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Fr. Mike Schmitz
Author -- 60 posts
Fr. Mike is the director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Duluth. He also serves as the chaplain for the Newman Catholic Campus Ministry at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. You can access Fr. Mike's homilies at umdcatholic.org or on iTunes.
Loneliness After College - Facing the Quarter Life Crisis
Father Mike Schmitz examines the loneliness and depression that often accompanies young adults after graduation. Father...
Straightforward Career and Job Advice
It’s all too common for us to think of our work as either the thing that gives us our identity, or something to be avoided at...
Nunc Coepi: Breaking Agreements
The first step is to stop. Once we realize that we have to repent...that we are called to "change our minds"...the first step...
How to Bring Order to Your Life
When you clean and organize a room, you have to ask one very important question first: what is this room for? Once you can...
How Do I Know If I've Actually Encountered Jesus?
How do you know you've had an encounter with God? Sometimes it's hard to tell, especially if you were raised in the Faith. ...
Sneaky Ways to Be Prideful (and How to Stop)
"I don't... think... I'm prideful...?" Great! If you examine your actions and intentions and you don't detect any obvious...
The Value of Silence
God never ignores us, but sometimes we simply can’t hear him due to all of the distractions in our life. That’s why Fr. Mike...
Do You Want to Be Well?
Jesus asked the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda, “Do you want to be well?” It seems like an obvious question, but—as Fr....
The Real Answer to Why God Allows Suffering
Playing a video game called Injustice helps Fr. Mike explain the real answer to why God allows suffering. In Injustice,...
How to Live This Lent for Others
Lent is about transformation, but that transformation will be incomplete if we make it about ourselves. Instead of aiming for...
Picking a Thing for Lent
Fr. Mike knows the tricks we can play on ourselves when it comes to picking something for Lent. So he gives a straightforward...
Are You Busy Doing the Right Things?
In the spiritual life, it’s difficult to know whether striving to do God’s will or just abiding in him is better. But why can’t...
Struggling to Share the Gospel? Here's What's Missing
This video is an excerpt from, "The 99, A New System for Evangelization." To learn more about this amazing resource, visit:...
How to Share the Gospel (And How Not To)
If you want to know how to share the gospel, it’s important to have the love and courage to not just give answers and...
When God Doesn't Answer Your Prayers
If it feels like God isn't answering your prayers, that can be disheartening. But it can also be devastating. Today, Fr....
The Transgender Question
Father Mike Schmitz discusses the difference between one’s perception of gender and gender reality. Gender stereotypes have...
The True Meaning of Advent
What is the best way to prepare for the season of Advent? You’re free to do what you know will help you prepare for Christmas...
Answering Your Questions About Advent
Mary and Her Immaculate Conception Truly loving Mary will never lessen our faith in God, or take attention away from Christ....
Advent: More Than a Chocolate Calendar
Stepping into Advent What does Advent mean to you? A time to put the lights up, gift shop, and eat chocolate? Or is it...
Why God Loves You
God wants our brokenness. He wants everything that makes us imperfect in the eyes of the world. In this video, Fr. Mike...
Why It's Important to Have Good Friendships
At a glance, you may look at friendship and say it’s not necessary for day-to-day life. It’s just “nice to have.” And the truth...
Do You Present Your True Self to Others?
If we put on a mask when we come to God in prayer, how can he love that fake version of us? In this week’s video from Fr. Mike,...
How to Get Real Friends
How many real friends do you have? Honestly, many people we call friends would probably better qualify as pals or buddies. The...
When You’re Distracted in Prayer
Getting Closer to God When you're first growing in prayer and developing your relationship with Jesus, it is worth the...
The Absolute Necessity of Saying "Thank You"
When was the last time you told God “thank you”? We live in an extremely hectic world, full of distractions,...
How Do We Spend Our Time?
How we spend our time is one of the most valuable decisions we make, because time is one thing we can never get back once it’s...
What's Your Bedtime?
There’s an old saying, “Why put off until tomorrow what you could do today?” Our culture’s "seize-the-day" mentality can be a...
What's a Sign From God (And What Isn't)
Signs are often tricky and fuzzy. They’re not always such a good tool for helping you make a decision. Let’s be honest: we...
Why Self-Care is Important for Loving Others
Jesus challenges us in the Gospels to “love your neighbor as yourself.” But what if you struggle to love yourself? How can we...
Praying As You Can, Not As You Can't
What do you do when you don’t have the desire to pray? Today Fr. Mike encourages and challenges us to ask God to give us...
What is The Purpose of Lent?
So... Why do we practice Lent? What’s the real connection between the Israelites’ forty years in the desert and the...
Preparing For Lent
How can we prepare our hearts to make the most of Lent? In this video, Fr. Mike explains how prayer, fasting, and...
A Theology of Working Out
Let's talk about exercise! Today Fr. Mike challenges us to re-evaluate the way we treat and view our bodies as well as to...
Why Is It So Hard to Forgive Yourself?
When you are struggling to forgive yourself As Catholics, we believe in the forgiveness of our sins through the graces of...
If God is Good, Why Do We Need to Pray?
The age-old question: why do I need to pray?
The "Little Things" Are Actually Most Things
Don’t Let The Important Moments Pass You By Saint Teresa of Calcutta once said, "We cannot all do great things. But we...
All Saints Day Prep
Running the Spiritual Race What does a triathlon have to do with the Communion of Saints? Fr. Mike Schmitz draws...
Why Does God Need Us To Worship Him?
Why Does God Need Us to Worship Him? God is an infinite, perfect, communion of persons, responsible for the intentional...
Is It Ever Okay To Give Up?
Fr. Mike With Ascension Presents You may have seen the movie Rudy. Its eponymous protagonist is a not-so-athletic college...
Family Brings Out The Worst (So God Can Heal It)
Do you ver feel like your worst comes out when you get with your family? Even if you think you’ve gotten more patient, kind,...
Do All Good People Go to Heaven?
Good people go to heaven when they die, right? Well, according to the Gospels, not exactly. Fr. Mike Schmitz points to at...
What Consitutes a Practicing Catholic?
It may be difficult to tell a non-practicing Catholic that he or she can’t receive Communion, but—as Fr. Mike Schmitz proves in...
Reconciling the Body of Christ Amid Racial Division (An Interview with Fr. Josh Johnson)
Fr. Mike Schmitz sits down with Fr. Josh Johnson to discuss racial division in the Church and how Catholics can strive to...
Can I Get a Tattoo
Fr. Mike Schmitz gives us some things to consider before getting a tattoo. If we do choose to place permanent marks on our...
The Significance of Ash Wednesday
They may just be ashes, but Fr. Mike points out that what they represent goes far beyond mere dust of the earth. With a simple...
Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
How can God be good, but allow bad things to happen? Fr. Mike Schmitz tackles one of the toughest questions religious believers...
The Meaning of Suffering
Books upon books have been written about the problem of suffering. Fr. Mike isn’t about to reinvent the wheel in this video,...
Offering Up Our Inconveniences
A great way to make this Lent even better spiritually is to offer up not only something you chose, but also to offer up your...
Fasting Can Change You Forever
Fr. Mike talks about the real reasons Christ tells us to fast. It isn’t just about strengthening our will and showing our love...
4 Reasons For Fasting
Why do we fast? Fr. Mike explains that it’s not about getting more love and attention from God. Fasting is about self-mastery,...
Why do Catholics Genuflect?
By genuflecting before the tabernacle at church, we’re saying at least one of three things with our bodies. Those three things...
Motivation to go to Mass
You may have heard priests or devout Catholics say something like, “If only people knew what was happening at Mass, they’d be...
Mortal vs. Venial Sin
Even though mortal sins are more deadly than venial sins, that doesn’t mean venial sins are harmless. Fr. Mike explains the...
Hell is for Real
It’s a question that arises whenever someone challenges the beliefs of Christianity: If God is all-loving, why does he send...
What Defines You?
Whether it’s our reputation as the smartest person in the class or office or a signature beard that makes us look like Chuck...
Is God the Center of Your Life?
Why God Loves You
God wants our brokenness. He wants everything that makes us imperfect in the eyes of the world. In this video, Fr. Mike Schmitz...
3 Steps of Unceasing Prayer
First Thessalonians 5:17 says to “pray constantly,” but how do we do that? In this video, Fr. Mike Schmitz suggests a...
Is Annulment Just a "Catholic Divorce"?
“I don’t understand the concept of an annulment. It seems like it is just a term for ‘Catholic divorce.’” I am very glad that...
How Do I Discern My Vocation?
I’ve heard that everyone is called by God to some vocation. How do I find my vocation? Fantastic. This is one of my favorite...