The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 173: Brothers and Sisters in Baptism (2026)

Episode Date: June 22, 2026

The Catechism shows us how Baptism unites the Church as a “People of God of the New Covenant” and goes so far as to say that “Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians.” We all belong to Jesus, together. Fr. Mike highlights the fact that with the gift of unity in Baptism comes real responsibility. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1267-1274. 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's 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 New 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 173. We're reading paragraphs 1267 to 1274. 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 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 cI. And you can also click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications because today is day 173 reading paragraph 1267 to 1274. As I said, we're in baptism. This is the last kind of article on baptism before we have a nugget day tomorrow yesterday. We talked about the grace of baptism. Like, what does it actually do? It forgives our sins. It makes us new. It brings us into really relationship with the Lord, we get adopted as God's sons and daughters. It makes this into a new creature today. We recognize that we're incorporated into the body of Christ. We're made members of the church. We're given a share in the priesthood of all believers. And also because we're given a

share in the priesthood of all believers, because we've been incorporated into the church, there is a sacramental bond of unity among all Christians and even those who are not Catholic Christians. So if anyone is baptized, there is this common bond. We have a common sonship, right? A common daughterhood, a common brotherhood and sisterhood in our baptism. Lastly, there is an indelible spiritual mark that is left on us that is indelible and unerasable. We're going to talk about that today. As we launch into today, we just call upon our Father and we pray. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory.

We thank you so much for the gift of your son, Jesus Christ, the gift of your Holy Spirit. You've poured out on the face of this earth and you've poured into our hearts. We ask you to please unite us even more perfectly to your life. your church. Unite us even more perfectly to each other. Help us to see that we belong to each other, not only by virtue of our belonging to the human race, but even more particularly and even more powerfully, that we belong to each other because of our fellowship, our friendship, and even our brotherhood in the fact that you have made us into your sons and daughters. Help us to know that you are our father. Help us to live as if we are truly brothers and sisters.

We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We are reading paragraphs 1267 to 1274 on day 173. Incorporated into the church, the body of Christ. Baptism makes us members of the body of Christ. Therefore, we are members of one another. Baptism incorporates us into the church. From the baptismal font is born the one people of God of the new covenant, which transcends all. all the natural or human limits of nations, cultures, races, and sexes. For by one spirit, we were all baptized into one body. The baptized have become living stones to be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood.

By baptism, they share in the priesthood of Christ in his prophetic and royal mission. They are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that they may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called them out of darkness into his marvelous light. Baptism gives a share in the common priesthood of all believers. Having become a member of the church, the person baptized belongs no longer to himself, but to him who died and rose for us. From now on, he is called to be subject to others, to serve them in the communion of the church, and to obey and submit to the church's leaders, holding them in respect and affection.

Just as baptism is the source of responsibilities and duties, the baptized person also enjoys rights within the church, to receive the sound. sacraments, to be nourished with the Word of God, and to be sustained by the other spiritual helps of the Church. Reborn as sons of God, the baptized must profess before men the faith they have received from God through the church, and participate in the apostolic and missionary activity of the people of God, the sacramental bond of the unity of Christians. Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians, including those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church. For men who believe in Christ and have been properly

baptized are put in some, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church. Justified by faith in baptism, they are incorporated into Christ. They therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church. Baptism therefore constitutes the sacramental bond of unity existing among all who through it are reborn. An indelible spiritual mark. Incorporated into Christ by baptism, the person baptized is configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark, character, of his belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark even if sin prevents baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation. Given once for all, baptism cannot be repeated.

Incorporated into the church by baptism, the faithful have received the sacramental character that consecrates them for Christian religious worship. The baptismal seal enables and commits Christians to serve God by a vital participation in the Holy Liturgy of the Church and to exercise their baptismal priesthood by the witness of holy lives and practical charity. The Holy Spirit has marked us with the seal of the Lord, Dominicus' character, for the Day of Redemption. Baptism indeed is the seal of eternal life. The faithful Christian who has kept the seal until the end, remaining faithful to the demands of his baptism will be able to depart this life with the sign of faith, with his baptismal faith, in expectation of the blessed vision of God, the consummation of faith, and in the hope of

resurrection. Right. There we are. Paragraphs 1267 to 1274. We are brought into the church by baptism. Again, we talked about some other incredible effects, right, consequences, things that baptism does. It makes us new. It forgives us of our sins. It makes us into God's own sons and daughters. also we recognize this is not just an individual thing. In fact, following our Lord Jesus Christ is not an individual sport. It is a team sport. It is a team kind of a situation. And so baptism makes us members of the body of Christ. It brings us into the church. And that's really important for us to understand because we recognize that go back to the Old Testament, whenever people were brought into a covenant relationship with God. That's what baptism does, right? Baptism brings us

into a new relationship of the new covenant. But when people in the old covenant, in the Hebrew covenant, Jewish covenant, were brought into that relationship with God, it was never a one-on-one thing. I mean, yes, of course, it's personal, definitely. But they were, you say, here's a man who's circumcised on the eighth day,

and he's brought into this unique relationship. He's part now of the people of God, and that's the key. He now has a particular relationship with God himself because he was brought into the people of God. He's brought into the chosen people of God. And this is something incredibly similar. I mean, it's the fullness of all this stuff in the Old Testament, right, is fulfilled in the new.

Everything in the old covenant is now fulfilled in the new. And so in so many ways, we recognize that, yes, you as an individual, if you were baptized, you have now this individual personal relationship with God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is unique and infinite. It is also infinitely unique at the same. same time. That relationship is there because now you're a part of the body of Christ, the church. And this is so important for us to understand. It is personal, but not private. And this is so key, just like sin, right? Sin is personal, but it's not private. Because we belong to each other,

none of our sins are private. Our sins are in some ways, even the hidden ones, even the secret ones, they are in a certain sense communal because we belong to each other, as it says, for by one spirit, we're all baptized into one body. And that's incredible, but also it gives us a lot of, there's some responsibilities there. There are some duties. There is the fact that what we're called to do is from now on we're subject to others. From now on,

we're called to serve others in the communion of the church and to obey and submit to the church's leaders. This is what it is to be part of the Christian faith. I mean, again, this isn't just a Catholic thing, although Catholics have maintained this and held on to this, but from the very, very beginning, We recognize that if you were going to be a believer, if you were going to hold to the teaching,

the belief that Jesus Christ has truly died, is truly risen and truly sits at the right hand of the Father. If you're going to believe in the faith of the apostles, it means that you would adhere to the apostles, right? It meant that from now on yourself, your own life, was not your own life, that we are all called to be subject to each other, to serve others in communion of the church,

and to obey and submit to the church's leaders. This is a massive expectation of every single believer from the very, very beginning. Now, at the same time, paragraph 1269 goes on to say that just as baptism is the source of responsibilities, the baptized person also enjoys rights within the church. Remember, if it's going to be a real relationship, there's got to be real responsibilities and real rights. And those real rights are, well, to receive the sacraments, that every baptized Catholic has a right to receive the sacraments.

For example, we're going to hear this later on. I think the sacrament of confession. I just came across something the other day that said very clearly that priests are obliged to hear anyone's confession. I thought that was just me. I thought that was just like, yeah, that's my open heart to hearing people's confessions. And like, oh, no, that's the expectation of the church that it has to be reasonable, of course. I mean, can't just be like, it can't be unreasonable.

There we go. Why think of an example? And I just use the word unreasonable. But the expectation of the church is, no, no, no. priests, you are obliged to hear someone's confession anytime they ask within reason. Why? Because one of the rights of being a Catholic is to receive the sacraments. Also, to be nourished by the Word of God, that you have a right as a Catholic Christian, to be nourished by God's Word and to be sustained with the other spiritual helps of the Church.

So all of those things are massively, massively important. We also have real duties. Paragraph 1270, this is so important for us to understand. as we're reborn as sons of God, you're sons and daughters of God, we must profess before men the faith we have received from God through the church. That's something interesting.

And I can ask myself the question, and we can all ask ourselves the question, when was the last time that I profess before others the faith I've received from God and the church? Even if it has it come up at all, have there been any times in conversation where I normally would say something about the fact that I believe in Jesus Christ

that I belong to the Catholic Church, but I didn't say I held something back. Well, again, again, if I'm part of the church, if I've been made new by baptism, if I've been given the grace of the Holy Spirit that now I'm an adopted son or daughter of God, it says this, reborn as sons of God, the baptize must profess before men,

the faith they've received from God through the church. And it goes on to say, and participate in the apostolic and missionary activity of the people of God. I think some of the things that can happen, you know, is we can look around that our, culture, look around our world and say, what's happened when it comes to a loss of faith, a loss of morals, what happens when it comes to what's happened in our culture, when it comes

to a loss of belief in God, or even just that sense of love for Jesus, a love for the church. And part of the question we get to ask is not just what have the leaders done wrong, although that's always important. We always have to ask the question on every level. But of course, the only level that I can influence directly is my own level. And I have to look at my life and ask the question, okay, have I professed before others the faith I've received? Have I participated in the apostolic and missionary activity of the people of God? What have I done? And if what I've done is abdicate, right? If what I've done is said, well, that's the professional's job. Then, I guess, for lack of a better phrase, I'm part of the problem. And I know sometimes it's too much of a blanket statement,

but I don't know. Sometimes the statement's accurate. If I haven't done anything, then I'm a part of the problem. Now, at the same time, this isn't just about condemning oneself, but it is about recognizing I have been given a dignity. And so has, as the church says in 1271, every person has been baptized, even if they're not baptized Catholic, if they are baptized with water in the Trinitarian formula, I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit and with the intention of doing it the church does. There are brothers and sisters, even if it's an imperfect relationship, they are fully Christian. They have the right to be called Christians that says in paragraph 1271. So that's a question that comes up a lot is people ask, okay, so what if someone's baptized, but they're not

baptized Catholic? Do we accept that baptism? The answer is yes. You're not rebaptized after that. There is a real baptism and that's really effective. It's really changed them into God's sons and daughters. And so we are truly brothers and sisters, even if we have an imperfect relationship with each other. Lastly, the indelible spiritual mark. Once you're baptized, you are baptized forever and you belong to Christ. No sin can raise this mark, even if, this is crazy. Even if sin does prevent a person from experiencing the fruits of salvation, meaning there is no sin that can undo our baptism. There's no sin that can make it so the God who adopted us would abandon us. No sin could ever do that.

But I can choose to not live in the father's house. There is the older son and the younger son. And the younger son has for his inheritance and he leaves. In the parable of the prodigal son, he comes back. Praise God. Amazing. But he didn't have to come back. He could have died feeding the pigs.

You know the parable I'm talking about, right? And if you would have died feeding the pigs, he would have died as a son of the father. He wouldn't have ceased being a son to the father, but he would have died outside the father's house. The same is true for you and for me. That we will always be sons and daughters of our father. Always, always, always. No sin can erase that. No amount of saying, I don't want.

that anymore can erase that. It's an indelible spiritual mark at the same time. I have to choose to live in the father's house or I'm choosing to live outside the father's house. I have to choose to live in the father's will or I'm choosing to live outside the father's will. There's this indelible spiritual mark that's been placed upon you and upon me if you've been baptized and it is a gift, but it's also a gift that we have to use, right? It's a gift that God says, you belong in my family, you belong in my home, you belong in my house. It's your house too. We have to choose to live there. And so that's not always easy. Professing our faith before others and participating in the apostolic missionary activity of the church is not always easy. And so what do we need? We need grace and we need prayers. That is why every single

day I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.