"You Must Fight for Heaven!" + 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Fr. Mike's Homily)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ส.ค. 2022
- Jesus makes it very clear that our call is to make our pursuit of Heaven exactly that: a pursuit. He is personal and practical when He tells us that each and every one of us must strive for Heaven.
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I start RCIA in two days. I’m very excited. I feel that I’m at a crossroads with my life. Either Heaven on the path that leads to God or He’ll on the path that leads to destruction. Please pray I can have the courage and strength to fight my way to the right choice. It’s so hard to choose God in this broken world. It’s a struggle for my heart.
Don't carry the world on your shoulders that's God's job. ❤️🙏❤️
Just like Jesus said - keep
Striving. God Bless ya April :) 🎚💜
It’s a cross to carry to be truly a practicing Catholic/Christian. Unite your sufferings to His. All we need is Him to give us the strength and we can do all things through Him. He uses the weak for His great wonders. 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My Grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”
Continually run to Him in prayer. Pray the Rosary and as you start RCIA get excited for the sacraments because they truly bring you in such a close personal intimate relationship with Jesus.
God bless you and keep you!
Make sure you are confirmed by a Bishop. Good luck.
It is a wonderful journey! My family went through RCIA 3 years ago. It was the greatest blessing of my life. Go in with a open heart and mind and you will feel Gods calling.
The guitar part kinda struck me. I asked my father in 1979 . " Dad I want to play guitar " two weeks later . He took me to a store and bought one for me and told me I'd give it up in a week .I never gave up , Then again I never had that natural talent but I never gave up . I'm 2018 my thumb started turning black and the nail was crumbling . Still played as always but always alone . One morning before I bandaged my hand . I dropped a pair of jeans and the coat hanger sliced through where the thumb nail once was . It bled and I cried " Lord what are you telling me ". Went to a hand surgeon and looked . " How Long ? " told me It looked like cancer and after a biopsy ' amputation ,scans . It was Stage 4 Melanoma that spread to my brain and not expected to live out the summer of 2020 . Here I am by The Grace of God . And still play my guitar with one less finger . Dad .. I never gave up !! . I will carry my Cross . Give Glory to God . Grateful for everyone's prayers. Love Stephen
GOD BLESS YOU! Praise God, his plan for you on earth is not over. My brother died from Melanoma ☹️. All my brothers play guitar too, so your comment caught my eye. He was the oldest and he played until he couldn’t anymore and it was heartbreaking. Then my 2nd oldest brother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and wasn’t expected to live past 6 months. This was in the beginning of the pandemic, March 2020 and he’s now in remission! It definitely teaches us to never take any moment for granted. Every moment of our lives is a gift. Keep playing and keep fighting! 🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻❤️
Amen!!! My goodness, I love stories like these!! We all need this hope! Thank you for your testimony!! May God continue to give you strength until He takes you home, I'm proud to call you sister! Please keep fighting the Good Fight for the will of the Father and know I am praying for you!
Praise God for your testimony. ❤️🙏
I have been struggling with my faith and oddly found myself drawn to the Catholic Church even though I am not a Catholic. I reached out on social media to a Catholic ran page and I started watching this video while reading and replying to responses. In the middle of my response to someone I had kind of drown out the video. I began to write about the struggles of faith, the fears of diving more into a faith and how I many times actually feel unwelcome at a perish even when the members express nothing but welcome and inclusivity to all who come in. Very much and always to myself as well. I began to explain that I believe this feeling of feeling unwelcome is the demons I carry and the fear they bring in becoming uncomfortable in a place of God. Then I heard Father Mike begin to speak about the struggles of faith, the fear of moving forward with God, and the discomfort that can bring. I missed my opportunity to attend mass today even though I had wished to attend to speak with a priest about my questions. I now believe that my fight must be to reach out to a priest and take the next step in my faith! Thank you Father Mike. I do not believe that this is some chance thing that I just so happened to be speaking about something the very moment before it came up in your lesson that I had no way of knowing would play out this way. Thank you, and thank God for your lesson.
Amen! Keep fighting. I’m in the same boat. I pray that Jesus pulls you close!
I ask you, please read the book "Consoling the heart of Jesus" by Michael Gaitley, MIC. It is the best book ever written for Christians. That one changed my whole life and made me love Jesus in a level I never would have thought possible, with my sins and misery. It is a book filled with hope and love. Please read it!
@@jgarden3925 I will definitely be looking into it! Thanks for the advice!
@@jgarden3925 I actually have that book, haven’t read it yet, I think now it’s a good time!
@@jgarden3925 I need to push past my discomforts & fears as well - takes courage & intentionality to do what you’re doing Nick. Will pray for you & hope you have a great week!
I'm a former Baptist now Catholic since 1998. Never have I been able to answer the protestant accusation that Catholics believe in a "works salvation." I could never explain the apparent conflict between the fact that salvation is a free gift, yet we are called to holiness and good works. Here Father Mike makes the explanation so simple and easy to understand! And what an encouragement to STRIVE!!...To know Jesus throughout our lives! I'm saving this to listen to again and again! Thank you Father Mike, and to the Holy Spirit for this brilliance.
Katherine Buona Sera .Le Volevo Dire Che Gesù Stesso Dividerà Gli Uomini Nel Giudizio ,(Venite Benedetti Dal Padre E Inizia Parlando Delle Opere di Misericordia Corporale ,Che Sono Anche Contemporaneamente Spirituali Li Mise A Destra. Che Dio la Benedica.
When i read what the saints did for the faith..boy do i have a very long way to go🥴
St Therese of Lisieux, Read about St Therese of Lisieux!!!
I think everyone should read Abandonment to Divine Providence. Jean-Pierre specifically addresses this and says God is not calling all of us to the same acts of piety as the saints. We are called to fulfill the duties of our state of life in the most perfect manner possible. For instance, if you have kid’s, you would be neglecting your duties as a parent to sell all of your possessions and life of poverty as St. Francis did
Oh how St Therese of Liseux taught me the beauty of simplicity 🤗
I hope you never stop making your podcasts! They are so amazing and I’m sure they help so many people! I love and pray for you father Mike!
"We will not drift to heaven, therefore we have to fight for heaven"
I love Fr. Mike’s jokes. Watching him tell them is just about as funny as the joke. Great one this time!
His examples are so real. The guitar, narrow door, wide gate.. so relatable. Praise God for a priest who speaks truth. So glad the Virtual Front Pew is continuing after lockdown. He always speaks to my heart & soul. “What a gift!” ❤️
This is absolutely 1 of the greatest homily EVER!
My Parish has a large Youth Ministry wherE I volunteer, this video will be suggested by me for sure!
Thank you for this homily! This gospel brought great debate into my household among my 20-year-olds. You speak with clarity, and I appreciate that I can sit down with them and listen to you and have rich discussion. God bless you! You are a true example of a good man living for Christ!
Thank you Father Mike for the teaching.
I am going to stop drinking alcohol. I dearly want to go to Heaven!!
Powerful and moved me into action. Thank you, Fr. Mike !🙏
I have been striving for heaven lately by going to mass, praying the rosary, and devoting myself to the Blessed Mother. However, after having a long run of focusing on God, I recently fell into sin again, specifically in lustfulness/sexual immorality. I just feel devastated, defeated, ashamed, and hopeless because of this sin I willfully committed and can’t seem to shake. I also have immense trouble asking for forgiveness and receiving it from God because I’m frustrated with my actions and I know they are unacceptable. Please pray for me.
I am going through the same thing, i willfully committed that same sin and it has been eating me alive, please don’t quit because i know what your going through. We are together in this strive for heaven
I will pray for you. Don’t listen to the demons condemning you for your sins, run to Jesus, to His priest in the confessional and fight for the narrow road. Jesus died for you and He loves you more than you know. God be with you always
I too fell into sin. But do not despair for God has given us the sacraments. Everyday is a new day the lord has given us to know him and love him. I fell back after listening to secular music, watching secular movies. I had done well and fell back. Just like you I started doing my rosary, reading bible, stopped listening to secular music, watching movies etc...so much of the secular world says sexual things are ok, movies show it, songs glorify sex, affairs, etc...I'm going to do exodus 90 heard it's life changing. For too know God is to love him and fight for him and heaven. Best of luck and I will lift you up in prayer and pray rosary for you.
Hi Christina. Please go to confession and repent of your sins. Jesus loves you! Continue to walk in gods love!🙏🏼💯
I prayed for you. Go to confession too. Ask God to always keep you close and faithful to Him. May God's peace be with you.
Great homily Fr. Mike. Strive. I am praying for you. Keep doing what you do, humbly, obediently, and steadfastly. Bless you; Bless the Lord.
A 1000 years from now, when we look back at our lives on this planet, we need to be proud of the right choices we made. So agonizing for Heaven should be on top of our minds.
That was JUST what I needed to hear. Thank you!
important words father mike speaks
I seem to hear exactly what I need to hear whenever I click on one of these videos. Thank you, for the great sermon. 🙏
I am always grateful for your homilies. My parish priest does his best and I love and pray for him, but I actually "get" you and understand you. I thank God for you and your special gift to teach and communicate difficult truths to us.
2 Corinthians 4 KJV
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
1 Corinthians 15 KJV
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Roman 3 KJV
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
♥️know♥️
1 John 5 KJV
13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Pray for fr. Mike. We need to protect him with our prayers. Pray for your parish priest that God enlighten him to lead his flock.
Thank you, Fr. Mike. I am Orthodox Christian, but your homily spoke to some struggles I am currently going through. May God help!
I always considered that for Catholics, the narrow gate leads through the confessional.
Confession (or rather reconciliation) mends your relationship with our Lord. The sacrament is a gift whereby we know our grave (and venial) sins are forgiven. God can choose to forgive them without the sacrament, however.
So in a way, yes, it leads to the narrow gate, or rather, it gets us back on track.
God bless you Father Mike, thanks for touching on this subject. It saddeneds me everytime when I hear the priest or deacons coninize the person who died. In my opinion, this takes away the prayers the soul needs who is actually in Purgatory. People who are ignorant of the faith automatically think we die and go straight to Heaven. Thanks again Padre!!
Was just talking to a friend today and spoke about my Soul. Thank you clarifying some things in your Homily~God Bless you for Bible in a Year, always praying for you Father✝️🙏
I did RCIA in 90s. I love my faith. Good luck. Best thing you’ve ever done.
I love this homily so much! This week I will start by reading scripture daily and trust God will help me to get to know Jesus more intimately, and love him more intensely. After doing the 19th annotation about a year ago which was awesome! I know I feel like there’s a gap. Through Scripture was how I was getting to know Jesus more.
Such a powerful homily - and such a gift for sharing the Word 🙏
Thank God the decision to get into Heaven is up to God. If it was up to us, no one would get in.
yeah, but we still have to choose it.
Soooooo good!!!! Thank you, Lord 💕🙏🏼 And thank you, Ascension team 👏🏼
I love being Catholic as the Catholic Church is the only one started by Jesus Christ Himself. She’s the only place on earth the Transubstantiation occurs. Jesus appointed His apostles first Pope/Priests, gave THEM His authority, instituted Sacraments and commanded them to spread His Church Infallibly to the world. He said unless we eat of His Body and drink of His Blood, we will never enter Heaven-Jn 6:52-58.
2 truth. 2 Lies - no one automatically goes to Heaven,
Thank you Father Mark Smitz for saying this to us, strive for heaven
Father Mike's Homily never fails to speak to specifically and exactly what I'm experiencing right now. Revisiting old ones that spoke to me and the difference in the timing is incredible and I can't help but feel that this is all part of Gods plan.
Keep up the good works, and thank-you
Outstanding homily, Father Mike! Thank you so very much for answering God’s call and for your ministry! God bless you abundantly and know you are in my prayers!🙏 Immensely grateful!
excellent commentary.GOD BLESS
salvation = 'a gift we have to use'......Thank you, Fr. Mike! Philippians 2:12-13.
Father Mike you are an exceptional preacher, and you preach with love.
Thanku fr for that awakening talk.i come from india and there there are so many thousands of people who live daily continously lives of "Exodus19" who follow those austerities.in the US many are living a luxurious life and are not aware of how difficult life can be.😊
I do the best I can, and leave the rest to God.
We need to understand how so important it is to get to Heaven for our everlasting happiness. God bless. Claire..
Thank you ever so much Fr. Mike
Fighting against temptation to fall into despair!! Thank God for Fr Mike
Father Mike, Thank you for sharing the TRUTH of HEAVEN and that we must STRIVE and FIGHT to get there. You do such a wonderful homily by putting the essence of the topic in perspective, so that I can see myself and the choices I am making in my life today. Am I moreless "Dreaming" my fantasy of how to get to HEAVEN or am I living the TRUTH of striving everyday to create a "Right Relationship with God?" Thank you for sharing the Truth of how to get to HEAVEN! Amen
Love you, Father Mike…love Bible in a year, you are so full of energy, you give me desire to learn more, each & every day! Thank God for you.
On our own we cannot do this but we need the help of the Holy Spirit God on this path which in turn brings us closer to him as well.
💯is worth to fight for heaven ! Always always!!
Thank you 🙏
I am so grateful for these videos. I am visually impaired and it is extremely difficult for me to get a ride to church. I live with my mother and I help her take care of my grandparents they cannot be left alone so it is difficult to hear the word of God thank you
Ask your priest/decon to bring over holy eucharist for you to par take. Just call your local church. Godbless you and I will keep you in my prayers.
Thank you Father God bless you 🙏 Ave Maria
Amen
Thanks
God make me Holy remove all evil and sin in my life my family life
I want to say thank you Fr. Mike your videos helped me regain my faith and I learned so much about the Catholic Church because of this I’m starting RCIA next week. Thank you for helping me reconnect with God
Make sure you are confirmed by a Bishop.
Welcome, Brandon! This is such happy news!! How pleased Our Lord must be to have you enter this beautiful faith! 🙏🏻🙏🏻
I’m going to say the rosary every day
Greg, it changed my life when I finally made that commitment. It's now been 9 years and though the change was gradual, there's no way I will ever stop the grace and blessings that come through the rosary. I pray the same for you.
Thank you fr Mike!! I really really need these words! God bless you ❤️🙏
I just had this feeling not long ago that I need to start getting up at 6:15 am every morning and start with cold shower. In the beginning it was very hard, but I felt I had to persevere. Now it seems almost normal. I take this as a confirmation from the Holy Spirit. Also I would like to point out that at some point our Holy Mother said in Medjugorje that we need to pray a lot, because our comfort will be our downfall. And yes, after your video it all makes a lot of sense...
Thank you for the help to get started.Prayers for you and all who are struggling.Amen
This was so good.
I’ll SEE YOU IN HEAVEN, JESUS LOVES US ALL!!!
Father you make me love my Catholic faith please.keep.up with the great videos
Very funny father Mike. I appreciate all your messages about God and your sense of humor. We have to appreciate the gift of God's grace and having the where will all to praise him name and to continue to follow the path God has given us.
FR.MIKE....THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR THE BEAUTIFUL INSPIRING SERMON ON THE POWERFUL INSIGHTS ON CHOOSING HEAVEN AND TO SIMPLY STRIVE TO GET THERE...THANKYOU SO MUCH AM INDEED INSPIRED...AMEN AND AMEN 🙏...PTL
Fr.Mike.. Inspiring..beautiful sermon on what it takes to get to Heaven..It is a place worth fighting for...to strive for and to choose..agonize to get there. In other words it is not easy...Discipline and trust are important...Thankyou so much Fr.Mike for your help and time...PTL.
But that is absolutely AWESOME!! “I can’t even lie down or sweep at the Olympic level” rofl
If salvation were a competitive sport…
Tommy is a saint = classic!
Let’s strive! All while imitating the Trinity in a Spirit of Communion and collaboration and our Blessed Mother who made herself little so as to magnify God’s work in her
Medicine for my soul. Thank you Father.
Striving towards heaven becomes full of both joy and fun after we realize that it is only through Jesus Christ that we get there. Because it is true for all of us that a part of us cries to be primitive and as free as the birds while facing the fact that all of us must endure through the possibility of death during every moment of our lives. I do prefer the small narrow road. For example I am fighting for my mother's right to go out for fresh summertime pleasant air during a stroll around the block too. For example without her having to by herself manouver her wheel chair around a traffic sign planted right on the sidewalk where it doesn't belong put there on purpose thanks to creative malevolence of city planners here too. Like the city planners in New York who changed what large heating vents on public sidewalks look like in that downtown core in a kind of war against the homeless. I don't have to obey anyone by not taking her around the block. So this week I am going to do the same again after straining one of my knee joints while one wheel of her now heavily upholstered and cumbersome wheel chair slipped into the space left behind after someone did the edging of lawn around the sidewalk which almost caused her in her wheel chair along with me to all together fall over.
I don't want to fight just now, but I would ❤ 😍 to wrestle with Fr. Mike!! Yaaaaas, Lord! And Jesus. And Mary, sure. Just not Satan. Not today.
You're right about that one! It is agony trying to EARN your admission thru the gates that Jesus opened. Getting into heaven is no free ride.
Fr Mike, brothers and sisters , thank you for being in the fight with me❤️🩹🙏🏾❤️🩹
Nothing worth doing is easy. Thanks for the reminder Fr. Mike.
I love this!
🙏🥰🙏persevere the Lord is the door, the way and the truth to heaven, very difficult, however worthy , thanks Father!!🎉💫🙏
Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Thank you Fr Mike for the great explanation of the homily. 🙏🙏🙏
Love what you said❤
This man could’ve easily hosted Blues Clues! Aside from that, he also preaches like a true man of God. He does not judge, he guides people to Christ just as he should.
Amen! Thank you, I needed to hear this
alot packed in to this! thank you and God Bless You.
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻😢🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸💔💔💔🤍❤️🔥🕊
LORD GOD please deliver our youth from the addiction of drugs and social media! AMEN 🙏🏻
This is really good delivered in Father Mike not-so-serious but serious style.
Woops God have mercy on me…🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
This week I will strive after Heaven by watching Ascension videos😋
Chrysostom said to his congregation that he thought very few people in his city would be saved. However, the subtext was he was encouraging them to strive.
Regarding “I don't know you,” let's also remember that Jesus said this in the context of people merely saying “Lord, Lord,” but not striving by seeing Him in the poor and so forth and treating them accordingly, as the Lord Himself: Then, we are His; then, He knows us.
God bless, Fr. Mike🌹☺🙏
P.S. I watched Kid Catholic/Kinetic Catholic's new video on gifts, and I liked that he says some people are called to do the Lord's work on a global level, and that is just part of life for some of us, which I think is more readily apparent to him as a young man growing up evangelizing on the internet. Just a fact of life, no problem whatsoever. And the internet is, it seems to me, the best evangelization tool in history.
You blow my mind ! I love your words..for anyone who cares, or considers about what happens after this life there is nothing in this material world that matters, but every human soul you encounter does and so does yours
This video is so encouraging, it did actually made me go closer to Jesus!
This homily was so interesting and had so much content in it that I actually forgot it was a homily. Thank you Fr Mike for breaking open the word in a way that keeps people riveted to what you have to say.
I see the struggle and truthful and understanding never stop
Thank you for your wisdom and understanding of what we (and most assuredly, I) must do.
I wish you were my spiritual director. God bless.
When Jesus said that we must strive (agonize) for heaven, it seems to me, he means that we must do what is naturally very difficult, like loving our enemies, forgiving those who have hurt us. The more we “strive” to forgive, the easier it becomes. Why? We are becoming more like Jesus the more we love. No one will enter heaven with hatred, anger, resentments, PRIDE, etc in our hearts. To become fit, we must strive; we must agonize. Love is agonizing. Just consider Jesus on the Cross. That is love.
After all, if you are as angry and resentful as I am, real forgiveness from the heart can be like running a half marathon: painful, exhilarating, exhausting, feeling like you want to die, liberating, strengthening, joyful, healthy.
Thank you. I needed this!
I have attended funerals in Protestant Faith, and the coffin has NO CROSSES, no prayers are offered up for the souls, and the speeches from the pastors & all say
“SHE IS IN HEAVEN NOW!”
thank you father
Excellent sermon.
Bless you Father Michael
God Bless you Fr. Mike❤️🔥✝️🙏
wow! that was amazing thankyou
btw you were glowing
Absolutely Father! 🙏🏼❤️
Great homily🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thanks!
Great Homily. Btw, I laughed out loud to your two gangster brothers joke!
Thank you, Father, for your homily, your passion.
Just a bit too fast for me.
Thanks, Father!
Awesome
Excellent
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻