Father Mike Schmitz has shot videos, done podcasts and spoken at conferences, but now he is embarking on a new adventure, a four-city live tour.
Ascension Presents announced in August that the popular priest-podcaster will embark on a weeklong live tour visiting four Midwest cities: Columbus, Ohio; Akron, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; and St. Louis, Missouri, between October 21-24.
Father Schmitz will be presenting his talk, “The Hour That Will Change Your Life,” which will focus on the sacrament of the Eucharist and the importance of developing a sacramental life.
“The content is one of my favorite things to talk about, which is the Eucharist,” Father Schmitz shared in an interview with Our Sunday Visitor. “I love talking about the Eucharist. I hope that people will show up and bring their families and friends who would really be blessed to know Jesus in the Eucharist and how much he loves him.”
A relational experience
Father Schmitz has spoken at a variety of events before, from high school Steubenville Conferences to college-oriented SEEK conferences and the Amazing Parish conference for parish leaders. This tour, however, provides a unique opportunity for people to take an evening out of their daily lives to hear about the Eucharist.
“The FOCUS SEEK or Steubenville conferences are very, very good; they are incredible, and they are multiple days, which I think is necessary because they are like a retreat and sometimes you need to go away to really let the Lord do something within your heart,” Father Schmitz said. “This is a one-night opportunity, in the middle of daily life, so that no matter where you are in your spiritual journey, it is an opportunity to just go away, hear a talk, and hopefully grow in the Faith.”
After his talk, Father Mike will partake in a live question-and-answer session. He shared that the Q&A is the most exciting prospect of the tour, as he will be able to answer questions that the crowd cares about.
“The unique thing for me is that there is a talk and then a Q&A to follow,” Father Schmitz said. “In the Q&A, hopefully we will be able to dig into the questions that people are mostly interested in.”
Father Schmitz believes that the Q&A will help to create a more relational experience rather than a transactional encounter that often feeds a type of “Catholic celebrity culture.”
“One thing I have noticed with the celebrity culture is that if an interaction becomes transactional, like I am at an event or out in public and somebody stops me and asks for a picture, that seems kind of transactional, and I do not think that is a good thing at all,” Father Schmitz said. “But when there is something that is not transactional but more relational, the experience will be more powerful.”
These relational encounters come through learning people’s stories. Often, people will stop him and share how one of his products has helped them to encounter God. When Father Schmitz encounters these moments, he always takes time to ask follow-up questions to understand their story and always walks away remembering that God is the real star.
God is the real star
“To hear, ‘Father Mike, you were a part of that story,’ that’s beautiful, but in that moment, the star or celebrity is God,” Father Mike said. “If somebody is going to say my life has been changed because of some work that I have been a part of, what we are really acknowledging is that through technology and the work we do …, God is reaching and finding people, and I am so grateful that God is making good things happen.”
Following the announcement, Father Schmitz and leaders at Ascension have seen the Lord at work. An Ascension spokesperson shared with Our Sunday Visitor that many Catholics have responded with positive feedback to the announcement.
“We hope to add more (tour) dates in the future,” Ascension shared with Our Sunday Visitor. “We’ve heard from many enthusiastic Catholics who would love to see a Father Mike tour pass through their local area.”
With this live tour, Father Mike hopes to meet people and share the Gospel, but also hear how God has worked in their lives. He says the key to the tour’s success will be preaching that God is always the real star.
“I hope these events give us the opportunity to meet each other, both that I get to meet the people that come, and they can meet other attendees,” Father Mike said. “I also hope that we all will have the grace to be able to say yes, we are all humans, we are all sinners, and we are all hopefully trying to be saints, and that we never forget who the real star is — God.”
