The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast

Did you know there’s a simple approach to discerning your vocation? Fr. Mike shares the most common mistake he sees people make when determining God's call.

He emphasizes the importance of focusing on one vocation at a time, reminding us that jumping between options can lead to confusion.

Instead, Fr. Mike encourages us to simplify the process and let God guide us toward the vocation we’re meant for. When we focus and trust, God’s will becomes clear.

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Do you pray the rosary? If you do, you might find it difficult at times, or experience dryness in prayer. It's important to persevere in this devotion—but how?

Fr. Mike has dealt with the same difficulties in prayer, and these are his top tips for keeping up with the holy rosary.

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"In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words." Matthew 6:7 (New American Bible, Revised Edition)

Does Jesus warn us against repetitive prayers? Does praying the rosary contradict the way Jesus asked us to pray? Why is the rosary even designed that way?

Whether you pray the rosary everyday or have never prayed it before, Fr. Mike has some insights from Jesus and his Church regarding repetition in prayer that will change the way you look at prayers like the rosary.

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Fr. Mike had the pleasure of interviewing David Henrie about his reversion to Catholicism, his life as a Hollywood celebrity, and how to find your identity in Christ no matter your state in life. They also discussed his recent work as director on “Monster Summer”, which follows a group of kids who team up with a retired police detective (played by Mel Gibson) and embark on an adventure to save their island after a mysterious evil force disrupts their summer.

Learn more about the film at https://www.monstersummermovie.com/

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Jesus gave us the prayer we often call "the Our Father". But where do the other prayers of the Holy Rosary come from, like the Hail Mary? The Glory Be? Who selected the mysteries that we meditate on for each decade? ...who even decided to pray a rosary in "decades"?

Fr. Mike breaks down the historical origins of the rosary as well as the logic that the saints who went before us used to organize the rosary as we know it today.

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Did you know Christians have a radical view of the body? While society often swings between two extremes—either dismissing the body as insignificant or idolizing it—Christianity offers a balanced and profound understanding of the unity between body and soul.

Fr. Mike, drawing on St. John Paul II's teachings on the 'cult of the body,' explains that while we are called to care for and love our bodies, they are not our ultimate purpose. He says we can get caught up in focusing on health, beauty, and physical perfection. Our bodies are good, destined for redemption, but they should not be the center of our lives. Understanding this teaching can help us honor our bodies as God intended.

Want more content like this? Fr. Mike Schmitz introduces the Theology of the Body and invites us to his 4-part series diving deeper into these incredible mysteries. Sign up for the whole series for FREE here: https://www.ascensionpress.com/tobtalk/

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You’ve definitely either said—or met someone who’s said—“I go to Mass, but I just don’t get anything out of it.”

Fr. Mike gets you. He’s said it too. But what he’s learned and cannot stop telling everyone is that Mass is not about you or getting anything out of it.
The heart of religion is worship, and the heart of worship is sacrifice.

Mass is not about what you can get, but what you can give to God that is due to him as Lord of the Universe.

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Fr. Mike offers insights on how to combat despair. If you feel like you've tried everything, see no way out, or think nothing matters, Fr. Mike reminds you of the true meaning of hope. He explains that we can always rely on God's presence. Choosing hope means choosing to act with courage, even if that victory is as simple as getting out of bed.

Finally, he reminds us that one of the best ways to fight despair is to bring that hopelessness to God in Confession.

You are loved, you are valued, and you are absolutely irreplaceable. Our team at Ascension is thinking of you and praying for you. If you're going through a difficult time or struggling with your mental health, don't hesitate to reach out for help. Talk to someone you trust or seek support from a professional. You can also call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 (available 24/7).

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How can you discern if the voice you're hearing is genuinely God's? How can you be sure it isn't just your own thoughts or even something deceptive?

Fr. Mike offers insight into recognizing God's guidance by asking key questions: Does the voice contradict Scripture or the teachings of the Church? Who does the voice sound like, and what are the characteristics of God's voice?

He explains that divine guidance is often confirmed by its fruitfulness—bringing lasting peace, joy, and alignment with God's will. Fr. Mike encourages us to trust God step by step. He says it does not take blind leaps to see how even the most minor acts of faith can produce meaningful fruit over time.

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Have you ever faced a major loss, whether it's a relationship, your status, or even your health?

In this video, we explore the 4 typical responses people have when dealing with significant loss.

Fr. Mike introduces the "4 Rs: Restore, Replace, Redesign, Relinquish." He explains that while there is no right or wrong approach, understanding these responses can help you determine which one suits your situation best. Familiarizing yourself with the "4 Rs" will guide you through the process of dealing with loss and finding healing.

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When we encounter excellence, what prompts us to critique rather than admire?

Fr. Mike suggests that this tendency often stems from jealousy and insecurity. He says humans are made to admire all that is praiseworthy. When we witness remarkable talent in athletics, academics, or the arts, we should take the opportunity to commend the hard work and discipline that leads to greatness.

God made us to appreciate excellence and work to cultivate it in our own lives.

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Do you feel the call to engage more deeply in the spiritual battle raging around you? Do you want to deepen your prayer life? This might be precisely what you need.

St. Michael’s Lent is a 45-day journey of prayer and reflection inspired by St. Francis of Assisi that runs from August 15 through September 29. Men participating in this transformative practice experience a deepened faith in Jesus and serious growth in virtue.

Today, Fr. Mike explains the essence of St. Michael’s Lent, emphasizing how it helps men prepare for future challenges, experience personal growth, and impact their communities. He debunks the myth that these practices are extreme or unreasonable and highlights their role in balancing personal development and service to others.

Whether you join St. Michael’s Lent or support those who do through prayer, Fr. Mike encourages everyone to consider how these practices can enrich their lives.

Fr. Mike Schmitz invites men to embark on this spiritual journey. Discover more about Exodus 90, which shares similar principles, at https://www.Exodus90.com.

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Perhaps you've heard about the blasphemous debacle that occurred during the Olympics opening ceremonies, when a scandalous parody of the Last Supper was broadcast around the world. Christian media voices across the internet (and Catholic leaders around the world) have responded with the condemnation that the "performance" deserves.

But Fr. Mike has what he hopes is a bit of a fresh take on the situation, as well as something that you and I can do today in direct response to this—and all other—blasphemy.

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Sometimes life brings us down. Difficult situations cause us to become discouraged. This is natural (and inevitable). But here's another kind of discouragement that comes from a sense of "I should be better than this", or, "I thought I was better than that".

Believe it or not, the root of that discouragement is pride—a desire to be strong without God's help.

Today, Fr. Mike breaks down this phenomenon, helps us to recognize it, and gives us some tips to let go and draw our strength from God alone.

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Calling all Moms and Dads! You might feel discouraged or frustrated as you parent and seek to keep your kids close to Christ.

Today, Fr. Mike wants to share a word of encouragement with you! "Moms (and Dads), you're doing a great job!"

You don't need to be perfect to get your kids to heaven. You must keep showing up and loving, and let God do the rest!

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Maybe you've heard the phrase before, "the middleman is a lie." Or maybe you've found yourself wondering why we have an institutional church as Catholics when the Scriptures state clearly that there is only one mediator between God and man, namely Jesus Christ.

Today, Fr. Mike tackles this question and offers some guidance for those who may be tempted to get frustrated with the human and sometimes sinful element of the Catholic Church in its hierarchy and its members. Hint: It's another one of those "both/and" Catholic situations.

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The Bible is the Word of God. It is a foundation of our faith. And it tells the story of the human race—a story that you're a part of. But... what exactly is that story? What's the narrative? If you only had 10 minutes to share it... what would you say?

Ascension and Fr. Mike Schmitz—creators of the Bible in a Year podcast—teamed up to produce a beautiful, clear, shareable summary of the story of salvation: The Bible in 10 Minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm3b4Q98Vx8. If you've never had the whole narrative summarized for you (or if you could use a refresher), this video will change your perspective on humanity's relationship with God.

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If you have a family member, friend, or loved one who is far from God, you're not alone. You're in good company—not the least of which is God the Father himself, who works so hard to unite us with himself. If someone you love has stopped going to Church, or isn't practicing the faith anymore, or hasn't yet said "yes" to Jesus to begin with, what is the best way to love them?

Today, Fr. Mike has 4 simple things you can do to keep loving them on their faith journey, through all of the ups and downs. They're not easy to do, but they're always right.

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Does a passing blue jay remind you of a deceased loved one? Does a specific number or color call their loss to your memory? Could they be speaking to you through these signs?

Today, Fr. Mike opens up about navigating the loss of his own mother and finding hope and peace in the midst of that grief. The bottom line is, your loved ones can't cause these "signs" to happen—only God can work in nature in that way. But these unexpected occurrences can be a reminder to pray for your loved ones and to recall the gift of their lives.

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We've got a "Marriage Pop-Quiz" for you! Would you ditch your spouse to catch a flight?

Imagine you're traveling with your spouse. They go to the bathroom while you wait for your flight to board. But they don't come back. And you're going to miss your flight. Should you board it and ditch your spouse? What would you do in this situation?

According to Fr. Mike, there is only one correct answer to this question. And the answer might surprise you.

Today, Fr. Mike shares a funny story about an older married couple's problem when traveling together and his shock and surprise at the variety of responses he received when asking other married couples what they would do in this situation.

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Momma always said, "Son, you don't like something? Well, offer it up!"

Today, Fr. Mike explores the traditional understanding of offering up your pain, embracing your suffering, and making sacrifices in the spiritual life.

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The sacraments that Christ gave his church are powerful. They are life changing. But... they are not magic.

Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection makes salvation possible for all of us. But there is one key ingredient that only you can supply. Fr. Mike encourages you to give that key ingredient to God today.

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If you're truly open-minded, you can find some truth in most religions. You can find plenty of goodness and beauty as well. But where is the whole truth of God—the "fullness of truth"?

Fr. Mike makes the case for Catholic Christianity, and why you should settle for nothing less.

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When considering the people of the Old Testament before Jesus's coming, we might ask ourselves: "Are those without the knowledge of Jesus destined for eternal damnation?"

And what about those who have never had an opportunity in our day and age to hear the name of Jesus and accept faith? "Where do they go when they die?"

Today, Fr. Mike explores these tough questions, drawing on the sacred scriptures and the church's teachings on salvation.

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Pope John Paul II said that what modern man needs—and is missing—is an "adequate anthropology", or, a full understanding of what it looks like to be human. Over the course of his pontificate, he gave it his best shot using the entirety of scripture, 2,000 years of church teaching, and the latest scientific understandings of the human person.

Today, we call it the Theology of the Body. And it will change the way you look at yourself and your purpose in life.

Fr. Mike Schmitz gives us an introduction to the Theology of the Body and invites us to his 4-part series diving deeper into these incredible mysteries. Sign up for the whole series for FREE here: https://www.ascensionpress.com/tobtalk/

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Have you been confirmed? Have you received the Sacrament of Confirmation yet? Does this mean you're a "grown-up" Catholic now—that you've graduated? Not quite. There's so much more to it than that.

Today, Fr. Mike breaks down the 5 effects that flow from receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation.

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Is there any hope for unity in the United States of America? Fr. Mike gives a resounding "yes". But not over politics or policies—but the principles that our country was founded on.

What's the difference between politics/policies and principles? Fr. Mike has a take that might make you think.

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A question to anyone who is thinking about rejecting Jesus (or has accepted him for that matter): have you even met him? Do you know who you are rejecting?

You might think the answer is yes. The answer might even be yes. But Fr. Mike has something that every single one of us needs to consider before deciding whether or not to stick by Jesus and his Church.

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Have you ever had dark, disturbing dreams? If you did, did you feel guilty when you woke up? Did you have some vague sense of shame that such dreams came from your mind?

If you’ve ever experienced this, you might have even wondered whether or not such dreams could be considered “sinful.” Fr. Mike is here today to give you the short answer—no, dreams themselves cannot be considered sinful—and the long answer… what are you doing during your waking hours that could be feeding these dark dreams?

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Does good prayer feel out of reach for you? Do distractions plague you unceasingly? Are you wondering if you're supposed to be getting more out of prayer time?

Fr. Mike proposes a simple 4-part roadmap to better, more fulfilling prayer time. It's not difficult—it just takes practice.

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Who is orchestrating your life? If it's God—and not you—what will you say to him? Fr. Mike suggests trying "yes."

Whether life circumstances bring the best out of you or the worst out of you, you need Jesus more than you think you do. And that is a very good thing. Here's why.

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Do you have FOMO? Are you always worried about what you might miss out on?

Today, Fr. Mike explores why this fear of missing out could be a gift in the spiritual life using the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ as he unravels how the disciples' FOMO led them to overlook a pivotal moment in history.

The call is to BE fully present. Don't miss out on God moments.

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Everyone bears burdens and faces unseen challenges. Leading a life filled with love is often the simplest path to personal growth.

In this discussion, Fr. Mike delves into extending grace to strangers. A small gesture of kindness, such as offering a smile or lending a helping hand, can cultivate a community of grace and love. He reminds us that everyone navigates life's complexities differently. Fr. Mike emphasizes that acts of kindness and compassion pave the way for increased empathy and understanding, even towards those we have yet to encounter.

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Fr. Mike Schmitz delves deeply into the profound significance of the leper's words to Jesus:

'If you will it, you can make me clean.'

This verse from Matthew's Gospel embodies the very essence of faith. Fr. Mike explains how this statement captures the heart of faith in two ways: the trust inherent in believing that Christ can purify us and the trust involved in believing in him even if he chooses not to. Fr. Mike says this is the faith you are made for. It is the kind of faith that can change the world.

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Do you know the true story of America's first canonized saint?

"Cabrini," a movie from Angel Studios, tells the incredible true story of Mother Cabrini, the first American citizen to become a saint. It is a historical biopic showcasing her selfless service to the Italian immigrant population in the United States. Mother Cabrini's unwavering dedication to the dignity and respect of those in need reminds us to always look out for the ones still seeking a place at the table.

Today, Fr. Mike shares his honest review of the film, "Cabrini." The movie is in theaters this weekend. He encourages you to allow the story of this remarkable saint to touch your heart and inspire you to make a difference in the world.

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"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.'” - 1 Samuel 16:7

What does God see when he looks into our hearts? Does he see a humble, contrite and broken heart, that he will not spurn?

Today Fr. Mike Schmitz shares a word of encouragement from the book of 1 Samuel for how to shape our hearts so that the Lord can be present to them and abide in them.

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St. Francis De Sales, often referred to as the "Saint-maker," liked to say, "Be who you are, and be that well." Each of us is called to pursue a life of holiness, a journey that unfolds uniquely for every individual. But comparing ourselves to others and judging ourselves harshly can be tempting.

Fr. Mike Schmitz delves into the harmful effects of comparison and invites us instead to focus on embracing our true identity and "paint our own sunrise."

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"Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!" Okay maybe not everything, but probably more than you thought.

Vanity isn't just looking the mirror too much (although it could be). Vanity isn't just too much plastic surgery (although it could be). Vanity is "the inordinate preoccupation with what other people think."

Fr. Mike suggests we look at our lives a little more closely with this new definition—and to look at Jesus for the solution.

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When you clean and organize a room, you have to ask one very important question first: what is this room for? Once you can answer that, everything begins falling into place.

In order to direct and order your own life, you must ask that same question. What is your life for? What is the primary purpose of the one life you've been given?

Fr. Mike proposes that, when you can answer that question, everything in your life will begin falling into place for you. And he might even take a crack at answering that question for you.

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We were all born sick.

The sickness is Sin. It's not a tendency to sin that we brought upon ourselves... it's something we "caught" from our parents, that was passed down to us by our forefathers. This is Original Sin.

...but wait, how is that even fair?! Today, Fr. Mike reminds you that you are good and you were made good. But we are born with a wound that only our creator can heal.

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Don't let anyone trick you into thinking life isn't hard. Experience tells us all that life is truly difficult at times. But even still... haven't you ever just wished it was easier?

Today, Fr. Mike proposes an alternative to just wishing things were easier. When life gets difficult, there is only one way forward (hint: it's not just grinning and bearing it).

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What if there were no God? What does that idea look like if you follow it to its logical conclusion? It ain't pretty.

Today, Fr. Mike shows us that meaning, dignity, and purpose come from the one who created everything. And the good news is that he made you on purpose, for a reason. And you matter.

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God commands his beloved people all throughout scripture: "Remember." And this command continues to resound for us today.

Remember the good that God has done for you. Remember the times he has delivered you. Remember when you thought you had nothing left but he gave you strength.

Today, Fr. Mike beseeches us to remember in the darkness what God has revealed in the light, and to never forget what he's done for us.

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Some of your favorite Bible characters were... terrible sometimes.

Abraham lied and said Sarah wasn't his wife. Jacob tricked his father into giving him the birthright instead of his brother. And there are plenty of stories that aren't even appropriate enough to make it into a YouTube description.

But what is the Bible? A collection of inspiring fables? Or the real story of humanity and God?

For Fr. Mike, this is good news (and it should be for you too). Our favorite saints were just like us. And we can yes to God in all of our brokenness just like they did.

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The angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her all about how she’d conceive and bear God’s son Jesus, and when she asked how this could be, he elaborated. Wouldn’t that be nice? Wouldn’t it be nice to have an angel show up and tell us what God’s plan for our life is?

But... that’s not how it went. The angel actually told her very little. And after Mary’s “fiat” (“Let it be done unto me according to thy word”), what happens? “The angel departed.” That’s it.

See, God probably won’t tell you what his plan is for your life. Not all at once. And Fr. Mike is here today to tell you why it’s actually better that way, and how we can follow Mary’s example of trust.

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Have you ever heard the song "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"? Have you listened to the lyrics carefully? It's not exactly the blissful naiveté of "Deck the Halls". It's much more real and raw than that.

Today, Fr. Mike is here to remind us that although "hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good-will to men," the truth is that "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; the wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good-will to men."

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This is not the first video on Ascension Presents about how to overcome an addiction to pornography, but it might be one of the simplest and most actionable.

Since 2000, Covenant Eyes has been a leader in the online accountability space. They are the #1 app for helping people find freedom from pornography. Their accountability software monitors images on device screens and sends a report to a trusted friend (ally) who holds you accountable for both your online and offline choices.

Today, Fr. Mike asks you to make this the next step towards freedom for you or someone you love: covenanteyes.sjv.io/rQBEmv

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If it feels like God isn't answering your prayers, that can be disheartening. But it can also be devastating.

Today, Fr. Mike offers the good word that your God is your loving Father who wants to give you good things. But he also offers the reminder that God is not a genie over which we have control.

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Are angels real? Why did God make them? What do guardian angels do? Do I have one? Does it have a name? Can I name it?

...All these questions and more answered today by Fr. Mike Schmitz.

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"I don't... think... I'm prideful...?"

Great! If you examine your actions and intentions and you don't detect any obvious pride, that's a wonderful thing. But as each one of us grows deeper in relationship with Jesus, he will reveal ever more nuanced ways that pride can sneak its way into our lives, giving us opportunities to reveal those places to Jesus and letting him perfect us.

Today, Fr. Mike uncovers some of those sneaky areas of our life where pride can burrow itself and cause major problems.

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If you've ever planned to become so holy that you don't need God's help anymore, then this video is for you.

Self-reliance is a virtue lauded by modern society in the west. But not only does Jesus warn against it, self-reliance... just... doesn't even work.

Today, Fr. Mike proposes an alternative that will change your life. Spoiler: it involves relying on someone else...

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Free will is an incredible gift from God that we often underestimate. We truly get to make a choice in every decision that we come across—even the smallest decisions. But guess what we DON'T get to choose?

The consequences.

Today, Fr. Mike reminds us that every action has a consequence built into it. So, if you want a certain result, make a choice. If you choose sin, you get sin. If you choose God, you get God. The choice... is yours.

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Do you commit the same sins over and over again? Does it feel like a bad movie that you’re stuck watching, with the same sad script playing over and over again?

Rewrite it. Rewrite the script.

Today, Fr. Mike gives us some novel ideas for steering hard out of the “grooves” of sin we've worn deep into the bedrock of our daily lives.

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Some people pour through comic books like they're devotional works, following the lives of superheroes like some study the lives of the saints.

In this redux from the archives, Fr. Mike interviews sacred artist Neilson Carlin about the crossover between comics books and sacred art, and how the desire to emulate superheroes is truly fulfilled when we follow the saints to Christ.

Be sure to check out Neilson's fine artwork (pun intended) at https://www.neilsoncarlin.com/

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Today, Ascension is pulling one out of the vault, and Fr. Mike tells you why your parish priest needs you (and how you can help).

The value of a new parishioner introducing him or herself to the parish and just asking the priest, “How can I help?” is priceless.

When entering a new community, we may have all of these ideas about what we can do to help, but to listen and simply tell the leaders that you are available shows humility and understanding.

Fr. Mike knows firsthand about all of the different types of parishioners who are on fire for the Faith, and want to do something for their parish. The ones who end up helping the most are those who in essence say, “I am your servant. Tell me what I can do for you.”

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When we read the lives of the saints it can appear like prayer comes so easily to them; almost as if they were soaking in a hot tub of grace. But then when we go to pray we are confronted with the harsh reality that "Prayer is HARD." It can feel much more like struggling to swim laps in an Olympic sized pool.

Today, Fr. Mike shares some wisdom from the fourth Pillar of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Our Life in Prayer.

– "Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always presupposes effort. The great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle. Against whom? Against ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live, because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his name. The "spiritual battle" of the Christian's new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer." CCC 2725

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When you're first growing in prayer and developing your relationship with Jesus, it is worth the effort to fight distractions in prayer. The more you can focus on our Lord, the more fruit you can see from prayer, and the deeper a bond you can experience with Jesus.

But, let's be real—distraction is inevitable. It's human. And our brains are hardwired, in some ways, to move on to "the next thing".

The Saints knew this, and there is an "advanced solution" to distraction in prayer—use it in prayer. Today, Fr. Mike tells us how.

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They say that perfection is the enemy of the good. But what is true goodness in a pursuit? What does excellence actually look like and consist of?

Today, Fr. Mike urges us to practice two qualities that lie at the heart of excellence: promptness and preparedness.

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How do you know you've had an encounter with God? Sometimes it's hard to tell, especially if you were raised in the Faith.

Today, Fr. Mike shares his own conversion story, and encourages us to think of a time or a season where you decided to devote your life to God, because Jesus was there in that time, even if you didn't realize it.

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Grief is a human emotion and and affects each of us at one time or another.

The Catholic Church in all her wisdom offers us this beautiful prayer in the rite of Christian burial:

"Indeed for your faithful, Lord, life is changed not ended, and, when this earthly dwelling turns to dust, an eternal dwelling is made ready for them in heaven.”

Continuing on the theme of death and grief, today, Fr. Mike offers a word of hope and encouragement to anyone who is grieving. Our grief as Christians should look different. We are called to grieve not like the rest.

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Everyone you know and love is going to die someday. You will too, but... the thought of losing everyone else can sometimes be all the more frightening. This is a natural response to the ugly, "unnatural" reality of death, and those feelings of fear are not "wrong" to feel.

But, today, Fr. Mike implores you to take heart. There is yet one person who will never leave you.

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Do aliens from outer space really exist? Did God create them? Are they intelligent? What does that mean for our faith?

Today, Fr. Mike's answer might not be what you're looking for, but... it's the truth.

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What if no one ever told you about Jesus?

Your life probably wouldn't have so many rules. You wouldn't be as guilty for any sins you commit (you wouldn't even know they were sins in the first place). You wouldn't need to evangelize.

And you wouldn't know that the God of the universe—your creator—loves you with a burning passion that you can't even imagine.

Today, Fr. Mike makes the case that it is better to know Christ. It is better to live in the truth. And it is better to take on the challenge of Christian discipleship.

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When things don't go the way we expect, it's hard not to be frustrated and disappointed. How do we move on after unmet expectations? And how do we break the vicious cycle?

Today, Fr. Mike tells us how to keep it real.

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When you go to a concert for your favorite band, and that band has been around for a while, what songs are everybody showing up for? The new ones off of the most recent EP? Or the classics?

And when that iconic song kicks off and the fans go mad... what do they want to hear? A modern reworking? Or the original—"just like the album"?

Today, Fr. Mike makes the case for worshipping God at Mass the way that he asks to be worshipped—not the way that we think he should be worshipped. "O Beauty ever ancient, ever new..."

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There is an age old question often debated among between Catholics and Protestant. Are we saved by faith or works? How are we saved?

Today, Fr. Mike continues the discussion on faith and weighs in on the Catholic Church's teaching on faith and works. The answer may surprise you.

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We must place our faith in Christ in order to allow him to save us. But what does it actually mean to have faith? What does it look like? Does it mean you just "agree" with everything Jesus and his Church say? Or is it deeper than that?

Today, Fr. Mike draws a sharp distinction between faith and mere "agreement", and calls us to a more radical trust in our savior.

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In our world today, there are millions trapped in slavery and sex trafficking. The most horrific and devastating example of this is the sale of the weakest and most vulnerable in society, our children.

Today, Fr. Mike shares his honest review of the film, "Sound of Freedom," currently in theaters, and offers a word of encouragement for how each of us can confront this terrible reality head-on and proactively do something about it.

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If you profess to be a Christian, that means that you profess to follow Jesus Christ. But, of course, that presupposes that you know who Jesus is—where he came from, what he came to do, where he went, and what he continues to do until the end of time.

Our understanding of Jesus can be shaped by our parents, our schooling, our culture, and our own ignorance. But, today, Fr. Mike redirects us to the primary revelation about Jesus that we have access to: scripture.

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You probably don't outright lie on a regular basis. But, do you exaggerate? Do you give half truths sometimes, or leave things unclear on purpose? Do you hide some facts in order to smooth things over?

Today, Fr. Mike shows us the very-human reasons we all struggle with these "white lies", and how to tell the "full" truth more often.

"Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil." —Jesus in Matthew 5:37

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Whether you're cultivating a life of prayer with Jesus for the first time or you're trying to reignite that fire in your soul, the breadth of prayer advice can be dizzyingly overwhelming.

If you're open to it, today, Fr. Mike has one more prayer to try out: T-A-R.

1. Tell the Lord what's on your heart
2. Ask him for what you need
3. Rely on the Lord to answer your prayer

It might seem simple, but it might change your prayer life forever.

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"Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:22)

Woah! Come again?

On the list of controversial and misunderstood Bible verses, this is near the top. When it swings through in the cycle of Mass readings, folks are often left in the pew looking at each other like, "Did anyone else just hear what St. Paul said?"

If you'll let Fr. Mike explain this scripture passage, it will transform the way you understand Christian marriage (for the better).

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We know this: when we go to the sacrament of reconciliation with a truly contrite heart and receive absolution, we are forgiven of our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ. So, if you've ever left the confessional still feeling bad, you might wonder... "What gives?"

Today, Fr. Mike identifies 3 reasons why we might be experiencing a lingering feeling of guilt after confession, and he gives us a bit of advice to deal with those feelings.

1. "I'm forgiven, but I still have to deal with the consequences."
2. "Someone else knows what I did."
3. "I've broken God's heart."

Finally, Fr. Mike reveals the source of these lingering regrets. The solution is deceptively simple.

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"If no one gets hurt is it still a sin?" "It was just an accident."

How can we know if our actions are a sin or just a mistake? Can we be committing sin without knowing it?

Today Fr. Mike details the three elements that must be present for an act to be a sin and he helps us grapple with our own sinfulness and God's desire for mercy and reconciliation.

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How much prayer is too much prayer?

Our relationship with God is the most important relationship we will ever have. But what about when our devotions clash with our responsibilities to our loved ones? Or attendance to other obligations?

Today, Fr. Mike tells us what it means to "pray without ceasing"... and what it doesn't mean.

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The call to holiness can feel like an overwhelming challenge. In fact it can seem downright impossible. But in spite of our brokenness, sinfulness and littleness God keeps calling us to "walk on the water" with Him.

Today Fr. Mike contrasts our "mercenary heart" – which so easily is swayed to pursue the pleasures of the world which draws our gaze away from Jesus – with the "Merciful Heart of Jesus" that seeks to draw us to Himself.

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The question of evil, suffering and brokenness in our world can be a hard one to grapple with. Sometimes, when we're in a place of darkness, the question can arise, "Would it be better if I had never been born?"

Today, Fr. Mike tackles these incredibly tough questions and offers some insights into why God created you, and why it is good that you exist.

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It’s an age old question; “Why do I have to confess my sins to a priest?”

Today Fr. Mike encourages and challenges us to see the Sacrament of Reconciliation not as a burden but as a gift from God. Your Heavenly Father wants to reconcile with you and offer you the grace of forgiveness and he does this through the humanity of the ordained priesthood.

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Jesus is a miracle worker. He worked incredible “signs and wonders” during his 33 years on earth, and he continues to stun us with modern miracles to this day. He has healed people physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. But if he has shown us that he can do this… why hasn’t he healed everyone?

If you’ve asked God “why haven’t you healed me,” Fr. Mike has a video for you today.

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Today, Fr. Mike drops some truth bombs. God does not merely tolerate you. He loves you with a ferocious and passionate love and he desires that you know and experience that love today.

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In an increasingly digital age, we do more and more things virtually. And while we can use technology to help us listen to the Bible in a Year or connect with likeminded Catholics, why is it we must receive the sacraments in person?

Today, Fr. Mike reminds us that we are a body and that the Lord uses our physical humanity to do the work of healing and restoration like we receive in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

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Today, Fr. Mike tells us about the story of the patron saint of confessors, St. John Nepomucene, who gave up his life because he refused to break something called the "seal of confession", which is a sacred duty of a priest to never reveal what is said in the confessional.

God himself established the priesthood as the mediators of reconciliation in the Gospel (John 2-:21-22). The Church takes this sacred responsibility so seriously, that any priest who breaks the seal of confession is automatically excommunicated.

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Find out how the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist from Duluth pray during Holy Week, and maybe discover something you can use in your prayer life as we walk with Jesus from his entry into Jerusalem, to Calvary and the Resurrection. The unique prayer commitment Fr. Mike suggests in this episode follows Jesus through all of his experiences—from suffering to celebration—in this the holiest week of the year.

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Reading the Old Testament can be so frustrating. We hear the stories of God’s chosen people forming a covenant with God, and then breaking that covenant over and over. How could God allow this?

Today, Fr. Mike helps us read Scripture with a lens towards our own unfaithfulness and stubbornness, and shows why God chose the Jewish people to make manifest his glory.

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Why do we "have" to love God? It seems very self-centered of God to demand our love. But is it?

Today, Fr. Mike opens up the first sentence of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and helps us to understand more fully why God, who was never lonely in Heaven, chose to freely create us to be in relationship with Him.

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“Is God calling me somewhere else?”

Sometimes in our discernment—especially over major life choices, like our vocations—we start second guessing our decisions. Sometimes, we make hasty decisions because we thought we “messed up” our discernment. But most of the time… the best decision is to “stay the course”.

As the scriptures says, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.”

Today Fr. Mike continues his series on vocational discernment and offers some helpful guidance on how and when to make life-altering choices.

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Have you ever heard someone state, " I believe in God, but I don't believe in prayer?" Is it logical to have an intellectual belief in the existence of God, but not trust in His providence and care?

Today, Fr. Mike challenges us to know God more than just knowing about God and to realize that belief alone is not enough. God is not some cosmic genie who doles out magic wishes but a loving Father who wants to meet us in the intimacy of prayer. Do you believe that?

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Each day of our lives we make countless decisions. Many of them have small consequences, good or bad. But what about the BIG decisions we make, like what career to be in, who to marry, or what vocation to follow?

Today Fr. Mike delves into the four principles surrounding our vocational discernment and what to do if we feel like we've made the "wrong decision" in that area of our lives.

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When you make a Lenten commitment, you're probably not thinking of all of the special circumstances and unforeseen events that are going to make that commitment... inconvenient.

A daily rosary might not be difficult... until that family vacation. Cold showers aren't so bad... until that cold snap. Charitable giving feels great... until finances are tight.

Today, Fr. Mike invites us to let Lent interrupt us. Lent is inconvenient because Love is inconvenient. If we give more this Lent, we'll get more than we ever have before.

Production note: Father's audio had some technical difficulties this week, so please bear with us.

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What are alms? Why must we give them? Am I supposed to go broke for Jesus?

Fr. Mike Schmitz encourages us to be charitable this Lent, emphasizing how almsgiving is a foundational part of living the Faith. In being joyful givers, we imitate Christ, who became poor for our sake, and we show our gratitude for God’s grace. These are just a few of the reasons Fr. Mike offers in this video as to why we should exercise almsgiving according to our means.

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For the past 50 years the institution of marriage has been under attack. More and more couples are choosing not to get married with the mindset that, "we don't need a piece of paper to show that we love each other."

And yet, that is not at all what the Catholic Church teaches about this sacrament. Today, Fr. Mike delves into the difference between a contract between two persons and the covenant of marriage that every couple is called to enter into.

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When we’re baptized, we become adopted sons or daughters of God. We become “children of God”. So… does that mean we aren’t children of God before that? And if we aren’t… what are we?

Today, Fr. Mike explains to us how baptism makes us “partners in the divine nature”, so that we can truly call God our Father.

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Why does the Catholic Church baptize babies rather than wait until they are older and capable of choosing this sacrament for themselves?

Salvation requires faith, and it can be challenging to understand how an infant accepts the truths of the Catholic Faith at the moment of Baptism.

Today Fr. Mike uses an example from Mark’s Gospel to help us understand how the profession of faith by our parents at the moment of our Baptism prepares us to receive the gift of salvation later in our lives.

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Need more advice on prayer? Fr. Mike has you covered.

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Stories matter. We tell them to help us understand the world around us. But what if the stories we tell don't mirror our Catholic morals? What if the lessons that they teach don't agree with our values? Should we keep telling those stories?

Today Fr. Mike wrecks your childhood version of the Little Mermaid and spoils the ending of the real story. Spoiler: It doesn't have a happy ending.

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"If not everyone is going to heaven, then I don't want to be there." Is this sentiment honorable? Or misguided? Fr. Mike addresses the mystery of heaven and hell and gets to the core of what it means to be with God... or without him.

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What do I want to be true about me at the end of this year that is not currently true? At the beginning of this new year, Fr. Mike shares the advice of Stephen Covey: "Begin with the end in mind." Our days are limited and Fr. Mike encourages us to examine who we want to be and to start working towards that now.

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How do we give God everything? It's obvious from the stories throughout the Scriptures that God is asking us to give him everything but is He also calling us to "sell everything and give alms to the poor" as he asks of the rich young man?

Today, Fr. Mike helps us make the distinction between the sometimes particular call to "give everything away" and the universal call to give God everything. It is certainly the case that each and every one of us is called to relinquish all that we have and all that we are to God's service and to trust Him with everything.

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When we are struggling spiritually or experiencing some physical suffering we can find ourselves asking the question; "Is God listening to my prayer?"

Since he already knows what we need before we even ask him, should we just trust in his providence? Is it an either or?

Today, Fr Mike encourages us with examples from scripture to highlight that we ought to both pray for what we need as well as trust that God hears our prayers and will respond according to his good will and pleasure.

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"God will never ask you to do more than Mary did." And what did Mary do? She said "yes". Today, on the eve of the celebration of Mary's Immaculate Conception, Fr. Mike wants us to meditate on how we can learn to say "yes" to God from the ultimate example of what a "yes" looks like: Mary, our mother.

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If you or someone you know has benefited from Ascension's free media, would you consider giving a gift of financial support? (https://tinyurl.com/2g7flrnp)

While Ascension is not a non-profit organization, support from Catholics around the world helps us produce this free Media content and reach as many people as possible. Because of the generosity of viewers like you, Ascension is able to secure the resources necessary to continue delivering podcasts and videos that seek to draw Catholics closer to the heart of the Father. Learn more about what Ascension does with the financial support of our audience here: https://tinyurl.com/2g7flrnp

For those of you who are not in the position to give financially at this time, thank you for tuning in, spreading the word, and (most importantly) lifting up Ascension in prayer!

Today Fr. Mike encourages all men watching to consider taking the 90 day journey of Exodus 90. Learn more about Exodus 90 at www.Exodus90.com

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If you or someone you know has benefited from Ascension's free media, would you consider giving a gift of financial support? (https://tinyurl.com/2z5t6ehd)

While Ascension is not a non-profit organization, support from Catholics around the world helps us produce this free Media content and reach as many people as possible. Because of the generosity of viewers like you, Ascension is able to secure the resources necessary to continue delivering podcasts and videos that seek to draw Catholics closer to the heart of the Father. Learn more about what Ascension does with the financial support of our audience here: https://tinyurl.com/2e267j8e

For those of you who are not in the position to give financially at this time, thank you for tuning in, spreading the word, and (most importantly) lifting up Ascension in prayer!

Today Fr. Mike encourages us to consider pursuing this one antidote in combatting pride and to helping you grow in humility today!

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Let's talk about exercise!

Today Fr. Mike challenges us to re-evaluate the way we treat and view our bodies as well as to compare the difference between doing a workout and training whether for a race, competition or towards a goal and that same approach to growing in the spiritual life.

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"Honor thy Father and thy Mother."

We know from our youth that we are called to obey our parents as commanded by the 4th Commandment. But what about once we're grown and out of their home?

Today Fr. Mike doles out some advise for adult children on what obedience and respect for one's parents looks like and what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say about this relationship.

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You've probably heard the phrase "cancel culture"—the phenomenon where public figures get "cancelled" for something they say or do in an effort to silence them. Well, today, Fr. Mike proposes the existence of a new and rising cancel culture—a culture where we cancel everything.

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We believe as Catholics that at every Mass the simple bread and wine are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus.

But do we need to receive both species, namely the Eucharist and the Precious Blood in order to receive ALL of Jesus?

Today Fr. Mike explains the practice of intinction, dipping the Holy Eucharist into the chalice of the Precious Blood and when it's a bad idea and when it may be appropriate.

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Today Fr. Mike shares with us how to approach praying a novena, whether it be a traditional nine day novena, a 33 day Consecration or even a 54 day Rosary Novena and what pitfalls to avoid when praying this way.

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You're with a group of friends and they start gossiping about another friend; what do you say? You're with a coworker and they take the Lord's name in vain and blaspheme the Catholic Church; how do you respond?

Today Fr. Mike challenges us to speak up for the truth and why you or I might have these three spiritual defects, lacking in wisdom, courage or love.

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Sometimes when we look at the lives of the Saints we can be tempted to think that God singled them out to suffer more than most. But maybe that suffering is actually a gift...

Today, Fr. Mike shares with us how we must orient our lives towards the cross and keep Christ's passion and death always before us so that when we encounter suffering we will have God's strength to sustain us.

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(Today's video/podcast is an excerpt from, "The 99, A New System for Evangelization." To learn more about this amazing resource, visit: https://bit.ly/3E39THU)

Every Christian is called to go into the world and make disciples. But how do we actually do this?

Today, Fr. Mike tells us that before we can live out the mission of the Church, one thing is needed: a personal relationship with Jesus and his Church. Without this relationship, our missionary efforts simply become another well-meaning chore or good deed. Our relationship with Christ gives our works meaning and purpose. It is vital, then, that our missionary identity be rooted in a personal relationship with Jesus and his Church.

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(Today's video/podcast is an excerpt from "Belonging: Baptism in the Family of God." To learn more about this amazing resource visit: https://tinyurl.com/2hms5dbe )

What happens when we get baptized? What exactly is the transformative power of the Holy Spirit? One of the best ways to understand this sacrament’s effect is through analogies of superheroes.

Today, Fr. Mike explains the power of baptism by first recognizing what it is not. Because we are fallen creatures, we can’t be Superman, who has all of his powers within him–we need help from the outside. In other words, we need grace. Grace changes us and alters us internally so that when baptized, we aren’t simply putting on a covering but instead fully healing from our original wounds.

Only one superhero, Fr. Mike believes, encompasses the true power of baptism. This hero was good and was made great, just as the Holy Spirit takes us, good sons and daughters of Christ, and makes us great sons and daughters of Christ.

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We all want to be saints, but the struggle against sin and selfishness can feel overwhelming. There may be days where we might feel satisfied simply making it to purgatory rather than entering the pearly gates. But is this lukewarm path the only way to make it to heaven?

Today Fr. Mike delves into the reality that in this life, we are given every opportunity to prepare our souls for God’s presence. Embracing the sufferings of this moment purifies us the way the refining fire of purgatory would. In this way, we can prepare ourselves in this temporary world to live alongside our Lord in the everlasting world.

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(Today's video/podcast is an excerpt from "The 99, A New System for Evangelization." To learn more about this amazing resource visit: https://tinyurl.com/2fwtspve )

One of the most difficult groups to bring the Gospel to right now is young adults. Fr. Mike proposes that it's not a lack of time or interest preventing them from receiving the Good News—it's their perception of Christianity.

How can anyone evangelize in a culture so opposed to Jesus? We need to meet a hurting world where it is at and bring it the only medicine that will heal it.

We'll be doing things a little bit differently on Wednesdays for the next few weeks while Fr. Mike and Ascension work on the Catechism in a Year podcast. If you'd like to learn more about the podcast (and help support our work!) check out http://ascensionpress.com/ciy

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(Today's video/podcast is an excerpt from "Belonging: Baptism in the Family of God." To learn more about this amazing resource visit: https://tinyurl.com/2gscjojo )

Is Jesus who He says He is? How do we know he's not a liar or a lunatic?

Today, Fr. Mike shares a story from his own life about a time when he was taking a class on world religions and their belief systems and how a quote from C.S. Lewis changed everything for him about how he came to understand who Jesus truly is.

We'll be doing things a little bit differently for the next few weeks while Fr. Mike and Ascension work on the Catechism in a Year podcast. If you'd like to learn more about the podcast (and help support our work!) check out http://ascensionpress.com/ciy

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Can I be cremated? Is it okay to donate my body to science? What about the relics of Saints, they aren't buried in the ground?

Last week, Fr. Mike began our discussion on death and burial, especially when it comes to the Catholic Church's teaching on "scattering your ashes." Today, he answers some of the most common questions from the comments of that video and delves deeper into why we should listen to our Mother, the Church, when she is instructing and guiding us in these matters.

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What is a human being? What happens when we die? Why do we visit cemeteries? And why do Catholics bury the dead instead of scattering their ashes?
Today, Fr. Mike connects the dignity of the human person to the dignity of the body in death—and beyond.

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You may have heard that Jesus is present in the Eucharist, but have you really heard those words? You may have been in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, but have you really seen him in the Eucharist?

Today, Fr. Mike challenges us to take Jesus at His word (John 6:6) and to grow in our faith in His real presence, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist!

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Change is always hard. Transitions in life are difficult. Goodbyes are never easy. Endings are rarely joyful. But today, Fr. Mike suggests that beginnings are even more crucial. He encourages us to take 3 steps whenever we start over, and to let each one of ourselves “be a beginner.”

Be patient with yourself.

Don’t freak out.

And be willing to ask for help.

Fr. Mike has way more to say about trusting God, and a great place to start is his book Untroubled by the Unknown: Trusting God in Every Moment (https://tinyurl.com/25xulter). We hope it's a blessing to you!

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It's easy to fall into a routine and lose sight of the little miracles all around us. Unfortunately, it is even easy to fall into a routine and lose sight of the greatest miracle of all, happening right in front of us.

Today, Fr. Mike discusses the greatest gift God has ever given man: himself. Christ offered his body at the Last Supper, he sacrificed it on the Cross, and he continues to give himself to us at each and every Mass. Fr. Mike explains the shocking reality of what it means to eat Jesus' body and drink Jesus' blood. This flesh, the Incarnate Word of God, redeemed the world. His body and blood are what save our fallen human nature and they are what give us life. This miracle, occurring each time we go to Mass, gives us an opportunity to partake in redemption, unite with our Savior, and live a sacramental life.

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Do you take yourself too seriously? Are you unwilling to acknowledge your faults and weaknesses to others- or even to yourself?

Today Fr. Mike shares with us some lessons in humility and being willing to laugh at yourself.

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Learn more about Fr. Mike Schmitz and Fr. Josh Johnson's Pocket Guide to the Sacrament of Reconciliation: https://tinyurl.com/yhwfakge

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As Americans we are known for our celebration of liberty and our focus on "our rights." We even have a landmark statue which embodies this value we hold so dearly. But what if our pursuit of liberty alone isn't enough?

Today Fr. Mike challenges us to take responsibility as citizens of this great nation to pursue a growth in virtue, character and religious faith on which our freedom as a democracy hinges upon.

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In response to countless requests, Ascension is launching The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) on January 1, 2023! https://tinyurl.com/29o6p2o4

With this podcast, Catholics will:

• Read the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church in 365 days
• Understand the essentials of the Catholic Faith and why they matter
• See how Church teaching is rooted in Sacred Scripture
• Absorb over 2,000 years of Sacred Tradition
• Encounter God’s plan of sheer goodness
• Transform their relationship with the Church that Christ founded.

If you have ever wanted to understand what it means to be Catholic and allow those truths to shape your life—this podcast is for you! We can’t wait to start this incredible journey with you.

This podcast is free and always will be. It is only because of the generosity of our listeners that we have been able to consider tackling such a monumental project. But, we have limited resources. With funding from generous supporters like you, we can do even more than simply create the podcast: https://tinyurl.com/25skzc83

Above all, please pray for Father Mike, the Ascension team, and every single person who will ever listen to this podcast. Thank you, and God bless you.

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Jesus tells in the Gospels, "Love your neighbor as yourself." But what if you struggle to love yourself? How can we pour ourselves out for others if we are not first filled up?

Today, Fr. Mike challenges us properly order our love for others, namely wiling the good of the other by first willing our own good and setting clear boundaries so that we can love more fully.

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Why do less than 30% of Catholics believe in the Real Presence? It seems like many have forgotten that Jesus gave his flesh for the life of the world.

Today, Fr. Mike reminds us of the gift of the Eucharist and shares the way it transformed his own life. It is the heart of our faith, our spiritual nourishment, the bread that we live for, and the teaching worth dying for.

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Is Judas in Hell? The overwhelming consensus over time is that he must be. But has the Church proclaimed that he definitely is? Surprisingly... no. Why?

Jesus teaches us that, while we can evaluate “a tree by its fruits,” it is left to God alone to make a final judgement upon someone’s heart and determine their destination. Everyone has the grace and the opportunity to say “yes” to God. The sobering flipside to this reality is that hell is real—and it’s not something that only really, really bad people choose. “Wide is the road that leads to destruction.”

Today, Fr. Mike invites us to ponder our final destination, and whether or not we are truly doing God’s will.

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Are there things in my life that are incompatible with holiness?

We all wish to be saints—God's people with him forever in heaven. But do we will it? Do we choose it?

Fr. Mike wants you to know that today is the day. This is the moment. There's only one reason you're not a saint yet.

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Have you heard the phrase, "Ora et Labora" before? What about the maxim, "Pray as if everything depends on God. And work as if everything depends on you."

Today Fr. Mike breaks down the Benedictine charism of prayer AND work and offers us some food for thought when tempted to fall into fatalism or quietism and remove our will from the equation.

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"Love your neighbor as yourself." We all know the drill. Jesus calls us to love even our enemies. But loving people can be so HARD.

Today Fr. Mike offers us some 3 practical tips and a word of challenge to lean into loving those we find difficult to love and care for.

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Are you feeling tired and spiritually exhausted? Do you feel like throwing in the towel on everything?

Today Fr. Mike offers us a way to evaluate our spiritual practices, service, and prayer based on our relationship, identity, and mission (RIM) to know what we can remove and keep from our Catholic spiritual life.

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Most of us are familiar with the 5 Love Languages; gift-giving acts of service, physical touch, words of affirmation, and quality time. But which of these is how God gives and receives love?

Today Fr. Mike shares with us how God often loves us not in the way we might expect or prefer but in the way that most draws us into union with him.

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What happened? Did Fr. Mike change his mind on tattoos?

Today Fr. Mike reveals his recent tattoo, why he got it, and why he’s not really happy about it.

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Today Fr. Mike unpacks the three Transcendentals; Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, and why and how our hearts can be misled by emotion and feelings at times which distorts these fundamental realities.

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Today Fr. Mike had the chance to interview Mark Wahlberg about his amazing new movie, "Father Stu," which follows the incredible true story of Fr. Stuart Long, a "boxer-turned-priest who inspired countless people during his journey from self-destruction to redemption."

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If you're Catholic, you know the drill: we sin, we break our relationship with God, and then he offers us the incomprehensible mercy to restore that relationship with him. You can see this beautiful grace most Saturday afternoons at parishes around the world in the Sacrament of Reconciliation—or, Confession.

But have you heard of "general absolution"? Is it a way to skip the confession line and get "bulk forgiveness"?

Today, Fr. Mike dispels the confusion around general absolution and redirects us to the true source of reconciliation that Christ has given his Church.

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Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. Vladimir Putin and Russia invading Ukraine. COVID ripping through the world. What do these all have in common? The rules get broken.

We all know the rules. The lights turn on. The toilet flushes. We all play nice. But that’s not "how things work". That’s "how things have been working".

Today, Fr. Mike tells you what to do when you get slapped in the face by a broken world.

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When we receive criticism from someone it's easy to think that we can either put up our fists and fight it or let it defeat us. But are those really the only two options?

Today, Fr. Mike walks us through the third option when being criticized and how to receive a negative comment well and with charity.

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Sometimes they're things we don't want to do... but we have to do them anyway. Sometimes you make it through saying, "I'll learn to like it." But what about if you never do?

Today, Fr. Mike gives us a word of encouragement to find joy even in the midst of suffering and to avoid falling into despair or resentment as we walk toward eternity.

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Want to know what the #1 goal of Lent is? Believe it or not, we don't have to feel the joy of the season to reach it. Instead, we have to focus on living it!

Today, Fr. Mike challenges us to go beyond performing our works of penance for selfish reasons but instead to model our prayer, fasting. and almsgiving in a way that helps us become more like Jesus.

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Lent has begun and with it our season of penance and fasting. What are you planning on giving up or adding to your spiritual life?

Today, Fr. Mike helps us understand that Lent is less like a crockpot—which you can set and forge—and more like an ongoing, iterative process that requires our continual discernment about how we are drawing closer to Jesus.

God wants to give you more. How will you respond this Lent?
Order the Lenten Companion today: https://tinyurl.com/yb9vsuva

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"It’s time to stop watching and start worshiping." - Fr. Mike

Today, Fr. Mike continues part two of his series on worshipping God each Sunday at Mass and why our Sunday obligation is more about our relationship with a loving Father than a rule of Church law alone.

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What does God want from us? What does God deserve from us given that he's our creator?

Today, Fr. Mike shows how we can actually turn God into an idol—when we "choose our version of God." This is what happens when we pull God off the shelf when we want him or need him, but put him back on the shelf when we don't. Today, Fr. Mike invites us to ask God what he wants from us.

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Why should you consider getting married, if as Jesus states in Matthew 22:30; "at the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven?"

Today Fr. Mike continues his series dealing with questions related to the vocation of marriage.

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Today, Fr. Mike delves into this age old question.

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As we know, an essential part of the Sacrament of Marriage is entering into the sexual embrace. And yet, our Catholic faith teaches that Mary and Joseph remained lifelong virgins even after they were married. So, how does this make their marriage different?

Today, Fr. Mike unpacks this common question and helps us further understand the beauty and grace of the Sacrament of Marriage.

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For probably the first time in human history, the common perception of children as a gift has been under attack by our culture at large. More and more the world sees kids as an affront to our personal autonomy or the driver of a pending apocalyptic catastrophe.

Today, Fr. Mike weighs in on the "primary goods" of marriage and why we need to re-orient our mindset when it comes to children.

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You said an unkind word or reacted rashly. You feel terrible because it was directed at someone you love. When you ask for their forgiveness the wound they feel is too raw and they don't accept your apology. What can you do?

Today, Fr. Mike shares a word of challenge and encouragement on how to exercise the virtue of patience and show mercy as you wait to be forgiven.

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Have you ever heard the expression, ‘To err is human; to forgive, divine?’ Surprisingly this well-known phrase does not come from the Bible but a poem by the English poet Alexander Pope.

Today, Fr. Mike shares some great insights into the process of forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration and how God offers all three stages to us in the Sacrament of Confession.

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Can you believe it's almost a new year!? Are you reflecting on both the suffering and gifts of the past year and also looking to the future and making resolutions for 2022?

Today, Fr. Mike gives us a word of encouragement and challenge to surrender our past brokenness and sin as well as the future blessings and difficulties to the lordship of Jesus Christ!

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Have you ever gone to a carnival or fair and had a caricature drawn of yourself? Did it seem to highlight some parts of you but fail to really create a complete picture of who you are?

Today, Fr. Mike explores the nature of Jesus’ true physical appearance, and the spiritual reasons he may appear so diverse in different works of art.

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In this throwback talk from the 2015 World Meeting of Families, Fr. Mike introduces us to the Theology of the Body and inspires us with a new vision of what it means to have a human form.

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Happy Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary! But wait... what is the Immaculate Conception? How does that even work? And why does it matter?

Fr. Mike is glad you asked.

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As St. Thomas Aquinas writes: "As often as a husband and wife enter into the sexual embrace in a state of grace, they are growing in grace and in glory."

Today, Fr. Mike delves into one of the greatest secrets of Catholic morality and the sacrament of Matrimony, namely that when spouses share the marital embrace that they are growing in holiness.

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Do you know how to receive a gift? It's not as easy as it sounds. It might sound like gift-giving is the lesson to learn, but receiving can be so much more difficult—and just as important.

Today, Fr. Mike gives us 4 steps to successfully receive the gifts all around us.

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You might have heard that Sunday, as the Sabbath, is a "day of rest." But is that just, like, an honorary title? What does that actually mean for Christians? What should be doing—or not doing—on Sundays? Today, Fr. Mike tells us why Christians are asked to rest from work on Sundays.

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Saint Teresa of Calcutta once said, "We cannot all do great things. But we can do small things with great love." The reality is that most of our lives are made up of seemingly small decisions and yet they do truly matter in how we are to be judged.

Today, Fr. Mike shares how our faithfulness to God in the small daily decisions actually amounts to the sum of our spiritual life and the growth in our holiness.

What does God want this Advent? Simple. He wants you. He wants a personal encounter with you. This year, journey through Advent with "Rejoice! Finding Your Place in the Advent Story," and learn about the places, people, and events that shaped the story of the very first Advent and shape our own lives today: https://tinyurl.com/yz6yy5pz

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As Catholics, we believe in the forgiveness of our sins through the graces of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. But often, even though we are absolved but we can struggle to forgive ourselves for our past faults and failings.

Today, Fr. Mike shares the main reason why we struggle to let go of the past and surrender to God who is our loving Father.

What does God want this Advent? Simple. He wants you. He wants a personal encounter with you. This year, journey through Advent with "Rejoice! Finding Your Place in the Advent Story," and learn about the places, people, and events that shaped the story of the very first Advent and shape our own lives today: https://tinyurl.com/yh2sexdw

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Why do we go to Mass every Sunday? Is it because of what we “get out of it”? Is it the way it makes us feel? Is it out of love for God? Or something even deeper and more profound?

Today, Fr. Mike explains the Church’s teaching on Sunday Mass obligation, and why this is the way that God has asked us to worship him.

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Have you ever wondered why we celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday?

Have you asked yourself, what does Jesus mean when he says, “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them." (Mt 5:17) And why does this new covenant change the Sabbath? "...This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." (Lk. 22:20)

Today, Fr. Mike delves into the scriptural roots of the Sabbath and why we as Catholics celebrate it on Sunday and not Saturday as the Jewish people still do today.

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Have you heard the phrase, "never doubt in the darkness what you knew was true in the light?" Do you find yourself intellectually convinced that our faith makes sense but in times of difficulty, struggle to assent to those truths?

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How is it that a young French girl who entered the convent at 15 years old and died at only 24 years old would become a Doctor of the Church? How is it that on her deathbed her own sisters thought her life was so unremarkable that they struggled to write her obituary?

Today, Fr. Mike reflects on how the "Little Way" of St. Thérèse of Lisieux contains a secret to holiness for every modern Catholic.

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Do you find that you give others too much influence over your mood and emotions? Do you find yourself caught in a cycle of judging all your choices based on what others think about that decision?

Today, Fr. Mike reflects on the role of positive and negative influences in our lives and how to discern if we are giving others too much power over our lives.

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Sometimes the smallest things annoy us the most. Minor inconveniences can easily make us forget to be thankful for all of the gifts God is constantly bestowing upon us. But what if we could find things to be thankful for inside of those small annoyances?

Today, Fr. Mike teaches us the art of uncovering the “backwards blessings” all around us, and how to have “reverse gratitude”.

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What does God really want from us?

When you look at every religion, Christian or otherwise, you’ll find worship at the heart. No matter who or what our religion is calling us to, we are meant to worship. And even further, the heart of worship is sacrifice. In order to truly love and worship something or someone, we must give something up in return, whether that be time, attention, or material possessions.

Today, Fr. Mike explains what’s at the heart of religion, and how realizing this can strengthen our relationship with God.

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Sometimes saying sorry just isn’t enough.

Chances are that you can remember a time you hurt someone through your actions. Maybe it was just missing something important to them, or letting your words slip to someone else, but whatever you did cost them something. And when your mistakes lead to someone in your life losing something, saying you’re sorry just isn’t enough.

Today, Fr. Mike explains why we have to ask people for forgiveness and not just say we’re sorry.

For more on reconciliation from Fr. Mike—and Fr. Josh Johnson—be sure to check out their Pocket Guide to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

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It’s not unusual to experience discouragement on the road to holiness, especially when we live in a world that is filled with temptations and persecution. With God on our side, nothing the devil can do will ever prevail over us. However, it’s the moment we become too discouraged to ask God for help that the devil is waiting for. So how can we prevent this from happening?

Today, Fr. Mike explains the root of discouragement in our faith journey, and how to keep leaning on God through that struggle.

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Last week, we talked about Holy Communion being a gift and not a right owed to us by God. This may sound like the Church doesn’t want you if you’ve sinned, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The reality is, every one of us is in need of repentance, and there is not one person on this earth who isn’t a sinner. What we need to examine within ourselves is how we can realign our souls back to God and enter a union with him in the Holy Sacrament.

Today, Fr. Mike clarifies some points he made in his last video about Holy Communion, and explains why the Church has always wanted your heart—especially in the midst of sin.

For more from Fr. Mike, check out his new book Are You Saved? The Catholic Understanding of Salvation from his new series The Curious Catholic.

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Sometimes we can be tricked into thinking that the Holy Communion we receive at Mass every Sunday is somehow owed to us; that we have a right to receive it. However, the Eucharist, which is Jesus Christ’s own body and blood, is a divine gift bestowed upon us by our Heavenly Father. And because it’s a gift, the way we receive it and the state of our souls matter greatly to our relationship with God. Which begs the question: can someone be denied Holy Communion?

Today, Fr. Mike explains whether communion is a gift that can be taken away, and what that means for public figures who openly support practices against the Church, like abortion.

If you or someone you know has had an abortion and is seeking help and healing, visit https://www.rachelsvineyard.org/ for resources and guidance.

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Many of us have been in situations where we’ve risked losing. It usually happens during childhood, while competing in sports, the arts, or just making small bets and wagers with our friends. But have you ever looked back on those losses and thought they might have been preparing you for the bigger losses we experience in adulthood—the loss of a loved one, a dream job, or a hard breakup?

Today, Fr. Mike explains why it might be necessary to lose sometimes, and how to do it well.

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God is quick to forgive, and he’s given us the gift of confession so we can return to a relationship with him after sin. But this love he has for us is so great that he never wants us to be caught by sin again, which is why he allows our sins to have consequences. Just like your parents would teach you why something is wrong, God helps us build knowledge of sin and its consequences by letting us experience them. Without learning from our mistakes, we would just keep falling into the same sins, separating us from a relationship with God.

Today, Fr. Mike explains why God lets us learn from our mistakes, and how it shows the depth of his mercy.

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At a glance, you may look at friendship and say it’s not necessary for day-to-day life. It’s just “nice to have.” And the truth is… it’s not necessary. We could certainly live, breathe, and survive without friendship, just like we could live without music or art. But even though we can live without these things, would we want to? Can you picture a life without these things? What if friendships aren’t the meaning of life, but instead give meaning to life?

Today, Fr. Mike explains why friendship is not only important, but it’s vital in living our relationship with Christ.

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An interruption is anything that takes our attention away from our primary task. We may think our days are filled with interruptions: people cutting us off in traffic, a slow internet connection, etc. But in order to truly be interrupted, we have to have a primary task. We live in a world that is constantly trying to distract us, so much so that if we really start to think about what our primary task for today is, we may not be able to come up with one. What if we lived every day with the primary task of strengthening our relationship with Christ, and hedging our way towards eternity in Heaven?

Today, Fr. Mike explains the purpose interruptions have in our lives, and how they can even guide us back to our primary task of reaching Heaven.

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We can be 100% confident that when we confess our sins, we receive complete and total forgiveness from God. However, God loves us so much, that he’s allowed the choices we make in life to matter. That means that even when we’ve experienced forgiveness for our actions from God, we may still face the natural consequences for those actions here on earth.

Today, Fr. Mike explains why we still experience some consequences for sins that have been forgiven in confession.

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St. Paul tells us, “Do everything without grumbling,” but even the best-intentioned Christians can fall into a toxic habit of constant complaining. It’s true that sometimes, sharing a complaint can help rectify an unjust situation or call attention to something that needs to change. But when you start fixating on the negative things around you and voicing your critiques or grievances about everything in your life, you imprison yourself in your own personal hell.

Today, Fr. Mike encourages us to ask for God’s grace to break free from the habit of complaining.

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“It is good to guard the secret of a king, but gloriously to reveal the works of God, and with fitting honor to acknowledge him.” – Tobit 12:7

How often do you acknowledge the works of God? How often do you recognize what he’s doing in your life? In this passage from Tobit, the Archangel Raphael is encouraging us to pay attention to the works of God—not only in our lives, but in the lives of those around us. He is constantly present, even in our most mundane tasks. But how often do we notice his works, note his presence and goodness, and declare it to the world?

Today, Fr. Mike encourages us to acknowledge the presence of God in our lives through 3 steps: noticing, noting, and declaring.

This is just an introduction to discovering God in your everyday life. To go deeper, check out Danielle Bean’s new book, Whisper: Finding God in the Everyday.

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How should a Christian react to “cancel culture”?

Chances are that if you’ve been on social media or listened to the news in the past year, you’ve heard of “cancel culture.” Cancel culture is that practice of boycotting a person or group of people because of controversial actions or opinions. While it might have a fancy new name, this is nothing new to history. Every time period has had some individuals or practices that society deems as controversial or questionable. But are we supposed to practice this kind of behavior as Christians?

Today, Fr. Mike talks about cancel culture, and how we as Christians are called to respond to it.

If you appreciate the way Ascension unpacks the faith in a bold, thoughtful way, consider helping us produce more content. Your support means the world: https://tinyurl.com/yjhzukb9

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Learn more about the Pocket Guide to the Sacrament of Reconciliation with Fr. Mike Schmitz and Fr. Josh Johnson.

Confession is a place of never-ending mercy and forgiveness and is one of the most beautiful parts of our Catholic faith. But for many, it can also be a very daunting experience, especially if it’s been a long time since your last confession. Whether it’s the first time you’ve gone in a year, or it’s the first time you’ve gone in your life, God is ready and willing to forgive your sins. All we have to do is let him into our hearts.

Today, Fr. Mike explains how to approach going to confession for the first time in a long time.

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Why do we keep critics in our lives?

You probably have someone in your life that seems to be on the hunt for anything they can criticize. It might not be a friend, a coworker, or a family member. It might just be yourself.

Today, Fr. Mike explains how to turn your inner critic into your inner coach.

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What is truth?

On this channel, we speak a lot about the teachings of the Church and how our society longs for these truths. But have you ever stopped and asked yourself what truth really is? There can be a lot of long, philosophical, complicated answers to this question, but today we have a simple one: truth can simply be defined as “what is.” In other words, a statement is either true or false depending on how closely it describes reality, or what is. But if truth is centered around reality, are there different truths for different people?

Today, Fr. Mike explains what real truth is.

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What does it mean to say that Jesus is the Lord of your life?

We hear this phrase a lot in the Church, that Jesus is the Lord of our lives, that he has dominion over them. But what does this look like practically? If we just look at the definition, it means surrendering everything we have to God, and giving it to him without hesitation. But how can we truly surrender everything to him without fearing we won’t get it back?

Today, Fr. Mike talks about how we can surrender to God daily.

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Should we really talk to God about everything?

There are a lot of different kinds of prayers (liturgical, litanies, the rosary, the chaplet of divine mercy, etc.), but today Father hones in on mental prayer. Mental prayer—including lectio divina and Ignatius prayer—is about having a conversation with God and inviting him into your mind and your heart. But our minds are messy places, and our hearts are wounded. Should we really be talking to God about all of our thoughts, longings, and desires?

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The Ten Commandments tell us to “honor thy mother and father”, but what does that really look like? Especially for adult children?

Parents are not perfect, and sometimes they make mistakes that leave us and others wounded. So when God tells us to honor them, what does he mean by that? There’s a certain respect that all are owed simply by their personhood, and then there’s a respect that someone deserves because of their role or position. But what if our parents are dishonorable people? Does this commandment change once we’re adults out of their direct care?

Today, Father Mike explains how we can love difficult parents.

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“You are not an extra in someone else’s vocation story.”

We all know breakups are tough, and most of the time they are occasions of intense sadness and hurt, but what happens when your significant other breaks up with you for the religious life? Do you feel angry that they didn’t realize their vocation sooner, guilty for wanting to be with them, or just sad that you’re not who they’re meant to be with? Reactions to this kind of heartbreak are unpredictable, but the important thing to remember is that you have a vocation of your own, and it’s not any less important than the person entering religious life.

Today, Father Mike shares his story of leaving a relationship to enter the seminary.

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The Catholic Church loves questions, but are we asking them for the right reasons?

One of our Doctors of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, is known for asking the hardest questions we have for our faith. His summa is a book full of them, and some of the greatest saints are the ones that asked the hardest questions. Having questions is not an obstacle, but your intentions can make or break your faith.

Today, Father Mike explains how we can question our faith well.

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The key to a happy death is not a long and fulfilled life—it’s a life of gratitude for the time given. Here’s why:

We often forget that this life isn’t owed to us. Every breath we take is a gift from God, who is holding us in existence at this very moment. Once we start to think that this life is owed to us, that in some way we deserve it, we will become ungrateful for the time that is given, even if we’ve lived a long and happy life.

Today, Father Mike explains how to fill your life with gratitude, and how that will prepare you for a happy death.

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The Wednesday of Holy Week is known to many as “Spy Wednesday”, but it’s also known as the “Day of Aloneness.” The backstory behind this moniker can have a profound impact on the way we live our lives.

There are two people in the Holy Week narrative that experience profound loneliness: Jesus and Judas. There’s an honorable form of aloneness that we feel when we’re doing something we ought to be doing (walking a road that no one else can), but there’s also a sadder form of loneliness that exists when we are doing something we shouldn’t be doing.

Today, Father Mike explains the difference between the aloneness Jesus felt during Holy Week, and what Judas felt.

Ascension is proud to partner with authentically Catholic institutions and organizations committed to spreading the Gospel. Learn more about the sponsor of this video, Ave Maria University: https://tinyurl.com/yhbzmjsy

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During Holy Week, as we contemplate the last hours of Jesus’ life, we get an intimate look at how Jesus prays to his Father.

Starting with our Lord’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, we hear Jesus talking to God the Father about the upcoming moments of his life. He continues to pray through his Passion all the way until his last breath—a model that we as sons and daughters of God can follow as well. But what does Jesus show us about what it means to truly pray “Abba, Father”?

Ascension is proud to partner with authentically Catholic institutions and organizations committed to spreading the Gospel. Learn more about the sponsor of this episode, Ave Maria University.

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When was the last time you said “yes” to God?

In improv, there’s a practice where participants are encouraged to never respond with “no, but” and to instead offer a “yes, and...” This allows for not only growth in the scene but in the actors as well. Similarly, God is always offering us different “scenes” to get us to sainthood. How are we responding? Turning our “no, but” into a “yes, and” opens our life to Christ’s will, and is the quickest path to sanctification.

Today, Fr. Mike explains how we can practice a better relationship with God by just saying “yes, and...”

Ascension is proud to partner with authentically Catholic institutions and organizations committed to spreading the Gospel. Learn more about the sponsor of this episode, Ave Maria University.

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“Blame keeps us stuck...Taking responsibility gives us the opportunity to move forward.”

In our difficult, fallen world, we are bound to face struggle. Sometimes our natural response to that struggle is to blame other things or people for why it’s happening—even to blame ourselves. While this makes us feel temporarily better because we are justifying our hardship, it also negates the truth of why we experience struggle—and the graces that can come from it.

Today, Fr. Mike explains why it’s always better to take responsibility instead of playing the blame game.

Ascension is proud to partner with authentically Catholic institutions and organizations committed to spreading the Gospel. Learn more about the sponsor of this episode, Ave Maria University.

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Every Christmas we celebrate the fact that Jesus took on our humanity and became one of us. But have we ever asked the question why? Why the Incarnation?

You’re definitely not the first to ask this question, and it’s a valid question. Why would God, an all infinite, perfect, and perfectly whole being come to earth to live as a human, and even die a horrible death on the cross? There is nothing he lacks, nothing he doesn’t know, and nothing he needs from us. So, why did he become man? Fr. Mike aims to answer this question today.

Ascension is proud to partner with authentically Catholic institutions and organizations committed to spreading the Gospel. Learn more about the sponsor of this episode, Ave Maria University.

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God is an infinite, perfect, communion of persons, responsible for the intentional creation of everything around us - which begs the question, if God is perfect, why does he need us to worship him? Well, he actually doesn’t. God doesn’t need us to worship him because there is nothing he lacks. Which leads to another question: why do we worship God if he doesn’t need us to? Fr. Mike answers this today, drawing from the earliest books of the Bible.

Ascension is proud to partner with authentically Catholic institutions and organizations committed to spreading the Gospel. Learn more about the sponsor of this episode, Ave Maria University.

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We often receive the behavior we are willing to tolerate, but what does that mean for our daily interactions?

Communication is the clearest way to let someone know how you are feeling. When meeting with someone who you feel is being rude, we may try to give outward signs of our discomfort, but we can’t guarantee they’ll understand unless we tell them directly. And obviously, this isn’t easy.

There aren’t many people who love confrontation, and even some that do anything they can to avoid it. We’re always so afraid that if we bring up something that we want changed, or share something that’s hurting us, that we’ll destroy that relationship. But more times than not, confronting these things head on and setting these boundaries won’t hurt the relationship but will strengthen it.

This isn’t just relevant for our relationships with other people either - it’s relevant to our relationship with ourselves. How many times have we made personal goals or aspirations but never changed our behaviors to make them possible? We get the behaviors that we’re willing to tolerate, even within ourselves.

St. Ignatius of Loyala had an exercise where he would imagine two sides, the side of the evil one and the side of the Lord. In this exercise, he would look at his decisions and choices for his life and decide, based on which side they fell on, who he would ultimately join: the evil one, or the Lord. By birth we belong to the evil one, but by baptism we belong to the Lord. Each side is battling for us to come over to their side, and if we are striving to be on the Lord’s side, then we have to recognize boundaries for ourselves that we can’t tolerate.

This battle does not need to be fought alone—in fact, it can’t be. We must rely on the infinite grace of God, which he is longing to give us every second of our day. What are the behaviors we need to remove from our lives for the glory of God?

Ascension is proud to partner with authentically Catholic institutions and organizations committed to spreading the Gospel. Learn more about the sponsor of this episode, Ave Maria University.

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What if we were to make all our decisions solely based on how we felt in the moment?

You may be familiar with the four types of love: eros (love of desire), storge (love of affection), philia (love of friendship), and agape (self-giving love). While each of these forms of love are good in their own way, they have to be accounted for correctly.

Eros is the most temporary of all the loves. Feelings and desires are fleeting. So when we try and make decisions that are based on these desires we have, they’re bound to fail before we even make them, just because eros is so fragile. Imagine choosing your spouse, or your vocation, or your profession based on how you felt about it 5 years ago. Would you be happy with the outcome?

Eros has its place in our life, but we need to make sure we’re acknowledging the more important elements, especially when making decisions. Eros is fleeting, but the agape love God has for you isn’t. Focus on the things that last, and attend to the feelings that don’t, and enjoy the life God has laid before you.

Ascension is proud to partner with authentically Catholic institutions and organizations committed to spreading the Gospel. Learn more about the sponsor of this episode, Ave Maria University.

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What’s the difference between a victim and a martyr?

A victim is always described as dying “of” or “from” something. But when you describe a martyr, you talk about what they died for. While a victim is hurt by something, a martyr is suffers for something or someone. While a victim is having something happen to them, a martyr is choosing what happens to them by their will.

“...I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” (John 10:17-18)

The word martyr comes from the Greek word for witness. So when we see Jesus in Acts 1 telling his disciples that they are called to be witnesses of the faith, he is also calling them to martyrdom for the sake of spreading the Gospel. The apostles were not victims—they were martyrs, because they lived their lives for Christ until death. This turns their death into the fulfillment of their lives—the crowning achievement—instead of something that defeated them.

While not all of us may be asked to lay down our lives for Christ at our death, we are all called to live our lives for the faith.

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Sometimes the things that we own end up owning us. Detachment prevents this from happening.

You may have heard of the minimalist movement that focuses on only having the things you need, and letting go of the things you don’t. Most people practice this by decluttering their house or storage, like you would if you were cleaning out a closet. But it’s not so much having a lot of stuff that’s the problem: it’s being attached to those things, and letting them have a sense of control over your life.

This can happen with anything we own, from entertainment resources like books or video games, to things like photos, letters from family and friends, or even notes from your favorite theology course. For some reason, our hearts hold on to certain things, even if we haven’t looked at them in years, just in case we need them someday. Maybe it’s because of sentimental value, or because we find joy in them, but most of the time, we keep these things for a sense of security.

There’s nothing wrong with having things, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with finding joy in the things we do have. But if there are things sitting on our shelves, collecting dust because we’re keeping them “just in case,” maybe the question we need to ask ourselves is, “what does God want me to do with this?” Does he want us to keep it and use it, or give it away to someone who needs it, or just throw it away? But the important thing to remember is that everything we have should be looked at with the idea that we can do something good with it, and intend to use it for the glory of God.

If you still have use for it, then keep it. If it’s done all it can for you, and has more goodness for someone else, then give it away. And if all its goodness is used up, then toss it. But whatever we have, we need to give it to God, acknowledging that he gave it to us in the first place. Letting him decide what we do with the things we own is the perfect way to not only detach ourselves from our possessions, but to gain more freedom in our lives to bless others.

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Why is it easier to fuel our faith at retreats and conferences? Can we have this same fire at home?

You can probably reflect on a certain moment or time period in your life that your faith seemed to flourish more than it ever has. Usually this happens when we go on retreats, mission trips, or faith conferences. But along with these moments of powerful formation comes the decline we experience when they’re over, and we go back home. Why is that?

Retreats offer us an opportunity to encounter our faith away from the distractions of the world. They are designed to make faith the center of our attention, which makes fueling our faith much easier. However, a lot of us don’t have that environment when we go home, and it can be really difficult to continue to keep that fire alive, especially when we live in a world that is constantly trying to extinguish it.

It comes down to our personal decisions, and how we choose to live. If we know that avoiding certain distractions, relationships, or environments help us grow closer to God, then it’s up to us to make those changes. It’s much easier to bring someone down than to lift someone up. The world won’t bring us into a deeper relationship with Christ—we have to make those choices ourselves.

Now, this might mean that we have to say goodbye to some aspects of our life, or even some people. It’s important to approach all these decisions with prayer and guidance from the Lord. He knows what you need better than anyone else in your life, so seek council knowing he will only allow what’s best for you in your path towards heaven. Try asking the Lord each day how you can become closer to him, and seek out ways to let your faith breath.

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Are you called to be a missionary? You may be one already!

Saint Francis Xavier and Saint Therese of Lisieux are co-patrons of missionaries, although they lived very different lives. While St. Francis traveled all over the world proclaiming the gospel of Christ, St. Therese was unable to travel and did what she could in her own town. Both were missionaries in their own right.

Being a missionary isn’t about traveling or living a crazy and unpredictable life. It’s about spreading the word of God to those who need to hear it. So the question is, are you called to be a missionary?

As baptized Christians, we are all called to be missionaries in our own unique way. By living the life God has laid out for us, we can evangelize exactly who God wants us to reach, just by doing our best to live according to his commandments. This is also a part of the universal call to holiness, which not only states that every person is called to be a saint, but also that every person is called to be an apostle—or missionary—of Christ.

St. Francis Xavier lived in a Christian era, and had to leave his home in order to evangelize. We, however, live in a post-Christian era, where the majority of people are not God loving people. The era we are living in right now holds the same kind of ignorance of Christ that the apostles lived in. This means that we don’t have to go anywhere to evangelize. We can start being missionaries right in our own home towns.

St. Francis and St. Therese weren’t missionaries because of where they went—they were missionaries because of their hearts. There are so many people in our daily lives that don’t know God. Let us live out our call as missionaries and bring Christ to those God has given us.

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If you begin to sin but don’t follow all the way through… is it still a sin? It depends.

We’re offered two different scenarios. In one, the person is prevented from sinning due to external factors that make it impractical or impossible to commit the sin they had planned on. In the second scenario, we see someone preparing to sin, but then freely and rationally choosing not to. The first scenario is a sin, but the second is a virtuous act. Why?

Because the second person freely decided not to commit sin, they morally aligned themselves toward the good when they had previously been aimed towards sin. They redirected their will toward God when they could have continued to go against him. In a simpler sense, they were headed down a bad path, but then turned around before making it to their destination.

That being said, while the second person did realign themselves toward virtue, the extent to which they consented to this sin ahead of time may be worth a confession. Even though the person chose virtue in the end, their soul was still burdened with those thoughts, and in confession, those burdens are lifted through forgiveness.

The beautiful part about our faith is that we have a Savior who is always ready and willing to forgive us. Surrendering our hearts to him creates a living relationship with God, where we trust his knowledge of our hearts, and run to him whenever we are in need of saving.

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What do you think of when you hear the phrase, “Love the sinner, hate the sin”?

To some, maybe it’s something that their parents would say to them when they heard them gossiping. Maybe it’s something you were taught in school, or maybe it’s a phrase you’ve mocked or not taken seriously. But this phrase is synonymous with one of the greatest commandments Jesus gave us: to love our neighbor as ourselves. Here’s where the connection comes in:

We are all sinners. We are all sinners, yet we want the best for ourselves, and we love ourselves enough to want good things for our lives. Just as we want good things for ourselves despite our sinfulness, we should want the best for our brothers and sisters despite their sinfulness.

Sin plagues every human heart. While some may struggle more than others, we are all tempted on a daily basis to turn away from God. To love the sinner and hate the sin is to acknowledge that our brother or sister is constantly being pursued by God. In order to love the sinner, we must love ourselves enough to strive for a better relationship with God. How we view sin starts with how we view our own struggles, and if we are constantly getting down on ourselves about falling into temptation, that attitude will transfer to our brothers and sisters who need our support.

To love the sinner and hate the sin—and to love our neighbors as ourselves—we have to be real about what sin is. No one is so far gone that God cannot reach them. He’s pursuing their hearts constantly, and every little victory counts in their walk toward eternity. God is so patient with us. Let’s glorify him and imitate him by being patient with one another— and with ourselves.

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It may sound counterintuitive, but choosing the harder path may make our life easier. Here’s why:

When caterpillars go into their cocoons for hibernation, they struggle against the barrier of the cocoon for months on end, trying to get out. It’s only when their wings have developed and they’re strong enough to fly that they are able to break free and escape. If a caterpillar were to somehow get set free from its cocoon before it was strong enough to escape on its own, it wouldn’t be able to fly, and would eventually die.

The same is true in a way for us. When we face struggles in life, they have great potential to make us stronger. Not only do hard things make us stronger, but they prepare us more for harder temptations, trials, and suffering in the future. In a way, we are made more able to handle future struggles because of the little hard choices we make daily.

Some struggles are greater than others, and maybe there are some things that you are constantly trying to avoid because they are so hard for you to do. But nevertheless, these are the struggles that you are faced with. These are the things God wants to make you stronger through. Because he knows what you need to continue on your path, and he knows that these struggles are not only going to make you stronger, but will intensify the victories he has prepared for you. There are some things that come from struggle that are so much more glorious than a scare-free life, and the Lord is ready to show you what triumphs he has in store for you.

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We might have had different plans for this year, but were they really supposed to happen?

We all wonder whether we’re actually following God’s will for us, but the reality is that, unless we are directly going against the Lord in some way, we are doing his will by just living our life. Wherever this year has taken us, whatever it has us doing, is exactly where God wants us to be. This is one of the joys of being a faithful Christian: as long as we are following the laws of the Lord, we can never be outside his will.

This is true even today, as everything we thought we knew about this year was turned on its head. We may have had radically different plans and expectations for where we’d be now, or what we’d be doing, but it wasn’t the will of God. God has us exactly where he wants us, and as long as we remain faithful to him, we’ll follow the path that he’s paved for our lives.

So, what if we’re not following the Lord? This is what the call of repentance is all about: if we’re not following the Lord, then we get to change the course of our lives and turn toward him through confession and penance. And you know when a perfect time for this is? Christmas!

Because of Christmas, our lives don’t have to be a lost cause, or a dead end. Because God gave his only begotten son to us, we can turn our lives around and aim them at the light of Christ. It’s through the incarnation that eternal life with God became a possibility, and that repentance was born. Because Christ came to earth, we can use our lives to follow the will of God, even after steering off course. We now have a future, through the power of our Father’s love.

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It’s those last five minutes of conversation with someone that makes them feel like a number or like a known and loved individual. We’ve all had conversations that makes us feel like the other person doesn’t really care to be talking to us. But we’ve also had conversations that stick with us because the person we talked to made us feel so loved that we can’t help but be uplifted by them.

This is what those last five minutes are all about: making the other person feel wanted, known, and loved. This is true of any relationship; even our relationship with God, in prayer. How are we spending those last five minutes of prayer? Are we letting our minds drift to other things, or are we giving God our full attention?

Jesus gave so much during his time on Earth. Just as he continually gave his time to those around him, we are called to do the same. Use the last five minutes with anyone you’re talking to—including God—to show them what they mean to you and to make them feel worth paying attention to.

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Truly loving Mary will never lessen our faith in God, or take attention away from Christ. Here’s why:

The Church has 4 dogmas regarding our Blessed Mother. They are…

Jesus gave Mary to all of us as our Mother during his crucifixion
Mary was immaculately conceived without original sin
Mary was assumed into Heaven after the resurrection of Christ
Mary was a virgin before, during, and after the birth of Christ

Today’s video is focusing on the second dogma dealing with Mary’s immaculate conception. It’s Mary’s preservation of soul that made it possible for Christ to be conceived in her through the Holy Spirit. So if Mary was able to be saved from original sin, why wasn’t I? The answer is simple: everyone has a role to play in the plan of God, but our role is different from Mary’s.

God gives us everything we need to accomplish the role he’s entrusted to us. We are all born with specific and unique gifts, talents, and graces that make us who we are. There may be a lot of different things that we want to do, and maybe we’ve already done some of those things, but there are specific things we were made to do.

The immaculate conception not only shows us the love God has for our salvation and our lives, but it also shows that he will give us everything we need to do the things we were called to do: the very purpose for our existence. If God could immaculately conceive Mary without original sin in the womb of Saint Anne, think about how many graces he can bestow upon us!

This feast day is an opportunity to glorify God and thank him for all he has given us, and all he gave Mary so she could answer the call of Blessed Mother. The more we learn about and love her, the more we see the beauty and intentionality of Christ in our lives.

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Oftentimes in Christian media we see what Fr. Mike dubs a “Hallmark” version of following Christ. There’s struggle and hardship, but then God’s grace comes in and cures everything, making everything nearly perfect for the characters in the story. While these types of stories make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, they’re not very realistic. And while God’s grace is essential, it’s not a magic wand that makes everything bad go away.

There are some stories in the Bible that at first glance appear dark, difficult, or just don’t make sense. Even some of the things Christ says to his followers can sound harsh or even scandalous at times. But it’s in these moments of confusion and concern that God wants to teach us something.

This was something that St. Augustine struggled with before his conversion. It wasn’t until after he had accepted the faith and began to intentionally practice it that he realized it’s not God’s word that’s wrong, it's our interpretation of it. He gives us 7 things to do when trying to understand a passage we’re unsure of:

1. Read the text in the original language. Or, if you’re not a scholar of Greek or Latin (more than likely), at least realize that a lot can be lost in translation, like idioms and turns of phrase, or context and foreign references.
2. Try different biblical translations and see how they compare.
3. Weigh what you’re reading with all of scripture (it’s ALL connected!)
4. Be humble and accept that you don’t know everything needed to fully understand God’s word (and that’s okay).
5. Sacred tradition always trumps our own interpretations.
6. Don't take figurative language literally.
7. Don’t universalize a parable to be relevant for all situations in life.

The Bible wasn’t written by Hallmark. It was inspired by God. Hallmark is meant to help you escape reality. The Bible is meant to help you get back in touch with reality. There’s going to be brokenness, and sin, and unhappy endings, but there will also be real grace that transforms those hardships into strength, and it has the power to change your life.

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When was the last time you told God “thank you”?

We live in an extremely hectic world, full of distractions, complaining, and longing for things we don’t have. And while it can be good to look at the things we do have and count up our blessings, how often do we then turn to God and thank him for those gifts?

God is the reason we have anything in this life. Even our very existence day-to-day is a gift. There’s nothing better than thankfulness—and nothing worse than unthankfulness. We can all point out moments in our lives where we failed to be thankful, and it often leads to general feelings of unhappiness. So how do we stop feeling this way? How do we practice thankfulness more?

There’s a simple solution: every morning and evening, ask the Holy Spirit to help you count your blessings, and then thank the Lord for all those gifts.

St. Paul echoes this in his letter to the Thessalonians, saying that we should give thanks in everything we have and everything we are able to do. It’s what we are called to do as Christians, and it’s how we can reverence God and all he’s given us every day. The person who continually gives thanks is a person who is seeking God’s plan in their life. And one of the greatest gifts that comes from this attitude of gratitude is that every day becomes an opportunity to use those blessings.

The celebration of the Mass is a very specific way we can express this gratitude towards God. The word Eucharist literally means “thanksgiving”! It’s in the Mass that we profess our love for Christ’s sacrifice, and thank him by performing a like sacrifice with the body and blood. We can go to Mass every day, and we can give thanks every day. And the beautiful thing about gratitude is that, the more we practice it, the more God will reveal blessings around us.

Do you seek authentic joy for the life you’re living? Practice thanksgiving towards God.

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Have you ever felt like God really wanted you to do something, but you just weren’t ready for it? Maybe it’s a big life change, a relationship, or a vocation, but there’s something holding you back from saying yes to God’s call.

People may be inclined to think that this is a bad thing, and might put themselves down, saying they aren’t open to God’s will in their lives. But what if this back-and-forth with God is the one thing we need to really say yes?

When we wrestle with God, we’re not only engaging in relationship with him, but we’re being truly honest with him. He desires conversation with us, and it’s in wrestling with what God wants for our lives that we conform our hearts to his.

We may think we know God’s vocation for us, or his plan for our life, and that may scare us. But the truth is, we will never really be sure what God wants us to do until he really shows us. We can project sometimes. Right now, all he wants us to do is be his: to dedicate ourselves and our lives to him and his works, and to live every day as an opportunity to reach holiness.

Don’t pick a fight with God, thinking we know what he may want us to do someday. But don’t be afraid to wrestle with him today, because it can give us the strength and understanding needed to do his will.

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We all see the world through our own lens. The media we partake of—the news we read, the podcasts we listen to, the videos we watch—shapes that lens. But Fr. Mike says there’s one thing that should be shaping our lens more than anything else: scripture.

Fr. Mike has read The Fulfillment of All Desire by Ralph Martin many times, and one point that Mr. Martin makes that has stuck with Fr. Mike is that every saint had a Biblical worldview. The lens through which they saw the world was the Bible, and that changed everything.

We read, watch, and listen to a lot of things. But what are those books, articles, shows, and podcasts leaving us with? How are they shaping us? Fr. Mike makes sure to only spend time with media that will give him insight, media that’s worth his time. But more and more, perhaps like you, he’s been yearning for more of a Biblical worldview, and that seems to be scarce.

That’s when Father decided to make the change he wanted to see.

In the Bible in a Year podcast, Fr. Mike Schmitz walks you through the entire Bible in 365 episodes, providing commentary, reflection, and prayer along the way. Unlike any other Bible podcast, Ascension’s Bible in a Year Podcast follows a reading plan inspired by The Great Adventure Bible Timeline, a ground-breaking approach to understanding salvation history developed by renowned Catholic Bible teacher Jeff Cavins.

With this podcast, you won’t just read the Bible in a year … you’ll finally understand how all the pieces of the Bible fit together to tell an amazing story that continues in your life today!

The more you read the Bible, the more you realize that the story of salvation is your story. As the author of Ecclesiastes reminds us, “there is nothing new under the sun.” The rise and fall of kings, the struggle between good and evil, the fight to be faithful in a broken world. The deeper you dive, the more familiar you’ll find it. This is the perspective that the saints had: a Biblical worldview.

You can sign up to get updates on the podcast as the release date approaches (January 1st, 2021) as well as download the reading plan so that you can follow along (https://tinyurl.com/yyhc2pcj).

If you don’t already have The Great Adventure Bible, you can get one at Ascension (https://tinyurl.com/y56z8l9l) so that you’re reading the same translation as Fr. Mike. It’s also the only Bible with The Great Adventure Bible Timeline built in—the same system that Father will be using for the podcast. If you prefer to read in Spanish, Ascension just released The Great Adventure Bible en Español as well (https://tinyurl.com/yyonobmf).

You can find The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) on Apple Podcasts (https://tinyurl.com/y6n6ectu), Spotify (https://tinyurl.com/yylr9r3x), or anywhere else you listen to podcasts. God bless you!

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Fr. Mike introduces us to the virtue that makes other virtues excellent: magnanimity.

If someone asked you what the most essential virtues are, you might say humility, faith, hope, or love. But have you ever heard of the virtue of magnanimity? What this virtue does is it magnifies—or makes greater—other virtues within someone. In other words, it’s to strive for excellence.

This is not to be confused with the vice of pride, which relies on the gifts of oneself without acknowledging any help that may come from another person or even God. Instead, a magnanimous person sees the gifts God has given them and chooses to emphasize them in their life as a way to honor him.

Consequently, every saint must be magnanimous; they must be great for the Lord. Even saints who have the most different and opposite lifestyles become one in the same, purely through their desire to be excellent, not for the sake of themselves, but as a “thank you” to the Lord.

One way to strive for magnanimity is to avoid the temptation to it’s opposing vice, which is pusillanimity. Pusillanimity is the direct opposite of magnanimity: it’s to shy away from the gifts God has given you, out of timidity. This is different from humility, because where humility is acknowledging that your gifts are not your own, pusillanimity is refraining from using those gifts in the first place.

By embracing the gifts God has given us and using them to glorify him, we are being magnanimous. It doesn’t matter what stage of life you’re in, how old you are, or what your gifts consist of. All of us have the opportunity to be magnanimous, and all of us have the opportunity to be saints.

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Fr. Mike talks about how to regret things we’ve done without staying stuck in the past.

Have you ever heard the saying “don’t regret the past, because it’s made you into the person you are today?” Maybe you’ve heard something similar to that, and while there’s truth to this saying, there’s also something that we as Christians should be aware of. Sometimes we make mistakes. We do things we wished we hadn’t. Sometimes, we hurt those we love in the process.

We never want to live in the past—burdened by the mistakes we’ve made—but it’s safe to say that all of us have done things that didn’t make us the people God wants us to be.

There’s a difference between regret and repentance, and it can be best seen when comparing St. Peter to Judas. Both men sinned gravely against the Lord: Peter denying him during the time of his Passion and Judas delivered him to crucifixion. The difference is, where Peter regretted his sins and repented, Judas let his sin consume him.

It’s okay to regret the things we’ve done in the past that took us away from the path of God, but we can’t dwell in this regret. Instead, we have to do something about it. We have to repent. Repentance is what gives us the strength to forgive ourselves and continue striving for the kingdom of Heaven. When we repent, we surrender ourselves and our mistakes to the Lord, and then he can use those mistakes to glorify our lives. God can use everything—even our worst sins—for our path towards eternity. Nothing given to God is ever wasted.

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Do you have any “expectations” when you think about marriage?

A lot of us probably think of marriage as broadly the same thing: two people coming together in love to spend the rest of their lives together. But when we start to dive into the specifics of that idea, it’s important to recognize what expectations are of the world, and which are of God.

One of these expectations could be the willingness to have kids. The Church teaches, however, that in the case of sacramental marriage, it is asked and even expected of the couple that they be open to life throughout their marriage. This is why the priest performing the ceremony and marriage prep asks the couple if they are freely, fruitfully, fully, and faithfully entering the sacrament with their spouse.

Unfortunately, our world often tells us that marriage doesn’t need to be open to life. People will even sometimes say it’s selfish and reckless to bring children into a world that is so broken. But the truth of the matter is that a marriage can’t be sacramental without an openness to life, and that’s a big deal.

Children are the purpose of marriage. It’s the one relationship where people have kids. Now, of course, people have sex outside of marriage that could result in kids, but we recognize that the act of sex is best placed in the context of a commited, lifelong relationship, such as marriage. Because of this, an openness to children must be present in a relationship for that couple to pursue a sacramental marriage. It’s a gift of self to another, ordered towards the procreation and education of children.

Now, what about couples who can’t have kids, or are past the age of childbearing? Those marriages are no less sacramental than the ones that have children, so long as they’re still open to the procreation of children. It’s the orientation towards the task of procreation that’s important, not the achievement of it.

Bottom line is, sacramental marriage is a gift of self towards another, totally, fruitfully, fully, and faithfully. Without an openness to life and the procreation of children, this gift of self is not full, and therefore does not hold the ability to be a sacrament of God. It’s an essential part of God’s plan for romantic intimacy, and must be separated from whatever “expectations” the world may have for marriage.

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Have you ever been shaken by a scandal in the Church?

It’s hard not to have been, especially amidst scandals on a major scale or ones involving people we’ve looked up to and loved. When these things come to light, it’s common for people to start to blame the Church, and—sometimes—to leave their faith. If we feel the need to reexamine our belief in God and the Church because of something someone else did, maybe our faith should have been in God and not a person who’s broken just like us.

We’re incredibly blessed to have such a vast community of Christian believers in our world who strive towards the way of Christ and in many ways dedicate their lives to the service of others. But just because they’re followers of Christ doesn’t mean they’re perfect. As humans we have a natural inclination towards sin that we’ve inherited from the first sin of Adam. And it’s important that we see this for what it is, because if we put our faith in anyone other than our Creator, we put our faith in someone that can’t satisfy our hearts.

Let’s ask God to help us build a stronger relationship with him so that always look to the foundation of the Church and the faithfulness of God instead of putting our hope in the ways of man.

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Is it just us, or does the world seem a bit divided right now?

Human beings were not only created with a unique purpose, but also created to live in community. However, there are two things that can disrupt this call: division and distraction. Why these two? Well, distractions are things that take us away from a given task or goal, taking us away from living with a purpose. Likewise, division takes away from living in community with those around us.

The twentieth century brought with it innumerable inventions of distraction: things like television, radio, computers, etc. All of these products are great innovations that have moved us forward in our abilities to create community and showcase our unique strengths, but they’ve also put distraction at our fingertips.

It’s not just technology that has caused distractions either. We can become distracted by virtually anything: chores, work, leisurely activities. But when we’re distracted, we’re held back from the task at hand, and the ongoing task for all of us is to live in community, and live with purpose.

What does that mean for something like politics? Well, if you’re American, you basically have two political responsibilities as an American citizen: educate yourself well on the politics in your country, and vote whenever elections come around. Anything other than those two tasks are distractions from the purpose of politics.

When it comes to division, our country has definitely had its fair share. So how do we fight against this division that seems to be splitting our country? Through conversation and through kindness. We’re called to be united in community with those around us, so much so that Jesus refers to them as our brothers and sisters. Division won’t be conquered easily, but if we’re willing to converse, listen, and treat each other with kindness, we can get a couple strides closer to the community God desires for us.

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“What if I don’t have time to pray both The Rosary and The Divine Mercy Chaplet?”

Deciding how to spend your time in prayer can be difficult, especially when you’re deciding between two powerhouse prayers like The Rosary and The Chaplet. Let’s look at each of them.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy was gifted to Saint Faustina during a vision of Jesus. In this vision, he listed 14 promises (https://www.divinemercy.org/elements-...) to those who pray the chaplet. In the chaplet, the prayers revolve around the concepts of mercy and holiness for the whole world, and reflect the prayers and promises we make during the Mass. It’s an extremely powerful prayer for not only our own souls, but the sanctification of the world.

On the other hand, we have The Rosary, which is an act of love toward the Mother of Jesus, who was given to us at the crucifixion. This prayer has been recommended countless times by almost every saint who’s ever lived—and by Mary herself in several apparitions! The Rosary is a reflection on not only Mary’s life, but the life and miracles of Jesus as well. It allows us to enter into those moments with Jesus, the apostles, and Mary by way of meditation.

So, should we spend time in prayer on The Chaplet—which probably takes about 5-10 minutes—or on The Rosary, which will take maybe 20-30 minutes?

Why not both?

If you don’t feel like you have enough time for prayer, that’s worth looking into. The reality is, you don’t have to pray The Rosary every day, and you don’t have to pray The Chaplet every day. But why not pray both as much as you can? These prayers are gifts God has given every willing Christian, and they are pathways to Heaven. So why not?

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You may have seen the movie Rudy. Its eponymous protagonist is a not-so-athletic college football player who spent years taking hits and practicing with his team, only to see a few moments on the field. Those short moments, however, left him with a tremendous feeling of accomplishment and pride, knowing that he committed to something and saw it through, even when it seemed hopeless.

The question: is that always the right approach? Maybe if Rudy had dedicated that time to learning something he was naturally better at, he could have become an expert in his field. The choice Rudy made was made out of passion: he loved the game to the point of dedicating his college career to it, and not caring if the outcome wasn’t what he had expected.

But what about bigger dreams? The dream of getting married, having kids, getting into a certain religious order, entering into a certain profession? Is there ever a point where you just have to give it up?

There are a few things it’s never okay to give up. It’s never okay to give up hope itself. Hope is trust in the Lord extended into the future, knowing that he will always be with you in whatever circumstances you find yourself in. It’s also never okay to give up faith, God’s promises, or life itself.

However, it is okay—and sometimes wise—to reevaluate certain outcomes, and realize that maybe it’s time to adjust your expectations. How do you know when to do that? When reality makes it obvious.

For Rudy, that might have meant recognizing that he wasn’t going to be a starter on his football team. It’s still okay for him to want to be a part of the team in some way, and maybe get playing time one day, but reality must be acknowledged and accepted in these situations, or else we risk chasing empty expectations.

This doesn’t mean you have to give up on your dreams, or that you can’t do anything: it just means you can’t do everything. Maybe your dream is to have a family, but you and your spouse can’t get pregnant. You might not be able to conceive, but you can still adopt, or be a foster parent. Accepting the reality of your current situation means having a dream, realizing it’s place in your life, and then asking, “Okay God, now what do you want me to do?”

The outcome may not be what you had expected or planned, but if it’s with the Lord, it will still be good. And once we accept this reality, we will start to see that the real work is being done in our character, and that’s the power of trying. It may not make you the kind of person you had planned to be, but it will make you the kind of person that God wants you to be.

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Playing a video game called Injustice helps Fr. Mike explain the real answer to why God allows suffering.

In Injustice, Superman becomes a totalitarian dictator in his attempt to try and eliminate evil. Batman tries to tell him, in trying to eliminate evil he has ceased to do good, because without the freedom to choose evil, we don’t really have the freedom to choose good either.

Couldn’t God do better than Superman though? Couldn’t he just fix everything by bringing us back to the Garden of Eden? Anyone who is a parent knows that doesn’t work because God’s children—us—would just mess up again.

So what does God actually do? He doesn’t eliminate evil. He draws close to us in the midst of evil. He suffers a painful death. He descends to the depths of hell. He doesn’t take away suffering. He transforms it and redeems it by entering into it. This led St. Paul to say:

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Colossians 1:24).

St. John Paul II said in suffering we receive a sliver of the Cross. Our suffering matters because Christ’s suffering matters and we are his body. All we have to do is tell God to use our suffering. Nothing given to God is ever wasted, so give it to God.

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Many people ask Fr. Mike, “How do you become a Catholic speaker?”

The quick answer is “Get baptized and start talking.” Of course this implies that you live out the promises of your baptism. When you do that, people will start asking you to give talks about the Faith.

At least that’s how it worked out for Fr. Mke. The caveat is that being a Catholic speaker is not all that it seems to be. The Faith is not going to spread throughout the world through someone on a stage with a microphone in hand. Christ will redeem the world through relationships, especially family and friendships.

The danger is in thinking that giving talks equals ministry. The Catholic teacher, director of religious education, and volunteer are in the messy relationships that make disciples of Christ one person at a time. We don’t want to become someone who is willing to travel a thousand miles to tell a thousand people about Christ, but isn’t willing to cross one street to tell one person about him.

Jesus first reached out to his twelve disciples and built strong relationships with them. Then people started coming to him. When you live an authentic Christian life founded upon a strong relationship with Christ and with others in Christ, people start noticing. You won’t have to aspire to be a Catholic speaker because those who are looking for a leader in the Faith will ask you to be one.

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How many real friends do you have? Honestly, many people we call friends would probably better qualify as pals or buddies. The first step to getting real friends is to recognize how we are all made to be gifts of love. God is love and we were made in his image. We were also made for community, because God is a community of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Living out this love and community as God does requires availability and vulnerability.

By availability we mean “care-free timelessness”, as Catholic evangelist Matthew Kelly calls it.

By vulnerability we mean taking off the mask. This is the really hard part. As a missionary Fr. Mike knows once said, vulnerability is not just transparency. Transparency is letting someone look into the fish bowl. Vulnerability is inviting them into the fishbowl and letting them move things around.

How can we all learn to grow in love, community, availability, and vulnerability so we can become real friends to others and live as the image of God in the world?

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If you’re not feeling loved by someone you love, take courage in the story of Leah in Genesis.

Jacob, Leah’s husband, did not love her. In fact, what’s even worse, he loved her sister, Rachel, instead. Leah named her first three sons out of her hope and desire for her husband to love her, thinking if she bore him sons he would love him. She named her first “Reuben” which means, “Look, a son,” saying, “Now my husband will love me.” She named her second son “Simeon” which means “listening” because she felt the Lord heard her prayer for Jacob to love her. She named her third son “Levi” which means “joined together” because she believed this time her husband will finally be joined to her.

By the time she had her fourth son, she named him Judah, which means “may God be praised.” She finally stopped trying to make Jacob love her, and instead she let go and let God take over. It’s no coincidence that Jesus would be born from the line of Judah.

Some people love people the way they know how to love, and the beloved just doesn’t notice. A father may love her daughter through acts of service rather than words of affirmation or quality time.

Others may simply not love you, but that does not mean you’re unlovable.

You’re chosen by God for a reason only you can know. Do not wait for someone else to give you the love that God the Father has already given you.

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Wearing masks, not wearing masks, and all the mixed emotions that have come with the coronavirus reveal that—as a society—we lack freedom from the fear of death.

Maybe you know someone who has died from the virus, or someone who lost their livelihood due to the lockdown. Many are wondering when they can safely go out again, or when they can they go back to Mass.

In fact, the coronavirus is revealing the fear of not just death, but also the fear of loss, uncertainty, and insecurity.

In these strange times, it’s encouraging to remember the one who conquered death. In Hebrews we read:

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage” (Hebrews 2:14-15).

In a world without Jesus, death ought to be feared because it is a separation from life and everything good. But Christ has transformed life and death. This does not mean suffering and grief simply don’t matter, but in our suffering we have hope that death is not the end.

Living life is risky. About eight out of a thousand people die every year, COVID-19 aside (https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/WLD/world/death-rate). But the meaning of life is so much more than avoiding death. Frankly, some things are worse than death and some things are more important than our lives on earth. We are called to embrace the risks of life and live in hope … while still taking reasonable health precautions.

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It may sound foolish to believe in a God who allows evil, tragedy, suffering, and disasters. But God never promised to rid the world of these things. He promised us hope:

“and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).

At some point we are going to experience heartbreak, loss, and suffering. Anyone who thought having faith in God would take away those things in life had the wrong idea of who God is.

Fr. Mike says he has never been disappointed in God, because he knows what promises God did make. God is faithful. He will never break his promises, but he never promised that you would not experience grief. He did promise that in the midst of the pain he will be there. In being there, he will help you to love the giver of peace more than the gift of peace.

Discipleship is a daily cross. God promised trouble, not peace. He encouraged us to take heart in the midst of that trouble, and that’s how we grow stronger and holier.

There will be floods and fire and sickness and tragedy. Turn to the one who promised he will be there with you through it all to help carry you through it. When we feel we have been let down by God the most, those are the times when trust in him means the most.

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We all have pet peeves. We all get annoyed by things that really don’t matter much, whether it’s someone chewing with their mouth open, or someone whispering the Rosary in an Adoration chapel—which are two things that used to be pet peeves for Fr. Mike. But he learned a better way to deal with annoyances.

Why do we get so annoyed by such petty things? It’s because being annoyed is a choice.

Fr. Mike tells a quick story about prisoners of war in Vietnam. They were put in a really small cell where they were so close together they had to sleep touching each other. The prisoners came to an agreement that if they were annoyed by something another prisoner does, the one who is annoyed is the one at fault. This helped them rise about their situation.

There are four possible choices when you’re annoyed:

I can choose to be annoyed. This is not recommended.
I can actively choose to rise above the annoyance and grow in patience.
I can do something about it and let it move me to positive action.
Instead of saying that person annoys me, I can say that person sanctifies me.

Next time you get annoyed, try numbers two through four.

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Is your faith certain enough to stand up against the doubts and different ideas out there?

Fr. Mike shares insight about certainty from Dr. Montague Brown, professor of philosophy at St. Anselm College, New Hampshire. Dr. Brown says certainty is intellectual belief based off the evidence. It’s not blind belief. Someone with certainty is not going to change their mind without new objective evidence. Many times people change their mind not because of new evidence, but just because of new people in their lives. They’ve simply been exposed to new behavior. This happens to students in college quite often.

Christianity is evidential. It hinges upon an indisputable event, the life and death of Jesus.

If you’re from a small town, you may think the way you were raised is just part of your small town’s way of thinking, and that a well-known university in a big city must have a broader, more enlightened way of thinking. But really, the university is just as subject to its way of thinking as the small town is. The culture of a university is just as insulated as that of a small town.

Don’t get so caught up in the culture around you that you give in to new ideas without evidence—whether that culture is a university, a new workplace, new friends, new family, or a new city. Let your faith always be backed up by the evidence. Fr. Mike is certain in his belief that Christianity will then always come out on top.

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Fr. Mike recalls the speed math tests he took in second and third grade. He finished them in decent time, but his cousin—who was in the same class—finished them way faster. In fact, his cousin was the fastest in his class. For some reason this led Fr. Mike to believe he simply wasn’t good at math.

When it came to “speak and spell” though, Fr. Mike did really well. This led him to believe he was really good with words. He was acting under the common belief that someone is either good at something or bad at something.

In Carol S. Dweck’s book, Mindset, she speaks of fixed mindsets—like Fr. Mike had— and growth mindsets, which challenge us to grow.

Fr. Mike shares the findings of a study that observed two groups of children. The first group was given tests and were told “You’re really smart” when they finished them. The second group was told “You really worked hard on that.” When the tests got harder, the first group started giving up, but the latter group doubled down and rose to the challenge.

God works with us as if we were in the second group. He sees us for who we are, but approaches us as we could be. Confession is our opportunity to try harder next time. We are called to the struggle, because struggle is growth. The victory is not in never failing, but in getting back up and rising to the challenge.

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If you want to know how to share the gospel, it’s important to have the love and courage to not just give answers and corrections, but to ask questions. It is in asking questions from the heart that you convey true interest in the person’s soul, instead of just trying to convince the person you’re right.

Fr. Mike tells of a time when a student came to him saying he tries to evangelize, but just gets shut down. He tried to tell his good friend that he shouldn’t be over-drinking, and this just made his friend mad. Fr. Mike told this student, that’s not evangelization. That’s correction.

A good friend or pastor, depending on the relationship, may be in a position to offer correction to those they love. But evangelizing is a different conversation. Evangelization is introducing Christ to others.

That’s why Fr. Mike suggests asking questions when trying to introduce Christ to someone, because questions are a natural part of two people getting to know each other. If you are being Christ to someone, by asking them questions they are getting to know Christ just as much as you are getting to know them. Furthermore, asking genuine questions establishes a relationship and shows you are interested in where the person is coming from.

Also, it’s OK not to know the answers. Sometimes we get caught up in the concept communicated in St. Peter’s words:

“Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15).

There will be a time for that, but when that time comes the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say (Luke 12:12). Be content with just getting to know the person better first.

Also check out Ascension’s parish mission program, The 99: A New System for Evangelization

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In the spiritual life, it’s difficult to know whether striving to do God’s will or just abiding in him is better. But why can’t we do both?

Fr. Mike tells the story of a perpetually active student athlete. His inability to disengage in doing things and just abide in God was a problem, and he knew it.

Fr. Mike advised him, it’s not that abiding is right and striving is wrong. It’s important to do, but it’s important to also know what not to do in order to acquire the goal your living for.

There are many reasons why we choose to commit to activities, whether it’s for fear of missing out, liking being needed, needing to be liked. The list goes on. But if I find myself unable to rest, do I have a clear vision of what I really want out of life?

Being slightly engaged and not knowing what you’re striving for can be more exhausting than being fully engaged while knowing what you’re striving for.

It’s important to know when, where, and how I need rest, to know when to just abide in God, like Mary and not Martha (see Luke 10:38-42).

In any given hour, you can be called to strive like Martha in one moment and abide like Mary in the next; to do something one moment and just be in the next. The best thing is when you know you’re doing the right thing and you get to abide in God as well because you know you’re doing his will.

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Rigidity and laxity are difficult obstacles to avoid when trying to find balance in your faith life.

When we treat Christianity as a project, that leads to rigidity. When we treat Christianity like a projection, that leads to laxity. If you’re just looking at what Christians are supposed to do and then following those instructions, you’re treating your faith like a project and that’s bound to make you rigid. At the other extreme, if you see Jesus as a softy or a buddy who’s going to look the other way when you do the wrong thing, that’s just your projection of who he is. This mentality is bound to make you lax.

How do we escape these two extremes? Here’s an analogy from Fr. Mike. When a pilot gets ready to fly a plane, he has a certain trust that the plane will fly, but he still has to check that everything is working properly before taking off. Also, he still has to check the controls even as he is flying and putting his life in the plane’s hands. There is a symbiotic balance between trust and diligence here. That’s what walking with Jesus should be like.

Let’s take Christ seriously. He is infinitely loving. Let’s take grace seriously. God’s grace is infinite. However, it requires application. When you say, “Jesus, I trust in you” those words should help you not only let go, but also take a leap of faith and faith without works is dead (James 2:17).

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Making small sacrifices is not just for Lent, because sacrifices and penance are necessary. As Christ said:

“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

And this is true all year long. But when Jesus said to deny yourself, he didn’t mean to always go against what you want. Really. He meant there are things I want that will not make me more like him—a lot of things, actually. So following him often means dying to self by denying myself those things.

Mortifications—little deaths to self—make us more like Jesus and can be offered up for the sanctification of the world and others. Mortification can come in many different forms. It’s not always denying yourself something you want. Sometimes it means doing something you don’t want. Sloth or greed can cause us to not do things we should do. Choosing not to be slothful or greedy often means doing something for someone else—and this is a little death to self.

Love is the not-so-secret ingredient that helps us die to self. The entire gospel and Jesus’ life are about love. He is constantly telling us and showing us how to love one another and God. That’s because when we learn to love, dying to self becomes so much easier since we start living for God and others. Life is hard when we’re selfish, but when we live for love we see what Christ means when he says “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).

You may also like No Greater Love: A Biblical Walk Though Christ’s Passion (https://bit.ly/2BjgNu5)

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Fr. Mike explains how being at home with our family is one of God’s favorite ways to make us holy—if we are honest about the areas where we need to grow in our relationships with family members.

Fr. Mike has observed that college students often have a profound encounter with Jesus through their college’s Catholic community. They find that they are praying more, receiving the sacraments more, participating in more service opportunities, and so on. Then they get back home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or—in the most recent cases—a lockdown. They realize, in their interactions with their family that they’re not as holy as they thought they were.

Why do we struggle to be loving toward those whom we claim to love the most? It’s harder to love family members sometimes because—Fr. Mike explains—you didn’t get to choose this group, and they can make demands on you.

It’s easy to be generous when it’s on your own terms.

Our relationships with our family can reveal the impatience and lack of generosity inside us—the unedited version of us.

Be honest with God and admit that the things you thought you defeated are still somewhere inside you. Surrender these things to Jesus. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable with your family. They love you. Ask family members where they want you to grow this week.

Pursue holiness at home. Like St. Teresa of Calcutta said, find your own Calcutta.

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In today’s special podcast, Fr. Mike Schmitz sits down with Fr. Josh Johnson to discuss racial division in the Church and how Catholics can strive to restore unity in the Body of Christ. Fr. Josh emphasizes that he is not infallible, so it’s okay to disagree with anything he says that doesn’t lead you closer to Christ, but he hopes this conversation bears fruit in your walk with Jesus and within the body of Christ.

Many members of the Church want to know what they can do during these turbulent times. Fr. Josh gives four practical pieces of advice: listen to learn, use specific language when speaking with each other, act as one Body in Christ, and join in the suffering of Jesus to make reparation for others’ sins.

For full shownotes, please go to AscensionPress.com/FrMikePodcast

Special Guest: Fr. Josh Johnson.

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Throughout the Gospels Jesus says, “Remain in me” or “abide in me,” which—in simplified terms—means whatever you do, invite Jesus along. Ask him to “come with.” This is a way to grow in your relationship with him, but it’s also a smart thing to do because, after all, Jesus said:

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

When we ask someone to “come with” or “go with”, as Fr. Mike says they do in Minnesota, we are implying that we enjoy their company and even have a certain kind of love for them. When you love someone, you want them to come with you wherever you go.

But “remain in me” means more than that. It also means gaze upon Jesus, not just at his face in a religious icon—though that could help—but gaze upon him with the interior gaze of the heart. Be aware that he is present. This shouldn’t be burdensome. It’s simple. Spending time with one you love is as easy as doing nothing.

Thirdly, remaining in Christ means to speak to him. Tell him your dreams and desires. Ask him what he wills. When you do this keep in mind, the Lord is free. He is not robotic. He is free to love us as he wills, and sometimes that love is difficult—but it’s what we need.

So next time you do something, anything, say, “Jesus, wanna go with?”

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When someone says something hurtful to you, it is wise to give them the benefit of the doubt. What does that mean? It means ask yourself, “Do I firmly believe that this is a person of good will?” If so, is there anything that can help you better understand their behavior?

Give them the benefit of the doubt that they are just tired, or “hangry”, or having a bad day for some reason. Especially in marital relationships, think of how many times your spouse has said hurtful things to you, while you knew that they still loved you.

This is not to excuse hurtful behavior, and not a reason to tolerate being treated poorly, or to endure any kind of abuse. In many cases a person’s actions do reveal their heart. So we’re not talking about those cases. We’re not talking about people who manipulate others intentionally, and those who just willfully do evil. We’re talking about when people of good will just have a bad moment, or momentarily let their vain side get the best of them.

The way we respond to an enemy and the way we respond to a friend is going to be different. Decide which one hurt you, and respond accordingly.

www.ascensionpress.com/theFrMikeSchmitzPodcast

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You know you should be praying. But do you ever wish someone would show you how? Fr. Mike starts by showing us how to pray with the Bible with a time-honored method called lectio divina.

For full shownotes, please go to: https://bit.ly/2WYdL5F

Monday, May 18 at 8 PM ET, Father Mike will answer your questions LIVE, for the first time ever on Ascension Presents! Whether your question is about why Catholics do the weird things they do, how you can overcome a specific challenge, or what Father’s favorite meal is, tune into the Ascension Presents YouTube channel to ask Father Mike live! https://bit.ly/2WUs1wp

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Vanity is not what many people think it is. It can come in many forms, and is not necessarily an infatuation with yourself. Vanity is an inordinate preoccupation with what other people think about you—which is different.

It’s important, to an extent, to care what others think about you. It can even be charitable. But when this care becomes unbalanced, it leads to neglecting more important things.

Wanting to be noticed can be vain, but not wanting to be noticed can also be vain. When you shrink back and don’t want anyone to look at you, it can be a form of vanity or false humility; because not wanting to be seen can be an indication that you care an inordinate amount about what people think of you.

Vanity can also cause an unwillingness to share the Faith. Many times we think sharing the gospel will make people think less of us. How many times has the thought of what other people think prevented you from sharing the Faith?

Balance is pertinent in every aspect of vanity, and the best way to achieve that balance is to care about what God thinks of you above all.

These sayings about humility really sum it up well, since humility is the antidote to vanity:

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less” (Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Life).

“If you meet a really humble man … He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all” (C.S. Lewis).

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In a previous episode, Fr. Mike said that all Catholics grow in the same “soil” together, but the fruit we bear is unique. But what is this common soil? What are the essentials for every Catholic Christian?

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

So there are four elements in the soil:

1. Teachings of the Apostles: Magisterial teaching of the Church, Sacred Scripture, and Tradition.
2. Communal Life (Fellowship): It’s not just me praying to Jesus. We need to share life somehow.
3. Breaking of the Bread: This refers to the Mass, not just eating together.
4. Prayer: There are so many ways to pray as a Catholic, and so many awesome prayers. You can pray the Liturgy of the Hours with the Church, or in your own words, or both. But to be in the soil you have to pray. For a great Liturgy of the Hours app, check out iBreviary.

God wants us to flourish in faith, hope, and love for him and for others. He is the one who makes us grow in holiness, but in order to flourish we have to be nourished by the soil he gave us.

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Fr. Mike talks about how to navigate discussions with your partner about sexual sin—whether it’s pornography, masturbation, or other impurity.

It’s important to realize that sometimes a person doesn’t have a right to know everything about you immediately. Keeping this in mind, at what point does a couple have to be vulnerable about their sexual sins? After two months of dating, maybe six months? It’s quite possible—actually likely—that a person’s sexual sins are the most shameful part of his or her life, so when someone is not exposing those sins—no matter how long the couple has been together—it may just be that the person is not comfortable being that vulnerable with their partner yet.

A person has a right to be hurt and mad if their partner is not revealing their sexual sins, but he or she should also ask if they had a right to that knowledge.

Father Mike asserts that such knowledge doesn’t have to result in the end of the relationship. Once the sin has been revealed, it should stay revealed. Neither partner should just assume that it’s in the past and done with. It’s bound to come up again.

If you’re struggling with sexual sin, your partner needs to know you are doing everything you can to defeat the sin. He or she probably shouldn’t be your accountability partner, but should be informed. If your partner is the one struggling, you ought to help him or her defeat the sin in whatever way you can. Both of you should champion romantic love, since it is a strong combatant against sexual sin.

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Fr. Mike makes the case that, before you claim a certain “style” in practicing the faith, you have to master the basics. He tells a story about when he was learning guitar. The teacher told his students to hold their guitar on an angle with their left knee higher than their right. This way they could play all kinds of music. Some of the students decided they wanted to hold the guitar their own way. This limited what they could play. Living the Faith is the same way.

If you’re told to do something and don’t, is it because you can’t do it, or because you won’t? When practicing the Faith, you may say you’re not into prayer, or service, or witnessing about Jesus, but all these things are essential to growing in holiness.

The saints are all different, true. Their fruit was unique, but the soil where they flourished is the same. Every saint started with prayer. They all did service, they all talked about Jesus. Fr. Mike recommends that we take advantage of all the riches our Catholic Faith gives us: the Rosary, Ignatian meditation, lectio divina, charismatic prayer, and so on. Let’s not limit our experience of God by saying some tradition is not our style.

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Fr. Mike explains how even partial healing from the wound of sin is still worth the effort. Don’t give up just because you know your sins will leave some stains and scars. God’s mercy can do amazing things in your life, even if it is just partially healed.

No matter how massive and unforgivable you think your sins are, God’s mercy is infinitely greater. St. Thérèse of Lisieux said if you took all of the sins in the world throughout all of time and tossed them to God, it would be like flicking a drop of water into a raging inferno (paraphrased).

Nonetheless, justice demands for sins to have consequences. God forgives the eternal effects, but there will be temporal consequences. We shouldn’t let those temporal consequences prevent us from living the life God wants us to live. God can use anything we give him.

Just because you can’t do everything doesn’t mean you can’t do anything.

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When we pray “lead us not into temptation”, it may seem like God has the capacity to tempt us. But that’s not the case. God does not tempt us, but he can and sometimes must put us through tests. Here are a four helpful ways to look at this part of the Our Father:

1. Tests reveal things to us. When God tests us, it reveals how much faith, hope, and love we have in God and for God.

2. Tests also strengthen us. As St. Paul says, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4).

3. When we say, “lead us not into temptation”, what we’re really asking is “God, please don’t test me beyond my ability.” Trials will and must come, but when they do, we should ask God for no more than what we can endure.

4. While God may not tempt us, the evil one does. God tests us by allowing the evil one to do what he does—so we can benefit from the strength and self-revelation that comes from the test.

Hopefully this helps you say this part of the Our Father with more understanding and stronger intent.

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Fr. Mike describes exactly how God works with us, even though God’s ways are not our ways. It’s like when a person you’re living with asks “What do you want for dinner?” and you say, “Whatever you want.” He then starts offering suggestions, but you turn them all down. After a few minutes of back and forth you both notice that what you really meant was not, “Whatever you want,” but, “You tell me what you want, and then give me the freedom to choose among those options.”

This is a lot like the process God uses when you tell him, “Lord, just do what you need to do in my life.” People may not like the process, but it often works.

When we tell God “just do whatever you want” more often than not he tells us to choose from a list of options. He respects our free will. If you ask him to purify your heart, that’s going to require breaking it so he can heal it. Trust the process, even if it’s going to hurt, and God will lead you to greater things.

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Fr. Mike gives us some advice about how we should respond to the coronavirus pandemic. He begins with the story of the recent pilgrimage he took to Israel amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Israeli authorities were quarantining people in the country and canceling all flights except for citizens. Fr. Mike had to rush with his pilgrims and tour company to figure out what to do about their scheduled pilgrimage. At the very last minute, the tour company found a flight to Istanbul that allowed eight pilgrims, including Fr. Mike, to flee Tel Aviv. After successfully making it back home, he found that the original flight they had booked home was never cancelled.

Moral of the story: everything’s a gamble. Some people, deeply convicted to speak the truth, may believe the reaction to COVID-19 is all for nothing, and that there is no need to cancel flights and even Masses. To those people, Fr. Mike asks, are we just being a critic toward those who have to make difficult choices?

Worry, anxiety, fear and living in the what ifs won’t solve anything. Faith in God is the answer, faith that everything will turn out all right in the end.

Some say this virus is a result of our faithlessness, and a call to repentance. Others say our reaction to it is an example of faithlessness. One thing is for certain: this is a call to faith as all adversity should be, but it is also a call to repentance as it should remind us of our frailty and mortality. How coincidental that we should be reminded of these things during Lent, which begins by telling us “You are dust and to dust you shall return,” and “Repent and believe in the gospel.”

We can find a positive and negative side to any situation. How can we find the blessings amid this adversity? Pray. Be grateful. And cover your mouth when you cough.

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A great way to make this Lent even better spiritually is to offer up not only something you chose, but also to offer up your inconveniences. Give God those moments when you’re stuck in traffic, or when someone says something bitter to you, or when you have to run an errand you just don’t want to run. Offer up those inconveniences that you didn’t choose, and God will make you stronger in them.

Intentionally receive these moments, and let them provide the opportunity to die to self. The Lenten commitment we chose is an active mortification, but these inconveniences you didn’t ask for are passive mortifications. They’re powerful because we have no control over them, and yet we can have control over what we do with those moments. Accepting these passive mortifications is a way for us to grow in freedom, because through them we learn to accept and live graciously in the moments that would otherwise have control over us.

In the words of St. Paul:

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Colossians 1:24).

For full episode shownotes, visit AscensionPress.com

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Starting strong is easy, but staying strong—perseverance—is a mark of holiness. It’s easy to be excited about a new relationship, ministry, job, or school, but enduring through the dull times when that newness wears off is difficult.

Fr. Mike is not trying to downplay the importance of starting strong with a commitment, whatever it may be. It’s wonderful to be determined when a commitment is new, but to stay strong is a test of will power that many do not pass. For those who do endure, the endurance builds character.

See more from Fr. Mike at media.ascensionpress.com

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Lent is about transformation, but that transformation will be incomplete if we make it about ourselves. Instead of aiming for self-mastery alone this Lent, what is the key to living this Lent for others?

In 2 Samuel 7, when King David says he will build a house for the Lord, the Lord says to David through Nathan that he will not be the one to build the temple—but his son will.

Learning from this story, we see that we may want to do a good and noble thing for Lent, but that doesn’t mean it’s what God wants us to do. Ask God what he wants from you this Lent.

Discipline is great, but there’s a step after that: being generous. Asking God what he is asking of you, instead of deciding on your own, is a step from discipline to generosity, from self-mastery to deeper relationship. Aim to do your prayer, fasting, and almsgiving out of generosity.

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Why is Ash Wednesday not a holy day of obligation? A holy day is a day that has been consecrated for God, so in that sense Ash Wednesday is a holy day. At the heart of a holy day of obligation, however, is the Resurrection. For this reason holy days of obligation are times to celebrate and feast. Even in the midst of Lent, we feast on Sundays to celebrate Christ’s resurrection.

You may have noticed, Holy Thursday and Good Friday also are not holy days of obligation. This does not diminish their importance, though. It simply makes no sense to celebrate these days as obligatory feasts because they are supposed to bring to mind the death of our Lord and also our own death—our physical death, and our death to self in order to avoid spiritual death. God does not force us to take up our cross and follow him, but he does invite us.

With that said, what better place to go to start Lent than to Mass? It is the beginning of a long journey, and we need the strength the Lord can give us through the Ash Wednesday readings and the Eucharist. And what better way to remind ourselves of the whole point of Lent, that we are dust and to dust we shall return, so we ought to repent and believe in the gospel. Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation, but a holy day of invitation.

For further reading, Fr. Mike mentions the story where Elijah, in a deep slumber, is awoken by a “messenger” who tells him to get up and eat. This story can be found in 1 Kings 19.

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Just because you desire something deeply doesn’t mean it’s God’s plans for you. Sometimes our desires and God’s will are different. Our desires are not predictors of the future and they’re not the voice of God. We are supposed to tend to our desires and discern what is being revealed through them, but letting them dictate your path in life is not wise.

Especially when it comes to romantic relationships, we tend to favor the decisions that would give us our desire. If the person you desire keeps coming up in prayer, it’s because you keep bringing him or her up. Don’t fool yourself. At the heart of this desire is probably a good longing for marriage and a family. Acknowledging the desire for what it is will help you make a more clear-headed decision regarding it.

You may also have a desire to pursue a certain career path. If you want to sing, for example, do you want to spend every day singing and live the life of a singer? When you acknowledge the realistic lifestyle your dream job would entail, it often brings sobriety to your desire. If the desire still does not subside, don’t automatically assume it’s because it must be your destiny. Examine your past, your conscience, and the things that have influenced you. Examine the things that may have brought about this desire. This examination will teach you valuable things about yourself.

Our desire for goodness and holiness is a good thing. We have these desires so we can learn more about what’s deepest in our hearts. So next time one of your recurring desires come back, go deeper and ask yourself, “What does this desire really reveal about me? What do I really want at the very core of it?” Bring it to prayer and God will reveal something very profound, as he has often been known to do.

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Fr. Mike follows up on his episode “Answering the Internet’s Most Asked Questions about Priests” with answers to even more questions from the internet about priests. Here he answers questions like:

• How do you bless holy water?
• Are priests allowed to drink alcohol?
• Where do priests live?
• Do priests go to confession?
• Are monks and friars priests?
• Do priests take a vow of poverty?
• Where do priests go to school?

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Fr. Mike speaks about evangelization, new media, and telling the story of God’s love at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. Addressing future pastors, he tells them “the heart of your formation is to become a dad” to your parishioners. He encourages them to use the same motto they use at the Newman Center of the University of Minnesota, Duluth, where he serves as campus minister. The motto he shares with students there is “See a need, fill a need.” 

In other words, you don’t have to wait for permission to share the gospel, to be charitable, or to do good.

Evangelization in the new world is at its heart no different than it’s always been. As Pope St. Paul VI shared in Evangelii Nuntiandi, if you’re baptized, you’ve been anointed to spread the gospel. And as Christ says when commissioning the apostles:

“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samar′ia and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Christ is saying it’s our job to continue his mission. 

But it’s not all about going out. We also need to go in, to look inward. Before we go out to evangelize, we need to invite Christ into our hearts.

What does it mean to know him? And what does all of this have to do with new media? It’s all connected because of one word: story. Evangelization is about telling the story of God’s love as you have experienced it, and new media is just a new medium for spreading that centuries-old message, the kerygma. 

How do you become a Catholic speaker? “Well, you get baptized and then you start talking” Fr. Mike says.

Opportunities will come, but your first yes has to be to Christ. And the opportunities don’t have to be to speak to thousands of people thousands of miles away. Saying yes to Christ means being willing to talk about him to one person one block or one house away, or just to the person in front of you. Just as it starts with a personal encounter with Christ, the next step is to tell the story of God’s love for you to one person. 

So how do we evangelize with new media? We don’t if we aren’t willing to do it without new media. 

Also, getting into new media requires more than a person sitting in his living room sharing his opinion on something. It requires an entire Church community, and you. The speaker speaks, the team puts everything together, but the most important piece is the person who shares the video, program, podcast, or article with someone they know and love.

Check out St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and their John Cardinal Foley Chair of Homiletics & Social Communications

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Fr. Mike is at the library of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, and he’s answering the most asked questions about priests and the priesthood—according to the internet.

He answers great questions like:

• Do priests get paid?
• Do they get married?
• Do they pay taxes?
• How do priests become bishops?
• Why do they wear black?
• Why do they kiss the altar? And more …

Fr. Mike is visiting St. Charles Seminary to give a talk on evangelization and new media. The talk will be posted on Ascension Presents. So stay tuned to catch it.

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Fr. Mike comments on whether swearing, as in using vulgar language, is a sin. He gives three times when using vulgar words can be sinful:

1. If I use the vulgar word against someone, directing it toward them
2. If I use a word connected to a sexual act, because sex between persons is meant to be holy and reserved for spousal love
3. If I use a vulgar word in public, since it can scandalize people—especially if young ones are present.

Remember that we are called to always be charitable. Our words mean something. We are called to build people up, not bring them down. The words we choose reflect and express what’s in our hearts “for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). What do you want to express, words that are at best crude or words that build people up?

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There is a beauty in the fact that God shares his very name with us. He gives us his name so that we can call upon him in prayer, hold him in our hearts, and know we are not alone.

Today, Fr. Mike discusses the importance of reverencing this name. While the world throws this holy title around, we are called to have awareness of the power and the goodness of God. Fr. Mike explains that in recognizing the meaning of names like God, Jesus, and Mary, we honor them and all they offer us. As we walk through life as God’s children, his name should never be regarded as an afterthought but instead considered one of the greatest gifts he has granted us.

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There’s justice and prudence and temperance and fortitude, faith, and hope, and love. But do you recall the social virtues at all? Thankfulness and affability are some social virtues that show us how Catholics should connect with others in social situations.

Thankfulness is the social virtue by which we acknowledge people and their generosity. It’s not just a customary expression of thanks when someone does something nice. It means going out of your way to show people your gratitude for them going out of their way for you.

Affability is another word for approachability. It means you’re free to talk and free to help. You don’t mind people knocking on your door to tell you something. It is another social virtue that makes us put others before ourselves.

Being introverted is not an excuse to avoid these virtues. An introverted person can most certainly have a heart focused on other people, and that is what’s at the heart of the social virtues.

You may think these virtues aren’t as important as the others since they are not so explicitly mentioned in Scripture. In fact they are. Remember the parable of the lepers in Luke 17:11-19. Jesus heals ten lepers, and only one returns to thank him. Jesus asks, “Where are the other nine?”

Likewise, Jesus regularly healed those who approached him out of the blue, showing affability. Jesus showed the social virtues, and so should we.

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With each new year come new hopes, new plans, and new opportunities. Fr. Mike points out that this optimism and this “spirit” of New Year’s is a great inspiration of hope for the interior life of the Christian.

For each of us, last year probably had a fair mix of “wins” and “losses” – of joy and suffering. Fr. Mike zeroes in on what was probably the worst evil and the greatest suffering you encountered last year – sin. Sin can lead to discouragement and embarrassment, and those demons can keep us from moving forward in hope. Maybe you’ve been wrestling with the same sin for a long time, or maybe you don’t want to go to the same priest about the same sin again and again. Maybe you feel like giving up.

But we can have hope – “trust in another extended into the future” – in Jesus and in the sacrament of confession. As Fr. Mike’s friend Nick says, “If you fall, fall into the confessional.” Discouragement and embarrassment have no place in the life of the Christian. They keep us in the past, while their converses – hope and humility – keep us moving forward.

This year is going to have its ups and downs, and we know we can’t trust in ourselves. But we can trust in Him in whom we place our hope. Happy New Year!

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The only things we can be certain about are the things that have already happened to us in the past, and we live in a perpetual state of uncertainty about the future. If we’re honest, we can all probably agree that it’s not really comfortable to be constantly wondering what your life will look like in a month, in six months, in a year. We are always worrying about the future—especially when we sense that some form of suffering looms ahead.

Father Mike walks us through the Five Joyful Mysteries: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, and the Finding of Jesus in the Temple. He reflects on the fact that each of these joyful mysteries is marked with a profound uncertainty and suffering. And yet, joy is present.

Think about what what Mary must have felt like when the Angel appeared to her and told her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her—that she was going to be the mother of the Messiah. The Angel didn’t reveal details to her. He didn’t assure her that Joseph wouldn’t divorce her, or that they would have to travel to Bethlehem but that they would make it in time for her to deliver. Yet, amidst the uncertainty of the moment, Mary gave a joyful Fiat.

Joy can be present, because Christ is present. You are able to have a Merry Christmas today...not because there is no suffering, and no uncertainty, but because God is with us. Even in our darkness, we have seen a great light.

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If you’re wondering about the difference between jealousy and envy, Fr. Mike clears up the confusion in this video. Simply put, jealousy is not wanting to share something or someone you possess or hope to possess, and envy is resentment toward the possessions of someone else. There can be some intersecting of the two, because it is possible to have an excessive or distorted kind of jealousy that’s actually based in envy, but jealousy can be good while envy is always sinful.

This is an important distinction because on the one hand we have God who is jealous about us. Likewise, a husband and wife should be jealous about each other.

On the other hand, St. Augustine described envy as the diabolical sin, basing his reasoning on Scripture: “through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his party experience it” (Wisdom 2:24).

Worthy of note is the fact that good translations of the Bible translate 1 Corinthians 13:4 to say “love does not envy.”

Rather than allowing the blessings of others to sadden us, let us rejoice in them and our own.

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Sometimes we have to do stuff when we don’t feel like it, but finding the motivation to do those things is really difficult in the moment. That’s when it’s important to keep in mind that motivation is not about just feeling good about doing something. It’s about having a motive. If something is the right thing to do, it doesn’t matter if I feel like doing it or not, Fr. Mike says. The only motivation you need is the motivation to do the right thing.

Fr. Mike’s friend Dean once told him this, “Emotions do not reveal the truth about reality, but they do reveal the conditions of your heart.”

St. Ignatius of Loyola encouraged his followers to pay attention to their heart, because it’s revealing something very important that needs to be taken into account. Nonetheless, regardless of what your heart is telling you, the question to ask yourself is not “do I feel like doing this right now?” Rather, ask yourself, “Is this the right thing to do.”

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What is the best way to prepare for the season of Advent? You’re free to do what you know will help you prepare for Christmas the best. If decorating and so forth does not help you prepare for the coming of Christ, you can be the judge of whether it’s worth doing.

Fr. Mike also wants to remind us that Advent is not just about preparing for Christmas. It’s also about preparing for Christ’s Second Coming. One day we will meet Christ face to face. Advent is the stark reminder that we need to get ready for eternity. With that in mind, what if you prepared as if December 25 will be the day you die?

Have a merry Advent.

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Which is better, being an owner or a steward? Fr. Mike reminds us of the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) as he points out how seeing ourselves as an owner is not as great as it seems. When we see ourselves as the owner of something, we hold onto it more closely for fear of losing it. When that thing is taken from us, we may become resentful.

Our lives are not our own, our bodies are not our own, our homes are not our own. Not even our children are ours. God owns all of these things, and we have done nothing to deserve them. God has entrusted them to us. If we see everything we have as a gift from God, we will always have a reason to be thankful.

In our culture, we may have been conditioned to think being owners is the American Dream, but being a steward is much better.

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Last week Fr. Mike Schmitz talked about why prayer is so hard in his battle of prayer video, and this week he talks about what to do when you experience dryness in prayer.

He says being distracted or discouraged in prayer is like losing control of a car on ice. When dryness or distraction in prayer occurs, don’t overcompensate. Gently bring yourself back to focus.

St. Theresa of Avila would always bring a book with her into prayer so she had some kind of springboard to converse with God. If this doesn’t help and dryness persists, then you persist. God may be calling you to a deeper relationship with him in these tough moments. There are some things God can only do when we come to him when we least want to. If you feel like God just isn’t giving you anything when you pray, it’s an opportunity to just spend time with the giver while expecting nothing in return.

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Growing up Fr. Mike thought prayer should be like soaking in a hot tub. He didn’t understand why it was so hard when he tried it.

It took him a while to learn that, as the Catechism says, prayer is a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. Prayer always presupposes effort. There’s always some kind of engagement when we properly pray to God. It’s not just about soaking in God’s grace. The required effort in prayer is difficult more often than it is not. Prayer is a battle against ourselves and “the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer” (CCC 2725).

Over time, Fr. Mike discovered that prayer needs to be more than a momentary time where we seek solace and closeness with God. We need to constantly acknowledge our relationship with God throughout the day, just as a husband and wife are constantly thinking of each other. Then when we do set aside time to simply be with God, it happens more naturally.

If you want to improve your prayer life, make the intentional and faithful decision to live the same way outside of prayer as you do within prayer.

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Fr. Mike comments on Kanye West’s conversion. He celebrates Kanye’s conversion, but hesitates to lift him up as a Christian leader. He recommends that we let Kanye’s roots in the faith grow without the responsibility of having people watch his every step to see if he will fall; because we all fall in the walk of faith. Support Kanye by praying for him because everyone who is striving to do the will of God needs our prayers.

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Fr. Mike uses the life of St. Maximillian Kolbe as an example of how God is going to interrupt us if we choose to do his will. We may love schedules, like Fr. Mike does, but life is unpredictable and tends to create a dangerous environment for our schedules. No less happened to St. Maximillian, who had plans for his life before being sent to Auschwitz. The inconveniences put in our path may not be that extreme, but be prepared to be interrupted if you want to be a saint. See interruptions as an occasion for holiness.

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God may want you to be spontaneous, but he also wants you to be disciplined. How does that work? Well, unless you just want to have no control over you impulses like a dog chasing a squirrel, discipline is a necessary prerequisite to being spontaneous.

Spontaneity requires a schedule, Fr. Mike says. God can only introduce new and exciting things into your day once you’ve done the things he put on your path in the first place.

So make a schedule for your day. Yes, life will get in the way and you may have to abandon some things on that schedule, but at least having a schedule helps you decide whether or not the unexpected things are more important than the priorities you set for yourself.

Fully embrace today by making a plan for it, as the author of Hebrews encourages us:

“But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).

The truly spontaneous person has a carpe diem attitude that starts with a set of determined goals. This determination is what gives him or her the energy boost to get to the uncharted territory of spontaneity. Have the disciple to schedule things right now so you have the freedom to be spontaneous later.

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We may be too hard on ourselves when considering how we use the word “should.” Of course, we should go to Mass and pray every day. We should avoid stealing and other sins. However, in the midst of the healthy “shoulds,” there could be unhealthy “shoulds,” like “I should enjoy going to Mass and praying,” or “it shouldn’t be this hard to avoid sin.”

But no one ever said that. No one ever said doing what’s right would be easy. So let’s stop “shoulding” ourselves, and let’s rely on God’s grace to pull us through instead. Our weakness is an opportunity to embrace God’s grace. Fr. Mike says if all the things we should do were easy, we wouldn’t need Jesus.

“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

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Knowledge is always good, but St. Thomas Aquinas said curiosity—or the fickle pursuit of unnecessary knowledge—can be a vice. What he meant, and what Fr. Mike means here, is that the methods by which we feed our curiosity, and our motivation for feeding it, can lead to vice if we just want to know something instead of pursuing what we need to know.

Those things we say we have to know about because everyone else is talking about them—like that popular show we say we simply cannot miss, or that things someone did that’s none of our business but we just need to know about it—these things can lead us away from a wholehearted pursuit of truth.

The counterpart virtue of unhealthy curiosity is studiousness, where the motivation and method of pursuing knowledge are correct. Curiosity is a good place to start, but it should always lead to studiousness, the virtue of great minds.

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If you’re in any kind of situation in your life where you feel you are limited in what you can control, you may not be as chained to your circumstances as you think. Fr. Mike offers encouragement, saying you can still make interior decisions and have an effect on your circumstances to some extent. You still have agency.

Even though you may not be able to change everything you want, you can change your heart. Resentment and bitterness can prevent a great deal of needed change, so if they’re in your heart start by surrendering them to the Lord. This will give you internal freedom similar to what Jesus had when he was suffering on the Cross.

Give your circumstances to the Lord and put them under his dominion. This may lead to more pain, but it’s better than staying bitter because if we remain in that bitterness our hearts will become numb and incapable of love.

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Fr. Mike says the key to making decisions together is distinguishing between preferences and principles. If the reason you’re favoring a choice is a matter of principle, it is your duty to lead the other person in that decision to the truth of that principle. If the choice you’re favoring is just a matter of preference though, charity suggests that you default to the preference of the beloved one involved in the decision instead.

Fr. Mike uses going to church as an example. It is a matter of principle that we have to go to Sunday Mass and worship God the way he tells us to, so if someone tells us going to a Catholic Mass is just our preference we can tell them as a matter of fact it’s not. However, if the issue is which church we go to for Sunday Mass, say St. Francis’ Church or St. Andrew’s, more often than not that is just a matter of preference.

For a helpful book on decision-making, check out _Pray, Decide, and Don’t Worry _by Jackie and Bobby Angel, with Fr. Mike.

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Fr. Mike offers the antidote of common sense for the anxiety that often comes after making a big decision. As a campus minister, he sees many students who feel like they made the wrong decision to come to college because things are not the way they imagined. To people in these situations, he advises them to stay the course. Paraphrasing St. Ignatius of Loyola and C.S. Lewis, he says to never change your course in times of desolation when that same course rang true for you in times of consolation. Give yourself a season, time to figure things out.

If you’re about to make a big decision and don’t know which course to take, or know someone who is in that situation, check out the new book by Jackie and Bobby Angel, with Fr. Mike Schmitz, Pray, Decide, and Don’t Worry: Five Steps to Discerning God’s Will, now available for pre-order at ascensionpress.com

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After reading a book on will power, Fr. Mike discovered an important lesson when it comes to how we handle spiritual setbacks. He noticed how resisting sin is a lot like resisting a donut when on a diet. If we resist for some time but then end up giving in and eating the donut, that doesn’t mean all of our progress in the diet is lost.

In the same way, if we resist sin for some time but then give in, the grace God offers us through confession can restore us. In fact, it can restore to even higher than we were before.

“Law came in, to increase the trespass; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20).

So let’s not give up when we fall into sin, but keep our eyes on heaven and God’s grace and live accordingly.

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