Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz

Episode: Easter Sunday: Everything is Restored
Date: April 5, 2026
Podcast: Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz (Ascension)

Episode Overview

On this Easter Sunday homily, Fr. Mike Schmitz explores the central reality of the Resurrection: that after everything was given (Holy Thursday) and everything was taken (Good Friday), now, in the resurrection, everything is restored. He underscores that the resurrection is not just a myth or comforting story, but a verifiable historical event that changes everything for Christians. Drawing on the conversion stories of Lee Strobel and Sir Lionel Luckoo, Fr. Mike challenges listeners to live as people raised to new life and restoration, rather than merely as admirers of Jesus’ teachings.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Sequence of Holy Week: Given, Taken, Restored

• Fr. Mike sets up a framework for Easter: On Holy Thursday, "everything was given" by Jesus; on Good Friday, "everything was taken." The big question for Easter is: “What happens now?”
  • [03:03] Fr. Mike: “So we have these two – everything is given, everything is taken. The question is, what happens next?”

Evidence for the Resurrection: The Stories of Lee Strobel & Sir Lionel Luckhoo

• Lee Strobel's Journey:
  • A former atheist and investigative journalist who set out to disprove Christianity to convince his wife to stop going to church, but after two years of research and examining evidence, he converted to Christianity, realizing the resurrection is true.
    • [05:12] Fr. Mike: "After two years of investigating and two years of trying to disprove Christianity, Lee Strobel came to a conclusion he did not want to arrive at... It's true. The resurrection is true. He was mad.”
• Sir Lionel Luckhoo's Investigation:
  • A record-holding defense attorney (over 245 consecutive murder acquittals) who was challenged to investigate Christianity. Applying rigorous legal standards to the gospel accounts and apostolic witness, he concluded:
    • [09:12] Sir Lionel (quoted by Fr. Mike): “The evidence of the resurrection is so overwhelming that it leaves no room for reasonable doubt.”
  • Both stories illustrate that serious investigation leads to the rational conclusion that the Resurrection of Christ is a historical fact, not myth.

The Reality and Implications of the Resurrection

• The resurrection isn’t about Jesus winning an argument or proving a point, but restoring everything that was lost and broken by death.

• Death has touched every aspect of life— not just physical death, but relational death, the death of trust, hope, and even joy tainted by fear and sadness.

  • [12:28] Fr. Mike: “Death touches everything...Broken relationships… Trust dies… Shame. Where a person carries a past and feels that absolutely defines them.”

• The world is filled with things that are broken and stay broken, with endings that feel final. Jesus enters into death, not to avoid or escape, but to undo death from the inside.

• The Resurrection is More Than Proof; It Is Power

  • It's an invitation to a new reality— a life death cannot touch, a life not defined by failure or sin or shame.
  • [17:12] Fr. Mike: “He did it to begin the restoration of everything that death had touched. Everything is given, everything is taken, so everything’s restored.”

Living the Resurrection Today: Personal & Corporate Renewal

• The renewal of baptism: Fr. Mike shares about the previous night’s baptisms and confirmations in his community, illustrating people giving God "everything," letting him "take everything," so that everything can be restored.

  • [18:07] Fr. Mike: “What did they do, those who got baptized?... God, I’m going to give you everything. God, I’m going to let you take everything so that everything I give you and everything that you take can be restored.”

• The resurrection is not just a belief, but a lived reality:

  • [19:41] Fr. Mike (paraphrasing St. Paul – Romans): “Do you not realize that the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead also lives in you? ...The resurrection is alive in you. The Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is in you.”

• God brings new life to dead places in us, repairs relationships beyond self-help, and recreates those whose shame once seemed permanent.

Restoration in the Face of Wounds (Looking Ahead to Divine Mercy Sunday)

• The Resurrection does not erase past pain or wounds, but changes their meaning.
  • [22:08] Fr. Mike: “After the resurrection, Jesus has wounds... Resurrection doesn’t mean this never happened. It just means that what wounded you no longer defines you.”
• We are invited to offer everything— all our wounds, pains, shame— to Christ with the trust that everything given, everything taken, is everything restored.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [04:28] Fr. Mike (on the centrality of the resurrection):
  “Because Lee Strobel knew this: if Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead, then none of it matters. But if he did, then it all matters.”

• [10:45] Fr. Mike (paraphrasing C.S. Lewis):
  “Christianity, if false, is of no importance. If Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead, it’s of no importance. Christianity, if true, is of absolute importance. The only thing Christianity cannot be is marginally or relatively important.”

• [17:12] Fr. Mike:
  “Jesus didn’t rise from the dead to prove that he could. He did it to begin the restoration of everything that death had touched.”

• [22:54] Fr. Mike (on wounds and restoration):
  “Our wounds are reminders of the reality and power of death. And the resurrection reminds us of the reality and power of restoration. And everything that you and I hand over to Jesus...can be restored.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:10] – Reading of the Easter Sunday Gospel (John 20:1-9)
• [03:03] – Introduction: Theme of "everything given, everything taken, what comes next?"
• [04:00] – Testimony of Lee Strobel’s conversion
• [08:20] – Story of Sir Lionel Luckhoo’s investigation
• [12:28] – The all-encompassing reach of death in our lives
• [16:00] – The need for something more than just teaching or forgiveness
• [17:12] – Restoration: The meaning of the Resurrection
• [18:07] – Witness to baptism and profound restoration
• [19:41] – Living the resurrection: The Spirit within us
• [22:08] – Wounds: Their transformation in the resurrection
• [22:54] – Final exhortation: “Everything given, everything taken, everything restored”

Concluding Message

Fr. Mike’s Easter homily passionately proclaims that the resurrection of Jesus is not just a past event but an ever-present, transformative reality. Those who surrender everything to Christ— their pains, wounds, fears, and hopes— will find that in the risen Lord, everything is restored. This is offered not as an abstract promise, but as a lived reality “alive in you,” a power that can touch the dead places in one’s life and make all things new.

“All we have to say is, ‘Jesus, it’s yours. All of it. Everything given, everything taken, and everything restored.’” – Fr. Mike Schmitz [22:54]