Known affectionately as “Father Mike,” Monsignor Muhr serves the Diocese of Saint Petersburg as the Director of Ministry to Priests. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1983, and has spent more than four decades serving the Church in a variety of ministries, including parish life, seminary formation and spiritual direction. Today, he describes his important ministry as being “a priest for priests.”

In this role, Father Mike assists priests through the many joys and challenges of their vocation. He encourages young clergy as they begin their priestly ministry, looks after the special needs of retired priests, and remains available to priests throughout the diocese for spiritual direction, confession, personal conversation, and consultation. Because priests carry many responsibilities and serve thousands of people, Father Mike believes it is important for priests to have someone they can turn to. His hope is to help priests care for their own spiritual and emotional wellbeing so they can continue to give of themselves generously to the people they serve.

Of all the ministries he has experienced throughout his priesthood, Father Mike feels especially connected to this work. "It is an opportunity to experience Christ’s love for priests while helping care for and support my brother priests,” he explains. He notes a particular encounter from several years back that has remained with him today. An eight year old child once asked him, “Who’s taking care of you?” The simple question moved him because it expressed a genuine concern. It also touched on something that Father Mike sees as an important part of his ministry: Those who spend their lives caring for others need to be cared for, too.

Father Mike grew up in a Catholic family in Chicago, where his parents made Sunday Mass a priority by example. After moving to Florida in 1971, he became involved in youth ministry, religious education, and faith formation. Through those experiences, he began to recognize that every person is called by God to a vocation. After a period of discernment, he entered the seminary alongside a close friend who was also considering the priesthood.

Father Mike holds a master’s degree in Christian Spirituality and a certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats. He has served as both a parochial vicar and pastor, including pastor of St. Ignatius, Christ the King, St. Lawrence and St. Brendan parishes. He also spent 14 years on seminary faculty as a spiritual director and co-teacher of pastoral ministry. He considered the people he served with at each assignment to have taught him what it means to be a good priest. He hopes to remain a lifelong learner, inspired by Michelangelo’s words late in life: “I am still learning.”

Father Mike also finds a sense of wonder in astronomy. Looking at thousands of stars away from the lights of the city reminds him of the vastness of creation and the infinite goodness of God. At the same time, it reminds him that the God who created the universe also knows and cares for each person.

After more than 40 years of priesthood, Father Mike continues to live that belief through his ministry to priests: listening, accompanying, and reminding his brother priests that they, too, are cared for.