Hey, remember I talking to a mom afterwards and she was like, I was so mad when you had that

challenge because I'm like, I'm a mom. I have kids. I have a husband. She said she did it and it was

her best advent she'd ever experienced. For me, it was the best advent I ever experienced. And so what I'm trying to do is I'm bringing this into Lent. Hi. My name is Father Mike Schmitz and this is essentially presents so often the stuff that we end up doing for Lent is just like how do

exercise discipline.

Now, I love exercising discipline. I think exercising discipline is a thing that we all need to

learn how to do. And when I say we all, I mean me all. But I think one of the things we all need

is when it comes to my relationship with God, to answer the question, what will move the needle

more or most? What will actually improve that relationship?

Recently, a brother priest had shared this with me. We were in our priest fraternity group and he said,

the goal is not perfection. The goal is union. I was like, oh my gosh, that's it. So often though,

as Catholics, as we enter into Len or any kind of season of spiritual lives, our goal is perfection. My goal is, okay, I'm going to eliminate this vice. I'm going to grow in this virtue. Now, again, that's a good thing. That's not the goal. The goal is not perfection. The goal is union. And so I've looked at my life and said, okay, what was the best thing I've ever, ever done for Lent or for Advent?

It hasn't in the past necessarily been giving up coffee for Lent or giving up Sweetener

my coffee for Lent or giving up social media or whatever. It came down to one, I mean,

oh, those are all good. They've all been good things for me. But one Advent, a number of years

ago, I challenged everyone

who was joining us on the Sunday homilies during Advent. That for 29 days, because Advent that year

was 29 days. For 29 days, taking 29 minutes every single day and just parking ourselves

in the presence of Jesus and being there in silence. Now, you don't have to go into a chapel, but you could. I think it's good. You can pick the number 29. You can pick the number 21, but I think it has to be over 20. Now, here's where I've gone wrong. Where I've gone wrong is I brought in materials. Where I've gone wrong is I brought in something as amazing as like the Bible in the year because I do listen to that at 1.5 or two times me. I brought in things like The Chosen. I have my iPad there and I'm talking to Jesus. Is he right here truly present in the Eucharist? And here he is on the screen and the person of Jonathan Rumi. Those are all good things. But what moves the needle more than anything is silence. What moves the needle more than anything is, it's not like, okay, now I'm

going to write my task list for tomorrow morning, but it's going into the chapel at the end of

the day, no headphones, no work, no book, no materials, just silence. This has been the key for me, and I want to share with you.

This is my invitation for every one of us.

I still do the Bible in the year.

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