The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 250: Conversion in Society (2025)

Episode Date: September 7, 2025

Before we can see outward changes for the good in society, there must be inward conversion in the hearts of its members, so says the Catechism. Fr. Mike highlights the fact that societies are made up of people with both body and soul—and the soul is often overlooked. Because we are broken, there is a “permanent need” for our conversion, and any society that fails to take this into account is doomed to do violence to human dignity. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1886-1896. 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 it down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in Ere 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 a heavenly home, this is day 250. We're reading paragraphs 1886 to 1896. 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 CIY, and you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Also, just a quick thank you to all those who have supported the production of this podcast through your prayers, can't do without them, your financial gifts. We couldn't do any of this without use. Thank you so much. Today's day 250. We're reading paragraphs 18. 1886, 1896. Remember yesterday we started talking about the human community, right? We went from individual human dignity talking about, okay, the person and society. We need. There's a communal character of the human vocation. There's a communal character of human nature even. And so we talked about that. We talked about how, again, society is not optional. Society is not extraneous for us.

It's a requirement of our nature because we're made in God's image and likeness. We need each other. Also because if we're going to accomplish God's will in this world, we need each other. Remember, Jesus Christ came to establish the kingdom of heaven, right? The kingdom of God. Not simply, not simply, I want to save individual sinners, but he came to establish a kingdom, a society, right? Some unique, mysterious community. And so we're going to talk about that. Also, today, you know, as this next, the last piece of Article 1, the person in society, we're going to talk about conversion and society. And so one of the big statements we're leading off with the paragraph 1886 is society is essential to the fulfillment of the human vocation.

But, and not, well, the church doesn't say but, I'm going to say but, but to attain that aim, right, the fulfillment of the human vocation, which is society is essential towards, to attain this aim, respect must be accorded to the just hierarchy of values, which subordinate physical and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones. What that means is we need conversion, that we have to recognize, our society has to recognize that yes, we are physical beings. Yes, we have human or natural or physical drives, but we are also spiritual beings. And the physical is subordinated to the spiritual, to the interior and spiritual. So we need conversion. We need to get a right ordering of what's most important. One way to say it is, as I heard

Dr. Peter Crave to say once, he said that, and I've repeated it so many times, is that any individual you ever meet will outlast every civilization that's ever been created any individual and any individual whether they are great or small whether they are incredibly wise or deficient in wisdom whether they are powerful or whether they are paralyzed every human being every individual human being will outlast every human society therefore the human being is essential right the human being has a dignity that cannot be wiped away, that cannot be taken away, that cannot be mitigated. And so we need to have right order, right? We need to subordinate physical and instinctual dimensions. Those values are good to interior and spiritual ones. So we need conversion.

And we also need right ordering of what our lives are. And that's the thing is we need to know what the value of a thing is in order to appropriately use it, right? Or appropriately live life, we need to know the value of things. And so we're just going to ask the Lord right now today as we talk about conversion, as we talk about societies, we talk about getting right orders and knowing the value of things, to give us clear sight, give us true wisdom in being able to value those things. So we pray, Father in heaven, we first, we first praise your name, above all things. May you be glorified.

In all things, may you be glorified. And you've filled this world, Lord. You've filled our lives with good things. Help us to recognize the best things and place those above the good things. Help us to recognize you as the ultimate best thing and place you at the pinnacle, you at the top to treat you the ultimate being as the ultimate being and everything else as less than the ultimate. Help us to treat you as you are for who you are, God himself.

Help us to keep the best things, best, the better things better, and the good things good. Lord God, help us to order our days are right that we may gain wisdom of heart. 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 it is a 250 we are reading paragraphs 1886 to 1896 conversion and society society is essential to the fulfillment of the human vocation to attain this aim respect must be accorded to the just hierarchy of values which subordinates physical and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones as st john the 23rd wrote human society must primarily be considered something pertaining to the spiritual.

Through it, in the bright light of truth, men should share their knowledge, be able to exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations, be inspired to seek spiritual values, mutually deriving genuine pleasure from the beautiful of whatever order it be, always be readily disposed to pass on to others the best of their own cultural heritage, and eagerly strive to make their own the spiritual achievements of others. These benefits not only influence, but at the same time give aim and scope to all that is bearing on cultural expressions, economic and social institutions, political movements and forms, laws, and all other structures by which society is outwardly established and constantly developed.

The inversion of means and ends, which results in giving the value of ultimate end to what is only a means for attaining it, or in viewing persons as mere means to that end, engenders unjust structures, which make Christian conduct in keeping with the commandments of the divine lawgiver difficult and almost impossible. It is necessary, then, to appeal to the spiritual and moral capacities of the human person and to the permanent need for his inner conversion so as to obtain social changes that will really serve him. The acknowledged priority of the conversion of heart in no way eliminates, but on the contrary imposes the obligation of bringing the appropriate remedies to institutions and living conditions when they are an inducement to sin so that they conform to the norms of justice

and advance the good rather than hinder it. Without the help of grace, men would not know how to discern the often narrow path between the cowardice which gives into evil and the violence, which under the illusion of fighting evil, only makes it worse. This is the path of charity, that is, of the love of God and of neighbor. Charity is the greatest social commandment. It respects others and their rights. It requires the practice of justice, and it alone makes us capable of it. Charity inspires a life of self-giving. Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. In brief, there is a certain resemblance between the unity of the divine persons and the fraternity that men ought to establish among themselves.

The human person needs life in society in order to develop in accordance with his nature. Certain societies, such as the family and the state, correspond more directly to the nature of man. The human person is and ought to be the principle, the subject, and the object of every social organization. Widespread participation in voluntary associations and institutions is to be encouraged. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity,

neither the state nor any larger society should substitute itself for the initiative and responsibility of individuals and intermediary bodies. Society ought to promote the exercise of virtue, not obstruct it. It should be animated by a just hierarchy of values. Where sin has perverted the social climate, it is necessary to call for the conversion of hearts and appeal to the grace of God. Charity urges just reforms.

There is no solution to the social question apart from the gospel. All right, that's it, paragraph 1886 to 1896. One of the things I forgot to mention, or I neglected to mention yesterday, was remember paragraph 1882, said there were certain societies such as the family and the state that correspond more directly to the nature of man. They're necessary to them. We just heard that in the nuggets today. It's what's family in the state. Very, very important, right? But there's an aspect they went on to say that there are other voluntary associations and institutions that ought to be or must be encouraged on both the national and international levels.

And it relates to economic and social goals, to cultural and recreational activities, to sport, to various. professions and to political affairs. And I just, I kind of glossed over that. It didn't really even address it. But I think it's really interesting, fascinating, in fact, that the church does say, okay, what do we need? Family and the state. Of course, that's the most basic, right? That corresponds more directly to the nature of man. And yet, there is participation in other voluntary institutions. For example, those that relate to economic and social goals. That makes sense that you would get together, whether that be businesses or that be corporations, whether that be bodies in society that say, you know, we want to help raise boys. Let's start the Boy Scouts.

We want to help raise girls. Let's start the Girl Scouts. That kind of thing, economic and social goals to cultural and recreational activities. So you have like a Lions Club, right? Or you have, it goes on to say to sport. So you have the local volleyball league or you have the softball league. or you even have, you know, other kind of aspects of that are more, even more serious when it comes to these associations that involve sports to various professions and to political affairs that, yeah, to have politics, to have professional organizations, all of those things, they add dimension, they had color to life. And not only dimension and color, they had power, right?

So if I'm simply a, maybe I'm a physician, maybe I'm a teacher, and I'm doing my doctoring thing or I'm doing my teaching thing, that's one thing. only go as far as me. But if I can create some kind of, or be part of some kind of association that would make it so that medicine is even broader than just me. That if the reach of medicine can be across a community or across a country, then maybe there should be an association of doctors when it comes to teaching. If it's just me, that's great, but maybe there's a thing like a school. You know, maybe there's a collection of schools that work together so that even more people are educated. It's one of those things that just, again, highlighting me,

this reality of why it's so important to have societies is because, of course, we're made for relationship. Yes, definitely. Is because those societies, they give a color, a dimension, a depth to life? Yes, of course. But also, because we have societies, it enables the gifts of the individual to go beyond the individual. And it enables us to share other people's gifts. And that's so, so key. It's so key. It enables us to share our gifts and enables us to share others' gifts. In fact, that's what St. John the 23rd says in this extended quote in paragraph 1886 from today. It says, we should always be readily disposed to pass on to others the best of their own cultural heritage. That sense of like, here's what I've received. Let me pass that on to others.

Let me share that with others. That's what a society will do. It goes on to say, so not only should I be readily disposed to pass on to others, the best of our own cultural heritage and eagerly strive to make their own the spiritual achievement of others. And that's something so good. that recognize that we belong to each other. We said that so many times. We belong to each other. And so a society, even would say like the larger society of the human community, right? The global community in the sense that we're all human beings, that whatever I have, yeah, if I can share it with you, wonderful.

Whatever you have, wow, if I can take what you have and incorporate that into my life, that is just blessing. That is just goodness. And it's so good. Now, at the same time, one of the things we have to realize is that there are many expressions. There's many societies. We have this economic, social institutions, political movements, forms, laws, all other structures, which societies outwardly established and constantly developed. John the 23rd highlights those. But then the next paragraph highlights the challenge. Paragraph 1887 says the, now the inversion of means and ends, right? So the ends never justify the means. Remember, that's a moral principle. The ends never justify the means. I may never do evil, the good may come. And so, the end is always more important than the means. Yet, if I would invert that, right, if I turn that upside down, the inversion of means and ends, which results in giving the value of ultimate end

to what is only a means for attaining it, or in viewing persons as mere means to that end engenders unjust structures which make Christian conduct in keeping with the commandments of the divine lawgiver, difficult and almost impossible. This is so important. This is what we need to keep first things first. This is where we need to say, okay, the ultimate, meaning God, the ultimate end has to be the ultimate end.

And I can never replace the means for that end. I can never value the means more than the ultimate end. And also, I can never view persons as mere means to that end. Remember, we mentioned that the human person is the only creature that God made as an end in himself. And so we must never treat human beings as mere means to any end. So we have to have the right valuing of our priority. Remember, maybe I've mentioned this before, but the term priority is really interesting that in the English language, it came about, and maybe I think the 1600s, and it was the word priority. It was singular. And somewhere in the last century, in the 1900 something, like maybe, you know, 300, 400 years after the invention, the coining of the term priority was always singular, that someone made it plural. Now, now we talk about not just priority, but we talk about our priorities. And the reality is, of course, there can be only one priority. priority when if priority means first right there can only be one first and god is the priority right

god is the ultimate end and therefore all other ends are subordinate to that ultimate end and so we just have to keep first things first our priority has to be first now moving on paragraph 1888 the church goes on to say it is necessary then like all that being said right all that being said about why it's it's so helpful to be able to share culture why it's so helpful to be able to share what gift you have with others and to share in the gift to other people have as well as to keep first things first. It's necessary then, paragraph 1888, it's necessary then to appeal to the spiritual and moral capacities of the human person and to the permanent need for his inner conversion so as to obtain social changes that will really serve him. We have to acknowledge that, yes, human beings

are physical. We are also spiritual. And we're also moral. So there's this reality that means human person, that freedom that we have intrinsic to our nature must always be respected and that there is a degree to which we will always need inner conversion. Because why? Because we recognize this, that while we have dignity, while we have goodness, while we're made in God's image and likeness, we are also broken. There is a permanent need for our inner conversion. So any hope, any kind of wish, I'd say like this, any wish for some kind of,

kind of future far-off utopia doesn't exist. That is impossible. It is impossible in this life to create this utopia that somehow if we just get our social structures right, if we just get our economic principles right, if we just get our education right, if we just get health care right, if we just get society right, then we'll be fine. That is a lie. That is always constantly a lie. Why? Because we are not mere animals. We are not mere robots. We are spiritual animals, right? We have moral capacity and we have brokenness. And so we have a permanent need for our inner conversion. And so if we're going to have social changes, we have to have interior change. So, yep, there are such things as broken structures, right? There are broken structures that are unjust. But those broken

structures that are unjust, they come from a broken heart. They come from a broken human person. And so we always have to acknowledge that there is the permanent need for inner conversion. Now, it goes on to saying the paragraph 1888 says the acknowledged priority of the conversion of heart right we all have to convert our heart in no way eliminates but on the contrary imposes the obligation or bringing the appropriate remedies to institutions and living conditions when they are inducement to sin right so so just because we say okay every human being we are called not simply to change social structures we're not simply called to to try to fashion a utopia on this world we can't do that saying that does not mean oh just take care of yourself saying that does not mean

Just, you know, go to confession regularly and make sure that you're living a virtuous life. It says that because you want to have a conversion of heart, because you want to live a virtuous life, part of that is not just living your own life, but part of that is saying, now, how can I make an impact on the world around me? When I see injustice, how can I make sure that I'm acting against that injustice? How can I make sure that I actually am willing to write wrongs when I find those wrongs? Because that's a part of inner conversion. Does that make sense? And so to recognize this, to note the last line in paragraph 1888, to help change those institutions, to remedy those institutions in living situations when they're an inducement to sin

so that they conform to the norms of justice and advance the good rather than hinder it. So just because we're concerned about our own individual soul does not mean that everyone else can just go their own way. because we're placing a high, high value on your own immortal soul does not mean that we just simply ignore everyone else. On the contrary, it means that we do what we can to address remedies to institutions and living conditions when they're an inducement to sin so they conform to the norms of justice and advance the good rather than hinder it. And the last thing I want to highlight is paragraph 1889, which is so good because we look at that then and we say, okay, where do we start? How in the world

do we start what what what is the level of evil that we're willing to tolerate that we have to tolerate and where is it we can say nope no more we have we have to do something about this right now paragraph 1889 says without the help of grace men would not know how to discern the often narrow path between the cowardice which gives into evil and the violence which under the illusion of fighting evil only makes it worse that that's a great line we would not know without grace how to discern the often narrow path between the cowardice, which gives into evil, right? It just kind of says, yeah, I mean, that's how it is in these days. You can't make a utopia, so we might as well not even try.

And the violence, which under the illusion of fighting evil, only makes it worse. That we have to put a stop to this, and so now I'm going to be a dictator, right? That there is this, hmm, there is so much wisdom that is necessary to be able to discern that off a narrow path between cowardice, which gives into evil, and the violence, which under the illusion of fighting evil only makes it worse. And so what's the way? What's the way we move forward? This is the path of charity.

That is of the love of God and of neighbor. Charity is the greatest social commandment. It goes on. And just these last sentences are so powerful because they will chart the course for us for everything we talk about when it comes to participation in social life. They'll chart the course for us when it comes to everything we talk about when it comes to how do I make that discernment between the cowardice that gives into evil and the violence, which under the illusion of fighting evil only makes it worse.

It says this, charity, greatest social commandment. It respects us. others and their rights. Okay, that's first, respects others and their rights. Got it. It requires the practice of justice. Remember what justice is, giving another what is their due? And it alone, love alone makes us capable of justice. And that's so important for us to understand. Love alone makes us capable of justice. It goes on to say, charity inspires a life of self-giving. So just these these brief points that if we're going to be able to discern between the cowardice that gives into evil and the violence which under the illusion of fighting evil only makes it worse we have to

be able to walk the path of charity it's the greatest social commandment to love god above everything and to love our neighbor as ourselves it respects others and their rights it requires the practice of justice charity alone makes us capable of it and charity inspires a life of self-giving because as Jesus said whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it but whoever loses his life will preserve it As we move forward in the next number of days, it's going to be so good. It gets even better because we have this rich history, what we call Catholic social teaching. In this rich history of Catholic social teaching, we recognize that for 2,000 years, plus using the heritage that we received from our Jewish brothers and sisters,

we have this view of not only of the human person, but also a view of what it is to have a Christian society or what it is to be a Christian living in a non-Christian society. what is a well-ordered human society? What is the way in which human beings can flourish the best? That's what we're talking about in the next number of days. I don't know. Hopefully this makes sense. Hopefully you're excited by this.

Hopefully we're convicted by this because it's not just about learning more. Remember, this is about conversion. Inner conversion. That is the goal of this whole entire catechism in a year. And so we belong to the Lord more and more with God's grace. With God's grace, I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike.

I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.