Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 9/7/25 Two Questions

Episode Date: September 6, 2025

Homily from the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Whenever there is something of value that we desire, we have to ask these two questions. Jesus gives the conditions for discipleship. He gives us the very "cost" of being His disciple. The condition is: He must be FIRST. He must be loved before all others. Mass Readings from Septemeber 7, 2025: Wisdom 9:13-18b Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17Philemon 9-10, 12-17 Luke 14:25-33

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 Luke. Chapter 14 verses 25 through verse 33. Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them. If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Which of you, wishing to construct a tower, does not first ever be my disciple. Which of you, wishing to construct a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion. Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work,

the onlookers should laugh at him and say, this one began to build, but did not have the resources to finish. Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with 10,000 troops, he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with 20,000 troops. But if not, while he is still far away, he was sent a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, any one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple. The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. Let you have a seat. So you may not know this, but tomorrow is Monday night football. And in Minnesota, that means the Vikings are playing the bears. And I have to tell you this right now, right away. I hope they win. I hope the Vikings win. Very truly, because I would say this, I am, when it comes to the Vikings,

I am a diehard, dedicated, fairweather fan. Like 100%. Like, if the Vikings are winning, I am like, go vikes, school vikes, let's go. If they're not winning, if they're losing, I'm like, yeah, I don't care. They're dead to me. And some people hear that. I don't know if I've ever shared this with you before, but some people hear that sometimes and they are like, well, no, you've got to be faithful.

Like, you've got to be true to your team. You've got to be faithful to your team. And I'll say, yeah, I agree, and I am. I'm as I say I'm as faithful to them as they are to us so because if someone someone pays them more money to go wear their uniforms and play for them they'll do it and so I'm the same way if they win go again school bikes and if they lose they're dead to me like I don't care and and I would say this I I am a fan I'm a fair weather fan but I'm still a fan and I and truly I hope the Vikings win hope they take it all maybe you heard it here first

They took the whole thing. I'm a fan. I hope the Vikings win. And it costs me nothing. Completely. I hope they win. I'm a fan. It costs me nothing.

And therefore, my being a fan is kind of worth nothing. You know, just when it comes down to it. Because why? Because whenever there's a valuable thing, anything a person wants, anything you want, from a vehicle to a vacation, from a diploma, a student's one of the degree,

to dental work. Whenever there's something that you want, we always ask two questions. And the first question is, how much does it cost? And the second question is, can I afford it? That's it. Whenever there's something that we actually want, something valuable, we ask those two questions. How much is it cost? And can I afford it? And again, this is true for anything, anything we value in the gospel today. This is from Luke chapter 14. We heard this gospel. And the context is this this. The context is all the way up up until now, even in chapter 14, Jesus is doing, he's doing massive miracles, right? He's giving these incredible sermons. He's giving these incredible parables. And again, he's healing people. He's raised people from the dead already.

And it says this, very first line in today's gospel says, great crowds were following Jesus. He has tons of fans. Jesus has tons of fans. But he's on his way to Jerusalem. I'm guessing that these great crowds, I'm guessing that people, who have seen these miracles, heard this great teaching, they think, here's the Messiah, that he's going to Jerusalem because he's going to get crown king. But Jesus knows that he's going to Jerusalem to suffer, to pick up his cross, and to die. And to the great crowds following him, he says these words today, these are among the hardest words of Jesus, but he says, he says, if anyone comes to me without heeding father and mother, wife and children,

brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. So what's Jesus trying to do here? A, he's not trying to drive people away from him. He's actually doing the opposite. He's trying to invite them closer. Because what he's trying to say is, if you want more, I know you're a fan, I know you like what I got, if you want more, if you want me, if you want to actually have a new kind of relationship with me, if you don't just want to be a fan, but you want to be a disciple,

this is this is this is what it costs whenever there's something valuable remember we asked that first question how much does it cost because here's jesus he has fans he wants something closer another way to say it is he has a bunch of believers he has people who have seen his power they've seen his wisdom they've experienced his grace and they believe him they believe in him another way to say it is they have a certain kind of faith. You know, there's one definition of faith that simply says that faith is what you believe. Do you want to talk about my faith?

Here's what I believe. And that's good, right? We have a creed in a few moments. We're going to recite the creed. This is kind of what we believe. It's great. It's really important. It's very valuable to have faith like that.

But if faith is just what I believe, then it's relatively powerless. Now, you probably know this already, but the Bible actually talks about people who have this kind of faith. later on there's a man named James who writes the letter of James. And at one point in James chapter 2, he says this. He says, faith of itself, if it does not have works, is worthless.

It's dead, he says. Faith of it is just like, here's what I believe. It's great, but if it doesn't have works, it's dead. He goes on to say, he says, you believe God is one. You do well. But it's like that sense of it's saying, hey, you believe that Jesus is God. Great, good job. you want a cookie?

I mean, that's like, well, congratulations. I'm glad you believe this thing that is true. But then he goes on, his very next line says, okay, you believe God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble. Imagine that. Here's St. James, who is saying that, okay,

you have the faith, you believe that this is true. That is wonderful. If you don't do anything with it, you're now at the level of demon. In fact, earlier on in Luke's gospel, I think in Luke chapter four, one point Jesus shows up. and there's people who are possessed by demons.

And the demons cry out, we know who you are. You're the Holy One of God, and Jesus tells them to be quiet because they know who he is. Now, the demons know who he is. They believe in him. They believe in the creed that here is Jesus, who is fully God and fully manned. They know that to be true.

And it is absolutely nothing for them. So here we could be this place where we say, no, I believe the creed. Every word of the creed, I believe it's true. We would say like St. James, congratulations, and you're now at the level of demon. Well, maybe I wouldn't say it like that. We say, okay, great, congratulations.

Now you're at the level of fan. And there's a lot of fans of Jesus. There's a lot of people, a lot of us who say this. We say, I believe God exists. I believe Jesus is God. And it doesn't even touch a decision one time in our week. It's what John Paul II and Pope Benedict, they both called it. They called it practical atheism.

You know, the actual number of percentage of atheists in this country is relatively low. But the number of people who say they believe in God, they say they're theists. John Paul II and Pope Benedict both said they can believe that, but if they don't live like it, for all intents and purposes, they're atheists. They're practical atheists. Because of their fans. Because of this, Jesus invites the people listening to him and he invites us closer. He says, okay, but if you want to be my disciple, Like, what's I mean? That means if you want to, not me to be a rabbi, you know, it's just fascinating.

Maybe you've heard this before, but I think it's worth repeating. A disciple wasn't just a student of a rabbi. They were that. Of course, they listened to the rabbi's teaching and they'd be able to like understand what the rabbi's thought. But if you were a disciple, you would actually follow your rabbi from the moment he woke up until the moment he went to sleep. And you would, you would listen.

And you would watch it. him and you would follow him and you would actually live life with the rabbi and say in fact they said that you should follow your rabbi so closely that at the end of the day you'd be covered with the dust of your rabbi right the dust that was kicked up by his sandals that would be on you because the goal of being a rap a disciple is to end up looking like your rabbi to end up living like your rabbi now in this case Jesus is more than a rabbi and he's inviting these people who are fans into a real relationship Because one version of faith is, this is what I believe, but faith that actually does something is more.

It's saying, okay, this is the one in whom I put my trust. Faith of a fan is this is what I believe. But the faith of a disciple is this is the one. Jesus is the one in whom I put my trust. We have to ask the question, how much does it cost? And Jesus says, okay, if you want to be on my disciple, you have to hate your father and mother, your spouse and your children, your siblings, and even your own life. Now, let's clarify this. Hate in this context doesn't mean, hey, hate those people.

No, the word is hate. I mean, it really means it is that. But in this context, what Jesus is saying, in comparison to me, I should be first. Everyone else is second. Even your father and mother. I'm first. Even your spouse is second. Even your children are second. I'm first. And I have no right Basically, Jesus is saying, in comparison to me, it's as if you hate the note. Two notes on this. It's really, really important. If Jesus is just a holy person. If Jesus is just another rabbi, if Jesus is just a prophet, then this is really bad teaching.

This is, it's horrible teaching. If Jesus is just a man, if Jesus is just a normal human being, then several. There's a man, he's a Bible scholar. His name is Brant Petrie. Dr. Brandt Petri, I really respect him a lot. He says this would be the equivalent of him. he teaches at a seminary. He said his students coming into class and on the first day saying, okay, if you want to pass my class, you have to love me more than your parents. You want to pass my

class. You have to love me more than any other person in your life. And you'd hear that from your professor and think, that is ridiculous. And it is unless, unless Jesus is who he says he is, right? Because Jesus, this is so important, you guys. In Luke 14, what we just heard today, this is Jesus, directly, but very subtly, claiming to be God. He's very subtle, right? You could read it and never get that. But he is directly claiming to be God. Why?

Because he's saying, okay, your mom and dad, yeah, I have a claim on them because I made them. Your spouse, your children, I have a claim on them because I made them. Your siblings, I have a claim on them because I made them. Your life? I have a claim on you because I made you. therefore out of all the things that I've made that are in your life, there are good things, I have to be first. If Jesus isn't God, then this is a horrible, horrible teaching. Now,

here's the next second note is this. Why these relationships, right? Why does Jesus point out parents and spouse and siblings and children? I think a couple reasons. One is because all of these relationships are really powerful in our lives. Like, who has more influence over your life than your parents, your siblings. I think because all these relationships out of all, there's none, there's no relationships in our lives that are more important than these that Jesus just named. Another reason is all these relationships are relationships that we're supposed to have for life. And every one of these relationships are intrinsically good, that they're actually meant to be gifts to us. Another way to say it is, every one of these relationships, parents, spouse, children,

siblings, these are the kind of relationships that are not easily compartmentalized. I'd say it like this. The stronger they are, the more they touch all of your decisions. But these are the kind of relationships that the healthier they are, the more natural it is to allow them to be a factor in every aspect of your life. I mean, consider your parents. You know, to honor your parents is the Fourth Commandment. the top 10. So kind of a big, big deal. And think about the reality that how the things that are taught or even just said in passing by your parents, they can just take a hold on us. Right? We get, there are things that your parents probably said maybe again is even in passing while you're growing up

that you, that's how you see the world. So they have such an incredible amount of influence on how you see the world. Our siblings, I would say this for me, maybe for you too. There's possibly, possibly no one has a larger influence on your development than your siblings. And no one has a larger influence, I think, on how you see yourself than your siblings, your spouse, that a person gets married and now every decision that you make is made through the lens of us. You get married and every decision, every decision, every choice you make is made through the lens of we or us.

And then your children as well. I mean, you know this, a child that changes everything. that you might do some of the same activities, you might have some of the same hobbies, but you know this, that when you have a child, you do them differently, because they factor into every single one of your choices.

People say that about their kids, like, oh, they're always there because they're always there. And these are four kind of relationships that touch every aspect of our lives, and Jesus is saying, yeah, that means to be me. So your parents, what they've said, indirectly or directly, for good or for bad, become the guidelines for your life.

Jesus is saying, yeah, that's my role now. My role is what I say gets to shape the way you see the world. Your siblings, your siblings, I have a shape the way you see yourself. And Jesus saying, no, that's my role. Your spouse, every decision is made through the lens of us.

And Jesus is saying, no, that's me now. That every decision you make from now on, if you want to be my disciple, every decision you make is made through the lens of us, you and me. And then, of course, for children, We know that, again, if baby changes everything, that they're always there, that Christ's presence in our lives, our relation with Christ, touches and changes everything.

And of course, above all, every one of these relationships is rooted in family. And family is supposed to be rooted in love. And Jesus is saying, okay, our relationship should be more rooted in love than every other relationship that you possibly could have. And how much does it cost? Well, there's no rivals. How much does it cost? He says, unless you're willing to pick up your cross and follow after me.

It goes on to say, anyone who does not renounce all his possessions is not worthy of me. Basically, everything I might be tempted to claim as mine is actually his. How much does it cost? It costs nothing less than everything. So here's the second question. The second question is, can I afford it? because that's, I'm making, now that's so much of costs.

Okay, can I afford it? Remember what he says. He says, before we build a tower, who's not going to sit down, Calhfi at the cost? Make sure he has enough to finish. Or before you go into battle, make sure you have enough troops to win. We get to ask this question, okay, God, you're saying it's going to cost everything. Can I afford it?

And we get to ask that question. You can ask that question of yourself. Oh my gosh, okay, it's going to cost everything. Can I afford it? I have to tell you this. Right now, my answer, my answer to can. I afford it is I don't know. That's the truth. I don't know. How many, I don't know how well I'll be, I mean, those human relationships Jesus talks about. I don't know how well I'll be able to love my

parents. I imagine that if you get married and before you get married, you're like, I don't, I don't know. I don't know. Going into marriage, I don't know what's going to happen. I don't I don't know the search situations or circumstances. I don't know what's going to happen in the future. I don't know if I can afford it. Or having children. Like, I really don't know. I can afford it.

Why? Because they change everything. There's so much that's unknown. Going into any of those relationships. And same thing when it comes to going into this relationship with Jesus. The unknown future, the unknown obstacles, the unknown heartbreaks. Think about all the potential unknown pains and the, but also the unknown joys.

They consider the unknown sweetness, the unknown triumphs, the unknown loves. Can I afford it? I don't know. But there's something, something when you hear about Jesus, that's like, I kind of have to try.

So there's a man who's named Arthur Brooks. Arthur Brooks is a professor at Harvard, and he studies happiness, and he studies the science of happiness. He also studies, like, What is it to move forward? How do you move forward successfully in life, especially when you have some discernment to do?

Recently, he talked about intuition. He talked about our gut, right? And he said, actually, our gut is really the right hemisphere of our brain. Here's the quote. Especially we're looking at how much does it cost? Okay, everything. Can I afford it? I don't know.

Jesus is inviting me to take this next step because he wants me to get closer to him. Can I take this next step? Here's what Arthur Brooks had said. he said, we have intuition. He said, we have our, also known as our gut, also known as our data. He said, we have a lot of data because we've had a lot of experience in our lives. When anyone's facing a new opportunity, our new threshold, whether that is marriage proposal or moving to a new city or having a new career, whatever it happens to be.

There's three sensations, he says, there's three sensations you're going to feel based on the data inside the right hemisphere of your brain. That's your gut. And the three feelings. When you're facing an opportunity are excitement, fear, and deadness. He said deadness is a sense of emptiness when you're looking at an opportunity and it makes you feel dead inside. He goes on and he says, like, I really should get married to that woman, but it makes me feel dead inside to imagine myself 80 years old and with her, that kind of thing. You should experience looking at this, at this invitation to move forward.

excitement, fear, and deadness. And he said the right mix should be 80% excitement, 20% fear, and 0% deadness. Today, Jesus is extending an invitation to every single one of us to say, let me be first. How much is the cost? Everything. Can I afford it?

I don't know. But if you would look at Jesus, and not a caricature of Jesus, not a parody of Jesus, but actually the true face of Jesus, to hear the real voice of Jesus, to actually know the heart of God and the mystery of God, the goodness of God. And to look at that invitation. Oh, my gosh, the God of the universe wants to have a relationship with me. He wants me to follow him so closely that I actually end up becoming like him. And if you're looking at this and saying, I don't know if I can afford it, but I look at my heart, my gut.

And I have 80% excitement, 20% fear. I mean, he says, he does say the cross is there and zero percent deadness. then it's time to move. Because being a fan is fine. It's attractive. It's easy. But I hate to use this example, but here it is. But being a fan of Jesus is a little bit like the attraction to porn or the attraction to video games.

It makes no demands on a person. You know, a person is attracted to porn. You can imagine you're an incredible lover. And it costs you nothing. someone plays video games all the time. You can imagine that you're the hero. But for hours a day, you risk nothing. It demands nothing.

And ultimately, it gives nothing. Being a fan demands nothing. Porn demands nothing. Video games demand nothing. And they end up giving nothing. Family, it demands a lot. Family asks for a lot. It actually gives you a lot.

Jesus. asks for everything, and he gives you everything. And this is the last thing. How much does it cost? Can I afford to finish? Again, my answer is, I don't know. I don't know if I can afford to finish. But I do know this.

I can't afford not to start. Can I afford to win? I don't know. But I know this. I can't afford to lose. I can't afford not to try. which is another way to say I can't afford not to love

how do you start just start there's a man his name's father Pedro Arrupe he's founder of the Jesuits he was the general provincial general of the Jesuits for a while and at one point

he gave this counsel gave this prayer gave this thing that was the template for how to live and he said this especially if you're wondering how do I take that next step, how do I have that closeness with Jesus? When I ask those questions, what does it cost? Can I afford it?

He said this. He said, nothing is more practical than finding God. Nothing's more practical than falling in love in a quite absolute final way. What you are in love with, what ceases your imagination will affect everything. You will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends,

you read, whom you know, and what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. So fall in love. Stay in love. And it will decide everything. That's what Jesus is inviting us today. Not to hate, but to love. So we have to ask once again, if that's what he's inviting us into, how much is it cost? Can I afford it? Thank you.