← The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast
The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast
Responding to my Conversation with Kim Zember on Same Sex Attraction
00:06:44
"Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” Luke 12:51-53 Fr. Mike Schmitz shares how applicable these Bible verses are to us today. While addressing the controversy around his interview with Kim Zember, Fr. Mike also highlights the dangers of creating our own "version of Jesus" and how when we do that, division becomes easier and easier. In what ways have you been tempted to create a version of Jesus that fits your own preferences?
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My opinion is worth zero. I just want to think with the mind of Christ. I just want to think with the mind of the church. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is Ascension Presents. So when I was growing up, there was a teaching that Jesus says in the Gospels that always just. It confused me. Do you think that the Son of Man that himself, right, has come to bring peace? He says, no, I've not come to bring peace. I've come to bring the sword. He said, from now on, families of five will be divided two against three and three against two. He said, from now on, a father will be divided against son, and mother against daughter and mother in law against daughter in law. Jesus says that, no, I've come to bring division, not peace. And again, I remember thinking, like, what? I don't, I don't, I don't see that. I can't imagine that. I can't imagine a family being divided over those who follow Jesus and those who didn't follow Jesus. I imagine, I guess maybe it's my, you know, naivete as a kid, just saying, no, we all know that this is true. We all know that Jesus is the Lord. We all know that he founded a church. How could we ever find Jesus as the one who splits us? And yet, you know, you grow up and you realize that that is eminently possible. And in so many of our families, it's happening right now. Jesus is a cause of division. In fact, I remember reading it in my Bible, that was the subtitle of that little section, Jesus the cause of division. You know, and it's interesting. I've talked to people recently, or people maybe have talked to me online recently about, no, Jesus would bring everyone together. I was on a show with a woman named Kim Zember. So Kim has a show that talks about what it is to be same sex attracted, homosexual and Catholic, and choosing virtue, choosing chastity, and choosing to pursue the Lord Jesus rather than pursuing a homosexual lifestyle. And at one point, you know, there was a little clip, she asked me about something about attending a family member's wedding or attending a wedding, a same sex wedding, that kind of a thing. And she asked the question, is it possible or permissible for Catholics to attend a same sex wedding? And so I gave an answer. If you want to know more about the answer, you can check out another video of mine or you can listen to what I said with Kim. Here's two things. One is that like, well, that's Father Mike. That's your opinion. Like, I don't. That's not my opinion. This is like what the church teaches. No one needs to hear my opinion on anything. And so I guess even this, I'm not trying to give my opinion right now. I'm just trying to give a here's how I would say it kind of situation, right? So my opinion is worth zero. The thing that actually struck me as maybe heartbreaking was the number of people who reached out to me and they said or messaged me or something angrily or just confused and said, well, Jesus would never want you to not go to one of your kids wedding just because you disagreed with it. Jesus would never stand in the way of you supporting and celebrating your child. The Jesus I know would simply he, he would always embrace everyone. He'd always love them all. He would always bring them all together. He, he would never say, you would not attend your child's wedding. We can disagree. You don't. No one has to agree with me at all. But the part that I found heartbreaking was, oh, you're, you are, you're creating a new Jesus. Like you're creating your own version of Jesus. Because if someone's going to say like, no, Jesus would never, ever want you to not choose your family, well, this is the same Jesus who made it incredibly clear. He said, if anyone loves father or mother more than me, they're not worthy of me. If anyone loves son or daughter more than me, they're not worthy of me. If anyone loves brother or, you know, go expand spouse. He says, if you even live your very life more than me, then you're not worthy of me. You cannot be my disciple if you value your parents or your siblings or your children or your spouse or yourself more than me. And that part was so troubling and again, wasn't angry about it. It was just so heartbreaking was that these people were so confidently saying, I know what Jesus is like, and completely ignoring that Jesus himself had said, no, I'm a cause of division. And when it comes down to any conflict between loving family or those closest to you and loving me, Jesus is saying, I have to win every time. And so there are going to be some times when, okay, Jesus didn't bring us together. There are going to be some times when actually choosing love. Because Jesus is love, God is love. Choosing love will look more like closing a door or drawing a line. The big issue with this is not, I guess in my mind is not do you go to the wedding or not go to the wedding? Again, I shared what I shared. The big issue is how so many of us have our own flavor of Jesus. How many of us have our own version of Jesus? Instead of going to the Scriptures and not trying to read them in such a way that it agrees with us, but read the Scriptures and let the Church teach us who God is so we can learn who he is as he's revealed himself. This is St. Augustine. He said, if you believe what you like in the Gospels and reject what you don't like in the Gospels, it is not the Gospels you believe, but yourself. You guys, there's times I'll get ramped up about someone says something like, oh, no, that's wrong, or that's right, and we have to, okay, Lord Jesus, you have to correct me. I was thinking more like the world than, like, you. There's times when I get. I'm like, yeah, that, you know, someone's online and they're making a big point, and maybe they're being brash about it. Maybe they're being like, this is the thing. And I'm like, yeah, that's right. And then I have to stop and think, wait, is that. Is that when I know about Jesus? That's why I don't give my opinion. Because why? Because my opinion is worth zero. I just want to think with the mind of Christ. I just want to think with the mind of the church. And if I'm wrong, then I just need the Lord. I need his word. I need his church to correct me. Because I want to love God, but I want to love the true God. I want to love Jesus and follow him, but I want to follow the true Jesus, not my version of him. And I want that for you, too. Even if it means. Now there's a line. Even if it means reshaping our hearts and our minds and reshaping who we know God to be. It's so important, because my version of Jesus is not worth following, But the real Jesus is. Anyways, from all of us here at Ascension presents, my name is Father Mike. God bless.