Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 05/17/26 A Necessary Goodbye

Episode Date: May 16, 2026

Homily from the Ascension of the Lord. "It is better for you that I go...". Is that true? Jesus told His apostles that it was better for them that He ascended to the Father; that it was better for them if He left them. But why? Mass Readings from May 17, 2026: Acts 1:1-11 Psalm 47:2-3, 6-9Ephesians 1:17-23 Matthew 28:16-20

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 in 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 on your podcast app for weekly notifications. God bless. The Lord be with you.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. Lord. Chapter 28 verses 16 through 20. The 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshipped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always until the end of the age. The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. Might you to have a seat.

So one, I would say this, one of the many gifts of the TV show The Chosen is I, I mean, kind of humanizing the apostles and that sense of just the way in which, the apostles at a moment like this, at a moment like the ascension, would have just been so confused and just kind of utterly, I imagine, imagine, imagine being one of the apostles, one of the disciples who are standing there,

and you watch Jesus go, and you're just like standing there with your mouth open. Like, he just flew away. And then you're like, what now? What do we do now? That's why God had to send a couple of angels. Like, why is still standing it with their mouths open? But that is the question, like, what do we do now? But also a bigger question.

Now, I'm not a bigger question, but another question. not just what now, but why? Like, why the ascension? Like, why does Jesus have to leave? Like, why do we even have this feast day today? And I think that's a real question. I think it's a painful question because this would have been, for the apostles, this would have been a painful goodbye.

And the question we have to ask is, okay, it's a painful goodbye? Is it a necessary goodbye? And it seems like it must be. in John's Gospel chapter 16, verse 7, Jesus says, it is better for you that I go. So it sounds like Jesus is saying, no, this is a necessary goodbye. It's necessary that I leave,

but that doesn't make any sense. Why would Jesus say, it is better for you that I leave? I mean, I'd be like, oh, Jesus, you're God. Like, you can do anything. He's just like, stay with us. What does he say? He says, it's better for you that I go.

For if I do not go, the advocate will not come to you. But when he comes, the spirit of truth, He will guide you to all truth. Now, I would sit there. If that was one of the apostles, I'd be like, okay, but wait, but they've already received the Holy Spirit. I mean, look at the apostles. The apostles have already received the Holy Spirit at this point.

So Jesus says, no, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. Like, bro, I mean, Lord, we've already received the Holy Spirit. At their baptism, they were received the Holy Spirit. At their ordination, at the Last Supper, they would have received the Holy Spirit. When Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, when he said, breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit, those who sins you forgive are forgiven. they've already received the Holy Spirit. So is it really a necessary goodbye?

And I guess the answer would be this, is Jesus is saying, no, but I want more for you. I want you to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And this is the key for the apostles. This is the key for us. Jesus wants more for them. And because of that, this is a necessary goodbye. You say, well, why?

There's a clinical psychologist out of Canada who once pointed this out, he said that Freud once said, no one becomes a man until his father dies. Young added to that and said that the death can be symbolic. But the idea that no one becomes a man until his father dies, until the relationship changes. Until that happens, if the relationship doesn't change, then yeah, we can be beloved children of our father,

forever. But we can never be more than that. God wants more. I had a conversation recently with the young man who he was talking about his own dad's relationship with his dad's dad, talking about his father's relationship with his grandfather. And he remarked on how his grandfather

was a remarkable man. He said, my grandpa, one of the reasons he said his grandpa was a remarkable man, he said, my grandpa just loves really, really well. What I said, that was really interesting for a 24-year-old young man to say about his grandfather. My grandfather, he's a great man because he loves really, really well. And he went on to say that he says, all my uncles, all my aunts, all my dad's siblings, they all worship grandpa. They all worship grandpa.

And he said, but he's not, I've been thinking about this. I've noticed this. He said, my dad is the only one who has become like my grandpa. They all, they all love him. They all worship their father. But he said, but my dad. is the only one who's actually become like his dad. He's the only one of all of the siblings

who actually seems to love like grandpa loves. So this idea that Freud had said and Young had kind of corroborated that no one can become a father unless his father died, no one can become a man unless his father dies. The psychologist went on. He said, he said, people are willing, why would your father have to die?

He said because because people are willing to tolerate a kind of tyrant slave relationship with their parents sometimes. And maybe that could be us, right? This tyrant slave relationship where, yes, the father's always looking over our shoulder as that kind of judge. So maybe we might be uncomfortable with that, but we're willing to tolerate that. Why?

Because on the other hand, there's always someone standing between you and the unknown that you can go and ask, what should I do? And that's, isn't that real when it comes to our own parents? As long as our parents are around, as long as they're there, we can always call up and say, hey, how do you renew your car insurance? Exactly, how do I change the oil? Or how do you buy a house, mom and dad? Like, what's a mortgage?

You have all these questions between, they can stand between you and the unknown. And that's why Jung said, Jung said that death can be symbolic because he said at some point you realize, the reason you can't ask your parents anymore is because they actually don't know any more than you do. And in that moment, when you realize,

wow, my parents were standing. standing between me and the unknown, and they also don't know any more than I do. In a certain sense, that's the symbolic death, where there's no one standing between me and the unknown anymore. In that point, Freud and Jung would say, you could potentially have now an individual relationship with your parents, maybe even begin taking care of them. So what's this have to do with Jesus? Jesus says, it's better for you that I go.

Why? well because I'm giving you my spirit and because he's giving them an opportunity to be like him think about what it would be like to travel with Jesus for three years and just like every morning just Jesus what are we going to do today and you follow his lead and every time there comes up there's some kind of problem that is bigger than you any kind of situation that you have no idea what to do in

every time you have a question Jesus what do we do now there is someone constantly standing between you and the unknown And Jesus says, actually, but it's better for you that I go, why? Because I want you to be able to stand up with strength. Jesus, who was able to say, I want, I want you, you know, how I've been walking around, I've been showing you how to see others in their need, I want you to be able to see others in their need. How I've been, I've been showing up and caring for those people.

I want you to be able to show up and care for those people. I want you to be not told what to do. I want you to see it and then just do it. it for yourself. And think parents who are listening to this, think about how, what a joy it is in your hearts when you don't have to like nag your kids to do the thing. But they just see it and they do it for themselves. And you realize, oh my goodness, they're becoming the person they're supposed to be. This is Jesus. It's better for you that I go. Why? Because I need you to learn how to look for others and listen to others, look for opportunities. Basically here's Jesus saying,

I need you to have a mature faith where you don't see anymore. You can't see me anymore. but you learn how to walk in trust. And this is what every one of us is called to. To be able to be like Jesus. You're able to see and live like Jesus. That's why he says, it's better for you that I go so that we can finally be adults, adult children. We're still children of our father, of course.

But we're adult children, mature children of our father, who begin to walk like him and live like him in this world. Of course, this is the last thing. ultimately the main reason why it is better for them and better for us that Jesus goes is it because it fulfills Jesus' mission. I mean, ultimately it's not about us, right? Ultimately it's about him. What's Jesus' mission?

The whole mission is this, the life, the incarnation, the life, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus into heaven. We know this, right? The incarnation, Jesus joins his divinity to our humanity. This is just this mysterious thing that's so cool. in the incarnation, Jesus joins his divinity to our humanity. But in the ascension, our humanity is taken up definitively into the Godhead. That our humanity, that God himself has joined himself in a definitive way to humanity.

The Trinity is in some crazy, mysterious, unimaginable way, permanent way. united to us. That's why he leaves because he reigns. Let's be honest, he's the king. He is the Lord of heaven and earth and it is proper

that God himself should be exalted and should reign. And so yes, there is a goodbye in a certain sense. But it's a necessary goodbye. It is a necessary goodbye for our sakes and it is a necessary goodbye for his glory. But really we know this.

We know that Jesus is not actually leaving. He's simply going ahead so that where he is, we also may be.