05/03/26 The Next...: The Next Goodbye

0:01 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 and 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. And with your spirit. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John. Chapter 14, verses 1 through 12.

1:05 Where I am going, you know the way. Thomas said to him, Master, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, Master, show us the Father and that will be enough for us. Jesus said to him, And then I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do and will do greater ones than these because I am going to the Father.

2:12 The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. Wait till you have a seat. As I mentioned at the beginning of Mass, this is the season of goodbyes. And it's so strange. I don't know if you think about it much, but like it seems, I don't know if it seems like this to you, but it seems like it was only the season of hellos not too long ago. That some of the people maybe you're sitting next to are people that not too long ago you had no idea who they were. And now here you are sitting next to these people. Maybe you actually just met them today, but that's fine. But there's this thing of like, you know, there were greetings and there's goodbyes. And I think sometimes, obviously, we know the greetings. We can recognize the greetings. I've never met someone. Now I'm meeting them for the first time. You can acknowledge that. But I think sometimes we have no, you know, never, often we don't have any idea when is the last goodbye. When's the last time you ever get a chance to say goodbye to someone?

3:06 I think oftentimes we miss it. Because we just don't know. There was a, I came online recently. I found this divorce attorney. I wasn't looking. I wasn't in the market. But he was talking about how he has this thing. He's like, you know, I want to treasure goodbyes so much. I want to treasure the people I love so much. He said he had this habit now that when he's embracing his kids to say goodbye, or somebody he loves, he always, as he's hugging them to say goodbye to them, he imagines that they've died. I'm sorry. He imagines they've died. Somebody's like, I'm shocked. He imagines they're dead and they've gone. He's lost them and he's hugging them. And then he realizes, what if they had died and they were here and I got to hug them one last time? And he just says it changes his perspective on that goodbye. Because he never wants to waste a goodbye. He never wants to miss a goodbye. So he has that sense of like, again, it changes his perspective. Because I think oftentimes we don't have a good perspective on greetings.

4:02 We don't necessarily have a good perspective on goodbyes. Even if those are the same thing. I don't know if you've ever met someone. You know like, okay, this is our first meeting. It's also going to be our last goodbye. last fall some of you know about this last fall i met a young man named eli eli was 15 years old last fall and lived in kentucky um he has a mom and dad his older sister named hadley and uh he's always had health problems his whole life but he had recently been battling cancer and when some people contacted me they told me that that eli only had maybe a couple weeks to live some of you again have been praying for eli he only had a couple weeks to live and it was we were contacted through Make-A-Wish. So his Make-A-Wish was that I would come down and spend some time with him. And I told my brother-in-law that. And he was like, really? Like, he could have chosen LeBron and he chose you? Like, I know, I didn't. Listen, he's a good kid.

4:54 And this day he was a smart kid. And so we went down to Kentucky and spent time with him, with his family. And we just talked about, you know, just a diagnosis. We talked about, like, what's it like to be 15 and literally facing death weeks away. We talked about decorating. He was confined to the house, and so his mom would always decorate for seasons. This was right before Halloween, and so he was looking around. He loves this. He said, I put the big inflatables in the backyard. He loves seeing those kind of things. Talked about his faith. Talked about just the people in his life he loved. Talked about bowling. He either wanted to grow up and become a priest or a professional bowler. And he looked at me and said, I think I can do both. And I was like, I think you're right because I always wanted to be a priest and Batman. And I'm working on one of them. he had gotten he had recently gotten to go to homecoming a girl had asked him to homecoming he had this smile like yeah she asked me and I was like that's so good it was so good but this man this young man 15 years old had this perspective on life it was that he had a perspective even that I'm thinking I'm meeting him for the first time and this is probably our first last and only goodbye because he had this perspective right and this there's something about perspective that changes how we live so the word perspective The etymology of perspective means to see through, literally means to see through.

6:08 And so our perspective either is a way of seeing things. It either can make things clearer if we have a good perspective or it can make things muddier, right? We don't see things well because our perspective has been warped. In fact, I remember there was an intro to a book once that was, the intro was written by a guy named Mark Hart. And Mark was describing how Michelangelo, when Michelangelo carved that massive sculpture of David, he found that block of marble. Now, a previous artist had gotten that block of marble and was gonna carve something else. and it actually kind of damaged the marble, but he was like, ah, it's flawed, so I'm just gonna discard it. So here, years later, Michelangelo finds this discarded block of marble and he sees in it David, he carves David, and people are marveling about this. They're saying, it's incredible. How'd you do it, Michelangelo? And he said, apparently he had this line. He said, I saw the angel in the marble and then I carved until I set him free. That even though everyone saw this flawed thing, he had perspective and his perspective was there's more to this block of marble than just the flaws.

7:02 there's something remarkable inside of it. Because perspective matters, right? So here we are, this perspective on life. Or maybe even this perspective on the next week. Because I think this next week, we're walking into this week, and we have, I imagine even right now, if I bring it up, you're like, don't bring it up. I was going to, for an hour, I was going to not have to worry about the next project or the next paper or the next presentation. All these things. This was my, like, this is my safe place. This is my zone of peace. But think about this. These are all these things. that are not, for a lot of us, they're not merely the task of the moment. Like the paper you have to study for or write the test you have to study for. They're not merely the task of the moment. I think sometimes our perspective changes them. So if we're disgusted with it all, our perspective can be like, ah, it doesn't even matter. Just get it done. Makes no difference. Or if they're like, no, our perspective might be this, no, I have to do well or else my life is ruined.

7:54 Like if I fail this, I'm a failure. If I bomb this, like I, everything is, our perspective changes so much. And it's so fascinating how quickly we can become worried or anxious or angry. It's so fascinating, I think, how our perspective can cause us to become troubled. you know in the gospel today what's jesus say his first words do not let your hearts be troubled and i wonder like okay how could he possibly tell us this or even more importantly how could we possibly do this living in our world especially with like jesus you don't understand all the stuff i have to get done you don't understand all the things that are not done that have to get done all the things i don't know i have to know all the things i have to do how could we possibly be not troubled. I think we do it by this.

8:46 We do it by having something that every Christian needs, but very few Christians actually have. Like we can actually have this. We can have it so our hearts are not troubled if we have this one thing that every Christian needs, but so few of us in this room, so few of us in this world, so few Christians actually have. And for a long time, I've been praying with this. I've been so convicted. In fact, in leading into this Sunday, I was like, hey, what's the last thing I get to share before some of you graduate? The last thing I have to say before some of you take off for the summer, and this one way forward, I think, is this. It's all about, before the next goodbye, it's all about perspective. And not just any perspective.

9:25 It's having a certain kind of perspective. It's what we call an eternal perspective. I'll say this. Without an eternal perspective, we will never know the meaning of life. And without an eternal perspective, we will never even know the meaning of this moment. That without any eternal perspective, we will possibly waste our entire lives on what doesn't matter. Or we definitely will. We will waste our lives missing what truly mattered. Without an eternal perspective, our hearts will never find rest. That if we don't have an eternal perspective, our hearts will be troubled.

10:01 So this woman, St. Teresa of Avila, she lived way back in the day. Her time was a troubled time. And her life was a troubled life. In fact, St. Teresa of Avila, who talks about this, that she became a Carmelite nun. She entered the monastery or the convent and she said, years later, she wrote about her life. She said that she spent the first 20 years of being a bride of Christ, 20 years of being a nun, being a lukewarm nun. She said she wasted the first 20 years of being, I'm like, dude, how can you be a lukewarm nun? You're a nun. But here's what was the issue. St. Teresa of Avila, she was really beautiful. She was really charming, super intelligent, loved people. And so she'd spend time in the convent, but there's this area called the parlor where guests could come and talk to nuns. And so she spent all of her time in the parlor because she's very charming and very beautiful and very intelligent. People wanted to spend time with her and she loved their attention. And she said that she's so divided. She's like, I was in the parlor talking to people. I was like, ah, I should be praying. And when she was praying, she's like, ah, I should be in the parlor.

10:53 And she lived life like we do. Or it's like, okay, I need to be doing this, but I want to be somewhere else. Or I'm doing something else. I'm like, I want to be somewhere else. And she was so divided. Until she had this moment of conversion. And the moment of conversion involved this, involved this having an eternal perspective, realizing that, okay, yes, these are the tasks they need to do in this moment and that moment, but I have to realize that I have an eternal perspective. And so she actually wrote these words. They're inside your bulletin. After she had this conversion, she was convicted, and she said, let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things are passing. God never changes.

11:28 Then once she had an eternal perspective, she was able to be at peace. Her hearts were no longer troubled. Why? Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. all things are passing God never changes and she was able to have this in general perspective because of the gospel today that when Jesus says let your hearts not be troubled he then goes on to tell us why our hearts cannot be troubled number one he says have faith in God have faith also in me basically he's saying you're not alone you're not on your own you don't have to figure this out on your own have faith in God have faith also in me basically he's pointing to the character of God the character of God is he's good and he loves you so number one you can have eternal perspective because you know who God is. He is good and he loves you. Second thing he says, in my father's house, there's many dwelling places. I'll come and take you to myself. Basically he's saying this, there's more to this life than just this life. Jesus says you can have an eternal perspective with these two things in mind.

12:25 The character of God. and our ultimate destiny. It's not just saying like, hey, life is short. It's saying, no, no, no. Actually, this life leads to something. What it is is knowing this. This is not our home. No, this life matters. This world matters, but it's not our home. But so many of us, we actually, we get troubled. Why? Because we live as if this life is our home. We live as if this world is our home. I don't know if any of you have ever rented a car or driven a rental car, but I'll say this. Probably none of us have ever changed the oil on a rental car. None of us have ever bought furniture for a hotel room. Why? Because you're like, that's not my car. This is not my home. And the same thing is true with this world. No, it doesn't mean it doesn't matter. In fact, Christians have lived so differently. Actually, Christians live as if what we do in this world, even though it's not our home, we live like this matters. C.S. Lewis, years ago, he wrote this. He said, if you read history, you'll find that the Christians who did most for the present world were those who thought most of the next world.

13:23 He said, the apostles themselves who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who build up the Middle Ages, the English evangelicals who abolished the slave trade, all of them left their mark on earth precisely because their minds were occupied with heaven. It's since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they've become so ineffective in this one. Aim at heaven, and you'll get earth thrown in. Aim at earth, and you'll get neither. this is not our home, and yet this life matters. And because this life matters, everything you do matters. There's a guy, he's a pastor named Randy Alcorn. Randy Alcorn wrote this once. He said, with eternity in view, meaning you have an eternal perspective, nearly any honest activity, whether building a shed or driving a bus or pruning trees or changing diapers or caring for a patient, can become an investment in God's kingdom. Everything we do matters. In fact, I came across a story recently of a man who, you know, an old story of a man who stumbled upon people building a cathedral, building a massive church.

14:22 As he's watching them do all this work, he saw this one individual who had this big beam that was going to be in the rafters. And he saw that this man was carving this intricate pattern of birds in the rafters. And he's looking, wait, he's asked the man, where is this going to go? He said, way up there in the rafters. And he said, well, why are you spending so much time then? Why are you spending so much time carving this beautiful art into this beam that no one will see? and the man looked at him and said oh no it's true that no one standing on the ground will look up and see what I'm doing right now but God sees it and because of that it matters and that's the same same thing is true for everything you do next week this week like probably no one will you write this paper pour your heart into this paper all your time into this project all your time into this test and you'll get a grade and move on and you'll forget it.

15:15 You might keep it in a binder until 20 years later and then you'll go through it like, why do I still have this thing? I have no idea. And yet it matters. No one will ever see this paper. No one will ever hear this. No one is going to look back in 20 years and say, yeah, there was a presentation given in one of my classes in 2026. I just changed my life. That will probably never happen. But what? God sees it. Therefore what? It matters. The question we get to ask is, when I'm face-to-face with Jesus at the end of my life, what do I want to be glad I chose today? when it's all over and I'm face to face with Jesus, what do I want to be glad that I chose today? You know, I've been really, guys, I've been wrestling with this, that notion of eternal perspective. It's been so convicting in my life. I'm like, okay, yeah, Lord, I want this eternal perspective. And yet I keep finding myself getting worried and I keep finding myself getting stressed. And I might even get, I don't know, a little short. There's a sense of, I'm like, why am I getting so anxious?

16:09 Why am I still getting so stressed when there's work to do, when I have an eternal perspective. And so there's this one question that whenever I find myself going off the edge, going off the rails and getting all worried, in this one question, this one line from the same saint, St. Teresa of Avila, whenever I find myself getting worried or getting worked up, I just ask this question that St. Teresa of Avila had asked and it's also in your bulletin. And the question is, what is this in light of eternity? like whatever's going on, what is this in light of eternity? Here's Jesus. Do not let your hearts be troubled. When Jesus said, do not let your hearts be troubled, what he's saying is, don't let your hearts be troubled by anything. Why? Because you know that God is good and you know there's more to this life than just this life. You know that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. So this, whatever this is, whatever you got going on in your life, what is this in light of eternity?

17:05 Because there's some things, There are some things that mean less in light of eternity. Insults. Someone's insulted you. That means less in light of eternity. Failures. Other people's opinion means less in light of eternity. Our resentments. Aging means less in light of eternity. Our appearance means less in light of eternity. Our worries. Whatever you're worried about. Even death. to look at death and say, okay, but what is this in light of eternity? There's other things that mean more in light of eternity. There's some things that take on greater meaning. Joy. What does that mean in light of eternity? Real, think about it, real laughter. What is this in light of eternity? It means so much more. Family.

17:50 Time. Your prayer. Honest work. What does that mean in light of eternity? Speaking the truth. doing the difficult right thing, offering grace to someone, or even suffering. What is this in light of eternity? You know, St. Paul says this. He says, all of this suffering is momentary light affliction compared with the weight of glory to be revealed in us. This is one of those things that in light of eternity, some things get minimized and some things get maximized. So years ago, I have a brother priest in the diocese. He was living in Duluth. He had gone down to a Vikings game in the Twin Cities. and the Vikings won. So it was a miracle that day. And he had gone to the Vikings game with friends, but he was driving back to Duluth by himself. He's sharing this. He said, as I was driving back to town, he's like, I kept calling people. I just kept calling my family, my friends.

18:43 He said, because I just, I was so pumped that they won. It was such a great game. I was so excited. I was so joyful. I needed to call someone and share it with them. And he said this line that just, I was like, man, that's amazing. He said, because joy shared is joy multiplied. Then he went on to say, and grief shared is grief divided. and there's something true when it comes to eternal perspective as well when I have an eternal perspective to have an eternal perspective it amplifies joy you're like oh my gosh God all of this and more an eternal perspective also divides grief we say okay God this is not all there is and I'm not alone eternal perspective divides grief you know here's the thing as Christians we still grieve as Christians when we lose when we have to say goodbye when we we still mourn and this is something so good about this what do we mourn?

19:38 we mourn what we've lost right? we actually get to feel the emptiness if you've ever lost someone you get to we get to as Christians we get to feel the ache we get to feel the void of a world where that person isn't there anymore we get to actually feel the pain of I will never see their face again and I will never hear their voice again. And I think to feel that pain, it honors the fact that they existed. To feel that pain honors the fact that you've loved them. So I'd say this. I'd say we are right to mourn what we're missing.

20:08 But we're wrong to mourn what they're missing. Yeah, it's right that we mourn what we're missing, but it's wrong to mourn what they... Years ago, I heard this pastor talk about this. He said that whenever he's at a funeral or whenever he's at the hospital and someone passes away and he sees that person who has died, there's three words that come to his mind. And the three words are, now they know. here they were living in this world, living in the world just like us. And he looks at them and they've passed on and he's like, oh my gosh, now they know. Now they know the truth. Now they know God. Now they know what it is to stand before God, whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. But now they know. That's why Jesus says, have faith in me. He says, I'm the way, the truth, and life.

21:00 In my Father's house, there's many dwelling places. I will come back and take you to myself. Every person we've ever lost, every person who's ever died, we can look and say, oh my goodness, Lord, now they know. This is the last thing. It's the last fall. Talking to Eli. At one point, he looked in, I mean, he kind of had this smile on his face, and he's like, if you want, you know, you can mention me in one of your talks or homilies. That's if you want. And he's like, and he said, not for like a shout out, but he said, if you think that my story will help people. He said, if you think it'll give them hope, he thought, here's a 15-year-old, that people would hear about this, that people would hear about his sufferings or hear about his illness or hear about how all the way through he chose to trust Jesus, that all the way through he chose faith, he chose joy, and he chose joy regardless of the outcome.

22:01 Knowing that, yeah, probably end up dying, he still chose the Lord. He said, if you just want to mention me, feel free. I didn't get the chance to mention Eli before March 17th St. Patrick's Day which is Eli's eternal birthday. March 17th was the day that he passed from this world into the next.

22:34 And his family, I just mourn with his family and his, again, his sister and mom and dad and their loss is real. Obviously, it's real. His mom wrote about this. She actually wrote that easily I would have traded spots with him. Easily his older sister would have traded spots with him. My father would have traded spots with him. they loved him so much. She actually wrote this on his Caring Bridge. She said, she said, as parents, our most important calling is to lead our children to heaven.

23:08 So I'm going to pause on that for a second. As parents, our most important calling is to lead our children. In that case, they won. Like to really look at it like this. In that case, his mom and dad won. They got their 15-year-old to heaven. They helped make their 15-year-old a saint. She went on, she said, this has always been my prayer that we would all be reunited there one day. And I believe with everything in me that Eli ran his race beautifully and faithfully. He did everything he could here on earth to get to heaven. And now I just pray for the grace to follow his example and to live in a way that leads me back to him.

23:46 She said, I used to say, I used to hear people say I'm one day closer to being with him in heaven. I never understood it, but now I do. And now he knows. it's amazing, now he knows and so we grieve with this family, right? we can have this heart that breaks for them but here's the thing, we can't actually grieve for Eli what would he be grieving? well, he was only 16 what is he missing? well, he never got to drive okay, he's in heaven he never got to graduate high school okay, he's in heaven he never got to go off to college or work for 45 years until he could retire at 65 Yeah, and he's in heaven. Like, this is the thing we say, like, oh my gosh, his life was cut short. Sure, but we cannot grieve. Why would we grieve that unless we didn't have an eternal perspective? Here's the reality.

24:40 Now, right now, he knows. and someday we will too. but now, now we have to live on this earth with an eternal perspective. Now, whatever we're going through, we get to ask, what is this in light of eternity?

25:03 Now, we get to hear Jesus tell us, do not let your hearts...