Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz

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 Conception reveals God's plan to conquer sin not just by repairing what is broken, but by preparing a path where grace triumphs first. This Advent we are invited to enter into the "Sacrament of the Present Moment", where God offers real, life-changing grace in each moment we choose to be present to Him. Mary's unique "yes" reminds us to stop waiting and to respond to God's already-given grace with a wholehearted and immediate "yes". Mass Readings from December 8, 2025: Genesis 3:9-15, 20 Psalm 98:1-4Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 Luke 1:26-38

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 instead of frustration. Mass Readings from December 7, 2025: Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17Romans 15:4-9 Matthew 3:1-12

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 right here and right now. And God is doing something right now. We do not simply endure waiting, we engage during the waiting. The declaration of faithful waiting is: I am confident that this moment is crucial. Mass Readings from November 30, 2025: Isaiah 2:1-5 Psalm 122: 1-9Romans 13:11-14 Matthew 24:37-44

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 Christ wins by another means. Christ the King, Lord of the Universe wins by choosing to empty Himself of all that we think we need to win. Mass Readings from November 23, 2025: 2 Samuel 5:1-3 Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5Colossians 1:12-20 Luke 23:35-43

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 must be burned up or transformed so that we can be fully known...and fully loved. Mass Readings from November 16, 2025: Malachi 3:19-20 Psalm 98:5-6, 7-8, 92 Thessalonians 3:7-12 Luke 21:5-19

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 special. They are meant to be something unique. Others merely used to be something unique. Which one am I? Mass Readings from November 9, 2025: Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12 Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-91 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17 John 2:13-22

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 is both an event and a process. Purgatory is God's gift on continuing the process of making our hearts like His that He began in this life. Mass Readings from November 2, 2025: Wisdom 3:1-9 Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6Romans 5:5-11 John 6:37-40

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 would we approach Heaven? How do we approach God now? We might approach God with our resume, or as an audition, or with perfection...but we need to approach in a different way. Mass Readings from October 26, 2025: Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18 Psalm 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 232 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 Luke 18:9-14

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 middle often holds the most impactful moments of consequence; times when we are called to persevere...to "remain faithful" to the decisions we have made. Mass Readings from October 19, 2025: Exodus 17:8-13 Psalm 121:1-82 Timothy 3:14-4:2 Luke 18:1-8

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 find ourselves in desperate need, we cry out to God, He answers, we thank Him...and then we forget. There is a way to break this cycle and build our lives on a relationship with the God who saved our lives. Mass Readings from October 12, 2025: 2 Kings 5:14-17 Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-42 Timothy 2:8-13 Luke 17:11-19

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 do so much...if only you had more. But what if you had everything you need already? Mass Readings from October 5, 2025: Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4 Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-92 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14 Luke 17:5-10

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 results is that many of us have become captive to comfort. Mass Readings from September 28, 2025: Amos 6:1a, 4-7 Psalm 146:7, 8-9, 9-101 Timothy 6:11-16 Luke 16:19-31

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. Because of this, He calls those who have been saved by Him to brings His salvation to everyone else. Mass Readings from September 21, 2025: Amos 8:4-7 Psalm 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-81 Timothy 2:1-8 Luke 16:1-13

Homily from the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy CrossThe 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 trust. The Cross of Jesus is God's answer to evil. Mass Readings from September 14, 2025:Numbers 21:4b-9Psalm 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38Philippians 2:6-11 John 3:13-17

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" of being His disciple. The condition is: He must be FIRST. He must be loved before all others. Mass Readings from Septemeber 7, 2025: Wisdom 9:13-18b Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17Philemon 9-10, 12-17 Luke 14:25-33

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 better nor pretending to be worse than we are. But is the freedom and the joy of living the full truth about ourselves. Mass Readings from August 31, 2025: Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 Psalm 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a Luke 14:1, 7-14

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 you want to be? What do you want to be true about you? Mass Readings from August, 24, 2025:Isaiah 66:18-21 Psalm 117:1, 2Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 Luke 13:22-30

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 daily choices, can become a villain or hero. Mass Readings from August 17, 2025: Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10Psalm 40:2, 3, 4, 18Hebrews 12:1-4 Luke 12:49-53

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, the fulfillment of her entire life. Since she belonged totally to God, she was brought totally to God. Mass Readings from August 15, 2025:Revelation 11:19A; 12:1-6A, 10AB Psalm 45:10, 11, 12, 16 1 Corinthians 15:20-27 Luke 1:39-56

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, 2025: Wisdom 18:6-9 Psalm 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 Luke 12:32-48