The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 313: Ownership of Goods (2025)

Episode Date: November 9, 2025

Beginning our look at the seventh commandment, the Catechism focuses on the universal destination of goods and the private ownership of goods. Fr. Mike helps us understand that at first glance, these concepts may seem contradictory, but upon closer inspection, they are paradoxical. Each concept is necessary, and they must be held “in tension”. We have the right to private property, and at the same time, we should have the mindset that we are stewards of our earthly possessions and talents with the intention of using them to benefit others. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2401-2406. 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 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 313. We are reading paragraphs 2401 to 2406. As always, I am 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 and you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications today. We're going to a new commandment, going to the Seventh Commandment, Article 7, You Shall Not Steal. That's paragraphs 2401 to 2406. As we begin this, I think this is really powerful, obviously.

I'm, of course I'm going to say that. Of course I'm going to say it's powerful, it's beautiful, it's all those things, because it kind of is, but we're looking at what is typically known, referred to as Catholic social teaching. And this is remarkable, I think, because the church has a lot to say about goods. The church has a lot to say about the right to private property. The church has a lot to say about the universal destination of goods in that sense that, that, yes, you have a right to own things.

You have a right to have private property at the same time. there are is also for the sake of the common good respect for the universal destination of goods that sense that there should be enough resources for everyone and so i love this because what we get to dive into in the seventh commandment here is what is known as the catholic both and it's it's the paradox of the faith so it's not right to private property versus the universal destination of goods it is oh they're both everyone has a right to private property at the same time there is such a thing as the universal destination of goods and so we're going to talk about both of those things, and we're going to continue talking about them as we look

more and more deeply into the Seventh Commandment, you thought this was all going to be about you shall not steal, and that's it, just, hey, don't take what belongs to someone else. Yes, that's there, but it is so, so much more. And so as we enter into today, let's take a moment and call upon our Heavenly Father asking His Son, Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, and the Holy Spirit to come be with us, Father in Heaven, we praise you, and we give you glory. We thank you for this day, and we ask you to please send your Holy Spirit to open our minds and to fill our hearts. Lead us to your truth. Lord God, in every part of our thinking that is shadowed or jaded, every part of our thinking that's been twisted or distorted, we ask that you please give us

clarity of thought, give us right understanding and right thinking so that we can see the rights of all people so that we can see the best ways that we can use the good. of this earth and so that we can see the best way that we can care for one another for those who are close to us and those who are far from us. Give us that Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit of wisdom. And also give us the Holy Spirit of courage to be able to do what we know we need to do. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, amen, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is day 313. We are reading paragraphs 2401 to 2406. Article 7. The Seventh Commandment, You shall not steal. The Seventh Commandment forbids unjustly taking or keeping the goods of one's neighbor and wronging him in any way with respect to his goods. It commands justice and charity in the care of earthly goods and the fruits of men's labor. For the sake of the common good, it requires respect for the universal destination of goods and respect for the right to private property. Christian life strives to order this world's goods to God and to fraternal charity.

The Universal Destination and the Private Ownership of Goods In the beginning, God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor, and enjoy their fruits. The goods of creation are destined for the whole human race. However, the earth is divided up among men to assure the security of their lives, endangered by poverty and threatened by violence. The appropriation of property is legitimate for guaranteeing the freedom and dignity of persons and for helping each of them to meet his basic needs and the needs of those in his charge.

It should allow for a natural solidarity to develop between men. The right to private property, acquired or received in a just way, does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. The universal destination of goods remains primordial, even if the promotion of the common good requires respect for the right to private property and its exercise. In his use of things, man should regard the external goods. he legitimately owns not merely as exclusive to himself, but common to others also, in the sense that they can benefit others as well as himself. The ownership of any property

makes its holder a steward of Providence, with the task of making it fruitful and communicating its benefits to others, first of all, his family. Goods of production, material or immaterial, such as land, factories, practical or artistic skills, oblige their possessors to employ them in ways that will benefit the greatest number. Those who hold goods for use and consumption should use them with moderation, reserving the better part for guests, for the sick and the poor. Political authority has the right and duty to regulate the legitimate exercise of the right to ownership for the sake of the common good. All right, there we are paragraphs 2401 to 2406, the beginning of the Seventh Commandment. You thought this was going to be very straightforward

as I said in the intro. That like, okay, you shall not steal. Done. Just don't take what doesn't belong to you. Very, very simple. And that's what paragraph 24-1 does say, right? The Seventh Commandment forbids unjustly taking or keeping the goods of one's neighbor and wronging him in any way with respect to his goods.

So yes. But it goes on to talk about how. This is really powerful, I think. Again, this has to do with Catholic social teaching. How do we interact with each other? How do we engage with one another? How do we care for one another? you know in so many ways isn't this just how we live we kind of we're tempted to look out for number

one right we're just tempted to say hey if you can get ahead get ahead whatever you can acquire get it and yet here the church stops and it causes us forces us to to pause and to say well we'll wait and the first thing the church invites us to wait on is the second sentence in paragraph 2401 it says the seventh commandment commands justice and charity in the care of earthly goods and the fruits of men's labor. Okay. So we're commended justice. I mean, give someone what they're owed and charity. So love. We're called to love in the care of earthly goods and the fruits of men's labor. Goes on to say, for the sake of the common good, it requires respect for the universal destination of goods and respect for the right to private

property. And this is a paradox. What is a paradox? Okay. A paradox, obviously, just to go over this, is something which appears to be contradictory but actually isn't contradictory. So it's revealing of deeper truth by highlighting the fact that there are two truths that are in tension. Now, if we're going to walk in this tension, again, in the tension is what? The tension is between, in this first section today, between the right to private property and the universal destination of goods. The tension here is not that, well, sometimes you have a right to private property and sometimes you have a universal destination of goods. Like, no, no, no, it's always both of those things. So this is not a compromise. This is a paradox. We have to hold these things in

tension because there is, these are two truths and these are two goods and there are, there are goods that are held in tension. Again, they're not contradictory. They are paradoxical. So that hopefully makes sense to all of us. Okay. So go back to the, here we'll go back to the text. For the sake of the common good, it requires respect for the universal destination of goods and the respect for the right to private property. So what do we mean when we say universal destination of goods? Well, here's, there is this incredible resource from focus. Focus stands for the fellowship of Catholic University students. And they have this incredible study that we've taken our students through when it comes to Catholic social teaching. We have done this, I think, a couple times where we've

gone through Catholic social teaching with our students because, you know, they have all these questions. We know when it comes to politics, when it comes to policy, when it comes to like all the big questions we have, you know, trying to navigate life. And we say, well, what does the church teach about economics? What does the church teach about politics? And the church, I would say this, generally speaking, the church doesn't really advocate any particular policies, but the church will advocate principles. And so Catholic social teaching are the principles by which the church can navigate some of these difficult questions. And so one of the things we've talked about with our students is universal destination of goods and the right to private property.

So Focus, Fellowship of Catholic and Diversity students, have this great resource on Catholic social teaching. They will define universal destination of goods in this way. So that's a lot of prep to say this. Very, very clear. It says, the universal destination of goods says that the whole of the world's resources are made to satisfy the whole of the world's needs. So that's, that's it right there. Universal destination of goods says the whole of the world's resources are made to satisfy the whole of the whole the world's needs. And then, of course, the right to private property is, it flows from our nature

as we have reason, right? We have intellect. We have free will. And so we have a right, because you have dignity, right? Because you have freedom, because you have agency. You have right to private property. And that's limited. That right to private property, though, is limited by the universal destination of goods. We're going to dive more deeply into that here as we continue to go in paragraph 2401. So keep those two things in mind. When we say the term universal destination of goods, that means the whole of the world's resources are meant to meet the whole of the world's needs and the right to private property is is still a right so let's move forward now paragraph 24-1 last line says Christian life and this is remember this is all in the context of what it is to be a

Christian Christian life strives to order this world's goods to God and to fraternal charity and that's that's one of our goals is to order this world's goods to God that God is our reference point for everything. So what you and I own, that's always in reference to God and true fraternal charity to what we owe to our brothers and sisters. Okay, so let's keep moving. 2402. In the beginning, God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor, and enjoy their fruits. So the goods of creation are destined for the whole human race, right? That's basically what we said when it came to universal destination of goods. the whole of the world's resources are made to satisfy the whole of the world's needs.

Okay, let's keep going. However, the earth is divided up among us, men and women, to assure the security of our lives endangered by poverty and threatened by violence. Therefore, to own property is legitimate. Why? Because you have dignity. And the ownership of property guarantees a certain degree of freedom and helps you meet your basic needs. and those of the people you are in charge of.

And so it makes sense that we have to have some degree of a real right to a private property. Absolutely, completely. Now, paragraph 2403 continues to say, the right to private property, acquired or received in a just way, like an inheritance or someone gifted to you or you buy it somehow, does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. And this is remarkable to hold these things in tension. Now, this is the most incredible thing is as we're listening to this, I think everyone's going to be challenged.

Like those of us who are like serious, serious, say capitalists or something like this, you are really all about like, yeah, hey, get out there and get as much as you can, do as much good as you can, make as much as you can, we'll be challenged by this because, yes, you have a right to private property at the same time, there is such a thing as the universal destination of goods. Others of us who are saying like, you know, just, man, I love that, that whole of the world's resources are meant to meet the whole of the world needs. Yes, like, give this away. Let's give it all away. Those people will be challenged by the fact that, okay, but you also have a right to private property. And this is keeping us in balance and keeping us in check. Because think about this,

the distortion of capitalism is real, right? That can run rampant. It can trample upon the downtrodden, that it has the ability to do that. We know that. Also, we know that communism, that sense of like no one having a right to private property is a real evil. And that's not good. And the church knows this, and the church says, okay, that's why we need to hold these things in tension. That's why this goes on to say that the universal destination of goods remains primordial, writes its first, even if the promotion of the common good requires respect for the right

to private property and its exercise. And the church is just making it so clear. We need both. We need to have a lens that looks at this in this full way. And I just think this is really remarkable. Now, the Christian, we're invited, slash challenged, slash commanded, to look at our goods, right, our private property, the things that we own in a unique way. It goes on to say 24-04. In his use of things, man should regard the external goods he legitimately owns, not merely as exclusive to himself, but common to others also, in the sense that they can benefit others as well as himself.

and is that challenging? Well, if we're not used to that, it's challenging. But if we have the mind of Christ, remember, the mind of Christ is the thing that guides us in our property, in our ownership. The mind of Christ is what should be guiding us in our work. So I should regard my goods, not merely exclusive to myself. Again, you have a right to own them. But the invitation is to see oneself as a steward more than an owner.

In fact, that's the term that's used in 2404. says the ownership of any property makes its holder a steward of providence with the task of making it fruitful and communicating its benefits to others, first of all, to his family. I think this is very helpful for all of us to be able to hold on to this truth that you have a right to private property and how do you see your private property? How do I see my private property? How do I see my stuff? Is it simply my stuff and it ends with me? Or do I see it as I'm the steward of these things. I'm the steward of these resources, and I get to use them for the sake of the people around me. You know, it's kind of like giving, kind of like charity in the sense of, I remember talking

with the young man and his wife, and they were talking about their giving. And they did the envelope system, if you know, you're familiar with like the Dave Ramsey envelope system where they have envelopes for everything. Here's the grocery bill envelope. Here is the rent envelope. Here's the whatever envelope. And they also had the giving envelope. And they said they loved that. giving envelope because at the end of every month, they were able to look at this giving envelope and say, okay, this is the stuff that God is entrusted, the money, right, that God is entrusted to us. Who do we get to bless with this? Like, who do we get to use this to make their life better? And I just thought, that is an incredible way of looking at your stuff. That's an incredible

way not only of looking at some cash here, but what an incredible way of looking at everything a person owns to be able to say, okay, this is my home. How can I make my home a place where people are welcome? In fact, the same couple, they see their home as a place where we just want people to be able to come over and feel comfortable. So they really prize highly hospitality. And they just want to welcome people into their homes, whether that's old friends or new friends, people from their parish. They see their home as, okay, this is the home that we've been blessed with so that we can open it up to people who don't have a family so that we can open them to say they don't have people living with them because they have they have little kids and they have to make sure that

their kids are kept safe and all these things but they do want to make a home where people are welcome and where people will have this home away from their home or a family that can spend time with them and share the goods that we have now i've been talking a lot about actual goods right things like homes or things like money but we can also look at this in terms of other resources. There are external resources, obviously. There's also internal resources. There's things like time. There's things like your intelligence, your compassion, and to see all of those gifts as what the Lord has entrusted to us to be stewards. Because this is, and I bring this up because we're invited as Christians to have an entirely new lens, an entirely new lens, an entirely new way

of looking at the world and looking at the gifts we have, the things we've worked hard for, the things that have been handed to us, however we've gotten them, to be able to look at the things that are in our possession, not as owners, but as stewards. And so that means, yeah, my home. That means my paycheck. That also means my intellect. Or again, my kindness or my time. And that is a huge challenge for so many of us. At the same time, it is a challenge that we're where we are called to respond to. Do I see myself as the owner of my stuff, including my time? Or do I see myself as the steward of my stuff and the steward of my time? I love that. Again, that line, the ownership of any property makes its holder a steward of providence. Where does God want us to use

this? With the task of making it fruitful and communicating its benefits to others, first of all, his family. And that reminds us, of course, of the parable of the talents, where Jesus tells the story about the master leaving and saying, I give you 10 talents. You have five talents. You have one talent. And he expects the people to be fruitful to use those talents in such a way that there are more talents at the end and also to communicate their benefits, the benefits of those talents to others. Now one last note here. Paragraph 2405 says, the goods of production, so material or immaterial. And this is basically what I've been saying, whether it's the stuff you have have or the stuff that's inside you, right, your time, your talents, or your treasure, such as

land, factories, practical or artistic skills, oblige their possessors to employ them in ways that will benefit the greatest number. Again, the same kind of extension of what I've been saying here, which is, okay, do I see my stuff as my stuff or do I see myself as a steward? And I'm called to use these things for the benefit of others. Last line here in 2405, those who hold goods for use and consumption should use them with moderation, reserving the better part for guests for the sick and the poor. And this is one of the incredible, incredible challenges. Again, how often do we see our stuff as just our stuff as opposed to?

Okay, the better part here is for the sake of those who I'm responsible for, for guests, the poor, for the sick. This is the remarkable challenge, but remember this, this goes all the way it back to the Old Testament. Remember, remember how if you had a field in the Old Testament, what you would do, you would leave a tenth of that field for the poor, the widow, the orphan, the alien, right, the stranger. You would leave a tenth of your field for those people. It was considered to be theirs. And what we got to do, the people of Israel, what they got to do was they got to leave that, reserve that for those who needed it the most. And what we're called to do as Christians,

in mercy, right, is we're called to do the same thing. What part of my material goods belongs not to me, but to those who need them? What part of my resources belong not to me, but to those who need them? And this is the challenge that every Christian gets to face. And I think it's the challenge that we can't just consider for five minutes and then move on with our day. I think this is the challenge that the Lord is inviting us to reframe our way of thinking for the rest of our lives. Am I an owner or am I a steward? That's the challenge. Is it my stuff or has my stuff been entrusted to me so I can bless the maximum number of people?

That's the challenge. And that's the challenge that we're all facing. So I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless. Please.