Podcast Summary: Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz

Episode: Good Friday: Everything is Taken
Date: April 3, 2026
Host: Fr. Mike Schmitz (Ascension)

Overview of the Episode

On this special Good Friday episode, Fr. Mike Schmitz reflects on the meaning of Jesus's ultimate sacrifice—how, on the cross, Jesus not only gives everything but has everything taken from him. Building on personal stories and poignant analogies, Fr. Mike explores what it means for us when nothing is left but the core of who we are, drawing deep connections between Christ's Passion and the universal human experience of loss, vulnerability, and love.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The King's Journey: From Anointed to Stripped

• Reflection on Lent: Fr. Mike starts by recalling the beginning of Lent, traditionally marked by Jesus entering the wilderness—the anointed King stepping forward to fight for his people.
  • "He's the brave king who goes into the wilderness. He is the kind king who heals his people. He is the wise king who teaches. He's the powerful king. This is really who Jesus is, right?" (02:10)
• Contrast to Good Friday: On Good Friday, Jesus is revealed as a King without his armor—stripped of dignity, strength, and all earthly gifts.
  • "What we get to see. We see this thing that no one has ever seen in human history. We get to see a king without his armor on." (04:01)

2. Personal Story: Ray's Final Journey

• Ray's Life: Fr. Mike shares the story of his friend's father, Ray—a man known for his strength, charm, and athletic ability, now nearing death.
• Universal Experience of Loss: As Ray approaches death, everything that once made him distinct is gradually taken away, until only the essential self remains.
  • "There's no strength anymore. There's no independence. There's no funny words. In fact, there's no words. There's no charming smile. There's just the man himself. That is every one of us." (06:38)
• Alone in the Last Step: No matter how surrounded by love we are, death is ultimately a solitary passage.
  • "That next step, the last step, from this life to the next life, every one of us, we have to take it alone." (08:18)

3. The Airport Analogy: The Limits of Accompaniment

• Pre-2001 Travel Story: Fr. Mike uses the experience of being walked to the airport gate by family to illustrate how loved ones can only accompany us so far.
  • "Even though I was surrounded by my family, surrounded by these people who just loved me so much, I knew there was a moment when I had to walk away from them…they can't go any further. This is what it is to live, and this is what it is to die." (09:38)
• The Final Jetway: There comes a time when each of us must “walk down the Jetway alone;” loved ones cannot accompany us into death.

4. Jesus, the King Without His Armor

• Stripped of Everything: On the cross, Jesus loses everything—his power, esteem, even his dignity.
• Profound Solidarity: This experience answers the cry of anyone who wonders if God truly understands human suffering.
  • "What Jesus does on this cross is he answers the cry of every human heart…we realize this: God understands more than any of us possibly could imagine." (12:55)
• Still Loving: Despite abandonment and humiliation, Jesus continues to love—even from utter vulnerability.
  • "To allow for everything to be taken and to still love. This is the crazy part...forgive them for they don't know what they're doing." (14:52)

5. Story of Chiara Badano: A Modern Witness

• Who Was Chiara? A young Italian girl, lively and athletic, diagnosed with aggressive cancer at 17.
• Embracing the Cross: She refuses pain medication at times to fully experience her suffering, desiring to be present to Jesus and her visitors.
  • "I want to be able to pray and I want to be able to be present to Jesus and I want to be aware...I want to be present to the reality that Jesus, if this is what Jesus wants and I want it too." (17:28)
• Radiating Love Amid Loss: Friends and even top Church leaders come intending to comfort her but leave feeling uplifted.
• Her Legacy: At the end of her life, she states,
  • "I have nothing left, but I still have my heart. And with that I can always love." (21:20)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On loss and identity:

  • "Think of all the incredible gifts you have, all the incredible gifts that you are. And at some point in your life...everything is taken and it's just you, yourself." (07:12)

• On the Gospel's challenge:

  • "All of Lent is like this practice of giving. It's amazing. It's so good. Last night, everything is given, but here, everything is taken." (13:15)

• The paradox of the Cross:

  • "Everything can be taken. And we can still love. Because this is what Jesus does for us." (22:02)

• Chiara Badano’s legacy:

  • "I have nothing left, but I still have my heart. And with that I can always love." (21:20)

Key Timestamps

• 02:10 – Fr. Mike recalls the kingly mission of Jesus at the start of Lent.
• 04:01 – The Good Friday image: a king without armor.
• 06:38 – The story of Ray and the inevitable stripping away at the end of life.
• 09:38 – The airport analogy details how loved ones can only accompany us so far.
• 12:55 – Jesus’ solidarity with our suffering: “God understands more than any of us possibly could imagine.”
• 14:52 – The call to love, even when all is lost—mirroring Christ’s forgiveness from the cross.
• 17:28 – Story of Chiara Badano and her desire to experience suffering fully with Jesus.
• 21:20 – Chiara’s defining quote: "I have nothing left, but I still have my heart…"
• 22:02 – The final call: when everything is taken, what remains is the power to love.

Thematic Conclusion

Fr. Mike concludes by reflecting on the essence exposed when everything else is stripped away: the enduring capacity for love, exemplified most perfectly by Jesus on Good Friday but echoed in the lives of ordinary saints like Ray and Chiara. The invitation to his listeners is both challenging and hopeful: even as everything is taken, we are called—and empowered—to love to the end, just as Christ did.

If you seek encouragement in times of loss or vulnerability, Fr. Mike’s Good Friday homily reminds us that Christ’s emptying is the path through which his unending love is revealed—and the love we’re called to mirror, when everything else fades.