Podcast Summary

The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast

Episode: God’s Not Asking You to Be Successful (w/ Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Date: November 27, 2025
Host: Fr. Mike Schmitz (Ascension)

Overview

In this episode, Fr. Mike Schmitz unpacks a profound message: In the Christian life, God does not call us to be “successful” by worldly standards but to be faithful. Drawing inspiration from St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta and an encounter with a military veteran, Fr. Mike explores themes of faith, effort, disappointment, and prayer, encouraging listeners to pursue fidelity over societal measures of success.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Mother Teresa’s Wisdom: Faithfulness Over Success

• Story & Inspiration:
  Fr. Mike recalls Mother Teresa’s famous quote:

  “God does not ask us to be successful. He asks us to be faithful.”

  • He emphasizes Mother Teresa’s ministry among the poor and dying in Calcutta, highlighting that by worldly measures (saving lives, converting many), her work might not appear “successful.”
  • Despite limited outward results (many people died anyway, few converted), Mother Teresa focused on faithfulness to God’s call rather than measurable outcomes.
• Reflection for Listeners:
  Fr. Mike relates this to everyday experiences—how, whether leading a campus ministry or striving for personal holiness, we often cannot control outcomes or circumstances.

2. Worldly Metrics vs. Spiritual Call

• Common Metrics of Success:
  • Wealth
  • Health
  • Social standing and influence
• Critical Reminder:

  “Those can be our metrics for success. Those are all, in some ways, they're all outcomes. We can't always control the outcome. We can't always control our circumstances.” (06:20)

  • Fr. Mike critiques our attachment to these measurements and redirects focus to personal faithfulness.

3. The Military Perspective: Honoring God with Effort

• The Soldier’s Prayer:
  • Fr. Mike shares a story of a man in special operations training, continually praying:

    “God, let me simply honor you with my effort.” (07:00)

  • This became the man's anchor; in high-pressure, unpredictable situations, focusing on effort over outcome became his spiritual practice.
• Practical Takeaway:
  • “I can't control the outcome. I can't control my circumstances. But to be able to have that heart that says, God, let me honor you with my effort.” (08:15)

4. Effort as Prayer and Agency

• Never a Victim:
  • By offering effort as prayer, we maintain agency, regardless of how things turn out:

    “I'll never be a victim of my circumstances. I'll never be a victim of the outcome. Why? Because I always have agency. God, let me honor you with my effort.” (09:05)

• Even Failure Becomes Prayer:
  • Fr. Mike reframes even failed attempts as moments of prayer when offered to God:

    “Every moment that I'm even trying, not even every moment where I'm succeeding, but every moment that I'm trying is a moment of prayer. It's a moment where I'm just leaning into the Lord and trusting him with all that I have.” (09:30)

5. Call to Perseverance

• Daily Renewal:
  • The episode closes by urging listeners to rise up each day, take the next hard step, and let effort itself become a prayer:

    “Maybe God is saying, okay, get up one more day. Get up one more day. Take one more step forward. And each step, even those really, really difficult steps, let them be a prayer.” (10:08)

  • The emphasis remains: Faithfulness is what God desires—success, as we define it, is secondary.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• St. Mother Teresa (as quoted):

  “God does not ask us to be successful. He asks us to be faithful.” (01:30)

• Fr. Mike, on worldly outcomes:

  “If Mother Teresa was measuring … whether this was God’s will or not, based off of the outcomes… then she’d be measuring it based off the wrong thing.” (03:20)

• Anonymous soldier’s prayer:

  “God, let me simply honor you with my effort.” (07:00)

• Fr. Mike’s challenge:

  “Every moment that I’m even trying… is a moment of prayer.” (09:30)
  “Get up one more day. Take one more step forward. Let them be a prayer.” (10:08)

Important Timestamps

• 00:58 - Introduction of main theme and Mother Teresa’s quote
• 02:50 - Story of Mother Teresa and her ministry
• 06:20 - Discussion of worldly success metrics
• 07:00 - Military story and the “honor you with my effort” prayer
• 08:15 - Emphasizing agency and effort
• 09:05 - Fr. Mike on never being a victim
• 09:30 - Moments of effort as moments of prayer
• 10:08 - Closing encouragement to persevere faithfully

Tone and Language

• Fr. Mike’s tone is warm, encouraging, and reflective, with storytelling and gentle challenges. He invites listeners to shift from anxiety about outcomes to peace in faithful daily effort.

Final Takeaway

God isn’t keeping score by worldly standards. Instead, He is calling you and me, in every circumstance, to be faithful and to honor Him with our effort—no matter the results.