The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 162: Where the Liturgy Is Celebrated (2026)

Episode Date: June 11, 2026

Where is the liturgy celebrated? The Catechism offers us overarching principles as well as specific details about the spaces in which the liturgy is celebrated. Fr. Mike highlights the importance of endowing dignity and respect to these physical spaces because they are sacred places of encounter with our Lord. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1179-1186. 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 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 162. We're reading paragraphs 1179 to 1186. As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the foundation 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 a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com

slash CIY. And you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Today is day 162, paragraphs 1179 to 1186. Remember the four questions we asked all the way back at the very beginning of this section. Who celebrates the liturgy? We talked about that. How is the liturgy celebrated? When is the liturgy celebrated? Now, the question is, where is the liturgy celebrated yesterday. We talked about the sanctification of time, that the liturgy of the hours is one of the things that sanctifies time. And so we have those times set aside. Today, we're talking about the fact that actually, we're not only timed beings. We're also spatial beings, right? We're physical beings. And so the Lord is worshipped in place, in space, as well as in time.

And so we're not only talking about the theory of this. We recognize that the new covenant is not tied exclusively to any one place that here is God worshipped everywhere, but also we worship God in churches. What should those churches look like? What are some things that the church, every church should have in it? That's what we're going to talk about today, because where is the liturgy celebrated? Is this last question that we're asking before we move on tomorrow the next day after this? Tomorrow's a nugget day, but just, you know, heads up. So as we ask this question, where is the liturgy celebrated, let us call upon our Heavenly Father and just, yeah, thank him for the fact that he is not only sanctified time. He's also sanctified certain places on this planet. So we give our

praise to the Lord and pray. Father in heaven, we do give you praise. In the name of your son, Jesus Christ, we ask you to receive our praise in Thanksgiving, your son, Jesus, who is God, fully God. And yet at one moment, he entered into time. And at one moment he entered into space in a unique way in the incarnation. Lord God, in the same way, we ask that you please, once again, break into our time, break into our space, break into our lives with your goodness, with your grace, with your Holy Spirit. Renew us and sanctify each moment of our days and sanctify each place that our feet tread. Lord God, we ask you to send your Holy Spirit upon our local church, our local parish. we ask you to fill that space with your Holy Spirit

and may it become more and more a place where you are worshipped and the people of God are sanctified. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. In the name of the Father, you have the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. It is a 162. We are reading paragraphs 1179 to 1186. Where is the liturgy celebrated? The worship in spirit and in truth of the new covenant

is not tied exclusively to any one place. The whole earth is sacred and entrusted to the children of men. What matters above all is that when the faithful assemble in the same place, they are the living stones, gathered to be built into a spiritual house. For the body of the risen Christ is the spiritual temple from which the source of living water springs forth. Incorporated into Christ by the Holy Spirit, we are the temple of the living God. When the exercise of religious liberty is not thwarted, Christians construct buildings for divine worship. These visible churches are not simply gathering places, but signify and make visible the church

living in this place, the dwelling of God with men reconciled and united in Christ. A church, a house of prayer in which the Eucharist is celebrated and reserved, where the faithful assemble and where is worshipped the presence of the Son of God our Savior, offered for us on the sacrificial altar for the help and consolation of the faithful, this house ought to be in good taste and a worthy place for prayer and sacred ceremonial. In this house of God, the truth and the harmony of the signs that make it up should show Christ to be present and active in this place. The altar of the new covenant is the Lord's Cross, from which the sacraments of the pascal mystery

flow. On the altar, which is the center of the church, the sacrifice of the cross is made present under sacramental signs. The altar is also the table of the Lord to which the people of God are invited. In certain Eastern liturgies, the altar is also the symbol of the church. tomb. Christ truly died and is truly risen. The tabernacle is to be situated in churches in a most worthy place with the greatest honor. The dignity, placing, and security of the Eucharistic tabernacle should foster adoration before the Lord really present in the blessed sacrament of the altar.

The sacred chrism, Myron, used in anointings as the sacramental sign of the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit is traditionally reserved and venerated in the secure place in the sanctuary. The oil of catecumans and the oil of the sick may also be placed there. The chair of the bishop, cathedra, or that of the priest, should express his office of presiding over the assembly and of directing prayer. The lectern, Ambo, the dignity of the Word of God, requires the church to have a suitable place for announcing his message so that the attention of the people may be easily directed to that place during the liturgy of the Word. The gathering of the people of God begins with baptism. A church must have a place for the

celebration of baptismal baptistry and for fostering remembrance of the baptismal promises, Holy Water font. The renewal of the baptismal life requires penance. A church then must lend itself to the expression of repentance and the reception of forgiveness, which requires an appropriate place to receive penitence. The church, The church must also be a space that invites us to the recollection and silent prayer that extend and internalize the great prayer of the Eucharist. Finally, the church has an eschatological significance. To enter into the house of God, we must cross a threshold, which symbolizes passing from

the world wounded by sin to the world of the new life to which all men are called. The visible church is a symbol of the Father's house toward which the people of God is journeying, and where the Father will wipe every tear from their eyes. Also, for this reason, the church is the house of all God's children, open and welcoming. Okay, so there we have at paragraphs 1179 to 1186. Where is the liturgy celebrated? I love the fact that right away, the church gives us a very clear understanding that coming from John 4, when Jesus is talking to the woman at the well, she was a Samaritan woman, and here is Jesus,

who is Jewish, and she says that our people hear worship here, but you people say the worship is in Jerusalem. And Jesus says what? He says, woman, believe me, the hour is coming and is now here when true worship of God will be worship in spirit and in truth. So it's not tied to any one place exclusively. The whole world is sacred and entrusted to the children of men. And so what matters above all, right? What matters above all, is, is that the assembly, meaning us as Christians who are baptized, that we become the living stones. So wherever the Christian is, that's where the church is. Wherever the bishop is, that's where the church is. This comes all the way back to the very beginning of Christianity. They would say this again and again, where the bishop is, there is the church. Where the people of God are gathered, there is the church. So importantly. But paragraph 1180 does highlight this fact that when the exercise of religious liberty is not thwarted, Christians construct buildings for divine worship.

There is a reality that for 2,000 years, there are various times when Christians or Catholics are, we'll say, in charge, right? They have a lot of power in certain contexts. But there are many times in 2,000 years and many places cross. the world where Christians, Catholics were not in charge. In fact, many times in places where Catholics were persecuted. That hasn't ended yet, right? We know that in the last 120 years, more people have been martyred than in the entire 19th centuries previous to that combined. And so this is not as if like, oh, back in the day, Christians couldn't build churches. That is happening even right now,

and that could happen in whatever country you're listening to this. Every one of us could be in a place where the exercise of religious liberty is thwarted and where Catholics are not allowed to gather together in a church that belongs to them. That happened in the past. And we know this about history. History almost always repeats itself. So what do we take consolation? And we take consolation in the fact that, A, Christ has died and risen from the dead. He's conquered death. He wins that we know that the answer. We also know that for many, many times and many places, our brothers and sisters in the Lord have said, just like Scripture says, we're the living stones gathered to be built into a spiritual house. There are times when Christians are not allowed a house. And so we realize, wherever we gather

for the Eucharist, that place is holy. We can go anywhere. But where religious liberty is not thwarted, we do construct buildings for divine worship. And this is what is highlighted here. What is a church? It's a house of prayer, in which the Eucharist is celebrated and reserved where the faithful assemble and where is worshiped the presence of the Son of God or Savior offered on the sacrificial altar. We recognize that. So good. And then here's the description. You know, it ought to be beautiful.

We ought to be in good taste and a worthy place for prayer and sacred ceremonial. And there's something about that that just, it's very sparse in its description. It doesn't have too many limitations. But it does say there are certain aspects of this building, certain aspects of this church building that have to be there. What's the first thing? The first thing mentioned is the altar. Now, obviously, we know that Jesus Christ offered himself on the cross. So the first altar, the primary altar is the cross.

But in the church, the altar is that place, right? You might use the word table. And that is the place where we offer up the sacrifice of the son to the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit. So the altar is going to be incredibly important. Next is the tabernacle where the Eucharist is reserved. And it says very, very clearly here in churches, that tabernacle is to be situated in a most worthy place. with the greatest honor, most worthy place with the greatest honor. And so we recognize that the tabernacle should probably be incredibly visible. Tabernacle should probably be incredibly preeminent and

in a primary place of vision, we should be able to see it, and a place of adoration. It goes on to say the sacred chrism, right? We have chrism that's used at baptism, chrism that's used at confirmation. That should also be reserved in a place of honor along with the oil of catecumans. the oil of sick of the six. It's called an ambris where you keep those holy oils. The next couple articles, there's the chair of the bishop or of the priest, and that should just indicate, you know, what his role is in the assembly, in the gathering of the assembly. You have the lectern or the ambo. Some people might say the pulpit, right? That's where the word of God is proclaimed, and that should be in a place that enables the faithful to not only hear the word of God proclaimed,

but also to hear the word of God explained, right? The homily or the sermon. The last things they say is there should be a baptistery like a place for baptism. There should be a place for confession, to be a place where it's adequate for people to go to confession. And there should be a space in the church that invites us to the recollection and silent prayer that extend and internalize the great prayer of the Eucharist. Now, I think that means that in churches that have the ability to do this, there should be a distinction between this place of worship and the social hall, right? There should be a distinction between that place where this is actually reserved for prayer. It invites us into the place of recollection, silent prayer versus socializing. And all those things are good, right? Silent

prayer, recollection, socializing. All of those things are good. And they should all be able to happen in the building, the structure that is the church. And yet those places ought to be separated. It seems to me that that is what's indicated in 1185, that those things should be separated. And I know some priests who they try to help people have a place of prayer inside the church proper. And then people like, oh, Father, so-and-so, he doesn't like it when we're talking in the sanctuary or in the nave, you know, in the body of the church. And I'm like, yeah, but then again, the categism also says that we should keep that place as a place for recollection and silent prayer. And so, you know, take that with a grand of sultan. Take all of this to heart, though, because we recognize that these are the places that you and I go to every single day.

and they ought to be places, there are places where we encounter the Lord. There are places where we worship the Lord. And so they ought to have the dignity of that, right? They ought to have the dignity of that encounter. They ought to have the dignity of that place and time of worship. I don't know. I think that's pretty cool. Tomorrow we have a nugget day.

And then we're launching into the next section. The next section is liturgical diversity and unity in the mystery, which is going to be awesome. but we've got quite a few nuggets tomorrow. So yeah, strap in and we'll get ready right now, though I want to let you know that I'm praying for you. It's true every single day. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow.

God bless.