Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz
Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz

08/09/26 In the Storm

August 8, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In 1895, Joshua Slocum left Boston Harbor on a 37-foot oyster boat to become the first person to sail solo around the world. It took him three years and two months. He later described what it was like to be alone in the middle of the ocean at night, seeing lightning illuminate waves "as tall as mountains." Father Mike Schmitz uses this image to frame a homily on the Gospel of Matthew 14:22–33—the story of Peter walking on water—and the First Reading about Elijah listening for God in a cave. The central question is simple and hard: What do you do when you are already in the storm, not watching it from inside?

God speaks in the storm, but you have to listen differently

Father Mike draws a contrast between two kinds of storms. There are massive, unique tragedies that hit a few times in a lifetime. But most of our storms are the daily kind: busyness, stress, chaos. In both, the instinct is to want to stop or turn back. The first lesson from Elijah is that God's voice is not louder than the storm. Elijah did not hear God in the whirlwind or earthquake, but in a "still small voice." That means the listener has to be attentive in a way that is counterintuitive when everything is noisy.

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:30) **Gospel Reading: Matthew 14:22-33** - Jesus walks on water, Peter sinks, and the disciples declare him the Son of God.
  • 2 (02:03) **Introduction: Joshua Slocum's Solo Voyage** - Fr. Mike opens with the story of the first person to sail solo around the world, highlighting the terror of being in a real storm.
  • 3 (04:51) **Two Men in Storms: Elijah and Peter** - The readings present two figures—Elijah in a cave and Peter on the sea—who teach us what to do when we are actually in the storm.
  • 4 (06:18) **First Step: Listening in the Storm** - Like Elijah, we must listen attentively for God's voice, even when life is chaotic.
  • 5 (11:58) **A Man's Battle with Mental Illness** - A personal story illustrates how to recognize God's truth in the midst of an internal storm.
  • 6 (14:26) **Second Step: Taking a Step in the Storm** - Peter's story shows that we must not stop or turn around when the storm hits, especially when we are there because God asked us to be.
  • 7 (16:12) **St. Ignatius's Rule for Storms** - A key principle from St. Ignatius of Loyola on how to navigate desolation and difficulty.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Father Mike Schmitz

Show Notes

Homily from the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

God still speaks in storms. God's children can still step in storms.

Life is filled with storms. From massive tragedies to normal, everyday battles, every person will regularly find ourselves in the midst of storms. We can often forget that God still speaks in the midst of storms. And God's children are not orphan in the midst of storms. We can still act in the midst of the storm....and discover that saints are made in storms.

Mass Readings from August 9, 2026: 1 Kings 19:9, 11-13 Psalm 85:9, 10-14Romans 9:1-5

Matthew 14:22-33

Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz

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