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Welcome to Sunday Homilies with me, Fr. 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 and other Sunday Mass resources sent straight to your inbox, sign up@ascensionpress.com Sunday or by texting Sunday to 33777. You can also follow or subscribe in your podcast app for weekly notifications. God bless the Lord be with you and with your spirit. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke Glory to you, o Lord. Chapter 17, verses 5 through 10. The apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith. The Lord replied, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey you. Who among you would say to your servant, who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, come here immediately and take your place at table? Would he not rather say to him, prepare something for me to eat, put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink? You may eat and drink when I am finished. Is he grateful to that servant because he did what he was commanded? So should it be with you when you have done all that you have been commanded? Say, we are unprofitable servants. We have done what we were obliged to do. The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to have a seat. So a couple quick stories. There was one story recently of a man who, I think in 1999, he was playing a game, a game called Masterpiece. And so it's kind of it's a board game where you bid on items like you bid on pieces of art. And you're kind of like, basically it's a mock auction. And so as he's doing this, he's playing this game. He saw in the game an image of a painting that looked like a painting he had in his home. And he went home and he saw it. There was he had had this painting in his home just to cover up a hole in his wall. He investigated and said, wait, is this the original of this painting? It's the painting called Magnolias on Gold Velvet Chair or Gold Velvet Cloth. Very original creative name. It was. It was the original. He had it in his home this whole time, covering up a hole in his wall. And it made him a $1.25 million. Just this random painting in his house covering a hole. Another guy, he he had a. He had purchased this, this photo of a group of people, a black and white kind of a photo, group of people playing croquet. He got it for two bucks and a bunch of other photos as well. Turned out it was only the second photo of Billy the Kid and his, and his gang. And that one photo that he paid $2 for is worth $5 million. It was just. He didn't realize how valuable it was. Thought it was kind of junk. Another just fascinated me. There's this man, he's a fisherman in the Philippines. His boat got caught in a storm. He's just doing his daily kind of going out onto the ocean. His boat got caught in a storm. So we had a. Away anchor. When he tried to move the boat, he couldn't. Got caught on something. So he dove down to get loose, to loose the anchor. Anchor had found this massive clamshell. Opened up the clamshell and he found this huge, what looked like a pearl. The pearl was, I think it's one foot long by. Or two feet long by one foot wide. He brought it home and he actually just put it in his home as like a doorstop. He thought it was kind of a lucky good luck charm. Kept it under his bed for 10 years. And then when he was planning on moving, he brought it to his aunt for safekeeping and she convinced him to bring it in. This thing that he had kept as kind of like a good luck charm under his bed for 10 years is the largest pearl in the world and is estimated at $100 million just in his house. I heard a podcast last year of a man who. He's 30 years old, 31 years old. And his mom called him to let him know that he had an inheritance that was coming to him from a man that he knew. He'd lived on his block when he was growing up, and the man had left him $14 million, upwards of $14 million and said it was for his son. So here's this man who's at 31 years old, he not only did not realize, he spent his whole life not only realizing. Not realizing that he had an inheritance, but he spent his whole life not realizing that the man that lived down the street was actually his biological father. And while that, that last one is pretty tragic, you can imagine those other stories of like, here is this painting I have. Oh my gosh, exciting. Here, here's this good luck charm I have. Is worth $100 million in my home. Like, how, how, how incredible would that be, right? Or even to realize you have this 14 million dollar inheritance coming to you. And the question would be how, not only, how exciting would that be, but what would you do with it? I think there are so many ideas we have, right? I would pay off my loans, right? I would pay off whatever debts I have and pay off whatever bills. Maybe people struggle to buy a house, I'd buy a house. That kind of situation. Maybe you'd have do a thing where you'd say, well, I take care of the kids or I take care of my elderly parents. Maybe you'd say, I'd help you build a church. Father Mike, you know, all those things are great ideas, but when we think about this, what's the thought of an inheritance? Inheritance that's coming to you, maybe you didn't even realize you had it. What if you were getting an inheritance? What if you're getting some kind of windfall? Imagine a lot of us would think this. We think one of two things. And that would solve so many problems. Because it probably would. The other thing we'd think is, man, I could do so much with that. Those are the two things we think, right? Man, that would solve so many of my problems. And I could do so much. And we think like that when we say, if I just had more, if I just had more, that would solve so many problems. If I just had more, I could do so much. And it reminds me, it reminds me of the gospel, right? The apostles go to the Lord Jesus and they ask for more. They say, lord, increase our faith. We have some, but give us more. And I think that's a good request. I don't know if you've ever been in a situation where you wanted that, where you're in prayer and you're just like God, I just want more. I want, I want to trust you more. I want more faith, I want more hope. Like God, do something in me where I have more. More. Because why? Because if I had more faith, if I had more hope, if I just had something more, then it would solve so many problems. And if I had more faith, Lord, I could do so much more. We think of that, right? Because there are so many problems. I mean, honestly, they're not only our everyday problems that we all face, but also these life and death problems. The first reading from the book of the prophet Habakkuk. I mean, they're in a situation where the people of Israel are dying. People of Israel feel abandoned. That's why Habakkuk says. He says, how long, O Lord? He says, how long? I cry for help, but you don't listen. I cry out to you violence, but you don't intervene. He asks, why do you let me see ruin? Why must I look at all this misery? Because these are life and death problems that Habakkuk is facing. And we all face so many problems, and yet I think sometimes we're waiting for the wrong thing. Habakkuk saying, I am waiting for this, but I think sometimes we're waiting for the wrong thing. I think sometimes we're waiting for our problems to be over. I think sometimes we're waiting for our problems to be gone. There was this comedian came across recently. At the end of his set, he does like, some kind of, like, Q and A from with the. With the audience. And at one point, this guy shouted out. He asked the question. He said, what is something dumb that rich people understand? He's like, what? He says, what is something dumb that rich people understand? So this comedian who is really insightful of, many times he says, he says, first of all, I don't think I understand your question. Then he goes on to say, he says, the only insight that people with money have, that people without money have, is that money. He says, well, here's the thing. Problems are not a bug. They're a feature. Like when it comes to living, when it comes to life, the problems aren't the bug, but problems of the feature. He says, you won't have no problems when you have money. You'll just have different problems and problems are thought of in the wrong way. He said, people think of problems as problems. A problem just means that something needs your attention. Have you thought about it like that? A problem just means something needs your attention. He says that's a good thing because all we have is time and attention. So give your attention and you'll be fine. I think sometimes, oftentimes we're waiting for problems to be gone, though. We're waiting for problems to be eliminated. We're waiting for problems to be done. And yet problems are not a bug. They're a feature of living in this life. All they mean is that something needs your attention, and you have your attention. I. I can't wait to be happy when my problems are gone. Speaking of happy, there's a man named Arthur Brooks. He's a social scientist. He has a PhD in happiness. He actually teaches at Harvard on leadership and on happiness. And recently on a podcast, he was talking about his reverse bucket list. He said, up to his 50s, give or take, he had a bucket list. And then he found that it just made him miserable. Even when he actually accomplished all the tasks on his bucket list. And so he developed this thing called a reverse bucket list. And he did it because he said, having a bucket list or having all these wants. He said, there is a neurophysiological and psychological problem. He said, please don't make the mistake of thinking that satisfaction will come or happiness will come from having more. He said, lasting happiness. And lasting satisfaction means this. Your haves divided by your wants. He said, you can temporarily and inefficiently increase your satisfaction by having more. You can temporarily and inefficiently increase your satisfaction by accomplishing more, by getting more or by doing more. He said, but you can permanently and securely increase your satisfaction by wanting less. So lasting satisfaction is your haves divided by your wants. So he offered. He said, write down the most ridiculous things that you want, write them on a sheet and then cross them off. And maybe you get them, but maybe you don't. But Arthur Brooks is saying, as a Catholic, he says, the problem is you strive to be detached from these things. Why? Because you can't always. He says, you can't always have what you want, but you can always want what you have. And sometimes you still have problems, of course, but. But you realize, oh, no, I actually have everything I need. Here's Habakkuk. He has problems. I mean, massive life and death problems. And then what does he write? He writes, and then the Lord answered me, doesn't have no problems. But he realized in that moment, okay, God is in the problems. And if I have him, I have everything I need. Remember, we think, if I have more, I have more. What it will do, it'll resolve all my problems. And if I have more, then I could do so much more with more. That's why they ask. That's why in the Gospel they say, increase my faith. And Jesus responds with what? He says, if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea. Jesus is basically saying, you don't need more. You just need to simply use what you have. This is all for all of us. Wait. I want more. I want a larger something. Why? Because then it would solve my problems and I could do more. And Jesus is saying, you don't actually need more. You just need to use what you have. Why? Because you have everything you need. Second reading today. St. Paul, writing to Timothy. What's he say? He says, fan into flame the gift of God that you've been given. When I laid hands on you says, fan into flame the gift you already have. How many of us, how many of us don't realize we've already been given our inheritance? We've already been given that gift. Here is Paul to Timothy saying, you've been given everything you need to be a saint. This is true for you too. This is true for all of us. Pause on this. Stay here for one moment. You and I have been given everything we need to be a saint. Paul goes on. He says, God didn't give you a spirit of cowardice. He didn't give you a spirit of timidity. He gave you a spirit of power and of love and of self control. You have an inheritance. This is this incredible news this Sunday. You have an inheritance. It's already been given to you. What is it? What's your inheritance? Well, number one, you've been claimed by the Father, right? You've been adopted by the Father. You have access to the Father's heart. The Spirit of God dwells in you at all times. This is your inheritance. You actually are a child of God the Father, and the Spirit of Christ is in you at all times. That's your inheritance. You're part of your inheritance. To this you've been brought into the church, which means a number of things, but number one thing it means is you have a family. No matter where you go in the world, you have a family. Number two, it means you have sure teachers. Part of your inheritance. Part of your inheritance is Scripture. Part of your inheritance is the sacraments. You know, when I was doing the Bible in the air, we got to those seven books, seven Deuterocronic books, right? The seven books that aren't in Protestant Bibles, that in the 1500s, Martin Luther took those seven books out of the Bible. So we have a Bible has. Well, we in the Orthodox Church have a Bible that has 73 books, while Protestant Bibles only have 66 books. And so as I'm reading these seven books that Protestants have lived their whole lives not having one of the words that just came to me because some people were a little bit hesitant about it. Like, I don't know, should I be reading these things? You realize actually no, you need to be reading these things. Why? Because for the last 500 years, someone else took away your inheritance. So your whole life you've been living that, not realizing that all 73 books are part of your inheritance. Because these are all the 73 books that God has given to us through the church. Same with the sacraments. You might be in a church you know, Protestants might be in a church where they have one sacrament, baptism. Maybe they don't even acknowledge baptism as a real thing. But if you're a Christian, you belong to Christ. All seven sacraments are part of your inheritance. You might not even know it if you're raised Catholic. You might not even realize that this is a part of your inheritance, that the sacraments are a part of your inheritance. And it's already been given. And we say, yeah, but still, I could do more if I was given more. Remember, you've already been given everything you need to be a saint. And also this. If you ever need something more, God's going to give you more. If you ever get to a situation in your life where, okay, no, no, no, right now, I need more. God is going to give it. In Luke chapter 12, that's what Jesus says, right? He says, they're going to bring you before kings and governors. And he says this. He says, do not worry about your defense or what you are to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you are to say. If you ever need more, God will give you more. I was listening to this clinical psychologist talking about a big event in her life. When she was maybe 20 years old, her mother was hospitalized in a really serious condition. They thought maybe she'd die. And she, as a 20 year old, is just. She said, I was spiraling. I was sitting in that hospital room with my mom and just thinking, like, what would happen to me if my mom dies? I don't think I can handle it. I don't know how to take care of myself. I don't know how to pay my bills. I don't know how to pay for her bills. I don't know what I'd do just being Al in this world. And she said, again, I was spiraling. But they had a family friend who stayed with her in this hospital room for days and days. And this family friend was also an oncologist. So he was familiar with grief, he was familiar with death. And at one point she was sharing with him, I just don't know what I'll do. And this physician looked at her, this friend looked at her and said, the person who will be needed to handle those problems will be born into existence at the moment she's needed. Meaning you don't need to be that woman yet. You don't need to be that person yet. Why? Because you have not encountered this tragedy, you haven't encountered this opposition yet. But when you do everything you've been through leading up to that moment, you'll be given all those things you need. And he said this. He said, trust your future self to handle your future problems. Your current self might not be able to handle your future problems, but trust your future self to handle your future problems. And that's just. Yes, that's secular advice. It's pretty good. But when we realize that actually God gives us everything we need, then we realize you don't even have to trust your future self. We can trust the eternal God to help us handle our future problems. Why? Because you've already been given everything you need to be the person God's called you to be. Why? Because you have an inheritance. All we need to do is. What? What? St. Paul said, Fan into flame the gift of God you've already been given. Basically, cooperate with His Holy Spirit. So how do you do that? This is the last thing. How do we do that? How do we cooperate with God's spirit? How do we fan into flame the gift that God's given us? Because we have been given everything we need to be the saints God made us to be. Well, back in the day, John Paul ii, he wrote this, one of his documents, he wrote about these things. He termed the three infallible and indispensable means of grace. We've talked about this before, but I think it's worth going back to the three infallible and indispensable means of grace. And now, infallible means, they never fail, right? Indispensable means. I can't do it without these. And he said they are confession, the Eucharist and prayer. These are the infallible and indispensable means of grace, confession. Why? Well, think about this. How many times do you and I just run away from the Lord? How many times? Or we drift away from the Lord, or we fall just because we're so weak. Well, part of fanning into flame the gift of God he's given us is coming back home. And God has given us a way back home in the sacrament of confession that we actually need. Why? Because I can't belong to the Lord unless I repent of my sins. This is just the reality that I actually can't be the person God has made me to be. I can't actually claim my inheritance. And unless I'm willing to claim his forgiveness first. You know, the catechism says it like this. It says, those we cannot hope to pray according to the Spirit of Christ unless we're willing to live according to the Spirit of Christ. If I want to be that person that saint God has made me to be, to use the inheritance that he's entrusted to you and to me. That means we have to first repent of our sins. And the way home is through confession. That's number one. Number two, the Eucharist. To think about this, think about. I mean, there's a guy, St. Carlo Acutis, a 15 year old saint, just declared however many weeks ago. And he said this when he discovered the truth of the Eucharist, how Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. He said, the Eucharist is my highway to heaven. That sense of it can't be in God's presence in the Eucharist and not become like Him. Yet too many of us, we don't realize that's our inheritance. We see spending time with Jesus in the Eucharist as an obligation. We see it as something that's onerous, like put upon us, and it's uncomfortable. I don't like it. I'm bored. And yet it's our inheritance. And we've been given everything we need to become the saints God's made us to be. That's one of the reasons why we have daily Mass. My invitation for you, if you can, is not just to go Sunday Mass, but what daily masses can you make here? We have adoration over almost every day of the week. We invite our students, okay, pick a 30 minute time slot each day and say, okay, I'm going to spend time in Jesus presence. Why? Because all the other sacraments are means of God's grace, the means of the grace Christ has won for us. The Eucharist is actually God himself. And the last one is prayer, right? Confession, Eucharist and prayer. Prayer. That could be praying with your scripture. Why? This is part of your inheritance. It could be praying the rosary. Why? Because as part of the family, part of your inheritance is having a mom that Jesus from the cross gave us his mother as our mother. These three ways, these three infallible and indispensable means of grace are the way in which you and I can fan into flame the gift that we've been given. This is your inheritance. Imagine the tragedy of that man who, yeah, inherited $14 million, but too late, realized that he had a father that he didn't even know. Imagine living your life, your entire life, not knowing the inheritance that you've been given. This is not going to be your story. That's not going to be your story to get to the end of your life and not realize that you have an inheritance. Because you know we could say God, increase my faith. And he says, no, use what you have because you have an inheritance. God has given you everything you need to be the saint he's made you to be.