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

11/27/22 Closer Than You Think: 29 Days

Ascension — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 11:45:00 -0600

Homily from the First Sunday of Advent.

You are made for more than a secondhand relationship with God.

We have 29 days until Christmas. And so much can change in that time. If we are willing to commit to spending 29 minutes every day for the next 29 days...if we are willing to beg the Lord to reveal Himself to us...everything could be different in just 29 days.

Mass Readings from November 27, 2022:
Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalms 122: 1-9
Romans 13:11-14

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

08/21/22 You, Strive

Ascension — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 12:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time.

How are you fighting for Heaven?

Jesus makes it very clear that our call is to make our pursuit of Heaven exactly that: a pursuit. He is personal and practical when He tells us that each and every one of us must strive for Heaven.

Mass Readings from August 21, 2022:
Isaiah 66:18-21
Psalms 117:1, 2
Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13

01/16/22 Jesus Changes Things

Ascension — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 17:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Jesus changes shame into joy.

There are certain things, certain failures, embarrassments, and shames, that could define our lives. There are certain events that could define our lives in a negative way unless something changes. Jesus can change those things.

Mass Readings from January 16, 2022:
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalms 96:1-3, 7-10
1 Corinthians 12:4-11

01/09/22 Children of the Father

Ascension — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 14:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Baptism of the Lord.

Jesus changed the water. Now the water changes you.

Why was Jesus baptized? Not because He needed it, but because we need it. We need baptism to be saved, to be children of God, and to be in a new and real relationship with God.

Mass Readings from January 9, 2022:
Isaiah 42:1-4,6-7
Psalms 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10
Acts 10:34-38

11/28/21 Abounding Love: No Room

Ascension — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 21:00:00 -0600

Homily from the First Sunday of Advent.

Two things are clear about the inn at Bethlehem: Love Incarnate showed up and there was no room for Him.

Too often, we want to love the way we have been created to love. But we find ourselves incapable of loving this way. Not because we aren't willing or because we don't want to...but because our lives are simply too full. We have no room to love.

Mass Readings from November 28th, 2021:
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Psalms 25:4-5, 8-10, 14
1 Thessalonians 3:12—4:2

11/21/21 All Over the Place

Ascension — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 12:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

When torn asunder, we are held together by worship of the King of Kings.

The end of the year offers us the chance to recognize the little lords and tingy tyrants in our lives; those things we love and those things that attack us. And we have the chance to allow Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe to be the true King over all of those fragments by offering Him true worship.

Mass Readings from November 21st, 2021:
Deuteronomy 7:13-14
Psalms 93:1-2, 5
Revelation 1:5-88

11/14/21 Always Forward. Never Back.

Ascension — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 18:00:00 -0600

Homily from the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

The struggle doesn't change the destination. The struggle is the way.

When we are in the middle of a journey...or the middle of life...we will encounter obstacles. In that encounter with obstacles, we will be tempted to go back. But it is necessary to ask “what is God asking of me right now?”

Mass Readings from November 14th, 2021:
Deuteronomy 12:1-3
Psalms 16:5, 8-11
Hebrews 10:11-14, 18

10/24/21 Learning to Lose: Get Up

Ascension — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 15:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Life is about losing. It is not about quitting.

It is one thing to lose. It is another thing when those losses begin to stack up and we get to the point where we haven't just lost...we've been beaten. We can wind up feeling defeated. Into this place of defeat, God Himself speaks into our loss and our shame, telling us what is needed.

Mass Readings from October 24th, 2021:
Jeremiah 31:7-9
Psalms 126:1-6
Hebrews 5:1-6

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

05/24/20 Exiles: Restoration

Ascension — Mon, 25 May 2020 13:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Ascension of the Lord.

Live the reason.

Return from exile is not about a change in location, it is about a change in vocation. It is less about geography and more about mission. The goal is not Resurrection, the goal is Restoration.

Mass Readings from May 24, 2020:
Acts 1:1-11
Psalms 47:2-3, 6-9
Ephesians 1:17-23

10/13/19 The Hardest Step: The First Step

Ascension — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 08:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

You just have to start.

The first step is the most difficult…but it is also the most important.

Mass Readings from October 13, 2019:
2 Kings 5:14-17
Psalms 98:1-4
2 Timothy 2:8-13

09/15/19 Are You Saved? From What: Fatherlessness

Ascension — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 08:00:00 -0500

Homily from the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Jesus saves us from being orphaned or abandoned.

I was saved at my Baptism. I am being saved. I hope to be saved. The Father has adopted us in Christ. And He cannot take it back. But do we live as children of the Father?

Mass Readings from September 15, 2019:
Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14
Psalms 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 19
1 Timothy 1:12-17

12/25/18 But Why?

Ascension — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 07:30:00 -0600

Homily from the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas).

The Why is a Who.

Jesus is not merely the “reason for the season”… He is the reason for everything.

Mass Readings from December 25, 2018:
Isaiah 62:11-12
Psalms 97:1, 6, 11-12
Titus 3:4-7

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