A key discernment made by Michael Smolders during his journey of self-catechization back to the Catholic Church over a decade ago is that he “should have been a priest.”

“What a powerful thing a man can do,” said the Toronto-based entrepreneur who hosts the new podcast The Collar, which explores the mystery of the Catholic priesthood. “But obviously at that time I had already had four children (and) I was happily married. It wasn't God's call to do that.”

But now that the father of six understands and admires the vocational profession, he is engaging in conversations about the priesthood with his teenage and young adult sons. One is completing the application process to enter the seminary this September.  

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He then concluded, after starting to talk to other young men outside his family, that there is a disconnect in what constitutes a vocational calling.

“I would see somebody who was going to daily Mass at 18, 19 years old,” said Smolders. “They're very reverent and completely giving their life to the Lord. I asked them, ‘have you thought about the priesthood? Oh no, God hasn't called me. What do you mean? He's obviously calling you.’

“I then thought how we need to (create) awareness that the priesthood is not like some sort of leprechaun valley where a priest plops into the diocese. It comes from us. It comes from our own families.”

Smolders, president and chief growth officer of the digital automotive service provider autologiQ, has published revealing long-form conversations, first with Fr. Matthew McCarthy, the 39-year-old director of vocations for the Archdiocese of Toronto, and then Fr. Adam Pantaleo, the 34-year-old associate pastor at Merciful Redeemer Parish in Mississauga. A third episode featuring Fr. Ignatius Saiki, O.P., a Nigerian Dominican in the Diocese of Hamilton, will drop in the coming days.

Each podcast features the video production work of Aleks Niedra, a friend of Smolders. 

One of the great gifts of the 90-minute format, said Smolders, is that it taps into authenticity in a way that a five-minute polished vocational story video simply cannot.

“The person is going to say things that they had never thought about,” said Smolders. “In fact, I’ve had multiple times now at the end of these interviews (where) the priest has told me, ‘thank you so much. This really helped me tease out my entire life so I could actually see why I became a priest, and I didn't even think about it before.’ This is an unintended consequence of The Collar.”

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Episode one, featuring McCarthy, delves into how his yearning for the priesthood was kindled more and more through praying the Rosary on the way to hockey games. His calling was not a moment of dramatic conversion, but rather him walking step by step down a path laid out by his parents and grandparents’ example. His father would routinely pose the seed-planting question, “If Christ were passing by today, would you go see Him?”

The installment showcasing Pantaleo is the story of how a man who received a bachelor’s degree in integrated science from McMaster University in Hamilton and would go on to earn a Master of Science in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of Toronto came to the priesthood.

Pantaleo’s journey into deeper faith was winding and featured a couple of stops and starts, but he began attending Holy Mass more and more. The fellowship and spiritual fulfillment he received by participating in the U of T’s Newman Centre chaplaincy added another pillar. Later, he made the choice to pause his academic pursuits instead of delving right into earning a PhD degree. He devoted more time to the Lord and arrived at the conviction that he cannot keep his faith to himself.  

Smolders said The Collar will feature younger priests as guests for many of the early episodes, as the goal is to attract more men to this important mission.

“The older priests are doing an amazing job,” said Smolders. “They're great holy men, but a 16-, 17-, 18-year-old can't see themselves being a priest because the priest looks like a grandfatherly Isaac or Abraham kind of character, not just a young, 30-year-old guy who's going out playing hockey with the guys and then celebrating Mass.”

Smolders pointed out how there used to be one priest for every 875 Catholics in North America. Now there is one for every 2,000.

Another key audience of The Collar is the parents of prospective priests. He has heard many accounts of young men who felt a yearning to enter the seminary but were talked out of it by their loved ones.

“A lot of families are hoping their children will get an education, have a great career, have (children) and buy a nice house,” said Smolders. “They have that as an idea of success. As Catholics, what is success? It's holiness. We become saints. And the ability to be able to not just become saints, but help to make saints as a priest… can you really do anything greater as a man?

“I really think it's important for us to be able to help parents understand the beauty of the priesthood for their own children.”

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Regarding family, Smolders’ wife and children are developing this apostolate together. His kids use their digital savvy to edit the episodes and promote the content on social media. The goal down the line is to incorporate parish retreats, school visits and collaborations with Catholic youth organizations.

Visit thecollar.org.