11/16/25 In The Light

Summary

Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz — “In The Light”

Episode Date: November 15, 2025
Podcast Host: Ascension Presents
Preacher: Fr. Mike Schmitz
Location: Duluth, Minnesota, Bulldog Catholic, University of Minnesota Duluth

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Overview

In this heartfelt homily, Fr. Mike Schmitz explores the theme of what it means to truly live "in the light" of God versus simply being seen “in a good light” by others. Drawing on the Gospel from Luke 21:5-19 and the writings of Malachi, Fr. Mike invites listeners to confront the difference between being admired and being loved. He reflects on the human tendency toward hiding imperfections, the liberating yet challenging call to authenticity, and the freedom and transformation that come from allowing ourselves to be fully known and loved in God's light.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Admiration vs. Love

• Would you rather be admired or loved?

  • Fr. Mike poses a perennial question (07:34): "Would you rather be admired or loved?"
  • He unpacks that while admiration is safe—showing only curated, favorable traits—love is riskier, requiring us to be seen as we truly are.
  • “I can only be loved to the degree that I am truly known.” (08:21)

• Seeking the Good Light vs. Living in The Light

  • Many people, Christians included, desire to be seen in a “good light.”
  • Fr. Mike identifies the difference: "To be seen in a good light means you don't see what I don't want you to see, and you see the things I do want you to see." (06:32)
  • Authenticity, not image, is what God calls us to.

2. Scriptural Foundations: Malachi & The Gospel of John

• The liturgical reading from Malachi warns of the “Day of the Lord”—a blazing oven in which "nothing will be hidden." (09:00)
• John 3:16 emphasizes God’s love, but also notes that “people preferred darkness to light so that their evil works would not be exposed.” (10:42)
• Jesus, “the light of the world,” invites people to step out of the darkness, yet many resist.

3. Hypocrisy: Reputation vs. Character

• The Greek root of “hypocrite” is “actor” or “pretender.”

  • Fr. Mike distinguishes reputation (“what people think is true of me”) from character (“what is actually true of me”). (11:12)
  • “If I'm going to be a hypocrite, what it means is, I want you to think something of me is true, that I’m not willing to actually choose.” (11:26)
  • Integrity is when "your video matches your audio"—when how you live aligns with what you profess. (11:39)

• Memorable Story:

  • The Hot Mic Incident: Fr. Mike recounts a story about a Catholic speaker whose negative backstage comments were accidentally broadcast to the entire church (13:15).
    • This story illustrates the perils of hidden sin and the inevitable revelation of our true selves, intentionally or otherwise.

4. Being Known: The Freedom and Challenge

• Fr. Mike describes encounters that reveal how our hidden lives can inadvertently become public—reflecting that this is true for everyone at some point. (15:15)
• We are called to bring all parts—bright and dark—of our hearts honestly to God. This is found through prayer and especially through confession, which he describes as an act of “letting go”—or, in spiritual terms, repentance. (17:35)

5. The Day of the Lord, Judgment, and Full Disclosure

• Particular Judgment: When we die, we receive what we have chosen—God or not God. (19:17)
• Last Judgment: At the end of history, “the truth of each man's relationship with God will be laid bare.” (21:00)
  • Everyone will be fully known, not only to God and self but to each other.
  • In heaven, “there will be no pride and there will be no shame.” (22:12)
    • We will understand how much good came from grace and from others, undercutting pride.
    • Sins and wounds, once surrendered to Christ, become “testimonies to God’s mercy”—removing shame.

6. Transformation & Redemption: The Great Divorce

• Drawing from C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce, Fr. Mike tells the story of a man enslaved by a lizard (representing lust), who is only freed and transformed once he surrenders and allows the angel to kill the lizard. (25:40)
  • The lizard, once surrendered, transforms into a beautiful stallion—illustrating how what once enslaved us, redeemed, becomes our glory.
• Key Lesson:
  • “What was this man's downfall, what was this man's slavery, because of God’s grace, became this man's glory because of Jesus.” (26:45)
  • True love requires being “fully known,” allowing even our sin to be redeemed and transformed.

7. Stepping Into the Light: Starting Now

• Fr. Mike encourages listeners:
  • Authenticity with God can begin “now”—in prayer, Mass, and especially in confession.
  • “Heaven can start now. Love can start now.” (28:30)
  • The choice is before each person: to be admired (and remain hidden) or to be loved (and step into the light).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Admired or Loved:
  “Would you rather be admired or loved?... Admired is safe. Loved is risky...To be loved, I have to be known.” (07:34 – 08:21)

• On Reputation vs. Character:
  “Reputation is what people think is true of me, and character is what is actually true of me.” (11:17)

• Integrity:
  “[He] was a man of character, a man of integrity...his video matches his audio.” (11:39)

• On the Last Judgment:
  “In the presence of Christ, who is truth itself, the truth of each man's relationship with God will be laid bare.” (21:30)

• No Pride, No Shame:
  “To be fully known like that, there’s no pride and there’s no shame...our wounds, in fact redeemed, submitted to the Lord, will point to God’s grace, point to God’s mercy.” (22:12 – 24:10)

• C.S. Lewis’s ‘Lizard’ Story:
  “What sin does is it makes us a ghost of ourselves. What grace does is it makes us into the beings God has created us and redeemed us to be.” (26:40)

• Invitation:
  “Would you rather be seen in a good light or have something more?...to be loved not in a good light, but in the light—to be loved as you are.” (29:05)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Admired vs. Loved? The Central Question – [07:34]
• Scriptures on Light and Darkness – [09:00–10:50]
• Hypocrisy, Reputation, Character – [11:12–12:00]
• Hot Mic Story (Integrity vs. Image) – [13:15]
• Bringing Our Broken Parts to God – [15:15–17:35]
• Repentance and Judgment Explained – [17:35–21:30]
• No Pride, No Shame in Heaven – [22:12–24:10]
• The Great Divorce (Transformation Story) – [25:40–26:45]
• Immediate Application: “Heaven Starts Now” – [28:30–29:05]

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Conclusion

Fr. Mike calls every listener to choose authenticity over image, to risk being fully known so that we can be fully loved—by God and, ultimately, by one another. The path to freedom, healing, and transformation is not in hiding our darkness, but in stepping into the light—starting now.

Transcript

[Father Mike Schmitz]

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and I just want to take a moment to thank you so much for listening to these homilies and for being.

[Student or Community Member]

Part of this community.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

It's the online community, the virtual front.

[Student or Community Member]

Pew, we call it, but it's also.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

A part of our Bulldog Catholic, our University of Minnesota Duluth Newman center community. You might know that as part of the Duluth Newman center, we are in the Seeds of Faith campaign. And the Seeds of Faith campaign is trying to raise money to build a church and Newman center, as well as to support that and fund the ongoing upkeep of that church and Newman center for years to come. We've been traveling all over the country for a couple years now, and our students, current students, have sacrificed my presence on campus in an unfortunate way, but in such a. Such a generous way. They have been thoughtful of future generations of students. They have sacrificed my being here so that students who maybe aren't even born yet will one day be able to worship in a real church and worship in a real and get together in a real student center. But we still have students here once a year on the Thursday before Thanksgiving. We ask those who are friends and those who are family of Bulldog Catholic, of the Duluth Newman center to consider supporting our day to Day ministry. This one day is the one time that we ask our friends, our benefactors, to bless our current students. This is the one day that we ask for support for the ongoing ministry, the day to day ministry, to pay the bills, to keep the lights on, to keep the heat on as it gets colder and colder here in Northern Minnesota, as well as to employ a growing staff to serve our growing students. If you'd like to join us this Thursday at the Ascension Presents channel, we have a live stream starting at 7:00pm Central Time where we'll do some Q and A. We'll have some interaction with myself as well as some current students and some current staff, as well as just have an opportunity to get together and to pray. If at any point before that date, during that day or after the day you'd like to consider financially supporting us, please know that you can go to bolddogcatholic.org and just hit donate. Or you can go to givemn.org, that's giveminnesota.org and just search for Newman or Duluth and you'll see us right there on the webpage and just donate. That way, if you're unable or unwilling to support us financially, I could ask for your prayers. We have so many students in OCIA right Now we have so many students coming to Bible Studies. The place is packed and there is such a great need that we just are in need for that financial support. And we know that God can take care of his church. We know that God wants these miracles to happen and so please consider prayerfully supporting us as well. Please keep us in your prayers on a daily basis. If you're willing to ask you to. Please keep me in your prayers on a daily basis as well as each one of these students who is growing in their knowledge of the Lord. Every prayer helps. Every dollar helps. So this Thursday, November 20th, 7pm Join us for the live stream or go to bulldogcatholic.org or givemn.org and make a difference. Make a difference in the life of a student who is here on campus now. And if you're unwilling or unable to do that, please know of my great thanks truly for just listening and being.

[Student or Community Member]

A part of this community in whatever.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

Way you're able, in whatever way you're willing. And from all of us here at Bulldog Catholic, My name is Father Mike.

[Student or Community Member]

God bless the Lord be with you.

[Lector or Reader]

And with your spirit.

[Student or Community Member]

A reading from the Holy Gospel according.

[Lector or Reader]

To Luke Glory to you, o Lord.

[Student or Community Member]

Chapter 21, verses 5 through 19 while some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, all that you see here, the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down. Then they asked him, teacher, when will this happen and what signs will there be when all these things are about to happen? He answered, see that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, I am he and the time has come. Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for such things must happen first, but but it will not immediately be the end. Then he said to them, nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines and plagues from place to place, and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky. Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of My name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death you will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance. You will secure your lives. The gospel of the Lord.

[Lector or Reader]

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[Student or Community Member]

I want you to have a seat.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

So I don't know if you've ever.

[Student or Community Member]

Had this experience where you. Have you ever seen someone genuinely like a photo of themselves where, like, you have this. Here's someone you like, someone you love, and you're like, oh, I like this photo of you. And they're like, oh, yeah, me too. It's so. It's so refreshing. There's a joy there, especially when you really like that person. We really love them. Because I think so often we're critical. Someone's like, I like this photo of you. Like, oh, I don't like this or that. This is my mom. My mom, she did not like a photo of herself. So actually, at one point, my sisters had said this years ago, they said, actually, mom loves this photo of herself. And she said that when she dies, this is even before she got sick. When she dies, she wants this photo on her, like our funeral card. And it was. I remember they even framed it and it was out in public and she didn't mind. It was one of those situations where I loved the fact, but I'm like, that's crazy. My mom was beautiful. There were hundreds and hundreds of photos of her being beautiful. Like, I never knew. I should have asked what was it about this photo that she liked so much? And she might say, like, you know what? Cause I just, like, I look good in this light. That's what a lot of people. That's what we do, right? Like, I look in this light, this light makes me look tanner. Less light, you know, raises these wrinkles, this light, whatever the light does. And I think a lot of us have that, right? When we have a photo of ourselves or just even seeing ourselves, we're self conscious. And so we know certain photos in a certain light. It de Emphasizes the things we don't like about ourselves or a certain light kind of emphasizes the things we do like about ourselves. And so I think we like to be seen in a good light. That's the kind of the idea, right, is to be seen in a good light means you don't see what I don't want you to see, and you see the things I do want you to see. I think that's true about our lives as well, right? We just want to be seen in a good light. And there's nothing intrinsically wrong with this. I mean, in fact, when we choose to do that for someone else, we choose to see someone in a good light. What that means is right. We choose to acknowledge the best in the other person. Again, nothing wrong with wanting to be seen in a good light. But there's a question that comes up a couple times every year. We're having an icebreaker or we're having kind of a deeper discussion with some of the students. And I'll ask this, and it's a question that goes like this.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

Basically, it's very simple.

[Student or Community Member]

It's a would you rather question. And the would you rather question is, would you rather be admired or loved? Would you rather be admired or loved? And both are good, right? It's going to be admired. It's good to be loved. Both are nice, but one is better. I think sometimes we prefer to be admired because it's safe. We're admired when people see the good things in us, that we like to be there. And they don't really know or they don't really see the things we don't like are there. But to be loved. To be loved is risky. Again, admired is. I let you see what I want you to see. I let you know about me what I want you to know. But in order to be loved, actually have to be seen.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

Realize, right?

[Student or Community Member]

To be loved, I have to be known. In fact, we'll say it like this. I can only be loved to the degree that I'm truly known. And we're made for love. We're not made to be admired. We're made by God, right? Who is love. And we're made for love. When we're commanded to love, it seems like everything, everything in the Christian life, everything in life comes down to love. And yet here's this thing in our hearts. I want to be seen in a good light. It is not bad. It's only bad when I want to be seen in a good light. At the cost of being seen in the light, you know, the first reading is from the prophet Malachi. And in it, the first line, he says. He says, the day is coming, right? The day of the Lord is coming like a blazing oven, basically, that, that, you know, this is the end of the church here. And there's. We have Christ the King next, next weekend. And always at the end of the church year. The church is inviting us to consider the end of time and consider what is it when the story will be over? What will happen when Jesus will come back? What happens when the day of the Lord arrives And on that day, we see the Son of justice. That's as Malachi says, the Son of justice arises when on that day, we have to stand in the light. What will we do when that day comes? When that day arrives, will we be willing to stand in the light? You know, In John, chapter three, John 3:16 is one of the most powerful or most popular Bible verses where Jesus says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that all those who believe in him might not perish, but might have eternal life. Right? This whole thing is about love. God so loved the world. He gave his only Son. But then he goes on to say, he says, this is the verdict. Light came into the world. Here's Jesus. He is the light of the world. This is the verdict. Light came into the world. And then Jesus says, but people preferred darkness to light so that their evil works were not exposed. That's us, Malachi. The day of the Lord is coming. The light of God is coming. The Son of justice is coming. Jesus, the light of the world is here. God's love is here. But people prefer darkness. And I wonder if that. That reality is one of the reasons why Jesus has such harsh words for hypocrites throughout the Gospels. Not today in the Gospel today, but in other Gospel stories, Jesus, like, he just goes after the hypocrites. So you probably know this already. The word hypocrite in Greek actually means. The word. Is the word actor, or maybe more accurately, the word pretender. And what's a pretender? What's an actor? What's a hypocrite? That's someone who is preoccupied with being seen in a good light. Someone who actually prefers to have a good reputation over a good character. You know, the difference between reputation and character is reputation is what people think is true of me, and character is what is actually true of me. If I'm going to be a hypocrite, what it means is, I want you to think something of me is true, that I'm not willing to actually choose.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

That.

[Student or Community Member]

I'm not always willing to be what I want to appear to be. Why? Because I want to be seen in a good light. And I'm not always willing to be seen in the light. I'm not always willing to choose to have that character or that integrity. That integrity. I heard a person being described this way, and it was a friend, and he worked with this man, and he was describing him as a man of character, a man of integrity. And he said this. I love the description. He said, oh, yeah, that guy, his video matches his audio. I thought, that is so cool to be able to have that set of you. Your video matches your audio. What you do, how you live, is actually what you claim to be, how you claim to live. Now, of course, having integrity, having a good character, that's not perfection. There's a difference between being a hypocrite and being human. Actually trying to live in the light but failing, that's just being weak. That's just being human. Being hypocrite is. I want you to think something is true of me that I'm not even willing to try to make true. And the day will come, and the day is coming when all will be known. The day is coming when all those inconsistencies where our audio doesn't match our video, our video doesn't match our audio, though, that will be exposed and we won't be seen in a good light. We'll be seen in the light. And sometimes that happens now, sometimes in our speech, sometimes in how we look a little while ago, or actually numerous times. Jeff Cavins, Jeff Cavins, a great guy. We had one of those things where we were both mic'd up. We were gonna give a talk or gonna record something, and it was one of those moments where one of us had to go to the bathroom, and it was like, hey, make sure you turn your microphone off. And so you tell the story about a Catholic speaker who was at a parish for, like, a parish mission. And like, this place was packed, this massive church, shoulder to shoulder in the pews, like, standing room only. They set out chairs, massive church, massively packed. And the speaker was back in the sacristy, and he was mic'd up, and he didn't know his microphone was on. And at one point, he just was going off about the priest, the pastor there. And he's like, yeah, this pastor, I don't know, he seems like he doesn't even care. Like he doesn't even know the Lord, doesn't even seem to love the Lord. The man just seems like an empty shell. He was going on about this priest, the pastor of this parish, for, like, a while. And then finally, someone from the crowd, from the congregation ran into the sacristy and was like, your microphone's on. And in that moment, the man realized, oh, no. What I meant to be known by only one other person here in the sacristy was broadcast to everyone in this church. And he had to go out and then give a talk on whatever mercy or forgiveness or having integrity, looking at people who know the whole time. Oh, your video doesn't match your audio. That he revealed who he was, what was true, not just who he was. He revealed what was true about his heart even when no one was listening. You know what's really interesting is often as Jeff has told me that story, he's never even come close to giving a hint as to who that person was, which I think goes a lot to his character. Now I told that to someone, they were like, that's probably him. I was like, that would never be Jeff. Jeff would never ever do that. He knows how to use microphones too. Well, just kidding again. But that's that thing of like when, what happens when there's something in my heart that other people discover, I say something. And now, okay, now that what's, what's true about me has just been revealed. Not too long ago, I was down at a coffee shop here in Duluth and I was doing my stuff, doing some work and sitting, sitting at this one table. And this family of four came in. A dad, his wife, their older son, he was like in his early 20s maybe, and then a young daughter, the daughter might have been like 5, 6 years old. And I just kind of looked up because that at one point like the daughter was just like she loved her big brother and it was very clear that she just loved him. And he was just playing with her and whatnot. And so they sat down at these kind of, these three, three chairs that were kind of like lounge chairs right in front of me. And the brother was there and the little girl was on her mom's lap. And then the dad was facing away from them, facing towards them, away from, away from me. And I just looked up, you know, glanced, see them all chit chatting and stuff. And he pulled out his phone as he's Talking to his 20 year old son and his wife and his little girl. And I could see from where I was what was on his phone. And there were a number of images that were inappropriate. He would not have wanted to flip his phone towards his wife, towards his little girl or towards his 20 year old son. But he's just talking to them as if everything was normal. And I wasn't trying to creep on him, but it was one of those moments like, oh, wow, here is this man and what is on his heart is on his phone right now. And there's something that's revealed about his heart that was revealed when he thought no one was looking. Now of course all of that is some of that is all of us at some point or at some point, in some ways. I'm sure that speaker was also very noble. I'm sure that speaker was also very committed to the Lord. I'm sure that dad, hopefully that dad was also a very, very good dad. And this was just that those things are true, but also. I'm sure that that's true. But also the dark parts are also true. This is the reality. The dark parts were actually there. And that's all of our hearts. We choose good. And that's what we want, to be seen in a good light. But we also have things that live in our hearts that are going to be exposed because we're made for love. And that means we have to bring all of it to God. What that means is that our prayer, when we talk to God, our prayer has to be honest, that we have to come before the Lord as we are not to be seen by God in a good light, but actually to step into the light and say, God, this is the broken part of my heart. This is the dark part of that. Here's what's true about me. That even if I don't want it to be true, God, this is me. That's why we go to confession, too. We have to be willing to let go of what shouldn't be there. That's another word for that, letting go.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

Of what shouldn't be there.

[Student or Community Member]

It's called repentance. What I need to do, we all need to do. This is when we recognize that broken part of our heart. We recognize the dark parts of our heart. To be able to bring it to Jesus for help, to bring it to Jesus for forgiveness, to bring it to Jesus for healing. Because why? Because that day is coming. What does Malachi say? That day is coming. And the day is going to burn up what shouldn't be there. The day is going to burn up what shouldn't be there. If you are familiar with the story the Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien writes this whole story about in Middle Earth, there is this. This one ring to rule them all. That one ring is a symbol in Tolkien's world of the corruptive power of sin. And so there is a ring bearer who's like a Christ. Christ figure. Frodo. Right. So Frodo's mission is to take that ring, the ring that's the corrupted power of sin, and bring it to the fires of Mount Doom. You'll place that the sin was forged. The ring was. He's got to throw it into the fires of Mount Doom because that's the only place that The Ring and the power of the ring can be destroyed. So you have the Ring, power of sin, Frodo, that Christ figure who's going to carry the sin of the world. And you have this mission to bring it to Mount Doom and destroy evil. But if you know the story, you know that there's another character. His name's Gollum. And Gollum's been captivated by the ring and the fires that were meant to destroy the Ring. Gollum can't let go of the Ring. And so instead of letting go of the ring and the fires destroy the Ring and becoming free, what he does is he grasps that ring as he falls into the fires of Mount Doom. And what was meant to burn up the sin actually ends up burning up the sinner. If we're unwilling to let go of that, we recognize the dark part of our hearts and we're unwilling to let go of the thing that's crushing us and enslaving us. What was meant to free us actually ends up destroying us.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

That's what's happening.

[Student or Community Member]

The day is coming, The Lord is coming, like love is coming. The light is coming into the world. And if we don't let go what was meant to destroy what's destroying us will ultimately be our end that day. The Malachi describes, there's a term for it in Christianity, it's called the Last Judgment. You might know this, that there are two judgments. There's the particular judgment and the last judgment. The particular judgment is when we die, when we die, we immediately are judged. What I mean by that is when we die, we immediately get what we've chosen. Like with our choices in life, we either choose God or we choose not God. And when we die, we get what we've chosen. You know, I think this is fascinating. Up until Jesus, people could choose not God. They could choose hell and they would get hell. They couldn't choose heaven, they couldn't choose Jesus because Jesus had to unlock the gates of heaven. Jesus had to give us his grace so we could actually choose heaven. And now when we die, we actually get what we've chosen. If we want not God. God allows us to have not God. And also because of what Jesus has done for us, if we want God, we get God through Jesus. That's the particular judgment. We either get heaven or hell, maybe some of us through via purgatory, but still either get heaven or hell. The Last Judgment. This is the confusion. Some people think the Last Judgment is like what, you get a retrial. Is this like. Is this like A second chance.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

You're not.

[Student or Community Member]

It's not. You're not rejudged. It's not like one of those things. You're like, I had a bad lawyer, you know, give me an appeal. That's not what's happening. What it is, is the Last Judgment is the end of the story. The Last Judgment. When the day comes that Malachi is talking about, when Jesus shows up, when the light of the world comes into this world, what that means is that the story is written, that the history is complete. And the catechism says it like this. It says, on that day at the Last Judgment, when the story's written, we will see, we will know the consequences of each of our choices to their furthest extent. That means that the real impact our sins, even our private sins had on this world, we will know the full extent, the furthest extent that our sins had on the people around us and the people for generations. But we also will know the furthest extent of every even attempt for good, every even attempt to stand in the light. We will know the furthest consequences of every one of those choices. But the catechism goes on to say it says this. In the presence of Christ, who is truth itself, the truth of each man's relationship with God will be laid bare once again at the end of the story. Last Judgment, in the presence of Christ, who is truth itself, the truth of each person's relationship with God will be laid bare. What that means is, in that moment, in that day, on the day we will be fully known, we'll be fully known to God, even though we already are. We'll be fully known to ourselves, and we'll actually be fully known to each other. That in heaven. In heaven, you will know everything about me. Everything. You will know my entire story, every one of my sins, you will know. Every act of virtue, you will know. And I will know everything about you. The truth of our relationship with God will be fully revealed. Now, that might, in this moment, fill some of us with fear, which makes sense. I totally understand, because we want to be seen in a good light. But here, here's the thing. This is good. It's not just good to be fully known, it's actually necessary. Because to be fully known like that, you have to know this. To be fully known like that, there's no pride and there's no shame. In heaven, to be fully known, there's no pride, and there's no shame. No pride. Why? Because all of the good you've ever done, like things you might take pride in all the amazing things you might have been part of. We will know how much good in us came from other people. We'll know how much of the good we did actually came from someone else's patience or because someone else treated us well, or how much someone else sacrificed for us, how much someone else cared for us. We will know the full extent to how much God cared for us, how many times God preserved us when we might have thought, oh, this was all me. Like, no, that was a lot of grace. We have no idea right now how many times in a single day the Lord is preserving us from a catastrophic fall. But we'll know then. That's why there will be no pride, because we will know the whole truth. We will stand in the light, and all we will have is just gratitude. There will be no pride. There's also no shame. And this is the thing, I think some of us, we're like, ha, if all my wounds are known, that is, if all my weaknesses are known, if all my embarrassments, all my sins are known, if all of the things that I don't want to be seen, all the things about me that are true, that I don't want to be known, I just want to be seen in a good light, what happens then? What happens when all is seen, all is known in the light? Well, I'll tell you this. There's no shame. Why? Because if that day comes, you'll be in heaven. And what being in heaven means is that all of it, if you're in heaven, that means all of it has been submitted and surrendered to the mercy and grace of Jesus. And so everything, our weaknesses, our sins, our wounds, once surrendered, they're no longer signs of weakness. They're no longer signs of shame. They're testimonies. They actually bear witness. And they bear a witness that will, for all eternity, point to God's goodness. That your wounds, in fact redeemed, submitted to the Lord, will point to God's grace, point to God's mercy. That even your wounds in heaven will highlight the love of God. They'll highlight the power of God. They'll highlight the victory of Jesus. There's a. There's a. One of my favorite books of all time is a book by C.S. lewis called the Great Divorce and the Great Divorce, the premise is this, is that there's these people. They're dead, and they're living in the Great Town. The Great Town is either purgatory or it's heaven or. Sorry, or it's hell. But the people in the Great Town have an opportunity to choose heaven. So it's not actually theological accurate, but a great story. So here's Lewis and a bunch of other ghosts who go to the plains of heaven. And these saints and angels come down from heaven to meet them and to bring them to heaven. Because God does not want to give up on anyone. His people, that's what he's saying. All of them say no. They have heaven within, within view. And they're invited to enter into joy, and they're invited to let go of what's holding them back. And they just won't do it. Except for one person. There's one man. He's a ghost, right? But on his. On his shoulder, there's a little lizard and there's an angel of light, of fire, of beauty and power who comes to meet this man and to convince him, just let go of the lizard. Let the lizard die and come to me. Come to me. Enter into. Enter into joy. Enter into heaven. Enter into life. The lizard Lewis describes it represents lust in this man's life that just has this hold on the man. And every so often the man wants to say yes to heaven, but the.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

Lizard whispers into his ear and says.

[Student or Community Member]

Like, no, no, if you just. Just. I promise, I. I know in the past I've gone too far, but if I'll be quiet from now on, just let's. The great town. We don't belong here. We don't belong in the light. We don't belong in heaven. The angel says, let me. Let me kill it. The guy says, well, if you kill it, then I'll. I'll be. I'll be destroyed. He says, no, no, no, you won't let me kill the lizard, not you. And finally the man break. He breaks down in the. Under this slavery to this lust in his life, to this sin in his life, this lizard. And he finally just cries out. He says, God, help me. Please just kill it. God help me. He prays to God. The angel Lewis describes, the angel reaches out, his fiery hand, grabs the lizard, the man shoulder, and the man falls to the ground. The angel breaks the lizard's back, throws it to the ground. The man falls ground as if he's dead. The lizard's thrown on the ground. It's dead. But then what happens is the man begins to transform. And the way Lewis describes this is the power of redemption. What sin does is it makes us a ghost of ourselves. What grace does is it makes us into the beings God has created us and redeemed us to be. The man just begins growing he becomes solid, right? He was a ghost. Now becomes. He says he became almost as large, almost as beautiful, almost as powerful as the angel standing there. Meanwhile, the lizard that Lewis thought had died actually was still moving around, but it wasn't just moving around. It was growing. It was transforming. It was becoming something else. And Lewis describes seeing this lizard being transformed from this pitiful thing into a massive, powerful stallion, beautiful horse. What had enslaved the man, surrendered to God's grace, was transformed. And it said this. It said that the horse and the master, the rider walked each other and breathed into each other's nostrils. And the man clapped the horse on the neck, jumped on his back, and then shot off for heaven. And he said, as a line, he says, there was riding, if you like. And it's one of those British ways of saying he was going fast. What was this man's downfall? What was this man's slavery because of God's grace became this man's glory because of Jesus. This is all of us. When we allow ourselves to be seen not in a good light, but as we are, when we allow ourselves to be known, not in a good light, but as we are, we could be transformed. Why? Because to be fully known is necessary. Remember, we need to be known if we're going to be more than admired. We need to be known if we're going to be loved. That means we need to be known fully if we're going to be fully loved. And this is the last thing that can start now. Heaven can start now. Heaven is love. God is love. Not admiration. Not being seen in a good light, but being known and being loved. We can start now. We can start literally at this moment in your prayer, then in your prayer right now, in the rest of this Mass, to be able to say, okay, God, I'm gonna be honest. I'm gonna come to you as I am, the dark parts of my heart, the bright parts of my heart, all of my heart. This can start now. Heaven can start now. Love can start now. Confession. What happens in confession? We surrender the wounds, right? We surrender the embarrassments. We surrender the weaknesses. We surrender the sins, and we let Jesus transform them. You can, if you want, let Jesus transform you. And that can happen now. So would you. Would you rather be admired or loved? Would you rather be seen in a good light or would you rather have something more? Would you rather have something better? To step into the light and to be seen as you are, to be known as you are and to be loved not in a good light, but in the light, to be loved as you are.