In Ascension’s The Catechism in a Year podcast, Fr. Mike Schmitz guides you through the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church in 365 episodes, providing explanation, insight, and encouragement along the way. Unlike any other Catechism podcast, The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) podcast follows a reading plan inspired by Ascension’s Foundations of Faith approach, a color-coded approach that reveals the structure of the Catechism, making it easier to read and understand. With this podcast, you’ll finally understand what it means to be Catholic and how the beliefs of the Catholic Faith come together. Listen and… Read the ENTIRE Catechism of the Catholic Church in 365 days Understand the essentials of the Catholic Faith and why they matter Understand how Church teaching is rooted in Sacred Scripture Absorb over 2,000 years of Sacred Tradition Encounter God’s plan of sheer goodness for your life Each 15-20 minute episode includes: A guided prayer to help you enter into each episode A reading from the Catechism of the Catholic Church An explanation from Fr. Mike Schmitz about the reading The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
Father Mike Schmitz delves into Article 3 of the Catechism, outlining social justice. He highlights two foundational aspects: profound respect for the human person, made in God's image, and the understanding of equality alongside natural differences among individuals. The discussion underscores the Christian call to love everyone, even enemies, to distinguish between sin and sinner, and to actively strive against sinful inequalities to achieve more humane societal conditions.
Father Mike discusses Catechism paragraphs 1913-1927, emphasizing that participation in promoting the common good is a voluntary, generous, and obligatory engagement inherent in human dignity. He elaborates on personal responsibility in family and work, the active role of citizens in public life, and the importance of ethical leadership and cultural formation in inspiring future generations. The episode stresses that all individuals must contribute to society's well-being.
Father Mike Schmitz delves into paragraphs 1905-1912 of the Catechism, defining the common good as social conditions allowing individuals and groups to flourish. He illustrates how individual good expands to collective responsibility while stressing that the common good must never violate individual dignity. The discussion covers the three essential elements—respect for persons, social well-being, and peace—and extends the concept to a universal common good, highlighting global interdependence and our collective duty to help those in need.
Father Mike Schmitz discusses the Catechism's teachings on authority in social life, emphasizing its necessity for a well-ordered society and its derivation from God. He differentiates between respecting a person and their authoritative role, highlighting that true authority must serve the common good and employ morally licit means. The episode also delves into St. Thomas Aquinas's view that unjust laws are not binding and concludes with the importance of checks and balances to uphold the rule of law and core principles.
Father Mike discusses how conversion in society requires an inward change, stressing that physical and instinctual dimensions must be subordinated to spiritual ones to prevent unjust structures. He highlights the importance of voluntary associations and the singular "priority" of God, emphasizing that genuine social change cannot occur without acknowledging human brokenness and the permanent need for inner conversion. Ultimately, charity is presented as the only path to navigate social challenges and inspire true justice.
Father Mike delves into how humanity is naturally social and communal, created in God's triune image, and emphasizes that society is a requirement of our nature, not an extraneous addition. The discussion covers how various societies, from family to the state, enrich our identity and help us achieve collective objectives. Crucially, the episode introduces the principle of subsidiarity, outlining how higher communities should support lower ones without undue interference, thereby protecting human freedom and opposing collectivist ideologies.
Father Mike Schmitz discusses how sin creates a proclivity for more sin, corrupts conscience, and can manifest as capital sins that act as gateways to further vices. He explains "sins that cry out to heaven" and highlights our significant responsibility for others' sins when we cooperate in or enable them, contributing to "structures of sin" that demand our active resistance.
Father Mike explores the Catholic understanding of sin's gravity, differentiating between mortal sins that destroy charity and venial sins that wound it. He details the three conditions for a sin to be mortal – grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent – and discusses factors affecting culpability. The episode concludes by highlighting God's limitless mercy, clarifying that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the refusal of God's forgiveness, and urging all to embrace reconciliation through Confession.
Father Mike Schmitz explores paragraphs 1846-1853 of the Catechism, emphasizing that understanding sin is fundamental to grasping God's mercy. He discusses sin as an offense against God and a perverse attachment to certain goods, contrasting it with Christ's obedience. The episode categorizes different kinds of sins and calls listeners to reflect on their own need for God's redemptive love.
This episode delves into the Catechism's teachings on the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, essential for Christian moral living. Father Mike meticulously defines the seven gifts—wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord—as permanent dispositions for responding to God. He then describes the twelve fruits of the Spirit, such as charity, joy, and peace, as perfections that grow in believers through challenges, signifying a life lived in Christ.
Father Mike delves into the theological virtue of charity, defining it as loving God above all and our neighbor as ourselves. He explains that true charity is expressed through obedience to God's commandments and extends even to loving our enemies. The episode distinguishes between merely performing duties out of servile fear or for mercenary gain, and actively loving as God's beloved children, a concept illuminated by the parable of the Prodigal Son.
In this episode, Father Mike unpacks the virtue of hope, contrasting it with worldly optimism and defining it as desiring eternal life and trusting in God's promises, not our own strength. He explains how hope safeguards against discouragement and selfishness, inspiring believers to purify their aspirations and endure all circumstances. Ultimately, hope enables the faithful to freely love others and persevere through life's challenges, confident in God's unfailing faithfulness.
This episode delves into the theological virtue of Faith, explaining that God Himself is its origin, motive, and object. Fr. Mike clarifies that faith transcends mere intellectual agreement or well-reasoned arguments, highlighting it as a profound act of trust and self-commitment to God, using the biblical example of Job. The discussion concludes by stressing that authentic faith is not passive; it must be actively lived, expressed through hope and charity, and courageously professed and shared with others in daily life.
This episode delves into the nature of virtues as habitual dispositions to do good, emphasizing that they are not occasional acts but consistent choices. Fr. Mike explains the four cardinal virtues: prudence (discerning the true good), justice (giving due to God and neighbor), fortitude (firmness in difficulties), and temperance (moderating pleasures). The discussion highlights how these human virtues, when elevated by divine grace, foster character and facilitate a joyful, self-mastered moral life, making us more like Jesus.
This episode delves into the nature of erroneous judgment of conscience, explaining how it can arise from personal negligence, habitual sin, or external influences. Father Mike highlights various sources of moral error, including ignorance of the Gospel and rejection of Church authority. He concludes by stressing that a well-formed conscience, even when facing invincible ignorance, is essential for spiritual growth and true freedom to do what is right.
This episode explores the critical task of forming an upright and truthful conscience, distinct from mere intellect or will. Father Mike explains that a well-formed conscience requires both intellectual and moral development, enabling individuals to discern right from wrong based on reason and divine law. The discussion highlights the lifelong commitment to this education, its power to overcome negative influences and foster virtue, ultimately leading to true freedom and peace of heart through divine guidance and universal moral principles.
This episode delves into the Catholic understanding of moral conscience, revealing it as an innate, God-given inner law that serves as a judgment of reason, distinct from mere feelings or passions. Fr. Mike emphasizes the necessity of cultivating interiority and forming one's conscience through understanding moral principles. The discussion also covers conscience's role in assuming responsibility for actions and the right to act in freedom according to one's conscience, while stressing the dangers of a malformed or hardened inner voice.
Father Mike Schmitz delves into the Catechism's teaching on human passions, defining them as movements of the sensitive appetite that incline us to act. He clarifies that passions like love, anger, or fear are inherently neither good nor evil; their morality is determined by how they engage our reason and will. The episode emphasizes that strong feelings don't justify actions, but rather, by channeling our passions toward the good, guided by the Holy Spirit, we grow in virtue and achieve moral perfection where our desires are transformed, not suppressed.
This episode delves into the Catholic understanding of the morality of human acts, explaining the three critical sources: the object chosen, the intention, and the circumstances. Father Mike unpacks how all three must be good for an act to be morally upright, stressing the principle that the end never justifies the means. He also discusses the modern challenge of society losing the language of objective good and evil, advocating for a clear understanding of moral choices.
This episode delves into human freedom within the economy of salvation, highlighting that while man's freedom is fallible and can lead to sin, it is ultimately perfected when directed towards God. Fr. Mike explains that true freedom is the power to choose the good, not the right to do anything, and that the moral law acts as a guide, liberating us, not restricting us. He concludes by affirming that Christ's grace empowers us to live in the freedom from sin he won for us.
Fr. Mike dives into Catechism paragraphs 1730-1738, explaining that human freedom is rooted in reason and will, enabling us to shape our lives and grow in goodness. He differentiates true freedom (choosing good) from its abuse (choosing evil) and clarifies how our freedom is perfected when directed towards God, even in heaven. The discussion also covers imputability and culpability, detailing how factors like ignorance or duress can diminish responsibility, and emphasizing the essential role of knowledge and free will in our actions.
Father Mike explores the Beatitudes as the heart of Jesus' preaching, explaining our divine vocation to beatitude—a profound happiness only God can fulfill. The episode emphasizes making decisive moral choices, purifying our hearts, and loving God above all, cautioning against false idols like wealth and notoriety that promise fleeting satisfaction instead of true, eternal joy.
Father Mike discusses the dignity of the human person, created in God's image and willed for its own sake, destined for eternal beatitude. He explains how original sin wounded human nature, leading to an inclination to evil. However, through Christ's passion, we are delivered from sin and receive new life in the Holy Spirit, enabling us to live a life of virtue, joy, and freedom.
Father Mike begins Part Three of the Catechism, "How We Live," by exploring our high calling as sons and daughters of God, with Jesus Christ as our constant reference. He clarifies that people often struggle with Christian morality, not dogma, when questioning Church teachings. The episode outlines various forms of catechesis—of the Holy Spirit, grace, Beatitudes, sin and forgiveness, and virtues—essential for living a life worthy of the Gospel through divine grace.
This episode introduces the Catechism's third pillar, "How We Live," with Dr. Mary Healy. They discuss how moral teachings are a gift leading to unimaginable happiness, not a burden, and explore critical topics like forming a docile conscience, true human dignity, and the Holy Spirit's role in our transformation. The conversation encourages surrendering to God's power and trusting His way, even through challenges, by living a life of radical love and proclaiming the full truth.
This episode delves into the Christian funeral rite, explaining how it fulfills the new life begun in Baptism, leading the deceased into the Kingdom. It covers the liturgical celebration, emphasizing the Eucharist as the heart for the purification of sins and the importance of prayer for the departed. The discussion also highlights the profound hope of communion and reunion in Christ, even beyond death.
Fr. Mike delves into sacramentals, defining them as sacred signs instituted by the Church that prepare us to receive grace and sanctify daily life, covering blessings of persons, objects, and places, as well as the nature of exorcism and its distinction from mental illness. He also discusses various forms of popular piety, such as the Rosary, explaining how these devotions extend, but never replace, the Church's liturgy, which remains inherently superior.
Father Mike reviews the Catechism's teachings on Matrimony, highlighting the sacred union of husband and wife as a sign of Christ's love for the Church. He discusses the family as the Domestic Church, where faith is first proclaimed, and explores the active, receptive nature of sacramental participation. The episode also emphasizes marriage's call to a holy life, self-denial, and an essential openness to fertility, fostering a true 'school of love.'
Father Mike Schmitz delves into Catechism paragraphs 1652-1658, focusing on marriage's natural orientation toward procreation and the education of children, highlighting them as the 'supreme gift.' He discusses the spiritual fruitfulness achievable by couples struggling with infertility, emphasizing their witness of love and sacrifice. The episode also explores the concept of the family as the 'Domestic Church' and the Church's broader role in embracing and providing family for all, especially single individuals.
This episode delves into paragraphs 1646-1651 of the Catechism, affirming that conjugal love requires inviolable fidelity and seeks to be definitive, mirroring God's irrevocable covenant. Fr. Mike discusses the beauty and challenge of lifelong commitment, the Church's stance on separation and civil divorce, and the call for community support for those navigating difficult marital situations while upholding faith.
