good evening everyone my name is Brett Perkins and I serve as the assistant director for sacramental preparation here in campus ministry it is so wonderful to see you all here this evening thank you on behalf of all of us in campus ministry on behalf of father Mike just for your presence here tonight it's going to be a wonderful evening of prayer and reflection and just an opportunity to reflect upon this great mystery of our faith the central mystery of our faith Jesus's presence with us here in the Eucharist so it's great to be able to be here with you thank you for choosing to come out here tonight on this Friday evening we noticed we have a very very full church for those of you who are in the back if you're interested and would mind like coming up here you're welcome in the chairs back behind me if there's not room there please feel free to come up and sit if you don't mind sitting on the floor up here in front of the front row on the left and on the right that would be great feel free to come on up you'll get a much better seat that way as father Pete mentioned if you're out there in the rows if you can scoot in toward the center as much as you can get cozy there that would be awesome also please be cognizant friends please be cognizant of this tonight we'll also have the opportunity for the sacrament of reconciliation for confessions to take place during adoration and so please be cognizant as you're kneeling in prayer of those mid pew who might want to get out or might need to come back okay so in the midst of your prayer just be cognizant of that since we're here in the Basilica also for those of you who aren't as familiar with the Basilica please yes come right along absolutely fill in where we can for those of you who aren't used to being here in the Basilica and if you need a restroom at any time this evening restrooms are located over here on the left-hand side just go out here left turn right and then left again and you'll be able to find the restrooms come on up y'all great to have you here thanks for coming after this evening's talk at 8 o'clock we're gonna move right in to exalt our time of Eucharistic Adoration with praise and worship at which father Mike will preside music will be provided by totus to us who's already with us up in the loft after exalt our student leaders will be back up to give a few words about our closing reception that will take place and they'll give you more information about where and when that will take place as well so now into a little bit of introduction since first hearing him speak a number of years ago at a focus conference as well as seeing him on YouTube and it on ascension presents it's been a personal dream of mine for us in campus ministry to bring father Mike Schmitz here to Notre Dame to speak to our student body professionally as the director of sacramental preparation in our CIA here at Notre Dame I've worked with numerous students over the years who have made the decision to become Catholic Christians or to take the next step in their Catholic faith after being inspired by Father Mike's videos and his presentations on a personal note my own devotion to Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist and my appreciation for the gift we have in the mass has been strengthened by this gifted preacher father Mike Schmitz is a priest of the Diocese of Duluth Minnesota he's the director of youth and young adult ministry for the diocese and he's chaplain for the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth he was ordained a priest in 2003 after attending the st. Paul seminary school of divinity at the University of st. Thomas know nationally for his inspiring Hamleys and consistent hilarity father Mike is quickly becoming a household name among Catholics in America and beyond father Mike provides podcasts of his weekly homilies on iTunes and on bulldog Catholic org he also appears in programs targeted toward youth and young adults for Ascension Press as well as regular short videos on ascension presents well we know he's primarily a bulldog fan we think just maybe he might be a little bit Irish as well so please join me in welcoming for the very first time here at Notre Dame father Mike Smith [Applause] thank you guys [Applause] yes that was I actually teared up during the introduction that rarely happens but I just um gosh thank you all for being here tonight um hike back there you all hear me okay this is okay okay I have a tendency sometimes when I get excited to speak a little quickly and to slur my words and I'm going to do that tonight because I already can tell that I just this is one of the things okay couple things to say before we start first thing is what I originally talking on the Brett with Brett about what we were gonna talk about tonight it was this this really clear message of like okay no what we need to do is we need to have we need to have a certain maturity when it comes to the faith we need to not just have children who um who can't have faith in like a green house like we can have faith when it has like a sunny skies but we need to be the kind of people who can have the kind of faith that can weather any kind of storm like that was like the the goals like that's what we need that's what we're gonna do and and then what happened was I've talked to a bunch of students from Notre Dame and I got a chance to visit with students at thing called stood the SLS 20 and I got a chance to talk with other students who are from Minnesota but go to Notre Dame and I said is that what you think Notre Dame students need and they said that's good everyone needs that but there's a deeper need there's something even more a more urgent and what they said was that the the the the topic that I would love talking about more than anything else this is what I'm gonna say tonight what I'm gonna share with you all tonight is something that if I was ever given the chance to ever and if anyone ever says father what do you want to talk about I'm like this this thing this is the more most important thing what I will tell you tonight is there's nothing more important that I could ever tell you ever and this this might be my one shot at Notre Dame I don't know if anyone will invite me back like this is this is this is it so because of that it's one let you know this is this is how important I think this tonight's message is secondly is I need to acknowledge the fact that none of you need to be here what I mean by that is you had a choice it may be maybe you need to be here like yeah I can't tell that but like but the real some of you you can tell oh no now they need this but what I do acknowledge the fact that no one is making any of you be here that means you chose to be here in spite of the fact that there are at least easily a couple dozen other places you could be right now and I just want to let you know that I don't take that for granted I don't take that for granted at all I'm just thank you I really believe this there's nothing we can give the Lord that he doesn't joyfully receive and note there's no sacrifice we can give him that he doesn't joyfully receive I mean can do something with it so again there are other things you need to be at right now like you need to be studying on a Friday because you go to Notre Dame or or you need to be relaxing on a Friday because you go to Notre Dame but the reality is each chose to be here and again God knows your name like he he he knows this he knows you and your choice to be here matters to him that make sense just your choice to be here matters to him it matters to me I'm somewhat signal s significant than the Lord but like hey also matters to me it's okay let's jump into this ow gosh move can I walk up here okay thank you I'm gonna stay connected to this cuz you're back there and it seems so lonely okay so when I was a kid when I was a high schooler I read the James Bond novels that or if you ever read any read we watched James Bond movies because they're awesome and we're Americans but um I read the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming and I wanted to be a spy I wanted to be I didn't want to be a spy I wanted to be the spy I want to be James Bond and so I remember reading at one point it described how James Bond started one of his days he was sleeping in a hotel because he's a spy of course he does and he wakes up and he did like to uh 100 pushups 100 sit-ups and I'm like okay that's what I got to do push-ups sit-ups okay got it check and then he had breakfast in his breakfast he had this room because he's a spy can't eat on a restaurant yeah he had his breakfast it was he had some kind of like soft-boiled egg which sounded kind of gross he had toast points I remember this so distinctly because I remember thinking like what are toast points I'm just guessing at his toast cut diagonally I don't know if that's true but it makes a point made sense to my sophomore highschool brain and the last thing he had is he had a cup of ersatz coffee I remember thinking at the time like Orsat skal I've enjoyed coffee at the time remember I remember thinking like oh when I get older and become a spy I am drinking her SATs coffee because it was clear to me that her SATs Coffee mint spy coffee that this is this is the coffee spies drink and so I might have stopped doing the push-ups and I might have stopped doing the situps I mean I've never had toast points in my life but I always had this thing in the back of my head like you know if you're gonna be James Bond you need to have her SATs coffee well years later I started drinking coffee and I'm like oh man it's my time I can now do the spy thing so I looked up what her SATs coffee was you guys know what ersatz coffee is her SATs coffee was invented during World War one and World War two when there's rationing and then they have coffee beans so what they did is they took a corns and burnt them and then ground them up and they made coffee out of acorns and other kinds of nuts that he has burnt so ersatz coffee is basically fake coffee I spent years of my life thinking someday someday I'm gonna have fake coffee which is ridiculous I mean you know actually even had ersatz or if that's bread that gun during rationing they didn't have as much flour so this is not the joke this is true so what they did was they they would mix a little bit of flour but then have sawdust and there and this need the sawdust and the flour together to make bread or sat spread because like we don't have enough flour but the sawdust will fill you up I guess and that's what people ate now I think that yes if you're rationing stuff then maybe you can have her SATs coffee and pretend like it's good enough you can have your either you're starving maybe ever SATs bread and pretend that it's good enough but I don't think anyone actually wants if they have a choice between the real thing the true thing and the fake thing I don't think any of us want the fake thing give a choice between real coffee you guys real coffee and fake coffee none of us want our SATs coffee tonight we're gonna talk about tonight is we're gonna talk about what it is to come what it is to approach God like the true God the real God and what it is to give God what he asked for another way to say it is what are these to worship God because there's no way just this is crazy in any way you might not feel this like I like I just there's no greater human action than worship of God there is nothing better that we can do with any moment of our lives than worship God but a lot of us have been suckered a lot of us have been tricked into believing that her SATs worship is real worship a lot of us have been tricked into thinking that that partial worship is actually what true worship is Jesus promise he said the day will come when those who belong to me will worship the father in spirit and in truth you guys that day is now that day is now Jesus promised this the day is coming when might those who belong to me will worship the father in spirit and in truth and that is today how important is true worship well a lot of you know this back when the the Jews were enslaved in Egypt you know the whole story right there's this family the family of Israel and Israel has twelve sons and one of them is due to Joseph right you know you know him he had this he had this amazing technicolor dreamcoat and he gets sold into slavery in Egypt and then he rises to be number two in the entire kingdom and and then when this famine hits all the people of Israel all the children of Israel move to Egypt and it goes really well for a little while and then they get enslaved for about three hundred years and they cry out to the Lord God because they're enslaved for three hundred years aren't we your people God do you not care and then God responds and he calls this man what is his name Moses and he says Moses I need you to do this I need you to go to Pharaoh and tell Pharaoh the Lord God says let my people go exactly no here's what happens typically in my mind when I'm reading that story or hearing that story or listening to that story I stop right there that God said Moses go to Pharaoh and tell Pharaoh let my people go period but that's not how the story is in fact in the book of Exodus chapter seven it goes it's very very clear why does the Lord God want to save his people why does he want to set them free from slavery for Kure since one of these cuz they're his and he loves them and he wants his kids to be free but the second piece is so clear he says go to Pharaoh and tell Pharaoh let my people go so that and there's a so that here so that they can come and worship me so that they can come and worship me the whole point the whole point of God setting his people free was not simply freedom for freedom sake it was I will set you free so that you can do the greatest thing that any human being on this planet in their life and in eternity could ever do I'm gonna show them or bring them to a high place and there I will let the worship me and then so we got in folds right so Moses goes to Pharaoh hey Pharaoh so the Lord God says let my people go and Pharaoh's like who could no Pharaoh says no way and so you know the plagues start rolling in and after a couple plagues feels like fine fine fine uncle Moses you can take the men and go worship and Moses says no no no the Lord God is God of all the people and we will only worship with the men women and the children and Pharaoh says nope and so Moses says alright here comes the next plague a couple more plagues roll in and then Pharaoh says that I'm tired of this okay Moses and this is the key one more here's Moses go now take your women take your children I think whatever flocks you need to worship God and Moses says Pharaoh here's the deal we have to take not only the women and not only the children we have to not only take everybody we have to take all of our stuff all the flocks all the animals we have we have to take everything and each gives a reason he says because when we get to the place of worship of God we don't know what he's gonna want us to give him so we have to take everything so that we're ready to give him whatever he asks for now when I heard that yeah honestly as like an elementary school-age kid I remember thinking ah Moses is so tricky like that's a good one Moses I want to remember that you know if I ever we can't worship for you guys without every but Pope Benedict pointed this out and Pope Benedict is little smarter than me and he pointed out I mean just a smidge and he pointed out the fact that he said no actually Moses was telling the truth when he told Pharaoh we have to take everything because we don't know how the Lord God wants us to worship Him he was telling the truth why cuz Moses knew the deep deep truth which is when we worship God we don't give him what we want we give him what he wants when we worship God true worship her SATs worship is I give God what I want but true worship is I give God what he asks for and I don't know we don't we don't know what he's gonna want when we get there so we have to take everything of course Pharaoh says no and then you know finally the last the tenth plague rolls in and Pharaoh says fine go get out of here and this is Sookie when they leave when they leave they go directly through the Red Sea to Mount Sinai and on top of Mount Sinai if you ever read that in book of Exodus in the Book of Numbers as well what it was like is up to that point yeah they kind of remembered that they were God's people they kind of sort of remembered they had brought into the Covenant they kind of sort of remembered who God was but so many of them had forgotten and they got to that place of worship and everything was different they were the in fact it was so so holy so incredible so beyond what their imaginations that it was like wait this is the real God we can't even touch the mountain that he's on or else we're gonna die because the real God versus their SATs God are there they're worlds apart and there's an infinite gap in this we don't know what he wants like the real God how does he want to be worshipped because we know this right um well I don't know if you know this let me here spell it spell out this one thing when it comes to religion the heart of really what would you say the heart of religion is sometimes people would say the heart of religion is is your Creed like what you believe in and that's really important that's that's a very key part of religion is what we believe in that's that's good we need it it needs to be good it we need to be right me to be true that's not the heart of religion so others would say well you know morality how you live like ethics like living a good life that would be the heart of religion and that's also very important and it's necessary but it's not the heart of religion if you look at all world religions out of all human history the very heart of religion is one thing what we've been talking about very hard of religion is worship in everywhere every world religion the heart of that religion is worship of is what we give to God because here's the thing the heart of worship is sacrifice let me say that again maybe like 12 times okay so get ready the heart of religion is worship what we give to God and the heart of worship is sacrifice is what's offered that's a deaky it's it it's one of the reasons why let's dip up the Catholics quick like some of us so let's it to this place or to the chapel on you and your your floor let's zip not just to the chapel in your fullest not to see here this is gorgeous are you kidding me you guys realize this we have some students who are from here we're from Duluth and they're like father is this a little bit nicer than your ballroom where you have mass every Sunday I'm like just a little bit nicer than my ballroom where I have mass on Sunday you know we have daily Mass in a garage it's a two-car garage that's been converted into a chapel so like it's kind of nice in here I'll say that and step up from a dump I will say and you're used to having mass on your florist right just like that's so awesome people are like yeah you can come down to mass and your pjs you just kind of like hang out and it's you snuggle in with everybody else it's really great guys love it but then what happens what happens is you then graduate and go to a parish they don't have awesome organists didn't have incredible Cantor's they don't have the awesome priests you guys have it's gonna like yeah me and what happens is people like well I just I don't know I don't really go to Mass I don't really get anything out of it question has anyone here ever heard anyone say that I don't really get anything out of mass okay keep keep that how many people have ever said that before okay you know we know we know we are I also have my hand up so there's no judgement here and I always like to think about this like when it comes to that question lore that statement I don't get anything out of mass I always think okay so let me just clarify this so when you go to Mass you don't hear the word of God proclaim to you like the message of a God saying here's Who I am absolutely clearly revealed in Sacred Scripture you don't hear that everything you don't get God speaking his love letter to you through the scripture no you don't get that you don't get someone even poorly explaining it are you trying to tell me that when you go to Mass I don't get anything cuz all that happens is the god of the universe transforms bread and wine into his body and blood and feeds me with himself that's but I don't get anything out of mass just God himself so what people say they say if you say well I don't get anything out a mess what do they say well you get out of it what you put into it which is what my mom said and she's right but it's just it's annoying is what it is but the heart of the mass we realize the whole point of the mass we have to realize what we're doing at the mass we have to realize is we don't show up on Sunday or during the week to get anything yes we show up and God gives we show up and God gives himself through his word yes he gives himself in the sacrament but he didn't bring us to the mass to give us stuff because what the heart of worship heart of religion is worship the heart of worship is sacrifice and the whole point of worship is not me the whole point of worship the center of worship is not me who is the object of our worship God who is the subject of worship good so if someone shows that shows up and says I don't get anything out of mass like you're doing it right I don't get anything out of mass you're not here to get anything you're here to give here's the thing we sit in the pews like this and we come we couldn't mask we think that either I'm you know the priests kids I don't want the pulpit there it is it's hard to miss fairly like where's that dang pulpit the giant piece of furniture to my right we show up we think like well yeah I mean if I was inspired was educated like I was really I got to know a lot about Scripture a lot about God so I was educated that's the point of mass it's not the point of mass hopefully it happens we show up in like the music was incredible I was I was lifted up and I was a you know is engaged with and yeah hopefully it happens that's at the point of mass we can come to mass and worship even when the priest is stupid we came to mass and worship even when the music is terrible we can come to mass and we can worship even when the people around us are not engaged because what happens we sit down like this I heard that you have a football team here I don't know anything about it but I heard so I told some people earlier today that I went to a Catholic college in Minnesota and when I was a high school student this is completely true and this shows how stupid I am if you haven't if I haven't proven it yet I went to this Catholic college because I was gonna apply either to this Catholic college you went to or Notre Dame and I thought oh he's called st. John's University so I was like st. John said her name it's pretty much the same like I generally genuinely thought like that's the same st. John's is basically Notre Dame of Minnesota so it's all the same it's completely because I mean we teach theology you teach theology we have a football team you have a football team I mean I've learned since then that it's kind of a bigger deal but our our football team the whole time I was there they won always they never lost in fact if they won by less than 30 points it was kind of like what was wrong that must've been a really good team or is everyone sick I got kind of a thing they were so good and so a big thing there is a pale comparison to what you all have because people come to Notre Dame and they're not even football fans and all of a sudden they become raving mad football fans have you got a football football game and it's at like this no because it here at mass we come we show up we watch you sit here sit there sit around here we watch the priest go around here we watch the priest and up there we watch people sing we watch him do his thing like we all had like Father I like how he prays cuz he literally looks like he's into it I'll watch him pray we show up to Mass and we watch as if as if this is the field and you're sitting in the stands and that the only job you had the only reason God brought you to the mass was to watch the priest pray that's how we go to Mass we go to Mass I showed up I watched check sometimes I watch it it's cool sometimes I watch and it's really good sometimes I watch it it's inspiring sometimes I watch and it's men and I want to come back anymore it's not because the mass is empty it's because we're doing it wrong because God isn't inviting you sorry clarifying this is what he's actually doing God isn't commanding you to come to Mass on Sunday to watch someone else pray he's saying come to Mass and worship me the difference between watching and worshiping at the mass is immense it would be the difference I can't even I can't even imagine because you realize that when you're in the stands next door yes there's all those guys who are playing out on the field but you're there and you're like you're standing and you're in it why because you're like this matters when I shout out when I jump up and down when I do my thing it's doing something on the field but it's even more when it comes to the mass this is so key it's doing even more when it comes to mass we think gosh we think as I said this is the field but it's not this is the field you're not even in the stands you guys you're not even even in like the Notre Dame stands where you get to jump up and down you're on the field and no wonder it's boring because I imagine sitting on the field while the games going on around you just trying to get out of the way this is this is no fun at all like I said I want to come at Mike anything out of it whenever I kids go back to that that that's saying I don't get anything out of it I just whatever so my mom he's awesome my mom she has a birthday on November 4th most every year and when I was a kid we were growing up I have five brothers and sisters at six of us total we would like almost every year her birthday would come around and we'd be like mom what do you want us to do for your birthday like what do you want us to give for you for your birthday my mom's very practical woman so she'd say oh it would be so wonderful if all of you kids would just clean the entire house top to bottom I would that would be the best birthday present ever like hmm mom what do you really want us to do for your birthday and so this is November in Minnesota so either be I want you to rake the yard or I want you to shovel the driveway one of those two you're like either get out there and just if you just rake the yard to be so it be so nice but gift to me I love it like mmm but but mom what do you really want it's like well actually okay fine if you guys could just go the entire day on my birthday without fighting with each other like that would be such a great birthday present like mother you clearly do not know your children like you think it so what would happen is you know she told us my older sisters my two older sisters they go they borrow some money borrow the car and go shopping they like to shop big get something for my mom my older brother and I we had our BMX bikes and so we'd go out and we'd ride our bikes all day and no lie at the end of the day call our mom out onto the front porch to show her a trick that we learned for her for her birthday my little brother at the time in movies young he'll he liked the you know draw and crayon and whatever so he make a little picture for it and we gave my mom these gifts and every time we gave her these gifts she'd smile she's a great mom she'd smile she'd say thank you she'd accept them but now I realized there was something in her heart something in her eyes as she accepted these gifts from us that was like I received this and I love you but this isn't what I asked for this isn't what I asked for now when we gave our mom those gifts of course we loved her when we gave her those gifts who were we really loving when she specifically told us explicitly told us here's what I want you to give me and we gave her what we wanted there was not what she asked for who are we loving your loving ourselves and this is the thing the thing Moses Cigna Pharaoh no no we have to take everything we don't know what the Lord God will want us to give him when we get to that place of worship and so the big question that echoes through all of his human history is this God how do you want us to worship you how do you want us to worship you so God gives an answer right and in the Old Testament he gives an answer he says okay here's why I won that book of Exodus take a year old lamb unblemished take a dig you know this is so so crazy take a year old lamb unblemished and and vellore God says through Moses says take it into your home's I don't know if you notice this you guys know the story right you guys smart so um take this lamb into your homes and you have to live with this lamb for an entire week I don't know if you knew this caught this in the story yet this lamb is living in your house for an entire week what happens when it's living in your house for entire week a couple things one is protected because it has to be unblemished right so it's protected number two it's the reason why your mom and dad when you brought home a stray pet didn't let you keep it because you keep it and what happens all of a sudden you start to love it this lamb this animal becomes precious to you like this now is your animal this is now your pet there's now something that you love so it's protected be it becomes valuable to you it is precious and over the course of that week what was just this anonymous lamb it's now all of a sudden it's connected to your heart so what happens is you go with your dad on that Friday you go with your dad and you'd walk through the streets of Jerusalem you'd be carrying the lamb around your shoulders because it has to be unblemished still has to be protected still and you love this lamb now and you carry this lamb to the the wall that surrounded the temple and there's that there was at the time there was there's like a chest high wall around the temple on the other side of the of the wall there were the the priests Levitical priests and what happened is you would with your father you'd hold the lamb over thus this wall with its head on that side and you'd hold this lamb that you love is precious to you now and hold it down as one of the Levitical priests took the lamb's head and cut its throat and let the life of the animal be poured into this bowl be collected now this is the moment you're presenting your sacrifice this is the moment that you now gosh you guys this is the moment that the thing that about moment mattered more to you than anything else you're presenting it at that chest high wall saying this is my sacrifice but here's the thing at that moment the sacrifice wasn't completed at that moment the sacrifice wasn't offered to the Father yet it was just presented at that chest high wall so that priest would take the bowl of the Lambs of life rates blood pass it to the next priest to the next piece to the next priest and we all go all the way up into the temple into the altar and the last priests would take the bowl of blood of that lamb and would pour it out onto the altar and that was the moment that the land was offered to the Father that was the moment that land was offered to God so again at the chest high wall that's the presentation this is my sacrifice but then when it's poured out is like no now father this is for your glory pouring this out for you we're offering this this is the point of worship this is the point of the sacrifice and why am I going through all this gosh because I want to know how God wants to be worshipped because if he matters at all then he has to matter completely so how has he asked us to worship Him the old testament was take this lamb presented slaughter it offer it in the new covenant how does God explicitly ask to be worshiped sorry explicitly tell us to worship Him at the Last Supper Jesus with his disciples says this he lifts up bread and says take this all of you and eat of it for this is my body given for you taking a chalice filled with wine it's take of this take this all of you and drink from it this is the chalice of My Blood the blood of the new and eternal covenant which we poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins do this in memory of me the god of the universe is saying how do I want to be worshipped do this in memory of me if you want to know what true worship is do this in memory of me not her SATs worship to worship that jesus promised worship in spirit and in truth now here's the moment this is the moment where a lot of people be like okay I'm tracking with you but like like any Church has that like any Church has like they have communion and stuff like this but here's the reality especially I don't know if you've ever heard anyone who said something like well why I even know they'd like the Eucharist like Holy Communion that's like that's like a symbol of Jesus right that's like a never heard anyone say that the Eucharist is a symbol of Jesus not really Jesus she's a symbol of Jesus and I think like that's great because maybe in the Gospels when Jesus said do this in memory of me maybe it could you could read that I mean he did say this is my body this is my blood not this looks like where did you just make it absolutely clear that this actually is him if you go to John's Gospel gonna rip through this as quickly as I can go to John's Gospel you go to chapter 6 now this is kind of an interesting thing beginning of John's Gospel chapter 6 there are these people that are there was like 5,000 people he actually says 5,000 men not including the woman and the children in the counting so who knows if every guy brought along a wife and a kid 15 thousand up to 15 to 20 thousand people could have been there John says five we'll stick with five so 5,000 people they're hungry so Jesus says we need to feed them we don't have anything sort of five loaves and two fish so Jesus give it to me gives thanks breaks he feeds 5000 people with five loaves and two fish you've heard that story that night Jesus sends his apostles as disciples across the Sea of Galilee and that night he walks on water so I could think about this feed 5,000 people have five loaves and two fish walk across water big day for Jesus the next morning the next morning it says the people who he had fed the day before realize he's not there anymore so they go looking for him and John even makes a point of saying why they're looking for him says they're not looking for because they believe in him now be looking for him because they want more food they're hungry again and so Jesus sees them coming and he knows it too and Jesus is like hey I know why you're here because you you want more food don't you and they're kind of like well if you're offering because that just makes sense right you tracked down Jesus he's like McDonald's on sandals I mean just like you hand them some root beer and some Doritos and it's like a buffet eggs benedict for everyone it sounds good anyways Jesus says well I'll give you some food that if you eat it you'll never be hungry again and they say yes please he says well I'm the bread I am the bread that comes down from heaven whoever comes to me will never hunger ever believes him you'll never thirst and this point no here's cook with little clarification there are three groups of people of Jesus is talking to there's three groups of people there's the the crowd those are the people who just like they came out that day cuz there was nothing on Netflix so like well let's go to Jesus unique he does a miracle it feeds us like dinner and a show basically that's it then there's there's the disciples there are people these are people who left their family their friends there with everything to follow Jesus and then the third group of people err are are the Apostles right so this is the first group that the Jews the crowd says then in this is John chapter 6 verse 41 says the Jews murmured about him because he said I'm the bread that came down from heaven they're like wait a second isn't this Jesus the son of Joseph we know this guy and we're not gonna believe him so Jesus amps it up and he says I am The Living bread that came down from heaven whoever eats this bread will live forever and here's this kicker here's like the line he says and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world now at this moment you pause and say okay well maybe Jesus is speaking metaphorically maybe speaking like it allegorically maybe he's speaking literally how can you tell well you can tell by reading the next line because it then says the Jews quarreled among themselves saying how can this man give us his flesh to eat pause does it sound like they're thinking that he's using figurative language or literal language literal exactly how can this man give us his flesh to eat that's not like how can he metaphorically give us his flesh to eat they're asking the question so this is a great opportunity for Jesus at that moment to say oh no no I don't mean like that only Oh God like I like clarified this is Jesus is perfect opportunity to back up and say oh no no no I mean like you know figuratively but Jesus instead he doesn't just back down here amps it up he is just wrapping up once or twice or three he wraps it up five times in response to the Jews murmuring about him saying how can he give us his flesh to eat jesus says this number one amen amen I say to you now quick in your Bibles it might say verily verily I say to thee or truly truly I say to you amen amen I say to you what that means is Jesus is saying whatever I say after this it's a solemn oath whatever I say after this is if it's not true let me be cursed I stake my life on this so pick me he's like it's gone I got hey pay attention kind of a thing amen amen I say to you number one unless you eat the flesh of us on the man and drink his blood you do not have life number two whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life I'll raise him on the last day number three for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink number four whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him number five just as the living father sent me and I've liked because of the father so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me in response to them saying how can he give us his flesh to eat are you stinking literally jesus doesn't just double down or triple down he picked a stupid guy he five times doubles down and we miss it in the English tube because the great general Greek is ramped up language at first it's like yeah those who received me then those who dine on me then those who consume me the last time he says those who gnaw on my flesh will live forever this is so stark this is so clear that the very next point says then many of his disciples who are listening said this saying is hard who can accept it question is it a hard saying if Jesus is it no what if I said this if I said hey guys it's been great to be a Notre Dame I really appreciate that I feel really welcome everything just tomorrow when you're having lunch if you have your sandwich when you bite into that sandwich hey just just think of me is that a hard sing is it a weird saying yes but it's not a hard saying this disciples are saying no this disciples are saying this is a hard saying who can accept it and I love this Jesus says Jesus knew what his disciples were murmuring about this so he said to them does this shock you to when I favorite questions because they're like yes Jesus that does shock me you just said and I quote but then he goes on he says what if you were to see the Son of Man aka me ascending to where it was before pop quiz where was Jesus before this not like wit early before this he was always walking on the water like ascending to where heaven exactly I love it this is like a scene from Aladdin when like Aladdin says the genie can't do and he's like oh yeah did you remind Lance do you wake me up Do You Know Who I am Jesus is basically saying are you kidding me you see that big yellow thing in the sky I did that see the billions of those that are super far off I breathed those into existence you I thought of you before you were born like I've made this entire universe out of nothing I can of course take bread and make it me this shock you know who I am and here's the thing if Jesus is God then everything he says is true but as a result of this verse 66 as a result of this many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied in I don't know if you know this but this is the only time in the entire Bible where someone leaves Jesus over one of his teachings people leave him because they're afraid he believed in because they don't believe in him there's the only time the entire gospel where someone leaves Jesus it was one his teachings and the teaching is on the Eucharist is where it gets super personal for every one of us because I do people all the time who'll say things like well no no I love Jesus I just don't like the church no no I love Jesus but I want I don't need to worship Him at Mass in reality and this is a harsh word I don't mean it harshly if I don't want the Eucharist I don't want Jesus if I don't want the Eucharist I don't want Jesus I'm so sorry to say it like this but if I don't love him enough to worship Him as he asked me to then I don't love him I love me but if I don't love him when it's I don't have the feels I don't love him I don't have a great sermon they don't love him when I'm surrounded by we're not certain of a beauty anymore if I don't love him enough to worship Him like he asked me to then I just have to be honest with my heart I don't really love him and they all walk away picture the scene there's thousands literally thousands of people walking away from Jesus now hundreds of disciples potentially hundreds of disciples walking away and all that's left is that third group of people right remember the 12 the apostles the original boy band they you know they've been captain with Jesus for the last two and a half years and Jesus looks at them you'd imagine Jesus look at them saying okay guys guys guys don't go don't go this is just you should stay here stay here okay okay what can I do uh getting Jesus looked at them and doesn't like back it up he doesn't he doesn't like redact what he said he looks at them we asked them one question and he says there's thousand member thousands of people walking away the rest of campus the rest of campus is walking away maybe over 8,000 people walking away he looks at you and he says this question asks this question do you also want to leave now think about the stakes in this moment I'm sorry yes we tracking still we still did okay okay think of the stakes in this moment if they walk away guess what happens to the whole mission of salvation it's over yes Jesus will still go to Jerusalem he will still offer himself up in sacrifice to the Father he will still redeem the world but there will be nobody to bring that salvation to the rest of the world and Jesus is willing to risk the entire salvation of the world on the teaching on the Eucharist do you want to leave to him as who gets so personal it's so personal because Jesus is saying if you don't accept that then you really don't accept me if you don't love that then you don't really love me if you don't want that then you actually don't really want me as I am this is one of the moments I just sometimes st. Peter gets a bad rap you guys let's just be honest this is not one of those moments although it is a very Peter moment because Peters the one who speaks up right and you think Peter would look at him and say well Lord it's very obvious it's called transubstantiation where the accents are made the same but the substance changes it's very obvious I don't know why they don't see it no Peter looks at Jesus and he says what he says master where we gonna go we've come to believe that you are and are convinced that you're the Holy One of God you have the words of eternal life Jesus you are who you say you are and I do not understand at all how you're gonna do this but we're yours you guys man I I never got this I I was raised Catholic and for years I hated going to Mass like it was just like so and my family the rule was you had to go to Mass no matter what every single Sunday every holy day unless you were too sick to do anything else the rest of the day you guys that meant you had to sit in your room there was no tablets there's no TVs there's no anything he was like everything was in black and white and I hated going to Mass so much that I as often as I could pretended to be sick to get out to going to masks knowing that when my family came home after that one hour being gone I had to sit in my room by myself doing nothing and I was like that seems like a smart trade I hated masks so much until one time I was 16 years old and I came across this teaching as a 16 year old I came across this teaching and it changed my life I never read well I remember sitting up in my room I don't know why I was reading about this but God's grace um and I'm every good wait wait I remember almost outloud going wait it's true like that's really him and it ran downstairs and my siblings my parents whatever we're in the kitchen well you guys you know like the mask like the Eucharist still like yeah like that's really Jesus they're like yeah we know like no no it's like really Jesus that's actually him like we know I'm like no you don't understand they're like we went to Catholic school were you sick that day what would what's your deal apparently I was because I was just like this is crazy we are weird the late family to coming to Mass I don't know if y'all late family people we're so late that actually I did a youth minister retreat last weekend and one of the youth ministers grew up in the same hometown as me and she was like oh yeah Smits is you always late like I know that's Sunday you guys that's Sunday I was so mad at every one of my family members like you guys we have to go to Mass it's really Jesus there and so I remember we got there eventually and we always sat in the front right here and I'm never going for a goalie communion it was like I was only I'm just so excited this is like really it's really him you know I'm still think never received one source even he's like the body of Christ I'm like Amen for real this time you know kind of a thing I remember like just receiving our Lord and the Eucharist and being like this is like this is him and receiving I'm going like it's really dry I remember being so underwhelmed by the reality of God made flesh coming to me to feed me with his self I know sting don't so disappointed like I don't know what I thought God would taste like actually I do I thought it would be like pop rocks or something I thought honestly I thought it'd be like pop rocks and coke like combined in my mouth like oh my goodness it's a miracle and it wasn't and I go to adoration we're gonna have in a few moments like I go to adoration and kneel like I'd be kneeling down like okay go I'm ready whenever you're ready just go come on and nothing in that memory I first been kind of really disappointed like gosh what the heck Lord and then just realizing wait a second I always thought in my mind I was that's where I usually think I always thought like if I would live 2,000 years ago and I was walking the streets of Nazareth and I saw Jesus like you would see him and he'd like levitating six inches off the ground like like rays of light coming from his hair just like gently flowing robes he says her name like Michael you're instantly dead like this kind of that he obviously would be God right kind of like a sense of like undeniably but if you were to see Jesus 2,000 years ago walking the streets of Nazareth or Jerusalem or whatever would he obviously look like God no would he be fully God absolutely but he would just looks like some dude was he just he wasn't fully God fully man but God hidden the glory of God hidden almost like God in disguise why would he do that and why does he do that my guess is this the whole point of the Incarnation was to get close to us you know if we if we saw God for who he really is man I would know how it I would approach him it's like Exodus where there's that thunder and lightning on the mountain like we can't even touch the base of the mountain or we're dead I would never walk into a Catholic Church if God was unveiled and so what does he do but he doesn't want you to stay we doesn't allow me to stay away he wants us to get close it's what to do he hides he hides and he has weights and that means he's either a punk or he is so in love with you that he's willing to become so small you're you'll ignore him he is so in love with you that he's willing to hide that glory and let you just forget two more things that's okay we come to mass and we watch that were meant to come to mass in worship I want to I want to share with you if there's if there's anything I gosh I'll please remember all of it but if there's a couple of things that will transform your experience of the mass what happens when we worship God like what happens when we offer up the sacrifice on the altar let's back up remember in the Old Testament in the first century when Jesus was on the earth what happens you had that precious Lamb that you loved was valuable to you and you carefully brought it to the altar we've carefully brought it to the wall said this is my sacrifice this is this is the one I love that I'm offering you know what that moment is in the mass the moment in the mass is when the priest is here at the altar and he says this is my body giving up for you and then he elevates the host what he's doing they picture this next time you go to Mass that's the that's the chest high wall where you're there with your dad holding the lamb as he's bleeding out presenting the sacrifice here he is takes the chalice this is the blood here it is in that moment what do we do a lot of times we bow down and items of jesus my lord my god yes so good but that's the chest high wall moment that's the moment that with dad we're holding that lamb the precious land that we love presenting him but the worship isn't offered at that moment the worship is offered in the mass when the priest takes body of Christ and the blood of Christ and he says through him with him in him who's him Jesus right through him with him in him in the unity of the Holy Spirit all glory and honor is yours Almighty father forever and ever that is the moment a fulfillment of the blood being poured out on the Elton that's the moment when the father is glorified that's the moment it's a whole point okay guys what's what are the two points of the mass like what are the what's the whole reason we do any of this stuff I'm so sorry to go on and on I just like but I told you I warned you you could be somewhere else um the two things that happen every single time we go to Mass the two things that happen every single time I go to Mass I can guarantee you this everyone in this church you know exactly what those two things are in fact I can only not only guarantee you know what those two things are I can guarantee you that you could tell me the exact wording I'm looking for and I can tell you guarantee you you can even say the exact purpose of the mass in unison with the person sitting next to you I will prove it to you now pray my brothers and sisters that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Almighty father what happens at every mass for the praise and glory of the father's name for our good and the good of the whole church at every single mass we are punks and we show up and we watch the father be glorified we show up and we watch as the world is saved I just sorry got to get closer to the camera I we show up we just we just show up when I thought that my scripts is essential for sense so we sit here and we're like okay this is where is where the father's glorified this is where there's more the world is safe that's what happens every single mass the father's glorified the world is saved and we stinkin watch it but what is the thing the priest says right before this he says pray my brothers and sisters that my sacrifice and yours what is he saying he's like I'm a ministerial priest ordained as ministerial priest your BAP - how many people baptized a couple of you so when you're baptized you are anointed prophets king or queen and priests so the priest says okay in a second the father will be glorified and the world will be saved so pray my brothers and sisters that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Father Almighty what he's telling us everything isn't like some like I'm really you know progressive priest this is like this no this is like ancient the church has been telling us every single time we've been going to Mass don't waste your priesthood the turgid has been begging us every single mass stop wasting your priesthood by just watching this no wonder the mass is boring I'm not I show up it watch when I'm just be playing I stop and watch but I should be worshiping that's why the high point of the mass yes such a good gift to receive our Lord in the Eucharist but I can't go to Mass because I'm in a mortal sin I can't like receive the Eucharist you can still worship him but not in the right state right now I can't I can't receive all the giving it but you can still worship him and when you do that what happens two things the father is glorified and the world is saved that will only happen that can only happen if we stop watching and start worshipping so at the altar this is just the cues for us at the altar this is my body given up for you here's the chest high wall presenting the sacrifice with father with our dad precious blood this is him presenting him but then here's the key through him with him in him who's him and they need to be of the Holy Spirit all glory and honor is yours Almighty father seats all about the father I'm offering the father forever and ever and we all say Amen you know in the in the in the book it actually it calls it the great amen in most Catholic parishes it's the lame amen oh I can stand now okay this is the moment when Kingdom priests ministero priests Kingdom priests Kingdom priests where you get to give your whole heart to that amen - the whole sacrifice offer to the Father for the salvation of the world and we just go amen I can stand now let's pray the Our Father like instead of saying the great amen you know in the first century church it said that when the Christians would say the great amen they would pray that prayer so loudly because they realized their man is there they're their kingdom priesthood the walls in which they were would shake like we did a camp once for junior high kids and I was telling on this and what this guy was a recent convert he was in the band he was playing that guitar so during Mass that day he's off on the side and I go through him with him and he's like okay I mean you can do that you do not have to shout but the key isn't volume the key is the difference between watching and worshipping because the key of course in the end the end of it is is him everything we do is for him we love our neighbor for him we'd take care of the outcast for him we don't neglect the stranger and the people who are forgotten for him and we come here day after day because he's worth it it's crazy this is the last thing promised he either again he's a punk either he's a chump or he loves us so much that he's willing to be walked upon either our God is a fool or He loves us enough to become so small we'll ignore him make it and he's not a fool he's reckless not with you with himself he's reckless not with you not with your heart with himself when I was in college at the Notre Dame of Minnesota we did this thing where they you know we have hosts right and there's really driving when I well and that's this place they had they had actually had the unleavened bread which kind of neat but what happened is like they gather around the altar I mean and you walk up to the person knew you're Kristin minister and they would like rip off a piece of the precious but sacred body in body Christ and it was neat to have like oh this is like substantial unleavened bread it's kind of neat but what happened is then on the floor all over to be crumbs of the Eucharist so remember it being a college student and and I'd be in the back and there was a guy who after Mass he would there's a kid in my class he would go around and he'd pick up mine on his hands and he pick up the crumbs and eats the Eucharist off the ground I remember he was he was like a you kind of like he's really athletic really funny really whatever kind of not nothing fancy not a nerd so someone that I would have thought would be more interested in his how people perceived him but after every Sunday Mass he just walked on his hands and knees eating crumbs off the floor and what point of like dude what are you doing why do you do that he said I'll tell you why I do that if the one he was in high school he heard the story about when communism came to power in China what happened was one of the things they needed to do is they needed to shut down religion and one of these I wanted to shut down was the Christian religion Catholicism and so they gave into this one town and they ransacked the church just destroyed everything they took the priests they locked him in the rectory house next door and he was under house arrest and he just all he could do is just watch out the window as they just broke all the stained glass and broke everything at one point they took the tabernacle and they threw it out the window and it hit the ground in front of him and it just burst open and the hosts were on the ground and all he could do because he's under house arrest all he can do is just was a stand there and pray and adore Jesus on the ground to give a broken everything this he hears that God he's either a chump he's either a punk or he's willing to love us enough to be throw out of a window and lay there on the ground in the dirt and it's all he could do is just pray and the door is God and his night fell he has stood there as it got darker he saw this small shadow like dirt darting from space to space to space getting closer and closer and as it got closer he recognized the shadow was a little twelve-year-old girl from his parish she also had seen this sensor she waited until it was dark and she got closer and when the guards couldn't see her she snuck up there and she knelt down and she was a kid and she was told not to touch the Eucharist with her hands and so she just bent her face to the ground and with her tongue she picked up one host again as a kid she was taught you only receive communion one time a day so she just received once made this out of the cross got up you ran into the night and night after night priest would stand there nice pray that she'd be safe as an African actually came by knelt down and receive Jesus priests knew how many hosts there were so he was so relieved that night the darkness fell he's like this is the last night and then should be safe she got there she knelt down and she seek communion on the tongue and this time when she got up she knocked something over and the guards came running they saw what she was doing and immediately they took the butts of the rifles and beat this twelve-year-old girl to death after she had received the Eucharist for the last time her life this guy looked at me and he said do you want to know why I do that because of her because of him because this is our God it was either a chump we could walk away from cuz I don't feel anything I just stopped going to mass cuz it's like I don't get anything or he's a God who loves us so much and he lets us throw him to the ground no he's a God who loves us so much then he comes so small we can ignore him or he's a God who loves us so recklessly that he's willing to let us ignore him [Music] my prayer is tonight that none of us ever ever have a heart that's willing to ignore him because he's too small the none of us ever have a heart that is willing to walk upon him because he's become bread and wine for us my prayers none of us ever skip Mass because it's like well I don't get anything in my big prayer he's from this from this night until the evening we step into his presence we never go to another Mass and just watch we never again waste our priesthood for a single moment but from this moment until the moment we see the face and the heart of this God who loves us so recklessly that we come here not [Music] to watch but to worship [Music] [Music]
