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

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

10/10/21 Holding On: Holding On to You

Ascension — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 15:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

What you've been holding on to ends up holding on to you.

Anything can keep us from Heaven. Anything that we prefer over and over (and anything that we defer putting down over and over) can end up holding on to us. There are times when we've chosen so often that we no longer have a choice. And there are times when we have put off letting go so often that we can't put it down. And we find ourselves stuck. What do we hold on to then?

Mass Readings from October 10th, 2021:
Wisdom 7:7-11
Psalms 90:12-17
Hebrews 4:12-13

08/08/21 Consumer Catholic: Farther to Go

Ascension — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 15:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

The best of your life is ahead of you...you will need food for the journey.

The worst days of our life often come after the best days of our life. But even in those "worst days", you are not done yet. God has more for you to do and further for you to go. He wants to feed you with what you are going to need to have enough strength for the journey.

Mass Readings from August 8, 2021:
1 Kings 19:4-85
Psalms 34:2-9
Ephesians 4:30—5:2

04/11/21 Scar Stories

Ascension — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 15:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Sunday of Divine Mercy.

Every scar has a story.

Virtually everyone has scars. And every scar has a story. Scars are reminders of our past...they are reminders that won’t go away. And Jesus has kept His wounds in order to help us to never forget His story.

Mass Readings from April 11, 2021:
Acts 4:32-35
1 John 5:1-6
Colossians 3:1-4

02/07/21 Hindsight 20/20: In Good Times and In Bad

Ascension — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 17:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Good times don’t last…and neither do bad times.

One of the many things that life teaches us is that life is always changing. To grow is to change. There are times that are good and there are times that are bad. All of us go through good times and bad times and neither of them are permanent. In both good times and bad, Jesus is Lord and He loves the person in a desperate situation and the person in a bright situation.

Mass Readings from February 07, 2021:
Job 7:1-4, 6-7
Psalms 147:1-6
1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23

01/17/21 Hindsight 20/20: The Moment Before the Moment

Ascension — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 17:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We can’t predict The Moment, but we can prepare in the moment before The Moment.

While no one can predict the future, all of us can learn from the past. While none of us can control when the big moments of our lives are going to happen, all of us can choose what we are doing in the moments before The Moment.

Mass Readings from January 17, 2021:
1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19
Psalms 40:2, 4, 7-10
1 Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20

05/10/20 Insecure: Uncertain Plans

Ascension — Sun, 10 May 2020 22:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Fifth Sunday of Easter.

Advance boldly into the shadows of uncertainty.

If we are wise, we will think about the future and plan for it. And if we are even wiser, we will be able to let go of those plans when we need to.

Mass Readings from May 10, 2020:
Acts 6:1-7
Psalms 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19
1 Peter 2:4-9

04/26/20 Insecure: Not Home

Ascension — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 17:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Third Sunday of Easter.

Back to normal might not be what we think.

Our lives can be spent wishing for certain outcomes. But a security built on specific outcomes is a conditional and temporary security. We need true hope to walk in confidence.

Mass Readings from April 26, 2020:
Acts 2:14, 22-33
Psalms 16:1-2, 5, 7-11
1 Peter 1:17-21

04/19/20 Insecure: The Source of Security

Ascension — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 01:00:00 -0500

Homily from Divine Mercy Sunday.

In a time of incredible insecurity, we trust in incomprehensible mercy.

We live in an insecure world, but God’s mercy is stable.

Mass Readings from April 19, 2020:
Acts 2:42-47
Psalms 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
1 Peter 1:3-9

02/02/20 Underestimated: Unimpressive

Ascension — Sun, 02 Feb 2020 09:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

Unimpressive does not mean unimportant.

Most of life is made up of unimpressive moments and unimpressive seasons. If we are constantly waiting for the next “peak moment“ we will miss out on most of life…and also most peak moments.

Mass Readings from February 2, 2020:
Malachi 3:1-4
Psalms 24:7-10
Hebrews 2:14-18

10/20/19 The Hardest Step: The Next Step

Ascension — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 08:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Often, the next hardest step is the next step.

Continuing to walk in the midst of failure, rejection, and imperfection is a sign of a great life. In your life, you will take hundreds of first steps.

Mass Readings from October 20, 2019:
Ezekiel 17:8-13
Luke 18:1-8
2 Timothy 3:14-4:2

08/25/19 Hope and Discipline

Ascension — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 08:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Discipline is the mark of the mature Christian.

We have to do difficult things all of the time. Why do we do them? We do them because we hope. We have the confidence that what we do makes a difference. The hope that, even when discipline becomes difficult, the discipline makes a difference.

Mass Readings from August 25, 2019:
Isaiah 66:18-21
Psalms 117:1-2
Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13

02/17/19 The Fighting Virtue

Ascension — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 07:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Willing to engage and embrace the realities of life.

Hope is not a “soft” virtue. It is a fighting virtue. Hope is what enables us to live in the present with strength and conviction. It takes hope to take action.

Mass Readings from February 17, 2019:
Jeremiah 17:5-8
Psalms 1:1-4, 6
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20

02/10/19 Disqualified: Unfit

Ascension — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 07:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

God is able to make you holy even if He never makes you whole.

There are some things in our lives (our decisions, our wounds, our weaknesses) that we wish and pray were gone. God calls you and I in our weakness; He doesn’t necessarily call us out of our weakness.

Mass Readings from February 10, 2019:
Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8
Psalms 138:1-5, 7-8
1 Corinthians 15:1-11

12/09/18 The End?

Ascension — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 07:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Second Sunday of Advent.

This might be the end of the dream, but it is not the end of the story.

God has begun a good work in you. In fact, he has begun many “good works.“ Many of them will come to an end, but the truly great work that God has begun is a work that he intends to continue to finish.

Mass Readings from December 09, 2018:
Baruch 5:1-9
Psalms 126:1-6
Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11