The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 100: God’s Word and Spirit

Episode Date: April 10, 2023

Together with Fr. Mike, we unpack the joint mission of God’s Word and the Spirit in the Old and New Testaments. Fr. Mike emphasizes the Spirit’s role in creation, the theophanies, and the Law. We conclude today’s reflection with an examination of the prefiguration of the Church in the exile of the people of God in the Old Testament. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 702-710. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catacism in a Year Podcast, where we encounter God's plan of fear goodness for us, revealed in Scripture and passed it down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catacism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catacism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family, as we journey together toward our heavenly home, this is day 100. Congratulations, everybody.

We're reading paragraphs 702 to 710 as always. I'm using the ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the foundations of faith approach. You can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I don't know if you follow along, hopefully you do, because that would add a lot of layers to this. You can also download your own Catechism in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C.I.Y. And you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app to receive daily updates and daily notifications. Man, I remember that on day 100 of the Bible in a year, I had said something along the lines of, you know what? If you haven't yet committed, if you haven't yet clicked follow or subscribe or whatever that is,

not Debye day 100, I question your commitment. Um, there was a guy who was mad at me about that, but I'm just joking around. I know you're committed for crying out loud. You're here on day 100. It's amazing. And also, thank you so much. Not only for being part of this catacasian near journey, I know it is a task. It's a sometimes difficult to press play. But thank you so much for being with us. And thank you so much for being part of this community. Thank you so much for all with us, and thank you so much for being part of this community. Thank you so much for all those who have supported the production of this podcast by your prayers,

by pressing play, by your financial gifts, we couldn't do without you. It's so good. Today, where yesterday we talked about the Holy Spirit, I mean, the last couple of days we've been talking about the Holy Spirit yesterday was those symbols of the Holy Spirit of water, anointing, fire, all those images.

Today, we're gonna to talk about God's Spirit and Word in the time of the promises. So we're going back to creation, we're going back to the Old Testament, we're going back to how God revealed Himself in those memberless things called theophanies, where the manifestations of God that reveals Himself to us. And here's how He reveals the Holy Spirit. So this is one of the things that we have all of these hints of the reality, the power, the working of the Holy Spirit, from the very beginning all the way to now. And yet it says in the very first paragraph, here's 7.02, it says, from the beginning, until the fullness of time, the joint mission of the

Father's Word and Spirit remains hidden. But it is at work. And that's kind of the premise that we're going to be talking about for today, is that the joint mission of the Word and the Spirit, the joint mission of the second person of the Trinity and the third person of the Trinity, that mission remains hidden, but it is at work. Because God's Spirit prepares for the time of the Messiah. Now, one of the things that might help get your mind wrapped around for today is if you can remember the ways in which the Lord God spoke to the people of Israel in creation, the way that the Lord God spoke to the people of Israel through scriptures,

the way that the Lord God spoke to the people of Israel through the prophets. So this is gonna be really important. And all those works that led the people of God from Abraham all the way to Christ, and in and beyond, of course. But we're going to end today in paragraph 709 and 710 in recognizing that the kingdom that Jesus Christ has established is already and not yet, we talked about that a couple days ago, that kingdom that is established according to the work of the Holy Spirit would belong

of course to the poor according to the Spirit. And it highlights in paragraph 710 some of the history. Some of the history is, okay, here's God who's given the law and we recognize the law doesn't have the power to change hearts. We need the Holy Spirit as well. And there is so much infidelity to the covenant. There's so much infidelity to the law in the old covenant. So much so that it says here in paragraph 710,

the people of God had to suffer this purification of exile. And in God's plan, the exile already stands in this shadow of the cross. Remember the exile, remember the Babylonian exile. And when we're going through the Bible, how all the way up to the exile, the temptation was idolatry, the temptation was to turn away from the Lord God

and be like every other nation. And then here are the people of Israel and they find themselves exiled in Babylon and they're given instruction. And the instruction is, don't rebel against Babylon, don't be rebels in this foreign land, but also don't capitulate, don't assimilate into the life of Babylon,

but live as strangers in a strange land, essentially. That's a phrase from the New Testament, but that live in exile, recognize that you're, yes, you're living among a foreign people. You're living among people, don't believe what you believe. So you don't have to fight against them, but also don't be like them. Be distinct, be unique.

And when they came back from exile, there was so much less idolatry. And we recognize this, and God's plan, the exile stands in the shadow of the cross and it says this last sentence of today's reading, the remnant of the poor that returns from the exile is one of the most transparent prefigurations of the church. Because that's us, that's us right now.

We are not called to simply like, rebelle, take up arms against our culture, not at all. We're also not called to be assimilated take up arms against our culture not at all We're also not called to be assimilated into our culture to just be like everyone else We're called to be unique as scripture says to be strangers in a strange land to be in the world But not of the world. So that's what we're talking about today How God revealed his Holy Spirit the mission of the word from the very very beginning But in a hidden way even though the entire time the word and the very, very beginning, but in a hidden way, even though the entire time, the word, and the spirit has been active. That's what we're talking about today. So let's just ask the word of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to be with us, Father in Heaven. We praise you and we thank you.

Thank you so much for bringing us to this moment. Thank you for bringing us to this day. Thank you for giving us the breath of life. And thank you for giving us this supernatural breath of life, your Holy Spirit in our lungs, in our bodies, in our souls. Thank you for bringing us to new life. Thank you for restoring us to your likeness. Oh God, we ask that you please send your Holy Spirit right now into the wounds of our minds, heal our memories, into the wounds of our hearts, heal our memories into the wounds of our hearts, heal our broken

or calloused hearts. Send your Holy Spirit to us right now so that we can be your image and likeness in this world. And Jesus, name we pray. Amen. And the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As I said, it is day 100.

Woohoo. We're getting paragraphs 702 to 710. God's Spirit and Word in the time of the promises. From the beginning until the fullness of time, the joint mission of the Father's Word and Spirit remains hidden, but it is at work. God's Spirit prepares for the time of the Messiah. Neither is fully revealed, but both are already promised. To be watched for and welcomed at their manifestation.

So for this reason, when the church reads the Old Testament, she searches there for what the Spirit, who has spoken through the prophets, wants to tell us about Christ. By prophets, the faith of the church here understands all whom the Holy Spirit inspired in living proclamation and in the composition of the sacred books, both of the old and the new testaments. Jewish tradition distinguishes first the law, the five first books or Pentateuch, then the prophets, our historical and prophetic books, and finally the writings, especially the wisdom literature, in particular the Psalms. In creation. especially the wisdom literature in particular the Psalms. In Creation

The word of God and His breath are at the origin of the being and life of every creature. As the Byzantine liturgy prays, it belongs to the Holy Spirit to rule, sanctify, and animate creation. For He is God, consubstantial with the Father and the Son. Power over life pertains to the Spirit. For being God, He preserves creation in the Father through the Son. St. Irenais wrote, God fashioned man with his own hands, that is, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

and impressed his own form on the flesh he had fashioned, in such a way that even what was visible might bear the divine form. The Spirit of the Promise Disfigured by sin and death, way that even what was visible might bear the divine form. The Spirit of the Promise Disfigured by sin and death, man remains in the image of God, in the image of the Son, but is deprived of the glory of God, of his likeness. The promise made to Abraham inaugurates the economy of salvation, at the culmination of

which the Son Himself will assume that image and restore it in the Father's likeness by giving it again its glory, the Spirit who is the giver of life. Against all human hope, God promises descendants to Abraham as the fruit of faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit. In Abraham's progeny, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. This progeny will be Christ Himself, in whom the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

God commits Himself by His own solemn oath to giving His beloved Son and the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it. In Theophonies and the Law. Theophonies, manifestations of God, light up the way of the promise, from the patriarchs to Moses, and from Joshua to the visions that inaugurated the missions of the great prophets. Christian tradition has always recognized that God's word allowed Himself to be seen and heard in these Theophhanes, in which the cloud of the Holy Spirit both revealed him and concealed him in its shadow.

This divine pedagogy appears especially in the gift of the law. God gave the law as a pedagogy to lead his people towards Christ. But the law's powerlessness to save man deprived of the divine likeness, along with the growing awareness of sin that it imparts, incandes it asire for the Holy Spirit, the lamentations of the Psalms bear witness to this. In the kingdom and the exile, the law, the sign of God's promise and covenant, ought to have governed the hearts and institutions of that people to whom Abraham's faith gave birth. The Lord said in the book of Exodus,

If you will obey my voice and keep it my covenant, you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." But after David, Israel gave in to the temptation of becoming a kingdom like other nations. The kingdom, however, the object of the promise made to David would be the work of the Holy Spirit. It would belong to the poor according to the Spirit. The forgetting of the law and the infidelity to the covenant end in death. It is the exile. Apparently, the failure of the promises, which is, fact the mysterious fidelity of the Savior God and the beginning of a promised restoration. But according to the Spirit, the people of God had to suffer this

purification. In God's plan, the exile already stands in the shadow of the cross, and the remnant of the poor that returns from the exile is one of the most transparent prefigurations of the Church. turns from the exile is one of the most transparent prefigurations of the church. All right, so there we have it. Day 100 paragraphs, seven, oh two, two, seven, ten. I don't know if you've noticed, but these paragraphs are chock full of incredible nuggets here. So at the first, from the very beginning, we recognized we're reminded of the fact that from the very beginning, until the fullness of time, the joint mission of the Father's Word and Spirit is hidden but is at work. So God's Spirit is preparing the working the entire time.

In fact, we will say that everything that is written in the Old Testament and New Testament is prophetic. So at the end of, or the middle, I guess, a paragraph 702 says this, it says for this reason, when the church reads the Old Testament, she searches there for what the Spirit, quote unquote, who has spoken through the prophets, wants to

tell us about Christ. Now, in the smaller script, if you have one of the catechisms in front of you, you can see this where the church makes the distinction here. It says, by quote unquote, prophets, the faith of the church here understands what do we mean by that? We'll understand all whom the Holy Spirit inspired in living proclamation and in the composition of the sacred books, both of the old and new testaments. So we would consider like Matthew, he would be in fact prophetic, right? He would be a prophet because he's

writing the gospel of Matthew. We would consider buruk to be a prophet because he's writing the book of buruk. We consider Isaiah, duh, of course, more than the great prophets, he actually has the prophetic literature. This is a distinction between how the church will sometimes use the term prophet, whereas in the Jewish tradition it distinguishes these three kinds of writings, right? The first five books of Moses or the Pentateuch, then the prophets, which is capital P prophets, which we would say are historical and prophetic books, and then finally the writings, like wisdom literature, Psalms, that kind of thing, you know, proverbs. Those would be the law, the prophets, and the writings. But we would say as Catholics that all of it, we acknowledge that, of course, we would still talk about the law, the prophets, and the wisdom literature. But we'd

also say that all of it is prophetic, because those people who wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit are prophets. Does that make sense? Hopefully that makes sense. So moving on, a paragraph 703 and 704, we recognize once again that God as a Trinity is completely present and active in the beginning of creation. And so I love how St. Irenaeus and paragraph-4 describes it. He says, God-fascent man with his own hands. That is the sun and the Holy Spirit. And it's just, you know, it's kind of like, I used this example before, this analogy. I'm not sure if I ever used it here in the Catechism the other day. When I mentioned that, the Holy Spirit is the consolar. It was, I think it was two days ago, where he's the advocate, right? The Advocatus that he's the parakeet and he's the other parakeet, right? He's the other advocate. He's the other consolar Jesus being the first parakeet Jesus being the first

consolar and someone at one point used the image of like those are the two arms of the father. You know, here's the arm of the son. Here's the armor of the Holy Spirit who imprace us, right? There's the one consolar the the son, and then the another consoler, another advocate, is the Holy Spirit. That's the father's arms embracing us. Um, no, that image is lacking a little bit because we could think like, oh, so it's the father and the son and the Holy Spirit

merely appendages to the father. Well no, that would not be good trinitarian theology. But if St. Irenaeus is going to use this image with being the hands of the father, being the son of the Father being the Son of the Holy Spirit, then I'm okay with that. Like I think, wow, my little image of the two consulters, the Son and the Holy Spirit being

the arms of the Father, embracing you, I mean, good company with St. Irenaeus. But I love this. Okay, St. Irenaeus, the whole quote says this, God-fashioned man with his own hands. That is, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and impressed his own form on the flesh yet fashioned. In such a way that even what was visible might bear the divine form. So here we are, made in God's image and likeness.

Now here is a big statement, a statement that we typically, well I say we, I mean me, I overlook, but it's written here and it's very, very clear. And the next paragraph, paragraph 705, talks about the image and likeness of God. Now I will almost always say, here are all human beings made in God's image and likeness. Because that's, you know, from the very beginning, a book of Genesis described human beings being made in God's image and likeness. There is a distinction that has been made though.

And this distinction is in paragraph 705. It says this, Disfigured by sin and death, man remains in the image of God, in the image of the sun, but is deprived of the glory of God or of his likeness. And this is very, very important. I think with St. Irenais himself in the second century, who talked about this, and St. Irenais had said something very much along these same lines, where he ultimately would say that after the fall, man lost his likeness to God, yet retained the image of God.

So the likeness would be that glory of God, likeness would be that robe of sanctity, I think that he would use, which implies like the holiness and righteousness that the Holy Spirit had bestowed on Adam. But we lost that. And so it's really remarkable because the promise made to Abraham inaugurates the economy of salvation. It begins that process of salvation, although from the very beginning, God promised to save us. At the culmination of which, the Son himself will assume that image, right? He takes on our human nature and restore it in the Father's likeness by giving it again

his glory, the Spirit who is the giver of life. And so there's this recognition that we once were baptized, we're once again we are clothed in the glory of God, once again we are clothed in his image and his likeness. So we don't lose the image of God. Once again, we are clothed in his image and his likeness. So we don't lose the image of God. But if we want to use that particular way at the technical term, the likeness, that would be that robe of sanctity, right? That would be that that that righteousness. Remember, we talked about Adam and Eve originally they had this thing called original unity, they had original justice, original holiness. And that was lost, that was broken. Now, that makes sense.

I don't want to get lost in this rabbit trail, but at the same time, it is kind of an important point that if we really want to be particular in our theological distinctions, you can do more research on what is it to say we're making God's image on likeness, and what is it to say we lost that likeness in the fall and God restores it in the Holy Spirit. That's a big important question. We're moving on from that one, though, because we're getting to paragraph 706 against all human hope. God promises to send us to Abraham as the fruit of faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit. And this is, again, this is the working of the Holy Spirit that works in the midst of a place of despair,

in a place where there is no hope and gives hope. We're gonna move on. We recognize that in paragraph 707, 708, there are the theophanies, right? The manifestations of God that in the old covenant, you have God who reveals himself in many ways visibly to people. And that's always done through the work of the word

and the work of the Holy Spirit, if it says here, Christian tradition has always recognized that God's word allowed himself to be seen and heard in these theophanies in which the God of the Holy Spirit both revealed him and concealed him in its shadow. And the pedagogy, right, God teaching us appears in the gift of the law. That the law is that teacher. It's meant to lead us, lead the people of Israel toward Christ. And yet, at the same time, that law is powerful in its ability to teach, but it's powerless in

its ability to save, because we're deprived of that likeness, right? We're deprived of that, that robe of sanctity. We're deprived of the power that we need to do the right thing. And so the Holy Spirit and the law work to what in Kindle it is, I are for the Holy Spirit, for that power to follow the Lord. Hopefully that makes sense. Hopefully it's not like to like word-salty right now. The last little note I want to make as we close, I apologize for the length of today, but you know sometimes it gets so good. I just want to highlight that maybe

the church right now that exists right now is best foreshadowed by the people of God who came back from exile. Maybe the people of God in exile in Babylon, but those people of God who came back from exile to try to live in Jerusalem. We recognize that it says here, the forgetting of the law, this paragraph 710, the forgetting of the law and the infidelity to the covenant end in death. That's what happened. You know, they were unfaithful. People of Israel were unfaithful and ended in death. It is the exile, and I love this next word, apparently the failure of the promises. Looks like failure, which is in fact the mysterious fidelity of the Savior God and the beginning of a promised restoration, but according to the Spirit,

the people of God had to suffer this purification, and if that isn't an image for our life, your life and my life, that how many times we find ourselves in a place where the apparent failure of the promises, but that actually is the fidelity of God, that actually is the beginning of a promised restoration, but a restoration in a way that we could not have imagined and did not expect. Maybe a restoration we would not have asked for. But this is God's plan. And in God's plan it says here, the exile already stands in the shadow of the cross. And the remnant of the poor that returns from the exile is one of the most transparent prefigurations of the church.

And that's us right now. The church living in a way in exile. And also in a way of return, so we just have to realize, like they did in exile. We're not called the rebel against government. We're not called the rebel against government. We're not called the rebel against the culture in that way. We're also not called to be assimilated into the culture. We're called to stand differently, to live differently, to be unique in the midst of a foreign land, to be strangers and sojourners. And so that takes strength, that takes the Holy Spirit. And so I'm praying that the Holy Spirit is in you and the Holy Spirit and me.

I'm praying, let's pray for each other that we can live in this way. That we're unique, that we're not just like every other people. That we're not just like every other person that we live as Christians. Filled with God's Holy Spirit and led by God's Holy Spirit. I'm praying for you. And please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.