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

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

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

02/13/22 Nothing to Fear: The Future

Ascension — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 19:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We are called to do today what prepares us for the challenge of tomorrow.

We have become more comfortable with the "completed" past than the unknown future. Rather than desiring to launch into the challenge of the future, many of us have become paralyzed by fear of the future. When we are rooted in the Word of God each day, we become more rooted in God Himself each day. When we are rooted in the Lord, there is no room for fear of the future.

Mass Readings from February 13, 2022:
Jeremiah 17:5-8
Psalms 1:1-4, 6
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20

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

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

05/16/21 You Will Be Martyrs

Ascension — Mon, 17 May 2021 14:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Mass of the Ascension of the Lord.

Nice is different than good.

Jesus doesn't call us to simply be "nice people." Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit so that we can be more than we are now...so that we can do more than we can do now. Jesus sends His Holy Spirit so that we can have the strength to be the kind of people who can bear witness to Him and His love in this world. He gives His Spirit so that people can be saved and God can be glorified.

Mass Readings from May 16, 2021:
Acts 1:1-11
Psalms 47:2-3, 6-9
Ephesians 1:17-23

05/09/21 Spark Joy

Ascension — Mon, 10 May 2021 12:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Sixth Sunday of Easter.

Joy is rooted in confidence and comes as a consequence.

We can choose joy only insofar as we can choose the source of our joy. Joy comes as a consequence; it is a fruit. And the depth and permanence of our joy is only going to be as deep and long lasting as what we place our confidence in. Only when we surrender to the love of God can we have a joy that is deeper and more permanent than any amount of suffering that comes from life.

Mass Readings from May 9, 2021:
Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
Psalms 98:1-4
1 John 4:7-10

03/07/21 To The Heart: My Treacherous Heart

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

Homily from the Third Sunday of Lent.

Is the question, “Can I trust God?” Or is the better question, “Can God trust me?"

There is something that all of us discover about ourselves the moment we have a minute of self-reflection: we have the capacity to do the things we hate. In spite of our best efforts and sincere desires to be consistently good, we have this thing in our chests that ought not to be trusted. We have treacherous hearts. And yet, Jesus entrusts His Heart to ours at every Mass.

Mass Readings from March 07, 2021:
Exodus 20:1-17
Psalms 19:8-11
1 Corinthians 1:22-25

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

12/27/20 Holy Families

Ascension — Sun, 27 Dec 2020 16:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Mass of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Parents are not powerless.

It can be so easy for parents to feel powerless when it comes to passing on the faith to their families. But there are four powerful tools every parent can employ to help their families become holy families.

Mass Readings from December 27, 2020:
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14
Psalms 128:1-5
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20

11/22/20 Roadmap: Expect Delays

Ascension — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 14:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Solemnity of Christ the King.

What you do with the delay makes all the difference.

We have a destination: to be who we are and to be that well. We have a Roadmap and a Rule of Life. What remains is one last question: Is there any room in your Rule for the Ruler?

Mass Readings from November 22, 2020:
Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17
Psalms 23:1-3, 5-6
1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28

11/15/20 Roadmap: Checkpoints

Ascension — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

What have you done with what you've been given?

No one ever sets out to lose. But losing is entirely possible: in business, relationships, and in the spiritual life. It is possible to lose one’s soul. No one wants to lose, but many people do. Even with a great roadmap, we need regular checkpoints to make sure we are on course and haven’t gone off track.

Mass Readings from November 15, 2020:
Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31
Psalms 128:1-5
1 Thessalonians 5:1-6

11/08/20 Roadmap: Accident or Excellent

Ascension — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 15:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Excellence requires making the decision carefully, consistently, and quickly.

The one question that can either deflate or motivate a person is “When?” This question reveals whether our goal is an actual goal or merely a wish. But if we want to escape a life of accidents and craft a life of excellence, we need to make the decision of “when” are we going to choose excellence carefully, consistently, and quickly.

Mass Readings from November 8, 2020:
Wisdom 6:12-16
Psalms 63:2-8
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

11/01/20 Roadmap: Guardrails

Ascension — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 14:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Solemnity of All Saints.

No one ever accidentally lived on purpose.

No two saints are the same. There is no “cookie-cutter” path to holiness. While there are certain givens that must be present, each person has to assess where they are in their relationship with the Lord in order to know best where to place wise guardrails in their own life.

Mass Readings from November 1, 2020:
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
Psalms 24:1-6
1 John 3:1-3

10/25/20 Roadmap: Reclaimed and Repurposed

Ascension — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 16:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Holiness isn’t always changing your what as much as changing your why.

Our lives have been reclaimed by Christ and we have become a new creation. Because of this, every moment of our lives can be lived with and for a new purpose. Every moment can be repurposed to be a sacrament, and sacrifice, and an act of surrender.

Mass Readings from October 25, 2020:
Exodus 22:20-26
Psalms 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51/dt>
1 Thessalonians 1:5-10

10/18/20 Roadmap: Be A Saint

Ascension — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 22:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

The roadmap begins with “Who.”

There is one true goal in life: to be a saint. Many of us believe this, but is there a path? Without a plan, we will certainly fail to hit the goal. Without a roadmap, we will spend our time on this planet wandering as if we neither know where we are or where we are going.

Mass Readings from October 18, 2020:
Isaiah 45:1, 4-6
Psalms 96:1, 3-5, 7-10
1 Thessalonians 1:1-5

09/13/20 How Do I Look? The Cost of Forgiveness

Ascension — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 16:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

There is no forgiveness without justice.

Forgiveness is neither excusing nor enabling evil. There is always a debt that needs to be paid…and somebody needs to pay it.

Mass Readings from September 13, 2020:
Sirach 27:30—28:7
Psalms 103:1-4, 9-12
Romans 14:7-9

09/06/20 How Do I Look? Fighting For

Ascension — Sun, 06 Sep 2020 18:15:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

How do Christians fight?

We all have experienced the temptation to see someone who has failed or someone who has hurt us as a non-person. But taking responsibility for the people in our lives means fighting that temptation. And it means doing what we can to fight for that person.

Mass Readings from September 06, 2020:
Ezekiel 33:7-9
Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
Romans 13:8-10

07/05/20 Lead Yourself First

Ascension — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 17:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Freedom requires virtue.

The Founding Fathers gave the world a republic that necessitated a people who were virtuous, moral, and religious..

Mass Readings from July 5, 2020:
Zechariah 9:9-10
Psalms 145:1-2, 8-11, 13-14
Romans 8:9, 11-13

10/06/19 Are You Saved? From What: Lovelessness

Ascension — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 08:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time.

How do you know God loves you? How do you know you are saved? Answer: the sacraments.

The saving work of Jesus was accomplished in His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. The saving work of Jesus meets our lives and transforms them through the tangible gifts of His love: the sacraments.

Mass Readings from October 6, 2019:
Habbakuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4
Psalms 95:1-2, 6-9
2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14

07/07/19 Declaration

Ascension — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 08:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

The Father has uttered His declaration; we are offered the chance to answer.

All of Christianity comes down to one question: does God have permission to love you?

Mass Readings from July 07, 2019:
Isaiah 66:10-14
Psalms 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
Galatians 6:14-18

03/06/19 Behind Enemy Lines: Isolated and Disoriented

Ascension — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 08:00:00 -0600

Homily from Ash Wednesday.

You are in a fight; what comes next?

For many of us, our default assumption about life is: it’s fine. Even when things are obviously broken, we can pretend that they will “fix themselves.” But Lent reminds us that we are in a battle that won’t be won unless we are ready to engage the enemy who will attack us like our Lord was attacked in the wilderness...behind enemy lines.

Mass Readings from March 6, 2019:
Joel 2:12-18
Psalms 51:3-6, 12-14
Corinthians 5:20—6:2

01/27/19 Disqualified: Prevented or Prepared?

Ascension — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 07:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

What great work may God be preparing you for right now?

In Christ, your past might not be the thing that prevent you from being a part of God’s great work… It might be the thing that has prepared you.

Mass Readings from January 27, 2019:
Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10
Psalms 19:8, 9, 10, 15
1 Corinthians 12:12-30