1/18/26 Mistaken Identity

1:34 so like the beginning of mass i asked the question about the mistaken identity have you ever had that i mean i imagine we all have where you walk up to somebody and is like they are not as a kid i remember like being in a grocery store and walking up to this woman and grabbing her hand and then she looks down at me and i look up and realize you are not my mother why do you have my mom's hand right now because and it doesn't end i think sometimes it doesn't end as kids i mean i remember in college, I went to college with my older brother, all four years we were in the same school, and at one point, he kind of, he would always send me on errands, like if he forgot something, or he needed something, he'd just send me, because I'm the little brother, and so at one point, I remember, it was this, like across campus, I had to get this thing for him, so I went across, I'm a good brother, I did it, went across campus, got the thing, come back, and I walked up behind this guy, and to hand him this thing, and I walked up behind him, and I was like, you're an idiot, and the guy who turned around was not my brother.

2:33 I was like, I'm sorry. I have no idea whether you're an idiot or not. But we have those things. So I thought, I did this thing where like, I know I'm not alone. I know I'm not the only one that had this experience and so I took to this thing called the internet to see if I'm alone and I came across, like here's four examples of people doing the same thing. I just thought they were funny and I couldn't. Here's the first one. Some woman wrote in, she said, we were at a funeral for a distant relative and my sister was talking to one of our cousins and asked our cousin, so, how's your mom doing? Not well, apparently. It was her funeral.

3:10 Another one, I know we have a lot of nursing students. Here's this woman wrote in. She says, I was a first year nurse. I was talking to a patient who had a bunch of flowers delivered to his room and I said, oh my gosh, I wish I could have some of those at home but everything I touch dies. The patient looks at her and she's like, no, no, no, plants, not people, plants. Another one, it was someone mistexted this guy. He texted his boss, I love you, my cute, pretty little princess. It was for his wife. Anyways, the boss responded with, I love you too, sweetheart.

3:44 This man was dating this one woman and going on a date with her, he texted her, Hey, Olivia, I'm out front. Her name was Natalie. And she never came out. That was their last date. And I just, it was one of those situations, right, where we just have the sense of like, either I say the wrong thing at the wrong time, or I say the wrong thing to the wrong person.

4:07 Because it matters who we're talking to. I think a lot of times it matters who we're talking to. And so the question of mistaken identity, when we're talking, who are you talking to? More specifically, when we're here, who are we talking to? like when we come to mass like right now like here right now in prayer when I when you and I go into our room when we pray when we're here when we're in our chapel when we pray the question is who who are we talking to another way to ask it is what is the image of God that drives our prayer what's the image of God that that guides our prayer because here's the reality because who we're talking to determines how we talk to them. And who I imagine God to be determines how I talk to him. So if you remember last weekend, the gospel was just before this scene with John the Baptist, right? Jesus approaches John the Baptist asking John the Baptist to baptize him. And what John says is, John says, no, I should be baptized by you. I shouldn't be baptizing you. And I highlighted this last week if you were with us, that oftentimes that's how we talk to God. Sometimes we talk to God as if we're God's counselors. No, no, no, God. This is where you've got it all wrong. We'd sometimes talk to God as if we're his advisors. Sometimes we talk to God in prayer as if it was our job to advise God, where we say things like, okay, God, here, maybe this sounds like your prayer.

5:38 Okay, God, here's what you need to do. When we're going to prayer, we say, okay, God, this is how things need to turn out. Sometimes we talk to God like this. We say, okay, God, God, you need me to tell you how to be God. how many times do we approach God and we talk to him like that as if he needs us to tell him how to be God in that case again that would be once again a case of mistaken identity of course God does want us to come with him our come to him with our needs God does want us to come to him with our concerns and our prayers our petitions I mean scripture says again and again, I mean, Psalm 62. Here's Psalm 62. There's a line. It says, trust him at all times. Pour out your hearts before him. So yes, of course God wants us to bring up our hearts.

6:33 Proverbs, Proverbs 23 says, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways. God wants us to make our petitions. St. Paul, writing to the Philippians, chapter 4, he said this. He said, have no anxiety at all, but in all things, in prayer and petition with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. So it's not as if God doesn't want us to bring our hearts to him, but it's the question is, when I bring my heart, when I bring my cares, when I bring my concerns, when I bring these petitions and prayers to God, who do I think I'm talking to?

7:05 So here's a question. This is like a legit question. In prayer, in mass, Who are you talking to? like I said those are legit questions so like who are you talking to God great great God okay the answer is God so if you said God you get a C I mean it's passing it's it's average because you're accurate it's right but it's is that all we come to prayer when we come to mass are we just like talking to God I have a friend his name is David David Ladding. David Ladding pointed this out recently. He said, if you consider Islam, in Islam Allah has 99 names. There's 99 different names for Allah in Islam and those names are powerful and they are majestic. Those names are impressive. Those names are mighty. All of those names for Allah are about his greatness, his power.

8:10 But there's one name in those 99 names that is notably missing. And it's the name that we use again and again and again in every Mass. And it's the name Father. It doesn't exist when it comes to God in Islam. It does not exist. And yet here in Mass, I don't know if you know this, but almost all of our prayers, all throughout the whole Mass, except for like five times, we are talking to God our Father.

8:41 But the question again, who are we talking to? So David gave this example. He said, imagine two fathers, two different fathers. And one, this father is impressive. This father is important. This father is powerful. And this father comes home. And he walks through the door. And his kids, his kids are there. Kids in the family, they stand at attention because the father's home right now. And they're ready to go. Because if the father gives them a direction, they need to act right now. The father doesn't look at his kids. Doesn't acknowledge them. If he needs them to do anything, he tells someone else to tell them. When it comes time for supper, the father eats in the dining room. The kids eat in the kitchen.

9:26 It's time for bed. The father goes to his room. Kids drift off wherever. Because the father's important. He's powerful. He's mighty. He needs to sleep because the next day he needs to go to work. That's one image of one father. He said, but there's another image of the father. Imagine this father. This father where the moment the kids hear the crunch of the gravel in the driveway under their father's tires, they race outside competing to see who's the first one to jump into his arms. The father can't even get out of the car because they're grabbing onto his legs. And he's playing with them. He's carrying them in the house. They're all just climbing on top of him. they get in the house and this is one of the things that David points out he says he gets in the house they get in the house and the father just gets down on his hands and knees and just plays with his kids he rejoiced that he's there and he plays.

10:20 David, he said it like this, I thought it was so good. He says, he gets down on the ground and he plays dinosaurs with him. And he sits on the floor in front of the TV and they eat pizza and watch Zootopia 2. And the father carries him up to bed and he tucks him in and he reads to them until they fall asleep.

10:40 And he just stays there and he watches them as they fall asleep. No, he is also powerful. He's also important. He's also impressive. but he's also dad. these are the two images the image in christianity is a is a father in the image in islam is a master in fact this isn't a parody uh i have a friend named scott hahn scott you might know scott hahn scott hahn was a presbyterian pastor became catholic at one point scott hahn was having a debate with the muslim scholar and they were going to debate on some topic of catholicism in islam and they met at like a denny's to kind of go over their their discussion points and at one point as they're meeting and being friendly, Dr. Hahn, he said, well, we know that, you know, God the Father created in the, Muslim man said, stop. Do not refer to Allah as Father. Allah is not Father. Okay, I'm sorry. Kept talking, kept talking. Well, you know, Jesus and God the Son, it's like, stop. Jesus is not the Son. Allah is not Father. Jesus is not the Son. Okay, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be offensive. Third time, Scott Hahn said something along the lines of, well, you know us as children of God? And the Muslim man said, stop. You must not say this. Allah is not father. We are not his children. Allah is master. We are his slaves.

12:02 and he called off the debate because that's the vision this is the massive distinction in Islam Allah is not father Allah is master in Islam we are not his children we are his servants we are his slaves in fact I have a youth minister in the diocese she was deployed to Afghanistan a number of years ago and she was giving a talk and at one point she said well as children of God and her translator stopped her right there and said, you will not give the rest of your talk because you will not refer to human beings as Allah's children. We are not his children. We are his slaves. And yet, what did we hear in the second reading today? What we heard in the second reading is St. Paul saying, here's God, our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. We heard in the gospel today, here is Paul who says, I've seen him and I know that he is the only beloved son of God.

12:55 Now, I want to say this quick, clearly. This is not a criticism of Muslims. Muslims, they're faithful. If you're a faithful Muslim, that means you pray five times a day. Five times a day, every day, you pray. But here's this, imagine. Again, that dedication is admirable. That consistency is impressive. But imagine this. Imagine praying five times a day, every day, to God, your master. Imagine every time you approached God, you approach him as his slave. Every prayer you utter is uttered as a slave to a master.

13:42 Again, that is not a criticism. It's just a description. actually it is a criticism but it's not a criticism of anyone out there it's a criticism of us in here because here's what I think I think that's how many of us pray how many of us have a case of mistaken identity when it comes to God we come to mass and we come to mass and we pray to God the master we come to mass and we pray as God's slaves as opposed to the reality that Jesus reveals, which is God is our Father.

14:23 And Jesus has made it possible for us to be his children. We have a case of mistaken identity. Imagine how painful that would be. Every time you prayed, was you were praying to your master and missing out on the incredible truth. You know, the last three weeks, we've been celebrating Christmas up to last weekend. And what's Christmas? Christmas is, right, the incarnation of God. And what is the incarnation of God other than here's God with all his divinity, all his power, all his might, who unites his divinity with our humanity to do what? I think to play. Have you ever imagined this? Imagine the incarnation of Jesus. God on this earth is God who just wants to come near his kids and play. Here's a question. How many of you know, how long did Jesus live upon this earth as a human?

15:09 33 years. Okay, good, better. So up to a B. how many of those years those 33 years did jesus spend in public ministry three okay b plus great that means that means how many of those years did jesus spend doing virtually nothing that we know about in public math majors 30 right so okay a minus so you're improving here's the question what did he do for those 30 years how he worked he lived with his family. He lived in Nazareth. All these things. I would say this. I submit this. For those 30 years, here's what Jesus was doing. The all-powerful God played. Of course, he worked. He served. All those things. But he just, here's God who just wanted to be near his kids. to imagine those 30 years of Jesus's life on earth of just I can't believe I get to be this close to my kids that real play but also that real love in the midst of the whole thing right because let's go back to Christmas how amazing is this that here's the angels singing to the shepherds at night I mean that's that's pretty fun that's play a little disco concert in the middle of the night for the shepherds the wise men come to Jesus and they bring him these golds these presents, gold, frankincense, and okay, you got an A now myrrh, what's myrrh?

16:38 myrrh, did you notice? myrrh is the oil you'd put on a dead body to prepare it for burial an amazing gift to give a new mom why because here's this symbolism this foreshadowing that here is this God who's come down to us to play but also to love to the point of death and even in the gospel today when John the Baptist sees Jesus he says behold the lamb of God we hear lamb we think innocent we hear lamb we think light and fluffy we hear lamb and we think oh Jesus tender meek and mild no John said behold the lamb because that meant lamb means sacrifice that's the one who's going to give of himself why because He came here to play, but he also came here to love to the point of emptying himself out. He's going to win our souls by offering himself. He's going to win our bodies by offering his own.

17:28 And he's going to win our hearts by revealing us his heart. There's a story in the Gospels I love. It's in John chapter 11. In John chapter 11, it's three friends of Jesus. There's Mary and Martha and their brother. back down to a B. Okay, it's okay. Lazarus, his name's Lazarus, right? So the story is this, that Mary and Martha send word to Jesus and they say, the one you love, your friend, Lazarus, is dying. He's sick. Jesus delays. He finally gets there. Lazarus has been dead for four days.

18:02 And Martha comes out to meet him. She's brokenhearted. And Mary goes out to meet her and her heart's broken. And then Jesus says, take me to the tomb. And he gets to the tomb and he sees his friend Martha weeping. And he sees his friend Mary weeping. And he sees the other people weeping. and he's standing in front of the tomb of his friend Lazarus. And what happens? It's the shortest line in the entire Bible. It's only two words. Okay, you can redeem yourself. What are the two words? That's the shortest verse in the entire Bible. Go for it. Back to an A. Well done. Jesus wept. which if you think about it, it's kind of ridiculous.

18:38 Imagine, here's Jesus, who's like, guys, just calm down. I mean, this life is good and everything, but heaven is awesome, like I've been there. He could dismiss it. Or he could even say, guys, calm down. In like three minutes, I'm going to raise him from the dead. It's going to be fine, stop trying. But he doesn't. what does he do? here is the God who is powerful and mighty and impressive and invulnerable and he lets what breaks our hearts break his heart when it says Jesus wept I think too often we do this I think too often we say well God's not going to be interested not moved by the things that move me the things that interest me he's not going to be he's not going to care about the things I care about and yet we have this proof that no, here's the God who's powerful but plays.

19:34 Here's the God who loves us and listens. Here's the God who lets what breaks our heart break his heart. That's who we're talking to when we pray. That's who we're talking to at this mass. here's the question if that's who we're talking to how are we talking to him because who we're talking to determines how we talk to them I think sometimes we have this sometimes we have this notion that well God's all powerful so I don't know just come to him and like beg or God's God knows everything have you ever had this thing where you're like okay well God knows everything so I don't need to bring him anything Like God knows everything, so I don't need to tell him anything. I'll talk to people who are like, okay, just pour out your heart to the Lord. And they're like, he already knows.

20:25 No, bring your cares to him. Well, he already knows. There was this priest out of South Dakota who once shared this image with me that I thought was so helpful when it came to why would we talk or how do we talk to a God who already knows? He said, he said this. Imagine, here's the kid of a, here's a father and his son. and the dad's best friend is the son's basketball coach. At one point, there's an away game and the dad can't go. So the son's in the game. The last two minutes of the game, the son just lights it up, like shoots the daylights out of the thing. Great defense, incredible comeback, amazing game. They win the game. They're on the bus ride back home and the son is sitting there behind the coach, his dad's best friend, and he hears his coach on the phone with his dad as his coach is giving the play-by-play. He did this and then this and then this. And they finally get home and he walks into the kitchen and dad says, oh my gosh, tell me all about the game.

21:19 Now, if that son is like us, what would we say? It was fine. Say, no, no, tell me, tell me, how did it go? And then we'd say this, we'd say, well, you already know. The coach already told you all of it. Here's the thing, the dad doesn't want his son to tell him how the game went because he doesn't know. He wants his son to tell him how the game went

21:42 Because he wants to hear it from him. he wants to see like but how is it for you how is that in your heart that's whenever we pray we tell God we pour our hearts to him we're not telling God something he doesn't know we're giving him access to something he doesn't have we could ask the question especially for those of us who struggle telling God what's in our heart struggle telling God what our desires or fears or cares or concerns are we could ask the question how well would God know you if all he knew of you is what you told him in prayer How well have I shown in my heart this last thing? how well would God know you if all he knew of you was what you told him in prayer how much of your heart would he know how much of your heart would he have and also how much of his heart do you know because we we can't we can't keep having this case of mistaken identity we can't do it anymore you can't come before God and say okay God you're you're powerful you're mighty you're majestic but you you're not close no he is powerful but he plays and he is the father who is unlimited and yet he loves and he listens and in just a second we're going to stand in a second we're going to declare here's what I believe about God.

23:25 We're saying I believe in God the Father Almighty. And what does that mean? what does it mean for you to say no I know this I believe this I believe in God the father he's almighty but he's my dad And for the rest of this Mass, we're going to be talking not to God, our Master, as his slaves. We're going to be talking to God, our Father, as his children. So as we go back to prayer,