The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 73: Christ’s Life Is Mystery (2026)

Episode Date: March 14, 2026

Many of the things we’d like to know about Jesus’ life we don’t know, but remember, as Fr. Mike has told us, a Christian mystery is not “a case to be solved.” It’s a beauty to bathe in. The Catechism explains the three characteristics common to each of Christ’s mysteries: revelation, redemption, and recapitulation. Fr. Mike shows how we are to participate in the mysteries of Christ. Today's readings are Catechism paragraphs 512-521. 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 73. Wow. And we are reading paragraphs 512 to 521. I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the foundations of faith approach, but you can follow along with. with any 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 C-I-Y. And also, you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. As I said, today is day 73. Well done. By the way, you guys, I know for crying out loud, it's one of those situations where I'm just so proud of you.

I think, you know, 90 days to make a habit. Some people say 30. Some people say 60. We are well on our way to that 90 days to make a habit. And hopefully this has been a great and blessing of a habit for you. You know, yesterday we concluded that section on here is Mary and her virginity. She was mother of God. She is the error version, perpetual version, and also Mary's virginal role, her virginal motherhood

in God's plan. Now, we're taking a step now. And the step is the mysteries of Christ's life. That's the topic for today or the beginning of the topic for today. Because for the next few days, we're actually going to be walking through some of the mysteries of Christ's life. the first thing the church highlights is that Christ's whole life is a mystery. And then tomorrow we'll go on through Jesus' infancy, the mysteries of that and his hidden life, you know, his life at

Nazareth with Mary and Joseph, and then finally the mystery of his public life and the mystery of his passion and whatnot. That's coming later on. But today, what we're going to look at is how Jesus' whole life is a mystery. When I say a mystery, you know, there's no article in the header here about paragraph 514. It just says Christ's whole life is mystery, not a mystery. And again, let's go back to this. Mystery in the church is not Sherlock Holmes. We need to solve this thing. It is something to be dived into, right? It's something to be explored. It's something to marinate in. And it's something to just not get lost in, but in some ways to realize that there is always more than we can ever say about this mystery, like the mystery of the Trinity.

that we can understand and grasp the Trinity to some degree, but here is the infinite God. And here we can grasp the incarnation in some way, but here is this incredible mystery, and here is Jesus' whole life as mystery. Now, we're going to look at the fact that, I love this. This is really powerful. Paragraph 512, right out of the gate, highlights the fact that concerning Christ's life, the creed only talks about the mysteries of incarnation, the pascal mystery, and says nothing about his public life or hidden life, right?

So it only talks about his conception and birth. It says only paschal mystery means his passion, crucifixion, death, burial, descent into hell, resurrection, and ascension. But it doesn't say anything about the mysteries of Jesus' hidden life or public life. And yet, what we know about his incarnation, what we know about the pascal mystery, that actually does shed light on the whole of his earthly life. And so we're going to get to meditate on that. What does it shed light on? Well, it shed lights on the fact that his humanity. I love this in paragraph 515. His humanity appeared as sacrament, that is the sign and instrument

of his divinity and of the salvation he brings. Now, you might be familiar with the term sacrament, right? There are some useful definitions. One is a sacred sign that causes what it signifies. So his humanity appeared as sacrament, that is the sign, right, and the instrument that gives grace of his divinity and of the salvation he brings. So his humanity is a sacrament, his humanity is a sign of his divinity and the instrument of the salvation he brings. What was visible in his earthly life leads to the invisible mystery of his divine sonship and redemptive mission. I know that's a mouthful, but in paragraph 516 and following, it highlights a couple things. Number one, what are some characteristics common to Jesus as mysteries? First is revelation. He's a revelation of the father. So

characteristics common to Jesus as mystery is whoever has seen him has seen the father. So he's revelation of the Father. Next, 517. Christ's whole life is a mystery of redemption. That redemption comes to us above all through the cross, but that mystery of redemption is at work throughout Jesus' entire life. We'll talk about the ways that that redemption is at work throughout his entire life. So first, we have the mystery of revelation. That second is the mystery of redemption. Third, in paragraph 518, the mystery of recapitulation. Recapitulation. We're like, okay, that's, I kind of understand those first two words. What are you talking about recapitulation? Well, one of the ways we can understand this is that here is Jesus, the people of Israel, right? They're the firstborn of the Lord God. And they fall into

disobedience. They're led into the wilderness and they turn on the Lord. Here is Jesus, who is the eternal, only begotten son of the Father, who's led into the wilderness. And in the wilderness, he doesn't turn on the Lord. In the wilderness, he trusts in the Lord. So his life, even in that little, thus 40 days, it's a recapitulation of the 40 years of the people of Israel in the desert. So his whole life is a mystery of recapitulation. So revelation, redemption, recapitulation. And then we go on to those last three paragraphs for today, paragraph 519, 520, and 521. They talk about our communion in those mysteries of Jesus.

So all Christ's riches are for every individual and are everybody's property. The Christ did not live his life for himself, but for us. that's going to be our participation in this. Next in 520, then in all of his life, Jesus presents himself as our model. So he does all of this for us. Secondly, he is our model.

And thirdly, Christ enables us to live in him all that he himself lived. And he lives it in us. And so there's a sense of participation, right? Our communion in the mysteries of Jesus. He did this for us. He's our model. But then by his grace,

he enables us to live in him. And he lives it in us. this whole mystery. And so hopefully it makes sense the more we read the actual texts, and it's not just me giving you a heads up. Listen for those keywords. Christ's whole life is a mystery. And so what is some characteristics common to the light Jesus as mysteries? One, Revelation to the Father. Secondly, mystery of redemption. Thirdly, mystery of recapitulation. How do we participate in this? Well, he's done all of this for us. So he is our model and he enables us to live in him. and he lives all of this. He lives all of this in us. Okay, so I know, it's a lot. So let's say prayer.

And as we begin this, a new section in the catechism on the mysteries of Christ's life. We just ask Father in heaven. We praise you, Father. First of all, let our praise go up before you. Let our Thanksgiving go up before you, Father. Please, in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, receive our thanks. Receive our praise. You are the eternal God. You are the eternal Father who sent the eternal son into this world. His whole life is a revelation of you, of your heart, of your will, of who you are, the depths of your identity. His whole life is a work of redemption, redeeming every single aspect of our lives.

And his whole life is a recapitulation. Or he shows us how we can live in obedience, how we can live trusting, how we can live in love. Lord God, help us to participate in this. Help us to receive that Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit sent from you. into our hearts so that we can live the mystery of Jesus Christ every day and every moment of our lives. In His name we pray, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. As I said, it is a 73 we're reading paragraphs 512 to 521.

Paragraph 3. The mysteries of Christ's life. Concerning Christ's life, the creed speaks only about the mysteries of the incarnation, conception and birth, and paschal mystery. passion, crucifixion, death, burial, descent into hell, resurrection, and ascension. It says nothing explicitly about the mysteries of Jesus' hidden or public life, but the articles of faith concerning his incarnation and Passover do shed light on the whole of his earthly life. All that Jesus did and taught, from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, is to be seen in the light of the mysteries of Christmas and Easter.

According to circumstances, catechises will make use of all the richness of the mysteries of Jesus. Here, it is enough merely to indicate some elements common to all the mysteries of Christ's life, in order to sketch the principal mysteries of Jesus' hidden and public life. Christ's whole life is mystery. Many things about Jesus of interest to human curiosity do not figure in the Gospels. Almost nothing is said about his hidden life at Nazareth, and even a great part of his public life is not recounted. What is written in the Gospels was set down there so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. The Gospels were written by men who were among the first to have faith and wanted to share

it with others. Having known in faith who Jesus is, they could see and make others see the traces of his mystery in all his earthly life. From the swaddling clothes of his birth to the vinegar of his passion and the shroud of his resurrection, everything in Jesus' life was a sign of his mystery. His deeds, miracles, and words all reveal that in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. His humanity appeared as sacrament, that is, the sign and instrument of his divinity and of the salvation he brings. What was visible in his earthly life leads to the invisible mystery of his divine sonship and redemptive mission. Characteristic is common to Jesus' mysteries. Christ's whole earthly life, his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings,

Indeed, his manner of being and speaking is revelation of the Father. Jesus can say, whoever has seen me has seen the Father. And the Father can say, this is my son, my chosen. Listen to him. Because our Lord became man in order to do his father's will, even the least characteristics of his mysteries manifest God's love among us. Christ's whole life is a mystery of redemption. Redemption comes to us above all through the blood of his cross,

but this mystery is at work throughout Christ's entire life. First, already in his incarnation, through which by becoming poor, he enriches us with his poverty. Second, in his hidden life, which by his submission atones for our disobedience. Third, in his word which purifies its hearers. Fourth, in his healings and exorcisms, by which he took our infirmities and bore our diseases. Fifth, and in his resurrection, by which he justifies us. Christ's whole life is a mystery of recapitulation. All Jesus did, said, and suffered had for its aim restoring fallen man to his original vocation. As St. Irona's wrote, when Christ became incarnate

and was made man, he recapitulated in himself the long history of mankind and procured for us a shortcut to salvation, so that what we had lost in Adam, that is, being in the image and likeness of God, we might recover in Christ Jesus. For this reason, Christ experienced all. all the stages of life, thereby giving communion with God to all men. Our communion in the mysteries of Jesus. All Christ's riches are for every individual and are everybody's property. Christ did not live his life for himself, but for us. From his incarnation for us men and for our salvation, to his death for our sins and

resurrection for our justification. He is still our advocate with the Father who always lives to make intercession for us. He remains ever in the presence of God on our behalf. bringing before him all that he lived and suffered for us. In all of his life, Jesus presents himself as our model. He is the perfect man, who invites us to become his disciples and follow him. In humbling himself, he has given us an example to imitate. Through his prayer, he draws us to pray, and by his poverty, he calls us to accept freely

the privation and persecutions that may come our way. Christ enables us to live in him all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us. As Gaudium-Metz-Bez states, By his incarnation, he the Son of God, has in a certain way united himself with each man. We are called only to become one with him, for he enables us as members of his body to share in what he lived for us in his flesh as our model.

As St. John Eudes wrote, We must continue to accomplish in ourselves the stages of Jesus' life and his mysteries, and often to beg him to perfect and realize them in us and in his whole church, for it is the plan of the Son of God to make us and the whole church partake in his mysteries and to extend them to and continue them in us and in his whole church. This is his plan for fulfilling his mysteries in us.

Okay, so there we have it in paragraphs 512 to 521. I think this is incredible. The fact that, again, it just starts off in paragraph 512 by noting that, you know, the creed only talks about the mysteries of his incarnation, right, conception and birth, and the paschal mystery, everything from the passion, to the ascension. It says nothing explicitly about the mysteries of Jesus' hidden life or public life. And I love this because paragraph 514 says, many things about Jesus of interest to human curiosity do not figure in the gospels. Like, I want to know what was Jesus like as a baby? What was he like

as a young man? What was he like as a child? What was life like at Nazareth? Like, what were his friends' names? Like all those kinds of pieces, you know, before he started gathering apostles and disciples around him, what was that life like? You know, sometimes we want to know what did Jesus look like? All of those pieces, they're not recounted. Almost nothing has said about his hidden life at Nazareth, and even a great part of his public life is not recounted, which is just, again, kind of remarkable in some ways. At the same time, we know this, and this is affirmed so powerfully at the end of paragraph 514. What is written in the Gospels was set down there so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. And that's so,

so critical. What we do know, however, is that in paragraph 515, it says, having known in faith who Jesus is, the gospel writers, here they are, they could see and make others see the traces of his mystery in all his earthly life. They highlight even just, you know, three things here, from his swaddling clothes of his birth, to the vinegar of his passion, and the shroud of his resurrection, everything in Jesus' life was a sign of his mystery. And we recognize that. Even the fact that Luke mentions swaddling clothes, laid in a manger. Like that, that tells us something, that reveals something, the vinegar of his passion, right? That, that spoiled wine that he's drinking on the end of a sprig of hyssup, like that reveals something. And the shroud of his resurrection, like all these pieces,

they point to the mystery of Jesus and reveal something about him in mystery. And it's just remarkable. His deeds, miracles, and words all revealed that in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. And it's just remarkable. Now, going back to this, what are some characteristics common to Jesus as mysteries? Now, we mentioned revelation, redemption, and recapitulation. So revelation that whoever has seen me has seen the father Jesus can say. So he is the revelation of the father, the fullness of revelation, right? Once the word is spoken, once Jesus Christ, the word of God is spoken, there's no other word.

There's no other, there's no fuller. there's no more full revelation of who the father is. Who has seen me, has seen the father. And the father can also say, this is my beloved son, my chosen, and whom I'm well pleased, listen to him. That's very, very clear. Because our Lord became man in order to do his father's will, even the least characteristics of his mysteries manifest God's love among us.

So important. But the next part is his redemption. Now we realize that redemption comes to us above all through the blood of the cross, right? So Jesus is dying for us. That is how he purchases, you know, salvation essentially for us. You could say it like that. But the catechism notes, this mystery, this mystery of redemption is at work throughout Christ's entire life.

And I want to kind of highlight this. And then we'll just make some comments, but I just want to highlight this for the next few moments. This mystery of redemption is not just on the cross, but is at work in every aspect of Jesus' life. So it says, already in his incarnation through which by becoming poor, he enriches us with his poverty. So this act of redemption has already begun in his embracing suffering, embracing poverty, in his hidden life, which by his submission atones for our disobedience, right? So he returned to Nazareth with Joseph and Mary and was obedient to them. So his hidden life is redeeming and atoning for our disobedience.

And his word, when he preaches, when he teaches, his word which purifies its hearers. There's a power in his words. In fact, isn't that what they say? there's a unique authority that Jesus has, you know, doesn't rely upon other teachers like the other scribes and other rabbis did. His word which purifies its hearers. Fourth, it says, in his healings and exorcisms by which he took our infirmities and bore our diseases.

Now, we recognize that, that, yes, the fullness of redemption, fullness of salvation comes to us, not simply with Jesus' preaching, and not simply with his miracles, above all, by his suffering, his passion, right? his passion, his death, and resurrection. At the same time, this redemption, Jesus is redeeming all along the way, he's redeeming every aspect of human life. So in poverty and in obedience and in speech

and in healing, in suffering, in sickness, in exorcisms, and in his resurrection, by which he justifies us. So he enters into the depth of what we experience as human beings, redeeming it, and then what's he do, brings it in resurrection, brings it back to life. And by his resurrection by which he justifies us. Now, this is just remarkable and just be able to reflect on this. Again, that's what mysteries are for.

Mysteries are not problems to be solved, but there's this reality to be entered into. Here's Jesus who entered into every aspect of our human experience from birth to death, past death to resurrection. And in doing that, he redeems all of it. Christ's mystery, the whole life is a mystery of redemption. And then lastly, it says his whole life is a mystery of recapitulation. So the long history of mankind that has said no to God again and again. I mentioned the 40 years in the desert by the people of Israel are redeemed or recapitulated

by the 40 days in the desert. But you think about all of our, all of humanity's rebellion against God is recapitulated in Jesus' obedience to the Father. all of our distrust of God is recapitulated and renewed in Jesus's trust of the Father, which is remarkable. Because of that, we get to participate in these mysteries. He's become our model, and he is the one who enables us. He enables us to live in him all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us.

I love that quote that is here from Godium at Spez. This is paragraph 521. By his incarnation, he the son of God, has an assertion. way united himself with each man. That's the end of the quote. So we are called only to become one with him. For he enables us as members of his body to share in what he lived for us in his flesh as our model. And this is just so, so incredible. This is God's plan for fulfilling his mysteries in us, that we can partake in all of this, that we get to participate in all of this. In fact, you know, salvation, we'll talk about salvation as we go forward. But I remember coming

across a quote from a man named Dr. Michael Barber. And he said, sometimes we think that salvation is being saved from hell. And in some ways, yes, of course, that in some ways salvation is being saved from damnation. But he said, let's extend this. And he said, I offer this. He said, salvation is being saved from being unchristlike. Salvation is being saved from being unchristlike.

Here we have these broken hearts and we have these broken lives and we live in this broken way. We live unchristlike in salvation. Is God not just redeeming us and bringing us, giving us, giving us, us access to the Father, reconciling us to himself, but also making us capable of living as Christ, right, to participate in the mysteries that Jesus won for us, which is incredible. I don't know if that makes any sense to you. It makes sense to me.

Tomorrow we're going to be talking about the mysteries of Jesus' infancy and hidden life. Like all the preparations, John the Baptist, and the literature of Advent, the Christmas mystery. So whenever you're listening to this, probably not at Ground Christmas, but. You know, every day's Christmas when it comes to the Lord. I don't know if that's true, but I'm just saying it out loud. We are also going to talk about the Christmas mystery, mysteries of Jesus' infancy and the mysteries of Jesus' hidden life with Joseph and Mary in Nazareth. It's just incredible tomorrow as we take those next steps.

I'm excited and I just can't wait. I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.