Train Your Heart to Trust

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast

Episode: Train Your Heart to Trust
Host: Father Mike Schmitz (Ascension)
Date: July 2, 2026

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Overview

In this episode, Fr. Mike Schmitz explores the theme of daily trust in God, drawing from Scripture—especially John 6 and the experience of the Israelites with manna. Through reflection on the Lord’s Prayer (“give us this day our daily bread”) and personal anecdotes, Fr. Mike encourages listeners to seek God’s provision one day at a time rather than demanding guarantees for the future. He also dissects the difference between carefree living and Christian trust, and highlights the ancient practice of the Liturgy of the Hours as a way to align our hearts with God daily.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Liturgy of the Hours: Praying With the Church

• Community Prayer: Fr. Mike, with a brief interjection from a Religious Sister or Brother, explains that priests, deacons, and religious men and women commit to praying the Liturgy of the Hours five times daily.
  • "[The Liturgy of the Hours] gives shape, gives structure, and gives a voice to what's in your heart and what's in your mind. It's this great opportunity to give a language to prayer." (Father Mike Schmitz, 00:30)
• Why Pray It? It unites one’s prayer with the Holy Spirit and with the entire Church, sanctifying each part of the day.
• Practical Announcement: Ascension will soon release a new edition of the Liturgy of the Hours for broader accessibility.
  • "It will radically transform your prayer life, and it will remarkably sanctify each hour of your day. God bless." (Religious Sister or Brother, 01:00)

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Trust and the Bread of Life: Lessons from John 6

• Scriptural Basis: Fr. Mike introduces John Chapter 6, where Jesus feeds the 5,000 and later calls himself the Bread of Life.
  • "At the beginning of John chapter six…Jesus feeding the 5,000…then that night, Jesus walks across water. Big day for Jesus." (Father Mike Schmitz, 01:08)
• Miracles as Signs: John refers to miracles as “signs and wonders,” intending to point towards Jesus’ divine identity, not just to satisfy physical needs.
  • "The miracle always points to something else, right? So the miracle points to Jesus' identity. It points to his goodness, it points to his character." (02:09)

The Crowd’s Mindset

• The crowd follows Jesus not for faith, but because they want more food—they desire security and abundance without daily dependence.
  • "You're not coming because you saw signs and believe in me…you're coming because you ate and were filled." (Father Mike Schmitz, paraphrasing Jesus, 02:20-02:35)
  • "Sir, give us this bread always. That right there…encapsulates what we want when it comes to God…we want the guarantee." (Father Mike Schmitz, 02:40)

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Manna in the Wilderness: Daily Dependence

• Old Testament Example: God provides manna daily to the Israelites (Exodus account)—they could only gather enough for one day at a time (except before the Sabbath).
  • "Manna, which is literally Hebrew for 'what is this?'…And God says through Moses, he says, go out and collect an omer for the day…Don't collect any more than you need for today." (03:04)
• God’s Intention: This system trains the people in trust, discouraging hoarding or self-sufficiency.
  • "We all have the temptation to worry about the future or to have anxiety about the future or to want to have a guarantee for the future. And Jesus says, no, actually, each day, just pray for enough for today." (Father Mike Schmitz, 04:30)
  • "What was the point of God saying…gather enough manna for today, but not for today and tomorrow and the next day and the next day. And I think part of it is this…because I want to not have to worry. I want to know that I have enough." (03:40)

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The Lord’s Prayer: “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”

• A Redundant but Purposeful Phrase: This part of the Lord’s Prayer intentionally focuses us on present needs and continued reliance on God.
  • "Give us today our bread for today. Well...it's kind of redundant…because Jesus is teaching us that when we come before the Father…just give me enough for today." (04:05)
• Training in Trust: By praying for daily sustenance, we cultivate a heart posture that returns to God regularly and combats the urge for self-sufficiency or future anxiety.
  • "It means every day I have to wake up and I have to trust you…That trains us in what? It trains us in trust. Because that is 100% what we need." (Father Mike Schmitz, 04:50)

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Trust vs. Carelessness: Not “Hakuna Matata”

• Christian Trust Is Not Passive: Fr. Mike distinguishes between Christian trust and “don’t worry, be happy” attitudes like Hakuna Matata. Christian trust still involves responsibility and daily work.
  • "That is not what Jesus says…It's not don't worry, be happy. It is don't worry, trust God. It's don't worry, but still work." (06:05)
• CS Lewis Reference: Sometimes, the work of today is preparing for tomorrow—but it is still the work of today.
  • "Sometimes the work of today is to prepare for tomorrow…It still remains the work of today." (06:35)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Liturgy of the Hours:
  "It will radically transform your prayer life, and it will remarkably sanctify each hour of your day."
  — Religious Sister or Brother (01:00)

• On trusting for daily bread:
  "Every time you and I pray the Lord's Prayer, and we say…Father, give me today what I need for today. The bread I need for today—it is training, training in trust."
  — Father Mike Schmitz (07:02)

• On Christian responsibility:
  "It's not hakuna matata. It's not don't worry, be happy. It's a matter of okay, trusting God each day to give us what we need for each day."
  — Father Mike Schmitz (06:20)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:00–01:08: Introduction & Liturgy of the Hours discussion
• 01:08–03:00: Explanation of John 6 and the Bread of Life discourse
• 03:00–04:00: Old Testament manna and God’s daily provision
• 04:00–06:05: The Lord’s Prayer and cultivating trust through daily reliance
• 06:05–07:24: Distinguishing trust from passivity, the role of daily work, and the ultimate invitation to trust God

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Conclusion

Fr. Mike’s central message in this episode is the importance of training our hearts to trust God daily. Rather than seeking guarantees or obsessing over future security, Christians are called to return each day to God—seeking just what is needed for the day and entrusting tomorrow to his providence. This episode encourages listeners to embrace practices like daily prayer and the Liturgy of the Hours to form hearts that rely steadily on God’s faithfulness—and not our own sense of control.

Transcript

[Father Mike Schmitz]

Here's a little FYI for general awareness. General awareness. You might not know this, but every

[Religious Sister or Brother]

day throughout the entire world, priests, deacons, and religious sisters and brothers pray this

[Father Mike Schmitz]

thing called the Liturgy of the Hours.

[Religious Sister or Brother]

They make a promise to pray this

[Father Mike Schmitz]

five times a day.

[Religious Sister or Brother]

Why? When we pray this, we're not only praying scripture, we're also uniting our prayer with the Holy Spirit to the entire prayer of the entire church.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

I don't know if you've ever had

[Religious Sister or Brother]

a time where you were wondering, like, gosh, God, I want to pray, but

[Father Mike Schmitz]

I don't know what to say.

[Religious Sister or Brother]

I don't have the words in my heart or in my mind to be able to express what's going on in my heart or my mind.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

The Liturgy of the Hours gives shape,

[Religious Sister or Brother]

gives structure, and gives a voice to what's in your heart and what's in your mind. It's this great opportunity to give a language to prayer.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

We know that the first language of

[Religious Sister or Brother]

God is silence, but that second language is listening and speaking.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

And so the Liturgy of the Hours affords us the opportunity to do that.

[Religious Sister or Brother]

Ascension is going to be able to publish this, a new edition of the Liturgy of the Hours, the newest translation, in fact, very, very soon. My invitation is. If you're interested in being able to listen to God's voice and to speak

[Father Mike Schmitz]

to the Lord, check out the Liturgy of the Hours.

[Religious Sister or Brother]

It will radically transform your prayer life, and it will remarkably sanctify each hour of your day. God bless.

[Father Mike Schmitz]

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is Ascension Presents. So I was recently reading in the Bible, which is a good place to read John chapter six. So if you know anything about John chapter six, this is the incredible bread of life discourse. But you also know this. You know that the beginning of John chapter six begins with Jesus feeding the 5,000 men with five loaves and two fish, right? And so then that night, Jesus walks across water. Big day for Jesus. And the next day, it says that the crowds, right. Remember, there's three groups of people. There's the crowds, the disciples and the apostles. Those crowds who, you know, they came out to see Jesus because they heard he did miracles. They came out to see Jesus maybe because they wanted to hear what he had to say, but they weren't necessarily disciples. So they came out because they wanted to see what he could do. You know, kind of almost like one of those things where, like, we got a show and then also got a dinner for five loaves and two fish, right? So anyways, back to our story. It says the next day. The next day, the crowds went looking for Jesus. And Jesus sees them coming, and essentially he says that you're not coming because you believe, because you saw signs and believe in me, because you want more food, because you ate and were filled, right? So keep this in mind when it comes to John's gospel. John will always refer to miracles as signs and wonders because the miracle always points to something else, right? So the miracle points to Jesus identity. It points to his goodness, it points to his character. You know, it. It proves that Jesus is who he says he is, right? There are signs that point to this. He says, so you're not coming because you saw signs in the sense that now you believe that I am who I say I am. You're coming because you ate and you. You want more food, essentially. And they're like, yeah, yeah. And he says, okay, well, I'm the bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. And they're like, okay. Then they say this. They say this line, and this is the line. They say, sir, give us this bread always. That right there encapsulates in so many ways, encapsulates what we want when it comes to God. Like, here's what I want from God. I want to not have to worry. I want the guarantee. I want this always. I want this forever. So give us the spread always. Then even actually, Jesus mentions in that whole context, he mentions manna, remember in the book of Exodus where it talks about how God fed his people manna in the wilderness. So for 40 years, what does God do? He even says right at the beginning, he says, okay, mo. Through Moses, he says, okay, there's this stuff on the ground, manna, which is literally Hebrew for what is this? Man is on the ground. And God says through Moses, he says, go out and collect an omer for the day, right? So just a certain amount each day so you can eat it. Don't collect any more than you need for today. At one point, they did collect more than they needed for the day. And the second day, it was all spoiled. And it was pretty gross description in the book of Exodus. But it says, and the sixth day, because the seventh day is the day of rest. On the sixth day, gather enough for two days, and on the seventh day wasn't spoiled. So they would do this for 40 years. What was the point of God saying, okay, gather enough manna for today, but not for today and tomorrow and the next day and the next day. And I think part of it is this because I want to not have to worry. I want to know that I have enough. Not just now. I want to have enough forever. Because then what happens is this. Then I, as I said, I don't have to worry. Not just that I don't just not have to worry. I. I don't have to need you. God, give. Give me this always. And then I get to just be, whew, I'm taken care of. I think this is one of the reasons why Jesus, when he gives us the Lord's Prayer, right, When he gives us the Our Father, there's this mysterious line, and it's mysterious for a number of reasons. Here's one of the reasons, because he says, give us this day, our daily bread is a translation, right? But what is it saying? It says, give us today our bread for today. I mean, in many ways, right? Give us today our bread for today. Well, yeah, I mean, give me the today our bread for today. It's kind of redundant. It's redundant for a couple reasons. Here's one of the reasons is because Jesus is teaching us that when we come before the Father, we're saying, okay, God, just give me enough for today. Not just because I need enough for today, but because all of us, we want enough for today and tomorrow and the next day and well into the future. But we get to train our hearts by saying, but God, just, okay, I'm coming. You coming to you. And I just want enough for right now and tomorrow I'm going to come back, and the next day I'm going to come back. It means every day I have to wake up and I have to trust you, because this is us. We all have the temptation. We all have the temptation to worry about the future or to have anxiety about the future or to want to have a guarantee for the future. And Jesus says, no, actually, each day, just pray for enough for today. Just for today. Just pray enough for this moment. Give us this day what we need for this day. And what's that do? It brings us to a place of trust. Remember the people wandering through the wilderness, The Jews wandering through the wilderness? They were in a place where they were being trained. They were being trained in trust. They're being trained in. And this is what it is to depend on God each and every day. It is the easiest thing for us to forget God. It is so easy for us to ignore God when we're taken care of, to ignore God when we think like, no, I don't need anything else. I'm completely fine. We tend to forget God in moments of great hardship. And we tend to forget God in moments of great abundance. And so Jesus just drills us back, brings us back to this place and says, just ask him for enough for today. And that trains us in what? It trains us in trust. Because that is 100% what we need. Someone could say, that's amazing. I love that, that worldview. I love that posture towards life of just like, hey, just live for today. That is not what Jesus says. He says, you're approaching the Lord, approaching the Father and saying, father, give me today what I need for today. But it's not a kind of like, I don't know, hakuna matata. Hakuna matata what or situation. Like, I imagine what it's like to live in the islands. Just kind of like, hey, man, it's the island time. You know what I'm saying? Should I even say this? Like this? I don't know, man. It's not don't worry, be happy. It is don't worry, trust God. It's don't worry, but still work. CS Lewis said it like, he alluded to this at one point. He did say. He said that when we focus on today, sometimes the work of today is to prepare for tomorrow. Sometimes the work of today is to get ready for next week's project. Sometimes the work of today is to get ready for the child who's going to be born in four months from now. Sometimes the work of today isn't just for today, but it still remains the work of today. And so I say, okay, God, bring me to this moment. Give me today what I need for today. And sometimes what I need for today is just to get through the day. And sometimes what I need for today is to prepare for tomorrow. So it's not a matter of hakuna matata. It's not a matter of don't worry, be happy. It's not a matter of any of those things. It's a matter of okay, trusting God each day to give us what we need for each day. And every time, you and I pray the Lord's prayer and we say, okay, God, Father, give me today what I need for today. The bread I need for today. It is training, training in trust so we can learn to live and to love and to look like the sun. Anyways, for all of a sudden, here at Sense Presents, my name is Father Mike. God bless.