Hi, this is Father Mike Schmitz. I just want to take a moment before this homily to thank you and

to recognize

The fact that if you have been listening to these homilies whether this is your first one ever or maybe you've been listening for years

It's just it means something for me. It means that you're part of this community the community we have here on the campus at the University of Minnesota Duluth has been an incredible gift to me and

It's provided me an opportunity to just be in so many people's lives over the course of the last this is almost I think my 17th year over the last 17 years

It's been a gift but also it's been a gift to be able to record these homilies and to share them online and to recognize that

Not only are there former students who listen to these homilies, but also people that have never been to Duluth or people who have never been to Minnesota

Are part of this this community of people listening to these homilies

Hopefully they've been a blessing to you. They've been a blessing a gift for me to be able to

To pray about and to work on and to be able to to speak and to share with you all

So I just want to say thank you. This November 18th this week is our gift to the Mac States the one day a year that

We have chosen in the last 17 years have chosen to ask people for help

Ministry to college students is an incredible gift. It's also a challenge, of course

But it's an incredible gift and one of the many challenges is that the people that we're serving don't often have enough funds on their own to

Help us keep serving them and so we rely upon the generosity of people like you people who have been blessed by our ministry and say

I believe in this I believe in reaching out to college students

I believe in in the power of Jesus Christ to change their lives and so if that

Convicts you if that's something you want to be part of this

November 18th this week, but actually it's all of November. We have give to max day. It's basically give to max month

We have someone who's been an incredibly incredibly generous who has offered

$250,000 matching gift this month

Particularly on November 18th. That means basically if you give a dollar it's worth two dollars if you give five dollars

...