On the night of Feb. 23, Lauren Bravo found herself back in her childhood parish, standing on a stage in front of a sea of people, many of whom were sporting black sweatshirts with the tagline, “Serenity. Courage. Wisdom.”
The shirts, which embody the Holy Saints Area Catholic Community’s attitude toward change, spoke to Lauren’s heart as she reflected on her own path, which has included attending North Dakota State University, becoming a FOCUS missionary and spending eight years working in the Diocese of Duluth that included countless trips and pilgrimages throughout the world.
Profound gratitude washed over her as she stood there, about to introduce her boss, pop culture priest Father Mike Schmitz, a Duluth priest and well-known author, speaker and podcaster.
“I was over in the church before this, taking a moment to just look around and it was a full circle moment,” Lauren said. “This is the parish where I was baptized on my parents fifth wedding anniversary and I had my first reconciliation and my first communion. This community planted beautiful seeds of faith in my heart.”
After graduating from Cathedral High School in St. Cloud, Lauren said she would describe her faith as “an inch deep but a mile wide.” When she arrived at North Dakota State University to attend college, she made her way to Mass at St. Paul’s Newman Center where something unexpected happened.
“The second week I had come back to Mass, there was a girl there who remembered my name, and I was surprised. I was kind of taken back by that,” Lauren remembered.
That moment where Lauren felt she was called by name was the beginning of her conversion, or as she says, “encountering Jesus in community.”
That moment of being recognized led to invitations to events for Lauren, which led to invitations to Mass before events. Her friends were patient, Jesus was patient, she said.
“It was invitation after invitation, and it was Jesus in community. It was, in a sense, ‘I know you, [Jesus], through Ashley. I know you through the next friend and the next friend. And then I had this group of people,” Lauren said. “I thought, ‘There’s something about being with them that is different than when I’m with anyone else. There’s vulnerability, there’s safety, there’s joy and there’s just so much goodness.”
One of those invites prompted Lauren to attend a FOCUS conference (Fellowship of Catholic University Students), and there, her conversion moved from encountering Jesus in community to encountering Jesus in the Eucharist.
“After my sophomore year of college and encountering the person of Jesus in adoration, I recognized that being Catholic is not just a title. It’s personal. I gained this conviction that Jesus knows my name. God is a good father, and he wants a relationship with me,” Lauren said. “That was the turning point, that’s when I hit the bullseye.”
Her comfort zone widened, her fear of failure softened.
“[Before attending the conference], I didn’t want to risk failing.” Lauren said. “By moving into this relationship with Jesus, ultimately what happened was I started to give myself permission to fail and thought, ‘Jesus, you’re not going to laugh at me if I fall.’ I recognized, that’s literally the point of confession. I have this opportunity to return to [the Lord’s] mercy every day. His mercy is new every morning, and it’s here for me every single day. That was what busted me out of that,” she said. “I came into this place where I’m not perfect by any means, but there’s a lot more freedom to fail.”
As her time at NDSU was coming to an end, Lauren discerned her next steps and looked forward to putting her studies to use in agricultural economics and animal science. To her surprise, Lord called her to serve “different sheep.”
“I felt like the Lord was inviting me to go out and risk my name for the Gospel. I interviewed [with FOCUS] and was offered a position as a missionary,” Lauren said, and enthusiastically accepted.
As a FOCUS missionary, her first assignment landed her at the University of Minnesota Duluth to work alongside Father Mike Schmitz at Bulldog Catholic.
“My time as a missionary was powerful. The habits that are demanded of you — praying a Holy Hour every day, going to Mass every single day, team life, the power of all of that — adhered my heart to the sacraments,” she said.
FOCUS missionaries serve for four years. Her time in that role ended but led to a future at Bulldog Catholic.
“Lauren really made herself invaluable,” Father Schmitz said. “We would meet and she would put things out there that we could do differently to reach more students. She has the gift of vision and details, and she’s really good at seeing the gifts in people.”
Through Lauren’s work, Father Schmitz said the office moved from an office of “two of us” to “a legitimate ministry.” He values her contribution so much that when a fellow priest was sharing his challenges with managing administrative tasks he recommended, “maybe you should get a Lauren.”
Lauren is grateful for the example Father Schmitz has provided as a leader.
“He loves the Lord so much and his faithfulness to his priesthood is just so deep. It’s great to be able to tell people, ‘No, I’ve worked with him for eight years. I wouldn’t work with him if he isn’t the man that he appears to be,” she said. “I have said this before, and I mean it every time I say it — working with Father Mike is something that is very special. He’s genuinely one of my best friends.”
So when the liturgy committee at St. Mary Help of Christians was considering speakers for their adult formation events, Tracy Yarke knew immediately it had to be Father Mike Schmitz.
“I’ve done his Bible in a Year, the Catechism in a Year and I follow his talks online,” Yarke said. “He brings things down to a normal level, makes it simple, understandable and entertaining. And his personality is just kind of sucks you in, so he’s fun to listen to.”
Yarke, who has known and served with Lauren’s parents, Greg and Bonnie Hopke, for years in the parish community, knew the Hopke’s connection to Father Schmitz through Lauren and the time they spent worshiping and volunteering with Bulldog Catholic. Yet Yarke knew it was unlikely he would have the availability to come to their parish.
But Bonnie wasn’t so sure. After serving chicken strips and French fries alongside Father Mike at a student welcoming event on campus, Bonnie was inspired to ask.
“We sat down at the table in Father’s house to chat for a while. Some students were there, some staff were there, and I said, ‘Father, I have a question for you. Feel free to say no, but I do have to ask you this question. Would you come to our parish and speak?’” Bonnie said. “He looked at me straight in the eyes and said, ‘Absolutely. Just call Lauren and tell her to set up a date.’ And it was as easy as that.”
The liturgy committee booked the date. With the All Things New diocesan planning process and their work with the Path Survey , they hoped he would talk about change. They sold 1,000 tickets to two back-to-back sessions.
“Change isn’t always going to be simple, but in the long run, change is probably the best,” Bonnie said. “I just have to know that some of the things are out of my control, and I have to accept them. Acceptance is probably the biggest thing. If you’re at a parish that’s closing, you’re accepting to go into another parish. If you’re in one that is staying open, you’re accepting other people into that parish and new ideas.”
As Bonnie and Greg watched their daughter take the stage, they saw how Lauren’s path, the path towards All Things New, the path of the liturgy committee at Holy Saints ACC and the path of all in attendance converged, proving all is done in God’s timing.
“You guys invested in me when I was a baby, at my baptism or at my first communion,” Lauren said to the crowds. “I saw the fruits of [your investment] echo out over the course of my time as a missionary and while serving as a chief of staff and strategy with Father Mike. The eternal destiny of my soul is different because of this. For that, there’s so much gratitude.”
Pictured above: Father Mike Schmitz and Lauren Bravo at St. Mary Help of Christians Church Feb. 23. (Dianne Towalski / The Central Minnesota Catholic)
See more photos from the event here.