"I did not like going to mass. I would say I hated going to mass," Schmitz said. "(But) when I was 15 years old, I had this awareness … I believe it was the gift of the Holy Spirit."

Going to the next step of becoming a priest took some self-convincing.

"I thought, ‘God, you've given me so much. If you ever ask for me to do anything for you, I'll do it,'" he said. "My second thought was, ‘If you want me to hear someone's confession, I'll do it.' My third thought was, ‘Oh, she's really cute.' Which, priests don't get married."

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