My faith journey has taken me to some interesting and unexpected places. One such place was a close friend’s living room, where I recently had the honor of participating in a small Mass officiated by Father Mike Schmitz.
For those who do not know of him, Father Mike runs the Catholic Campus Ministry at the University of Minnesota Duluth, located on the brisk, northerly shores of Lake Superior. That’s his day job.
When he is not ministering to students, however, Father Mike hosts the “Bible in One Year” podcast, which has ranked in the top 10 podcasts worldwide for three years straight while amassing over 350 million downloads in that span!
That is more listeners than there are people living in the United States!
While he might be the most attractive man I have ever met—and yes, that sounds weird since he is a priest—what struck me most was how down-to-earth he is, how easily he relates to others, and how wholly integrated his faith is into his life. His remarks during and after Mass conveyed total humility; he brushed off any queries about his celebrity status and consistently returned the discussion to us in the room and to his students back in Minnesota.
It’s rare to meet a person as kind and empathetic as Father Mike, let alone one who bears a household name.
I pray I will have another encounter with him before too long, and I pray more people in leadership roles and positions of fame try to emulate Father Mike’s divinely human style.
With peace and gratitude,
Bill