The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 37: The Divine Economy (2024)

Episode Date: February 6, 2024

Fr. Mike continues to unpack the Church’s teachings on the Trinity. Today, we move into an examination of the divine economy or how God has revealed and communicated himself on earth. The divine economy is not just the work of the Father, but rather the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together as one. Fr. Mike concludes this episode with a reflection on the impactful words of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity who asks God to “make our hearts his heaven.” Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 257-260. 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 to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. It is day 37. We're reading paragraphs 257 to 260. A couple things to remember as we get started. I am using the Ascension Edition of the Catechism, which includes the foundations of Faith Approach, which you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Also, if you want to download your own Catechism in a year

reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. And lastly, but also very importantly, you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. As I said, it is day 37. We're reading paragraphs 257 to 260. We're talking about the divine works and the Trinitarian missions. That is incredible. What does that mean? I'm glad you asked camper. Basically, we're gonna hear in paragraph 257 How incredibly beautiful God's plan is for life how God how incredibly beautiful God has worked in time and in in space in creation and in salvation of the world Sorry, that sounds really highfalutin because it is super highfalutin. I mean it is really incredible. But also we're going to talk about how the entirety of the divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons. Remember that word economy,

oikonomia, right? The order of the house, the management of the house, that sense of here are the ways in which God has acted in time. So the whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons. Meaning that when the Father was creating, the Son is present and the Holy Spirit are active, right? That when the Son is redeeming the world, the Holy Spirit and the Father are present and active, and that as the Holy Spirit continues to sanctify this world, the Father and the Son are present and active. So the whole divine economy, right? Where God works and how he reveals himself and gives his life to us is the common work of the three divine persons,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which is just incredible. So of course, because of that, this is a work that is both common and personal. Therefore, because it's a work common and personal, the whole divine economy, right, all the ways God has worked in this world and all the ways that he brings his life to us, that makes known both what is proper to the divine persons and their one divine nature, meaning it makes known the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and it makes known the unity of God, one in being,

right, the one being of the divinity. This might be a lot of words for you. I apologize. As I'm talking, I'm thinking, okay, what is it? What's the kernel? What's the nugget? Well, the first kernel, the first nugget is this. God in himself is more than we can express, more than we can capture, more than we can imagine or dream of. Secondly, God working in this world, right? The divine economy, how he has revealed himself and how he communicates his very life is the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, right?

So working in unique ways, but also never separating himself. He doesn't ever divide himself even though he is distinct Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He's complete unity. Therefore, whoever glorifies the Father does so through the Son in the Holy Spirit, right? So whoever follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him.

So this is this incredible, incredible reality that not only has God goodness in himself, as he reveals himself, right, the divine economy, as he communicates his very life, remember the divine economy, that he is still united. And he, when one member of the Trinity acts, they all act. Lastly, the ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect life of the Trinity. So the whole point of God revealing himself, the whole point of God communicating his very life is that you and I can be brought into the perfect unity of the blessed Trinity. And that is incredible.

And so we're going to conclude today with this prayer of blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, where she just captures the desire that should be in every one of our hearts, that we forget ourselves and we lean entirely into the unity of the Trinity. We lean entirely into the relationship that is love. And it's the relationship through which all love we've ever known comes from that love between the Father

and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Hope that makes sense. If it doesn't yet, it will by the time we get done reading these four chapters. Let's start praying. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. We ask you to please bless this time and guide these next few minutes that what you've revealed to us through your church about your very identity and about your very mission and about our very ultimate end May be understood by all of us so that we can not only apprehend you not only comprehend you not only get closer to you But ultimately find our home with you forever in Jesus name we pray amen in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit

As I said, this is day 37, we're reading paragraphs 257 to 260. The Divine Works and the Trinitarian Missions. O blessed light, O trinity and first unity, God is eternal blessedness, undying life, unfading light. God is love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God freely wills to communicate the glory of his blessed life, such as the plan of his loving kindness conceived by the Father before the foundation of the world. In his beloved Son, he destined us in love to be his sons, and to be conformed to the image of his Son through the Spirit of sonship. This plan is a grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began

stemming immediately from Trinitarian love. It unfolds in the work of creation, the whole history of salvation after the fall, and the missions of the Son and the Spirit, which are continued in the mission of the Church. The whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons. For as the Trinity has only one and the same nature, so too does it have only one and the same operation. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not three principles of creation, but one principle. However, each divine person performs the common work according to his unique personal

property. Thus, the Church confesses, following the New Testament as the Second Council of Counts St. Opal states, 1 God and Father from whom all things are, and 1 Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things are, and 1 Holy Spirit in whom all things are. It is above all the divine missions of the Son's incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit that show forth the properties of the divine persons. Being a work at once common and personal, the whole divine economy makes known both what is

proper to the divine persons and their one divine nature. Hence, the whole Christian life is a communion with each of the divine persons without in any way separating them. Everyone who glorifies the Father does so through the Son in the Holy Spirit. Everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him. The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity. But even now we are called to be a dwelling for the most holy Trinity. If a man loves me, says the Lord, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." As a prayer of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity states, Oh my God, Trinity whom I adore, Help me forget myself entirely so to establish

myself in you, Unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, But may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery. Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling, and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action." Okay, oh man, you guys, I'm telling you, isn isn't I don't know if you have this experience, but every day is better. I mean, I know I keep saying that the first few days were kind of a little bit of a grind. But here we are in paragraphs 257 to 260, and they are just this poetry. It is incredible. So what do we just talk about? Okay, what we just hear about about? What do we just learn about? First, barograph 257.

Oh man, this reminder, God freely wills to communicate the glory of his blessed life. This is the plan of his loving kindness, conceived by the Father before the foundation of the world. He destined us in love to be his sons, right? To be his sons and daughters, to be his children, to be conformed to the image of his son

through the spirit of sonship. So here's the Father with the spirit of sonship and the Holy Spirit and just all comes together. It is really incredible, incredible, incredible. But here, the last sentence in paragraph 257, it says this, this whole plan, right? It unfolds in the work of creation, the whole history of salvation after the fall, and the missions of the son and the spirit, which are continued in the mission of the church. What's that talks about? It unfolds in the work of creation that here's God who freely wills to create this world. Why? So that all of his creatures can share his divine life.

But then there's the fall. So there's the whole history of salvation after the fall. And then there's the missions of the sun and the spirit which are continued today in the mission of the church, which is just incredible. Incredible. So that's the part that just again recasts here's what God wants to do with this world And then paragraph 258 is just I don't know you guys It's it seems it's just so beautiful and it's also so simple and so mysterious So it says the whole divine economy remember divine economy is this is the way in which God in the world has revealed himself and how he communicates his very life to us. So the whole divine economy, this revealing and communicating himself,

is the common work of the three divine persons. So this isn't just the work of the Father. It's not just the work of the Son. It's not just the work of the Holy Spirit. It says, For as the Holy Trinity has only one in the same nature, so too does it have only one and the same operation. And that's why it says the Father's Holy Spirit are not three principles It says, that we said it, I need to say it again, the Second Council of Constantinople, based off of the New Testament, says one God and Father from whom all things are,

one Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things are, and one Holy Spirit in whom all things are. So the Father and Son and Holy Spirit have each have their own unique something that they're bringing to this. And yet it's one and the same operation. And it's just remarkable that we recognize how God has been working in this world. Again, divine economy, how he's working in the world,

how he's bringing his life to us in this world, how he's revealing himself to us in this world. And yet at the same time, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, whenever one of them is present and active, all of them are present and active. And it's just remarkable. Therefore, whenever we pray, we're always praying in the Trinity.

So the last line in paragraph 259, everyone who glorifies the Father does so through the Son in the Holy Spirit. Everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him. That there is, there's no loss of the Father when we emphasize the Son. There's no loss of the Holy Spirit

when we emphasize the Father. There's no losing of the Father or Son when we pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's all, they're all connected because these three divine persons share one single divine unity. And I love, love, absolutely love this prayer. Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, where she asks God,

she says, Oh holy Trinity, whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely. So to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. There's something so powerful about this because right you and I, we've been baptized, we've been brought into the life of the Trinity. The life of the Trinity actually dwells inside

of each one of us. Because you're a temple of the Holy Spirit. Remember, where one person of the Trinity is present, all the entire Holy Trinity is present. So yes, temple of the Holy Spirit, and here is the Father and the Son, present to you, present to us. And yet, here is blessed Elizabeth,

who says, help me to forget myself entirely so as to establish myself in you, present to us. And yet, here's Blessed Elizabeth, who says, help me to forget myself entirely so as to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. Eternity is in you, all of us. Eternity is in us. Again, that can sound kind of new agey, but what I mean is in the mystery of the trinity, the mystery of the trinity is that God dwells inside of us and God, God is infinite, right? God is without

time. God's outside of time and yet he comes to us in time. And so in that way we could say eternity is in you because this unchanging God is present to you. And so we just ask God, God, please always be present. Always make my heart your heaven. That's what she said. And bless it, Elizabeth. Pray it. She said, grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling in the place of your rest. Ah, that's what we pray for. I mean, that's what we pray for every single day. And that's what I'm praying for right now, that every one of us will be able to not only acknowledge the fact that here is God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that united in this single action, right?

This, that all comes from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit, but also here we are. We find ourselves wrapped, wrapped in the Father's love, which comes to us through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. And so we just pray, just pray in the power of the Holy Spirit for each other. I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.