9/7/25 Two Questions

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 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.

0:36 Chapter 14, verses 25 through verse 33.

0:58 cannot be my disciple. Which of you, wishing to construct a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers should laugh at him and say, this one began to build, but did not have the resources to finish. Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with 10,000 troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with 20,000 troops. But if not, while he is still far away, he was sent a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, any one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple. The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. Let's have a seat.

1:46 So you may not know this, but tomorrow is Monday Night Football, and in Minnesota, That means the Vikings are playing the Bears. And I have to tell you this right now, right away. I hope they win. I hope they win. I hope the Vikings win. Very truly. Because I would say this. I am, when it comes to the Vikings, I am a diehard, dedicated Fairweather fan. Like 100%. Like I'm, if the Vikings are winning, I am like, go Vikes, Skull Vikes, let's go. If they're not winning, if they're losing, I'm like, yeah, I don't care. They're dead to me. And some people hear that. I don't know if I've ever shared this with you before, but some people hear that sometimes and they are like, well, no, you gotta be faithful. Like you gotta be true to your team. You gotta be faithful to your team. And I'll say, yeah, I agree and I am. I'm as, here's what I say. I'm as faithful to them as they are to us. So because if someone pays them more money to go wear their uniforms and play for them, they'll do it.

2:44 And so I'm the same way. If they win, go. Again, school bikes. And if they lose, they're dead to me. I don't care. And I would say this. I am a fan. I'm a Fairweather fan, but I'm still a fan. And truly, I hope the Vikings win. I hope they take it all. Maybe you heard it here first. They took the whole thing. I'm a fan. I hope the Vikings win. And it cost me nothing.

3:13 Completely. I hope they win. I'm a fan. It cost me nothing. And therefore, my being a fan is kind of worth nothing. I think it's just really when it comes down to it. Because why? Because whenever there's a valuable thing, like anything a person wants, anything you want, from a vehicle to a vacation, from a diploma, a student's want a degree, to dental work, whenever there's something that you want, we always ask two questions. And the first question is, how much does it cost? And the second question is, can I afford it? That's it. Whenever there's something that we actually want, something valuable, we ask those two questions. How much does it cost? And can I afford it? And again, this is true for anything, anything we value in the gospel today. This is from Luke chapter 14. We heard this gospel. And the context is this.

4:05 The context is all the way up until now, even in chapter 14, Jesus is doing, he's doing massive miracles, right? He's giving these incredible sermons. He's giving these incredible parables. And again, he's healing people. He's raised people from the dead already. And it says this very first line in today's gospel says, great crowds were following Jesus. He has tons of fans. Jesus has tons of fans. But he's on his way to Jerusalem. I'm guessing that these great crowds, I'm guessing that people who have seen these miracles, heard this great teaching, they think here's the Messiah, that he's going to Jerusalem because he's going to get crowned king. But Jesus knows that he's going to Jerusalem to suffer, to pick up his cross, and to die. And to the great crowds following him, he says these words today. These are among the hardest words of Jesus.

4:57 But he says, he says, If anyone comes to me without heeding father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. So what's Jesus trying to do here? A, he's not trying to drive people away from him. He's actually doing the opposite. He's trying to invite them closer because what he's trying to say is, if you want more, I know you're a fan. I know you like what I got. If you want more, if you want me, if you want to actually have a new kind of relationship with me, if you don't just want to be a fan, but you want to be a disciple, this is what it costs. Whenever there's something valuable, remember? We asked that first question. How much does it cost? Because here's Jesus. He has fans. he wants something closer. Another way to say it is he has a bunch of believers. He has people who have seen his power. They've seen his wisdom. They've experienced his grace and they believe him. They believe in him. Another way to say it is they have a certain kind of faith. You know, there's one definition of faith that simply says this. Faith is what you believe. I want to talk about my faith. Here's what I believe. And that's good, right? We have a creed. In a few moments, we're going to recite the creed.

6:12 This is kind of what we believe. It's great. It's really important. It's very valuable to have faith like that. but if faith is just what I believe, then it's relatively powerless. Now, you probably know this already, but the Bible actually talks about people who have this kind of faith. Later on, there's a man named James who writes the letter of James. And at one point in James chapter 2, he says this. He says, Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is worthless. It's dead, he says. Faith of it, it's just like, here's what I believe. That's great, but if it doesn't have works, it's dead. He goes on to say, he says, you believe God is one you do well but it's like that sense of he's saying hey you believe that Jesus is God great good job you want a cookie I mean that's like well congratulations I'm glad you believe this thing that is true but then he goes on his very next line says okay you believe God is one you do well even the demons believe that and tremble imagine that here's here's St.

7:16 James who is saying that okay you have the faith you believe that this is true that is wonderful if you don't do anything with it you're now at the level of demon in fact earlier on in Luke's gospel I think Luke chapter 4 at one point Jesus shows up there's people who are possessed by demons and the demons cry out we know who you are you're the holy one of God and Jesus tells them to be quiet because they knew who we know who he is now the demons know who he is they believe in him they believe in the in the creed that here is Jesus who is fully God and fully man they know that to be true and it does absolutely nothing for them so here we could be this place where we say no i believe the creed every word of the creed i believe it's true we would say like saint james congratulations you're now at the level of demon well maybe i would say like that we say okay great congratulations now you're at the level of fan and there's a lot of fans of jesus there's a lot of people a lot of a lot of us who say this we say um i believe god exists I believe Jesus is God.

8:16 And that doesn't even touch a decision one time in our week. It's what John Paul II and Pope Benedict, they both called it. They called it practical atheism. You know, the actual number of percentage of atheists in this country is relatively low. But the number of people who say they believe in God, they say they're theists. John Paul II and Pope Benedict both said they can believe that, but if they don't live like it, for all intents and purposes, they're atheists. They're practical atheists. Because of their fans, because of this, Jesus invites the people listening to him, and he invites us closer. He says, okay, but if you want to be my disciple, like, what does that mean? That means if you want me to be a rabbi, You know, it's just fascinating. Maybe you've heard this before, but I think it's worth repeating.

9:11 A disciple wasn't just a student of a rabbi. They were that. Of course, they listened to the rabbi's teaching and they'd be able to like understand what the rabbis thought. But if you were a disciple, you would actually follow your rabbi from the moment he woke up until the moment he went to sleep. And you would listen and you would watch him and you would follow him and you would actually would live life with the rabbi. In fact, they said that you should follow your rabbi so closely that at the end of the day, you'd be covered with the dust of your rabbi, right? The dust that was kicked up by his sandals that would be on you because the goal of being a disciple is to end up looking like your rabbi, to end up living like your rabbi. Now, in this case, Jesus is more than a rabbi. And he's inviting these people who are fans into a real relationship.

10:02 because one version of faith is, this is what I believe. The faith that actually does something is more. It's saying, okay, this is the one in whom I put my trust. The faith of a fan is, this is what I believe. But the faith of a disciple is, this is the one. Jesus is the one in whom I put my trust. We have to ask the question, how much does it cost? And Jesus says, okay, if you want to be my disciple, You have to hate your father and mother, your spouse and your children, your siblings, and even your own life. Now, let's clarify this. Hate in this context doesn't mean, hey, hate those people. No, the word is hate. I mean, it really means, it is that. But in this context, what Jesus is saying, in comparison to me, I should be first. Everyone else is second. Even your father and mother, I'm first.

10:55 Even your spouse is second. Even your children are second. I'm first and I have no rivals. Basically, Jesus is saying in comparison to me, it's as if you hate the no. Two notes on this. This is really, really important. If Jesus is just a holy person, like if Jesus is just another rabbi, if Jesus is just a prophet, then this is really bad teaching. This is, it's horrible teaching. If Jesus is just a man, if Jesus is just a normal human being, then several, there's this man, he's a Bible scholar. His name is Brent Petrie, Dr. Brent Petrie. Petrie, I really respect him a lot. He says this would be the equivalent of him. He teaches at a seminary. He said his students coming into class and on the first day saying, okay, if you want to pass my class, you have to love me more than your parents. You want to pass my class, you have to love me more than any other person in your life. And you'd hear that from your professor and think that is ridiculous. And it is unless, unless Jesus is who he says he is, right? Because Jesus, this is so important, you guys.

11:58 In Luke 14, what we just heard today, this is Jesus. directly, but very subtly, claiming to be God. He's very subtle, right? You could read it and never get that. But he is directly claiming to be God. Why? Because he's saying, okay, your mom and dad, yeah, I have a claim on them because I made them. Your spouse, your children, I have a claim on them because I made them. Your siblings, I have a claim on them because I made them. Your life, I have a claim on you because I made you. Therefore, out of all the things that I've made that are in your life that are good things, I have to be first. If Jesus isn't God, then this is a horrible, horrible teaching. Now, here's the next second note is this. Why these relationships, right? Why does Jesus point out parents and spouse and siblings and children? I think a couple reasons.

12:55 One is because all of these relationships are really powerful in our lives. like who has more influence over your life than your parents your siblings i think because all these relationships out of all there's none there's no relationships in our lives that are more important than these that jesus just named another reason is all these relationships are relationships that we're supposed to have for life and every one of these relationships are intrinsically good that they're actually meant to be gifts to us another way to say it is every one of these relationships, parents, spouse, children, siblings, these are the kind of relationships that are not easily compartmentalized. I'd say it like this. The stronger they are, the more they touch all of your decisions.

13:43 But these are the kind of relationships that the healthier they are, the more natural it is to allow them to be a factor in every aspect of your life. I mean, consider your parents. You know, to honor your parents is the fourth commandment. They've made the top 10. So kind of a big, big deal. And think about the reality that how the things that are taught or even just said in passing by your parents, they can just take a hold on us. Right? There are things that your parents probably said, maybe again, is even in passing while you're growing up, that you, that's how you see the world. So they have such an incredible amount of influence on how you see the world. our siblings. I would say this for me, maybe for you too. There's possibly no one has a larger influence on your development than your siblings. And no one has a larger influence, I think, on how you see yourself than your siblings, your spouse. That a person gets married and now every decision that you make is made through the lens of us. You get married and every decision, every choice you make is made through the lens of we or us.

14:54 And then your children as well. I mean, you know this, a child that changes everything. That you might do some of the same activities, might have some of the same hobbies, but you know this, that when you have a child, you do them differently because they factor into every single one of your choices. You know, people say that about their kids, like, oh, they're always there because they're always there. And these are forward kind of relationships that touch every aspect of our lives. and Jesus is saying, yeah, that needs to be me. So your parents, what they've said indirectly or directly, for good or for bad, become the guidelines for your life. Jesus is saying, yeah, that's my role now. My role is what I say gets to shape the way you see the world. Your siblings, your siblings, I have a shape the way you see yourself. And Jesus is saying, no, that's my role. Your spouse, every decision is made through the lens of us. And Jesus is saying, no, that's me now.

15:48 That every decision you make from now on, if you want to be my disciple, every decision you make is made through the lens of us, you and me. And then, of course, for children, we know that, again, a baby changes everything, that they're always there, that Christ's presence in our lives, our relationship with Christ, touches and changes everything. And, of course, above all, every one of these relationships is rooted in family, and family is supposed to be rooted in love. And Jesus is saying, okay, our relationship should be more rooted in love than every other relationship that you possibly could have. And how much does it cost? Well, there's no rivals. How much does it cost, he says, unless you're willing to pick up your cross and follow after me? He goes on to say, anyone who does not renounce all his possessions is not worthy of me.

16:40 basically everything I might be tempted to claim as mine is actually his so how much does it cost it costs nothing less than everything so here's the second question second question is can I afford it because that's I'm making now that's how much it costs okay can I afford it remember what he says he says before you build a tower who's not going to sit down calcet the cost make sure he has enough to finish or before you go into battle Make sure you have enough troops to win. We get to ask this question. Okay, God, you're saying it's going to cost everything.

17:17 Can I afford it? And we get to ask that question. You can ask that question of yourself. Oh my gosh. Okay. It's going to cost everything. Can I afford it? I have to tell you this right now. My answer, my answer to can I afford it is I don't know. That's, that's the truth. I don't know how many, I don't know how well I'll be. I mean, those human relationships Jesus talks about. I don't know how well I'll be able to love my parents. I imagine that if you get married, and before you get married, you're like, I don't know. Going into marriage, I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know the situations or circumstances. I don't know what's going to happen in the future. I don't know if I can afford it. Or having children. Like, I really don't know if I can afford it. Why? Because they change everything.

18:05 There's so much that's unknown. going into any of those relationships. And same thing when it comes to going into this relationship with Jesus. The unknown future, the unknown obstacles, the unknown heartbreaks. Think about all the potential unknown pains and also the unknown joys. Consider the unknown sweetness, the unknown triumphs, the unknown loves. can I afford it? I don't know. But there's something, something, when you hear about Jesus, that's like, I kind of have to try. So there's a man who's named Arthur Brooks. Arthur Brooks is a professor at Harvard, and he studies happiness, and he studies the science of happiness. He also studies, like, what is it to move forward? How do you move forward successfully in life, especially when you have some discernment to do? Recently, he talked about intuition. when he said about our gut, right?

19:03 And he said, actually, our gut is really the right hemisphere of our brain. Here's the quote. Especially when we're looking at how much does it cost? Okay, everything. Can I afford it? I don't know. Jesus is inviting me to take this next step because he wants me to get closer to him. Can I take this next step? Here's what Arthur Brooks had said. He said, we have intuition. He said, we have our, also known as our gut, also known as our data. He said, we have a lot of data because we've had a lot of experience in our lives. When anyone's facing a new opportunity or new threshold, whether that is marriage proposal or moving to a new city or having a new career, whatever it happens to be, there's three sensations, he says, there's three sensations you're going to feel based on the data inside the right hemisphere of your brain. That's your gut. And the three feelings when you're facing an opportunity are excitement, fear, and deadness. he says deadness is he said deadness is a sense of emptiness when you're looking at an opportunity and it makes you feel dead inside uh he goes on he says like i really should get married to that woman but it makes me feel dead inside to imagine myself 80 years old and with her that kind of thing you should experience experience looking at this at this invitation to move forward excitement fear and deadness and he said the right mix should be 80 excitement 20% fear and 0% deadness. Today, Jesus is extending an invitation to every single one of us to say, let me be first. How much does it cost? Everything. Can I afford it? I don't know.

20:41 But if you would look at Jesus, and not a caricature of Jesus, not a parody of Jesus, but actually the true face of Jesus, to hear the real voice of Jesus, to actually know the heart of God and the mystery of God, the goodness of God, and to look at that invitation, Oh my gosh, the God of the universe wants to have a relationship with me. He wants me to follow him so closely that I actually end up becoming like him. And if you're looking at this and saying, I don't know if I can afford it, but I look at my heart, my gut, and I have 80% excitement, 20% fear. I mean, he does say the cross is there. And 0% deadness. Then it's time to move.

21:20 Because being a fan is fine. It's attractive. It's easy. But I hate to use this example, but here it is. But being a fan of Jesus is a little bit like the attraction to porn or the attraction to video games. It makes no demands on a person.

21:44 You know, a person who's attracted to porn, you can imagine you're an incredible lover, and it costs you nothing. someone plays video games all the time you can imagine that you're the hero but for hours a day you risk nothing it demands nothing and ultimately it gives nothing and being a fan demands nothing porn demands nothing video games demand nothing and they end up giving nothing family it demands a lot family asks for a lot actually gives you a lot Jesus asks for everything and he gives you everything.

22:27 And this is the last thing. How much does it cost? Can I afford to finish? again my answer is I don't know I don't know if I can afford to finish but I do know this I can't afford not to start can I afford to win I don't know but I know this I can't afford to lose I can't afford not to try which is another way to say I can't afford not to love How do you start? just start.

23:11 There's a man, his name's Father Pedro Arrupe. He's founder of the, not founder of the Jesuits. He was the general, provincial general of the Jesuits for a while. And at one point, he gave this counsel, gave this prayer, gave this thing that was the template for how to live. And he said this, especially if you're wondering, how do I take that next step? How do I have that closeness with Jesus? When I ask those questions, What does it cost? Can I afford it? He said this, he said, Nothing is more practical than finding God. Nothing's more practical than falling in love in a quite absolute final way. What you're in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, and what breaks your heart. and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

24:08 So fall in love. Stay in love. And it will decide everything. That's what Jesus is inviting us today. Not to hate, but to love. So we have to ask once again, if that's what he's inviting us into, how much does it cost? Can I afford it? Thank you.