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Hi, my name is Fr. Mike Schmitz and this is the Called Podcast, a brand new series brought to you by the Catholic Initiative and produced in partnership with Ascension. You're like Father Mike. Why are you doing another podcast? Well, this is a great podcast because this is one where you get to hear not just from me, but you get to hear from incredible human beings who are living out our call to be the hands and feet of Jesus that face the heart of Jesus in this world. At the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus is risen from the dead. He appears to the disciples. He's walked with them, you know, not only for those years, but also now for 40 days after his resurrection. And at one point, the apostles who know that Jesus is who he says he is, they say, lord, are you at this point gonna restore the kingdom to Israel? Jesus, we know who you are. You're the Messiah. You're the king, you're the anointed one. Are you now going to do what we've been waiting and praying for you to do? And Jesus has this very cryptic answer where he says, it's not for you to know the times or seasons, etceter. Then he says this. He says, but you, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And then you will be my witnesses here in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria until the ends of the earth. And behold, I am with you until the end of the age. That key right there that Jesus is asked, are you going to restore the kingdom? And Jesus essentially says, no, you are. I'm going to give you the power of my Holy Spirit so that you are my hands and feet, that you are my face and heart in. In this world. I don't know if we realize this, that sometimes we think, okay, God, go ahead and do this, God, go ahead and fix this. God, go ahead and reach those people who are hurting. God, please help those people who are sick. And yes, of course, we do pray 100%, but we have to remember that Jesus is sending us out as his hands and feet, as his face and his heart to this needy, hurting, aching world. And so that's what this podcast is about. We're going to have conversations with men and women who have been the hands and feet of Jesus. Ordinary people, some people you've heard of them, some people you have not yet heard of them, but every one of them is an ordinary person that God has used in an extraordinary way. You know, I'm so convicted by Matthew, chapter 25. In Matthew, chapter 25, Jesus says, right, it's the sheep and the goats. And he says, come to you, bless my Father, for I was hungry and you fed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was thirsty, you gave me drink of water, etc. And they said, when did we see you, Lord? And he said, as often as you did this for the least of these, you did it for me. And then to others he says, depart from me. You accursed because I was hungry, you didn't feed me, I was thirsty, you didn't give me to drink, I was naked and you did not clothe me, etc. So when do we see you and not provide for your needs? And he says very clearly, as often as you did not do this for one of the least of my brethren, you did not do it for me. We know that at the end of our lives, that is the test. The test is going to be, were we the hands and feet? Were we the face and heart of Jesus to the people around us? Now, I hear that and I think, gosh, I don't know where to start. I don't know how to do that. That's why every one of our guests is living a different life, walking a different path. But all of them are going to be examples of, here's how they follow Jesus call, here's how they were able to feed the hungry, here's how they were able to give drink to the thirsty, here's how they were able to minister to those in prison. Now, I'm so excited to be part of this project because it originated with the work of the Catholic Initiative. So the Catholic Initiative is this incredible movement in the church. You probably know this already, that when it comes to funding the ministries of the church, there are so many incredible ministries that are changing the world. They are serving so many people, they're thriving, yet they don't have financial funding. The Catholic Initiative was established to find great Catholic ministries that are the hands and feet, the face and heart of Jesus. But they're serving in environments where probably those people who are being served can't afford to keep paying for those services. Or the people who are doing the fundraising, they shouldn't be fundraising. They should be back home. They should be in their parishes, they should be back at the school. They should be at that place where they get to actually do the work of the Lord and not have to go off and try to raise money. The Catholic Initiative, it was invented, was established so that the work of being once again the hands and feet, face and heart of Jesus could be done without worrying about where does the funding come from? And here I'm on campus. I've been on campus for 21 years now. This is the start of my 21st year, and I'm having to leave campus. I'm having to leave this ministry and go off to try to find funding for this ministry. The Catholic initiative has been so gracious in saying, hey, we want to help so you don't have to leave. That's. I'm so incredibly honored to be part of this Catholic initiative. Now this podcast is named, called and I have to ask the question, what does it mean to be called? It means you acknowledge that there is one capital O. There is one who does the calling. His name is God. We call him God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And so how do I know if I'm being called? Well, am I listening? Am I spending time in prayer? It's so important. You know, this podcast, we're going to talk about action. We're going to talk about being involved in the world. We're going to talk about, you know, a lot of Marthas, right, they call Mary and Martha, a lot of people who are in the world serving. But in order to know where God is calling me to serve, I first have to be a Mary, right? I first have to stay at the feet of Jesus and just listen to his voice. So what does it mean to be called? It means there is a caller. How do I know if I'm being called? And am I taking any time on a regular basis? I don't have to be perfect, but am I taking any time on a regular basis to kneel at the feet of Jesus, to sit at the feet of Jesus and just let him speak, listening to his word and let him teach me. Now, this podcast called Is not. It's not about vocations. I mean, we're going to talk about this later on. But there's kind of three senses of vocation. There's that first sense, the big capital V, the universal called, the holiness that we're called to be a saint. There's that second sense of vocation, which is called the marriage and family life, or to priesthood, or to consecrated single life or to religious life. We're talking here about the third sense of call. That third sense of call is what is God asking of me now? Like, that's it, right? What is God asking of me right now? One of the things you can expect from this podcast, you could expect inspiring firsthand stories from people who are just ordinary, but listening to God's voice and saying, okay, God, this is what you're asking me to do. I'll take a step. You're going to hear stories from people who are ordinary but are living remarkable lives because they're willing to listen to the voice of God and take one step. You can expect that this podcast will be grounded in scripture. You can also expect that if you have some Q's, we have A's, right? If you have any questions or have answers, if you know that we have someone coming on and you have a question, you can email us at the email address. Infothecatholicinitiative.org Again, that email is info info, like information, right? InfothecatholicInitiative.org you know, when I hear other people's stories, I now have a bigger framework for how God might be wanting to use my story. When I hear other people the way God's using other people, I now have a bigger vision for how he might want to use me. That's the whole point of this podcast, is not just to hear other people's stories. Yes, of course. But to hear other people's stories and then realize, oh, wow, that's how God can use ordinary people for extraordinary things. How could he use this ordinary person? How could he use you? How could he use me? Let's end with a prayer right now. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. We ask you to please bless every person listening to this introductory episode of Called. And we ask that you please move in our hearts today, moving our hearts in such a way that we just begin to walk with you or continue to walk with you, listening to your voice and answering your call. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Guys, I'm really looking forward to starting this journey with you. I want to say thank you again to our sponsor, the Catholic Initiative. If you feel called to be part of their efforts to serve, to support, or just to learn more, just I invite you to visit TheCatholicInitiative.org the website is TheCatholicInitiative.org there you can read about the projects we've launched, the lives that have already been changed, and how you can make a difference, too, through prayer, through giving, or through action. Anyways, my name is Fr. Mike. God bless.