Shows / The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
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…
Episodes
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 338: Intercession and Thanksgiving
We look at two more forms of prayer: intercession and thanksgiving. Fr. Mike emphasizes that in the age of the Church, intercession, or asking on behalf of…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 337: Blessing, Adoration, and Petition
Prayer in the age of the Church takes on many different forms. Together, we examine specifically blessing, adoration, and petition. Fr. Mike emphasizes the…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 336: Jesus Hears Our Prayer
We arrive at the conclusion of the article on how Jesus prays, teaches us to pray, and hears our prayer. Fr. Mike examines the remarkable beauty and simplicity…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 335: Jesus Teaches Us to Pray
At the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us to pray through his own prayer to the Father. As we watch Jesus pray, his prayer becomes our template for our own…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 334: How Jesus Prayed
We look at how Jesus prays in this section of the Catechism. It is revealed how Jesus learned to pray, the frequency of his prayers, and where he prayed. Jesus…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 333: The Psalms
The Psalms are essential and powerful prayers. Through praying the Psalms, we are giving praise to God and expressing our belief while simultaneously…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 332: Prayer Converts Our Heart
The Catechism discusses the significance of prayer beginning with the prophets and their observations about the Temple and ritualism. It is noteworthy that…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 331: The Foundations of Prayer
Do we know how to pray? The Catechism depicts Moses learning how to pray and uses this as an example of prayer and relationship with God. The Catechism goes on…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 330: The Revelation of Prayer
As the Catechism reveals, we are made for worship and called to a relationship with the Lord through prayer. God is the initiator and wants us to walk with him…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 329: The Gift of Prayer
St. Thérèse said that “prayer is a surge of the heart.” Do we pray from our pride or from a place of humility? The Catechism tells us that “humility is the…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 328: How We Pray (Part 4 Intro w/ Sr. Miriam James Heidland)
In this fourth and final pillar of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we learn how to take everything we’ve absorbed this year and apply it to our…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 327: Poverty of Heart
Where should we find consolation? It's essential to remember that our ultimate goal and true source of happiness is God. With this in mind, Fr. Mike emphasizes…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 326: Envy and Jealousy
Envy is “the diabolical sin,” says St. Augustine. Christians should better understand this capital sin, its manifestations, and the temptation toward envy of…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 325: Battling for Purity
As Fr. Mike suggests, the battle for purity is never more difficult than in our own day. With God’s grace, we can prevail and find freedom from our…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 324: The Ninth Commandment
What does covetousness mean? Today, we launch into the ninth commandment, which deals with carnal concupiscence. This commandment addresses the tension between…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 323: Truth, Beauty, and Sacred Art
Have you ever been moved by beauty? As we conclude our journey through the eighth commandment, we learn that beautiful art points us to the truth and…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 322: Respect for Truth
Charity dictates who we reveal the truth to. We learn today that the “right to the communication of truth is not unconditional.” Fr. Mike explains that this…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 321: Offenses Against Truth
What does it mean to live out the truth? This theme carries over as we continue our evaluation of the eighth commandment. We learn the Catechism’s teachings on…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 320: The Truth
We begin our dive into the eighth commandment: “You shall not bear false witness.” The Catechism defines truth, identifies the importance of truth, and…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 319: Summary of the Seventh Commandment
We have reached the In Brief section, or nugget day, on the seventh commandment. Father Mike reiterates that the right to private property comes from our…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 318: Love for the Poor
The Church’s charity for the poor is a “part of her constant tradition.” Fr. Mike unpacks how the poor are the “true treasure of the Church.” He emphasizes…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 317: International Justice and Solidarity
Internationally, there is often a large gap in the resources between countries. The Catechism explains the justice and solidarity that should exist among all…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 316: Labor and Social Justice
Work is both a gift and a duty. Today, we explore how labor can impact man’s dignity and unite us to Jesus, the carpenter. Fr. Mike emphasizes that work should…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 315: The Church’s Social Doctrine
Together, with Fr. Mike, we examine both our respect for the integrity of creation as well as the Church’s broader social doctrine. Fr. Mike emphasizes that we…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 314: Goods of Others
What does it mean to have respect for the goods of others? Fr. Mike unpacks the Catechism’s answer to this question and what it teaches about the seventh…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 313: Ownership of Goods
Beginning our look at the seventh commandment, the Catechism focuses on the universal destination of goods and the private ownership of goods. Fr. Mike helps…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 312: Polygamy, Incest, and Free Union
The Catechism continues on with other offenses against the dignity of marriage and concludes our look at the sixth commandment. Polygamy, incest, sexual abuse…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 311: Adultery and Divorce
The Catechism goes into detail about offenses against the dignity of marriage. The two topics we look at are adultery and divorce. These sins against marriage…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 310: The Gift of a Child
Children are a gift from God. Children have integrity and rights. With these key principles in mind, Fr. Mike reviews the Catechism’s teachings about marriage…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 309: Faithful and Fruitful Marriage
Married love has an “innate language” of total and mutual self-giving. This language expresses itself in the marital act of sexual intimacy. Marital love…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 308: Same-Sex Attraction
Fr. Mike guides us through the Catechism’s discussion of same-sex attraction. He highlights that all of the Church’s teachings on sexuality stem from her…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 307: Offenses Against Chastity
What is God's intended purpose for our sexuality? We confront several significant transgressions that hinder this design. These offenses include lust, the…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 306: Gift of Self
What are the different types of chastity? We learn chastity is "a school of the gift of the person." Mastering ourselves enables us to gift ourselves to…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 305: The Call to Chastity
We are all called to the virtue of chastity, which integrates our sexuality within the fullness of our person. Chastity trains us in freedom, teaching us how…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 304: Male and Female
Why did God create us male and female? We begin our journey through the sixth commandment by learning about the meaning of human sexuality and the…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 303: Summary of the Fifth Commandment
The Church offers us a consistent ethic of life from the moment of conception until death. In today’s “Nugget Day,” we review the main takeaways from our…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 302: War
The Church urges us to pray and work for peace to avoid the evils and injustices of war. Because we live in a broken world, the Church also offers guidance on…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 301: Peace
Peace is not simply an absence of war. Fr. Mike breaks down the Catechism’s teachings about peace as the "work of justice and the effect of charity.” We learn…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 300: Science, Bodily Integrity, and the Dead
The Catechism looks at matters relating to scientific research, bodily integrity, and the dead with the lens of the dignity of the human person. Fr. Mike helps…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 299: Respect for Health
Our health is a gift from God, and so we have a responsibility to care for it. Fr. Mike emphasizes the importance of caring for our health while also…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 298: Respect for Others
We have seen how harming ourselves or others physically is a violation of the fifth commandment, but how can causing harm to another’s virtue or integrity…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 297: The Cross of Suicide
The cross of suicide is a violation of the fifth commandment that, tragically, many of us have been impacted by in our world today. Fr. Mike explains that we…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 296: The Sin of Euthanasia
We continue our examination of the fifth commandment, taking a closer look at the sin of euthanasia. Fr. Mike emphasizes that whatever the motive, the action…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 295: The Wound of Abortion
Together, with Fr. Mike, we examine the wound of abortion. Fr. Mike emphasizes that all human life deserves protection, especially the unborn, but he also…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 294: Homicide
Continuing our examination of the fifth commandment, we look at various ways in which one may sin against this commandment as it relates to homicide. The…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 293: Legitimate Defense
Is there ever a time where legitimate defense is justifiable? The Catechism answers this question and how it relates to honoring the dignity of the human…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 292: Respect for Human Life
We begin exploring the fifth commandment: “you shall not kill." The Catechism reminds us that human life is sacred, and we must not take the life of another…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 291: The Political Community and the Church
We take a look at what the Catechism teaches about the Church in relation to political communities. Every institution has their own vision of what it means to…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 290: The Duties of Citizens
As citizens of a nation, we have certain responsibilities in accordance with God’s Law. The Catechism provides parameters for contributing to society…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 289: Family, Society, and the Kingdom
While family is important, the Catechism states, “The first vocation of the Christian is to follow Jesus.” This means that parents should support Christ's call…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 288: The Duties of Parents
Being a parent is far more than just having kids. As the Catechism reminds us, the fruitfulness of married love extends to the moral and spiritual education of…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 287: The Gratitude of Children
Gratitude is the proper response of children toward their parents. Out of this gratitude comes respect. When we are children at home, this respect includes…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 286: The Family and Society
The family is the foundational element of society. Fr. Mike explains how families initiate us into societal life and act as the foundation of freedom and…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 285: The Nature of the Family
In learning the core and fundamental definition of the family, we read today that a family is formed by a “man and a woman united in marriage, together with…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 284: The Fourth Commandment
The fourth commandment addresses the most universal human relationship: our relationship with our parents. Why does God command us to honor our father and our…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 283: The Day of Rest
We all tend to make an idol of work. The Catechism teaches us that Sunday is a day of grace and rest from work. Fr. Mike explains what holy leisure looks like…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 282: The Sunday Obligation
Why are Catholics obligated to attend Mass every Sunday? The Catechism teaches us today about the centrality of the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist in the…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 281: Keep Holy the Lord’s Day
We begin exploring the third commandment and learn about rest and worship concerning the Lord’s Day. The Catechism points out that God models what he wants for…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 280: The Christian Name
What does it mean to bear the Christian name? The Catechism reminds us that in Baptism, we are given our Christian name, which is sacred. Our name represents…
- The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 279: False Oaths
Together, with Fr. Mike, we continue our examination of the second commandment. Fr. Mike emphasizes that an oath engages the Lord’s name, and the Lord is the…