Before Fr. Mike Schmitz returns to Athenaeum Center July 2026 for The Courage to Be Saints in the Modern Age, we invite you to revisit his previous visit to our campus: a thoughtful and lively evening in Paradiso on evangelization, entrepreneurship, prayer, and the courage to respond to God’s invitation.

That conversation brought together Fr. Mike Schmitz, Alex Jones of Hallow, and Jamie Baxter of Exodus 90, with Athenaeum Center Associate Director Katie Joy Daufenbach serving as moderator. Together, they reflected on the spiritual and practical dimensions of building Catholic apostolates, forming communities of faith, and remaining open to the work God places before us.

For Athenaeum Center, the evening was a memorable example of the kind of gathering we hope to make possible: one where faith, culture, work, prayer, and the life of the Church can meet in a setting shaped by beauty, hospitality, and serious conversation.

Fr. Mike Schmitz at Athenaeum Center: A Previous Evening in Paradiso

Fr. Mike Schmitz is known to many Catholics through The Bible in a Year, The Catechism in a Year, his work with Ascension, his preaching, and his ministry as chaplain at the University of Minnesota Duluth. But what made this conversation especially meaningful was not only the reach of his public ministry. It was the honesty and simplicity with which he spoke about vocation, faithfulness, and the willingness to say yes.

Throughout the evening, Fr. Mike reflected on how much of his work began not as a carefully designed platform, but as a series of invitations. A student suggested recording his homilies. Others asked him to give talks, make videos, or take on new projects. Again and again, his response was simple: he said yes.

That theme gave the evening its deeper shape. Evangelization was not presented as a branding exercise or a matter of strategy alone. It was presented as a response to a need, a willingness to take the next step, and a trust that God can work through the offering.

Evangelization, Entrepreneurship, and the Life of Faith

Alongside Fr. Mike, Alex Jones and Jamie Baxter brought their own experiences building Hallow and Exodus 90, two Catholic initiatives that have reached people well beyond the walls of a parish or a single institution. Their stories opened up a broader question that remains important for Catholic culture today: What does it mean to build something for the Church with excellence, courage, humility, and dependence on God?

The conversation did not treat entrepreneurship as a substitute for prayer, formation, or spiritual life. In fact, the opposite was true. Some of the most memorable parts of the evening centered on surrender, discernment, failure, and the need to place prayer first.

Again and again, the evening returned to a simple conviction: Catholic work is most fruitful when it remains rooted in prayer, humility, and trust in Christ. That is part of why the conversation still feels so relevant. In a time shaped by noise, pressure, performance, and distraction, Catholics are being asked not only how to preserve the faith, but how to live it, share it, and build from it with integrity.

Why Athenaeum Center Is Welcoming Fr. Mike Schmitz Back

This July, Fr. Mike Schmitz returns to Athenaeum Center for an evening with bestselling author Luke Burgis, featuring keynote talks and a moderated conversation. Together, they will explore identity, character, belonging, virtue, and the courage it takes to live with integrity in the modern world.

It is a natural continuation of themes that were already present the last time Fr. Mike joined us. The July conversation will take up many of the questions that sit at the heart of Catholic formation today: what shapes our desires, what grounds our identity, and how we can belong to others without losing our integrity.

These are not abstract questions. They matter to students, parents, professionals, artists, teachers, clergy, entrepreneurs, and anyone trying to live faithfully in a culture that often pulls the human person in competing directions.

This is the kind of work Athenaeum Center exists to support: gathering people for encounters with beauty and truth that invite reflection, conversation, and renewal. To welcome Fr. Mike back, this time alongside Luke Burgis and again moderated by Athenaeum Center Associate Director Katie Joy Daufenbach, is a privilege and a joy.

Watch the Previous Conversation

Whether you attended Fr. Mike’s previous visit or are encountering it for the first time, we invite you to watch the recording and enter into the spirit of the conversation.

The recording offers a glimpse of the kind of conversation Fr. Mike helped make possible here: generous, serious, joyful, and rooted in the life of faith. As we prepare to welcome him back to Athenaeum Center this July, we are grateful for the opportunity to revisit an evening that reflects so much of what we hope to foster here.