Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - Episodes Tagged with “Anxiety”

09/11/22 Eulogy Virtues: Joy

Ascension — Sat, 10 Sep 2022 11:45:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Who you are now is who you are.

Joy is the abiding sense of well-being. It is a feeling, but it is also a choice. But we do not choose joy itself. We must choose the source of joy. Love is the source of joy.

Mass Readings from September 11, 2022
Exodus 32:7-11
Psalms 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 19
1 Timothy 1:12-17

08/14/22 Finish the Race

Ascension — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 08:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Sometimes God gives the victory and sometimes God gives what we need to finish the race.

Every one of us is in the middle of the race of our lives. God has called us and brought us here, even when there is no victory in sight and even when victory is not possible. But God will always give whatever we need to finish the race.

Mass Readings from August 14, 2022:
Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
Psalms 40:2-4, 18
Hebrews 12:1-4

07/17/22 The Question

Ascension — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 08:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Feeling anxious, worried, or sorry for yourself is normal. It is also completely unhelpful.

We have a problem. And the problem is that we can do the right thing in the wrong way. We can choose to serve...while feeding our worry and self-pity. We can carry our cross...while feeling anxious and sorry for ourselves. Everything comes down to one question; it is not a matter of being tough, it is a matter of trust.

Mass Readings from July 17, 2022:
Genesis 18:1-10
Psalms 15:2-5
Colossians 1:24-28

05/08/22 The Time of Great Distress

Ascension — Mon, 09 May 2022 18:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Fourth Sunday of Easter.

You are not abandoned. You are not alone. You are not afraid.

Our lives are marked by stress. Not only is stress unavoidable, it is necessary. The main question is: what is our response to stress?

Mass Readings from May 8, 2022:
Acts 13:14, 43-52
Psalms 100:1-3, 5
Revelation 7:9, 14-17

02/06/22 Nothing to Fear: Inadequacy

Ascension — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 15:15:00 -0600

Homily from the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

The fear of being inadequate is the fear that I won't be able to rise to the challenge.

Fear is a gift. It is meant to keep us alive. But it can also keep us from living. There are two sources of fear are our biology and the stories we tell ourselves. We may not be able to change our biology, but we can change the stories we tell.

Mass Readings from February 6, 2022:
Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 138:1-5, 7-8
1 Corinthians 15:1-11

09/19/21 Desperate

Ascension — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 19:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Edit, Convince, and Worry. Or Honesty, Trust, and Thanking God ahead of time.

The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation." We do not merely desire, we have inordinate desire driven by fear. We do not merely have ambition, we have selfish ambition in which we can only envision one possible outcome. To escape this trap, we must lean into honesty, trust and thanking God ahead of time.

Mass Readings from September 19, 2021:
Wisdom 2:12, 17-20
Psalms 54:3-6 and 8
James 3:16—4:3

09/05/21 Seen. Known. Loved.

Ascension — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 14:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Transition always involves destruction.

Jesus heals the man who was deaf and mute. In doing this, He was destroying something in the man’s life…his identity. Jesus has to take away the false identity in order to tell us who we truly are.

Mass Readings from September 5, 2021:
Isaiah 35:4-7
Psalms 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10
James 2:1-5

05/02/21 Love Limits You

Ascension — Mon, 03 May 2021 12:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Fifth Sunday of Easter.

Practice making the promise.

We find ourselves always moving and never done. We have so many options that we experience decision paralysis and subsequent decision dissatisfaction. But we are made for a full life. A full life is only possible when we intentionally limit ourselves by making the decision to love this person or to root ourselves in this place. Ultimately, unless we truly decide to remain in Christ, we will never experience the life we have been made for.

Mass Readings from May 2, 2021:
Acts 4:8-12
Psalms 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29
1 John 3:1-2

11/29/20 Be Here

Ascension — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 14:00:00 -0600

Homily from the First Sunday of Advent.

God will not just get us through this moment…He has brought us to this moment.

Too often, we find ourselves just wanting this moment to be “done." We miss out on the miracle of the moment because we see what is happening as something that is getting in the way of life. But this is life. There is not another one we are waiting for. We need to learn to trust that God is not just going to help us get through this moment, but that He has brought us to this moment.

Mass Readings from November 29, 2020:
Isaiah 63:16-17, 19; 64:2-7
Psalms 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
1 Corinthians 1:3-9

10/04/20 It's Not Your Vineyard

Ascension — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 09:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time.

God has made you for freedom from anxiety over the unforeseeable future, the unchangeable past, and your present responsibilities.

Many people are overwhelmed by anxiety. Anxiety over all the things that need to get done and over all that they have been through. But God calls us to have no anxiety at all. And to surrender our past, present, and future to His dominion..

Mass Readings from October 4, 2020:
Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalms 80:9,12,13-16,19-20
Philippians 4:6-9

08/09/20 Why Did You Stop?

Ascension — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 17:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

It is one thing to start walking. It is another thing to keep walking.

Distraction is anything that takes our focus away from where it needs to be.

Mass Readings from August 9, 2020:
1 Kings 19:9, 11-13
Psalms 85:9-12, 13-14
Romans 9:1-5

05/03/20 Insecure: Untroubled by the Unknown

Ascension — Mon, 04 May 2020 06:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Fourth Sunday of Easter.

Knowing does not equal security.

In a world of insecurity, it is less important to know where one is being lead, and more important to know who is doing the leading.

Mass Readings from May 3, 2020:
Acts 2:14, 36-41
Psalms 23:1-6
1 Peter 2:20-25

12/02/18 Be Ready, Get Ready

Ascension — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 07:00:00 -0600

Homily from the First Sunday of Advent.

You will never be ready unless you get ready.

Advent is a season of preparation. We get ready to celebrate the first coming of Christ into this world. We also get ready for His Second Coming at the end of the world…or at the end of our individual lives. During Advent, we get ready to die.

Mass Readings from December 02, 2018:
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Psalms 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14
1 Thessalonians 3:12—4:2