The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 299: Respect for Health (2025)

Episode Date: October 26, 2025

Our health is a gift from God, and so we have a responsibility to care for it. Fr. Mike emphasizes the importance of caring for our health while also explaining that we cannot idolize our health and bodies as an absolute good. If we do idolize health, it can greatly distort the way we view the dignity of those around us. He also unpacks the virtue of temperance, defining it as, “doing the right thing, in the right way, at the right time.” Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2288-2291. 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 the Year is 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 day 299. That's amazing.

That's amazing. we're reading paragraphs 2288 to 2291 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 cacism in a year reading plan by visiting ascension press.com slash c i and you can click follow or subscribe to your podcast after daily updates and daily notifications because today is day 299 that means we literally have 66 more days that's awesome that's incredible i did the math in my head you guys i don't know if you're impressed by that but day 299 reading paragraph 2288 to 2291 yesterday we looked at respect for the souls of others right

respect for the dignity of the person scandal we also have respect for health so today paragraphs these these brief paragraphs for it looks like we've been sicken with the kind of the four paragraph motif for a few days now but these four paragraphs talk about respect for health and so we recognize that health is a is a good that that if we'd looked at the soul yesterday day, obviously respect for the souls of others. And so a sin against that would be scandal. We are also called to have respect not only for life in general, not only for spiritual life, but also for health. So not only our own health, but also the health of others. We are also going to talk about the virtue of temperance, and that is incredibly important when we're looking

at the goodness of the body and the good that is health. So as we launch into today, these four short paragraphs, let us, as always, launch into the Father's Heart as we pray. Father in heaven, in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, I ask that you please help all of us in the midst of life. Help all of us in the midst of this day. Right now, when we're listening to these words, help us all, whether we are healthy or sick, whether we are strong or weak, whether we are whole or we find ourselves broken in this moment. We ask that you please come and meet us. Meet us with your grace, not only to heal our souls, but meet us with your grace to give us strength and body, give us clarity of mind and thought, give us the ability to focus

on the task at hand and the strength to carry out, the courage to carry out, the task at hand. Whatever your will is for us, Lord, in this moment, we ask you to give us the grace to be able to accept it, to enter into it, and to find joy in the midst of whatever it is, health or sickness wholeness or brokenness, strength or weakness, Lord God, may all of us find your will in this moment. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We're reading paragraphs 2288 to 2291. Respect for health. Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good.

Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity, food and clothing, housing, healthcare, basic education, employment, and social assistance. If morality requires respect for the life of the body, it does not make it an absolute value. It rejects a neo-pagan notion that tends to promote the cult of the body, to sacrifice everything for its sake, to idolize physical perfection and success at sports. By its selective preference of the strong over the week, such a conception can lead to the perversion of human relationships. The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess, the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others' safety on the road, at sea, or in the air. The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life, their use, except on strictly

therapeutic grounds is a grave offense. Clandestine production of and trafficking in drugs are scandalous practices. They constitute direct cooperation in evil since they encourage people to practices gravely contrary to the moral law. All right. So there we have it. Paragraphs 2288 to 2291, four brief paragraphs. But something you probably caught in these four brief paragraphs is a theme that we've talked about many times when it comes to the dignity of the human person. when it comes to these commandments that we're talking about goods and we're also talking about goods that are not absolute goods. So remember in the Fourth Commandment, it says family is a good, but not an absolute good. Even the other couple of days ago, paragraph 2278, we talked about

life and the good of life and that we're not going to work against life, but at the same time, discontinuing medical procedures that are, remember those four things, burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate, expected outcome. To discontinue those can be legitimate And in that case, remember we talked about this. In those cases, one doesn't will to cause death. One's inability to impede it is merely accepted. And so we recognize that, again, life is a good, but it's not an absolute good. So we have family, a good, not an absolute good.

Life a good, not an absolute good. And then here today, paragraph 2288, we have physical health, precious gift, a good, but not an absolute good. It says, we must take reasonable care of them. And that phrase, reasonable care of our health is saying, essentially, all right, physical health is a good, but it's not absolute good. In fact, there is a very big warning in paragraph 2289 goes on to saying, looks at if we do treat the body, if we do treat health as an absolute good, there is an incredibly grave danger we can fall into. It says like this, if morality requires respect for the life of the body, it does not make it an absolute value. See what I said? I'm not making stuff up.

It rejects a neo-pagan notion that tends to promote the cult of the body to sacrifice everything for its sake to idolize physical perfection and success at sports. And this is so important. I mean, John Paul the second way back in the day, right? Not too far back in the day, but a little bit back in the day. He was known as the sportsman's pope, right? He was a skier. He was a hiker. He was a mountain climber.

He was an outdoorsman in so many ways. And he talked about the goodness of sport, the goodness of physical activity, the goodness of physical fitness. that that is a good. It's not an absolute good. In fact, the same Pope who talked about the theology of the body also at the same time warned against this exact thing in paragraph 2289, the cult of the body. And if we look at our culture, we have such a bifurcated culture right now where it falls into both extremes. At the same time, one extreme of dismissing the body, that no, you're not your body, your body doesn't reveal anything about who or what you are. And at the same time, exulting and glorifying the body as we just, you know, we're presented with celebrities and how are

they looking? Are their bodies young? Are their bodies healthy? Are their bodies fit? And if they're getting older, it's like, oh my gosh, what are they doing with their body? They need to preserve youth, need to preserve, or the appearance of youth at least. We need to preserve fitness. You need preserve a certain kind of size or shape of a person's body. There's this remarkable simultaneous, again, bifurcation in our culture that exalts the two extremes and says, this is the answer. and it's so strange because here's the church saying the middle. Remember, virtue lies in the middle. And so we recognize, oh, no, the body is a good.

Health is a good. Life is a good. It's not an absolute good. So your body is you. And so we have to take reasonable care of our bodies. Your health is given to you as a gift. So we have to take reasonable care of our health. At the same time, it is not an absolute value.

In fact, we can fall into so many dangers. So many dangers we can fall into. Not only, as it says here, to sacrifice everything. thing for the sake of the body to idolize physical perfection, success at sports. It goes on to say by its selective preference of the strong over the week, such a vision, right? Such a conception can lead to the perversion of human relationships. So if we have this cult of the body, even promote this, or even just accept it as a part of our culture, one of the things that it costs us. One of the things that it does is distorts our view of human persons, right? It distorts

our view of other people that are in our lives, because if we allow ourselves to be affected so strongly by our culture that exalts the strong over the week, that prefers the healthy to the sick, that prefers the young to the old, that brings about a distortion of how we approach other human beings, right? How we see others and how we value others. And so we have to keep that in mind. I think those, these first two paragraphs are all about this, that yes, we need to be have concern for health our own health as well as paragraph 2288 highlights concern for the health of the citizens of a society that that is also incredibly important at the same time we do not want to fall into the trap of the cult of the body now paragraph 2290 goes on to talk

about the virtue of temperance and that temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess the abuse of food the abuse of alcohol the abuse of tobacco the abuse of medicine I think we might have about this, I prefer my definition of temperance. And I like defining temperance as doing the right thing at the right time in the right way or using the right thing at the right time in the right way. And so we have food. It's a good. Right. So the right thing. What's the right kind of food at the right time? It's time to eat and in the right way, meaning in proportion to the amount of food that I need to nourish my body. That alcohol is a good. At least it's morally neutral. The Bible praises wine gives joy to men's hearts. So there's a goodness there at the same time. We must avoid

every kind of excess when it comes to alcohol or tobacco or medicine. The paragraph 2290 goes on to describing how those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or love of speed, endanger their own and other safety on the road at sea or an air. So that would be anything from, again, a love of speed, drunkenness as it says clearly. But let's take this. even further because you might be someone who like, no, I would never drink and drive. I've never done that. You might be someone who like, no, I don't excessively speed in that case, but we live in a world right now where everyone has this magic rectangle in their hand or on their pocket or near them. And the temptation of so many people to glance at their phone, the temptation

of so many people to do something on their phone as they're driving, that could be those incur grave guilt who it says here, drunkenness and love of speed. But how about this? by intentionally distracted driving, endanger their own and other safety on the road at sea or in the air. Because why? Because if we're going to be in this hunk of metal and plastic huddling down the road, we need to be very attentive to this. And if I'm not attentive to this, then I'm endangering the people around me and endanger my own safety. So this is the church, basically highlighting that, spotlighting that, and letting us know this is very, very important. Paragraph 2291 will emphasize the use of drugs and that the fact that, the fact that,

that it inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. It goes on to say their use except on strictly therapeutic grounds is a grave offense. And so keep that in mind. The catechism makes it very, very clear that, yes, there is such a thing as therapeutic medication. When it comes to drugs, there is a therapeutic use for drugs. But their use outside of strictly therapeutic drugs is a grave offense. And obviously producing drugs and trafficking in drugs is a scandalous practice that says

here, they constitute direct cooperation and evil, since they encourage people to practices gravely contrary to the moral law. Now, when I was looking ahead at this paragraph, paragraph 2291, when it says clandestine production of and trafficking in drugs, I was going to say, well, that's clearly illegal drugs. And I mean, clandestine production, right, secret production of drugs would imply that these drugs are illegal, that they're talking about. And I was going to say, well, clearly, you kind of like a joke. They mean illegal drugs, not your prescription medication. At the same time, if we look at our culture right now and we look at our culture the last, I think, couple of decades, the opioid epidemic is gravely contrary to the moral law.

The opioid epidemic is a massive, massive misuse, right, of prescription drugs that I've heard, and, you know, I read about this that there are times when doctors, physicians, discover the uses of opioids, and then it's okay, it's prescribed and it's helping some people. And then it grows and grows and grows because it's so easily abused that then no one starts then everyone stops prescribing them and then doctors physicians are saying wait but this actually can help and so they prescribe and then overprescribered I don't know I get I'm no physician neither am I a politician I'm just relating to you the fact that it may not be only illegal drugs that the church is highlighting and spotlighting in terms of something that's gravely contrary to the virtue of health and the virtue

of life. It also could be the misuse and abuse of prescription medication, because we know that we live in a world where any excess, excessive use of any good, would that be, as it says in paragraph 2290, food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine, any excessive use of this thing is a direct assault on the goodness of the body, the goodness of health, and the goodness of life. So in these four paragraphs we have a lot apparently had a lot to say about these four paragraphs but uh man here we launch tomorrow i don't know if you know this but tomorrow was day 300 which is pretty remarkable and i'm pretty excited for it i am praying for you please pray for me my name's father mike i cannot wait to see you tomorrow god bless