The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 27: The Gift of the Creed (2026)

Episode Date: January 27, 2026

The Catechism we are reading follows the structure of the Apostles’ Creed with frequent references to the Nicene Creed for further details and explanations. Together, these Creeds aid us in articulating the beliefs we share with all members of the Catholic Church. Fr. Mike discusses why St. Ambrose refers to the Creed as “an ever-present guardian” and “treasure of our soul.” He encourages us not to take this gift for granted. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 193-197. 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 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. It is day 27. We are coming to the end of this last article.

We talked about a little bit introducing the creeds of paragraphs 193 to 197, beginning with paragraph 198. we're going to launch right into What Do We Believe? But today we are once again going to kind of keep on talking about the creeds in general and even the apostles and Nicene Creed in particular just before we get started.

I'm using the Ascension Edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations of Faith Approach. You can follow along with that edition or any edition, recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Also, you can download your own catechism in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash CI.

And lastly, you can click follow or subscribe in the podcast app for daily notifications and updates and all those kinds of things that you get when you subscribe. As I said, it's day 27. Okay, so link yesterday, we talked about kind of the introduction of like, what is a creed in the first place? It's, you know, the symbol. Remember talking about that? The synthesis of faith symbol on, the half of broken object, the, you know, best friends forever kind of necklace thing where we recognize that we share this, right? We share the creeds. Now, at the same time over the course of history, there have been a number of creeds, we talked about these yesterday, a number of creeds that have arisen out of some kind of need. There was a need to understand,

like, what is it at the heart that we really believe about God? What is it that we really believe about what God has done for us? And so, first, we have the Apostles Creed, and we're going to talk about that today in paragraphs 193 and 194. And then we're also going to talk about the Nicene Creed, which begins in paragraph 195. So also kind of an update, the Catechism from now on, is going to release this creed part is going to follow the Apostles' Creed more than it follows the Nicene Creed. That's not because one is better than the other. It is because it provides, well, it's because what they chose to do. And why did they choose to do it this way? I'm not exactly sure. I believe it's because the Apostles Creed is the oldest known creed that we have available to us.

And so because of that, why not go all the way back to the very beginning? And that's how they base, That's how we're going to base our walking through this what we believe part because this is so critical. This goes back. This is not an invention of the last century. It's not an invention of the last 500 years. It's not an invention of the Middle Ages. It comes out of the source, which is God's fullness of revealing himself in Jesus Christ through the power of His Holy Spirit to his church. And so we have the Apostle Creed and Nicene Creed.

And tomorrow we're going to talk about what we actually believe. But today, in paragraphs 193 to 197, we're going to talk some more about the creeds. So let's get started with the prayer. How about that would be great. Father in heaven. Oh, we thank you so much. We thank you for the gift of your church. We thank you for the gift of revealing yourself to us.

We thank you for the gift of communicating the truth about your heart, the truth about your identity to us in the midst of this confusing and uncertain world. We know that, Lord, you work through history. We know that you are present in history. You're present in world events. We know that you interact with us and you are alive. You're guiding us and through guiding us. You guide the course of world affairs.

Lord God, you are perfect even when this world is not perfect. You are good even when we are not good. You are true. even when we struggle and strain to understand what is true. So open our hearts, Lord God, open our hearts to love your will, open our minds to understand what it is you wish to teach us this day and every day. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As I said, it's day 27. We are reading paragraphs 193 to 197. None of the creeds from the different stages in the church's life can be considered superseded or irrelevant. They help us today to attain and deepen the faith of all times by means of the different summaries made of it. Among all the creeds, two occupy a special place in the church's life.

The Apostles' Creed is so-called because it is rightly considered to be a faithful summary of the Apostles' faith. It is the ancient baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome. Its great authority arises from this fact, as St. Ambrose said, it is the Creed of the Roman Church, the Sea of Peter, the first of the Apostles, to which he brought the common faith. The Nicino-Costentipolitan-Otian, or Nicene Creed, draws its great authority from the fact that it stems from the first two ecumenical councils in the years 325 and 381. It remains common to all the great churches of both East and West to this day. Our presentation of the faith will follow the Apostles' Creed, which constitutes, as it were, the oldest Roman catechism. The pretexts, the pretextation.

presentation will be completed, however, by constant references to the Nicene Creed, which is often more explicit and more detailed. As on the day of our baptism, when our whole life was entrusted to the standard of teaching, let us embrace the creed of our life-giving faith. To say credo with faith is to enter into communion with God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and also with the whole church which transmits the faith to us and in whose midst we believe. As St. Ambrose stated, this creed is the spiritual seal, our heart's meditation, and an ever-present guardian. It is unquestionably the treasure of our soul. Okay. So that is, I love that introduction. In fact, you know, we just concluded with these four paragraphs that conclude that section here of talking about, here is the role of the creed that

that binds us together. That's so important. I mean, it is, it is vastly important because, again, we have to remember that to be a Christian is not simply to believe in Jesus. It's to believe particular things about Jesus as well, right? Yes, of course it is to believe in God. Of course, it is to follow after the Lord and to do our best by God's grace, to love him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, obviously. But at the same time, there have been many times throughout history when what was necessary was to be able to spell out and define, okay, what is it that Christians believe? And again, that's not meant to be exclusive, but accurate, right? It's not meant to put people on the outside, but it is to highlight, okay, what is it to be on the inside?

Does that make sense, that sense of to have boundaries. I mean, I remember hearing it stated like this, part of what makes it a painting is the fact that it has a frame, right? The idea that here's a painting, Here's a picture. It has a frame around it, meaning there's a border. If I'm going to paint it, I can't paint everything. I have to choose to paint this thing, right? Or these things. And that border, that boundary, that frame is what gives it some definition.

Vow was simply to say, well, I believe in God. That's wonderful. That is huge. We mentioned this, right? The difference between what it is to believe in God, which is so very critical, and to believe God, which is also so essential and so critical. But what do we mean when we say God? That is vital, right?

To be able to know, okay, I mean this, but not that. I mean, here we go, the Apostles' Creed. Where in the Apostles' Creed, it makes it very clear, I believe in God, the Father Almighty creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ is only sent our Lord. Great. Yes, 100% true. At some point, as again, by way of,

of review by way of summary, at some point people were saying, well, yeah, Jesus is the son of God. He is our Lord. What does that mean about his identity in relation to the father? And so, because of that, in the Council of Nicaea and 325, the council had to spell out, okay, only begotten son of God, born of the father before all ages, God from God, light from light, true God from true God. Even that, though, some of that language that was used there to distinguish that, no, Jesus is, is just as fully God as the father is, you know, there were some people who were at the council who would be saying, okay, great, this is fine. We can still fudge a little bit with this. We can kind of like have a little bit of wiggle room and still believe what we want to believe about

Jesus being like the father, but not really of the same substance as the father, which is why they said then consubstantial with the father. And so it's so critical that we understand that the creeds have a role in our lives. In fact, here's at St. Ambrose, says, right? St. Ambrose is saying, the creed is their spiritual seal. It's our hearts meditation and an ever-present guardian. It is unquestionably the treasure of our soul that the creed, again, what we're going to study over the next number of days, weeks, months, what we're going to study is the treasure of our soul. Again, these are not just facts and details about God. These are facts and details about God that lead us to God, the treasure of our soul, our hearts meditation,

and an ever-present guardian. That last people. I want to just highlight an ever-present guardian. That boundary, right, that frame, that border is meant to be a guardian for us, that we don't say something about God that is not true. And we don't deny something about God that is true. But this ever-present guardian, which continues to lead us in the path of truth, which continues to lead us into a place where we can say, I can dive more deeply day by day, month by month, year by year, into the reality of who God truly is. So, as I said, tomorrow, we're beginning chapter one. I believe in God the Father, Article 1, which is, I'm just so excited.

We're going to follow the Apostles' Creed, but as the Catechisms rightly stated, we're going to be referring to the Nicene Creed many, many times. It is not going to just be the Apostles' Creed because there's so much, there's so much we need to understand about God. And so because of that, it's a big challenge. Because of that, I think we need prayer. Obviously, to be part of this community who are walking through the catechism in one year, we need each other and we need this prayer.

Because here we are. It's day 27, you guys. And if you made it to day 27, I'm really, really proud of you. As I said, it's kind of slow going at first, but we're picking up the pace, we're picking up speed. We're diving more deeply into what it is, what is that we mean when we say, I believe, what it is that we do when we live as Christians, how it is that we pray and worship as we worship and pray as sons and daughters of God the Father. So please pray for me. I am praying for you. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.