Fr. Mike Schmitz: "The Hour That Will Change Your Life" | SEEK2015

you guys have no idea how excited I am to be here tonight maybe I probably more excited you are I just okay you have to do this we come out right you have to talk about yourself and I'm from Minnesota and so and I just have to get this out of the way right away is we say stuff funny and I just going to say that is we're gonna I'm gonna say stuff I'm gonna say things like get in the boat I'm gonna say things like you pick up your bags and you know carry them here I'm gonna sell these things when you see something adorable in Minnesota you say oh four cute look at that oh for gosh or for heaven's sake isn't that just adorable it just is it's just wonderful after this we're going to go and get some bars link that has an hot dish anyways that's all Minnesota stuff I mean it's nothing like being in Texas you know when it comes to the Texas is the biggest what the biggest state or second biggest state whatever no one cares um but but there's always like forgotten people in Texas and TXS tea has just got to be shout it out so that's all that's all let's focus on number of ears focus oh you guys I just have this thing like they pay me extra the more I say seek and the more I say focus so like I'm just going to keep seeking when I keep focusing um a number of years ago I was in Israel on the Holy Land it was amazing was incredible trip and my first trip ever there and I was with I was there with four focused missionaries and I never worked with focus before but I got the chance to go throughout Israel the Holy Land that changed my life but one of the things in Israel is when you go to Jerusalem he's saying these massive hotels I don't have ever been in a massive hotel before but they have these incredibly enormous like cafeterias and so we all sit in our tables you know here's the this Catholic pilgrimage group sits at this table this table this table well there was one of our focus missionaries he was this guy six foot two huge blond-haired blue-eyed guy from Nebraska today was Eric his name is Eric Clark and Eric Clark was this with this focus missioner against six - blond hair blue eyes like you know he live grew up on like a Nebraska farm so the kid was like I carry cows you know um just the coolest guy but we noticed this we notice about Eric is that while we were having meals with all of our Catholic group every meal at the hotel Eric wasn't sitting with us he was sitting at another table with what may be the you know five foot two blond-haired blue-eyed female Baptist equivalent of Eric Clark it's all of his friends were given a hard time he come back you know from breakfast and get on the bus and like dude what are you doing is that I'm just talking to her we know what you're doing you're a banjo dating you know do this flirt to convert kind of thing and and he's like no no it's not that we're talking about we were talking about the Lord yeah who are you talking about Lord he's like no I mean this guy is super genuine he's like no like we were she asked me if I have a relationship with Jesus and he said yeah of course but I want more and he said she learned lean to pass the table looked me in the eyes like more and he said yeah because I don't just want to have a relationship with Jesus he says I want to have intimacy with Christ this girl's like yeah yeah it's kind of because you know the reality is this rarely is that's what all of us are made for every single person in this room is made not just for relationship or made for intimacy we're made to have connection with each other and there's only one way we do this and only is only one way we have intimacy with each other and that's in and through our bodies we to question who here as a body so most of you and so and this is the reality is the only way you have ever known love the only we've ever shown love has been in EM through your body that's the only way and this is the thing so that's how we express intimacy is that I mean think about it never like your first date and you're like it's really like in someone and remember we walking next to them you know you're kind of walking on the street and all of a sudden you do this like hand bump thing it's like well I just touched a person like it's pretty soon we're you here you know bump hands and all of a sudden here's if you're a guy this what you did you're walking along and you're like okay you're timing the bumps right so like okay so like okay walking bump mm-hmm bump and grab like I got one I found what I got I'm taking her home like this I remember the first time I ever went on a date before I was a seminarian and I went to this movie theater and if you ever sat in the movie theater with like the person you're on a date with you know you're like our knees are touching our knees are touching I couldn't focus our knees are touching at one point though you know you're sharing the same armrest and a Psalms fairness you know armrests with this girl and pretty soon my hand was like like cousin it on the Addams Family it's kind of this creeping over like yeah this is nice I mean honestly I'm sitting there the entire time like this is I can't believe this I've made it I've arrived but that's the thing it's like you know when you when you like someone the fact of the matter is you want to touch them let's be honest when you like someone you want to touch women you've never been in love with someone and said I love you so much you stay right there I'm gonna go home and sit make into a table and just think about you for a while no but you when you love zone you want it doesn't matter even even if it doesn't have to be romantic it can be any kind of blog when I was in college remember remember on the poster fairs you have when you show up to college and they overcharge you for whatever poster well when I was in college one of the posters that almost every woman had in their dorm room was this black and white photo of a bare chested man holding a naked baby against his chest like girls went crazy for this they're like you want a dorm room well you've got the naked band poster got it yeah but Dad that whole thing that whole here's a man holding his naked baby to his chest that's actually intimacy it's what we're made for in fact if we don't have that we die I don't know if you knew this but back during World War one role or two you know there's a lot of kids that were left orphans because of the the war because of the bombings because all this stuff these infants that were just orphaned they had no parents and so what people did is they took them in and created these huge orphanages were throughout you know just this huge room with like rows and rows of beds rows and rows of cribs for these children and they kept these children warm and they kept them hydrated they kept them fed but they found pretty soon that these kids started to die they started to getting sick they started having this thing called failure to thrive like why you're getting everything you need you're staying warm you're getting watered you're getting fed what more do you need and they found out that if they would take these children and just pick them up once or twice a day and hold them they recovered fully you realize this because you and I as human beings are made for intimacy we need it and I and I need it honestly I mean then that sounds weird but I don't know about you but at the end of mass you know people walk out you know the priest is standing at the door trying to stop you um why does he want to talk to me like I like when they people walk out if I'm always like hey shake my hand shake my hand shake my hand and the people just walk by I swear honestly this probably happens every Sunday someone says fine I'll go shake his hand everyone go behind him you know kind of this thing when people walk by without shaking much um shake my hand come back and shake my hand failure to thrive like because because obviously you know when it comes to intimacy you know I'll shake anyone's hand I'm sure you're the same way just like anyone's hand but when it comes down to you know there's there's fewer people that you're gonna hug right you know those people at mass you go and sign a piece like high sign if he's like I don't shake hands I hug like I don't hug I shake hands back off freakazoid like because you know there's something like any I'll shake anyone's hand but you know there's fewer people that I'm gonna hug and there's fewer people that you're gonna kiss no I I come from a really affectionate family coming like a kissy family I kiss my dad hello and goodbye cuz my brother is hello and goodbye which is weird because my little brother was once a student at UMD for a couple years and so I mean our kiss is more like a headbutt than anything else like you know we talked to my brother hey buddy how you doing good to see ya um but he's crazy because students saw this they were like this father Mike you have to kiss him every time like like no that's his brother okay good because again because if you're like me you'll shake anyone's hand there's less people that you'll hug there's fewer people that you're going to kiss there is fewer people that you're going to kiss like that because because there's a difference between the way you kiss your mom on the way kiss your girlfriend right there is there is a difference between the way kiss your momma gave us our cover because please we know this because these levels of intimacy are just it are different to so anybody else take my hand fewer people we're gonna hug fewer people you're going to kiss few people gonna kiss like that but as human beings we don't want to stop there I don't know if this is news to you but as human beings if you love someone what do you want to do you don't just want to give them a hug or a handshake or a kiss you want to give them your whole self right you want to give them everything you are everything you have you want to give them their whole body this is just what love wants it love desires to get your whole body to the other person to be a gift to someone not just in thoughts but with your whole self and so that question it was like how do you what's the difference between like you know even when it comes to kissing what's the difference between like giving a kiss and taking a kiss that's a good question imagine this here's a couple they have an amazing date they go out they have a great movie dinner whatever and here's a guy pulls up in front of her house and they walk up the front yard or front wherever he walk sidewalk off the front porch they're sitting there here's the porch light here's the door and they're like the boy comes in the man comes in he just he just embraces this woman puts his hand around in her back and draws us her head to his chest and says I had a great time tonight he just gives her this gentle kiss and says thank you so much and he gives her a kiss and he opens the door she walks in and he closes it and he steps off the porch and like flies to his car right guys like honestly if you're a man you've been in that situation whatever song is playing when you get in that car is like your dream song like I love this song it's like it's all about that bass like I don't care it's I don't care it's so romantic no you're the girl you know the shut door shuts and like you just float up the stairs you know and you're brushing your teeth like why am i smiling so much I don't even know you go to bed you know you but the next morning you wake up and you have this smile like why am I so happy oh yeah that was awesome there was a great day imagine the same couple same amazing date same dinner same movie same everything same sidewalk same porch same porch light same door the guy says I just had a great night tonight ah and they just saw like Maul and each other on the porch and people driving by or like what's he doing is he eating her face off what's happening he's like a lion tamer putting his mouth in it whole head in their mouth the light switch is flicking you know the lights going on and off like on theirs like okay okay whew good job help me get the door for ya there you go good night stumbles down the steps you know gets in the car drives with the windows open head health and windows just going down she goes up everyone gets you know goes to bed brushes their teeth wake up the next morning you've been there you can wake up the next morning and you're lying there you're like you know that was a great date last night wasn't it so why aren't I happier if you've ever been that situation you know what that is and you know the difference is because it was a great date rather than having that gift of a kiss there was just a taking of course we don't just want to give a kiss or a handshake or hug one it gives I said we want to give our whole selves but if we're gonna hand shake anybody and hug less people and kiss fewer people and you know you don't just want to give yourself to anyone you want to give yourself to the capital T the capital o one to the one and so the question is this like a lot of people ask for this they say how do you know that the person you're in love with is the one not a question you know people have how do you know if the person you're with you're in love with is the one well I figured it out I actually pretty smart um I figure this out 100% guaranteed how you figure out of the person you're with is the one what you have to do is this okay so just for later so you have to stand up in front of the person you think is the one they need to stand up to need to face each other so stand up facing each other you have to both do this you have to both raise your hands palms facing each other like this and if you have a ring on this finger on this hand and they gave it to you and they have a ring thing on that finger and you give it to them they're the one that's the only way to figure it out that's guaranteed work every single time and of course there's something in us that just wants this we want it so bad because we we realize this you only know love and only express love in and through our bodies which is awesome but also stinks because we talk about God we come here we talk about God and we realize that while every one of us has a body the truth about God is that God ain't got no body she really did their some of the thing of the God but but God's immaterial right he has no body but God is love how do I know this love because the only way you and I love know love is through our thank you crowd for participating through our body so hard is this what do we do well incredible thing is we don't have to do anything that God who is love wants you to know his love so fully that in the fullness of time God was immaterial and eternal takes on a body so that you and I can know what love is like in intimacy is like now you say well that's fine that's great that's wonderful but I don't know if you know how the story ends that was 2,000 years ago and at the end of the story like Jesus if to the heaven like knew at the end of the matrix and he's gone now to the potties nowhere around here well the incredible thing is this you know this story the night before Jesus died what did he do he was at table with his disciples and he said take this took some bread said take this all of you because this is my body given for you took a chalice Philip honest I take this all of you and drink from it for this is the chalice of my blood poured out for you here is Jesus who says no I know that I'm going to take this body and go to heaven but I'm going to give you my body why because that's how deeply I love you to realize that you are the capital T the capital o one when it comes to God you're his the one because he says I want to give them my whole I don't just want to shake their hand I don't even as amazing as amazing as this is I don't just want to share with them my word I don't just want to have a relationship with them I want to have intimacy with them he gives that intimacy to us through the Eucharist now this is crazy I don't know how many of you have heard of a guy named Christopher West yeah so Christopher West he goes around the world and he talks about this thing called the theology of the body I remember him telling me this once he talked about he said he never met his wife's father because his wife's father died before they ever met each other but he says I think I would have liked this guy because there's a story that was circulating in his wife's family that was this that the day after his wife's mom and dad got married get married on a Saturday so they went to Mass the next Sunday because all the day of obligation Sunday's right so they went to Mass the next day they go through the normal mass goes up received communion comes back to the pews kneels down and pretty soon this new bride she hears this sniffling from the man's today next to her she feels this kind of like shaking in his shoulders as they're kneeling next to each other she looks over and there's tears coming down this man's face now at this point she had never seen her husband cry she looks over his like what's happening you know the final purr happens the final blessing happens everyone else leaves and this man is still kneeling their face in his hands just sobbing tears coming through his fingers and she's like um honey uh like are you regretting any decisions in the recent past are you okay and he looks up and through these tear-soaked eyes he looks at his bride he says I never knew I never understood like what are you talking about he says I've been going to Mass every single Sunday my entire life I never got it what do you mean he says I just I never understood I never realized that up there on the altar Jesus said this is my body for you he says that's what I said to you last night and if my love is even a fraction a fraction of Christ's love I missed it my entire life that what happens on the altar what happens when Jesus steps off the altar and gives himself to me in the Eucharist is I thought it was I thought Mass was boring last night wasn't boring and last night was simply a foreshadowing of this moment when God Himself gave his entire self to me I just think you magic you imagine the reality that God wants he wants to give you your his the one was crazy to think and actually even crazy to think that some people say well that's not real I mean that's it's more like a more like a symbol of Jesus as body I don't know if you ever heard that right if it heard someone say something like that like I mean Eucharist what happens on the altar that's you know communion it's nice but it's not really Jesus it's a symbol of Jesus well well let's see what Jesus says about that shall we so there's this gospel called the Gospel of John let's do a little Bible study quick right so Jos Gospel John chapter 6 there's kind of a big thing that happens that day during the day John chapter 6 he starts out with Jesus feeding the 5000 people remember that with five loaves two fish remember the story okay great Bible scholars wonderful um so Jesus feeds 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish the next day that night I mean he walks across the water so it's kind of a big day for Jesus you know well done have a nap you know but it says the next day the crowds that he fed came looking for him they realized wait a second he wasn't on the boat he must have walked across the water they figured that out they come looking for him it says this it says Jesus saw them coming and he knew it he knew that they didn't come because they believed in him they were coming because they wanted more food because I mean think about it Jesus can feed 5000 people with five loaves and two fish I mean you bring him a bag of Doritos and a six-pack and like it's party time Jesus is but Jesus is basically McDonald's on sandals so just find that guy and you've got Happy Meals for life right so they come to find Jesus and Jesus says you know I says I have food that you can eat it you'll never eat again you know but I'd be hungry again and they say that sounds like a great idea and then he says I am the bread I'm the bread that came down from heaven now here's the thing there's gonna be three groups of people here there's gonna be the crowds they're people who just came out to see Jesus because like there's nothing else on TV and so they're like we want to entertain we want to show and some you know a a meal so they came out there crowds they're not disciples they just came to be entertained by Jesus maybe some of you were in that crowd just came to be entertained there's a second group that are the disciples the disciples of people who left their family their friends their homes their jobs their everything to follow Jesus and the third group are the Apostles the three the three groups so it says the crowds in verse 35 Jesus says I'm the bread that came down from heaven whoever believes in Me will never thirst says the Jews in verse 41 crowds murmured about him because he said I'm the bread that came down from heaven so the crowd that's like what's remember Majan the murmuring it's like murmur murmur murmur what he's talking about bread they came down from heaven so Jesus says in verse 51 here he says I am The Living bread that came down from heaven whoever eats this bread will live forever here's the kicker here's like the butt slam dunk he says and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world now remember in verse 41 the Jews murmured in verse 52 it says the Jews now quarreled among themselves so there's brawls breaking out what hackus going on who's this guy dude school among themselves saying how can this man give us his flesh to eat so that's the question does that Sears it for you guys does it sound like they think Jesus is speaking symbolically are like he's speaking literally literally right if they thought he was speaking symbolically because Jesus does that right into other parts of John's Gospel Jesus speaks symbolically he says things like um I am with the gate he says things like I'm the vine you're the branches he says things like I'm The Good Shepherd but you'd have people saying like Jesus you're not a gate dude you look nothing like a tree try again like you're not a shepherd you're a carpenter busted lawyered this kind of idea but in this moment they're taking him literally they say wait whoa whoa whoa how can this man give us his flesh to eat now if Jesus was only speaking symbolically this is the perfect moment for him to say Oh hold on freak shows like that's disgusting don't go there but instead of clarifying what he does is he emphasized he emphasizes and ramps it up they say how can this man give us his flesh to eat and not once not twice five times Jesus says this check it out amen amen I say to you know you've heard that before right in the Bible amen amen I say to you or maybe your Bible says verily I am to be or truly truly I say to you what that means is this what's coming after this is a solemn oath what I'm about to say I stake my life on the next thing I'm going to say so that's pretty serious Jesus says amen amen I say to you one unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you do not have life within you to whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me has eternal life and I'll raise him on the last day three for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink for whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him and five just as the living father sent me and I have left because of the father it's also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me so when they think Jesus is speaking literally he doesn't clarify I'm not speaking literally he ratifies absolutely that's what I mean times five what happens next since then many of his disciples who were listening said now who is the group before this the crowds second group right many of his disciples people who left their family their friends at home so jobs are everything to follow Jesus know many of his disciples who were listening said this saying is hard who can accept it question again is a symbolic statement hard to accept answer no the literal statement is absolutely hard to accept the saying is hard who can accept it love Jesus his response is so amazing he says this since Jesus knew his disciples are murmuring about this he said to them does this shock you yes Jesus as a matter of fact I'm quite startled and alarmed by the fact he just said I'd eat your flesh and make your blood to remain in you and to live forever but hello he keeps going he says does this shock you what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before question where was Jesus before this heaven exactly like basically Jesus is like um uh-huh do you know who I am I always think of a Latin like did you rub my lamp did you wake me up do you know who I am like see that big yellow thing in the sky like I made that you see everything that exists yeah that was this guy with the two thumbs like if you don't think I can I can make everything out of nothing I can take bread and wine and make it into me so sit on Anna so Jesus says no I can do this and this is crazy this is so crazy his disciples are quarreling the murmuring but in verse 66 it says this it says as a result of this many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him do you realize this is the only time in the entire Bible where someone leaves Jesus over one of his teachings and the teaching was on the Eucharist the only time the entire Bible or someone left Christ because of his teaching teaching was on the Eucharist here's where it gets really personal imagine the scene there's literally thousands of people walking away from Jesus that's the crowds there's probably hundreds of people who were living with Jesus now walking away that's the disciples and then the next line is this Jesus then said to the 12-member the third group the twelve remember who they are the apostles the original boy band right those guys they've been they've been camping with Jesus for the last two and a half years and Jesus looks at them and he doesn't say it guys guys guys come back to back back okay I'll change it'll change I'll change it guys I'm going to soften it he doesn't go after them he looks at them I love this he looks at them and he says do you also want to leave imagine what would happen if they left do you realize that if they leave the entire salvation of the world is done yep Jesus might be crucified and rise from the dead but there's no one to spread that message and Jesus is willing to risk the entire program of salvation on one thing the Eucharist as I said that's what gets really personal because that's what Jesus says to us the truth of the matter is this if I don't want the Eucharist then I don't want Jesus if I don't want the Eucharist Jesus says you can leave but I can't change this teaching yeah but like honestly the church down the street is has way better music yeah but if you don't want the Eucharist you don't want Jesus yeah but the church on the street I mean their preachers know how to preach my priest is boring I know he is but if you don't want the Eucharist you don't want Jesus but they have incredible studies and they have incredible groups and they have incredible community yeah but if you don't want the Eucharist you don't want Jesus you know is that to say that anyone who's not Catholic one Jesus no actually that's not the case I know so many people who are not Catholic but there are Christians they follow Christ and they love him with everything but I got to tell you this I got to tell you this I have not met one person who loved Christ as a Christian but not as a Catholic who when they heard this didn't end up becoming Catholic my best friend in the entire world he and his wife used to be missionaries in China they wanted to devote their entire lives to be Pentecostal missionaries around the world they came back to Duluth Minnesota because she was gonna get her prereqs from medical school he was going to get his pilot's license and they were doing that and one night they went to it on a Tuesday night he went to a Catholic Mass she said why don't we go to the Catholic service and he's like fine let's go they come in and they saw the Eucharist and they said there's something there remember after Mass he's like hey can we meet sure we have some questions great so for the next six eight nine months at least once a week like 10:30 until midnight went down to Perkins you have a Perkins you guys at Perkins 24 hours plays so and they just had their questions had the questions are the questions but the Catholic Church about teaching about the Bible about the Pope we got to this we got to this teaching on the Eucharist and you should have seen the looks on their faces they were like oh crap but also oh my gosh is that true like is that in our Bibles - yeah it's in all of them but you should have seen this because they knew they knew her dad is a minister he runs his own church his mom teaches Bible in a church in their hometown her uncle is a pastor her grandfather has a pastor she married this guy who's going to become a pastor all of a sudden they're like do we have to become Catholic for real but they realized I love Jesus so much if this is if the Eucharist is really him I I need him if because why cuz they're made for intimacy if the Eucharist is really his body and blood then I need him when they made the decision to become Catholic his mom told him I had never been more ashamed of one of my children in my entire life it's like mom when are my brothers is in jail what are you talking about but he realized this like knowing if I don't want the Eucharist tonight I don't want Jesus and that's the question for all of us you realize you're made you're made for this that to you that Jesus to God you're his the one and he wants to give you his entire self his entire body's entire everything he wants to pour he can't wait to pour it out and I remember this I remember when I came upon this teaching I was in high school I never it changed my life when I first heard this it completely changed everything I used to try to skip Mass as much as I possibly could which is the dumbest thing in the world because my mom had this rule that if you were too sick I pretended to be sick if you were too sick to go to Mass you were too sick to do anything the rest of the day you had to stay in the room I'm like great that sounds like an amazing deal so I'd skip Mass for one hour then have to sit in my room for the rest of the day I was not a very bright kid but when I heard this when I realized this was true that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist I gotta tell you're always so excited for that next Sunday Mass I was like I can't wait I can't wait I would like to my brothers and sisters like that's really Jesus that's really Jesus like we know like no it's really Jesus like we know you don't know we're walking up walking up the receive communion for that first time I was just like I was so excited I was like okay okay okay you know body of Christ amen and I received the Eucharist I'm like a little dry I mean you know that experience where you're just like I thought Jesus would taste different like I don't know what I was expecting but I thought it'd be like you know pop rocks and Diet Coke in my mouth just kinda like whoa this is amazing like you know gusher kind of a thing like oh it was just like amen go on here's the wine Jesus body Jesus blood I was really disappointed I went to adoration I kept blowing the adoration you know like I don't know you're not Mealing there I'm praying there I'm like that doesn't look like Jesus now mind you I didn't know what Jesus looked like but like that doesn't look like God I didn't think it tasted like God should taste there's something about that we were just wrestling with this and going like I don't know like my senses of sight and taste they don't seem to say that this is Jesus this is God but my sense of hearing is that I heard Jesus say this is my body this is my blood reminds me of a story of a guy named Saint Robert Bellarmine st. Robert Bellarmine was that's Bell ermine college or Robert University but see st. Robert bellman at one point was in a debate with the Protestant about the Eucharist and this guy this Protestant guy got done with this whole thing about like it's not really Jesus it's only a symbol of Jesus and he gets done with this whole kind of expose it exposition and rubber brillar moon was kind of a funny guy and he who looks at the guy and he says okay let me just let me just get this straight you say this is not Jesus body and blood jesus said this is my body and blood just if you were me who do you think I should believe I'm gonna go with Jesus but again it doesn't look like Jesus and remember thinking about this like praying about this like Jesus how come I don't see you how come I don't like how come you're so hidden remember thinking like you know I don't know what I thought I mean I used to think that if I lived 2,000 years ago and lived in the Holy Land that you know you see Jesus walking down the street he seemed coming up over the hill he just be floating oh you know like coming out of his hair he looks at you and said your name Michael I'm like dad you know kind of but if you were to see Jesus 2,000 years ago walking along the street would he look like God no that was not a trick question he would just look like some dude but was he just some dude thank you like I don't know how many times we have to go over this you guys know he was fully human but fully God but he was God hidden he was hiding his glory and he was hiding his beauty and he was in some way crazy way he was hiding his love because he knows this he knows you he knows your heart and he knows that if he didn't hide his beauty if he didn't hide his glory if he didn't kind of hide his love you would we would so I gotta tell you if Jesus didn't hide himself in the Eucharist I'd be the one hiding if you walked into a Catholic Church and you saw the radioactive love of God coming out of that Tabernacle I wouldn't go anywhere near it because I would say I can't I can't get close to you I I'd be the one hiding but Jesus made you not just to get close to him but to have intimacy with him made you not just have a relationship with him but to let him give you his whole body his whole self because to him you're his the one and so he hides himself so that you don't have to hide his last thing when I was um I was still struggling with this mouse in college and I went to this College where the everyone would gather around the altar you know and then it would for the Eucharist they had this bread that was like substantial bread it was uh like bread bread you know without any leaven in it rather than the dried crispy wafer um what would happen is it was kind of cool but at the same time what would happen is when people distributed the Eucharist they would rip off pieces of the bread or the body and Hanan cyou in body Christ amen and the unfortunate thing is that after mass like all around the altar on the ground where all these crumbs of the Eucharist I remember in my years of college there's always one guy he was in my class and after everyone would leave for mass but I'll be in the back of the room I'll back of the church and this guy and he was kind of like a kind of a big man on campus he was an athlete in everyone loved him he was super funny and keep you up around the altar and while everyone was in back chatting or whatever he'd be up around the altar on his hands and knees and he'd be eating the crumbs of the Eucharist off the floor however in the being in the back oh I like dude that's weird you're making a spectacle of yourself but after a cup after a while I finally asked him like dude why do you why do you do that and he told me the story I said when he was 15 years old he heard the story of when the Communists came into power in China one of the things they wanted to do is they wanted to suppress religion especially Christianity and at one point they came to this village and they took the priests and they locked him in the house next to the church and all he could and then went into the church and they just destroyed the place they ransacked the place they turned over pews and they ripped the Bible and they did all the stuff and he's sitting there at the window looking out of his rectory looking at them destroying this church and at one point these soldiers they took the tabernacle and they threw it out the window and it crashed through the window hit the ground and explode it open in the Eucharist just fell scattered on the ground and all the priest could do because he was under house arrest you just he could just stand there in a door he could just stand there and keep watch with Jesus because he couldn't do anything else and he stood there and he prayed as the Eucharist was on the garner Jesus's body was on the ground this body that was given for him was on the ground and his night fell he saw this shadow getting closer and closer darting from you know shadow to shadow and she got closer he recognized this was a twelve year old girl from his parish and she had seen what the soldiers had done as well and she had seen the Eucharist on the ground and so she waited till light fell and she snuck to the Eucharist on the ground she came up to the Eucharist and she knelt down and she was taught as a kid she was taught not to touch the Eucharist with your hands and so she she knelt down and she bent her face to the ground she picked up the Eucharist off the ground with her tongue she stood up may the sin of the Cross she's taught also you only receive Communion once and so she got up and then she snuck away into the night and the priest knew exactly how many consecrated hosts how many houses the body of Christ were there and night after night this girl kept coming back she sneak sneak in she'd kneeled down and she received the Eucharist off the ground make this out of the cross get up and walk away run away into the night until the last night he knew was the last time and he knew that after this she'd be safe after this she would have to keep coming back and risking her life and he saw and he was praying and she came closer and closer and she knelt down and she received Jesus off the ground with her tongue made the sign of the Cross but as she got up she knocked something over and made a noise in these two soldiers rushed to where she was they saw what she was doing and they beat this twelve-year-old girl to death of the butts of their rifles and this man looked at me and he said why do I do this that's why because one drop of the precious blood of Jesus is enough to save the world and one krama and the body of Jesus is enough to save the world so why do I eat the crumbs of Jesus off the ground because I cannot do otherwise because he gives his whole self to me I cannot but give my whole self to him you guys we're gonna have a time in just a number of minutes where we're gonna get to be in front of Jesus and I know what's going to happen is a lot of us tonight and I'm included it will feel not worthy to be here a lot of us tonight will be here let's say that god I don't deserve to be here I can't receive your body I can't even worship your body but he's not asking you that he's not asking if you're worthy he's just asking one question are you willing tonight to let him love you are you willing tonight to let him love you I'm scared by his love that's why he hides here's the real last thing you also you also have the opportunity tonight to go to confession and I know how some of us go to confession I know some of you go to confession because I know how I go to hit passion and I go to confession a lot of times and I think my prayer is God give me another chance okay god I'm here give me another chance I promise I'll be better God please give me another chance I promise I won't do it again God give me another chance but you realize you have it the exact opposite that when we go to confession it's actually Jesus saying to you hey please give me another chance give me a chance to love you Jesus is begging you tonight please give me the chance to give you my mercy just give me the chance you don't have to convince Jesus to give you his mercy all you have to do is give him the chance to forgive you you don't have to convince Jesus tonight to love you he already made that decision so long ago the only question tonight he's not will Jesus love you the question is will you let him love you or will you hide coz you're made for intimacy with Jesus he gives you his body and he gives you his blood because you are his the one and tonight he hides so you guys brothers and sisters he hides you you do not you do not have to hide in the name of Jesus Christ into the powers most precious blood I take authority over every unclean spirit that's come upon every person in this room and bind it away in the name of Jesus Christ into the parvis Most Precious Blood to the glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen

Channel: FOCUS Catholic

Views: 1,670,746

Rating: 4.8765006 out of 5

Keywords: Joyful, Prayerful, FOCUS, Authentic, Relatable, catholic, Patient, Committed, Passionate, Faithful, Kind, Convicted, Honest, college students, InTouch, Jesus, Fr. Mike, Fr. Mike Scmitz, Eucharist, CatholicTalks, Homily, Fr. Mike talks, Fr. Mike homily, ascension, fr. mike ascension, ascensionpresents, seek2015, seek15, seek, fellowship of catholic university students, adoration, catholic conference, seek conference, focus conference, focus talks, seek talks

Id: LwwiIkrLxTM

Length: 45min 49sec (2749 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 13 2015