The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 265: The Call to Holiness

Episode Date: September 22, 2023

Each of us is called to holiness. As Fr. Mike puts it, we’re all called to the “heights of holiness.” No matter our station in life, we’re meant for ever greater union with Christ, devoting ourselves to the love of God and neighbor. The path of holiness also entails the Cross, self-denial, and the sacrifice that ultimately leads to peace. And as Fr. Mike reminds us, even if we stumble or fail, we know that we can, time after time, “begin again.” Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2012-2016. 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 Catacism in a Year Podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sure goodness for us, revealed in Scripture, and passed down to the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catacism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catacism of the Catholic Church discovering our identity and God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 265 you guys. We are 100 days away. From the end, we're reading paragraphs,

212,000 in 12 to 2016. 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 cyy and you can click follow or subscribe to your podcast app for daily

updates, daily notifications. Thank you so much also by the way. PS, PS, thank you for all those who have supported the production of this podcast with your prayers, your, your financial gifts. Honestly, we couldn't do this without you. We did it. We're talking about Christian holiness. You know, yesterday we talked about merit and I was, I shared that I was so, so grateful to be able to talk about merit. Today, I want to be even more grateful if it's possible. This recognition that every one of us is called to be a saint. Every, every one of us has been created by God, for God.

Every one of us has been redeemed by Jesus Christ and we're called to cooperate with that redemption. We're called to cooperate with His grace, And we're called to ultimately be holy. And so this is just this huge huge in paragraph 2012 to 2016, just this reminder of the depth to which God has created, redeemed, and now is calling all of us to the heights of holiness. And this is you. And this is Pa's and this for one second. The heights of holiness, that's where you're called. And so to be able to hear these next five paragraphs and just realize, wait, this is for me, this is God's plan for my life. And especially when we're discouraged, especially when we're

tired of persevering, especially when we're, we've fold that fold failed and fallen so much that we just need, we need this reminder. And maybe for the first time to hear it for the first time that actually this is what God wants for you now and literally into eternity. So let's pray because we need God's grace. Without God's grace, we cannot do it. Without God's grace, we are bound to fail. And so we pray and ask God to give us this grace,

Father in heaven, we walk into, we stumble into your presence, Father, but because of your Son, because of the Holy Spirit poured out into our hearts, you have given us access. We have been given access to you and you have called us, you've called us to the heights of holiness. We ask that you, Father, in this moment and in every moment. Be still, your Holy Spirit, upon us. Help us to say yes to you. Help us cooperate with you fully with our thoughts thoughts, our words, our actions, everything we do may be for your glory and for

the salvation and sanctification of all the people around us. Lord God, make us holy. Help us to live in holiness this day and every day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, in the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is day 265 of the reading paragraphs 2012-2016. Christian holiness. St. Paul writing to the Romans stated, We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him. For those whom He for new, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might

be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom He predestined, He also called. And those whom He called, He also justified. And those whom He justified, He also glorified. Lumingencium further states, all Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity. All are called to holiness. As Jesus stated, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Lumingencium further stated, in order to reach this perfection, the faithful should use the strength dealt out to them by Christ's gift, so that, doing the will of the Father and everything, they may wholeheartedly devote themselves to the glory of God and to the service of their neighbor. Thus, the holiness of the people of God will grow in fruitful abundance, as is clearly shown in the history of the church through the lives of so many saints. Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called mystical because it participates in the mystery of Christ through the sacraments,

the Holy Mysteries, and in Him in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. God calls us all to this intimate union with Him, even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all. The way of perfection passes by the way of the cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the escesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes. St. Gregory of Nissa stated, He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have

no end. He never stops desiring what he already knows. The children of a holy mother, the church, rightly hope for the grace of final perseverance and the recompense of God their father for the good works accomplished with his grace in communion with Jesus. Keeping the same rule of life, believers share the blessed hope of those whom the divine mercy gathers into the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband.

All right, there we are, paragraphs 2012-2016, which are brief, right? These brief five paragraphs, and yet in these five paragraphs is the call. Like, this is the destiny of every human being, and this is your destiny. This is what God wants. That first paragraph, 2012, comes exclusively from St. Paul's letter to the Romans chapter 8, right? We know that in everything, God works for good with those who love him, for whom he for knew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son.

That is your call, that's my call, is amazing. I love this. The next statement, of course, is from Lumen Genshin, right, Second Vatican Council, paragraph 2013. It says, All Christians, in any state or walk of life, are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity.

If it was ever the case that in your life you thought, well, holiness is for the nuns, you know, holiness is for priests, holiness is for bishops, holiness is for the monks out there, it's not for me. It holiness may even be for people who work in the church, but it's not for me. The reality, of course, is that the church is crying out all the way from St. Paul, right into the Romans, to Lumingencium in the 1960s to this moment right now in the catechism.

Church is crying out, God is crying out, that all Christians, and all means you, all means all, in any state or walk of life. Now, think about this, any state or walk of life. Now think about this, any state or walk of life. If you're single and you longed to be married, but you haven't been able to be married and you think, ah, how could I possibly be wholly if I'm not in my vocation? Well, listen, in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity. That's you. That means all of us, if you're married, if you had started out in a vocation.

If you started out walking and you thought, okay, this is my vocation. And for whatever reason, it has not worked out, right? For whatever reason, it has not borne fruit. For whatever reason, even maybe that ended. Maybe there's a massive curveball that came. You find yourself in a particular state of life, or walk of life that you think like,

oh gosh, God, what can you do with this? What can you do with me in this moment? The church still says, with the voice of God himself, that you are still called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity. All are called to holiness. This is so important. Now, in order to reach this perfection, right? Lumin Gentsim goes on to state here in 2013. In order to get that state of holiness, what do we do? We need to use the strength dealt out to them by Christ's

gift. That is the key, right? Remember, we can only do this with God's grace, moving on so that what? Doing the will of the Father in everything. They may wholeheartedly devote themselves to the glory of God and to the service of their neighbor. The heart of holiness is very simple. It is simply to do the will of the Father. That is it. The heart of holiness is,

I do the will of the Father with the grace provided to me by Jesus. And what's the will of the Father? So often, we can say, I don't know, I don't know. God wants for me in my life. What do you want next? He just wants you to take that next step And that's why I love I love this quote from St. Gregory of Nissa where he says he who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning to

Beginnings that have no end he never stops desiring what he already knows you know there is a Venerable his name is Venerable Bruno Lanteri. I think that's how he says last name. See, a Venerable Bruno Lanteri. And he founded a religious community. And one of his sangs was very brief, there's only two words. And that saying was Nunk Chepi. Now, if you know of the American football player, Phillip Rivers, that he adopted that as well.

Nunk Chepi, N-U-N-C-C-O-E-P-I, Nunk Chepi. And it simply means, now I begin. Now I begin. And that's the heart of it, right? It's, I need to do the will of the Father. Okay, well, what's the will of the Father? We'll take the next step. Say yes to Him, right now.

With the grace, with the strength provided by Jesus Christ, I simply take the next step. I simply start again. I go, as Greg Givnesa said, I go from beginning to beginning to the beginnings that have no end. That recognition of all you and I are called to do is take the next step.

All you and I are called to do is give the next yes. And even if, again, even if we've made a ship wreck of our lives, right, even if we have just like tanked, totally tanked, and we're falling, we've fallen flat on our face. What's the next yes? The next yes is, okay, God, I'm going to go to confession. I'm going to hand over my heart to you. The next yes is always possible. I can always, we can always begin again. In fact, venerable Bruno, Lanterie, he once said this, he said, if I should fall a thousand

times a day, a thousand times a day, I will begin again with a new awareness of my weakness, promising God with a peaceful heart to amend my life. This is the grace of perseverance. This is fortitude, right? This is true courage. If I should fall a thousand times a day, a thousand times a day, I will begin again,

nookchepi, now I begin, with a new awareness of my weakness. Think about that. I'll begin again, nookchepi, now I begin, with a new awareness of my weakness. Think about that. I'll begin again, not deceiving myself, not thinking, this time will be perfect. No, I have a new awareness of my weakness. I actually know how deeply my weakness goes. It is only those who have tried to stand up against the wind

who truly know how strong they are and who truly know how strong the wind is. It's only those who actually have fought against temptation who truly know how strong they are and who truly know how strong the wind is. It's only those who actually have fought against temptation, who truly know how weak they are or how strong they are and how strong temptation is. But I begin again, noongchepi, promising God with a peaceful heart to amang my life. Just saying, with your God, I'll start again, I'll begin again. And this last paragraph, your paragraph 2016, I think is so, so powerful because it talks about, it says, the children of our Holy Mother of the Church rightly hope for the grace of final perseverance and the recompense of God, their Father, for the good works accomplished with His grace and communion

with Jesus. The grace of final perseverance, we might have talked about this before, but you know, it's been on my heart more and more that I am called to and maybe all of us are called to pray for the grace of final perseverance. I want the grace to say yes right now right. I want the grace to say nook chepi to say it now I begin again even but we all of us it is a unique grace to be given. Do you have that grace of final perseverance that grace at the end of my life Lord God do something miraculous at the end of my life Lord God take, take me into your arms, again, to my life, Lord God, even no matter how I've lived.

I mean, I want to live, saying yes to you, my whole life, right? I want to be that saint you called me, created, redeemed me to be. But also, Lord God, the end of my life. Let me say yes. And imagine that, imagine at the end of your life with your last breath. Imagine walking through this life. Yeah, I fell, I fell, but no, I'm chippy. Imagine that. Imagine at the end of your life with your last breath.

Imagine walking through this life. Yeah, I fell, I fell, but nookchepi. Now I begin. Imagine I take that next step and say, okay, God, a new day. Now I begin. Nookchepi. Imagine that next step of just, okay, God, you're calling me to this? Okay, nookchepi.

Now I begin. And imagine. Imagine with your last breath as you depart this world to start the new life in the next world. That you can say, okay, Lord, name chepi. Now I begin. Now I begin this life in heaven. Incredible. That's what God has made you for. Holiness in this life, fullness of joy in this life, fullness of peace in this life with battles, right, with trials. But with that confidence, now I begin, new chippy. So then we step into heaven. We can say those words in the presence of God himself. Noon Chepi. Now I begin this new life. Let's pray for that.

Let's pray for that gift of daily perseverance and the gift of final perseverance. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Micah. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless. you