Elise McBride, a sixth-grade religion teacher at St. Francis of Assisi school in Ohio, wanted to find a way to help her students understand what Catholics are celebrating on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The common misconception, even among adult Catholics, is that this Feast Day is about the conception of Jesus. However, the Immaculate Conception, which is a Holy Day of Obligation in the United States, actually celebrates the immaculate conception of the Blessed Mother. Mrs. McBride found a few of Fr. Mike Schmitz’s videos to get this point across to her students.
The Immaculate Conception Explained | Fr. Mike Schmitz
Understanding the Theology of the Immaculate Conception | Fr. Mike Schmitz
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception With Fr. Mike Schmitz
“Every Marian doctrine is actually about Jesus. “
– Fr. Mike Schmitz
The Assignment
Fr. Mike does a beautiful job explaining the Catholic Church’s teaching on the Immaculate Conception, but Mrs. McBride knew that her students might not catch everything if they just listened to the video once. How could she get them to really pay attention?
Mrs.McBride instructed her students to create a meme of Fr. Mike Schmitz. They were told to capture a screenshot from the videos of one of Fr. Mike’s expressions and add some text to show they understood what he was teaching. This assignment would require them to watch and rewatch a couple of times.
The results?
Some hilarious and inspirational memes were created by the middle school students and Mrs. McBride knows that, as they say, “they understood the assignment.”
Fr. Mike Schmitz Memes Created By Sixth Grade Students
Don’t Miss Fr. Mike Schmitz In NYC On NYE!
The Bible in a Year Podcast (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)™ featuring Jeff Cavins launched with explosive popularity this year, shooting to the #1 position on Apple Podcasts in all categories and remaining there from Jan. 2-18, 2021.
Ascension announced several new initiatives designed to highlight the show’s enduring success and reach even more souls with God’s Word:
- A New Year’s Eve billboard in Times Square promoting the podcast at 7th Ave & 48th St, New York City (Dec. 19, 2021-Jan. 9, 2022)
- La Biblia en un año Podcast: The launch of an all-new Spanish-language version of The Bible in a Year podcast with original commentary and a new, native-Spanish speaking host (Jan. 1, 2022)
- “The Bible in a Year Retreat” Virtual Event for Bible in a Year listeners, designed to help Catholics cultivate a lifelong relationship with the Word of God– one that extends far beyond the podcast (Limited capacity; Feb. 18-20, 2022)
Ascension, the podcast producer, has shared that current stats for The Bible in a Year reveal 464,000 daily downloads, of which 90% are U.S.-based listeners.
That U.S. audience of 418,000 would fill the largest football stadium in the country, that of the University of Michigan, 4 times over.
“Through distraction and distress, our culture has lost a hopeful, historical biblical worldview–but by the grace of God this podcast has helped thousands rediscover it,” comments Podcast Host, Fr. Mike Schmitz.
He continues: “We’re humbled by testimonials from people of all walks of life who’ve started to apply a biblical worldview to their lives–gaining clarity on God’s will, overcoming addictions, returning to the sacraments or are converting to Catholicism, renewing marriages and relationships–and many more incredible stories.”
