Father Mike Schmitz brings Parables Tour to Fort Worth
Father Mike Schmitz during the Parables Tour. (Courtesy Photo/Ascension Press)
FORT WORTH — A priest who is internet famous will soon visit Texas in real life.
Father Mike Schmitz, the renowned Catholic priest, podcaster, speaker and author, is visiting a dozen cities nationwide with the Parables Tour, which ends in Fort Worth at Dickies Arena on Oct. 23.
Ahead of Fr. Schmitz’s Parables Tour event in Fort Worth, the Minnesota priest shared his thoughts on parables, campus ministry, and the importance of community with the faithful of the Diocese of Fort Worth.
The full interview can be found on “Lights, Catholic, Action!” — the podcast of the Diocese of Fort Worth — available on YouTube and podcast channels. [embed here]
Unlike his popular Bible-in-a-Year and Catechism-in-a-Year podcasts, Fr. Schmitz said the Parables Tour enables the faithful community to gather in person and to ask questions.
The evening comprises a 45-minute talk with Fr. Schmitz, followed by a 45-minute question-and-answer session. “I put a lot of effort into the talk, at least I think I do, but it’s the Q&A part at the end … that’s been a really big deal,” Fr. Schmitz said.
Proceeds from the tour help build a Catholic chapel and student center at University of Minnesota Duluth, where Fr. Schmitz has served as chaplain for more than 20 years.
Selecting four parables to highlight from the 40 parables Jesus shares in the Gospels was a challenge, he explained.
“What are the important and urgent parables that moved my heart? These are four parables that have changed my life,” he said.
“There’s a point to every parable. The message [of the parables selected] needs to be both urgent and important ¬— this is something people need to know, and they need to know this now,” said the priest, who added that parables reveal the heart of God.
The Parables Tour, Fr. Schmitz suggested, is also welcoming and relevant to non-practicing Catholics and even non-Christians.
“We try to be as open and inviting into the Christian life as possible,” he said. “October 23 is going to be hopefully well done enough that your non-practicing or non-religious friends would say, ‘This was a good next step for me. God had something for me.’”
Fr. Schmitz anticipates everyone who attends, from avid subscribers to his Ascension Presents YouTube videos to the Catholic curious, will leave “with more hope than less. One of my big hopes is that, October 23, people leave excited to continue to let the Lord speak, and excited — eager — to be saints. That’s ultimately what it is,” he said.
Tickets for the event are available at Ticketmaster.com