About Fr. Mike Schmitz
I love carrots and celery…sprouts and kale chips.
This is not true. Steak. Steak is often overlooked as a snack in most people’s lives. I think we need to get back to our roots here.
I don’t have any hobbies or hidden talents.
I rarely hide any talents. Pretty much, if I can do it, I do.
I loved college and I loved the seminary.
In college, I had a class on Shakespeare taught by a monk who was so moved by the beauty of the words that he wept during every class. It was incredible and drew me to a new love of beauty in the English language.
In seminary, Dr. Christopher Thompson taught a class in Moral Theology that I still reflect on to this day.
I love the school year with students, but I like summers too.
My favorite summer day is waking up at my parents’ place on the lake. Get in prayer and say Mass. Get out for a run. Drink some coffee with my mom and dad, siblings, and in-laws. Eat bacon. Get outside in a kayak or paddle board. Wake surfing with the family. Lunch. Bags (AKA “Cornhole”). “Snooze Cruise” with the nieces and nephews. Beer and pizza at Zorba’s.
I’ve traveled as far away as the Philippines and Australia.
What if I could live anywhere? I go back and forth between one of those cabins on stilts in Tahiti and a small place somewhere in Israel. So I think I’ll stay in Duluth.
My favorite thing about being a priest is everything connected to the Sacraments.
I love offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I love preaching. I love hearing confessions. There is nothing that I know of that can compare with getting to be a part of someone’s Great Story, the story that God is calling His children to live.
I hope that what we do here at Newman sticks with students after they graduate.
I hope that they will live the story that God really wants for their lives. Too many people live too small of a story.
If I could do any Olympic sport I would do the decathlon.
I mean, if you win that one, you get the title of “World’s Greatest Athlete”. And it’s official. And whenever people talk about how awesome whatever athlete or sport is and you get to just pull out your gold medal from under your shirt (because of course you would wear it everywhere. I mean, you are the World’s Greatest Athlete for crying out loud) and say, “Oh that’s cool. But, you know: WGA”.