10/19/25 Moments of Consequence

0:01 Welcome to Sunday homilies with me, Father Mike Schmitz. I hope today's homily inspires and motivates you, and I also hope that it leaves you hungry for the one who gave everything to feed you. If you want to get this and other Sunday Mass resources sent straight to your inbox, sign up at ascensionpress.com slash Sunday or by texting Sunday to 33777. You can also follow or subscribe in your podcast app for weekly notifications. God bless. The Lord be with you. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.

0:37 Chapter 18, verses 1 through 8. Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, Render a just decision for me against my adversary. For a long time, the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, while it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me, I shall deliver a just decision for her, lest she finally come and strike me. The Lord said, pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

1:37 The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord. Please should have a seat. so back in 1977, a movie came out, and I know, I'm reaching back to 1977, but this movie was great. This movie actually won three Academy Awards, that they said, out of all of the movies in 1977, this was the best picture. It also was the best director, and also best editing, then you can, whether that's, I'm sure that's important, I don't know, but best picture, it was the best picture, and best director. The movie, the movie's called Rocky and it's awesome they were right to say it's the best picture quick show of hands how many people here have seen the movie Rocky the original oh praise the lord that's good parenting I am tonight call your mom and dad thank them for raising you right but for those of you who have not seen Rocky I apologize but I'm gonna ruin it for you so the whole story is this the whole story it's 50 years old I'm not ruining too much whole story is this there's uh the champ The champ's Apollo Creed.

2:40 So Rocky's not the champ. Apollo Creed is the champ. He's the heavyweight champion of the world. He kind of has some bad PR. And so they have this stunt they're going to pull. They're going to do this thing where they choose some random boxer who never had a shot, who never had a chance. They give him a chance for the title. So they randomly choose Rocky Balboa, who is kind of like the local loser. In fact, when you watch the movie, you're like, wow, he's not going anywhere. He doesn't have a lot of prospects. He's also not a great human being. I mean, he's okay, but he's kind of a part-time criminal, like kind of a thug working for the Philadelphia Mafia. So anyways, the whole point is, I mean, there's a training montage. It's awesome. But they get to the fight, and the reality is nobody thinks he can actually win. I think this is the fascinating part. Like he goes to the fight. No one thinks he even has a chance.

3:32 But this chance, really, this fight, this event, is what you might call a moment of consequence in his life. I thought about that phrase, moment of consequence. A couple weeks ago, I was at the retirement of a four-star general from the army. And he kept talking about these things of consequence, people of consequence. And I kept thinking, man, this moment of consequence, we all have these moments. Again, like the big fight or someone's retirement, that's a moment of consequence. We've had them in our lives, right? Whether if you're in sports, like here's the big meet or the big game. in school, have the final test, like the big moments like that. If you got married, that's the big day. And maybe when your child was born, that those are, again, those beginnings are what you might call moments of consequence. You also know that some endings are moments of consequence as well. Jesus refers to a very important moment of consequence at the last line of today's gospel.

4:26 He says, when the son of man comes, do you think he'll find faith on the earth? that last moment of the history of humanity, I'm guessing, I'm going to say, it was probably going to be a moment of consequence. But I would say even though we look at beginnings as moments of consequence, which they are, and endings as moments of consequence, I think where we are right now is probably one of the most significant moments of consequence. What I mean is that where we are right now, we're in the middle.

5:00 Like we're in the middle of the semester. This is midway through the semester. And you probably noticed that there's no crowds and there's no fanfare and there's no big event. You just have to kind of keep on going, right? The decision's been made, like, here we go. We're doing this thing. And now we gotta keep just doing this thing. We have to just keep going. And I'd say this, I would say that, that exact thing. The decision to keep going must be, in my book, one of the most significant moments of consequence in a person's life.

5:34 You know, the second reading, St. Paul writes to Timothy, and the very first words he opens up with are two critical words he says, remain faithful. Remain faithful. So many of us here tonight, we've started something, right? College athletes, you have started something. You're in the middle of the season. The beginning, like, you know, August, that, you know, summer, spring, whatever training, beginning of August training, that's done. Finals, playoffs are nowhere near. You're right in the middle. Students, same kind of thing. This is just, you know what the time is right now? This is just the grind time, right? Where it's just like, no, I gotta keep showing up. Some of you were married. Maybe you're married a year ago and now it's just grind time, maybe 23 years ago.

6:22 Last two weeks, we've had a bunch of students who were presented with an opportunity to say yes to Jesus. they were presented with the gospel. Over the last couple weeks, a couple of hundred students at UMD and St. Scholastica were presented with the gospel and many, many of them, a couple hundred of them said, yes, I want to commit my life to Jesus. That's a moment of significance, but now here we are.

6:45 That's a moment of faith, but now here we are where St. Paul says, just like he said to Timothy, he says to us, remain faithful. You have the faith. Here we are tonight. you have the faith remain faithful even when it's difficult even when it's boring even when it's just a grind right now you know there's a word that's used in the in the second reading and gospel multiple times it's the word persistence that word perseverance I did a little word study on perseverance actually comes from two latin words per which means through and severus not Snape, but Severus, which means severity. And so perseverance is this. Perseverance is the ability to have persistence through difficulty, to have persistence through severity.

7:35 And here we are. Not beginning, not ending, but we're in the middle. So what do we do? We remain faithful. We have persistence through difficulty. And I would say that this, again, this is the most difficult. Why? Because while it's hard to start, it's hard to finish, it's hardest to remain faithful. I've said this so many times, but here's the thing. You guys, if you know God exists, and you know that Jesus is God, and you know that Jesus founded the Catholic Church, then I'll tell you this. The only weapon the enemy has against you, the only thing the evil one can do is can try to get you discouraged. Think about this. You know God exists. You know Jesus is God. You know he gave us the church. You know he feeds us with himself in the Eucharist. You know he heals us in confession. If you know that to be true, the only weapon the enemy has against you is if he can get you to the point where you're so discouraged you don't want to try anymore. And I think a lot of us have experienced that. I think a lot of us have experienced three kinds of discouragement.

8:40 We've been discouraged by we've been discouraged by difficulty we've been discouraged by delay we've been discouraged by defeat tonight you might be discouraged by difficulty I remember when my little brother he went to med school at UMD and you know he knew he wanted to be a doctor when he was in middle school and so like all middle school shooting to be a doctor high school all these classes he took AP bio, AP chem all these classes got to college all pre-med He didn't get in his first try. Practice test, practice test, MCAT, didn't get in his first try, did all these other things, finally got to med school here at UMD. I remember him being so discouraged by how hard it was.

9:25 And maybe that's you. Like, man, I worked so hard to get to do that. Worked so hard to get to Scholastica. Worked so hard to get up here. And now we can find ourselves discouraged by difficulty. And in the midst of that, we can forget. In the midst of that, we can forget this is what you prayed for. You begged God, God, please let me get into college. Let me get to pharmacy school. Let me get to PT school, OT school. This is what you prepared for. This is what you wanted. I imagine a lot of us are like, I mean, maybe even getting married. Now you're married, you're like, wow, this is what you prayed for. You have kids. This is what you prayed for.

10:04 But there's a reality. They're like, no, this is what you wanted. You are a Christian in the midst of a world where it's not easy to be a Christian and you can feel the pressure. One of the soldiers at this man's retirement said this. He said these words. He says, because soldiers, they experience pressure. In defending their country, in fighting for freedom, they said, we experience pressure, but pressure is a privilege.

10:31 And my fellow Christians, you might find it difficult to be a Christian in the midst of this environment, but pressure is a privilege. Joe Mazzula is the coach of the Boston Celtics, who's a great coach, but also a really devout Catholic. In fact, before every game, he walks the court of wherever they're playing and prays the rosary as he does laps on the court, he's praying for the team. He was once doing an interview, and the interview was asking him about Jason Tatum. Jason Tatum's one of the star players of the Boston Celtics. And here's the interviewer asked. He said, the interviewer said, it seems to me that Jason has to deal with unfair criticism. That's what he said. Seems to me Jason has to deal with unfair criticism. And Coach Mazzula stopped him and said, Gets to. He says, what? He gets to deal with. He goes on to say this. He says, he gets to deal with it. It's the ultimate compliment. And he said, that's what we talk about on the team. This is what you asked for.

11:24 You asked to be one of the best players in the NBA, on the best team in the NBA, with an opportunity to be an icon for the league for a long time. This is what you asked for. Pressure is a privilege. and we should never be discouraged by it. When we find ourselves following Jesus in a world that goes against Jesus, that should never be a surprise. You know, years ago, I watched this documentary called The Human Planet and it kind of followed how humans live in these really extreme environments on the planet. Like people who live in the jungle, how hard it is. People live in the desert. There was one, they followed this family who lived in the Arctic. And what was so striking was at one point, they had this scene of this father and son who took their sled dogs because they were going to go get food. And so they had this massive sled behind them and they went for days. They finally got to this one spot and they pulled out this huge ice saw and they just by hand sawed this massive block out of the ice, got the ice, got the block out, and then they went fishing.

12:25 Pretty soon they caught a 2,000 pound whale shark. I was like, how in the world are they going to get this out of the water? They hooked it up to the dogs and dogs pulled it out and they, you know, cut it all up, put it on the back of the sled and they started heading home. And I remember watching this thinking, oh my gosh, a 2,000 pound whale shark. They are set for the rest of the winter. And the narrator said something that just struck me. He said, with this 2,000 pound whale shark, they will now have enough food to feed their dogs for the next two weeks.

12:56 I thought, oh my gosh, that is difficulty. But that's us as Christians. We can't be discouraged by that. we realize that pressure, the pressure of being a Christian in this culture, that pressure is a privilege. So we cannot be discouraged by difficulty. We also can't be discouraged by delay. I know sometimes we can get to that point. Ever get to that point where you're like, oh man, I thought things would be different by now. Ever have that? Man, I thought it'd be better by now. Sometimes someone, you know, they start praying, two weeks later they're like, oh, I thought I'd be holy by now. But no, that's a real thing for us. where like, I look at my life, I thought I would be further along. That I've worked so hard and it seems like nothing's happened. And obviously, that can be an invitation to pivot, right? We might reassess and maybe take a new direction. Keep this in mind.

13:50 The fact that we meet resistance doesn't mean we're doing the wrong thing. In fact, I believe this. I believe that sometimes God invites us into and allows us to be trained in perseverance by allowing us to encounter resistance. Say that again. God trains us in perseverance by allowing us to encounter resistance. Why? Because we're walking in faith. And if we don't encounter resistance, our faith will remain at the same level.

14:23 Realize this, right? That if there's no resistance, the faith I started out with is going to be the faith I end up with. And what does God want? God wants to grow our faith. God wants to increase our faith. And we know that faith that hasn't been tested is faith that cannot be trusted. We need resistance. Remember Jesus' question, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? Yes, only if ours grows.

14:53 Only if we encounter resistance. That's why in the gospel today, Jesus has that whole parable about the woman who's persistently going back to the dishonest judge. No, Jesus is not saying that he's also a dishonest judge. he's making the opposite point. He's saying, here's a woman who is encountering resistance with this dishonest judge, but her persistence achieves the goal. He says, but you come to God. God's good. God loves you. God hears you right away. But sometimes it feels like God is delaying. Good. Sometimes it seems like God doesn't hear. Good. Sometimes you don't get what you want. Good. Why? because resistance helps us grow in persistence and faith that hasn't been tested is faith that cannot be trusted. So what we have to do is this, we have to make a decision. What I mean by that is we have to make a commitment. If I don't make a commitment, I will never experience resistance.

15:46 If you want to never experience resistance, just don't make any choices. Even when it comes to prayer, we have to decide this is when I'm going to pray. if I prayed when I wanted to here, actually there's a little secret in my heart if I prayed when I felt like it do you know when I would pray?

16:09 tomorrow I always feel like praying tomorrow you guys, honestly here tonight I'm like no, no, I'll pray tomorrow tomorrow, you know when I'm going to pray? I'm going to feel like praying tomorrow but if we make a decision in fact, only if we make a decision it's only when we make a commitment that we can become competent that's what we do right we make a commitment then we persevere through resistance and we become competent St. Paul to Timothy he says this he says you need to be trained to become competent the only way to do that is to make a commitment make a decision when are you going to pray and then be persistent through resistance and become competent that's the only way we're going to change so we can't be discouraged by difficulty because pressure is a privilege we can't be discouraged by delay because faith that isn't tested is faith that can't be trusted and we we can't be discouraged by defeat but I think that's one of the worst ones, one of the hardest ones.

17:10 Because I know, I don't know about you, but for me, I always envision that I keep getting better and better and better. Like I want to just have my faith life to go up, up, up. Like I keep imagining that if I follow Jesus, it's going to be victory after victory after victory. And I realize the truth is this, I have victory, but only after defeat. Like I get picked back up, but only after I'm racing after Jesus, trip on my shoelaces and fall flat on my face. And I blame the stories of the saints. Here's why. because you read stories of saints and it's like, wow, they did this awesome thing and then this awesome thing and then this awesome thing. And we forget the fact that those who wrote the lives of the saints, I mean, praise God, but they just pulled the highlights. saints weren't perfect the secret is though that they just didn't quit they went to confession how many times have you been so discouraged by going to confession because you're like father control c control v same confession copy paste but that's a real victory real victory is not never falling real victory is asking the Lord Jesus to pick us up after every fall.

18:24 You know, I'm going to ruin the end of Rocky for you. Those of you who haven't seen it, I'm sorry, but it's 50 years old. I was listening to a man talk about having re-watched Rocky recently. And he says, there's a moment in Rocky after all the training, after running up the stairs and, you know, jumping on the top of the Philadelphia, whatever, museum, art, history, whatever. Rocky goes into the arena the night before the fight, and he sees the whole spectacle of everything. And he goes home, and he's talking to Adrian, his wife. And he sits on her bed, and he just says, I can't do it. I can't beat him. He says that. He says, I can't beat him. He's just in another class. I cannot even come close. And he realized, I can't win. And I love this, because instead of Adrian going, you can do it, Rocky. You know, she doesn't say that. She asks him a question.

19:17 She just simply says, so what are you going to do? I can't win okay what are you gonna do and he decides I'm gonna pick my own fight I'm gonna pick my own victory I can't beat him but I can stand there while he beats me and I can let him unload and I can end that bout on my own two feet the end of the the end of the movie Apollo Creed wins. Rocky does not win, but he's also not beaten. he's not defeated. And that's the movie that won Best Picture in 1977. Because people saw that and they said, here's a guy who shouldn't have been chosen. Here's a guy who shouldn't have been in the ring.

20:12 Here's a guy who had no chance. Here's a guy who wasn't victorious, but he didn't lose. Because he got back up again. St. Paul de Timothy. remain faithful. You're not going to be perfect but remain faithful. It's not going to be easy but remain faithful. You're not going to get everything you want but remain faithful. Why? Because what you do in the middle matters. These are moments of consequence. So to decide I'm going to pray when I said I was going to pray that's a moment of consequence and matters. To say I'm going to do what I said I was going to do that's a moment of consequence and matters. And this is the last thing. in the fourth century there's a guy named St. Augustine St. Augustine actually talked about perseverance to persist through difficulty and he said this, he said perseverance is actually a gift of grace it's not about grit it's not about just white knuckling it he said perseverance is a gift of God himself you know Moses in that first reading he got to the point when he was just weakened he was almost defeated what did he do?

21:19 He had Aaron and Hur lift up his arms. He had help. You and I don't have to do this on our own. We have help. Jesus himself, the source of all grace, he's just waiting for us to call out to him for help. When we're racing after the Lord and we fall on our face, God, help me. And he does. When I'm trying to do the thing, but I'm in the middle and it's difficult and I feel defeated and I feel delayed and I feel discouraged. Jesus, help me. You guys, we've already started and we are maybe nowhere near the end.

21:56 We're in the middle. but we have something. We have perseverance. We're not, we are not, we are not discouraged by difficulty and we are not as Christians discouraged by delay and we are not as adopted sons and daughters of the Father. We are not discouraged by defeat.

22:20 And so in answer to Jesus' question, in answer to the question Jesus poses, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? every one of us can stand in this church and say, without doubt and without fail, yes. when that end comes, yes.

22:40 Because we persevered through the middle. Because we persevered through this moment. in this moment we will one day realize