He brought Christ’s love to a nearly full Philadelphia theater with the knowledge of a Biblical scholar, the energy of someone on too many cups of coffee, the wit of Billy Crystal, and the compassionate heart of a shepherd who would leave 99 sheep to find the lost one.
Father Mike Schmitz took the stage Tuesday night, May 20 at the Academy of Music and delivered more than two hours of wisdom, laughter, tears, and an exploration of Jesus’ favorite teaching tool: parables, and their meaning in God’s plan to write in the stories of our lives.
“These are not like (God’s), ‘Chicken soup for the soul,’” Father Schmitz said.
“This is Jesus, God Himself saying, ‘I need you to know this.’ Here’s God saying, ‘Okay, here’s what I need you to know about who you are.’ Here’s God saying, ‘Here’s what I need you to know about how I see you.’”
The priest’s visit was part of his Parables tour, with proceeds benefiting construction of a new church and student center at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he serves as Newman Center chaplain.
Father Schmitz is also host of America’s top-ranked religion podcast, “The Bible in a Year,” which countless Catholics use to study the Bible individually or in groups..
Fr. Mike Schmitz inspires a packed audience at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music on May 20. (Jay Sorgi)
He unpacked a few of the 30-some parables that he says Jesus offers in the Gospels.
“Why does Jesus use parables? Stories have the ability to get past our brains and right to our heart. Think about any movie. Think about the last movie that made you cry,” Father Schmitz said before morphing into an impersonation of Forrest Gump delivering tearful moments in the movie.
“Your brain actually chemically changes to hear a story differently. (Jesus) wants to get past our brains to our hearts, but also He wants to change our brains because of the power of story.”
The well-known parable of the lost sheep gives just one look at how he illuminated the lessons of God’s love.
“Jesus is spending time with the bad kids and the church kids are getting mad, saying, ‘He spends all his time with them,’ so to them he addressed this parable,” said Father Schmitz.
“’What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the 99 in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?’”
He then reminded the audience that this isn’t exactly shepherd-endorsed strategy for keeping a flock of sheep together.
“If you’re going to take shepherding advice from Jesus, you’re going to lose a lot of sheep. That’s just what happens,” said Father Schmitz to a cacophony of laughter.
“The point is deeper. The point is, ‘How does God see you?’” he added.
“What Jesus is saying is, ‘When you’re lost, even if it’s your fault, you are relentlessly pursued.’ When you’re found, He puts you on his shoulders with great joy. He calls together His friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I found my lost sheep.’”
Father Schmitz further shed light on four other Gospel parables, mixing stories about Philadelphia’s own Kobe Bryant and his training regimen, studies about needless anxiety, and his inability to compete in Olympic sports like luge.
“Whoosh, whoosh, and then you’re like, lie down. You guys, I am not good enough to lie down at the Olympic level,” he joked.
He taught about the power of God’s love through stories such as the willingness of Blessed Matthew Talbot to pivot from losing all his money in alcohol to giving away all his riches to people in need.
“This man took his pursuit for alcohol, that he was a slave to, and he said, ‘No actually, I want to be a slave to Jesus, which is to live in freedom, and I want to pursue Him with everything I am,’” said Father Schmitz.
He ended the parable-telling portion of his talk with a tear-evoking story of a young girl he knew who died of cancer at 15, but who won at life by helping people see Christ work through and beyond her pain.
That theme came deeply full circle during a half-hour “Q-and-A” session where he addressed audience questions, one of which included a couple’s struggles that make it too painful for them to pray.
Father Schmitz traveled through his own tears in that moment and ministered directly to the couple about the wounds of life that God doesn’t directly inflict on us but allows to happen. He revealed the story of their struggle as a parable of God’s love.
“Don’t run from pain in prayer,” he said while openly crying. “The same God who loves you invites you to trust Him to enter into the pain. Our wounds are what God will use to get deeper to your heart.”
That scene showed how everyone’s life is a parable, and God is writing the story in love.
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