Fr. Mike Schmitz began his homily with a few jokes, of course. My favorite was that when he was younger, he felt like a man trapped in a woman’s body…and then he was born!
He then shared about a certain line from today’s Gospel that makes him laugh: when Jesus is talking to his disciples and says, “You are worth more than many sparrows.” He shared how this line can be quite comical when taken literally; but that it has a much deeper meaning. Fr. Mike explained that Jesus was simply telling his disciples that they belong. He said, “One of the key things that helps us know who we are is when we know we belong – and if you belong to God, it means you matter, that your life matters.”
Father Mike compared the feeling of belonging to a superpower; knowing that you can walk into any room and know that you belong to God. Fr. Mike also shared that God is less concerned about the details of your life, and far more interested in who you have become.
He explained that very few of us can control the factors of our life, and related this fact to today’s first reading from the book of Genesis. Joseph had no control over his life, but the one thing he could control was knowing that he mattered and that he belonged to God. This knowledge gave Joseph the self-confidence to persevere through everything he endured, including literally being sold into slavery by his ten brothers. Fr. Mike explained that what matters is the person we become in the circumstances that we cannot control. Joseph knew that no matter how many people betrayed Him that God would never betray him.
Fr. Mike then told a very cool story about one of his family members, which would be way too crazy for me to summarize – so I encourage you to listen to the audio of his homily, which is embedded at the top of this article. Spoiler: this story relates to the acceptance of a significant other and what it means to belong to a family.
If you chose to say yes to whatever belonging you are called to then everything can change.
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