The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 259: The New Commandment (2026)

Episode Date: September 16, 2026

We continue our examination of the New Law or Law of the Gospel, specifically the Golden Rule and New Commandment of Jesus. Fr. Mike emphasizes that the New Commandment requires us to love God as the center of everything we are and everything we have. He also unpacks how the New Commandment is also known as the law of love, grace, and freedom. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1970-1974. 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 Ears 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 a day 259. We're reading paragraphs 1970 to 1974. 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 lastly, you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates, daily notifications. Today's J-259. We're continuing with the new law or law of the gospel as we read paragraphs 1970 to 1974. We're talking about the golden rule. That's actually one of the things. Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. This is the law and the prophets. Also, the entire law, the gospel is contained in the new commandment of Jesus. What is the new commandment of Jesus? This is it. Love one another as he has loved us. Ultimately, the new law. The new law is a law of love. And gosh, this is so important for us. Rather than that new law, oh, it's a law of love.

Piece of cake, no problem. You know, I think it was St. Augustine. He said, love God and do what you will. And we're like, yeah, that's great. Piece of cake. It is it. Piece of cake. No problem. Well, wait a second. let's hold up here. 1970, here's the quote from John's Gospel, chapter 15, verse 12, love one another as he has loved us. Okay. How has Christ loved us? He has loved us by pouring out his very life for us, by saying no to himself and yes to

his father, so the father can be glorified and so we could have new life. So that is a high, high call, a high call. We're going to talk about that high call. We actually have been talking about it for the last couple of days, the fact that that we can't live up to that high call without the grace of the Holy Spirit, without the grace that comes to us because of what Jesus has done for us. And how does it come to us? Mention this yesterday. And it's so important we can never forget this. It comes to us when we make use of the sacraments that God is given to give us the grace to accomplish his law

and to accomplish his will in this life. So as we're talking about today, the high call of the law of the gospel. It's so good. It's a law of love. It's a law of love. It's a law of grace. It is a law of freedom, and it is a law that we're called to. So let us pray and ask the Lord to give us the grace, to be able to live out this law of grace, this law of love and this law of freedom. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. We love you. And we also know that we do not love you enough. We don't love you purely. We don't love you as you deserve to be loved. We don't love you as we're even made to love you. So give us your Holy Spirit. Please give us your Holy Spirit so that we can love you the way you deserve, the way you made us to be able to love you.

Give us your Holy Spirit so that we can follow your law, not just in external actions, but in the depths of our hearts. Lord God, go all the way to the root. I touch the root, transform the root, not just the fruit of our actions, but where they come from. Transform our hearts. You promise to give us new hearts, Lord God, give us those hearts this day. 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. And it is Day 259, we're reading paragraphs 1970 to 1974. The law of the gospel requires us to make the decisive choice between the two ways and to put into practice the words of the Lord. It is summed up in the golden rule. Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. This is the law and the prophets. The entire law of the law of the Lord, it is the world. The the gospel is contained in the new commandment of Jesus, to love one another as he has loved us. To the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, it is fitting to add the moral catechesis of the apostolic teachings, such as Romans chapter 12 through chapter 15, 1st Corinthians, 12, and chapter 13, Colossians, chapter 3 and chapter 4, Ephesians, chapter 5, etc.

This doctrine hands on the Lord's teaching with the authority of the apostles, particularly in the presentation of the virtues that flow from faith in Christ and are animated by charity, the principal gift of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul writes, let charity be genuine, love one another with brotherly affection. Rejoice in your hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints. Practice hospitality. This catechesis also teaches us to deal with cases of conscience in the light of our relationship to Christ and to the church. The new law is a law. of love because it makes us act out of the love infused by the Holy Spirit rather than from fear. A law of grace because it confers the strength of grace to act by means of faith and the sacraments.

A law of freedom. Because it sets us free from the ritual and juridical observances of the old law, inclines us to act spontaneously by the prompting of charity, and finally, lets us pass from the condition of a servant who does not know what his master is doing to that of a friend of Christ, as Jesus stated, For all that I have heard from my father, I have made known to you, or even to the status of son and heir. Besides its precepts, the new law also includes the evangelical councils. The traditional distinction between God's commandments and the evangelical councils is drawn in relation to charity, the perfection of Christian life. The precepts are intended to remove whatever is incompatible with charity. The aim of the councils is to remove whatever might hinder the development

of charity, even if it is not contrary to it. The evangelical councils manifest the living fullness of charity, which is never satisfied with not giving more. They attest its vitality and call forth our spiritual readiness. The perfection of the new law consists essentially in the precepts of love of God and neighbor. The councils point out the more direct ways, the readier means, and are to be practiced in keeping with the vocation of each. St. Francis DeSales wrote, God does not want each person to keep all the councils, but only those appropriate to the diversity of persons, times, opportunities, and strengths, as charity requires. For it is charity as queen of all virtues, all commandments, all councils, and in short, of all laws and all Christian actions that

gives to all of them their rank, order, time, and value. Right, there it is, perhaps 1970 to 1974. Let's go back to the very beginning. We talked about the law of love, right? The golden rule at first, whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. That's the law and the prophets, but also the entire law of the gospel contained in the new commandment of Jesus, love one another, as he has loved us. So important. Now, we've got that. And also, gosh, let's go to the great commandment, right, to two great commandments, to love God essentially with everything we have and to love our neighbor as ourself. Remember, as I said at the beginning of this episode, the command of love, the law of love, is not smaller.

It's not easier. It's actually more demanding. Imagine the great commandment. Love the Lord or God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength, right? With everything. That's not loving God in passing. That's not kind of loving God as an afterthought or loving God as someone who's really important to me.

That is loving God as the center of everything we are and everything we have. The demand of that kind of love is, well, it can be overwhelming, which is one of the reasons why we absolutely need the Holy Spirit. We absolutely need the Holy Spirit. That's why I love paragraph 1972. The new law is called the law of love, the law of grace, and the law of freedom. And it says why, right? It's called the law of love because it makes us act out of the love infused by the Holy Spirit rather than from fear. It's a law of love. How do we act out of love? It's a law of grace because it confers the strength of grace to act by means of faith and the sacraments. Once again, there we are. Where do we get the grace to act? Where do we get the power of the

Holy Spirit by means of faith and the sacraments? So it's law called the law of grace because it confers the strength of grace to act by means of faith and the sacraments. And thirdly, it's called a law of freedom because it sets us free from the ritual and juridical observances of the old law. It inclines us to act spontaneously by the prompting of charity. And finally lets us pass from the condition of a servant who does not know what his master is doing to that of a friend of Christ. And that's the law of freedom. And that's so good. I mean, again, let's go back to why is it a law of freedom? Because we don't have to observe the old law, right? All of the old juridical and ritual observances of the old law. Now, we have a fulfillment of that

in the sacraments where we have a fulfillment of the observances of worship is. We have a fulfillment of, you know, entering into relationship with God through the sacraments. But it is of a completely different nature and inclines us to act spontaneously by the prompting of love and finally enables us to pass from the condition of a servant to that of a friend even to that of a son and heir which is so important now let's go back up to paragraph 1961 for a brief moment 1961 highlights that yesterday we talked about the sermon on the mount and how the sermon on the mount is so bad very important hopefully if you got the chance you took that chance to reread and repray through matthew chapter five six and seven if you didn't Here's your reminder to do that today. If you did, here's some more, not homework, but just, you know, something else to pray with. 1971 says, in addition to the sermon on the mount, it's fitting to add the moral catechesis of the apostolic teachings. What does that mean?

Well, there are a number of writings of St. Paul. In this case, there's four that his letter to the Romans, First Corinthians, Colossians, and Ephesians. There's others, but these are the ones that are highlighted here in paragraph 1971, the apostolic teachings. So he gives us some moral catechesis, moral teachings in Romans 12 to 15, 1st Corinthians 12 and 13, Colossians 3 and 4, Ephesians 4 and 5. It's so good because when you read this, I mean, man, I was at a wedding relatively recently where they chose as their wedding reading, Colossians chapter 3. And it was so beautiful because it's like, okay, this couple, they wanted to be proclaimed at their wedding.

this moral catechesis, St. Paul writing about what you might call like the ideal Christian life in the world. It starts out by saying, if then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. That's what we do, right? If you're raised with Christ, then we seek what is above, where Christ is. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. You have died, and life is hidden with Christ and God. When Christ your life appears, then too you will appear with him in glory. Goes on to say, put to death then, the parts of you that are earthly. Put to death immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.

Goes on to say, but now, you must put all of them away. Anger, fury, malice, slander, obscene language out of your mouths. Stop lying to one another. Since you have taken off the old self with its practices, put on the new self, which is being renewed for knowledge in the image of its creator. Goes on. It says, I just love this. Again, this is Colossians chapter 3. Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness,

humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If one has a grievance against another, as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. It goes on, it's just so beautiful. I love the one that the groom had highlighted. It goes on to say, it says, let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you are called into one body.

And then it says, one sentence, three words, and be thankful. And the groom was like, I love that. Like all these, this is great, great advice. We need to do this. This is the commandment of the moral catechises of the apostles, right? Here, the apostle, St. Paul, to the Colossians. In the middle of that, all these big things.

Oh, also, and be thankful. And it goes, it's just so good. so powerful and such a needed and necessary reminder for all of us. That's what paragraph 1971 is talking about. Now lastly, paragraphs 1973, 1974 talks about the evangelical councils. And you were like, probably as you're listening saying, what? What? What are the evangelical councils? Because I did not in the intro say, hey, guys, here's what the evangelical councils are so that when you heard them and not mentioned in 1973, but not actually described, you were maybe confused. So it says besides its precepts, the new law also includes the evangelical counsels.

What is that? Well, the evangelical councils are, you've probably heard them before. Poverty, obedience, chastity. So poverty, chastity, obedience. Those are the evangelical councils in the life of Christ. So from the very beginning of Christianity, those who are following after Jesus would embrace these. And some of them would make even make promises or vows to live out a life of poverty, a life of chastity and a life of obedience. And so that's what they're being referred to. You're like, oh, that's what the evangelical councils are. Yes.

So probably what would be helpful for you is to go back and reread paragraphs 1973 and 1974 knowing that, oh, that's what this means. So, for example, it goes on to say, if I know that the evangelical councils are, poverty, chastity, and obedience, he says, the traditional distinction between God's commandments and these councils of poverty, chastity, and obedience is drawn in relation to love, right? in relation to charity, the perfection of Christian life. So the precepts are intended to remove whatever incompatible with charity. The name of the councils is to remove whatever might hinder the development of charity,

even if it's not contrary to it. So poverty, chastity, obedience, if I'm going to make a promise or a vow to live out poverty, chastity, and obedience, it's not because wealth is evil. It's not because the sexual act is evil. It's not, it's incredible grace in the context of marriage. It's not because we all have to make some kind of promise of obedience. obedience to someone in our lives, but it's because people have recognized that, if I want to grow in love, I recognize that sometimes my own will gets in my way, right?

If I don't have someone to be obedient to, it might hinder the development of love. I recognize that, yes, while the sexual act is an incredible gift and actually, you know, in some many ways, a source of grace in marriage, at the same time, I might need to temper that, where I might need even to say no to that function in my life in order to grow in love. Even though, again, wealth is not evil in the of itself, I might know myself and say, yes, but I want to grow in love even more. And so I'm going to voluntarily embrace poverty. So it goes on to say paragraph 1974, the evangelical councils, right, poverty, chastity, obedience.

They manifest the living fullness of love, of charity, which is never satisfied with not giving more. Think about that. The fullness of love is never satisfied with not giving more. In that sense, I get to ask the question, am I ready spiritually to give more? Is my heart alive? Is my relationship with the Lord alive in the sense that I'm not giving God my minimum? I'm not giving God my leftovers. But I'm wanting to give God my best.

and that's the call that many people who have made those vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. That's the call that they're responding to. Like, I want to give God my best. Now, at the same time, not everyone is called to a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience. In fact, that last quote from in paragraph in 1974, it highlights, it's a quote from St. Francis to Salas. And he says this. He says, not only do you might you not want to make a vow to all these vows. all these councils, but he still was on to say, he says, God does not want each person to keep all the

councils, right? But only those appropriate to the diversity of persons, times, opportunities, and strength as charity requires. So keep this in mind. St. Francis is the sales. Love that guy. He is incredible. In fact, he's kind of a saint for every, every person in the sense that he, maybe more than anyone in his day, made sanctity something that seemed possible for anyone. Sometimes we get into fall into this trap of thinking that, well, you know, holiness, sanctity being a saint, that's for nuns, that's for priests, that's for religious brothers and sisters, monks. But St. Francis, the sales reminded us really, really well that actually, no, that's for every baptized Christian. Every baptized Christian is called to be a saint. In fact, every person is called to be a saint, but Christians are the ones who have received a grace in order to say yes to this. And so we all called to this. And that's what God wants for us. But he doesn't want us to all do it in the same way, as he's quoted here. God does not want. on each person to keep all the councils, but only those appropriate to the diversity of persons,

times, opportunities, and strengths. So there we go. You are called to be a saint. You might not be called to the evangelical councils. You might not be called to poverty, chastity, and obedience, but, but here's the thing. We are all called to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, which are not the evangelical councils, right? Those are the acts of religion, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, that Jesus actually commands all of us to do at some point in our lives. And the church gives us an opportunity to do regularly. So all these things are summed up, of course, in the law of love. To love one another as Christ has loved us.

To love the Lord God with everything we have in our neighbor as ourself, which is, again, beyond our strength, beyond our ability. And so we once again are reminded, God, I cannot do this on my own. Please come and help me. And also, I'm praying, God. Please come and help all those who are part of this community. help all of those who are listening to these words right now. I'm telling you every day, I am praying for you. Please pray for me.

My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.