Host of Ascension Press' popular 'Bible in a Year' podcast talks Theology of the Body during monthly 'Live at the Basilica' event
ROYAL OAK — As Fr. Mike Schmitz began his talk at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, his prayer was a familiar one: “You have made us for love because You have made us in Your image and likeness.”
Fr. Schmitz, director of youth and young adult ministries for the Diocese of Duluth, Minn., but more popularly known as the host of Ascension Press’ No. 1 hit podcast, “The Bible in a Year,” with more than 250 million downloads, spoke before a packed congregation June 7 during the basilica’s monthly “Live at the Basilica” speaker series.
Arguably the best-known Catholic priest in the country, Fr. Schmitz's appearance filled the split-level, octagon-shaped church an hour before the event began. As guests eagerly waited, congregants prayed the rosary and praised God through hymns led by the basilica’s choir.
“We know that we can trust in You,” Fr. Schmitz said as he prayed with the congregants. “We know that You made each one of us for a purpose. We know in the depths of our hearts You have made us for love because You have made us in Your image and likeness and You, oh God, are love.”
Those words echoed the theme of Fr. Schmitz's presentation on Pope St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, which he offered along with his colleague, Nick Davidson.
Many of the audience participants said they were familiar with Fr. Schmitz and were eager to learn from his presentation.
Alondra Leyda, a Catholic teen attending the event, explained she knew little about Theology of the Body but said Fr. Schmidt’s talks had inspired her to learn more about her faith.
“A lot of his talks have impacted my life greatly and they are part of the reason why I keep being part of my church and keep offering my services,” Leyda told Detroit Catholic.
Primarily drawing from St. John Paul II’s teachings, Fr. Schmitz and Davidson focused on answering two questions: “What does it actually mean to be human?” and “What will make me ultimately happy?”
“We are living in a time in our culture when there [are] a lot of questions of what it means to be a human being,” Fr. Schmitz said. Citing various religions, Fr. Schmitz demonstrated that the Catholic faith is the only religion that teaches man is a composite of soul and body.
“You need to remember in the beginning, before anything else, God is good,” Fr. Schmitz said. “He made this world good. He made this world on purpose.”
“I don’t know if you ever paused to note this,” Fr. Schmitz added, “(but) nowhere ever in history has there been any philosophy, any worldview, any religion that has ever claimed that every human being is made in God’s image and likeness. Never.”
“He made you on purpose,” Fr. Schmitz stressed. “Stop and think about this. You didn’t have to exist. That fact that you do exist means that God wanted you. God wants you to exist. He did not have to love you. He made you so that He could. He made you on purpose.”
The purpose God gave Adam in the Garden of Eden is a key for all mankind throughout history, Fr. Schmitz said.
“He puts Adam in the garden and he gives him a purpose and that’s the key for all of us,” Fr. Schmitz said. “We can live on purpose or we can live off purpose.”
God created the heavens and the earth, all the animals and sea creatures, but it wasn’t until God made Eve that Adam saw clearly the reason for his own creation, Fr. Schmitz said.
“When Adam sees Eve, he realizes … I’ve been made on purpose,” Fr. Schmitz said. “You have been made on purpose and part of this purpose is in our love: we actually get to live out the very reason why we are made.”
After concluding the night with prayer, Fr. Schmitz and Davidson received a standing ovation from the capacity congregation.
“I thought it was very, very good,” said audience member Katy Angelosanto. “This one was much more in depth with a little more philosophy, a little more understanding of theology,”
Angelosanto said she wished the basilica could sponsor a whole series on Theology of the Body because, “There is so much more to this.”
Another audience member, Shannon, who did not give her last name, said she appreciated that Fr. Schmitz's talk made St. John Paul II’s teaching accessible because “if you try to read JPII, it is hefty stuff.”
Fr. Schmitz had a similar effect on many others. The priest’s accessible style was one of the reasons Lenny Kassad and Sam Rassam from Holy Martyrs Chaldean Catholic Church in Sterling Heights chose to attend this month's speaker series event.
“I was like, ‘Oh I have to go see him,’ because I know Fr. Mike,” Kassad said. “I watch a lot of his YouTube videos. I’ve watched some of the ‘Bible in a Year’ podcast. He’s one of my favorite priests and he is a very smart speaker, so I just really wanted to see him today.”
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