Fr. Mike Schmitz on what many get wrong about God, prayer

his Catholic podcast topped the charts in America   we're sitting down with father Mike  Schmitz this is dive deep [Music]   so many of you have listened to father Mike or  gone to one of his talks he's a priest of the   Diocese of Duluth and chaplain for the Newman  Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth   he's a national speaker offers weekly homilies  on iTunes has appeared in videos for Ascension   presents which have millions of views and is  the host of the popular podcast the Bible in   a year and the catechism in a year both of which  have topped the podcast charts in America with   tens of millions of views on January 5th father  Mike was at the C Conference in St Louis where we   sat down with him to discuss a variety of  faith-based topics father Mike thanks for   coming on dive deep how are you fantastic thanks  for asking oh we are so pumped to have you here   um one thing I want to get into you of course  travel the the country speaking to so many   people what's the most compelling thing about  the Catholic faith that you think Catholics   either don't know or under appreciate wow that's  a great question I think that it depends on the   person obviously not obviously I think huh the  individual is very important and so uh I know   people who have said like the Eucharist it was  something that I never knew I never realized the   importance of the Eucharist until this moment  where everything clicked everything changed   others who will say that oh yeah I was so confused  and it was the church's Authority and I realized   wait wait a second all Christianity comes from  the Catholic church that hears Jesus founded   this and when I got the piece of authority it  was it was everything or people have Devotion   to our lady like all those these big pillar type  things um ultimately if there is something that   I keep going back to is that regardless of what  someone knows about the church or about the Lord the most basic truth I think most Christians  or Catholics are raised with is this truth   that they hear many many times that God loves you  and I think that probably maybe one of the one of   the pain points is most Catholics don't actually  believe that God loves them they think God merely   tolerates them and it's in and I have seen the  difference the difference between a person who   is like no I've heard that God loves me but really  what I what I really think is he's like he's okay   with my existence but you know if I'm lost to  him forever it doesn't really matter to him or   if I'm close to him it doesn't really matter I  don't really matter to him as opposed to no God   is actually I mean the cross means something the  cross is there's a reason and the reason isn't   because God tolerates you it's because he actually  loves you and loves you in a way that you can you   can never live up to and and to let that truth  break into a person's heart it changes everything   and I think that if there's anything that every  single Catholic needs to know is that is yeah   and I know you know so many Catholics right now  are Falling Away Catholics I know statistics have   it around 30 percent of people actually going  to mass you hear about the elevator pitch yeah   if you're in an elevator you got 30 seconds with  someone or you know we all have family members who   have probably Fallen away or they go to the Mast  only on Christmas and Easter what's your advice   what do we say to folks if we had that 30 seconds  how do we convince them to come back to the faith   who are just lukewarm about it yeah it's a great  question I I would um I would first say maybe ask   the question of like why why um for you like if  you're not going to mass how come um there's then   there's an element where I can think like well  here's the here's the elevator elevator pitch that   is the most compelling argument and it could be I  just I don't know I'm kind of lazy and that that   really is I've talked to people who are like how  can you have Amanda Master how can you ever since   lockdowns how come we haven't gone back to church  I don't know I just kind of got out of the Habit   like that's just you know that's the only reason  there's no Deep thing of like I hate the church or   or I don't think it's true it's just I kind of got  out of the habit and so my first question I think   I would ask is has anyone asked you has anyone  invited you back or if you if you're not going to   mass how come and and then and then we can start  start talking because someone could say I've never   seen the point oh okay well let's talk about that  then or it could be something along the lines of   I don't really think that uh the Catholic church  is right on X Y and Z like okay look we can talk   about that but I think if we just kind of treat  people like a problem as opposed to like people   treat people like persons and not problems that  that they actually are names not just numbers and   I think part of that means asking them what's your  experience you know Bishop Aaron has a whole thing   about uh the four main reasons why people have  young people have said they're stopped going to   mass and some of them are in argument against you  know or not in an argument but I don't like the   church's teaching on say some kind of aspect of  morality others it's just because well I stopped   going and no one asked me back and that that's  a pretty wide gamut and a pretty wide range of   reasons why people aren't there now you're  doing so many Endeavors right now of course   you're podcasting Bible New Year catechism in a  year you're on essential presents and of course   you're running a Newman Center all this sort of  stuff you got lots of things going on um you know   even for for us parents and people who are who  are trying to build up the kingdom of God like   you okay maybe we don't have the platform you you  of course do but we're trying everything we can uh   to to build up the kingdom with our children and  in our community with our jobs volunteering where   have you experienced attack of the evil one on  what you've been doing and what's your advice for   us lay Catholics because as we try to raise our  children the right way and try to do you know the   good and build up the kingdom we're also facing  attacks as well yeah absolutely I would say one   of the one of the I don't know if this is a secret  I don't know if this is just how I've done it is   almost everything that I'm involved with is simply  a response it is is not like I have this great   idea we're going to do X Y and Z it's going to  solve all the problems it's more along the lines   of this is I think this is needed for so the only  thing that uh I would say like Ascension presents   those videos a woman named Maria Mitchell came  to me and she said I work for Ascension and uh   we put out a lot of content on DVDs and CDs and  some other things like this but young people live   on YouTube would you be willing to sit down and  record you know five to eight minute episodes just   about the aspects of the Catholic faith like oh  yeah that's necessary I think this is important   um the only thing that was my idea was the Bible  and that is even my idea I mean that's the Bible   in a year reading plans existed for a long  long time and podcasts have existed for a long   long time it was just a matter of oh what I've  heard is what I've realized because we've lost   we've there's a there's a great book called from  Christendom to Apostolic Mission out of University   of Mary in in Bismarck North Dakota and one of  the one of the things they said is we we have lost   our Biblical imagination we've lost our Biblical  worldview and that's been a phrase that has popped   into my head so many times for the last maybe 10  15 years in in various contexts some from Catholic   context from Christian context but just this sense  of a loss of a biblical worldview realizing wait   a second we have these things called podcasts we  have a we have the Great Adventure Bible timeline   we could do this in a way that would present a  as people pressed play and listened they wouldn't   just I know the story better it would be shaping  their lens that they look at through which they   look at everything and so that's one of those  things so going back to the original question   is what do we do as individuals well we just I  think we look up and we see a need and see look   inside and then say can I feel that need and so if  a person's a parent okay look up what's the need   here with my kids what's the need with my need  with my spouse then look inside say okay can I   feel that need and if I don't have the resources  inside me the great thing is again the the church   is making so much content right now that there's  someone you can say hey here's a video about that   or here's a podcast about that or here's a book  about this and sometimes you know it comes goes   down easier if it comes from someone who's not  dad or someone who's not Mom have you felt the   evil one in many ways like if you feel like you're  under attack sometimes good question so I have to   pay attention to one of the ways one of the ways  that I've recognized is through my emotions and   so I recognize if I get short if I get um crispy  we'll say it like that if I get a little bit uh   yeah angry so one of my principal sins younger  in my younger years was just this this kind of I   would say overwhelming anger and uh and I'm not  an angry person and so I would always recognize   like oh wow this is a just an area of Brokenness  and I can't change it like I can't I remember like   praying so fervently at some point that God just  I hate being so angry all the time I just hurt   people around me I don't have them treating them  how what I'm saying I hate it so much and he's   done a work he's done a really powerful work that  that's all his grace and one of the ways that I   recognize that uh here's the evil one getting  in is when I find myself getting to that place   of anger getting that place of Rage and if I can  trace it back I think oh wait a second this is not   this is not accurate to the situation and then  that's almost always an indication of this is   an attack in this moment and again wait Satan  can work right is he doesn't always have this   external influence sometimes he just works with  the Brokenness that we have inside ourselves and   that's I would say that's the principal way if  I find myself getting stressed I then get angry   and then I have to calm down and say wait oh I  mentioned this to some students yesterday I was   driving to a children's Mass I was filling in for  one of our local priests and hey can you take the   student mat or the the school Mass like sure and  on the way there I was getting so mad I'm like I   don't even like kids why am I even going to this  student Mass this school mask why do they have   this and I said wait a second I love kids what am  I doing I'm like oh I'm nervous I haven't done a   Schoolmaster a children's mass for 10 years and I  don't know if I'll do okay and it was one of those   moments where that's one of the ways the evil one  gets in is just this I'm uncomfortable I don't   feel confident in this I feel kind of incompetent  in this area and because of that it comes out in   these areas of or it comes out in this way of  anger and that is I thank the Lord because I   recognize when that happens okay something else  is going on and I identified it and be able to   say okay Lord here's my heart I'm not mad at kids  I love kids I'm really happy to help this priest   I can't wait to get there but I'm nervous it's  it's that it's that check for us as even as as   lay Catholics when we when we sense that evil one  you got to have that check and that pause yeah uh   in that moment um now I want to get into uh kind  of back to our to our faith and people who have   fallen away I think one thing is when it comes to  prayer people pray for things and then you know   quote God doesn't answer their prayers at least  the way they they wanted to and that's what leads   people away from the faith what's your advice to  folks who are who are trying to you know persevere   but it seems like prayer runs dry or it just feels  like God's leaving them hanging yeah yeah that you   know speaking of the catechism there is the fourth  pillar of the catechism is on prayer and one of   the one of the sections or subsections is called  the Battle of prayer and it's one it's one of the   hands down my favorite sections in the entire  catechism and it talks about this it says that   the witness of the lives of the old figures  in the Old Testament New Testament the great   Saints even Jesus Christ himself all testified  to this that prayer is a battle that it's a gift   of Grace but it's also a determined response on  our part that it's difficult it's a battle and   so the recognition of it's hard to persevere in  prayer well yeah in fact that term faithfulness   means ultimately steadfastness It ultimately  means perseverance in so many ways I mean it   means other things as well but it does mean  this I'm standing fast it's that image of Moses   as his hands are extended and he has  Aaron and her holding up his arms as   as Joshua is battling the malachites you  have that sense of as long as he stood there   the Israelites would win but if he didn't have  that prayer of his his hands drooped down the   amalekites had the better of the battle and  there's something in there that points to us   and says Okay God is hearing God is God is  working God is active but he's also calling   Upon Our participation our cooperation with him in  that intercession and so there's this recognition   of Cape battle is going to be or prayer is  going to be a battle and part of that battle   is in the catechism masks a battle against two  he says well first again first against ourselves   because we can find a thousand other things  to do rather than pray then a battle against   The Wiles of the tempter who does everything he  can to keep us from Union with the Lord because   you and I are made for Union with God the evil one  hates that so he does everything he can to keep us   from going to prayer so I have the inclination to  go to pray even have the idea they planned with a   prayer and then that's when oh this distraction  and that distraction and that distraction even   if I show up what happens well there's dryness  there's distraction there's that question of like   why am I not heard and that's the next question  you had asked and again the catechism even   addresses this one of the paragraphs that says why  do we complain about being heard about not being   heard why do we complain about not being heard in  prayer and the response is just remarkable because   the response was written by a man who while he was  writing that fourth pillar of the catechism he was   in a basement in Beirut as it was being bombed  out and so like he wasn't a person in this really   comfortable you know five-star hotel or home where  he's just oh prayer is a battle he's like no he   was literally in a battle as he's writing about  this why do we complain about not being heard and   he said in the first case this should strike us as  being remarkable that when we're praising God or   thanking him we're not particularly concerned  about whether or not he hears our prayers   and it's just I pause that and like wait a second  you're right if I need something from God like I'm   on my knees and my hands are folded in the right  way like I'm just like hey dear Lord I'm saying   all the right words and I need you to hear me  but if I'm thanking God I'm kind of like oh   yeah by the way God thank you for that I just I'm  so casual about it when it comes to thinking and   appraising him I'm not particularly concerned  about whether or not he hears my prayers but   he goes on to say we demand to see the results  of our prayers when we're asking for something   and he says that reveals our image of God is God  a father who cares for us and loves us and will   give us only good things or is God basically our  um ATM he's our divine you know slot machine or   vending machine where we go up to him because  we need something and that and I think that's a   key a couple more questions for you really quick  um what's one thing you've either learned about   the Bible or the catechism I mean people think oh  you're an expert but I'm as you go through this or   you're like holy cow I didn't I didn't know about  that man I that's a great question because there   were some things about the Bible that I thought  like no I I the biggest surprise in the Bible were   the prophets because I've read I think I've read  all the prophetic but you know all the other books   you of course have read all those The Narrative  books and those other but the prophetic books   I've read them but I've read them in a kind of  scattered way so all throughout Advent we always   read the prophet Isaiah but I've never read Isaiah  chapter 1 verse one to the end of the book of   prophet Isaiah and and also along the way trying  to figure out what is he saying what is he what   exactly is he communicating but here I'm recording  a podcast in I'm going to read Isaiah read Baruch   read whoever and at the end of this I'm gonna  have to tell people who are listening here's   what he just meant so I had to like take the  time to really dig in and say okay when Jeremiah   is writing in chapter 23 and 24 what is he saying  when he talks about you know the this Prophet from   Ephraim what's Ephraim again you know and so that  was really helpful for me because I needed to at   some point become I guess uh an expert for the day  and so I'd be able to say oh by the way this is   what this means that was that was huge for me to  know the prophets and to realize that the prophets   were their their speech was not esoteric wasn't  this this kind of super vague and and kind of uh   nebulous but they were speaking to a particular  people at a particular time at the then and that   those words also spoke to me excellent we'll get  you out on this one um what gives you hope about   the Catholic Church you know I think us lay  Catholics we go to mass and maybe you don't   see as many families there as you want or you  know Catholic schools we don't see maybe as much   participation but you're out and about what gives  you hope about the future wow I would say well a   couple things one right now we're at seek 23. so  Focus fellowship with Catholic University students   puts on this this year yearly event they're  17 000 Catholic college students at this who   who are encountering the Lord Jesus and it's not  just about this week for them it is they're here   because on a daily basis there are missionaries  on their campuses who are investing in them and   walking with them and showing them okay here's how  you say yes to Jesus right here right now in your   life so that that's happened I see that every  day another is when I when I listen or read the   letters and emails from people who doing the Bible  in here are now doing the catechism in here who   have said yeah I was I'm 76 years old I left the  Catholic Church 50 years ago and uh but I listened   to the Bible last year and my life has changed  and I went to confession the first time in 50   years and or others saying I I committed atheist  I started listening to the Bible I wasn't sure   why but here I am and I now believe and and I see  that hear that all the time every I mean there's   not a day that goes by that I don't open up my  email there's another email from someone saying   I was completely lost and here I am God has found  me and um those are those are incredible signs   of hope you know here with focus and then just uh  yeah people just wanting to press play wanting to   hear what God has to say to them I think that's  really important because even just you know you   touch that one Soul yeah and if you touch One Soul  that's all that's that's worth it it changes the   world yeah father Mike thanks so much for coming  on dive deep thank you for having me you got it   this has been dive deep for more podcasts head  over to dio.org podcast and if you want to give   to support this mission go to dial.org give until  next time we'll see you right here on dive deep foreign

Channel: Diocese of Springfield in Illinois

Views: 78,066

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Id: LzOxZJhIB7c

Length: 17min 11sec (1031 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 02 2023