The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 252: The Common Good (2025)

Episode Date: September 9, 2025

The Catechism sets up a pair of definitions for us that, at first glance, appear circular, but upon close examination, reveal profound interdependence: “The good of each individual is necessarily related to the common good, which in turn can be defined only in reference to the human person.” Fr. Mike uses a fascinating thought experiment to illustrate where the common good originates: you. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1905-1912. 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 New Year is brought to you by ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church discovering our identity and God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 252. We are reading paragraphs 1905 to 1912. 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 a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com

slash CIY, and you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates. Daily notifications, you might even be willing to leave a review. Actually, if you leave a review, it does something with the algorithm, and it really boosts things, and more people see this, and maybe more people would hear about it, and then maybe more people would listen, and maybe more people would come to know the love that God has for them. So if you don't mind, leave a, I don't leave a one-star review for kind of loud. If it's Day 252, you love this. Can I say that? You love this? I don't know if you love it or not. Maybe you just tolerate it. That's fine, too. Today we're talking about the common good. It's Day 252, paragraphs 1905 to 1912.

Yesterday, we talked a bit about authority and how legitimate authority is exercised legitimately only when it seeks the common good. And if it employs morally illicit means to attend. this and that all the laws they enact are according with right reason. So what is the common good? Now, this is really interesting. Actually, this is fascinating because we have the individual good, right? What is good for the individual is one thing? And what is good for the group of individuals? What's good for more? So 1905 and then lays it out really clearly. It says this, in keeping with the social nature of man, the good of each individual is necessarily related to the common good, which in turn can be defined only in reference to the human person. And that's

just, I love this because it goes, it's a, it's a, I don't want to say, it's not a circular definition. That's not what it is. But we recognize the dignity of the individual can only be really fully realized when there's the dignity of the group of individuals, which must never violate the dignity of the individual. Does that make sense? Because there are times, and there have been times. When someone has asserted, the individual, individual dignity to the exclusion of the group. There are also times when people have asserted the good of the group to the detriment of the individual. And what the church is saying is we can do neither of those. We must assert the dignity of the individual. Because of how good individuals are,

we must care for the common good. But in caring for the common good, we must never forget the individual. Does that make sense? Well, if it doesn't now, it will because we're going to read paragraphs 1905 to 1912 and launch into this. So let's pray, you guys, because it's good to pray and it's good to be with you today. Father in heaven, oh, God in heaven, you are good. You've made us in your image and likeness. You've called us to be brothers and sisters. You've made us into a family through baptism.

And we also belong to the human family just by the very fact that we share our human nature. We share that image that you have created us in. Lord God, we ask that you please. Help us to always remember and recognize and affirm the dignity of the individual. Help us also to be wise in making decisions about the common good, decisions about the group of individuals. Help us to never lose sight of either, the individual good or the common good. Help us walk that tightrope.

Help us live that balance. Help us to assert all that is good in this world. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son. and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is day 252. We're reading paragraphs 1905 to 1912. The common good. In keeping with the social nature of man, the good of each individual is necessarily related to the common good, which in turn can be defined only in reference to the

human person. Do not live entirely isolated, having retreated into yourselves, as if you are already justified, but gather instead to seek the common good together. by common good is to be understood the sum total of social conditions which allow people either as groups or as individuals to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily. The common good concerns the life of all. It calls for prudence from each and even more from those who exercise the office of authority. It consists of three essential elements. First, the common good presupposes respect for the person as such. In the name of the common good, public authorities are bound to to respect the fundamental and inalienable rights of the human person.

Society should permit each of its members to fulfill his vocation. In particular, the common good resides in the conditions for the exercise of the natural freedoms indispensable for the development of the human vocation, such as the right to act according to a sound norm of conscience, and to safeguard privacy and rightful freedom also in matters of religion. Second, the common good requires the social well-being and development of the group itself. Development is the epitome of all social duties. Certainly, it is the proper function of authority to arbitrate, in the name of the common

good, between various particular interests, but it should make accessible to each what is needed to lead a truly human life, food, clothing, health, work, education and culture, suitable information, the right to establish a family, and so on. Finally, the common good requires peace, that is, the stability and security of a just order. It presupposes that authority should ensure by morally acceptable means the security of society and its members. It is the basis of the right to legitimate personal and collective defense. Each human community possesses a common good which permits it to be recognized as such. It is in the political community that its most

complete realization is found. It is the role of the state to defend and promote the common good of civil society, its citizens, and intermediate bodies. Human interdependence is increasing and gradually spreading throughout the world. The unity of the human family, embracing people who enjoy equal natural dignity, implies a universal common good. This good calls for an organization of the community of nations, able to provide for the different needs of men. This will involve the sphere of social life to which belong question of food, hygiene, education,

and certain situations arising here and there. as, for example, alleviating the miseries of refugees dispersed throughout the world and assisting migrants and their families. The common good is always oriented toward the progress of persons. The order of things must be subordinate to the order of persons and not the other way around. This order is founded on truth, built up injustice, and animated by love. Right, there we have it. Paragraph's 1905 to 1912. I think it just goes to the heart right away. This is some of the clearest language I have ever heard when it comes to the common good. So keep this in mind.

Paragraph 1905 gives us the picture and then following paragraphs in 1907, 1908, 1909 tell us the three essential elements of the common good. Let's review. So 1905, in keeping with the social nature of man, remember this, we belong to each other. We are made for each other. The good of each individual is necessarily related to the common good. In turn, can be defined only in reference to the human person. Now, I love this because there is a question, and the question could be like, how do I want to live my life? And on the most basic level, the individual could look at their life and they could say, okay, what is the best thing for me to do right now?

And they could look at right now, look at the moment and just say, what's the best thing for me to do right now? And they could play that game. And that game could be, in this moment, I want to sleep. Okay, great. In this moment, I want to exercise. Great. In this moment, I want to watch TV. Fine, wonderful.

In this moment, I want to fill in the blank. that is. Now, you expand from there and say, okay, what is the best thing for me to do right now keeping in mind tomorrow? That might change a little bit of what I do right now, right? Because I've expanded my frame of reference. Now, I could also keep expanding it and say, what's the best thing for me to do right now in light of where I want to be in a year or where I want to be in five years or I want to be in 20 years or for the Christian where I want to be at my deathbed? What's the best thing for me to do right now if I want to be in a particular place by the end of my life. Well, on one hand, we have this, what's the best thing for me right now?

But then it's in a frame of reference that continues to expand in throughout time. Now, you can also say, you can expand it even further and say, what's the best thing for me to do right now, what's the best me I could be right now that wouldn't just be good for me at the moment of my death, but also would be good for the people closest to me, right? So what's the best thing for me to do right now, just for me? that could be relatively selfish, but I'm connected to people. I love people. There are people in my life that I'm responsible for it. So what's the best thing I could do right now, not just for me, but also for the people for whom I'm responsible? Because I want the best for them too. And then you keep expanding

that. What's the best thing I can do right now? Not just for me, but for the people I'm closest to, not just right now, but also in the future. You could keep expanding that. And then that's where we get to the common good. What's the best thing I can do right now personally, not just for me, and not just for the people I'm closest to, but for, I guess you'd say, society or for the common good. See, it all starts in so many ways with the individual, the good of each individual. It's necessarily related to the common good. Because I realize that that answer, what should I do now? What's the best thing for me to do right now? If I'm just thinking about myself, that answer is limited and is maybe not the same thing as what's the best thing I can do right now if I'm not just thinking about me, but also

thinking about the people I care about the most and my community. But it's also always comes back in reference to the human person because that that common good can never violate even one individual human being, right? That's so important. So 1906 highlights this. By common good is to be understood the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily. It concerns everyone's life. We all need to be prudent. And you remember what prudence is. It's doing the right thing at the right time and the right way. And so we recognize what's the best thing I can do right now if the goal is the fulfillment and fruitfulness of everyone, including myself as an individual. So the three

essential elements. These are so important. Why? You know, they're so important because there are people in the history of the world and even right now who can be so preoccupied by the common good that they trample on individual sovereignty, right? They trample on individual rights, that the human person is simply a cog in the machine, and they get ground down because what's more important is the common good, not the individual. Therefore, the first of these three essential elements is what? The common good in 1907 presupposes respect for persons as such. In the name of the common good, public authorities are bound to respect the fundamental and inalienable rights of the human person. And so every person should be permitted to fulfill their vocation. And that's,

okay, what am I talking about? Let's just call a spade to spade. Socialism, communism, communism, Marxism, that gives life to these others to be able to identify what is wrong with socialism, what is wrong with communism? What's wrong is that it overrides or subordinates the person to the group. And the person can never be subordinated to the group. The person can never be dominated by the group. The person always is always their freedom, their own personal sovereignty has to always exist. And that's so important. Now, at the same time, the second essential element is it requires social well-being and development of the group itself. So development is the epitome of all social duties. So what this means is this actually has to help the life of the

group. They're obviously in a group of people. We have various interests and sometimes those interests are competing, right? But the social well-being, this common good should make accessible to each what is needed to lead a truly human life. That would be part of what the common good is making accessible to each what is needed to lead a truly human life. And so the common good would say, okay, we're interested in making sure that everyone has food, that everyone has clothing, everyone has health, everyone has ability to work, everyone has the access to education and culture, that everyone has suitable information, right, to establish a family going on from there. And now, that's part of the goal of the common good, the very basic. Now, there can be

other things that people say we don't even more than that. Wonderful. That could be good. again, keeping in mind the other limits of authority, but at the very basic level, striving for the common good is saying, okay, how can we work together to make sure that every individual, remember the individual is key here? Every individual has access to food, clothing, health, work, education, basic. As Ballou said, the bare necessities of life. That's really what we're going for. Now, lastly, the common good requires peace, which means stability and security. of a just order. How does peace happen? Well, that there's an authority that ensures by morally acceptable means the security of society and its members. So basically, the authority

not only has to acknowledge the goodness, the dignity of the individual, striving to make sure that everyone, according to the common good, the social goodness, social health of the community, but also working for the common good requires that there be an authority that has the ability to enforce laws and to protect individuals, to protect the security of society and the members of the society. And that's a good thing. It is the role of the state to defend and promote the common good of civil society, its citizens, and intermediate bodies. And now 1911, we're getting to the end here, 1911 highlights this, that in a growing global world, world, there's this unity of our human family. And we recognize that every person around the world

enjoys equal natural dignity, that every person, regardless of where they live or how they live, regardless of what we look like, if we look differently, if we live differently, every human being, this is the church reiterates this again and again. Every human being has equal natural dignity. And what that implies is a universal common good. And so can there be an organization of the community of nations that work together in such a way that provide for the different needs of all people. And that's just saying we look around the world and we realize that if everyone in my neighborhood has enough food, clothing, health, shelter, all these kind of things, and the people in the next town over have those things. And all the states are doing well. Okay, great. If our community is doing

okay, then we keep looking. And this is what it is as Christians to recognize that, okay, who's my neighbor? Well, whoever is in need is my neighbor. And so I know that there are some people who would say, okay, universal common good. Are you talking about like a one world government? No, that's not what the church is talking about. The church does not advocate that. The church is talking about the cooperation of the community of nations, the cooperation of like, let's work together to do what we can to provide for the needs of all individuals.

Remember, remember all of this comes back to, you know, so easy to turn kind of a blind eye to like, wow, there's X number of thousands. or millions of homeless people in our country or around the world. There's X number of millions of people involved in trafficking right now around the world and just say, oh my gosh, what can you do about that? That's massive numbers. It's easy to say, I can't do anything about that. But then when we say, here's an individual, here's a person, and they are going hungry

tonight, here's a person, and they're homeless, here's a person they're being trafficked. And to say, okay, that's when I think, I think something. there's like oftentimes a fire that's lit underneath us and we say what can I do about that how can my society my my my community local community do anything about that how can our our you know civil our county community how can our state community how can our nation how can the community of nations address and alleviate the miseries of the people around us as it says here some examples alleviating the miseries of refugees dispersed throughout the world assisting migrants and their families this is this is part of what it is just simply

to be a Christian, is to be able to say every person has human dignity. If I can help, I need to help. That's a life-oriented towards the common good. Now, we'll talk about this more tomorrow, because tomorrow is, what is my responsibility? How do I participate in the common good? How do I participate in society in such a way that, yeah, what is my role? Now, it's very, we have five paragraphs talking about it and then some nuggets at the end, but we're going to talk a little bit more about, okay, if this is the case, if it is the case that every individual has dignity, if it is the case that rightful authorities, we have to work together for the common good, then what do I do? What did my call? Because that's always the question, right? It's not,

it's too often we say, what should others do. Here's what other people should do. Here's what the people in charge should do. But at some level, we have to say, okay, I'm only me, have my meager circle of influence. But what can I do with that? And that's the question that we're going to not just ask tomorrow. That's the question we're going to have to ask ourselves and ask the Lord on a daily basis. So that can be intimidating, but don't be intimidated because I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike.

I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.