say to us, we have to be willing to embrace the silence. To embrace silence is to prepare for holiness. It's necessary and it is just so simple but also so intimidating. That's what we have to go back to deciding.

I have to decide to enter into silence and I have to act in enter into silence and I have to notice what are the distractions that have come up in my silence. So these four simple steps, is the last thing, these four simple steps to decide, to act, to notice, and to listen are necessary for the disciple. Why? Because Jesus is calling us all to that supernatural life. Jesus is calling all of us at some point to step out of the boat. At some point in our lives, in our ordinary, daily lives, Jesus is calling us to live extraordinary supernatural lives.

So we have to be willing to decide. He is my goal. So I'm going to focus, to act and actually give him that focus, to notice and to listen, to be able to grow in our ability. to focus even in the midst of wind and waves and distractions.