The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 131: The Communion of the Church (2024)

Episode Date: May 10, 2024

The Catechism further unpacks the communion of saints and shows us how the Church lives in communion with those members who have passed on to eternal life with Christ in heaven. If you’re listening to this podcast and you’re not Catholic—or if you still have questions about the communion of saints—Fr. Mike has a word for you. This is your family, interceding on your behalf that you might receive the fullness of Faith here on earth. Today’s readings are from Catechism paragraphs 954-962. 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 pure 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, it is day 131, reading paragraphs 954 to 962. It's a little bit of nugget day,

a little three little nuggets at the end of the day. As always, I'm 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. You can also download your own Catechism in your reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C I Y and lastly You can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications

I know that was a little bit of a speed speed round right there, but you know the drill You know what we're doing today's 131 We're talking about the second half of this paragraph on the communion of the Saints and today We're talking about the communion of the church of heaven and earth. And so we recognize in paragraph 954 there are three states of the church and the three states are known as the church triumphant right in heaven, the church suffering in purgatory, and the church militant here on earth. And we don't actually use those terms here in the catechism. I mean other places the church uses those terms. But what it says in

paragraph 954 is this. It's just pretty remarkable. It says, At the present time, some of his disciples, that means the disciples of Jesus, at the present time, some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others have died and are being purified. That's purgatory. While still others are in glory, contemplating in full light God himself, triune and one, exactly as he is. And this is one of the realities. It's just so incredible that as we said yesterday, these marks of communion, the marks of the church that we've highlighted the communion of saints is the church, which is just beautiful and powerful.

But we also note that because here are these three states of the church, the church, triumphant church, purified or church suffering and church militant. There's also a number of actions or things that we can highlight. And so one of the things we highlight is paragraph 956, which is the intercession of the saints. And this is so remarkable. What we're highlighting is that souls in heaven, the saints in heaven are praying for us. They actually are interceding on our behalf.

We believe that Jesus is the one mediator between God and man. And yet, here, our brothers and sisters, who are united to that one mediator, are also interceding for us. There's two quotes, one from St. Dominic and one from St. Therese of Lesault. And they're both powerful and beautiful. Dominic said, do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and shall help you then more effectively than during my life. I'll pray for you and be united with the Lord." And St. Drez said, I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth, which is just beautiful. Now, we realize St. James wrote this in the letter of James.

He said, the prayer of a righteous man is powerful indeed. And so who is more righteous than those who are in God's presence? And so we recognize that those saints in God's presence, in fact, even have an image from the book of Revelation where here are the prayers of the saints going up before the throne of the Lamb, right, before the Lord himself. So we recognize that those saints not only give God praise and glory, yes, 100%, but they also intercede on our behalf. That's paragraph 956. We also have communion with those saints in 957. We're united with them even more closely than maybe than when they were alive at times. In fact, this is so great.

It says in paragraph 957, exactly as Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims, meaning here on earth, brings us closer to Christ, so our communion with the saints joins us to Christ, which is beautiful. We also have communion with the dead. And what does that mean? What that highlights is the fact that we get to intercede on behalf of those in purgatory. We get to pray for those.

It says the last sentence in paragraph 958, our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective. Beautiful and powerful. And lastly, paragraph 959 says, we're in one family, the one family of God, which is, again, just, you're gonna hear all about this in just a second. After paragraph 959, we have three paragraphs, 960 to 962, and those are three little nuggets for all of us today. Let's say a prayer as

we launch into today. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. Thank you so much for this day. We ask you to please, please bless this time. Please unite us more closely to you. You are our head, Jesus Christ, and we exist for you and for the praise of the Father forever. Give us your Holy Spirit to unite us more closely as one, as one communion of believers, as one body of Christ on this earth. 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's day 131. We're reading paragraphs 954 to 962. The communion of the Church of Heaven and Earth. The three states of the Church. When the Lord comes in glory and all his angels with him, death will be no more

and all things will be subject to him. But at the present time, some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others have died and are being purified, while still others are in glory, contemplating in full light God Himself triune and one exactly as He is. As Lumen Gentium states, all of us, however, in varying degrees and in different ways share in the same charity towards God and our neighbors, and we all sing the one hymn of glory to our God. All indeed who are of Christ and who have his Spirit, form one church and in Christ

cleave together. So it is that the union of the wayfarers with the brethren who sleep in the peace of Christ is in no way interrupted, but on the contrary, according to the constant faith of the Church, this union is reinforced by an exchange of spiritual goods. The Intercession of the Saints Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness. They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus.

So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped. As St. Dominic stated, Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death, and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life. St. Therese noted, I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth. Communion with the Saints It is not merely by the title of example that we cherish the memory of those in heaven. We seek, rather, that by this devotion to the exercise of fraternal charity, the union of the whole Church in the Spirit may be strengthened. Exactly as Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, so our

communion with the saints join us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and head issues all grace and the life of the people of God itself. The apostolic fathers noted, We worship Christ as God's Son. We love the martyrs as the Lord's disciples and imitators, and rightly so because of their matchless devotion towards their King and Master. May we also be their companions and fellow disciples. Communion with the Dead In full consciousness of this communion of the whole mystical body of Jesus Christ, the Church in its pilgrim members from the very

earliest days of the Christian religion has honored with great respect the memory of the dead. And, as it states in 2nd Maccabees chapter 12, because it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins, she offers her suffrages for them. Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective. In the one family of God. For if we continue to love one another and to join in praising the Most Holy Trinity, all of us who are sons of God and form one family in Christ, we will be faithful to the deepest vocation of the Church. In brief, the Church is a communion of saints.

This expression refers first to the Holy Things, sancta, above all the Eucharist, by which the unity of believers who form one body in Christ is both represented and brought about. The term communion of saints refers also to the communion of holy persons, sancti, in Christ, who died for all, so that what each one does or suffers in and for Christ bears fruit for all. As Pope Paul VI stated, we believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming one church. And we believe that in this

communion the merciful love of God and his saints is always attentive to our prayers. is always attentive to our prayers. Okay, so there we have it, day 131, paragraphs 954 to 962. The conclusion here of this small section on the communion of saints, man, there's so much to say, so let's get down to it. Paragraph 955 states this so powerfully that we're united to all those who sleep in death, which states, so it is that the union of the wayfarers with the brethren who sleep in the peace of Christ is in no way interrupted. What that means is our fellow disciples, those who are journeying with us, that our union with them is not interrupted when they die. Those who are

sleeping in Christ are still united to us, it goes on to say, but on the contrary, according to the constant faith of the church, this union is reinforced by an exchange of spiritual goods, which means they pray for us, paragraph 956 and 957, and we pray for them in paragraph 958. It's just so amazing. The intercession of the saints in heaven. Why is this important? Well, because you and I, we all have people in our lives who have gone before us. We all have people in our lives we know and some people we don't know

Who have loved us who have followed after Jesus Christ and we sometimes wrongly believe that death has separated us in the most significant Way now it has separated us in a real way, right? That's why we mourn That's why we grieve but we don't grieve as those who have no hope We're gonna talk about that in a couple days from now We do not grieve as those who have no hope Why because we know that all the dead in Christ are alive in Christ We're going to talk about that in a couple days from now. We do not grieve as those who have no hope. Why? Because we know that all the dead in Christ are alive in Christ. Not only that, but we're still united with them.

So it goes on to say, being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven, fix the whole church more firmly in holiness. They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, which is, they pray for us. And not only that, it goes on to say, as they proffer the merits they acquired on earth through the one Mediator, Jesus Christ. What does that mean? They proffer the merits they acquired on earth. You know, the saints have written about this in so many powerful and beautiful ways, in convicting ways. And that is this, that in heaven everyone's full, right? In heaven,

everyone is absolutely full of God. There's no, you couldn't be fuller. You're absolutely full. But those great hearted saints who lived on this earth, they're not more full than the small hearted saints. But the container's larger. So you have, let's say St. Therese or St. Dominic, these two saints were given as examples today. Imagine, here's my little heart,

and my heart is like a thimble, but in heaven, it's full. It's right, it's full of the Lord. Now here's St. Therese, who's a 50 gallon drum. Now she's full, she's not more full than me, but she has the capacity to contain, he said, if you wanna say it like that, the analogy breaks down,

but she has the capacity to contain more of God's glory, more of that holiness than I do, because all I did on earth was I grew a thimble full of a heart. And so in heaven, what do they do? They proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through Jesus Christ. So here's Therese who says,

I want to spend my heaven doing good on earth. Well, on earth, she said yes to the Lord so fully, so consistently, and so heroically that her heart became massive, right? So the the merits on earth, we're down to being able to give God glory in a this incredible way in heaven forever. This is one of the reasons why it's like, well I just want to get to heaven. Yes, of course we do. But in heaven, I want to be able to give God the absolute maximum amount of glory, to be able to intercede for people on earth

with the maximum amount of efficacy through Jesus Christ, of course. And we do that by allowing the Lord to grow our hearts here on earth, if that makes any sense. And so again, they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through Jesus Christ. And so by their concern, our weaknesses greatly helped,

which is man, incredible. You know, well, what could that mean in your life? That could mean in your life that your mom or your dad who passed on before you, maybe even your child who passed on before you, who's with the Lord in heaven right now, that what they're doing is they're offering up their union with the Lord,

they're interceding on your behalf. That their love, you know, their love is perfect now. Not only their love for God, but their love for you is perfect now. And so, by their love for you, our weakness has greatly helped. It goes on to say in paragraph 957, not merely by title of example,

that we cherish the memory of saints. I mean, we're gonna talk about the saints at other times. We don't just say, oh, they're a great example, although they are a great example. We seek rather that by this devotion to the exercise of fraternal love, you know, fraternal charity, it says, that the whole of the church and the spirit

may be strengthened. Because Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, right? When you and I are united in the faith, it brings us closer to Christ. So our communion with the saints joins us to Christ, which is just incredible. Now, communion with the dead goes on, 958. We're going to talk about purgatory later on. But we recognize that in 2nd Maccabees, chapter 12, it talks about the fact that it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins. And so our prayer is not

only, we don't just receive prayer from those saints in heaven, we also offer our prayers for those souls who are in purgatory, who are being purified. I love this last sentence of 9.58, our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective. Man, this is remarkable and incredible. This is just the gift of being part of God's family. And again, there might be a lot of people who are listening to this catechism in here who aren't Catholic. And maybe some of this talk about Communion of Saints, some of this talk about like, okay,

the church triumphant in heaven, the church suffering in purgatory, the church militant on earth. You might be like hesitant to this, but realize this is your family as well. If you've been brought into Jesus Christ, you've been brought into his church, this is your family, this is the reality that all those souls in heaven are interceding on your behalf too, especially when you're taking those next steps. When you're taking those next steps to get closer and closer to the Lord by even maybe entering into full communion with the Catholic Church, those saints in heaven, even maybe entering into full communion with the Catholic Church, those saints in heaven, your people, your family, your friends who belonged to the Lord on earth, I'm telling

you, they'd be praying for you to take this next step. I don't say that by way of manipulation, I say that by, you know, they really want you to do this. I'm saying that here they are in union with the Lord here they are seeing things so clearly and they're praying for you what are they praying for they're praying that you have the fullness of the faith in this life right now that you don't have to wait until heaven to experience the fullness of faith but right now on this earth I know that all the saints, for all of us, all of us, are interceding.

They're beseeching our God and Father on our behalf, and we are so grateful. So at this moment right now, not only pray for the souls in purgatory, Father, eternal rest gifted them, O Lord, let perpetual light shine upon them, may they rest in peace, but also all you saints in heaven, pray for us.

We know that by, of course, the intercession, the one mediator, mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ, by his one mediation, all of us have been given a share in that. We can participate in that, that work of mediation. We can participate in that work of intercession. And so all you saints in heaven, pray for every one of us on this journey

of the Catechism in a year. And brothers and sisters, let's pray for each other. I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Fr. Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.