Fr. Kris Schmidt Homilies · Fr. Kris Schmidt

Lenten Retreat 2026 - Part 2

April 8, 2026·36 min·3 clips

Fr. Schmidt explains why children leave the faith as Christian culture dies, forcing adults to be doubly intentional.

1. Fr. Kris Schmidt leads the second session of a Lenten parish retreat on the theme 'living the gospel' as 'confident witnesses of the faith.' 2. Fr. Schmidt is the parish priest and sole speaker; no guests appear — the format is a 25-30 minute talk followed by 15-20 minutes of guided personal reflection. 3. The session's core question is whether Catholics today live their faith intentionally, or rely on a fading Catholic cultural infrastructure that once made Christian practice the default. 4. Fr. Schmidt cites the early church's attraction of Roman converts: observers noted 'see how they love one another,' particularly in the Christian treatment of women, children, the poor, and the sick — all marginalized groups in the Roman Empire. 5. He introduces a financial budget analogy: just as a person without a budget survives until an unexpected expense exceeds their savings, a passive faith can fail when life presents a crisis that exceeds its depth. 6. Fr. Schmidt argues that 50-60 years ago, Catholic culture provided structural supports — Sunday closures, absence of Sunday morning sports, social expectations around marriage permanence — that guided people toward Christian practice without deliberate effort. 7. He contends that the erosion of this Catholic cultural environment is a key factor in why children and grandchildren of practicing Catholics have left the faith, as what worked in a Catholic-saturated culture is insufficient in a secular one. 8. Introducing the five precepts of the Church — Sunday Mass, annual Communion, annual Confession, fasting and abstinence, and contributing to church needs — he describes them as the bare minimum for being considered a practicing Catholic. 9. He notes that annual Communion was historically the challenge, but today the harder precepts are confession and regular Sunday Mass attendance. 10. Fr. Schmidt traces the decline of lay devotional life in Canada, saying devotions like the rosary, the Sacred Heart, Divine Mercy, and third-order Franciscan commitments were largely abandoned in North America as 'too repetitive' and 'too close to idolatry,' removing the structures that shaped daily Christian life. 11. He calls for a personal 'rule of life' — an intentional framework for how one lives the Christian faith across all areas of daily activity. 12. Moving to the Sermon on the Mount, he challenges listeners on whether faith is expressed outwardly or kept as a private interior matter, quoting the line 'if you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?' 13. He addresses anger and lust, arguing that Jesus moves the standard inward: resentment is 'a poison to your soul,' and lustful thought is equated to adultery in the heart, not merely a lesser concern. 14. On keeping the sacred sacred, Fr. Schmidt uses Mass attire as a practical test: if you don't feel the need to change out of your Mass clothes when you get home for a lazy Sunday, you likely haven't dressed up enough. 15. He notes that the pre-1960 practice of fasting from midnight before Communion required prior-day intentionality; the current one-hour fast before Communion is so easily met it no longer shapes behavior. 16. The Trump example appears when Fr. Schmidt applies 'love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you' as a direct challenge: both those who oppose Trump and those who support him against his opponents likely fail this commandment. 17. He defines meekness using the desert fathers' story of an elder who waits a full year before correcting a young monk for serving meat on Friday, to avoid causing shame — contrasting this with the modern instinct to correct first and reconcile afterward. 18. The talk is conversational and self-aware — Fr. Schmidt acknowledges he is 'giving his Sunday homily' mid-retreat and invites laughter, while maintaining the practical pastoral tone throughout. 19. Catholics who want structured, doctrinally grounded encouragement to deepen their practice — especially those who recognize they've been 'cafeteria Catholics' — will find this directly useful. 20. Listeners outside the Catholic tradition, or those seeking theological debate rather than pastoral exhortation, will likely find the content too parish-specific and devotionally oriented.

As heard by us

A direct retreat talk on living the gospel through disciplined, intentional faith.

The talk treats the Christian life as a practical test of witness: are believers speaking the gospel with confidence and living as steady witnesses, or settling for the minimum?

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want a faith talk about living the gospel boldly and turning belief into intentional practice.

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