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

07/31/22 Then What?

Ascension — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 08:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Time and Death make most of what we live for hevel.

We are preoccupied with "done", but we are simultaneously addicted to asking "then what?". The wisdom of Ecclesiastes notes that so much of what we live for is impermanent, passing, or meaningless. Yet Jesus reveals that there is a real meaning and a real hope.

Mass Readings from July 31, 2022:
Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23
Psalms 90:3-6, 12-14 and 17
Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11

05/15/22 Do Not Be Shocked

Ascension — Sun, 15 May 2022 10:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Fifth Sunday of Easter.

The best you on the worst day of your life.

There are a few things that we ought to never be surprised by. One of them is suffering. God does not abandon us in our suffering, he leads us through them.

Mass Readings from May 15, 2022:
Acts 14:21-27
Psalms 145:8-13
Revelation 21:1-5
John 13:31-35

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

04/24/22 Be Mercy

Ascension — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 12:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Sunday of Divine Mercy.

Mercy is the love that we deserve the least when we need it the most.

The fact of the Resurrection of Jesus has introduced something new into this world of misery. The Cross and Resurrection introduced the possibility of mercy. Not only have we encountered the mercy of God, but we have been commissioned to be mercy in the midst of a world filled with misery.

Mass Readings from April 4, 2022:
Acts 5:12-16
Psalms 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
Revelation 1:9-13, 17-19

11/07/21 Learning to Lose: Practice Dying

Ascension — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 15:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Death is unavoidable.

We will all lose everything. We will all lose everything...even to the point of our very lives. Rather than avoid death, we can practice dying by actively giving away our claims to our materials, time, and our abilities.

Mass Readings from November 7th, 2021:
1 Kings 17:10-16
Psalms 146:7-10
Hebrews 9:24-28

10/31/21 Learning to Lose: All is Lost

Ascension — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 17:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time.

When all is lost, love God with all that's left.

We are called to love God with everything. It is easier to love when we are winning, but are we able to love when we've lost? What if we have lost everything? When we've lost, we are most tempted to become bitter, resentful, and take back our love. But we are made to love God and we can trust God even in the midst of losing it all.

Mass Readings from October 31st, 2021:
Deuteronomy 6:2-6
Psalms 18:2-4, 47, 51
Hebrews 7:23-28

03/28/21 The Truth and the Choice

Ascension — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 18:00:00 -0500

Homily from Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion.

Christianity doesn’t offer comfort. It offers something else.

In our culture today, we are able to avoid thinking of death. But death is the inevitable reality of living. Still, the fact that we will all die is not the problem. The problem is that we pretend that we won’t.

Mass Readings from March 28, 2021:
Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalms 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24
Phillipians 2:6-11

03/21/21 To The Heart: Vulnerable and Able

Ascension — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 15:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Fifth Sunday of Lent.

A heart that is too soft has to be protected. A heart that is too tough can’t be touched.

What good is it to have a heart that can be hurt by this world? Many choose to numb themselves rather than feel the pain of life. But becoming numb leaves us with a heart that is unable. Unable to feel pain but also unable to feel joy. As Christians, we are called to have a heart like the heart of Jesus: vulnerable and able.

Mass Readings from March 21, 2021:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalms 51:3-4, 12-15
Hebrews 5:7-9

06/28/20 Something to Lose

Ascension — Sun, 28 Jun 2020 18:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

It is a gift to have something to lose.

Every good thing in our lives comes from Jesus. Since He is the source of everything, He must be more important than anything.

Mass Readings from June 28, 2020:
2 Kings 4:8-11,14-16
Psalms 89:2-3,16-19
Romans 6:3-4, 8-11

04/11/20 Witnesses

Ascension — Sun, 12 Apr 2020 19:00:00 -0500

Homily from Holy Saturday, the Easter Vigil.

We profess the faith today so we can persevere in the faith tomorrow.

Christianity is an historical religion that is not based on feelings, philosophies, or myths. It is based on a fact: the fact of the resurrection of Jesus. The one thing that changes everything.

04/05/20 Un-Done: Unfinished

Ascension — Sun, 05 Apr 2020 16:00:00 -0500

Homily from Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion.

Jesus has not removed suffering from our lives, He has redeemed the suffering in our lives.

Jesus accomplished the Father’s will in His passion, death, and resurrection. His mission of salvation is “finished.” And yet, Christ’s Body on earth still lives out the mission of Her Head: we are called to unite our sufferings to His for the salvation of the world. And this work — the work He has entrusted to us — remains unfinished.

Mass Readings from April 5, 2020:
Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalms 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
Philippians 2:6-11

03/29/20 Un-Done: Broken, Not Lost

Ascension — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 17:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Fifth Sunday of Lent.

Jesus is the God of the Broken Heart.

Suffering, sickness, and death are devastating. But nothing is worse than losing one’s heart. A broken heart is still home in Jesus’ Heart.

Mass Readings from March 29, 2020:
Ezekiel 37:12-14
Psalms 130:1-8
Romans 8:8-11

12/01/19 Before Goodbye

Ascension — Sun, 01 Dec 2019 08:00:00 -0600

Homily from the First Sunday of Advent.

We do not know when, but we do know what.

Goodbyes can be painful. But what makes goodbyes even more painful is when we are not ready for the leaving or letting go. The goodness of the goodbye comes down to what we do with the time before goodbye.

Mass Readings from December 1, 2019:
Isaiah 4:2-6
Psalms 122:1-9
Romans 13:11-14

09/22/19 Are You Saved? From What: Hopelessness

Ascension — Sun, 22 Sep 2019 08:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Jesus took from us what was ours so He could give to us what is His.

When we come face to face with our sin, we realize that we owe a debt we cannot pay. When we come face to face with Jesus, we realize that He paid a debt He did not owe. This is the free gift that saves us from hopelessness: we are saved by grace through faith working itself out in love.

Mass Readings from September 22, 2019:
Amos 8:4-7
Psalms 113:1-2, 4-8
1 Timothy 2:1-8

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