By Tom Tracy / Florida Catholic, OSV News
Father Mike Schmitz walked into the dressing room at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale with his characteristic warm smile and a spring in his step.
The priest from the Midwest and his support team for his current speaking tour had just returned from what they described as a large and lively gathering in Clearwater the night before.
He would find an equally large, sold-out crowd in the main concert hall of the Broward Center before his final performance in Florida, in Jacksonville.
Father Schmitz, one of the most popular and influential priests on social media, was recently in Florida as part of his «Parables» tour, during which he analyzed the parables from the Gospel of Christ and offered new perspectives.
Father Schmitz, a priest of the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, is the director of the diocese’s Ministry for Youth and Young Adults, as well as the chaplain of the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Resounding Success for the «Parábolas» Tour»
The «Parábolas» tour has included stops in nearly two dozen U.S. cities in Arizona, California, Louisiana, and Florida over the past few months. The final scheduled date for this leg of the tour is an international show, set for July 20 in Dublin, although their website indicates that more dates in U.S. cities and other countries will be announced soon.
«In a way, young people are looking for authenticity; it’s incredibly important that a person or a group be who they say they are, and that’s true for all of us, isn’t it?» the priest asked at his event in Fort Lauderdale.
«We do not tolerate hypocrisy; in fact, this has been the case for generations, even throughout the entire history of humanity,» he said. «Even Jesus criticized hypocrites for saying one thing and then being unwilling to follow through on it.».
The 2018 Synod of Bishops on «Youth, Faith, and Vocational Discernment» took place at a time when the Church began to recognize that American Catholic youth increasingly view integrity and authenticity as a lived coherence rather than merely institutional conformity.
Clarity and Empathy in Doctrine
The working document for the synod, based largely on direct consultations with young people, states that young people want an «authentic» and «credible» Church whose leaders «speak in practical terms about controversial issues.» «That’s why I believe we must have integrity—we must be who we say we are,» Father Schmitz said at the event.
But in addition to integrity, the clarity and truthfulness of Catholic doctrine are other frequent topics for Father Schmitz, both online and in person. The human mind is made for truth and the human heart for goodness, he says, but «sometimes the way we present things and the way we say them makes a big difference.».
Regarding the challenges faced by adolescent boys and young adults in particular, Father Schmitz stated that indifference is the underlying problem—or the obstacle—to a less cynical life of faith during adolescence and young adulthood.
«You can tell when you work with young people,» he said, especially when it comes to encouraging young people to become more involved in church life.
A Lack of Purpose and Indifference
«One of the things I've seen more and more—especially among people who are tired of being told they have to meet certain expectations, that they have to do absolutely everything—is that they start to reject that.»
Although both sexes have much in common, the priest added, men may have been created to have a battle to fight—in the sense of a mission to pursue or a calling to live out—while women are more relationship-oriented.
«When we aren’t given a mission, or when it isn’t worth fighting for, that’s what (Harvard professor) Arthur C. Brooks says leaves us feeling a lack of meaning,» said Father Schmitz, noting that this is the main crisis Brooks has identified and that it must be overcome to fill the modern void and attain true joy.
Christian Hope Against Anxiety
Issues related to self-confidence, loneliness, and anxiety among young people continue to be a troubling crisis among today's students.
«On college campuses over the past 10 years, anxiety has surpassed depression as the leading mental health issue facing young people, and anxiety is fear of the future and is rooted in uncertainty,» said Father Schmitz.
The remedy, he added, is a widespread sense of Christian hope. «Christian hope isn’t just about wishing for a certain outcome, but about knowing that I can trust in God and project that trust into the future; I believe that is the answer to anxiety,» said Father Schmitz.
Refuge in the Mystery of Tradition
The return to Catholic tradition and genuine reverence among young people has been another antidote to today’s anxiety. «There is something truly moving about the mystery and the ancestral significance of the Mass—or the practices we carry out as Catholics—that transcends the individual,» said Father Schmitz.
He also addressed the topic of artificial intelligence, which Pope Leo XIV discusses in his historic encyclical «Magnifica Humanitas,» published on May 25. The Pope compares the attempt to build a future with AI that excludes God to the «Tower of Babel» and emphasizes the need to safeguard human dignity, which is «threatened by new forms of dehumanization.».
Humanity vs. Artificial Intelligence
«About a year ago, I was talking with some people from the McGrath Institute for the Life of the Church at the University of Notre Dame,» said Father Schmitz, «and one of the things they pointed out was that every time we invent some kind of technology, it represents an extension of some human capacity—such as our ability to get around in cars. And every time, we’ve limited our ability to use it.».
For example, in today's hypermobile society, people don't walk as much as they used to. AI presents a scenario similar to that of extending human mental capabilities to tackle problems that are both complicated and complex, Father Schmitz said.
«AI does a great job solving complicated problems, but it can't solve (all) complex problems,» said the priest.
«In the near future, I hope we can preserve our humanity by recognizing that there are some questions a computer cannot answer, no matter how advanced the program may be,» said Father Schmitz.
The Fort Lauderdale event drew a diverse audience of young people, young adults, and even older adults who likely know the priest through his popular YouTube videos and his podcast «The Bible in a Year.» Produced by Ascension Press, the podcast consists of 365 daily episodes that read through the entire Bible. In each episode, Father Schmitz reads and discusses biblical passages, adding his own commentary and prayers.
The «Parables» tour is being presented as part of a fundraising initiative to support the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth. About 700 students and faculty members are gathering to participate in the service led by Father Schmitz.
All funds raised at each event go toward financing the construction of a brand-new church and a dedicated space for students to gather, pray, study, and grow in their faith on campus.
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