The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 351: Draw Near to God (2023)

Episode Date: December 17, 2023

Fr. Mike reflects on the effects of wealth on our souls and our relationship with God. He emphasizes the importance of resisting the devil and invites us to draw near to God because he is constantly pursuing us, especially as we share in his suffering. Today’s readings are James 3-5, Colossians 1-2, and Proverbs 30:7-9. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 351, and we are reading the conclusion of James, which is actually three chapters, James 3, 4, and 5. We're also reading the beginning of St, which is actually three chapters, James 3, 4, and 5. We're also reading the beginning of St. Paul's letter to the Colossians, chapters 1 and 2,

and the book of Proverbs, chapter 30, verses 7 through 9. It's always the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, 2nd Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in-ear reading plan, as I said, I think yesterday, to tick off those last few days, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in the air. You can also subscribe to this podcast or you can stick to your guns and stay unsubscribed and say, I made it through the entire year and didn't subscribe once. I don't care what Father Mike asked me to do.

I don't care a bit. Just kidding. It is day 351 and we're reading James chapters 3, 4, and 5, Colossians, letter of St. Paul to Colossians, chapters 1 and 2, as well as the book of Proverbs, chapter 30, verses 7 through 9. The letter of James, chapter 3, Taming the Tongue. Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness. For we all make many mistakes, and if anyone makes no mistakes in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. If we put bits into the mouths of horses that they may obey us,

we guide their whole bodies. Look at the ships also. Though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So the tongue is a little member and boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire. And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, a reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no human being can tame the tongue, a restless evil full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse

men who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so. Does a spring put forth from the same opening fresh water and brackish? Can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. Two kinds of wisdom. Who is wise in understanding among you? By his good life let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This wisdom is not such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits without uncertainty or insincerity. And the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Chapter 4. Friendship with the World What causes wars and what causes fightings among you?

Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? You desire and do not have, so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions. Unfaithful creatures, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is in vain that the scripture says, he yearns jealously over the

spirit which he has made to dwell in us. But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double mind. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. Warning against judging another. Do not speak evil against one another, brethren. He that speaks evil against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy.

But who are you that you judge your neighbor? Boasting about tomorrow. Come now, you who say today or tomorrow, we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain. Whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that. As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. Chapter 5. Warning to Rich Oppressors. Come now, you rich. Weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure. You have fattened your hearts in a

day of slaughter. You have condemned. You have killed the righteous man. He does not resist you. Patience in Suffering Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and the late rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble, brethren, against one another, that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the doors.

As an example of suffering and patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we call those happy who are steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, that you may not fall under condemnation. The Prayer of Faith Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise.

Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick man and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. Elijah was a man of like nature with ourselves, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit. My brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way

will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. The letter of Paul to the Colossians. Chapter 1. Salutation. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and Timothy, our brother, to the saints and the faithful brethren in Christ at Colossae. Grace to you and peace from God, our Father. Gratitude for the Colossians faith. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing.

So among yourselves, from the day you heard and understood the grace of God in truth, as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, he is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might

for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The Supremacy of Christ. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him all things were created in heaven and on

earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities. All things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven,

making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. Paul's sufferings and ministry. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the divine office, which was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now made manifest to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great

among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man mature in Christ. For this I toil, striving with all the energy which he mightily inspires within me. Chapter 2. For I want you to know how greatly I strive for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged as they are knit together in love, and for all who have not seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged as they are knit together in love, to have all the riches of assured understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and

knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with beguiling speech, for though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. Fullness of life in Christ. As, therefore, you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Warnings against false teachers. See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

and you have come to fullness of life in him who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ, and you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

And you, who were dead in trespass and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the principalities and powers, and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him. Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking a stand on visions puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, referring to things

which all perish as they are used, according to human precepts and doctrines. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigor of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh. The Book of Proverbs, chapter 30 30 verses 7 through 9. is the Lord, or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. Father in heaven, we give you praise. Thank you so much. Oh, Lord God. Oh, just what a gift of a day. What a gift it is to not only hear the letter of James and not only to hear the beginning of Colossians, but also this wisdom that you impart to us in the book of Proverbs. Thank you for journeying with us all of these, our entire life, Lord God, you never abandoned us. You're always

with us. You're always completely present to us in this moment, Lord God, we trust you. And in this moment, we recognize your presence wherever we are listening to these words, Lord God, you are with us. You are nearer to us than we are to ourselves and our thoughts are to ourselves. You're nearer to us than our are to ourselves and our thoughts are to ourselves. You're nearer to us than our very heart is in our chest. And we thank you. Thank you for being near to us. Thank you for being with us.

Lord God, even when we do not recognize you, you're there, you're here, you're active. Help us to never lose sight of the fact that you're present with us right now. For with you, every moment is right now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. This reading from Proverbs chapter 30, it always gets me. I just, I don't know how many times I've said this is my favorite. This is one of my favorites because it's just so wise.

It has a knowledge. You know, one of the things when we come to know Jesus, I remember someone telling me this, that first two movements of conversion are a distrust of self and a trust in the Lord. And I think that's so wise. A distrust of self meaning, no, I know I'm broken. I know that I, man, gosh, Lord, you give me a chance and I will turn on you. In fact, there was a man named St. Philip Neary. I think he's the patron saint of Rome, but he's also, he was a joyful saint. And he's one of those situations where he did a lot of goofy things just to either to get people's attention, to get a laugh, to kind of humble himself. But at one point I remember hearing that every morning he would wake up and he'd pray and

he'd say something along the lines of watch out for Philip today, Lord, because if you give him the chance, he will betray you. And there's something about that. It's so clear here in Proverbs chapter 30, two things I ask of you, deny them not to me before I die. Remove far from me falsehood and lying. Here's the big thing. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Just give me what's ever needful for me. Feed me with the food that's needful for me. Lest I be full and deny you and say, who is the Lord? And that happens to us, right? We get so full where we're confident in

ourselves like, oh no, I don't need God because I'm taken care of. Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of God. Basically, here's the author here of wisdom saying, I know myself. I can't be trusted. I cannot be trusted. You give me excessive wealth and I will do something foolish with it, like denying the Lord. You give me a dire situation or circumstance and I will, and I will not be a just person. And that's something, man, so much wisdom there, isn't that? Isn't that so much wisdom, not only for ourselves, but also we look around and look at people that we might be quick to judge. Maybe celebrities or famous people or wealthy people and say, I can't believe that they're living such shallow lives.

Well, that would be me if I was that wealthy. Or we see people who are committing crimes and stealing and, or, or turning to, you know, a life of life of crime and say, God, if, if you didn't protect me from that, I would probably do the same thing. It doesn't make those things right, but it does make them understandable. Again, it doesn't, that doesn't make wrong, right. But it does hopefully make it so that our hearts and our minds, our understanding can be patient, right? Can offer grace because we know that there, but for the grace of God, go I, go we, I go. Here we are in James chapter four and five. So incredible. Again, once again,

the wisdom of James. I love a couple of pieces here. One is this in chapter four, verse seven, submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. That is such incredible advice and counsel for all of us because we have to, we have to submit ourselves to God. We surrender to God and resist the devil. The recognition is we're going to hear St. Peter talk about this in a couple of days, that he'll say the devil's prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him solid in your faith, that this is the battle. And every Christian realizes, as we heard the other day, that our battle is not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers, with the rulers,

elemental forces of this world, with demons, with the evil one. And so we resist the devil and draw near to God. He goes on to say, cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your heart, you men of double mind. Basically, he says you backsliders in another translation. That sense that, remember when Elijah asked the people on Mount Carmel during the battle with the prophets or the priests of Baal, he said, how long will you be of two minds?

How long will you straddle the fence? If the Lord God is God, then serve him. And if Baal is God, then serve him. But just stop being of two minds. And here is James saying the exact same thing, because this is the human condition. He says, cleanse your hands, you sinners, purify your hearts, you men of double mind. Stop being a person of two minds. Goes on.

One thing I want to highlight is I love the fact that I had this priest when I was a missionary right after college on the border of Belize and Guatemala. His name was Father John McHugh. And Father John McHugh is one of the co-founders of a religious community called the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. And Father John was this, by the time I met him, he was an old priest, a wise priest, such a holy man. And he had just given, he poured his life out for the Lord and for the people of the village in which I was living. And Father John was from Oklahoma, so he had a little bit of an Oklahoma accent. And man, this man, incredible. He was a prisoner of war in World War II. His plane was shot down and it's just incredible story. But he would always say,

Lord willing. That's what I always say. You know, God willing, Lord, he didn't say God willing, he said Lord willing. Lord willing. He never said, Father John, I'll see you tomorrow. Lord willing. That's what I always say. You know, God will Lord. He didn't say God willing. He said, Lord willing, Lord willing. He never said, father, John, I'll see you tomorrow. Lord willing. Father John, are we going to go into town tomorrow? Lord willing. That was it. And he just took exactly what James said. Not don't say tomorrow. I'm going to go do such and such. He says, no, no, no. Always say if the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that because we have no idea what tomorrow holds. And so father John always reminds me, and when I think of this, when I think of plans, I'm always reminded of Father John. And then because of Father John, the letter of James here. One thing also James is warning people, James is warning those who are rich, not only warning to those who have wealth. And again,

if you're living in the United States of America, you are worldwide, most likely top 1% when it comes to those who are wealth holders, even if by American standards, you are worldwide most likely top 1% when it comes to those who are wealth holders, even if by American standards, you might not have a lot. Just the fact is the standard of living in America is so high that we worldwide are wealthy. And so we just have to always allow God's words when he speaks about wealth to convict us. Also to use God's words when he speaks about wealth that's built off of oppression to convict us. Also, to use God's words when he speaks about wealth that's built off of oppression to convict us. I think of this every time I have products that are made in another country where I am not sure about the practices they have in assembling these products or of stitching

together these shirts or making these shoes. I always wonder, and I realized that I need to figure this out because St. James, the Lord's word does convict those who, um, he says you've lived on earth and luxury and in pleasure. You fatten your hearts in the day of slaughter. You've condemned, you've killed the righteous man. Have I inadvertently by buying certain products, have I withheld the wages of those who made those products? And I don't know. I have to find that out because if I don't, I'm liable for not finding that out. The last thing I want to highlight is the fact that we have seven sacraments in the

Catholic Church and in the Orthodox Church. And one of those sacraments is a sacrament of healing. And that's the sacrament of anointing of the sick. I'm also of confession, another sacrament of healing. And where do you get that? Well, we get that here from the letter of James. He says, is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders. The word there is presbyteroi, for we get priests from, call the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick person

and the Lord will raise him up. If he's committed any sins, he'll be forgiven. So that's the kind of the origin of the sacrament of anointing of the sick. But also it's also connected to the sacrament of confession because it says that the priest will pray over them and they will be forgiven of all their sins. And then the next line is, therefore confess your sins to one another. Now, some Christians would say that, oh yeah, we just confess your sins to each other, you know, brother Christian, brother Christian, sister Christian, sister Christian. But we also see that there is a word at the beginning of verse 16, therefore. And so as James is writing about calling the presbyteroi, calling the priests of the church to anoint this man with oil and that his sin is going to be forgiven, it says, therefore

confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. So this is all in the context, that confession is in the context of the anointing or in the context of healing through the hands of the priests or the elders of the church. Now, again, not making a point, just making a point. Lastly, here's St. Paul's letter to the Colossians. And there is a piece in St. Paul's letter to the Colossians that is just incredible. I mean, obviously, a piece in St. Paul's letter to the Colossians that is just incredible. I mean, obviously, St. Paul is manifestly pointing out the fact that Jesus Christ is preeminent, that he is the one through whom and for whom everything is made. And it's just so powerful. And we can't dwell on that too much because it's just, it's the key. Jesus is the one through whom and for whom all things are made. But in his letter to the Colossians, chapter 1, verse 24, St. Paul says these words that

are very intriguing, mysterious. He says, now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I complete what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of his body, that is the church. We have to ask the question, okay, what is lacking in Christ's suffering? What's lacking in Christ's afflictions? And the answer is nothing. They're sufficient for our redemption. John Paul II, he talked about this and he said, no, no, there's nothing lacking in the

sufferings of Christ, but that you and I might be able to participate in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ in this world. Participate in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ in this world. Christ extends to us a particle of his cross that we might bear it with him. And that's what Paul is writing about here. I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh. I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the church. And that's one of the points of suffering that has been redeemed. It's been transformed that when we suffer in Christ, we participate in the redemption

of the world. Again, not because his suffering was insufficient. It was completely sufficient. Jesus Christ suffered once for all, but that you and I might have the honor, the dignity, the privilege of participating in his redeeming work. Jesus Christ offers us, he gives us a share, a particle of his cross that we might participate in his work of redemption, which is just incredible. And that's the truth that we just need to recognize, especially for those of us who suffer,

for those of us who find ourselves in places of deep and profound suffering. We might not know why this is happening, but we do know what to do with it, to unite it to Christ's suffering and say, Lord God, use this. Jesus, use this for the salvation of the world, for the Father's glory, and that this world may be transformed into the kingdom of God among us.

That's what we're praying for. And I know that so many of you right now are in a place of suffering. And so I am praying for you. Please, please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.