On Nov. 16, Father Mike Schmitz will bring Jesus' parables to one of New York's most historic venues — Radio City Music Hall.
Schmitz has been traveling around the world on his Parables tour, which focuses on bringing the Gospel message to audiences. The tour focuses on providing impactful messages by using several of Jesus' parables taught in the New Testament.
"I've never been inside Radio City Music Hall and I'm so excited to be able to be there, but when it comes down to it, it's out there: the people in the 12th row! There are people there to hear the word of God. You can see their faces, and there's something about that to realize, OK, God wants them. He brought them here. To be entrusted with a bit of that. There's an exciting part of it, but it's also humbling," Schmitz told "The Good Newsroom."
He pointed out that while on tour he asks venues to leave the house lights up higher than usual so that the connection between preacher and those gathered can be maintained.
"I need to see their faces. I want to see them because it makes a connection," he explained.
When discussing the reasoning behind choosing to focus on Jesus' parables, Schmitz said: "God says, 'No, this is what I need you to know, not just here's a nice little story, but here's what I need you to know.' I was just so convicted by that. This is both urgent and important. That was the main driver [for the tour]."
The tour is part of Schmitz's Seeds of Faith Campaign, which is raising funds for a new Newman Center to be built on the University of Minnesota, Duluth, (UMD) campus, where Schmitz is the chaplain at the Newman Center.
In an interview with EWTN News in 2025, the priest explained that while he has loved working in both parish and campus settings, each is unique. While college kids can tend to be "fickle" in their faith, he said, they also have a beautiful openness to change that he didn't experience at a parish.
"College ministry is unique because you have this openness … It is that place where so many people are asking the big questions in life and we just see so many conversions happening when we're there," he said.
The Newman Center at UMD has seen a flourishing of vocations. According to Bulldog Catholic, the name of the university's campus ministry, 400 couples have gone through marriage preparation classes, eight women have entered religious life, and over 16 men have entered seminary, with seven ordained as priests.
"One of my favorite things to do is marriage prep; it just really brings me so much life," Schmitz said. "I just love even being able to present to couples who are discerning marriage like, no you're actually discerning how God is asking you, calling you, to be his disciple in your life. That's the big question. That's one of the reasons why we get married in churches is because this is a sacrament of discipleship."
As for those who have discerned religious life, Schmitz called it "a great grace" to walk with these individuals in their vocations.
For others working in campus ministry, Schmitz gave three suggestions to grow involvement: Offer daily Mass and confession, start engaging Bible studies, and host retreats often.
He emphasized that these events in which people are brought together, such as Bible studies and retreats, help grow involvement because "as Catholics we worship in rows, but we grow in circles."
Tickets can be purchased for the Parables tour at Radio City Music Hall here.
