Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 08/30/26 Forfeit

Episode Date: August 29, 2026

Homily from the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. You cannot become the person you were meant to be without the Cross. No one likes to lose. But there is a difference between getting beaten and forfeiting. Because Jesus has won, the only way we can lose our souls is if we forfeit. Mass Readings from August 30, 2026: Jeremiah 20:7-9 Psalm 63:2-9Romans 12:1-2 Matthew 16:21-27

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.

with your spirit. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. Chapter 16 verses 21 through 27. Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him. God forbid, Lord, no such thing shall ever happen to you. He turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan.

You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do. Then Jesus said to his disciples, Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world

and yet forfeit his life? Or what can one give an exchange for his life? for the son of man will come with his angels in his father's glory and then he will repay all according to his conduct the gospel of the Lord praise to you Lord Jesus Christ so I know that I know that no one likes it

but I hate losing like I really hate losing it's just it's one of those yeah I don't need to go on and on about it because it's just there and there's also there's there's There's better in, I would say this, there's better and worse ways to lose. I don't know if you've ever seen those videos of Never Celebrate Too Early videos. So they have the whole string of them, you know, where there's like the boxer and they're at the way in or the press conference or even right before the bill goes off and they're kind of a showboat.

And then they just get clocked and they're done. Like never celebrate too early. Or there's the cyclist, like a bicyclist. And they're after, you know, a day of riding hundreds of miles maybe even. They're cruising down the home stretch and their hands off the handlebars. they're raising their hands in the air, but someone behind him is just barren down, you know, and they catch him right at the line and they beat him, because never celebrate too early.

That'd be a hard way to lose. I've even seen that track meets, you know, someone in a sprint going down the home stretch and the person like turns behind to taunt the guys behind him and just eats it and lose it. That would be a hard way to lose. I've even seen that there's been some that have been like football player, right, who has this massive, massive run. and just before getting to the end zone, like, you know, flicks the ball into the air

but doesn't cross the goal line, or like someone was charging behind him and, like, knocks it out of his hand. That would be a tough, that would be a tough way to lose. Speaking of football, I think it was at January 10th earlier this year.

At a soldier field, there was a tough game. It was between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. And on the first three possessions that the Packers had, they had three touchdowns right in a row. It was one of those where it was like,

oh my gosh, leg off game and the bears are going to get trounced and they were. I mean, the first half, I think at half time, it was 21 to 3. Packers were up over the bears. By the beginning of the fourth quarter, it was still 21 to 6. And I remember, there was a house next door and I stopped in and they were watching the Packers Bears game and I was like, wow, it's a bad day to be a bear and then went to bed. And the next morning, I found out it was a bad day to be a Packer fan because in that last quarter, the Chicago Bears came back and they ultimately won 31 to 27. It was one of the situations where, like, it was a situation where the Green Bay Packers, they were able to snatch

defeat from the jaws of victory. And it was just one of those come from behind things. That would be a really tough way in a playoff game. It would be a really, really tough way to lose. But I would say this, I would say that out of all of the hard ways to lose, that someone's outplayed or you're outpaced or you're outmatched, you are out hustled sometimes, right? Some of you're outbeat, you lose. I think the worst way to lose, the worst way to lose is if you forfeit. Because that's what is. Forfeiting is a very particular way to lose.

It's basically, it's because of something you did or something you failed to do, something you violated, something you exchanged, something you just gave up or surrendered. And so you know all those, right, where there's a team and they won, but someone on the team was ineligible, so they forfeited. Or here's the team they scored, but there are too many people on the field at once, and so they forfeit. Or maybe there's the tennis player or the chess player who's leading, and then they just concede.

They just stop playing, and they forfeit. In all those cases, they didn't get beat. They simply forfeited and they lost, which reminds me of the gospel, right? The gospel today, Jesus has these big words, and he says, whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever wishes to save his life, will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. But then he says this line. He says, what profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? I think what Jesus is saying is this, you can lose. It's possible to lose.

But no one ever gets beat, out of their soul. You only forfeit it. You can only forfeit it. And we do it by, we make little trade-offs, right? Compromises. We make little exchanges. We violate the rules. Sometimes we, sometimes we do this. Sometimes we concede. Sometimes we just stop playing. And Jesus has those words for us. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and then forfeit? You know, this is our first weekend on campus. And so later on I get the chance to talk to all of our college students. and not only the ones who have been here, but also those freshmen who are,

who have they, we're going to get to spend the next four years with them and have that question, the reality of you could get everything you came to college to get and end up becoming someone you never wanted to become. You could do everything you came to college to do and end up becoming someone you never wanted to become. Because that's the key, right, for the next week, the next year,

for all of us. I mean, the next season of life, the next four years for our students, it will never just be about what you do. It will be about how you do it. Because ultimately, it's about who we become. And this is the key. I think this is the key for the entire gospel today. You and I, we cannot become the person that we were meant to be

without the cross. It's impossible. You and I will never become the people we were meant to be without the cross. And we would say this, without two crosses. And the first cross is the cross of Jesus. So if you remember last week, the gospel, was Matthew chapter 16, just before this,

Jesus takes his disciples to Caesaria Philippi. He asks them the big question, who do you say that I am? Simon Peter has the answer. You're the Messiah. You're the anointed one. You are the Holy One of God. So Simon Peter is able to tell Jesus.

No, this is your identity. This is who you are. And then today, right after this, Jesus tells his disciples, yes, that's true, that's who I am. And this is what that means. Here's what it means for me to be the Messiah. I came across this folk parable from a woman. Her name is Talon, I think, Talon with the why.

And she said that there was a son who wanted to know his own worth. And so he went to his father's father, how do I know my worth? So his dad reached you in his own pocket and pulled out a small gem, small red gem. And he said, I want you to take this to the shopkeeper, take this gem to the shopkeeper and say, how much would you give me for this? And then the shopkeeper, say,

the shopper will ask, you know, what do you want for it? And he says, the father said to the son, just hold up two fingers. Don't say anything. So he takes a shopkeeper. He says, don't give it to him, but just hold up two fingers. So to the shopkeeper, how much you want for this? Son holds up two fingers.

Oh, two dollars, okay, fair price. Son takes the stone, brings back. to his dad. He says, okay, now I want you to go to the antique dealer in town. When he asks you how much you want for it, hold up two. So he goes, how much you want for it? Hold up two fingers. He says, oh, $200, okay? Well, it's a fair price. I'll give you $200 for it. Takes it back home. His father says, okay, now take it to the jeweler in town. So he takes to the jeweler and the jeweler says, how much you want for this? And the son holds up two fingers. The jeweler looks at it under his monocle and under a microscope and he realizes what he has. These is a rare, incredibly rare

Ruby. And he says, yeah, fair price. I'll give you $200,000 for it. Kinks back to his father and gives him the stone. Father puts the stone in his pocket. He says, the lesson here is, be careful. Be careful who you allow to tell you your worth. And there's the question. Who do you and I, who do we allow to tell us our worth? to Jesus' gospel. Jesus' gospel, remember, you're the Messiah, you're the Holy One of God. And today Jesus says, yes, that's true. And the Son of Man, meeting myself, must go to Jerusalem.

I must undergo all of this pain. I must undergo this betrayal by the scribes and the Pharisees and the elders. I must, he says, he even says the word, must, I must go through all of this. And the question is why? And the answer is to win. Well, to win what? to win you. Be careful who you allow to tell you your worth. Jesus says, I must go through all of this. Why? To win. To win you. Because why? Because we cannot

become the people we're meant to be without the cross. Because it's from the cross of Jesus that all grace comes. It's all the fancy term is called the pascal mystery, the life death, the resurrection of Jesus. It's from the cross of Jesus that all grace. Every help we need comes. And also our worth is proven. when Jesus says essentially, I must do this, I'm going to give my life to save yours. Because of that, you and I, we can't be beaten. We can only forfeit. We could do everything we came to college to do, or everything you went to your work to do, or everything you saved up for retirement to do,

and end up becoming someone you never wanted to become. Not because we were beat, but because we decided to forfeit. and we forfeit, you know what I said before, by making little trades. I trade what is permanent for something temporary. I trade something that's of higher value for something of lesser value. Remember, Jesus, in his cross, he's already established your worth. He's already established the worth of your soul. You know, years ago in the Old Testament, there's this story of two sons.

Their twin brothers, their name is Jacob and Esau. And you might know this story. Issa is born first. And so because Esau was born first, he gets the birthright, which is like the inheritance, and he gets the blessing of their father, Jacob. Or the blessing of their father, Isaac. At one point, though, Issa's coming in from the field, and Jacob's there. And even scripture says he's making a bowl of red stuff, like red porridge of some sort.

Esau is really hungry. And so he says, give me some of that red stuff. And Jacob says, I will, but if I'll only give it to you, if you're willing to exchange your birthright for the bowl of this red stuff. And we look at this as people who are listening or reading the Bible and think, that's ridiculous. You're trading the entire inheritance that you receive from your father, Isaac, who got it from his father, Abraham, for a bowl of red stuff. And he says, it's fine, I don't care.

I'm willing to trade my birth rate. I'm willing to trade my inheritance for something that's not worth it. And that's what we do. That is called forfeiting. I can win college and lose my soul. I can win at work and lose my soul. Not because someone took it from me, but because you trade it for something else.

Rather than have my integrity, I did whatever they asked me to do at work. Rather than being true to myself, I exchange it for fame or popularity. Rather than having integrity, I traded it in for a grade for momentary wealth. I can forfeit by making little trades. No one intends to end up in that place.

But little trades, that is the road to get there. Or sometimes we forfeit by this. We forfeit by conceding. We just stop playing. Remember, this is the truth that we cannot become the person we're meant to be without the cross. And that means first the cross of Jesus, right? That all grace comes from the cross of Jesus, but also by participating in the cross that he gives to us.

because remember this in the gospel today Jesus says he must go to Jerusalem he must be betrayed by the elder he must die and then he turns to the disciples and he says and you must what? He says you must deny yourselves, you must pick up your cross and you must

follow me but I think sometimes I think we sometimes we see struggle as a sign that things have gone wrong you know in the second reading today St. Paul's letter to the Romans chapter 12 he says do not be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

But basically, what we believe is incredibly important. So here's the thing. Because why? Because what I believe determines how I interpret what happens to me. What I believe determines how I interpret what happens to me. And how I interpret what happens to me determines what I choose. And what I choose determines and shapes who I am. So if I believe this, if I believe, well, struggle means I should stop.

It'll determine who I am. If I believe that failing means I'm a failure, well, that will determine who I become. Sometimes our mindset, and again, I find this with students sometimes, is, well, I'm struggling. That means I don't belong here. Or especially in that first weekend, first couple weeks of school, there are so many students who are so lonely.

They can say, well, being lonely means something's wrong with me. Or maybe even in our spiritual lives, you can say, man, my prayer has been so dry, my prayer is a battle. I don't hear God's voice. that must mean that I'm far from God, doing the wrong thing. Remember, what I believe determines how I interpret what happens to me. So take one example.

Failing means I'm a failure. I recently have this over the course of the summer, I started going to the gym with a friend. And he hasn't had a ton of experience in the gym. And so I remember the first couple days we would go and we get to the end of like a set. You're like you're doing reps, each set, right? And if you couldn't make each rep, he would, he would, he put weight down and said, I'm sorry. And he apologized. He'd apologize for getting that place of failure.

And I was like, okay, actually, here's what we need to know. What the sports science is out there is as long as you can have good form, and every set, you should come within one to three reps of failure. Like, you should actually, the failure is the goal. Like, if you want to actually grow, if you want to get stronger, if want to improve, if you want to actually move forward, failure is success. And so now whenever he gets to that place or I get to that place where like I can't do it anymore, the other person is like, whoa, that was awesome.

Why? Because if I believe that my mindset is, well, failing is I'm a failure, well, then I'm not going to be willing to go. But if I believe that what I'm trying to do today is helping me become the person I'm meant to be tomorrow, what I believe helps me interpret what's happening to me. Another way to say it today is I could say this. I could say that if I don't do this today, I will not be able to do the necessary thing tomorrow. And this is for every one of us, but for our students, especially these first days, these first weeks, the first months of school.

If I don't pick this up and carry it today, I will not be ready. I will not be able to pick up and carry the thing that is needed tomorrow. If I don't pick up the cross that God has entrusted me with today, I won't be able. I will not be ready. I won't be the kind of person who can pick up the cross that he needs me to carry tomorrow. Of course, sometimes we see this. We see that, well, I don't want to struggle like this. But we realize that struggle is part of the process.

I don't want to carry this cross. We'll carry in the cross as part of the process. Maybe you've heard this before. But like when a caterpillar comes out of a cocoon as a butterfly or where a chick comes out of an egg as a bird, sometimes it's always a struggle. In fact, as that butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, there's a moment where it seems like it's struggling so hard to get outside of that chrysalis. And it is. And so the temptation, of course, the temptation for us who would care would say, well, let me just take a little Xacto knife, right, and just like open up the hole a little bit more and just help the butterfly emerge. But here's what happens. If we do that, we're going to end up stunting the butterfly. Butterfly might not ever be able to fly if we do that. Why? Because, that struggle of emerging from the chrysalis, it does this thing where the butterfly has to work, and by working, this is a little technical thing, the insect equivalent of blood gets pumped into the wings,

that gets pumped into the wings, and that's what makes the wings firm, and what makes them strong enough to be able to fly. And if it doesn't go through that process, that butterfly will never fly. Same thing is true for a chick. There's this whole process where the chick, if you open it up or help it out of its egg, it will most likely die. It has to get to this place where it has to crack through the inner membrane, then it has to crack through the outer membrane,

and it's called external pipping. And at one point, all you can see is the beak from sticking out from the egg. And so you want, let's let me help the bird. What's happening, though, in that moment is so many things. The bird is beginning to breathe air for the first time. It has to take some time. If you just crack it open, the bird might die. It's absorbing the rest of the,

the stuff inside the egg, if it doesn't absorb that, the bird might die. If it doesn't actually fight to emerge from the shell, not only will that bird be stunted, that bird could end up dying. And this is the case for every one of us. We, you and I, we cannot become the person we're meant to be without the cross. That's what we're called to do, but we don't, we know this. And this is the last thing. It's not just what we're called to do. It's how we're called to do it. I'm sure every one of us knows the name Lance Armstrong. And he would have been known as one of the great cyclists, maybe the greatest cyclists of all time. He would have been known as a six-time winner of the Tour de France. That's what he did. But we all know now that how

he did it was he cheated. So who is he now? Well, in the world of cycling, he's the zero-time winner of the Tour de France. Because it wasn't just what he did. It was how he did it that made us made it into who he is. I mentioned earlier this summer that one of my older sisters completed a 200-mile trail run, trail race around Lake Tahoe. It took her three days, 20 hours, and six minutes. I think in those four days, she slept five hours, just incredible. And I'm so proud of her. It's amazing.

But my sister, she had, her name's Amy. Amy had this goal. She had two goals, in fact, two goals in the race. One goal was to finish. She did it. But she said her second goal was that she wanted to be she wanted to be a person

that she liked when things got hard. But she knew that things would get to a goal. This is us, in a new school year, this is us in any kind of situation in life where we have to pick up that cross. She said, I want to be the kind of person I like when things get hard. I know things are going to get hard.

I know I want to have to pick up a cross. I know things are going to get to, and she got this idea from another long-distance runner named Rachel Enrican. And Rachel Enrican had said something similar. Rancher Enrican was about to run a 250-mile race. And she had said, as she said this, she said, I'm doing runs like this to see if I like the person that emerges when things get hard. That when, at the interface of hard, I want to like the person that I become.

Over the course of this next year, things are going to get difficult. over the course of this next year, you and I are going to be asked to pick up our cross. It's not just what we do in those moments, it's also how we do it that determines who we are. We know that everything that happens can be used. So pick up that cross however it comes. But ultimately, it's how we carry it that determines who we become.