Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Lent Is a Process—Not an Event
03 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Lent has begun and with it our season of penance and fasting. What are you planning on giving up or ...
When Attending Mass Virtually Just Doesn’t Cut It
24 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
"It’s time to stop watching and start worshiping." - Fr. Mike Today, Fr. Mike continues part two o...
God Ain’t Your Grandma (Making God an Idol)
17 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What does God want from us? What does God deserve from us given that he's our creator? Today, Fr. Mi...
Why Get Married If It Doesn't Exist in Heaven?
10 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Why should you consider getting married, if as Jesus states in Matthew 22:30; "at the resurrection, ...
If God is Good, Why Do We Need to Pray?
03 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Today, Fr. Mike delves into this age old question.
What Makes Mary and Joseph's Marriage Different?
27 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
As we know, an essential part of the Sacrament of Marriage is entering into the sexual embrace. And ...
Kids: A Right? A Curse? or a Gift?
20 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
For probably the first time in human history, the common perception of children as a gift has been u...
What Can You Do When Another Won't Forgive?
13 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
You said an unkind word or reacted rashly. You feel terrible because it was directed at someone you ...
Forgiveness is Not the Same as Reconciliation
06 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Have you ever heard the expression, ‘To err is human; to forgive, divine?’ Surprisingly this wel...
Surrendering the Past and Future to Jesus' Lordship and Dominion
30 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Can you believe it's almost a new year!? Are you reflecting on both the suffering and gifts of the p...
What Did Jesus Actually Look Like?
23 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Have you ever gone to a carnival or fair and had a caricature drawn of yourself? Did it seem to high...
What You Do with Your Body Matters (Ascension Cafe, WMF 2015)
16 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
In this throwback talk from the 2015 World Meeting of Families, Fr. Mike introduces us to the Theolo...
Understanding the Theology of the Immaculate Conception
09 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Happy Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary! But wait... what is the Imm...
The Secret about Sex and Holiness
02 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
As St. Thomas Aquinas writes: "As often as a husband and wife enter into the sexual embrace in a sta...
How To Receive a Gift Well (in 4 Steps)
25 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Do you know how to receive a gift? It's not as easy as it sounds. It might sound like gift-giving is...
Why Do We Need to Rest from Work on Sundays?
19 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
You might have heard that Sunday, as the Sabbath, is a "day of rest." But is that just, like, an hon...
The “Little Things” Are Actually Most Things
11 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Saint Teresa of Calcutta once said, "We cannot all do great things. But we can do small things with ...
Why Is It So Hard to Forgive Yourself?
04 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
As Catholics, we believe in the forgiveness of our sins through the graces of the Sacrament of Recon...
Do I Have to Go to Mass? Sunday Obligation Explained
28 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Why do we go to Mass every Sunday? Is it because of what we “get out of it”? Is it the way it ma...
Why Do Jews and Christians Have Different Sabbath Days?
21 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Have you ever wondered why we celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday? Have you asked yourself, what does Je...
Why is Faith a Virtue? Do We Need Faith?
14 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Have you heard the phrase, "never doubt in the darkness what you knew was true in the light?" Do you...
Why St Thérèse and Her “Little Way” Will Change Your Life
07 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
How is it that a young French girl who entered the convent at 15 years old and died at only 24 years...
Who Is Influencing You? And Why?
30 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Do you find that you give others too much influence over your mood and emotions? Do you find yoursel...
Turning Annoyances into Blessings
23 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Sometimes the smallest things annoy us the most. Minor inconveniences can easily make us forget to b...
What’s the Point of Religion?
16 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What does God really want from us? When you look at every religion, Christian or otherwise, you’ll...
The Price of Forgiveness
09 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Sometimes saying sorry just isn’t enough. Chances are that you can remember a time you hurt someon...
When You’re Discouraged
02 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
It’s not unusual to experience discouragement on the road to holiness, especially when we live in ...
Is Holy Communion a Right?
26 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Last week, we talked about Holy Communion being a gift and not a right owed to us by God. This may s...
Can Someone Be Denied Holy Communion?
19 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Sometimes we can be tricked into thinking that the Holy Communion we receive at Mass every Sunday is...
How to Lose Everything and Still Hope
12 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Many of us have been in situations where we’ve risked losing. It usually happens during childhood,...
Why God Allows Us to Learn from Our Mistakes
29 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
God is quick to forgive, and he’s given us the gift of confession so we can return to a relationsh...
Why It’s Important to Have Good Friendships
22 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
At a glance, you may look at friendship and say it’s not necessary for day-to-day life. It’s jus...
What to Do When You Get Interrupted
15 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
An interruption is anything that takes our attention away from our primary task. We may think our da...
Why Forgiven Sins Still Have Consequences
08 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
We can be 100% confident that when we confess our sins, we receive complete and total forgiveness fr...
The Dangers of Complaining
01 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
St. Paul tells us, “Do everything without grumbling,” but even the best-intentioned Christians c...
How to See God in Everything, Everyday (and How to Respond)
24 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
“It is good to guard the secret of a king, but gloriously to reveal the works of God, and with fit...
Why Christians Shouldn't Cancel People
17 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
How should a Christian react to “cancel culture”? Chances are that if you’ve been on social me...
Going to Confession for the First Time in a Long Time
10 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Learn more about the Pocket Guide to the Sacrament of Reconciliation with Fr. Mike Schmitz and Fr. J...
Are You Your Own Worst Critic?
03 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Why do we keep critics in our lives? You probably have someone in your life that seems to be on the ...
What Is Real Truth?
27 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What is truth? On this channel, we speak a lot about the teachings of the Church and how our society...
What Does Surrender Actually Look Like?
20 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What does it mean to say that Jesus is the Lord of your life? We hear this phrase a lot in the Churc...
What Should We Talk to God About? Everything.
13 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Should we really talk to God about everything? There are a lot of different kinds of prayers (liturg...
How to Love Your Difficult Parents
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The Ten Commandments tell us to “honor thy mother and father”, but what does that really look li...
When Your S.O. Has a Different Vocation Than You
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
“You are not an extra in someone else’s vocation story.” We all know breakups are tough, and m...
How to Question Your Faith Well
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The Catholic Church loves questions, but are we asking them for the right reasons? One of our Doctor...
The Key to a Happy Death
15 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The key to a happy death is not a long and fulfilled life—it’s a life of gratitude for the time ...
When You Have to Go It Alone
08 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The Wednesday of Holy Week is known to many as “Spy Wednesday”, but it’s also known as the “...
Pray Like Jesus Prayed This Holy Week
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
During Holy Week, as we contemplate the last hours of Jesus’ life, we get an intimate look at how ...
Turn Your “No, But” into a “Yes, And”
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
When was the last time you said “yes” to God? In improv, there’s a practice where participants...
Blaming vs. Taking Responsibility
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
“Blame keeps us stuck...Taking responsibility gives us the opportunity to move forward.” In our ...
Why Did God Take On Our Humanity?
11 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Every Christmas we celebrate the fact that Jesus took on our humanity and became one of us. But have...
Does God Need Us to Worship Him?
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
God is an infinite, perfect, communion of persons, responsible for the intentional creation of every...
Setting Boundaries for Yourself and Others
25 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
We often receive the behavior we are willing to tolerate, but what does that mean for our daily inte...
Why Love Is More than a Feeling
18 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What if we were to make all our decisions solely based on how we felt in the moment? You may be fa...
A Martyr for the Faith vs. a Victim of Circumstance
11 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What’s the difference between a victim and a martyr? A victim is always described as dying “of”...
Learning Detachment from Your Stuff
04 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Sometimes the things that we own end up owning us. Detachment prevents this from happening. You may ...
How to Keep Your Faith Alive and Growing
28 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Why is it easier to fuel our faith at retreats and conferences? Can we have this same fire at home? ...
Are You Called to Be a Missionary?
21 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Are you called to be a missionary? You may be one already! Saint Francis Xavier and Saint Therese of...
“Is This a Sin?”
14 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
If you begin to sin but don’t follow all the way through… is it still a sin? It depends. We’re...
What It Truly Means to Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin
07 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What do you think of when you hear the phrase, “Love the sinner, hate the sin”? To some, maybe i...
Struggle Is Necessary
31 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
It may sound counterintuitive, but choosing the harder path may make our life easier. Here’s why: ...
If You Think This Year Was Supposed to Be Different
25 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
We might have had different plans for this year, but were they really supposed to happen? We all won...
The Most Important Part of Any Conversation
17 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
It’s those last five minutes of conversation with someone that makes them feel like a number or li...
Answering Your Questions About Mary and Her Immaculate Conception
10 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Truly loving Mary will never lessen our faith in God, or take attention away from Christ. Here’s w...
When You Don’t Understand the Bible
03 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Oftentimes in Christian media we see what Fr. Mike dubs a “Hallmark” version of following Christ...
The Absolute Necessity of Saying "Thank You"
26 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
When was the last time you told God “thank you”? We live in an extremely hectic world, full of d...
Let Yourself Wrestle with God
19 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Have you ever felt like God really wanted you to do something, but you just weren’t ready for it? ...
Living Life Through the Lens of Scripture
13 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
We all see the world through our own lens. The media we partake of—the news we read, the podcasts ...
The Virtue That Takes Virtue to the Next Level
05 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike introduces us to the virtue that makes other virtues excellent: magnanimity. If someone ask...
Regret vs. Repentance
29 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike talks about how to regret things we’ve done without staying stuck in the past. Have you e...
Why Married Couples Must Be Open to Children
22 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Do you have any “expectations” when you think about marriage? A lot of us probably think of marr...
Why You Can’t Put Your Faith in People
15 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Have you ever been shaken by a scandal in the Church? It’s hard not to have been, especially amids...
Why Are We So Divided Right Now?
08 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Is it just us, or does the world seem a bit divided right now? Human beings were not only created wi...
Which Is Better? The Rosary vs. The Chaplet
01 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
“What if I don’t have time to pray both The Rosary and The Divine Mercy Chaplet?” Deciding how...
Is It Ever Okay to Give Up?
24 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
You may have seen the movie Rudy. Its eponymous protagonist is a not-so-athletic college football pl...
The Real Answer to Why God Allows Suffering
10 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Playing a video game called Injustice helps Fr. Mike explain the real answer to why God allows suffe...
What It’s Really Like to Be a Catholic Speaker
03 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Many people ask Fr. Mike, “How do you become a Catholic speaker?” The quick answer is “Get bap...
How to Get Real Friends
27 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
How many real friends do you have? Honestly, many people we call friends would probably better quali...
If You’re Not Feeling Loved
20 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
If you’re not feeling loved by someone you love, take courage in the story of Leah in Genesis. Jac...
Freedom from the Fear of Death
13 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Wearing masks, not wearing masks, and all the mixed emotions that have come with the coronavirus rev...
Believing in a God Who Allows Evil
06 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
It may sound foolish to believe in a God who allows evil, tragedy, suffering, and disasters. But God...
Why Are Some People So Annoying?
30 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
We all have pet peeves. We all get annoyed by things that really don’t matter much, whether it’s...
How Certain Is Your Faith?
23 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Is your faith certain enough to stand up against the doubts and different ideas out there? Fr. Mike ...
Who You Are vs. Who You’re Called to Be
16 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike recalls the speed math tests he took in second and third grade. He finished them in decent ...
How to Share the Gospel (and How Not To)
09 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
If you want to know how to share the gospel, it’s important to have the love and courage to not ju...
Striving vs. Abiding
02 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
In the spiritual life, it’s difficult to know whether striving to do God’s will or just abiding ...
Finding Balance in Your Walk with Jesus
25 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Rigidity and laxity are difficult obstacles to avoid when trying to find balance in your faith life....
Make Small Sacrifices for a Big Change
18 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Making small sacrifices is not just for Lent, because sacrifices and penance are necessary. As Chris...
Family: Your Shortcut to Holiness
11 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike explains how being at home with our family is one of God’s favorite ways to make us holy—...
Special Episode: Reconciling the Body of Christ (with Fr. Josh Johnson)
04 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
In today’s special podcast, Fr. Mike Schmitz sits down with Fr. Josh Johnson to discuss racial div...
How to Practice the Presence of God
28 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Throughout the Gospels Jesus says, “Remain in me” or “abide in me,” which—in simplified te...
The Benefit of the Doubt
21 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
When someone says something hurtful to you, it is wise to give them the benefit of the doubt. What d...
How Do You Pray with the Bible?
14 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
You know you should be praying. But do you ever wish someone would show you how? Fr. Mike starts by ...
The Christian Solution to Vanity
07 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Vanity is not what many people think it is. It can come in many forms, and is not necessarily an inf...
4 Essentials for Every Catholic
30 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
In a previous episode, Fr. Mike said that all Catholics grow in the same “soil” together, but th...
How to Deal with Your Partner’s Sexual Sin
23 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike talks about how to navigate discussions with your partner about sexual sin—whether it’s...
Have You Mastered the Basics of Your Faith?
16 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike makes the case that, before you claim a certain “style” in practicing the faith, you ha...
Healing from the Wound of Sin
09 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike explains how even partial healing from the wound of sin is still worth the effort. Don’t ...
Does God Ever Lead Us into Temptation?
02 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
When we pray “lead us not into temptation”, it may seem like God has the capacity to tempt us. B...
God’s Ways Are Not Our Ways
26 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike describes exactly how God works with us, even though God’s ways are not our ways. It’s ...