The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 269: Our Missionary Witness (2025)

Episode Date: September 26, 2025

The Church’s mission of evangelization depends on the faithful witness of her members. Christian goodness and fidelity authenticate the Gospel. As Fr. Mike relates, people are attracted to admirable but everyday Christian witnesses. Through such lives of quiet holiness, the Church is built up and brought to greater fullness. This episode closes with a few summary “nuggets” about the moral life in the Church. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2044-2051. 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.

We can't lose our faith the way we lose our car keys. We either give it away or we let it decay because we don't use it. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz. And in my new book, Unshakeable, building a life of virtue in a world of chaos, I tell faith-filled stories that inspire you to live a life of virtue that flows from the unshakable power of God. Although we're surrounded by a culture that mocks virtue, we can feed ourselves stories that really do uphold what is good and promote a virtuous life. When we live this way, we experience freedom and joy like never before.

It's my prayer that the stories in my book, Unshakeable, will inspire you to fight the battle for a virtuous life and win through trust in an unshakable God. Order your copy at ascensionpress.com. 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 to the tradition of the Catholic faith.

The Catechism in a 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 269. We're reading paragraphs 244 to 251. Some nuggets today. 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 Catechurch. 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 and daily notifications because today is day 269. You know, tomorrow, I shouldn't get ahead of myself, but tomorrow we're going to start this new adventure. And the new adventure is the commandments, the Ten Commandments. And, you know, you think, we're just going to jump right into the Ten Commandments. Now we're going to give some context to the Ten Commandments. It's very, very important. Anyways, backing up, what are we doing?

Today, we're talking about the moral life. Obviously, we've been talking about the moral life for the last number of days, but the moral life specifically as it relates to missionary witness. There are three paragraphs 24 to 2046 where this is just, it's so beautiful. You guys, you're going to hear it in just a second. Maybe you're reading ahead of you're reading right in front of you with your ascension catechism. It's so powerful. And here's the very first line in paragraph 244.

The fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition. for the proclamation of the gospel and for the church's mission in the world. That is pretty profound, that the fidelity of the baptized, that all of us are called to be faithful. And that is the primordial condition for the proclamation of the gospel and for the church's mission in the world, which means that we can't just say the truth. We have to live the truth. Isn't that this is remarkable for us?

I can't just tell other people that, okay, Jesus is the Lord, unless I'm willing to live as if Jesus is the Lord. I can't just call others to this new life if I'm not willing to live this new life. No, that doesn't mean we have to be perfect, but it does mean that we are called to be faithful. I'm sure you've heard the very often quoted quote of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who said, God does not call us to be successful. God calls us to be faithful. That does not call me to be successful.

He calls me to be faithful. And yet at the same time, at the same time, there is this recognition that we're not called to be perfect. We are called to be faithful. And ultimately, yes, Jesus says, be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect, but not in the perfectionistic sense, but in that sense of become who you are, be who you've been called and redeemed to be. So when we are that, when we live like that, faithfully, then the mission of Christ is accomplished in the world and the message of Christ is proclaimed to the world. So we're going to talk about that today as well as some nuggets from 2047 to 2051, less nuggets than last time, but still, an abundance of five nuggets. So in order to

launch into today, day 269, let's call upon our Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, His Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit, as we pray, Father in heaven, you are good and you are holy. You are, you are the Lord above everything, and you are the God of the universe. You're also the God of our hearts, and we ask that you please. Help us not to just acknowledge that you are the Lord of the universe, but you are the Lord of our lives. Help us not only to profess belief in you and be faithful to you and profess our faithfulness, but actually to live that faithfulness, to live that belief, to live that trust, to live the life that you've called us to. And you've given us the power to live by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Lord God, this day, we ask you to please meet us in our need, meet us in our weakness, meet us in our the virality the fact that we are desperate we are desperate for you need us with your grace so that we can be true witnesses to this world of your love and the power that your love has to transform our hearts and transform your 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 269 we're reading paragraphs 24 to 2051 moral life and missionary witness the fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition for the proclamation of the gospel and for the church's mission in the world. In order that the message of salvation can show the power

of its truth and radiance before men, it must be authenticated by the witness of the life of Christians. The witness of a Christian life and good works done in a supernatural spirit have great power to draw men to the faith and to God. Because they are members of the body whose head is Christ, Christians contribute to building up the church by the constancy of their convictions and their moral lives. The church increases, grows, and develops through the holiness of her faithful until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. By living with the mind of Christ, Christians hasten the coming of the reign of God, a kingdom of justice, love,

and peace. They do not, for all that, abandon their earthly tasks, faithful to their master. They fulfill them with uprightness, patience, and love. In brief, the moral life is a spiritual worship. Christian activity finds its nourishment in the liturgy and the celebration of the sacraments. The precepts of the church concern the moral and Christian life, united with the liturgy, and nourished by it. The magisterium of the pastors of the church in moral matters is ordinarily exercised in catechesis and preaching on the basis of the decalogue, which states the principles of moral life valid for every man. The Roman pontiff and the bishops, as authentic teachers,

preach to the people of God the faith which is to be believed and applied in moral life. It is also incumbent on them to pronounce on moral questions that fall within the natural law and reason. The infallibility of the Magisterium of the pastors extends to all the elements of doctrine, including moral doctrine, without which the saving truths of the faith cannot be preserved, expounded, or observed. All right, then we have it. Three quick paragraphs and five little nuggets there, paragraphs 24 to 2051 to sum

this up. Let's pause on this for a second. You know, I don't know if I've been apologetic in the sense of, you guys, we have to be open, we have to be daccile, we have to allow the church to teach us and lead us and not be so resistant against, like, maybe our pet sins, if that's the way to say it, or our pet issues that we want to hold on to our will as opposed to here's the church that leads us and teaches us and guides us. there's been something element about that of just like you know here's the encouragement to not do that

and here in these last three paragraphs 24 24 25 and 2046 where the church in many ways explains why no not only sanctification for our own salvation to be open for our own salvation to be docile to the lord and to his church but also for the salvation of others i mean this is the reality of course is that you know as we said the other day is that our faith yes is personal we have a personal relationship with the God who is love at the same time our faith cannot be private our faith is communal our faith is actually meant to be what did jesus say he says you don't light a lamp and put it under a bushel basket you put it in a place where it can shine for all the sea the cities that on a hill cannot be hidden that you are the light of the world you're the salt of the earth we have to we have to give witness

to the lord we have to give witness to his goodness by life that's transformed now that we don't obviously don't do that just to be seen but we have to be seen but we have to give witness to his goodness to his goodness we have to We have to allow the way that God has transformed our hearts and transformed the way we live. We just, we live that freely. And by living that freely, we become witnesses. And this is so important. Let's let's review paragraph 244. Once again, that first line, the fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition for the

proclamation of the gospel and for the church's mission in the world. Going on to say this. Why? Why? In order that the message of salvation can show the power of its truth and radiance before men. It must be authenticated by the witness of the life of Christians. This is so important. It's authenticated that when your life and my life is transformed, because why? Because we're just as broken as everyone else. Like, we're just as needy as everyone else. We're just as rotten in some

ways. You know, not, not ontologically rotten, but, you know, we've been made so good in God's image, and yet we've been broken, right? We weren't fallen. We're not depraved, but we are deprived of God's glory, right? We're not depraved, but we have that brokenness. And And therefore, when we exhibit, when we demonstrate, when we live in such a way that our lives have been transformed by the way that we live, we reveal the power of God, that the message of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit that truly works is authenticated in our lives, in your life. And that's the thing. This happens all of the time where I'll talk to people who will say, you know, it was this person down the street. And they're just a normal person. They have a normal job or they're a stay-at-home parent or whatever they are.

but they just, they seem to have something that I long for. Maybe that's something. Maybe that's something is a certain peace, right? Maybe that's something is a certain joy or a certain kind of contentment, a certain trust even in the midst of pain and suffering in dilemmas. And they say, what is that? Where does that come from? They ask the question.

Now, some of us, some people have all of those things. Some people, some Christians have all peace and joy and wisdom and this ability to be unflappable in the midst of life's assaults. But at times, you might say, ah, I really, I have peace and I have wisdom, but I don't have the joy of the Lord that I wish I had. Well, again, keep in mind, those things are fruits of the Holy Spirit.

And my guess would be, we talked about this before, this before, my guess would be that you have more joy than you would have if you didn't have Jesus, especially when we can turn this back on ourselves and say, how could I possibly be a witness to Jesus? How is it possible that my life could authenticate the truth of the gospel

when I look at myself and I was like, well, I know I'm called to have peace, but I have so much worry. I know I'm called to have joy, but there are so many things that bring me down. I know I'm called to have this wisdom in the world, but I'm sometimes I feel like a fool. Or I know that I'm supposed to be gentle. I know that I'm called to have that fruit of the spirit of gentleness. And yet sometimes I can be really abrasive. Well, keep this in mind. Two things.

One is, the Lord God has probably given you more gentleness than you would have if you didn't have him, more joy than you would have. if you didn't have him, more wisdom and more peace than you would have if you didn't have him. And next is here is God who says, yes, and the fact that you don't have as much as you want, as much as the world around you needs, is simply a reminder that you still need me. And that's a good, that's good news. Even when it comes to this missionary witness that we're all called to, the fact that God's still working on me is a good thing because it reminds me that I still need his grace. It reminds me that, okay, he's not done with me yet, and I have still so far to go.

And it brings me back to this place of humility and brings me back to that place of a child who says, Father, I still need your help. Because if the call is to be a missionary witness by my moral life that's been transformed and I look at my moral life and I say, what the heck, I have to keep going to confession for new things, for the same things, all the time. How could I be a missionary witness? Well, the witness there is humility. The witness there is perseverance.

The witness there is, even in the midst of my broken heart, my broken life, I haven't stopped asking the Lord for help. And that might be you today. You say, how could I possibly be a missionary witness when I keep having to go back to confession? How could I possibly, how could my life authenticate the truth of the gospel when I look at myself and I think, oh, my goodness, I have to keep going back to the Lord and asking for his help. Well, that going back to the Lord is part of the missionary witness.

I mean, just to realize that you know how deeply and how profoundly you need the Lord God and you keep going back to him and not giving into discouragement and not giving into despair and not giving up, but living in hope, to live in hope and perseverance, to live in humility is also part of a missionary witness that also authenticates the gospel. Yes, it'd be amazing if all of us were perfect and all of us were these, these these shining paragons of virtue and this very, very clear witness to the world. We're like, wow, those Christians are perfect human beings, but we're not. And that's, I think in God's plan, that's a good thing.

The fact that here, I am a completely broken person. Again, not completely broken, not depraved, but deprived. A very broken person who I still need the Lord Jesus, me, Father Mike Schmitz, on a regular base, well, every moment for every breath. but also I keep needing to go back to him and saying, God, here I am again in confession. Bless me, Father, for I have sin. It's been a week, two weeks, however long since my last confession, and I need your grace again because I'm not the witness that I want to be.

But even that, going back to the Lord is bearing witness to his goodness. Does that make sense? That is bearing witness to his goodness. But also it reminds all of us that, okay, my moral life is not my private life. It gives witness to something. And this is the last thing here. Keep this in mind. When it comes to these commandments that we're going to launch into tomorrow, my moral

life and your moral life, we can say, well, that's my business. Whose business is it that whether I agree with the church, believe the church, consent to the church's teaching on X, Y, or Z? Well, remember, yes, you have a personal relationship with God, but it's not a private relationship because you and I are Christians, just by default. de facto, you and I are witnesses to the world. Therefore, our actions have an impact on the world. And because of that, you and I are not free to pick and choose what we are willing to accept, what we're willing to believe, or we're willing to embrace when it comes to the church's

teaching or the Lord's teaching. We have to give witness to the whole thing. Does that make sense? And so again, keep this in mind as we walk forward into these commandments, which will be some of some of them will be like oh yeah yeah I knew that and some will be oh really that's a new thing some of them will be like wow that's amazing I can't wait to live this way and some of them might be that'll be really hard like can I just can I just be the exception here and the answer of course is we're going to walk forward and we're going to say okay Lord heal my heart teach me guide me lead me guard me protect me give me the grace to be able to say yes to you in all things because it's not just your salvation and my salvation that are at stake our yes to the Lord also bears witness to the Lord's power and the Lord's truth and the Lord's goodness and love to the world. That's what's at stake. The mission of the church, which is the mission of Jesus Christ, is at stake when it comes to the moral life. And so again, not perfection, but at least fidelity, that faithfulness. Remember that the proclamation of the church, the fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition. Not perfection, but faithfulness.

which also means when I've fallen help me Lord be faithful in coming back to you that is a challenge and we need God's grace for every step along the way therefore guess what I'm praying for you please pray for me my name is Father Mike I cannot wait to see you tomorrow God bless