Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
How Should Catholics Respond to the Coronavirus Pandemic?
19 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike gives us some advice about how we should respond to the coronavirus pandemic. He begins wit...
Offering Up Your Inconveniences
12 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A great way to make this Lent even better spiritually is to offer up not only something you chose, b...
How to Start Strong and Stay Strong
05 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Starting strong is easy, but staying strong—perseverance—is a mark of holiness. It’s easy to b...
How to Live This Lent for Others
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Lent is about transformation, but that transformation will be incomplete if we make it about ourselv...
Why Isn’t Ash Wednesday a Holy Day of Obligation?
20 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Why is Ash Wednesday not a holy day of obligation? A holy day is a day that has been consecrated for...
When Your Desires and God’s Plans Are Different
13 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Just because you desire something deeply doesn’t mean it’s God’s plans for you. Sometimes our ...
Even More Questions from the Internet about Priests
06 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike follows up on his episode “Answering the Internet’s Most Asked Questions about Priests”...
BONUS: Telling the Story of God’s Love
04 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike speaks about evangelization, new media, and telling the story of God’s love at St. Charl...
Answering the Internet’s Most Asked Questions About Priests
30 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike is at the library of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, and he’s answering th...
Is Swearing a Sin?
23 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike comments on whether swearing, as in using vulgar language, is a sin. He gives three times w...
Why Is Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain Wrong?
16 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
There is a beauty in the fact that God shares his very name with us. He gives us his name so that we...
How Catholics Should Connect with Others
09 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
There’s justice and prudence and temperance and fortitude, faith, and hope, and love. But do you r...
Hope in the New Year
02 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
With each new year come new hopes, new plans, and new opportunities. Fr. Mike points out that this o...
Having Joy in Uncertainty
26 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The only things we can be certain about are the things that have already happened to us in the past,...
The Difference Between Jealousy and Envy
19 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
If you’re wondering about the difference between jealousy and envy, Fr. Mike clears up the confusi...
When You Don't Feel Like It
12 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Sometimes we have to do stuff when we don’t feel like it, but finding the motivation to do those t...
The True Meaning of Advent
05 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What is the best way to prepare for the season of Advent? You’re free to do what you know will hel...
How to Be a Steward
28 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Which is better, being an owner or a steward? Fr. Mike reminds us of the Parable of the Talents (Mat...
Battling Dryness in Prayer
21 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Last week Fr. Mike Schmitz talked about why prayer is so hard in his battle of prayer video, and thi...
Why Is Prayer So Hard?
14 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Growing up Fr. Mike thought prayer should be like soaking in a hot tub. He didn’t understand why i...
The Pressure of Public Conversion
07 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike comments on Kanye West’s conversion. He celebrates Kanye’s conversion, but hesitates to...
God Is Going to Interrupt You
31 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike uses the life of St. Maximillian Kolbe as an example of how God is going to interrupt us if...
Does God Want Me to Be Spontaneous?
24 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
God may want you to be spontaneous, but he also wants you to be disciplined. How does that work? Wel...
How We Use the Word Should
17 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
We may be too hard on ourselves when considering how we use the word “should.” Of course, we sho...
Is Curiosity a Vice?
10 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Knowledge is always good, but St. Thomas Aquinas said curiosity—or the fickle pursuit of unnecessa...
What You Can Control
03 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
If you’re in any kind of situation in your life where you feel you are limited in what you can con...
How to Make Decisions Together
26 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike says the key to making decisions together is distinguishing between preferences and princip...
Reading the "Signs" from God
19 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike offers the antidote of common sense for the anxiety that often comes after making a big dec...
How to Handle Spiritual Setbacks
12 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
After reading a book on will power, Fr. Mike discovered an important lesson when it comes to how we ...
Responding to 'Expressing Your Opinion' Video
05 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike responds to last week’s episode, “Expressing Your Opinions”, where he said when we sp...
Expressing Your Opinion?
29 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike says there are four things you should ask yourself before expressing your opinion: why, wha...
Why Catholics Use Scripture and Tradition
22 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Catholics use Scripture and Tradition because Scripture tells us to use both. St. Paul wrote to the ...
Can We Joke about God?
15 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
If we can’t use the Lord’s name in vain, can we joke about God? Fr. Mike makes the case that the...
5 Things the Church Can Learn from Crossfit
08 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike points out five things the Church can learn from one of the latest fitness crazes, Crossfit...
Not Everything in the Bible is Morally Good
01 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Not every protagonist in the Bible makes the morally good choice. The Bible is not a collection of s...
Does God Make Us with Flaws?
25 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike answers that God does not make us with flaws, but we are all born with the unfortunate effe...
Signs That Your Relationship Is Falling Apart, Part 2
18 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike offers a follow-up to his video on Dr. John Gottman’s “four horsemen of the apocalypse”...
Why Catholics Have a Pope
11 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike goes all the way back to Genesis to explain why Catholics have a pope. God established the ...
In the World, but Not of It
04 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
We hear the phrase “in the world but not of it” quite often. But how do we live that out in our ...
Trying to Keep God at a Distance?
27 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
When it comes to trying to control God and keep him at a distance in our lives, there are at least t...
Why Is It So Hard to Make Friends?
20 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike is honest about why it’s so hard for us to make friends. A necessity for friendship is ti...
Understanding Our Capacity for Evil
13 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike asks if the bad things you think you don’t have the capacity to do are actually just thin...
How Do We Spend Our Time?
06 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
How we spend our time is one of the most valuable decisions we make, because time is one thing we ca...
Catholic Teaching on IVF and Contraception Explained
30 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
For many people, the Catholic Church’s teaching on in vitro fertilization and contraception is a h...
Fitting In at Church
23 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Perhaps you’ve felt the temptation to be a cookie-cutter Catholic, one who does all the Catholic t...
Feeling Sorry for Yourself
16 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What good does feeling sorry for yourself do? Fr. Mike points out a hard truth in saying—while you...
Old Testament God vs. New Testament God
09 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Many people say God acted much differently in the Old Testament than he did in the New Testament. Th...
How Does Purification Work?
02 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
God wants you to be holy, so he is going to set you on a path of purification if you choose to do hi...
Do You Want to Be Well?
25 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Jesus asked the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda, “Do you want to be well?” It seems like an...
The Role of Hope in Holy Week
18 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
There are many great ways to describe hope, but Fr. Mike defines it as “trust in another extended ...
How to Pick up Your Cross
11 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike’s words on taking up our crosses may come as a relief to many of us. He rejects the “ha...
Do I Have a Good Conscience?
04 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Jiminy Cricket said “Always let your conscience be your guide,” but how do I know if I have a go...
Why Catholics Call Mary Their Mother
28 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
When Catholics call Mary their mother, it may seem like they are taking away some of the respect due...
Signs that Your Relationship Is Falling Apart
21 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike discusses four signs that your relationship is in danger of falling apart, especially when ...
What NOT to Do During a Breakup
14 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike is asked a lot about what to do when your life is thrown off course by a breakup. In a pre...
The Purpose of Lent
07 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What does the Israelites’ forty years in the desert tell us about the purpose of Lent? Sure, they ...
Picking a Thing for Lent
28 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike knows the tricks we can play on ourselves when it comes to picking something for Lent. So h...
Getting Involved in Parish Life
21 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The value of a new parishioner introducing him or herself to parish life and just asking the priest,...
The Meaning of "I Love You"
14 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike breaks down the real definition of love, which is willing the good of the other for the oth...
How Does God Restore Us?
07 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike explains how God restores our brokenness, especially when it comes to our bodies. So often,...
You Are a Burden
31 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Yes, you are a burden. We are all burdens, including Fr. Mike, but we are burdens worth carrying. Ma...
What is Stopping You from Becoming a Saint?
24 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
It may seem too difficult, or even unrealistic, to be a saint today. The reality is though, a saint ...
Am I the Exception to God's Rule?
17 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
God has his commandments and everything, but aren’t there times when there are exceptions to God’...
Why is it a Mortal Sin? Skipping Mass and Communion without Confession
10 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Why is skipping mass a mortal sin? And when we do go to mass, why do we need to receive communion in...
Data-Driven Discernment
03 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Who would have thought algebra and data could be the key to discernment? Fr. Mike explains that the...
A Fr. Mike Christmas Special
27 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike explains why "It's a Wonderful Life" is his favorite Christmas movie and how it can help us...
Do All Good People go to Heaven?
20 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Good people go to heaven when they die, right? Well, according to the Gospels, not exactly. Fr. Mike...
Why We Say 'Memento Mori'
13 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
You may have heard the phrase memento mori (remember your death)—especially if you hang out with t...
What Does it Mean to Be Blessed?
06 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
To be blessed means to holy, and to be holy means to be set apart for God. Fr. Mike reminds us of ou...
The Heart of Sin
29 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A sin is not simply breaking the rules. It’s when we say in our hearts, “God, I know what you wa...
Giving Thanks is Necessary
22 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike says giving thanks is not only good and polite. It’s not just a thoughtful gesture. Givin...
Is it Ever OK to Deny Christ?
15 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike answers some hard questions from his #askfrmike inquirers, starting with a question about t...
Why We Need Boundaries
08 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
We all have those people in our lives whom we love, but just ask too much of us. Establishing limita...
Don't Have Any Friends?
01 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
We use the term “friend” loosely, introducing casual acquaintances as “My friends Lucy and Joh...
Reminder: God Loves You
25 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Father Mike Schmitz forgot to say one thing in his video “We’re Not Just Cosmic Accidents” –...
Building Healthy Relationships
18 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Fr. Mike shares three things that will help you build healthy relationships. If a couple wants to ge...
Farmer, Priest, and Martyr
11 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Blessed Father Stanley Rother was a farmer, priest, and martyr from Oklahoma who found a way to give...
We Are Not Cosmic Accidents
04 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Without our dignity that comes from God, we are just cosmic accidents. This is a humbling realizatio...
Why Joy is More Christian Than Happiness
27 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Happiness is circumstantial. In fact, the word has the same root as the word “happenstance”. And...
When Mass Feels like Going Through the Motions
20 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The Karate Kid didn’t know waxing a car would teach him karate, but Miyagi knew. In a similar way ...
Do Catholics Have to Respect Everyone?
14 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Sometimes it can be hard to respect the character of a person you really don’t like. That’s no p...
Faith is Not Something You Can Lose
06 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Sure, there are times when it’s just hard to believe what the Catholic Faith tells us, but when so...
Repentance and Church Reform
30 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Anyone can and should condemn the sins of the priests and cardinals that have been all over the news...
The Pennsylvania Sex Abuse Scandal
23 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Anti-Fragile Christianity
16 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Is Courtesy Required for Catholics?
09 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
For Those Without a Clear Vocation
02 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Developing a Clear Vision in Life
27 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Becoming Flexible to Accept God's Will
19 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What Boredom Can Teach Us
12 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The wisdom he shares here is akin to that of many successful, insightful writers such as Cal Newport...
Freedom and Its Consequences
05 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The Church and Immigration
28 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Consistency Will Make You Holy
21 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Why Non-Catholics Can’t Receive Communion
14 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Catholics, Alcohol, and Drinking
07 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
How to be a Good Disciple of Christ
31 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Can a Catholic Marry a Non-Catholic?
25 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Religion Doesn't Cause as Many Wars as You Think
18 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Do You Present Your True Self to Others?
14 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Dealing with Stress
09 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset