Back in the Spring of 2020, when the churches were closed because of the pandemic and I launched my career as a televangelist (broadcasting a video Mass each Sunday from Assumption), I just assumed that by now I would be a multi-millionaire living a comfortable retirement in a condo on the shores of Lake Tahoe. I'm not sure what went wrong. But in the video climate that has expanded greatly since 2020, some Catholic priests have made it to celebrity status, perhaps equaling that of Bishop Sheen whom I wrote about last week. One of them is a priest of the Diocese of Duluth, Fr. Mike Schmitz (a native of Oak Park), who is launching a "Parables Tour" next Month. He will be speaking live at major venues like Radio City Music Hall and at the 3,600 seat Chicago Theatre down the street. Chicago tickets range from $142 to $657. I have no idea if Fr. Schmitz has become wealthy from all this, but I do know that his messages have benefitted many people, and that his two series of podcasts, The Bible in a Year and The Catechism in a Year, have opened up the Scriptures and Church Teaching to lots of Catholics in a way that Sunday Mass never could.

In one of his video messages earlier this year, Fr. Schmitz referenced a sin which we may not think much about but which Jesus took seriously-the sin of scandal. Our Catholic Catechism defines scandal as "an attitude or behavior that leads others to sin." When we think about scandal, we often think of something very public-like the clergy sex abuse scandal that rocked the church twenty-five years ago or the never-ending stories of politicians enriching themselves at public expense. But Fr. Schmitz reminds us that scandal does not have to make the headlines to be real. Sometimes it can be very subtle. He gives the example of having made a negative comment about a groom at whose wedding he had just officiated. The other party, who also knew the groom, responded with a negative comment of his own. "This is the sin of scandal. By gossiping about this groom, I opened the door for someone else to join in the gossip."

All this struck me as quite pertinent to our time. To the great number of people who only know about Christians or Catholics from the media or from their most extreme spokespersons, the impression we give of a disciple of Christ in a post-Christian age can have a significant impact. In last week's daily Mass scriptures, we read from St. Paul 's First Letter to the Corinthians. Paul reprimands the Christian community at Corinth for eating meat sacrificed to idols-not because the Christians themselves believed in these idols, but because it gave the impression to non-believers and to those new to the faith that we did believe in idols. This might lead hose just beginning their faith journey to believe that it was acceptable to worship the God of Jesus and other gods too. The Christians were a very small minority in Corinth, and Paul was reminding them that people were watching them and observing their behavior.

Much has been made of the importance of evangelization in the Renew My Church process in Chicago. The truth is that people are more likely to be attracted to the faith by the dedication to Christ that they see in people they know than by slick campaigns or by shrill speakers. What do people see in our behavior at work or at the grocery store or at a condo board meeting? Do people see any joy in our life because we know Christ? Do people see us as completely focused on career and financial advancement; or do they see us as charitable people, concerned about people in need beyond our own family and friends? Do they see a priest living in acondo on Lake Tahoe and wonder how he is serving the poor Christ? The point is not to make a show of our religiosity, as some of the Pharisees did in Jesus ' time. Over time, who we really are and what really matters will show itself. Am I offering the world an alternative to what everybody else is doing, or am I just going along with everything-and then going to Mass too!

Fr. Joe

PS What do Assumption Church and the Chicago Theatre have in common? The ceiling murals were painted by the same artist, Louis Grell (1887-1960). Grell, a native of Council Bluffs, IA, taught for many years at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He lived and worked in Tree Stu