"Holiness in the Ordinary" | 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Fr. Mike's Homily) #sundayhomily

I want to say a just quick thing about um maybe you might might might wow maybe what you might call the most ordinary Saint who ever lived the most ordinary Saint who ever lived um you've probably heard about him even though he he's there's there's literally nothing extraord there's one extraordinary moment in his life the rest of his life is incredibly ordinary his name is St Juan Diego if you know anything about St Juan Diego you know that um back in the 1500s he was um a native indigenous person here in Central America he's in Mexico um you know this this had been maybe 50 60 70 years after the Europeans had come to the new world and missionaries had come and they came bringing the gospel but there only handful of converts among those handful of converts was this man Wan Diego and Wan Diego as I said lived a very ordinary life until one moment as he was going he's traveling to take care of his uncle who was dying out of nowhere um our lady appeared to him and said that she wanted him W Diego to go to the bishop to tell the bishop that her she Mary wanted the bishop to build a church on that spot so w Diego went to the bishop said yeah um so Mary appeared to me she asked me to tell you this and bishop's like I know that's you get you need to give me more proof than just you telling me this so w Diego is like okay fine and then he basically skirts around tries to avoid The Apparition I mean think about that think about where you'd be in life if you Mary appears to you and you're like yeah I'm really busy so he doesn't want to be interrupted because he wants to take care of his uncle tries to avoid Mary she shows up she says don't worry Jesus is going to heal your uncle Jesus heals the uncle but I need you to go to the bishop and prove to him that it's really me so she pointed out there are some castian roses some some Spanish roses that were growing in the middle of December and she arranged them in his Poncho right in his tilma and then he brought them to the bishop you probably know the story that as he unfurls his tilma the Roses fall to the ground of course but no one's looking at the Roses they're looking at this image that had been imprinted on his tilma that's still there now the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe now there's so many fascinating amazing extraordinary things things about this image you can go there to Mexico City and see the image of our lead Bay scientists still who as they as they study it they have no idea not only how that tilma is still intact typically that tilma would would decompose completely after 20 years it's been 500 years or so but also the image they have no idea how this image isn't printed it's completely extraordinary even more extraordinary is the fact that after this after our lady appeared to WAN Diego you know for 50 60 70 years only a handful of converts after our lady appeared Our Lady of got Lupe there were all up to 9 million converts to our Lord Jesus Christ because of our Lady and Wan Diego is now St W Diego so the question is this how how in the world do you become St W Diego based off of one extra extraordinary moment and the the answer is of course you don't the answer is no one becomes a saint based off of one extraordinary moment Saints are made Saints lives are shaped off of dozens and hundreds and thousands of ordinary moments I said that because uh here we are we're in ordinary time we have actually four more weeks of ordinary time until lent and I think sometimes when we're we're in ordinary time or sometimes we're not in Lent we might look down the barrel at lent four weeks from now and say like okay this is ordinary time this is fine this is just basic this is just common this is normal in four weeks when we hit lent that's when I'm going to get going to get serious like that's when we're really going to kind of knuckle down and get serious about Holiness like then that's when I'm going to start doing this and yet I don't think you need to wait and I don't think that any of us are called to wait to lent until lent to become holy so there's a man you probably heard of him his name is Matthew Kelly Matthew Kelly has written Milli millions of books he sold millions of copies of his books his first one that really kind of made an impact was called ReDiscover cathol Catholicism um but there's other books that he's he's shared and one of them is I think it's called the greatest lie of Christianity and the greatest lie in Christianity I might be paraphrasing that title the greatest lie is that Holiness is impossible that here we are that that that all those who come to the Lord Jesus that Holiness is for someone else right Holiness is is for other people and yet and yet Christianity is that the truth that that go actually God has made Holiness possible for you the truth is that God wants Holiness for you let's pausing this for a second okay I'm going wait till lent because that's when I'll start becoming holy but we have to ask the question do I even believe that Holiness is possible for someone like me because I think sometimes we imagine that Holiness is composed of these massive events right Holiness is this like all this momentum like you're just like everything in your your life is just rolling towards the uh the Divine like everything in your life is rolling towards Jesus everything in your life is just this massive momentum what Matthew Kelly points out and he reminds us of is the fact that momentum is simply a collection of moments that Holiness is real Holiness is simply a collection of moments and I I I wonder if this I wonder if holy moments are actually ordinary moments reconsidered so for the next four weeks we're starting a series and the series is based off of Matthew Kelly's most recent book called holy moments because I believe that holy moments are simply ordinary moments reconsidered and and this whole thing this whole series holy moments based off the book holy moments um is based off the fact the truth the reality that God wants you to be a saint and that because of the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ because God has poured out his holy spirit into this world and into your life and into my life that Holiness is actually possible it's based on the truth that even the most extraordinary life is made up of ordinary moments I mean think about this we can see ordinary we can see extraordinary lives online right there's I mean the influencers on Instagram or wherever they are they have incredible lives and they travel to the most exotic places I'm like how in the world you get to that mountain top how in the world did you see how are you the only person on that beach that is most exotic beautiful beach I've ever seen and we can think sometimes that even people who look like they're living extraordinary lives never have ordinary moments but if we think about it the reality is even people with extraordinary lives those lives are made up of ordinary moments like they have to get on the same airplane as the rest of us they have to be parked on the runway like the rest of us they have to do all the same things as the rest of us they have to sleep just like the rest of us at some point we realize that even the most extraordinary lives are made up of ordinary I mean think about even someone who's like incredibly wealthy a famous wealthy person Elon Musk okay maybe maybe he lived in extraordinary life but we realize that if he's going to take care of his teeth he has to brush his teeth in an ordinary way that that that if he's going to fuel himself he has to eat in an ordinary way that even those people who we might perceive as them having extraordinary lives every life no matter how extraordinary is made up of ordinary moments and if we run away from ordinary moments or if we even just ignore ordinary moments then we'll be missing out on life because that's what life is life is simply a collection of ordinary moments but here's the remarkable thing even an extraordinary and holy life is simply a collection of ordinary moments reconsidered there's a definition right that um Matthew Kelly gives in his book holy moments he says what a holy moment is he says a holy moment is a single moment in which you open yourself to God you make yourself available to him you set aside personal preference and self-interest and for one moment you do what you prayerfully believe God is calling you to do that's that's what a holy that's how he defines holy moments say that again a holy moment is a single moment in which you open yourself to God you make yourself available to him you set aside personal preference and self-interest and for one moment you do what you prayerfully believe God is calling you to do there's something so powerful about this this first part of it where he says a holy moment is a single moment in which you open yourself to God because it's just it's simple right it's I I think sometimes we can get really really overwhelmed we get overwhelmed by like oh my gosh all the things I have to do but a holy moment is a single moment when you open yourself to God basically you realize God is here one of my favorite stories in the Bible is from the very first book of the Bible it's in Genesis story of Jacob now if you know anything about Jacob Jacob's grandfather was Abraham and his father was Isaac he had a twin brother named Esau and Jacob is Jacob's not really a good guy at least at the beginning of the story Jacob uh he he kind of manipulates his brother Esau out of the birthright then he actually deceives his father his father who's old and dying and blind he deceives his father to give him the blessing and then his brother Esau is wants to kill him and so here is Jacob and he runs off into the Wilderness to Simply to save his skin and at one point he's lies down he's exhausted and he lies down in just a place that he just thought was a place to sleep he falls asleep and as he's sleeping he has this vision and the vision is of angels ascending and descending to heaven and he wakes up and he says this line that is just so powerful he wakes up and he says God was in this place and I did not know know it this is the secret I think to holy moments we because every one of us every one of our Lives is made up of ordinary moments where we just like nope this is just normal this is just common this is just ordinary but to have the vision of Jacob and to realize here's an ordinary moment but God is in this place and I did not know it it this is what it is to have the kind of vision that can transform an ordinary moment into a holy moment is to realize that God is present and God is active basically to be aware like to to be awake simply to notice and to realize that as Matthew Kelly said every ordinary moment can become a holy moment and it doesn't have to be overwhelming because I think a lot of times we think about the impossibilities what do I mean by that is um no one is ever overwhelmed by a single moment we're overwhelmed by a collection of moments that seem to be too big for us but what is what is a holy moment a holy moment is a single moment and you don't have to chase it down this is the I think this is the remarkable thing about the the readings today that that in order to experience a holy moment you don't have to go anywhere to get it what the line of the first reading today Jonah chapter 3 says the word of the Lord came to Jonah word of the word of the Lord found him like Jonah didn't have to race after the Lord he didn't have to chase it he didn't have to leave his life in order to find God in order to make a holy moment the word of the Lord came to Jonah not only that but here's the gospel today you have these four men you have Simon and Andrew James and John they're in the midst of an ordinary day they're just doing their work and what does Jesus do Jesus sought them they didn't they weren't looking for Jesus he was looking for them and then this is the crazy thing this is the great news in fact ordinary moments come to us why because God is in the ordinary moments and God is seeking you at all times we get to choose whether the ordinary moments remain ordinary or whether those ordinary moments become holy let's go back like to the apostles they were just doing their work they're just fishing this was an ordinary day and Jesus sought them out andary moment that became a holy moment not only that that for at least two of them we know that Andrew and we know that John were both Disciples of John the Baptist in the very first line of today's Gospel says after John the Baptist had been arrested Jesus goes to seek them out so for least two of them this is not just an ordinary day this is a bad day so we need to realize this we we need to realize that even in our our bad day even in our worst day even in those ordinary awful awful moments even those moments can become holy moments because God can seek us and can God can find us not only in ordinary moments but also in bad ordinary moments even in moments where we are not only not looking for him but we are actively running away from him because as I mentioned the first reading it's Jonah chapter 3 if you're familiar with the story of Jonah at all in Jonah chapter 1 It also says the word of the Lord came to Jonah and told Jonah to do what told him to go to the city of neveh and Proclaim repentance for them and Jonah goes the exact opposite way Jonah in chapter 3 where the word of the Lord comes to Jonah Jonah is running away from God so not only realize this not only can God make ordinary moments into holy moments not only can he make bad ordinary moments into holy moments God can even take moments where we are actively running away from him in an ordinary way and he can make those into holy moments as well you real this truth every moment can be a holy moment so we have to Define this what is Holy I think I keep saying that these are holy moments you can make any moment a holy moment ordinary moment holy we know what ordinary is we know what bad is we know what running away is what is Holy so holy is actually a technical term in the Bible to be holy you know God says be holy as I'm holy well what does that mean to be holy technically in the Bible means to be set apart doesn't mean to be perfect that's important for us to understand ordinary moments do not have to be perfect to be holy moments bad moments do not have to be perfect to become holy moments and even running away moments don't have to become perfect to be ho on because Holiness is not Perfection to be holy simply means very simply means to be set apart to be set apart for a purpose so you've heard this example before but if someone comes to me and say hey father could you could you bless my crucifix or could you bless my rosary could you bless whatever my Bible absolutely when we bless something you consecrate it what I mean by that is you bless something you set it apart for a purpose so that crucifix that you wear around your neck that is no longer jewelry that has now been set apart for a purpose so when someone says you know hashtag blessed a lot of times what they mean hashtag blessed is they just mean well I'm really fortunate I'm really lucky my life is good technically yes and no truly what it means to be # blessed means to be set apart when something is blessed it is consecrated something that is consecrated is set apart to be set apart is to be holy so here we have all these moments imagine imagine if each one of your ordinary moments became a holy moment how about this Imagine One ordinary moment today became a holy moment imagine just even one moment you just realized no this moment belongs to him or we just realize God is present God is active and this moment is his that's what it is that's all it is the amazing thing as I said is we're going to have four weeks of this four weeks of this diving deeply into what it is to to to enter into a holy moment you don't actually need to know anything more than I just shared to do it right now like there's no more secret information you already know that ordinary moments can become holy moments if we're willing to acknowledge and admit to notice to be aware of the fact that God is present God is active in this moment as his a life of ordinary moments that become holy moments make up a holy life even if it's an ordinary life was the last thing again it starts with one starts with one moment for the next four weeks we're going to do this but you can do this today Juan Diego is the most ordinary Saint you'll ever meet he just lived I honestly what did he do yes he had that extraordinary day but for the rest of his life it was made up of dozens and hundreds and thousands of just ordinary moments he went to mass he went to confession he went to work cared for his family and the people around him when when they needed him an ordinary life but it was a life that was consecrated right it was a bunch of moments that were given it was it was it was a series of ordinary moments where W St W Diego did what you and I are meant to do today he simply realized the truth God is here God is active and this is for him and that's all it takes it's all it takes to transform an ordinary moment into a holy moment it's all it takes to transform a ordinary life into a holy life [Music]

Channel: Sundays with Ascension

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Keywords: ascension presents, fr. mike live mass, ascension, fr. mike schmitz, father mike, sunday mass, Catholic Mass, short homily, short catholic homily, sunday homily fr mike, Holy Mass with Fr. Mike, catholic mass, Year B, Sundays with Ascension, sunday mass 2024, Short Homily, Catholic homily, homily today, Sunday Mass for January 21st, homily January 21st, Mass for Jan 21, third sunday ordinary time, ordinary time, juan diego

Id: PYkuUH1U6CQ

Length: 18min 48sec (1128 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 21 2024