The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 103: The Power of Pentecost (2024)

Episode Date: April 12, 2024

Pentecost marks the beginning of the age of the Church, the time in which the Kingdom is inherited but not fully consummated. Today, we dive into the meaning and significance of Pentecost for our lives. Fr. Mike explains how the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost fulfills Christ’s Passover. On that glorious day, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit fully revealed themselves in the Trinity. We also learn how the Holy Spirit heals our wounded nature and empowers us to love as God loves through the various gifts of the Spirit. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 731-736. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. 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 Catechism in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 103, we're reading paragraphs 731-736.

As always, I am 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. Also, you can download your own Catechism and your reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. And lastly, I don't know if you know this, but you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app to receive daily updates and daily notifications. Today is day one or three.

We're reading paragraph 731 to 736. One of the things we're going to hear today is the spirit and the church in the last days. Now we talked yesterday, of course, the day before yesterday about our lady and then about Jesus Christ yesterday. Today is the age of the church and following tomorrow as well. But we're starting with Pentecost because we recognize, here's what the Catechism notes. The Catechism notes that on the day of Pentecost, this is paragraph 731, on the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end,

Christ's Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which is remarkable because 732 says, on that day, the Holy Trinity is fully revealed. And since that day, the kingdom announced by Christ has been open to those who believe in him, which is incredible. So we're gonna talk about, what does that mean? Since that day, since the day of Pentecost,

not only has the Trinity been fully revealed, but since that day, the kingdom announced by Christ has been open to all those who believe in him. So remember we note this, that what Jesus has made possible, the Holy Spirit makes actual. So here is Jesus in all of this, right? Here is Jesus in his life, in his death, in his resurrection, in his ascension to heaven. Here then, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit Spirit This is now all the graces one for us by Jesus Christ are now actual they're now in our lives These are what what we call the last days Aka the time of the church where the kingdom is already inherited you've inherited it though. It's not yet consummated, right? We talked about this a number of times, but here is the age of the church these last days where the kingdom is here, but it's not yet fully here.

Right? So it's already and not yet. So we're talking about that a little bit today, as well as the fact in paragraphs 733 to 736, just this recognition of the Holy Spirit is God's gift. So I want you to just invite you to listen for that. The Holy Spirit is God's gift. First is love, right? Love is God's first gift

in the Holy Spirit, containing every other gift, of course. And then also, we have this fruit of that, which is the forgiveness of sins. The first effect of the gift of love is forgiveness of our sins, which is remarkable. And then God gives us the pleasure, the first fruits of our inheritance, which is the very life of the Holy Trinity to love as God has loved us. And so, man, it's just incredible to be able to highlight these gifts. So we have Pentecost, right? The Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity fully revealed. And also, since that day, the kingdom announced by Jesus is now accessible to us already and

not yet. And we get the gift of the Spirit, love, forgiveness, and the first fruits of our inheritance so we can actually love as God has loved us. And so we're gonna talk about that today. Let's as we begin, as we continue, let's say a prayer. Father in heaven, we love you and we give you praise and thanks.

Thank you so much for making us yours, for calling us to be your sons and daughters, and for giving us access to your heart, Father, because you've given us, through Christ Jesus and in the Holy Spirit, access to your fatherly heart. We thank you. Help us to approach you with confidence, approach you with humility, and approach you as you are. We make this prayer in the mighty name

of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. As I said, it is day 103. We're reading paragraphs 731 to 736. The Spirit and the Church in the last days. Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost,

when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ's Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given, and communicated as a divine person. Of His fullness, Christ the Lord pours out the Spirit in abundance. On that day, the Holy Trinity is fully revealed. Since that day, the Kingdom announced by Christ has been open to those who believe in Him. In the humility of the flesh and in faith, they already share in the communion of the Holy Trinity. By His coming, which never ceases, the Holy Spirit causes the world to enter into the last days, the time of the Church, the Kingdom already inherited, though not yet consummated.

As it says in the Byzantine liturgy, we have seen the true light, we have received the heavenly spirit, we have found the true faith, we adore the indivisible Trinity who has saved us. The Holy Spirit, God's gift. God is love and love is his first gift containing all others. As Saint Paul wrote to the Romans, God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Because we are dead, or at least wounded through sin, the first effect of the gift of love is the forgiveness of our sins. The communion of the Holy Spirit in the Church restores to the baptized the divine likeness

lost through sin. He then gives us the pledge or first fruits of our inheritance, the very life of the Holy Trinity, which is to love as God has loved us. This love, the charity of 1 Corinthians chapter 13, is the source of the new life in Christ, made possible because we have received power from the Holy Spirit. By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

We live by the Spirit. The more we renounce ourselves, the more we walk by the Spirit. As St. Basil the Great wrote, through the Holy Spirit, we are restored to paradise, led back to the kingdom of heaven and adopted as children, given confidence to call God Father and to share in Christ's grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory. Okay, there we have it, paragraphs 731 to 736. So powerful, I mean, just incredible. Let's go over this, there's have it. Paragraphs 731 to 736. So powerful. I mean, just incredible.

Let's go over this. There are two main sections. The section on Pentecost, which is just two paragraphs and the thing that is highlighted today is the fact that on Pentecost here is Christ Passover fulfilled by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which is remarkable, right? Christ Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. So there's something about the mystery of Christ's life, death and resurrection and ascension to heaven, right? This paschal mystery that is left unfulfilled without the coming of the Holy Spirit. But with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit,

that Spirit is manifested, the Spirit is given, and the Spirit is communicated as a divine person. We realize, oh my goodness, to our shock, to our amazement, that there is a third person of the Trinity, that the Holy Spirit is a person and that this person of his fullness, Christ pours out in abundance to us, to you, to me, which is incredible again on that day, Pentecost, the Holy Trinity is fully revealed. And since that day, as I said, the Holy Trinity is fully revealed and since that day, as I said this at the very beginning, the Kingdom announced by Christ has been open

to those who believe in Him, those who believe in the humility of the flesh and faith they already share in the communion of the Holy Trinity, which is remarkable. One of the things that, of course, that does is the gift of the Holy Spirit restores us. And we're going to talk about this in a second. Remember, the Catechism is highlighting when the Holy Spirit has been given There is obviously the massive revelation of who God actually is right father son and Holy Spirit one God three divine persons But also these gifts of the Holy Spirit given beginning at Pentecost, but now continuing to be given that first gift being the love the love of God which has been poured into our hearts, which

is again through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. So the first gift of the Holy Spirit of Pentecost is love, God's love. Secondly, paragraph 734 says, because we're dead, or at least wounded through sin, the first effect of the gift of love is the forgiveness of our sins, which makes so much sense, right? I mean, it's one thing to be loved and to know one is loved, but to actually experience the restoration that love can give, right? The effectiveness.

So sometimes when we think of love, we think of affection, right? With A, affection. And that's real. That's obviously a real part of love is affection. But one thing about God's love is it's effective like it does something as we recognize that Yes, we're loved by God. The love of God has been poured into our hearts and that's effective How is it effective? Well the forgiveness of our sins goes on to say in paragraph 734

It says the communion of the Holy Spirit in the church Restores to the baptized the divine likeness lost through sin. Remember, one of the ways we describe human beings were made in God's image and likeness. At the same time, it's part of the tradition of the church, of the doctrine of the church to recognize that yes, while we retain the image of God, that in original sin, in some mysterious way, we've lost the likeness. And that likeness is the glory, right?

That likeness is righteousness before God. That likeness is being clothed in glory, being in right relationship with the Lord. And here, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the communion of the Holy Spirit in the church restores to all those baptized, the divine likeness lost through sin, which is just, again, just remarkable and just one of those things that we think I've never, never thought of that. Maybe you've never thought about that in the past until we read it a couple days ago but one of the things is

Recognizing that I lost this and then realizing my goodness. This is what I've been given I didn't even know that I had had missed it. I didn't know that I didn't have it but to realize and recognize and to praise God of the for the fact that Through the Holy Spirit in the Church, the Lord has restored that being clothed in glory. He's restored that likeness. Goes on to say in paragraph 735 that he then gives us the pledge or the first fruits of our inheritance, which is what?

The very life of the Holy Trinity to love as God has loved us. And that's the charity, that's the love that's described in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, right? That love is kind, love is not boastful, love is not jealous, love is not rude, love does not insist on its own way that we read them at weddings a lot of times. But that kind of love is the source of the new life in Christ. And it's only made possible because we've received power from the Holy Spirit. Remember Jesus before he ascended to heaven he said you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Well power to do what? Well obviously the disciples, the apostles, they received power to do

miracles, right? They've received power to heal in Christ's name, to drive out demons in Christ's name, but they also received power to walk as Christ walked. They also received power to love as Christ loves. And that power is yours too. In fact, what does Jesus say in Acts chapter one? He says, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses.

So it is the power truly to witness, and I don't just mean to tell people about Jesus, although that's incredible, it's an incredible power. But the power to to witness. And I don't just mean to tell people about Jesus, although that's incredible. That's an incredible power. But the power to actually give witness, right? The power to bear witness, the power to, by the way you and I live, the way you and I love, the way you and I treat people,

the way you and I forgive others, that's the power to bear witness, right? That's the power to give witness to Jesus himself and to give witness to what he's done in your life and in my life, which is just amazing, right? That's the power to give witness to Jesus himself and to give witness to what he's done in your life and in my life, which is just amazing, right? We know this. You know, Pope Paul VI, back in the 60s, he wrote this document called Evangeliae Nunciandi,

or Evangelization in the Modern World. And in this, he says something along these lines. He says, modern man will not listen to teachers, but will listen to witnesses. The human person right now, we're so inundated by voices, so inundated by opinions, that modern man will not listen to just another teacher. But we have to be witnesses. We have to not just say what we believe, we have to live what we believe.

And he goes on to say, and if modern man does listen to teachers, it's only because they first have been witnesses. And so, yeah, that power, right? The power of God's love that's actually changed our hearts to live as he lived, to love as he loved. That's been poured into our hearts, which is just, again, amazing. The very last line in paragraph 736, it talks about

all these fruits of the spirit. The last line says, we live by the spirit, the more we renounce ourselves and the more we walk by the spirit. And that's going to be the call right for all of our lives because every one of us are struggles. Every one of us, we fail so often to actually live what we believe. And yet at the same time, our call of course is to live what we believe. And that's not just our call, that's I think that's our desire, isn't it? Today, your desire and my desire is not just, well, I wanna do what Jesus,

I know I'm supposed to do what he told me to do. But we are not just called to that, we want that. We want to live that fullness of life. We want to live with the fruits of the spirit. We want to live with fullness of life. We want to live with the fruits of the Spirit. We want to live with love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And so we have to pray because we know this, right? We know that it's only by the power given by the Holy Spirit that we can do that. That's why they're called fruits of the Spirit. If we walk by the Spirit

and we live by the Spirit, we'll have those fruits of the Spirit. And so please know, I'm praying for you. Please pray for each other because hey, again, on our own we can't do this. But we're not on our own. Which is amazing. Not only do we have the Lord and He's given His Holy Spirit in the Church and through the Church, but also we have each other. So please pray for each other. Please pray for me. I'm praying for you. My name is Father Mike.

I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.