Viral Bible Podcaster Fr. Mike Schmitz Was a Rock Star at March for Life

YouTube and podcast sensation Fr. Mike Schmitz, who has gone viral with his "Bible in a Year" podcast, received a rock star's welcome at the 2022 March for Life.

The pro-life crowd cheered wildly as he spoke passionately about the right to life for the unborn and why the March for Life matters. 

"Every child matters. Every woman matters. Every person matters," he said. "And no matter what this does, no matter what this changes, your being here, standing, your being here, walking, it changes you, and you matter." 

Within 48 hours of his 2021 New Year's Day podcast launch, subscriptions to "The Bible in a Year" exploded on Apple's chart. 

"Hi, I'm Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to The Bible in a Year podcast where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture."

Fr. Schmitz, also known as YouTube's favorite priest, encourages listeners to follow along as the Word of God is read aloud.

With more than 1.3 million downloads, Schmitz said he is overwhelmed by the response.

"There are not only a bunch of powerful stories in the Bible but there's also the story of the Bible," explained Schmitz. "I think that's probably what people are realizing – that they need maybe more than they have in the past."

That truth, said Schmitz, is prompting people from all walks of life and denominations to consider what is most important in life.

"I think there's something that the last year has revealed that we all should have always known that we avoided – that we live in a world of uncertainty and we live in a world that is not secure. Then everything that has happened in our world happens and then people are like, 'Wait, what do I hold onto that actually is permanent? What do I hold onto that is actually eternal?'" he added.

One thing people want to hold onto is fellowship of some kind.

"People are hungry for connection too," Lifeway Christian Resources CEO Ben Mandrell told CBN News. "Not just studying the Bible on their own. 'Even if I can't get into my Sunday school class or my small group, how can I get online and connect with people around spiritual things?'"

It is a connection that Schmitz is helping to make as he offers followers the hope that never fades.

"The Lord, He breathes into us when we read His scriptures, so my hope is that at the end of this – even actually during it – that people realize that 'I'm looking at the chaos in the world differently. I'm looking at the chaos in my life differently. I'm looking at God not as this distant tyrant but as a Father who knows my name, who loves me," said Schmitz. "That's my prayer from all of this."

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