← The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast
The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast
The Biggest Opportunity Most Catholics Ignore (w/ Fr. Mike Schmitz)
00:07:21
Become a saint by saying "yes" to God, starting with the Mass. Fr. Mike Schmitz explains why the Eucharist is God's greatest gift and why the saints made it the center of their lives. If we want to become holy, we can't ignore the place where Jesus gives Himself completely to us. Don't settle for what's easy, discover why faithful participation in the Mass is essential on the path to sainthood.
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I came across these stats. I came across these numbers. At some point. I've heard this. Here's the claim. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is essentially. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is Ascension Presents. I had heard that 80% of all people who use a public restroom do not wash their hands after they go to the bathroom. 80% of the people who use the public restroom do not wash their hands after leaving, after using the bath, the. You know, after doing their business. Wow, that is gross. And it's not surprising because at one point I remember, this is not meant to be too much information, but there was a man who is, I would say, fighting for his life in the stall. I heard him flush and open the door and left. And he left like he. A guy was washing my hands. He went behind me from the stall right to the door and went. I almost chased him down. I almost. I was almost like, wait, sir, I think you forgot the step of washing your hands. I've been the proud member of the 20% club. If 80% of people don't wash their hands after using the restroom, like, I know I am. I am a dedicated, like, really, without fail, member of the 20% club. And so I shared this with some teens, and it became kind of a thing like, you're part of the 80%. Ugh. Part of the 20%. Well done. And then I looked up some more stats, and, you know, as one does turns out, a little deception, not. Not intentional. There was a study that said, I think it was 31 or 32% of people. Only 31 or 32% of people wash their hands sufficiently. Some people don't at all. But 60. What is the number? 68%. 68 to 69% of people who use a public restroom don't sufficiently or don't adequately wash their hands. So they either don't wash them at all or wash them insufficiently. So it wasn't like, way, way, way off. But I just thought, again, gross. And then I think when people are like, hey, let's shake hands when we meet each other. I'm like, do we have to? And then sometimes people say, like this. They'll say, well, no, no, no, I do. I'm part of the. I guess now the number is 30, 31%. I'm part of the 31% club. Like, yeah, you might be, but how do I know the person you just shook hands with before me is also part of the 31% club? You know what? I'm Saying, you know how they set up public restrooms typically is right next to the door. Like when you leave, you have to walk past the Sink. And yet 68% of us fail to use this gift that is placed directly in front of our faces when we know we need to use this gift placed directly in front of our faces. I was thinking about that as it relates to worship. Is that a stretch? Maybe it's a stretch. Here's the gift that God has given to us, the gift of actual worship. And actual worship is this. We know this. We know actual worship. Here's a little side point, maybe bone to pick. Side point is people sometimes call like, you know, singing songs, praise and worship, maybe singing songs with adoration, praise and worship. And okay, fine, you can call it praise and worship, but I don't think it's technically worship because I believe that that's prayer for sure. For sure. But it seems like in the Judeo Christian worldview, in fact, we might even say this. In the traditional religious worldview, worship always involves a sacrifice. And so I can praise God and that could be my sacrifice of praise. Yeah, humble heart could be offered to God. That can be a sacrifice. Okay, so maybe that's a kind of worship. So I'm not gonna. That's why I'm not gonna die on this hill is what I'm trying to say. But when it comes to worship, God has given us a sacrifice. It's the sacrifice of himself. We know this. At the Last Supper, Jesus, instead of offering the Passover Lamb, offers himself, saying, take this, all of you, and eat of it. This is my body given for you. Take its chalice filled with wine, says, take this, all of you, and drink from it. This is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant which will be poured out for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me. And then what happens the next day he offers that body. He offers that blood. It's the same sacrifice. So the heart of the Mass, the heart of the Eucharist, right, is its worship. Because it is sacrifice. And Jesus gives this to us. It is. It is made abundantly available like it is. It is in our faces. It is. I mean, think about your local Catholic church, probably has Mass every single day. You can have Mass on Saturday night, the vigil, Mass all the way through Sunday night in so many places around. Around the country, around the world, that God has made himself so accessible that, as I said, we can even go to Mass daily. We can go to Mass every Sunday. We can go to Mass daily. And yet I came across other numbers. Out of the 1.4 billion Catholics who live right now are alive on this planet right now, it's something like 16% go to Sunday mass. Are the 1.4 billion Catholics 16%. Now, again, that number might be off. Maybe it's 27%. Maybe, maybe they'll put it right above my head, right here, and they'll say, oh, here's the real number. Or maybe below me, here's the real number. But God has made it so clear. Here, here, here I am. So, so how come so many of us don't go? Well, then I thought, what's another number? 100 question. What percentage of saints went to Sunday Mass? My guess is pretty close to 100. What percentage of saints went to daily Mass? Probably pretty close to 100, unless they had a really good reason. Maybe they were trapped somewhere. Maybe they were imprisoned somewhere. Maybe they had a conversion at the last moment of their life and they didn't have the opportunity but to realize that the Mass, Sunday Mass, daily Mass, is where saints are made. Yet less than, we'll say less than 20% of Catholics go to Mass on Sundays, and yet 100%, roughly, of saints go to Sunday Mass. Daily Mass. God wants you to be a saint. God wants you to be a saint. I don't know if it's that hard. I remember Fr. Benedict Groeschel once said this. He said, a saint is someone who says yes to God and then just never stops saying yes. So even if you fail, just say yes to God. Reconciliation. Even if you fall, say yes to God, go to confession, and even if you don't feel like it, say yes to God and maybe go to that place where saints are made. I don't want to be part of the 68% who don't wash their hands sufficiently. I want to be part of the 100% going to mass where saints are made. Anyways, from all of us here at Ascension presents, My name is Father Mike. God bless.