The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 107: Origin of the Church (2024)

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

The origin of the Church is just one of the ways we can come to know the depth of God’s love for us. From the very beginning, the Church, as a gathering of the people of God, has been a plan born of the Father’s heart. Fr. Mike explains that Jesus Christ instituted the Church, that salvation comes to us through the Holy Spirit in the Church, and that this was God’s plan from the very beginning of time. The Church is not man-made; the Church is God-made, and it is a great gift to us. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 758-766. 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 the Year podcast, where we encounter God's plan if your goodness for us, revealed in scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith, the Catechism in the 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 107. We are reading paragraphs 758 to 766, all about the church.

I am using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. People have even told me that you can even find the Catechism online for free, so that's good. Speaking of free, you can download your free Catechism and your reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y

and you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. As I said, it is day 107. We're reading paragraphs 758 to 766. We're talking about the church as we know, but also today, I just think this is amazing. We're talking about the church's origin, foundation and mission.

In fact, the origin of the church today. The church, the catechism here, will divide the origin of the church, basically saying that from the moment of God's, not just creating the world, but from the moment of the fall, God's plan was the church. That from the very beginning,

the moment we broke away from the Lord in rebellion, and we also broke our own hearts, and we also broke our own hearts and we also broke our relationships with each other, from that moment, God determined to call together in a holy church, those who should believe in Christ. Basically, you know, with God's love, immediately, not, I don't wanna say shifts, but God's love doesn't stop, doesn't waver, right?

So God's love originally, plan A, is that we were created with original justice, we're created with original holiness, that in right relationship with God, that's God's Plan A. But because of the introduction of sin into the world, here is God who immediately is, the church is a plan born of the Father's heart. In fact, between paragraphs 758 and 759, there's a little header and it says that the church essentially is a plan born in the Father's heart. And the last line of paragraph 759 is so powerful it says, established in this last age of the world and made manifest in the outpouring of the Spirit, it will be, the church will be brought to glorious completion at the end of time.

Then it goes on to say the church has been foreshadowed from the world's beginning and prepared by the old covenant. Now lastly, talks talks about this the church is instituted by Christ. So we have this a plan born from the father's heart foreshadowed from the world's beginning from the very beginning of the creation then prepared for in the old covenant. We see the people of God who were brought into relationship with the Lord you know know, in the Old Testament, we see that. We see how God has revealed himself slowly over time. But remember that God doesn't just reveal himself slowly over time. He reveals himself and he also brings people together. He makes what might call a convocation, right?

He creates a people. He doesn't just create individuals to whom he calls them to himself. He creates a people who are not only called to him, but they're called to each other, right? They're called to not only dwell in covenant with the Lord alone, but they're called to dwell in covenant with each other and with the Lord. And so that's the beginning. And then of course, the church is instituted by Christ. So we're talking all about that today in paragraphs 7 58 to 7 66. Let's pray as we enter into today's lesson.

Father in heaven, we give you praise, we thank you so much. We thank you for not giving up on us in our brokenness, for not abandoning us in our weakness. But actually in our weakness, Lord, you come to us. In our brokenness, you draw close to us. Thank you not only for drawing us close to you, we also thank you for creating a church where we don't approach you alone. Yes, of course, Lord, we give you our hearts personally, individually, but you also call us to be a family. You call us as brothers and sisters to live and commune with each other and to live in that covenant relationship with you. And so we ask you to please help us to be patient with our brothers and sisters,

help us to be patient with the reality that is the church and help us to always live in right relationship with you this day and every day. In Jesus name we pray. In the name of the Father, in the Son, in the Holy Spirit. And then as I said, it is day 107, reading paragraphs 758 to 766. Day 107, reading paragraphs 758 to 766. The Church's Origin, Foundation, and Mission. We begin our investigation of the Church's mystery by meditating on her origin in the Holy Trinity's plan and her progressive realization in history. A plan born in the Father's heart, the Eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of

His wisdom and goodness, created the whole universe and chose to raise up men to share in His own divine life, to which He calls all men in His Son. The Father determined to call together in a holy Church those who should believe in Christ. This family of God is gradually formed and takes shape during the stages of human history in keeping with the Father's plan. In fact, already present in figure at the beginning of the world, this church was prepared in marvelous fashion in the history of the people of Israel and the Old Alliance.

Established in this last age of the world and made manifest in the outpouring of the Spirit, it will be brought to glorious completion at the end of time. The Church, Foreshadowed from the World's Beginning Christians of the first centuries said, The world was created for the sake of the Church. God created the world for the sake of communion with His divine life, a communion brought about by the convocation of men in Christ, and this convocation is the Church. The Church is the goal of all things, and God permitted such painful upheavals as the

angels fall and man's sin only as occasions and means for displaying all the power of His arm and the whole measure of the love He wanted to give the world. As St. Clement of Alexandria said, just as God's will is creation and is called the world, so his intention is the salvation of men, and it is called the Church. The Church, prepared for in the Old Covenant. The gathering together of the people of God began at the moment when sin destroyed the communion of men with God and that of men among themselves. The gathering together of the Church is, as it were, God's reaction to the chaos provoked

by sin. This reunification is achieved secretly in the heart of all peoples, as the Acts of the Apostles states, In every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to God. The remote preparation for this gathering together of the people of God begins when he calls Abraham and promises that he will become the father of a great people. Its immediate preparation begins with Israel's election as the people of God. By this election, Israel is to be the sign of the future gathering of all nations. But the prophets accuse Israel

of breaking the covenant and behaving like a prostitute. They announce a new and eternal covenant. Christ instituted this new covenant. The Church, Instituted by Christ Jesus It was the Son's task to accomplish the Father's plan of salvation in the fullness of time. Its accomplishment was the reason for His being sent. The Lord Jesus inaugurated His Church by preaching the Good News, that is, the coming of the reign of God promised over the ages in the Scriptures.

To fulfill the Father's will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. The Church is the reign of Christ already present in mystery. This Kingdom shines out before men in the Word, in the works, and in the presence of Christ. To welcome Jesus' Word is to welcome the kingdom itself. The seed and beginning of the kingdom are the little flock of those whom Jesus came to gather around Him, the flock whose shepherd He is. They form Jesus' true family.

To those whom He thus gathered around Him, he taught a new way of acting and a prayer of their own. The Lord Jesus endowed his community with a structure that will remain until the kingdom is fully achieved. Before all else, there is the choice of the Twelve with Peter as their head. Representing the Twelve Tribes of Israel, they are the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem. The Twelve and the other disciples share in Christ's mission and His power, but also in His lot. By all His actions, Christ prepares and builds His Church. The Church is born primarily of Christ's total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross.

The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus, for it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the wondrous sacrament of the whole Church. As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam's side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross. Okay, so there we have it. Paragraphs 758 to 766 on the church. It is so amazing, not only that we get to be reminded of the fact that Jesus Christ established the church, but also that from the very beginning,

like from the fall, I mean obviously from the beginning here in paragraph 759, it's a plan born of a father's heart that we, almost the very first, I think it is actually the very first paragraph that we read 106 days ago, talks about the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of God's wisdom and goodness, right? That he's just completely, he is grace,

that he has love for us, that he wants to share his own divine life. That's so, so key. It goes on to say that this family of God, God wanted to make a family from the very beginning. In fact, it says this in the middle of paragraph 7 to 59, the Father determined to call together in a holy church those who should believe in Christ. And that family of God is gradually formed in this remarkable. So speaking of being gradually formed, we have paragraph 760. I love this. I mean, this is, it says, Christians of the first centuries said the world was created for the sake of the church.

Isn't that incredible? St. Justin Martyr, in fact, in the second century, is one of those people who's quoted as saying that. The world was created for the sake of the church, that God created the world for the sake of the fact that we could all, those of us living in the world, could have communion with his divine life. That could have this convocation that he would bring us together, that he'd bring people together and that convocation is the church. The church is the goal of all things, which is crazy to think about this. Now we think about when I say the church is the goal of all things which is crazy to think about this. Now we think about when I say the church is the goal of all things sometimes we think of

remember that third level of the church which is here are the you know your local parish or just kind of like the structure the building that's not what the church is saying here that's not what the catechism is saying here what it's saying is the church meaning the family of God, right? That the temple of God, the people of God, that's the goal of the entire world. It's the goal of all things. In fact, goes on to say, God permitted such painful upheavals like the angels fall and man's sin only as occasions and means for displaying all the power of his arm and the whole measure of the love he wanted to give the world. Isn't that amazing?

Again, we can ask the question, so gosh, why did God allow the angels to rebel? Why did God allow Adam and Eve to reject him? Why does God allow sin in the world? Well, he does it as an occasion and means for displaying all the power of his arm. In fact, here we have St. Clement of Alexandria who says this incredible quote, just as God's will is creation and is called the world, so his intention is the salvation of men. That's what he wants. And it is called the church, which is just again

amazing. And so not only does God plan for this and in the depth of his heart that bringing all people into relationship with him, but then he actually achieves it he accomplishes this through basically you know preparation in the old covenant i love this paragraph 762 highlights the fact there's two kind of preparations there's remote preparation and there's immediate preparation and you know john paul the second years and years later he talked about for marriage you know when people are getting ready for, he says that there's the remote preparation for marriage. There was the proximate preparation for marriage was just getting closer.

And then there's the immediate preparation for marriage. So the remote preparation for marriage is just basically, you know, you see people around, you see your parents, you see other couples in relationship, you see families, that's kind of like, and you are kind of swimming in that, right? You see what it looks like to be for someone to be married and that's for good or for ill. That's the remote preparation. Then you have the proximate preparation. That's kind of when you kind of somewhat start dating yourself and you start realizing who am I in relationship with others? And then there's the immediate preparation where you know, you get engaged and you have that, you know,

what you call immediate preparation. Well here paragraph at 762 talks about the remote preparation for the gathering of the people of God. The remote preparation for the church begins when God calls Abraham and promises that he'll become the father of a great people. So that's the beginning. That's the remote preparation. But its immediate preparation begins with Israel's election as the people of God.

That is everything we heard after Abraham, right? That's everything like, I mean, especially when it comes to the people, not only Isaac, Jacob, but especially with Moses, that Mosaic covenant that was established when God set his people free from slavery in Egypt, brought them to Mount Sinai and established this new, well, it's a new for them, new covenant, the Mosaic covenant with them. That's the immediate preparation. And of course, the last line in paragraph 762

talks about the fact that we all know the story, that even after God entered into this covenant with the people, with the people of Israel, that they broke the covenant. In fact, the line says, "'But the prophets accuse Israel of breaking the covenant and behaving like a prostitute and those prophets announce a new and eternal covenant and then last line Christ instituted this new covenant and that's the last four paragraphs of today's reading that Jesus Christ

Established the church Jesus Christ instituted the church. In fact, this is why Christ came right? Remember that here's the process of salvation. God wants, God wills the salvation of every person who ever has lived does live right now or ever will live. That's what God desires. He desires the salvation. How does God accomplish this salvation? Well, through Jesus, how does that salvation come to us? Through the Holy Spirit in the church. Now, again, this isn't a recent invention. This is an invention of the Middle Ages. This was the invention born from the Father's heart

from the very beginning of time, and it was established and instituted in Christ's life. In fact, paragraph 763 says, it was the Son's task to accomplish the Father's plan of salvation in the fullness of time. His accomplishment was the reason for his being sent. And so, here's the quote, and this quote is from Lumen Gentium. Once again, it's a second document from the Second Vatican Council.

The quote is, the Lord Jesus inaugurated his church by preaching the good news, that is, the coming of the reign of God, promised over the ages in the scriptures to fulfill the Father's will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. And the Church is the reign of Christ already present in mystery. So this is the key, so key for us. The Church is the reign of Christ. I might have mentioned this before. I'm going to mention it again. I remember hearing years ago, there was a story of a rabbi who examined the case for Jesus. And he said, you know, there's a really good case for Jesus being the Messiah, the really great case for Jesus being the Messiah.

He fulfills every one of the Messianic promises, except for one. The Messiah was supposed to usher in the kingdom, and I don't see a kingdom. Pope Benedict then wrote a book called Jesus of Nazareth and said, oh, there is a kingdom, and that kingdom is called the church. This is what the catechism is saying right now and right here, is that yes, throughout the whole New Testament, here's God gathering a people together and people that would come to himself. That is fulfilled when Jesus gathers, especially the 12 apostles with Peter as their head, because there's a structure here, right right in paragraph 765

It says the Lord Jesus endowed this community with a structure that will remain until the kingdom is fully achieved again The the kingdom is visible the church is visible You know sometimes we can fall into the trap of saying that yes Obviously there is a there's a certain sense where the church is invisible right just like for us as human beings We have bodies that are visible we have souls that are invisible. So there is an invisible aspect to the church, just like there's an invisible aspect to us. And yet at the same time,

there is clearly a visible aspect to us and there's clearly a visible aspect to the church. And so we have to recognize and reckon with the fact that in paragraph 765, it does say, The Lord Jesus endowed this community, or his community, with a structure that will remain until the kingdom is fully achieved. Before all else there is the choice, as I mentioned before, of the Twelve with Peter

as their head. And do they represent the Twelve Tribes of Israel? They are the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem, that's a quote from the book of Revelation itself. The Twelve and the other disciples share in Christ's mission and his power but also in his lot. And this is the last thing I want to highlight, the 12 and other disciples share in Christ's mission and his power. And that's not just the 12, that's also the rest of the church, that's the church until the end of time on earth here. We share in Christ's mission

and his power but also in his lot. And this is so so important. We have to share in Christ's mission and his power, but also in his lot. And this is so, so important. We have to share in his suffering if we're going to share in his glory. We have to share in his cross if we're going to share in his power. We have to share in his agony if we're going to share in his mission. I mean, this is even the foundation, this is even the origin of the church. Paragraph 766 says, the church is born primarily of Christ's total self-giving for our salvation that was anticipated in the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross. And this is, remember when Jesus was on the cross, his side was pierced

by a spear, by a lance, right? Right? And out flowed blood and water. And it says here, the origin and growth of the church are symbolized by the blood and the water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus. Ah, the blood and the water. The church has always, Christians have always interpreted that as baptism, the water, and Eucharist, the blood. That this goes on to say this is the beginning, this is the birth of the church. In fact, for it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the wondrous sacrament of the whole church. Because I mean, if you think about this, how are we brought

into the church? Well, through baptism, the water. How are we kept in the church? How are we sustained in the church? How are we strengthened and fed in the church? Well, Eucharist, the blood. And this last image is just remarkable, but it's beautiful and powerful. We know that Eve as Eve came from Adam's side. The bride came from the side of the groom as he lay in this sleep in Genesis chapter 2. Here is the church that comes from the side of Christ. The church is the bride that comes forth from the side of the bridegroom as he lay in the sleep of death. And this is just so powerful.

Again, I'm sorry for taking all the time here today, but it just is incredible to recognize, especially for those who might think that the church is just invented. It's human invention. It just invented a human invention. It is not a human invention. It comes forth and springs forth from the heart of the Father. And then in time, it truly comes forth from the heart of Jesus Christ on the cross. It was the intention of God from the very beginning to create a Church. It's one of the reasons why we know the Church is not man-made. The church is God-made and we give God thanks for that. I am so

grateful. I'm so grateful that you were sticking with it. I'm so grateful you're here on day 107. I'm so grateful that God has brought us to his church. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.