Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz

Homilies preached by Fr. Mike Schmitz, Chaplain for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Newman Catholic Campus Ministry and host of The Bible in a Year.

About the show

Every week, Catholic priest Fr. Mike Schmitz delivers powerful homilies based on the Sunday Mass Scripture readings, inviting you to live more fully as the person God created you to be. Engaging and motivating, these 20-30 minute homilies will help ground your faith, fortify your heart, and transform your life. Fr. Mike Schmitz preaches from Duluth Minnesota, where he serves as the Newman chaplain for University Minnesota Duluth’s Bulldog Catholic campus ministry.

Episodes

  • 4/20/25 What Never Dies

    April 19th, 2025  |  13 mins 40 secs
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    We know that darkness is real. And death is real. But darkness and death are not the end. There are some things that never die...Faith...Love...the Promise of eternal life.

  • 4/18/25 Pause

    April 18th, 2025  |  11 mins 41 secs
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    The Passion of Christ is not the end of the Story, but we must pause and reflect on it. It is the lens through which we see: What love looks like when it costs everything, what sin looks like when we can see the wounds, and what mercy looks like when it refuses to give up.

  • 4/17/25 The God Who Makes Himself Vulnerable

    April 17th, 2025  |  17 mins 29 secs
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    One of the characteristics that marks modern man is that we find ourselves angry at God. In fact, we are so angry that we would be willing to hurt God if we could. Yet, God is invulnerable. He cannot be hurt. Still, God chose to step into this world and love us...while making Himself vulnerable.

  • 04/13/25 The Place of the Way: Here

    April 12th, 2025  |  14 mins 32 secs
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    Homily from Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion. Thank God ahead of time. We often put off joy and praise and peace. We are tempted to be preoccupied with wanting to be "there" or wanting to be "done" with whatever we are working on or whatever we are doing. Yet, as Catholics, we are called to be "here". We can best live "on the way" when we don't wait to thank God; when we thank God before we are "there". We can thank God right here.

  • 04/06/25 The Place of the Way: Dead Ends

    April 5th, 2025  |  25 mins 48 secs
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    Homily from the Fifth Sunday in Lent. We run out of all hope...and then Jesus. The Dead End is a necessary place of the way. The location where we run out of our own skill and our own strength and find ourselves completely unable to move forward on our own. In the midst of the dead end...and then Jesus.

  • 03/30/25 The Place of the Way: Home

    March 29th, 2025  |  28 mins 18 secs
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    Homily from the Fourth Sunday of Lent. To look like Jesus, we must learn how to live in the Presence of the Father. When it comes to our relationship with the Father, too often it is marked by hiding our hearts or avoiding His gaze. But we must learn how to live like Jesus, who remained in the Father's Presence at all times and with profound trust.

  • 03/23/25 The Place of the Way: The Valley

    March 22nd, 2025  |  32 mins 51 secs
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    Homily from the Third Sunday of Lent. We all want peak moments, but growth happens in the Valley. Why do we walk through valleys? What good is life in the valley? Is it only a negative? Is it always a punishment from God? Or could the valley be necessary?

  • 03/16/25 The Place of the Way: The Crossroads

    March 15th, 2025  |  25 mins 19 secs
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    Homily from the Second Sunday of Lent. A big life is a series of small crossroads. Life happens at the crossroads. Life is also a series of small crossroads that might seem insignificant, but add up to a life of beauty and meaning...or a life potentially wasted.

  • 03/09/25 The Place of the Way: The Desert

    March 8th, 2025  |  22 mins 3 secs
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    Homily from the First Sunday of Lent. The only way out is through. As we enter into the desert, the desert takes away the things we tend to trust in...the things we use as comforts and crutches...and we are led through the "training place" to the place of being able to live like Christ.

  • 03/02/25 The Place of the Way: What Reveals and What Trains

    March 1st, 2025  |  21 mins 4 secs
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    Homily from the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Silence reveals our hearts and silence trains our hearts. As we enter into the place of training, we realize that there are certain things that reveal the condition of our hearts...trial, tribulation, speech, and silence. But we need to consciously enter into these if we are going to know ourselves and be trained in the way of Christ.

  • 02/23/25 A New Commandment

    February 24th, 2025  |  28 mins 3 secs
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    Homily from the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. Love those who deserve it. And those who don’t. Jesus gives us a commandment that existed from the beginning: we are to love those who deserve it. This is justice. Jesus goes on to teach us and even greater love: mercy.

  • 02/16/25 How Do I Know if I Have Faith?

    February 15th, 2025  |  26 mins 38 secs
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    Homily from the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. We live in this life, but we live for the next life. Jesus turns our fears and our hopes upside down...because through the Resurrection, Jesus has turned the world upside down.

  • 02/9/25 On Purpose: The Next Step

    February 8th, 2025  |  21 mins 20 secs
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    Homily from the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. There are two requirements: Be available and be willing to try. There are times when the future is so uncertain and so unknown that we hesitate to move. But since we know that God is with us, He has a call on our lives, and His grace is active...we can take the next step without fear.

  • 02/02/25 On Purpose: Your Destiny

    February 1st, 2025  |  25 mins 6 secs
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    Homily from the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Do what you know, where you are. What is the Greatest Thing you will ever do? What if the Greatest Thing is not something you accomplish, but who you become?

  • 01/26/25 On Purpose: Off Purpose

    January 25th, 2025  |  27 mins 29 secs
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    Homily from the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. You've been given a great work, and must not come down. Since you have been made on purpose, there are two ways to live: on purpose and off purpose. But if a person has been made to be great and set apart for a purpose, why would they ever choose to live off purpose? The common culprits are distraction, forgetting, comparison, and living a shadow mission.

  • 01/19/25 On Purpose: Be Great

    January 18th, 2025  |  18 mins 40 secs
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    Homily from the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. Why be great? A powerful goal in life is to be great. To be able to say, "I am good at this" regardless of comparison, but with an eye towards real excellence. At the same time, even when we have a goal and have a plan, we all need to be motivated by WHY.