Podcasts · Religion & Spirituality

Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz

Ascension

300 episodes

Every week, Catholic priest Fr. Mike Schmitz delivers powerful homilies based on the Sunday Mass Scripture readings, inviting you to live more fully as the person God created you to be. Engaging and motivating, these 20-30 minute homilies will help ground your faith, fortify your heart, and transform your life. Fr. Mike Schmitz preaches from Duluth Minnesota, where he serves as the Newman chaplain for University Minnesota Duluth’s Bulldog Catholic campus ministry.

Episodes page 2 of 6

  1. 12/14/25 Waiting Well: Praise While We Wait

    · 21 min

    Homily from the Third Sunday of Advent In seasons of waiting, do we complain or praise? While we are waiting, it can feel like nothing is happening. And yet, faith tells us that God is at work even when we can't yet…

  2. 12/08/25 This Present Moment

    · 11 min

    Homily from the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast day of the Immaculate Conception is not just a privilege for Mary: it's a prophecy for us. The Feast of the Immaculate…

  3. 12/07/25 Waiting Well: Trust His Timing

    · 23 min

    Homily from the Second Sunday of Advent. We worry while we wait. Advent teaches us not just to wait, but to trust while we wait. When we surrender worry and remember who God is, waiting becomes a place of grace…

  4. 11/30/25 Waiting Well: Engaged

    · 17 min

    Homily from the First Sunday of Advent. The process is the point. When we are waiting, we often want to be "done". We want to be "there". We want our waiting to be over so that we can start living. But life happens…

  5. 11/23/25 The Moment of Victory

    · 23 min

    Homily from The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. The moment of victory is the moment of vulnerability. We often think that we win by being strong, or beautiful, or clever, or powerful. But…

  6. 11/16/25 In The Light

    · 29 min

    Homily from the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Would you rather be admired? Or loved? The Day of the Lord is coming. When everything that is true about our hearts will be revealed. What should not be there…

  7. 11/09/25 Meant to Be

    · 20 min

    Homily from the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. If you were what you were meant to be, you would set the world on fire. There are some things that are dedicated...consecrated to be something…

  8. 11/2/25 After This

    · 27 min

    Homily from the Commemoration of All the Faithfully Departed (All Souls). By the end of this Mass, some things will be changed forever. Purgatory is an essential teaching of Christianity. It highlights that salvation…

  9. 10/26/25 I Got Nothin'

    · 21 min

    Homily from the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Nothing to Offer. Nothing to Prove. Nothing to Hide. When we stand before the gates of Heaven and we are asked why we should be let in...what is our answer? How…

  10. 10/19/25 Moments of Consequence

    · 23 min

    Homily from the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Persist through severity. There are big moments in our lives. We usually think of the beginning or the end of something as the moments of consequence. But the…

  11. 10/12/25 Two Mule Loads

    · 23 min

    Homily from the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Break the cycle and build your life on a relationship with the God who saved your life. We often find ourselves in the same cycle as many people in the Bible: We…

  12. 10/05/25 Inheritance

    · 22 min

    Homily from the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. You have already been given everything you need to be a saint. Imagine finding out that you had an inheritance. So many problems could be solved and you could…

  13. 9/28/25 The god of Our Generation

    · 23 min

    Homily from the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time When comfort is our god, we end up underliving our lives. Modern life has done a powerful job of reducing stark deprivation. This is a good thing. But one of the…

  14. 9/21/25 Mini-Mediators

    · 28 min

    Homily from the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Don't let what Jesus did for you end with you. Jesus is the one Mediator between God and humanity. He has saved us. But God wills that all humans are saved.…

  15. 9/14/25 Words Fail

    · 23 min

    Homily from the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross The sign of our shame has become the symbol of our hope. The Cross of Jesus is God's answer to our guilt. The Cross of Jesus is God's answer to our lack of…

  16. 9/7/25 Two Questions

    · 25 min

    Homily from the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Whenever there is something of value that we desire, we have to ask these two questions. Jesus gives the conditions for discipleship. He gives us the very "cost"…

  17. 8/31/25 Freedom and Joy

    · 22 min

    Homily from the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Humility is nothing other than acknowledging and living the truth. Humility is not pretending to be someone other than we are. It is neither pretending to be…

  18. 8/24/25 Begin. Or begin again.

    · 19 min

    Homily from the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Discipline isn't the point, but it is the path. God calls us to develop the potential He has given us by leaning into the discipline He is calling us to. Who is it…

  19. 8/17/25 Ordinary People

    · 21 min

    Homily from the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Villains and Heroes are made out of the same stuff. We are not surrounded by villains and heroes, we are surrounded by ordinary people. And every one of us, by our…

  20. 8/15/25 All In

    · 12 min

    Homily from the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary God had no backup plan after Mary. The Assumption of Mary is the reality that Our Lady was taken up entirely into Heaven. This is, in some ways,…

  21. 08/10/25 More Faith

    · 20 min

    Homily from the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Without obedience, there is no faith. Followers of Jesus want to grow in faith, but do they understand what it is to live by faith? Mass Readings from August 10,…

  22. 08/03/25 Memento Mori

    · 22 min

    Homily from the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Remember you will die. Remember you have died. We are called to live a new life. But we cannot live a new life until we have allowed our old life to die. We need to…

  23. 07/27/25 Teach Us to Pray

    · 14 min

    Homily from the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The battle of prayer. Every one of us knows that we ought to pray. But not all of us know how. In addition, not all of us know that prayer can often be a…

  24. 07/20/25 The Reason Why

    · 16 min

    Homily from the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Do it for the love of Jesus. We all have a lot to do. We may even be tempted to resent all that we have to do. But if we do it for the right reason, even the most…

  25. 07/13/25 Doing

    · 13 min

    Homily from the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Knowing is nice. Doing makes the difference. We can know exactly what to do, but unless we act on what we know, nothing will change. Mass Readings from July 13,…

  26. 07/05/25 Signers

    · 16 min

    Homily from the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. There are some things worth risking everything for. Those who signed the Declaration of Independance risked everything. Every Christian who follows Jesus is risking…

  27. 6/29/25 Pillar and Foundation: Upon this Rock

    · 20 min

    Homily from the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. Jesus came to establish a Church. The Church is an essential part of God's Kingdom on earth. Jesus is the King. Peter (and his successors) are the stewards of the…

  28. 6/22/25 Pillar and Foundation: Greatest Gift

    · 21 min

    Homily from the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. Jesus did not say "Read this in memory of Me." He said "Do this in memory of Me." The greatest gift Jesus gave us is Himself in the Eucharist. And yet, even people who…

  29. 06/15/25 Pillar and Foundation: Necessary Teacher

    · 17 min

    Homily from the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Even when the Bible seems clear, earnest Christians can get it wrong. We need a Church to tell us when we are wrong. The most important revelation of God is His own…

  30. 06/08/25 Pillar and Foundation: Infallible Teacher

    · 18 min

    Homily from Pentecost Sunday. Without an infallible Teacher, an infallible Book is a worthless book. The Church is messy. But it is also holy. And has been given the ability and the authority of Jesus to teach. Even…

  31. 06/01/25 Pillar and Foundation: Canon of Scripture

    · 14 min

    Homily from the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. Jesus didn't give us the Bible. He gave us the Church. And the Church gave us the Bible. All Christians believe in the 27 books of the New Testament. We all…

  32. 5/25/25 Pillar and Foundation: Says Who?

    · 16 min

    Homily from the Sixth Sunday of Easter. Do we rely on the Bible alone? The Church is not optional. When there is a question that is not covered explicitly in the Bible (and even when it is), where do we look for…

  33. 05/18/25 Move On: Not Alone

    · 17 min

    Homily from the Fifth Sunday of Easter. Life is difficult. You don't have to move on alone. In a difficult life and a difficult mission, Paul had someone with him who helped him continue to do the work he was called…

  34. 5/11/25 Move On: Boundaries

    · 22 min

    Homily from the Fourth Sunday of Easter. We get the behavior we are willing to tolerate. There are times when we need to establish boundaries...even with the people we love. Even as Christians, we need to choose and…

  35. 5/4/25 Move On: Charcoal Fire

    · 19 min

    Homily from the Third Sunday of Easter To be restored, we must revisit the place of ruin. When we are called to move on, we may need to revisit the places in our lives that need healing in order to allow the Lord to…

  36. 4/27/25 Move On: Five Words

    · 21 min

    Homily from the Second Sunday of Easter, Sunday of Divine Mercy Five words that can change your life. Life is filled with change and uncertainty. But there is one thing that is stable and unchanging. Mass Readings…

  37. 4/20/25 What Never Dies

    · 14 min

    Homily from the The Resurrection of the Lord, The Mass of Easter Day Get up and do what you can. We know that darkness is real. And death is real. But darkness and death are not the end. There are some things that…

  38. 4/18/25 Pause

    · 12 min

    Homily from Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion This is not the end of the Story, but it had to happen for the Story to go on. The Passion of Christ is not the end of the Story, but we must pause and reflect on it. It…

  39. 4/17/25 The God Who Makes Himself Vulnerable

    · 17 min

    Homily from Holy Thursday, Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper He loved them to the end. One of the characteristics that marks modern man is that we find ourselves angry at God. In fact, we are so angry that we would…

  40. 04/13/25 The Place of the Way: Here

    · 15 min

    Homily from Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion. Thank God ahead of time. We often put off joy and praise and peace. We are tempted to be preoccupied with wanting to be "there" or wanting to be "done" with whatever we…

  41. 04/06/25 The Place of the Way: Dead Ends

    · 26 min

    Homily from the Fifth Sunday in Lent. We run out of all hope...and then Jesus. The Dead End is a necessary place of the way. The location where we run out of our own skill and our own strength and find ourselves…

  42. 03/30/25 The Place of the Way: Home

    · 28 min

    Homily from the Fourth Sunday of Lent. To look like Jesus, we must learn how to live in the Presence of the Father. When it comes to our relationship with the Father, too often it is marked by hiding our hearts or…

  43. 03/23/25 The Place of the Way: The Valley

    · 33 min

    Homily from the Third Sunday of Lent. We all want peak moments, but growth happens in the Valley. Why do we walk through valleys? What good is life in the valley? Is it only a negative? Is it always a punishment from…

  44. 03/16/25 The Place of the Way: The Crossroads

    · 25 min

    Homily from the Second Sunday of Lent. A big life is a series of small crossroads. Life happens at the crossroads. Life is also a series of small crossroads that might seem insignificant, but add up to a life of…

  45. 03/09/25 The Place of the Way: The Desert

    · 22 min

    Homily from the First Sunday of Lent. The only way out is through. As we enter into the desert, the desert takes away the things we tend to trust in...the things we use as comforts and crutches...and we are led…

  46. 03/02/25 The Place of the Way: What Reveals and What Trains

    · 21 min

    Homily from the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Silence reveals our hearts and silence trains our hearts. As we enter into the place of training, we realize that there are certain things that reveal the condition of…

  47. 02/23/25 A New Commandment

    · 28 min

    Homily from the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. Love those who deserve it. And those who don’t. Jesus gives us a commandment that existed from the beginning: we are to love those who deserve it. This is justice.…

  48. 02/16/25 How Do I Know if I Have Faith?

    · 27 min

    Homily from the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. We live in this life, but we live for the next life. Jesus turns our fears and our hopes upside down...because through the Resurrection, Jesus has turned the world…

  49. 02/9/25 On Purpose: The Next Step

    · 21 min

    Homily from the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. There are two requirements: Be available and be willing to try. There are times when the future is so uncertain and so unknown that we hesitate to move. But since we…

  50. 02/02/25 On Purpose: Your Destiny

    · 25 min

    Homily from the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Do what you know, where you are. What is the Greatest Thing you will ever do? What if the Greatest Thing is not something you accomplish, but who you become?…

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