← The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast
The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast
Introducing Fr. Mike’s New Podcast: “Called”
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"Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40) Fr. Mike shares the exciting news of his new podcast, "Called"! Join us each week as Fr. Mike sits down with a new guest discussing how we're all called to live a more virtuous, generous and Christ-centered life. To learn more, check out: https://thecatholicinitiative.org/podcast/
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Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is Ascension. Hi, my name is Father Mike. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is Ascension. Presents. You probably know the scripture in Matthew, chapter 25. I'm sure you do, actually, even if you don't know the number, you know the story. Here is Jesus who tells this parable, and the parable is of the sheep and the goats. It's at the end of time. And he says that there are those who come before the Lord. And Jesus says to them, the Lord himself says to them, come, you all blessed of my Father, enter. The kingdom. Essentially was because I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty, you gave me drink, I was naked, you clothed me. I was in ill and in prison, and you visited me, you took care of my needs. And people are like, wait, Lord, when did we see you hungry or naked or et cetera, et cetera, and care for your needs? He said, as often as you did for the least of my brethren, you did it for me. So come into heaven. Then he says to those on his left, it says, depart from me. You accursed, because I was hungry and you didn't feed me. I was naked, you didn't clothe me, I was thirsty, you didn't give me to drink. I was in prison and in hospital, and you did not come to visit me. When did we see you and not do this? Well, as often as you didn't do it for the least of these brethren, the least of these ones of mine, you didn't do it for me. So Matthew 25, right, you know, is one of the most convicting parables. Every time I read through it, every time I hear it proclaimed, every time I even think of it, I think, well, here is Jesus. He's giving us the answer to the test, right? When it comes to the end of our lives, Jesus makes it very, very clear we're not going to be judged on what did you believe? I mean, although that's very important. But here in this parable, he's not highlighting that part. He's highlighting what. What did you do? Not just what did you do in your life, but what did you do for the least of my brethren? What did you do for those who were hungry or naked or thirsty or in prison or in the hospital? What did you do for those who are the least of these, right? It's like he's giving us the cheat sheet for the test at the end of our lives. And so I look at that and I think, golly Lord, I. I don't know where to start. I don't know where to start. You know, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frasati or Saint Pier Giorgio Frasade, depending on. When you see this, he's going to be declared a saint by the Pope. At one point, I remember reading about him. I might have been in high school. And it talks about how Pier Giorgio Frassati would. He would leave his parents home and go around the city, around the town, and he'd come home shoeless. And this one of the situations where, well, why would you. Why did you come back shoeless? And he would say, because he. He met a homeless man who had no shoes, and so he gave the guy his shoes. And I remember thinking, in my hometown of Brainerd, Minnesota, like, okay, I want to be like that. But I. Everyone I know has shoes on. Like, we're in Northern Minnesota. Everyone I know has shoes. Like, how can I be like Pier Giorgio? Well, that's not just when it comes to clothing the naked or feeding the hungry or visiting the sick or. Or visiting those in prison. It's for every one of us. How do we do it? Because I think a lot of us, we're like, well, how would you have done it 2000 years ago? How would Pier Giorgio, a person in another country, in another culture, another time, how would he do it? And the answer, the actual question is, how is God calling you and me to do it? How is he calling us to do that? So this is a long way to introduce a new podcast that I'm going to be part of. There's this group called the Catholic Initiative that is dedicated to living out the corporal works of mercy. The corporal works of mercy are. They come specifically From Matthew, chapter 25, Feeding the Hungry, clothing the naked, visiting those in prison and hospital, etc. Etc. Right? Those corporal works of mercy. Corporal meaning physical. Like the physical works of mercy, we also have the spiritual works of mercy that are massive, massively, massively important as well. But Catholic initiative is dedicated to living out the corporal works of mercy. So we partnered with them at Ascension to have this new podcast. It's called called. And the whole purpose behind it is you're like, Father Mike, we don't need to hear from you anymore. Like, why you have a pod. This podcast, that podcast, you keep telling us what you think. Like, that's wonderful, because on this podcast called I'm not the one talking, I'm the one listening, and I get to talk to a number of people who have actually lived out these corporal works of Mercy. They've lived out the spiritual works of mercy. They've lived out the way in which we're all called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. So, for example, who are those who have responded to the call to form the young? Talk to those people. How about people who have lived out the call to visit those in prison? We'll talk to those people. Who are those who have lived out the call to take care of the homeless, to take care of those who are hungry. And they're doing it in this day, in this age, in this culture. The great thing about this is this podcast is, again, I felt so convicted my whole life of how do I do this? On this podcast called you'll be able to see, oh, here's how people right now do this. So it takes out some of the mystery and actually, I think, gives you and me the strength and the vision and the direction to be able to say that's how they've lived that out. I can totally live that out in my life right now. Like, here's a businessman who runs a bunch of hotels who's saying, okay, here's how I live out the call to hospitality and to realize that, oh, wait, these are people who are living in the world, but they're living out their faith in Jesus Christ in such a way that it's making an impact. They are the hands and feet of Jesus. So this is kind of like an announcement, the announcement of the new podcast called. But it's more than that, because, you know, whether or not you listen to this podcast, you know that that's the test, right? That is what every one of us will be graded on at the end of our lives. St. John of the Cross, what did he say? He said, at the twilight of our lives, meaning at the end of our lives, we will be judged on love alone. So this podcast isn't just to highlight and spotlight the heroes among us. What it's meant to do is inspire us to give us that new vision of what this could look like in your life. And in my life. Again, I'm a big fan of what the Catholic Initiative is doing. Obviously, I'm a big fan of Ascension because I like to make videos and podcasts with them. But above everything else, I'm a big fan of Jesus. And I want to be more than a fan. I want to be a follower. I don't just want to be someone who says, I believe in Jesus. I want to be a disciple. And Jesus seems to say that his disciples are the ones who don't just hear what he says and then go about their lives. But the ones that hear what he says and act on it, sometimes I don't know how to act on it. This called podcast is giving Flesh to the faith fact that every one of us is called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. So join me as we start this journey listening to people's stories and hearing how the Lord has inspired them and how they have responded to his call. Anyways, from all the serious sins and brilliance, my name is Father Mike. God Bless Sa.