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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. A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to Matthew Glory to you, o Lord. Chapter 17, verses 1 through 9 Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up a high mountain by themselves, and he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with them. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was still speaking. Behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them. And then from the cloud came a voice that said, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, rise and do not be afraid. And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them. Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to have a seat. So last week we started our Lenten series, a Lenten series called Autobiography. And the reason we did this is because the reality, of course, is that every life is a story, every person is an author. And the only question is the only question is, who will you and I become at the end of the story? That's like, that's this theme as we're doing for this whole lent for all pray. 40 as we're following these stories, the story of the Prodigal Son, stories of Brother Karzmasa, story of Scripture. We recognize this. We recognize that every person, every life is a story, every person is an author. And the question is, who will you be at the end of the story? The question is, who will you become? And so last week we talked about the fact that every story has a beginning, that there's this moment when we have to choose to act. We have to choose to move. We have to choose to write. And we can either write apart from God sometimes that's our choice, right? I want to do this on my own. I want to be happy, happy apart from God, which every, every sin has its root, or we can let God be our co author. But not just only does every story have a beginning. This week we're going to talk about this fact that every story has a title. Every story has a title. And what does the title do? The title summarizes the theme that runs throughout your entire story. So thinking about your autobiography, what would the title be? What would be the theme that you would say? This is the lens through which I understand all the circumstances of my life. Because that's what the title is, right? The title is the summary of the speech that's going through our minds, that's going through our hearts. That basically is the filter. It's the perspective from which if you say, here's someone else, if you want to know who I am, if you want to know my story, if you want to understand who I am, if you want to understand my story, this is the lens, this is the speech that runs through my mind. This is the title that names my story, names my autobiography. So a couple years ago, I don't know if you remember this, two years ago, in fact, during Lent, during the same season, during the same series, during Pray 40, we followed the story of a man named Father Walter Cizek. Father Walter Cizek was, I think, born in Pennsylvania, 1904, at immigrant parents. And he became a priest. And this man was driven, if you remember his story, he's just driven. He wanted to bring the gospel to the world, particularly he wanted to bring the gospel to Russia that was under the communist oppression at the time. So he essentially, long story short, became a priest, went to Europe, was in Poland, Poland gets invaded by Russia. He's now in Russia. Immediately, almost, almost immediately he was taken prisoner, accused of being a Vatican spy. He was imprisoned in solitary confinement for over one year. He was tortured physically, tortured mentally. Finally, after a year, he broke. I mean, he broke spiritually, he broke mentally, and then he was sent to the gulags for almost two decades. And in all of this time, you can imagine, you can imagine that the story, the speech going through his head is, God, I do all these things for you and what do you give me? You can imagine the speech going through Father Walter Cizzek's head is, I try and I fail. You imagine the speech going through Father Walter Cizzek's head is God doesn't care. But that's not the speech going through his mind. That's not the title of his book. In fact, the speech, and you could say the speech going through his mind. There's one line in the book that just summarizes so much that even though he was stripped of so many things, he never lost his trust in God's love for him. And one of the lines that just like struck me two years ago and I've been trying to carry it in my heart for the last two years, he said this. He said, there will be a tomorrow and we have to live in it, and God will be there as well. That even in all this devastation, what could have made him bitter? What could have brought up resentment in his heart? The title of Fr. Walter Cizik's book, his spiritual autobiography, wasn't bitterness, wasn't resentment. The title of his book was He Leadeth Me. That's how he saw his life. If you want to know the perspective of this is the lens to which I interpret everything that happens to me. The lens is he leads me. That speech is, there will be a tomorrow and we have to live in it. And God will be there as well, because there's a speech that lives inside every one of us. I mean, the reality, of course, is this. There's a speech that's in every one of us. And that speech can become the title of our autobiography. That speech is. That title is how we see ourselves. It's how we see others. It's how we see God. And so let's go to the one story we're following all throughout lent. Luke, Chapter 15, the Parable of the Prodigal Son. So I don't know if you know this. The context for the parable of the prodigal so starts out with Luke 15. And in Luke 15, it says this. It says. It says the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus. But the scribes and Pharisees began to complain, saying, this man welcomes sinners and eats with them. So this is the context for why Jesus even tells this parable. Tax collectors and sinners are all drawing near to listen to Jesus. The scribes and Pharisees are upset about this. So you can. Here's the context. The context is Jesus is spending time with the bad kids and the good kids are upset. Like Jesus is spending time with the kids who are smoking behind the school under the bleachers. And the church kids, they're really upset that Jesus wants To spend time with these people. And so it says this. It says so to them. He addressed this parable to those people who were like, okay, they're failures, right? They've been. They. They've rebelled against God. The tax collectors and sinners. They regret what they've done. But also Jesus is speaking to the scribes and Pharisees. He's also speaking to the church kids. He's also speaking to those who are like, no, they did everything right. So again, it says so to them. He addressed this parable to who? To both groups of people. This is very important for us because why? Because both groups of people, they have a speech living inside of them. Both groups of people have a title to the autobiography. And the first group, the group of tax collectors and sinners, they're like the younger son, right? Remember the story of the younger son? We talked about it a little bit last week. The younger son goes to his father and says, father, give me the share of your estate. That should come to me. His father gives it to him, he takes it and he leaves. And Jesus says, and what's he do? He squanders it on a life of dissipation. Just wastes it. Wastes the gift his father gave him. He just absolutely wastes it. And it says this. When he spent everything he had freely, a severe famine struck that place, and he found himself in dire need. The only job he could get was attend the swine. Again, as a Jewish person, that's pretty low. And then he remembered his father's goodness. We talked about this last week. He remembered how many. How many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food to eat here. I am dying of hunger. And then he said this. He said, I'll get up and I'll go to my father, and I'll say to my father, this is his speech. I'll get up, I'll go to my father, and I'll say to my father, father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me as you would treat one of your hired servants. That's his speech. His speech is, I no longer deserve to be called your son. I'll be your slave. You can imagine as he gets up and he heads off to his father's house, that this is the speech. He's rehearsing it again and again. It's the line, it's the words, it's the belief that's running through his mind. I no longer deserve to be called your son. I'm only a slave. Imagine over and over again this temptation of this speech to become his title. I no longer deserve this. I'm no longer a son. Maybe his title would be Fatherless. Maybe his title would be I'm Just a Disappointment. Maybe his title would be disqualified. Remember, Jesus is speaking to all those people who had rebelled. They had said, I don't want to write a story with God as my co author. They'd all said, I want to be happy, but I want to be happy apart from God. And imagine a lot of those tax collectors and sinners, now they regret it and they're in pain just like that younger son. They're alone and they're like, this is. This is my speech. This is the title of my story. Disappointment. Disqualified, Fatherless. And I think this is interesting because it says, well, this one was still a long way off. Jesus is telling the story to them, right? This group of people had that speech in their head. Well, the sun was still a long way off. His father spotted him and ran to his son. This is so important. He runs to his son and he says, falling on his neck, basically embracing him with this, like this incredible embrace. Began kissing him. He says, get the finest robe, put it on him. Put a ring on his finger, sandal on his feet. Slaughter the fattened calf. Let's rejoice and celebrate. And he says these words because this son of mine was dead and has come to life again. He was lost and has been found. This is the key. The title of the younger son's. The speech going. The younger son's mind is, I no longer deserve to be called a son. The speech is, Treat me as a slave. The title is I'm fatherless. The title is I'm disqualified. What does the father say? He says, no, you're claimed. His father says, this son of mine was dead and now he's alive. He was lost and he's found. The father does this. The father steps into the son's speech and he rewrites the speech and he rewrites the title. A couple years ago, I was able to meet this amazing woman. Her name is Immaculae Ilibagiza. And Immaculae's story is one of just devastation. She's from Rwanda. In 1994, she was visiting back her home village for Easter break. When the two kind of tribes in Rwanda are Hutus and Tutsis. At one point, Immaculate is a Hutu. And the Tutsis rose up and basically it was this thing across the entire country for 91 days, almost 100 days. The Tutsis just slaughtered their neighbors like literal neighbor rise against neighbor. And the Tutsis went from house to house, killing their, their neighbors with shovels and pickaxes and machetes and their bare hands and rocks immaculately. She fled. She. She fled to this Lutheran pastor's house. And she was. And this Lutheran pastor hid her and seven other women in a 3 foot by 4 foot bathroom where they couldn't even lie down. They just had to stand there. They could kind of squat at times. And they took turns doing this for 91 days. They had to be absolutely quiet. Eight women in a three foot by four foot bathroom. Meanwhile, these Tutsis are outside looking for her, looking for the other seven women. They come to the Lutheran pastor's house, they think that they're going to get exposed. This whole time, all immaculate could do, all she could do was pray the rosary, to pray the rosary again and again and again. All she, and she even said that. She even said, she said, I can't pray to our Father because our Father, you have to say, father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. She said, I got to that line and she's like, no, I will not forgive them, so I can't pray this prayer. Until somewhere in those 91 days, she allowed the father to speak to her, over her, about her. And she experienced the father's forgiveness. She experienced the father's love in her own life. And so that she could say, okay, Father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. She escaped. When she escaped, she discovered that virtually her entire family had been killed by their neighbors. And once again, you can imagine that her speech in her mind that her title, the title of her story would be Brokenness. The title of her story would be Orphan. The title of her story would be. Would be Devastation. But the title of her story is literally the title of her autobiography is left to tell. And it's not just a story of violence and brutality. It's the story that says this. I'm here. I've been left to tell the power of forgiveness. She's basically looking at herself and saying, no, I've been left to tell the power of God's mercy. I've been left you to tell. Every one of my family members is killed. I'm left to tell that new life is possible. Because when you're claimed, new life is possible for the younger son, for that group of tax collectors and sinners. Jesus is speaking in there saying, no, this does not. This speech going through your mind does not have to become the title of your story. But remember, he's also talking to the scribes and Pharisees. He's also talking to the church kids. He's also talking to the good kids. Because here's the thing, it's one thing to rebel and regret it. It's another thing to resist. Resist loving the father's love and resent him for it. That's the story of the older son. The story of the older son is what it says. It says, now, the older son was not working in the field, and he comes back to the house and he hears sound of music and dancing. And so what does he do? He goes to one of his servants and inquires, this might mean. And the servant says, your son, your brother is back and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound. And then it said, this says, when he refused to go in, because here's the older son, he said, wait a second, I'm not going to go in there. When he refused to go in, his father comes out and pleaded with him. And the older son says to his father, look, all these years I have slaved for you, and not once did I disobey one of your orders. But when this son of yours comes back, who has swallowed up your property with prostitutes for him, you slaughtered the fattened calf. See, this is the remarkable thing about the older son, about the good kids and the church kids. This is one of the things. This is one of the most deadly thing that can happen in the heart of a church kid. One of the most deadly things that happen in the heart of someone who says, no, actually, I'm trying. One of the most deadly things that could happen in the heart of someone who's trying to be good is resentment. You see, other people who are rebellious and they're not disqualified, other people who have turned away from the Lord and they're being pursued, other people who have done the wrong thing and they're still loved. Not only loved, they're restored. Not only that, they're celebrated. And you can look at yourself and say, I've never rebelled. But the reality is, the older son, he could say, I never rebelled. But it looks like he wanted the exact same thing as his younger brother. The younger brother, what did he want? He wanted a life apart from the father. The older son, he also wanted a life apart from the father. He realizes it's possible to stay at home and remain lost this is every one of us. It's possible. There's no outward rebellion, there's no leaving. But it's possible to stay home and remain lost. You can realize, you see all these hints. Jesus is telling the story right to the scribes and Pharisees. They are resenting the fact they did everything right, but they're not being celebrated. This resentment is so clear in the older son. Why? I mean, think about this. He comes in, here's a party. He doesn't walk into the party and say, what's going on, you guys? He doesn't even go to the father and ask him. He goes to one of the servants. Why? Because he identifies more as a servant than as a son. He hears about his brother being alive. He hears about his father celebrating. Here's the deal. The younger son comes back because he remembered his father's love. The older son hears about his father's love and resents it. His father comes out and pleads with him. He refuses to go in. And what is his speech? His speech is just like the younger son. The speech of the younger son is, I no longer deserve to be called your son. The speech of the older son is, look, all these years I have slaved for you. Never once did I disobey you. One of your orders. The line going through his mind. The speech going through his mind. All these years, nothing more than a slave. But he goes on. He says, and never did you even give me a kid to feast on with my friends. No, this is. This is so. This reveals. This reveals the older son's heart. He doesn't say, never once did you celebrate a feast with me. Because he doesn't want to celebrate a feast with his father. He wants to, can you give me a kid so I can go off on my own as well? I want to celebrate with my friends. I don't want to celebrate with you. Here is the resentment of. Of the older son. And this is the lie that the speech has gone in the mind of every good kid. My value lies in not being a problem. My worth lies in the fact that I'm not a problem. As you may. I may have said before, I'm the fourth of six kids. I love the fact that I'm not the first. I love the fact that I'm not the first boy. I am grateful for the way that my older siblings paved the way for me. Like, I just. Honestly, many times in my life, I was like, wow, I'm really glad what I have to do. I looked at my older sisters or looked at my older brother and was like, okay, just don't do that. I saw them making all these dumb mistakes, like, oh, life is easy. Just see what they're doing and do something else. Like, see what they're doing, see how they're messing up. And just. It's really, really easy. Just don't do that. And I still maintain that that is wise. That is a wise way to live. But also, that could lead to a lie. That could lead to resentment. That could lead to the fact that, wait a second, they've done all these bad things, and my mom and dad still love them so much. My value lies in the fact that I'm not a problem. They have to go bail them out of trouble. My value lies in the fact that they don't have to bail me out of trouble. And that lie can give rise to resentment. And there are few things more deadly than resentment. Why? Because resentment, resentment does this. Resentment slowly rewrites the story of what happened so that your wound becomes the lens through which you interpret everything. So we have. With this. We rehearsed this. We rehearsed the speech over and over again. And what did the older son say? Basically, he said, I'm the victim hero. The older son says, I'm the victim. I'm the victim hero. My story. I've stayed, I've slaved, I've never disobeyed. This is. And that's in father. That's all you care about. All you care about is the fact that I'm here. That's why resentment is so deadly. Resentment is what happens to us when we let one chapter become the title of the whole book. That something painful happens. And yes, it's real and it's painful, and it deserves a paragraph, maybe it deserves a chapter. But resentment turns it into, this is my story. I'm not just remembering what happened. I'm letting it narrate who I am. If you realize, of course, a healthy autobiography would integrate the worst chapter, but resentment canonizes it. Resentment turns a chapter into a monument. Again, resentment names the book after your wound. A few years ago, Prince Harry wrote a memoir. He wrote an autobiography. And the title of his autobiography is named after his wound. It's named after a pain that is named after a speech that must have become his identity. It must been the lens through which he understood himself. The title of Prince Harry's book is Spare. And I imagine the title or the speech running through his mind is this. Is that basically, as the second son to Prince Charles, as the second son, son to Princess Diana. I'm the backup plan to the one who matters. I'm the second son. I don't matter. So he named his book the title of his autobiography, spare. If you want to understand who I am, that's the lens. I'm the backup plan to the one who matters, and that's the older son, and that's us. And that's the power of resentment. Because resentment is powerful, but it doesn't have the power to move. Resentment has the power to paralyze. So what's the remedy? It's the last thing. What's the remedy? That if we've let our speech write our title, what's the remedy? It's two things. Number one is tell your speech. Tell your speech to the father. Listen, both sons go to their father, and they both give the father their speech. That's what we have to do as well. The younger son, I no longer deserve to be called your son. And his father says, quick, get a robe. My son is alive. He claims him. The older son, all these years I've slaved for you. And his father hears his speech and says, no, my son, your brother is alive. I mean, even just to listen. He says this. He says, my son, you're here with me always. This is the father's voice. He says, my son, he claims him. So you're here with me always. He says, everything I have is yours. Yet now we must celebrate and rejoice because our son, my son, is dead now. He's alive. He's lost, and now he's found. Imagine that. The older son's speech was my value lies in not being a problem, that all you care about is my service. What he gets to hear is the father saying, oh, I wasn't trying to burden you. I was trusting you with all this work that we did together here on this farm. Like, I wasn't trying to put a weight on you. I was including you. And even when he says, but we must rejoice, he didn't mean, like the generic we, like all of us. He's like, no, you and me, we have to rejoice. Why? Because we're the only two who can welcome him back. When Jesus is speaking to those groups of people talking to the scribes and Pharisees who resent the fact that God loves tax collectors and sinners. He's telling them, listen, you and I, you've been good church kids. You've been doing this your whole life. That's why you and I have to be the ones to rejoice when those who have failed want to come home again. The Father says, I wasn't trying to burden you. I was trusting you. That's the lens, and that's the title. And that's what happens in the Gospel today. As Jesus goes up this high mountain, what happens? There's Moses and Elijah, but then there's the Father's voice that says those powerful words, those words that claim him. This is my beloved Son, with whom I'm well pleased. Why? Because all that's going to happen after this. Jesus is going to go to Jerusalem. He'll be betrayed, he'll be denied, he'll be arrested, he'll be condemned, he'll be killed, he'll be crucified. All of that. The Father is saying, I need you to see this through the lens of the fact that you're claimed. If resentment marks our speech, then resentment writes our title. So what we have to do is we have to tell the Father our speech, and then, in silence, listen to his voice. And the Father's voice is clear enough and the Father's voice is strong enough to let you know and to let me know that we've been claimed, to tell him our honest speech. And they'll then hear his true words, words that are powerful enough to undo resentment and to rewrite the title of our autobiography.