The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 79: Jesus’ Transfiguration and Messianic Acts (2026)

Episode Date: March 20, 2026

Together, with Fr. Mike, we explore both the mystery of Christ’s Transfiguration and the mystery of his messianic entrance into Jerusalem. We examine how the Transfiguration reveals that Christ’s death was a voluntary act, and that he is truly the “splendor of the Father.” Fr. Mike emphasizes the incredible parallel between Christ’s baptism and Transfiguration. That, on the threshold of his public life, we witness Christ’s baptism, and on the threshold of the Passion, we witness the Transfiguration. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 554-560. 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 it 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 79. We're reading paragraphs 554 to 560.

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 at the Catholic Church. I am also using The Catechism in a year reading plan, which you could get for free if you go to ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y, and you can also, little known fact, click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Today is day 79.

You guys, we're almost on day 80. That's tomorrow. So amazing. Incredible. Well done. We're reading paragraphs 554 to 560. We're talking about, hmm, yesterday we talked about the keys of the kingdom, right? How Jesus's signs were messianic signs demonstrating that he is the anointed one.

he is the one who is being waited for. And then he handed those keys, the keys of the kingdom, to Simon Peter after his profession of faith in Jesus' identity as the Messiah. Incredible, remarkable. We'll talk more about that as days go on. We talk more about, like, you know, the structure of the church. But today, we have the next step. Remember, these are the mysteries of Jesus' life.

And the next step as we're following Christ's life is the transfiguration, which is, again, the context is the kingdom. A foretaste of the kingdom is the transfiguration. What do we mean by that? So for the next few paragraphs here, we're going to talk about how Jesus' transfiguration is a foretaste of the kingdom and how Jesus' assent into Jerusalem is going up to fulfill that role of the king. And this is, again, sometimes when we don't necessarily, we just kind of look at the events

of Christ's life. We think, okay, this is, you know, the path of the Messiah. This is the path of our Lord. And we don't necessarily realize what he's doing here is he is fulfilling the messianic vocation, right? He's fulfilling this call that the Messiah had to establish the kingdom. Everything he's doing is establishing the kingdom. Yes, it's redeeming us. Yep, that's, that's, that's, goes without saying. But even that transfiguration is a foretaste of the kingdom. Even that, that glory that he had on the mountain as his, his glory is revealed, right? He has the glory

always, right? But the glory is revealed on the mountain. That this is, as it says here in the header, a foretaste. What does that mean? Well, part of what it means is that the glory that we will behold him with for eternity, God willing, if we make it to heaven, is the glory that he always has. It's glory that's revealed. This other piece of being able to say he will also enter into human suffering and pain and death and rise from the dead. That's a foretaste of our participation in his kingdom as well, where we are called to enter into suffering. We're called to enter into life. We're called to enter and do this all through love, enter into death, and participate in his resurrection as well.

And it's just remarkable to realize that as Jesus discloses his divine glory, he also reveals that he has to go by way of the cross. So it's this combination that is, well, I mean, it seems insulting. me to say it's genius because it's like, oh, you're calling God a genius. Okay, Einstein, but it really is beautiful. It's so powerful. Here's Jesus. The moment he reveals his glory, think about this, the father revealed to Peter that Jesus is the Messiah. Peter confessed that. Jesus changed his name, gives them the keys of the kingdom. And the very next thing, essentially, Jesus says, is the prediction of his passion. Okay, so here's the revelation of the kingdom in many powerful way. And then

Jesus predicts his passion. Same kind of thing happens here with the transfiguration. where His divine glory is revealed, and yet the passion is once again prophesied. This has to happen. And what that points out to me, at least, is okay. Yeah, God, you are God. You are God and you don't stay away from our pain. You are God, and you also call us not only to the heights of your glory,

but you call us also to the depths of your love, a love that's willing to enter into suffering. So Jesus goes into Jerusalem, and that's also a witness. As we cry out Hosanna, like we do that every single Palm Sunday, Hosanna, as we're going to hear in paragraph 559, means save or means give salvation. And the king of glory enters his city, riding on an ass. So I love this line in paragraph 559.

Jesus conquers the daughter of Zion, a figure of his church, neither by ruse nor by violence, but by the humility that bears witness to the truth. That's incredible. Again, he doesn't, as he enters into Jerusalem, He's acclaimed by the poor. He's acclaimed by children. And he takes the city. He has victory of the city. And not by ruse or by violence, but by humility that bears witness to the truth, which is just amazing. So we get to hear about that today. Let's let's pray. I just ask the Lord to reveal to our hearts and to our minds what it is he wants us to hear today as we learn. We walk with Jesus, this last little section before. Tomorrow's in brief. But last little section today, as we just kind of conclude, here's the mysteries of Christ's life. You know, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, we're going to dive deeply into the mystery of Christ's passion.

But today, you have the mystery of the Transfiguration. We have the mystery of his entry into Jerusalem. They're the mystery of the fact that he is a king, but he is a king who is humble. So we pray, Father in heaven, we thank you. We thank you. And just stand in awe of you. We stand in awe of your son. We stand in awe of how you reveal yourself to be, who you reveal yourself to be.

that yes, you are the God who is the king of the universe, and at the same time, you're the God who enters into the worst we have to offer. You're the God who enters into the lowest places. Our God entered into the lowest places in our lives. Yes, you are the God of glory, but you also don't hide from our shame. You're the God of power, but you are not afraid of our weakness. Be with us now in our shame. Be with us now, in our weakness. Be with us now and forever. In Jesus' name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen. As I said, it's day 79, reading paragraphs 554 to 560. A foretaste of the kingdom, the transfiguration. From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, the master began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things and be killed. and on the third day be raised. Peter scorns this prediction,

nor do the others understand it any better than he. In this context, the mysterious episode of Jesus' transfiguration takes place on a high mountain before three witnesses chosen by himself, Peter, James, and John. Jesus' face and clothes become dazzling with light, and Moses and Elijah appear,

speaking of his departure which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. A cloud covers him, and a voice from heaven says, this is my son, my chosen. Listen to him. For a moment, Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter's confession. He also reveals that he will have to go by the way of the cross at Jerusalem in order to enter into his glory. Moses and Elijah had seen God's glory on the mountain. The law and the prophets had announced the Messiah's sufferings. Christ's passion is the will of the Father. The son acts as God's servant. The cloud indicates the presence of the the Holy Spirit, as St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, the whole Trinity appeared, the Father in the

Voice, the Son in the Man, the Spirit in the Shining Cloud. In the Byzantine Liturgy, we pray, You were transfigured on the mountain, and your disciples, as much as they were capable of it, beheld your glory, O Christ, our God, so that when they should see you crucified, they would understand that your passion was voluntary, and proclaimed to the world that you truly are the splendor of the Father. On the threshold of the public life, life, the baptism. On the threshold of the Passover, the Transfiguration. Jesus' baptism proclaimed the mystery of the first regeneration, namely our baptism. The Transfiguration is the sacrament of the second regeneration, our own resurrection. From now on, we share in the Lord's resurrection through

the Spirit who acts in the sacraments of the body of Christ. The Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ's glorious coming when he will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body. But it also recalls that it is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God. As St. Augustine wrote, Peter did not yet understand this when he wanted to remain with Christ on the mountain. It has been reserved for you, Peter, but for after death. For now, Jesus says, go down to toil on earth, to serve on earth, to be scorned and crucified on earth.

Life goes down to be killed. Bread goes down to suffer hunger. The way goes down to be exhausted on his journey. the spring goes down to suffer thirst, and you refuse to suffer? Jesus is assent to Jerusalem. When the days drew near for him to be taken up, Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem. By this decision, he indicated that he was going up to Jerusalem, prepared to die there. Three times he had announced his passion and resurrection.

Now, heading toward Jerusalem, Jesus says, It cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. Jesus recalls the martyrdom of the prophets who had been put to death in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, he persists in calling Jerusalem to gather around him. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not? When Jerusalem comes into view, he weeps over her and expresses once again his heart's desire. Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace, but now they are hid from your eyes? Jesus is messianic entrance into Jerusalem.

How will Jerusalem welcome her Messiah? Although Jesus had always refused popular attempts to make him king, he chooses the time and prepares the details for his messianic entry into the city of his father, David, acclaimed as son of David, as the one who brings salvation. Hosanna means save or give salvation. The king of glory enters his city riding on an ass. Jesus conquers the daughter of Zion, a figure of his church, neither by ruse nor by violence, but by the humility that bears witness to the truth.

And so the subjects of his kingdom on that day are children and God's poor, who acclaim him as had the angels when they announced him to the shepherds. Their acclamation, Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord, is taken up by the church in the sanctus of the Eucharistic liturgy that introduces the memorial of the Lord's Passover. Jesus' entry into Jerusalem manifested the coming of the kingdom that the king Miscan was going to accomplish by the Passover of his death and resurrection. It is with the celebration of that entry on Palm Sunday that the church's liturgy solemnly opens Holy Week.

Okay. So, gosh, we've gone all the way from the mystery of the, essentially the prophecies of Christ's life to his birth, to the announcement to the magi and the shepherds and the mysteries of his hidden life, the mysteries of his public life. Here to the end, well, tomorrow, or sorry, the day after tomorrow, we'll get into the mystery of his passion, death or resurrection, but the mysteries of his public life. Again, we talked about the transfiguration, which happens in such a way to reveal his glory. I love this. This is in paragraph 555 that talks about, it quotes the prayer of the Byzantine liturgy. It says,

you were transfigured on the mountain and your disciples, as much as they were capable of it. Remember Peter, James and John, beheld your glory, O Christ, our God. Here's the reason why. So that, when they should see you crucified, they would understand that your passion was voluntary. It's incredible. In seeing the transfiguration, it revealed that Jesus was not an unwilling victim. Yes, he's the victim, right? He's the, he's the sacrifice, but he offers himself. He's not the unwilling victim. He's not an unwitting victim. He's not being pulled about by this world. He voluntarily entered into Jerusalem. He voluntarily knowing what was going to happen, he walked to the city where the prophets are killed. But the transfiguration reveals that this was his choice. Transfiguration reveals that this

was voluntary and proclaimed to the world, this is the last part of that prayer, and proclaim to the world that you, Jesus, truly are the splendor of the Father, which is just incredible, remarkable. And I love paragraph 556. I don't know if you caught this. It's kind of this point-counterpoint or this aesthetically, very aesthetically pleasing balance. It says, on the threshold of the public like of Jesus, the baptism, on the threshold of the Passover, the Transfiguration. So this revelation of, of member of the father speaking over the sun at the Jordan River. On the threshold of the public life, baptism, the father speaks. On the threshold of the Passover, Transfiguration, where the father speaks. Jesus's baptism proclaimed the mystery of the first regeneration, which is our baptism. The

transfiguration is the sacrament of the second regeneration, our own resurrection. So you see that connection where Jesus being baptized prefigures our baptism. Jesus being transfigured prefigures our resurrection, which is, oh my gosh, how incredible is that? The transfiguration, it says in 556, gives us a foretaste of Christ's glorious coming when he will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body. And yet at the same time, it goes on to say, at the same time, it recalls that it is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God. And this quote here by St. Thomas Aquinas, and he just says,

Peter doesn't understand, right? Remember, the other apostles don't understand either. But Peter did not yet understand this when he wanted to remain with Christ on the mountain. Yes, it's been reserved for you, O Peter, but for after death. For now, Jesus says, go down to toil on earth,

to serve on earth, to be scorn and crucified on earth. Because that's where he's going to go. Again, Aquinas saying, life goes down to be killed. Bread, remember the bread from heaven, goes down to suffer hunger. The way, Jesus is the way the truth in the life. The way goes down to be exhausted on his journey in the spring, right?

Jesus is the spring of living water. The spring goes down to suffer thirst. And you, Peter, refused to suffer. And he could say to us, and you refuse to suffer, this is so powerful. It's a reminder of, again, these mysteries of Jesus' life. Everything in Jesus' life is this mystery because it keeps revealing to us his identity, his mission, and our identity and our mission. So just as Jesus is transfigured, okay, that's our destiny.

That's what he wants for us. But then also as Jesus descends that mountain and enters into agony and enters into brokenness and enters into suffering, that's our path as well. We don't walk that path alone. We don't walk that path alone. Jesus walks it with us. He walked it before us. But he walks it with us by giving us His Holy Spirit so that we are never alone.

so that we in our weakness are made strong, for that we in our despair never give up hope. There's this recognition in paragraph 5.59. I just want to highlight as Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem. As I said before, he chooses the time. He prepares the details for his messianic entry into the city. And he conquers neither by ruse nor by violence, but by the humility that bears witness to the truth.

and that's what we are called. Every one of us is called to choose, right? That humility, that first witness to the truth. Today, I just want to ask us, every one of us wants to win, right? Every one of us wants to get what we want because that's how life works. You want what we want.

And I want to get what I want. Jesus, his mission, to get what he wants, which is your heart and my heart. The way he goes about that is by giving. He gets by giving. And even then, as we've heard, even then when he does these miracles, people turn away. Even then when he shows the depths of his love on the cross, we can still turn away.

And so my invitation today is, okay, Lord, you're the Lord of Glory and you entered into agony. You're the Lord of Power. You entered into shame. Help me. to neither be afraid of agony or to be embarrassed by shame, but to cling to you, cling to you in your shame, in your agony, so as to live with you in your resurrection and in your glory. That's what I'm praying today, and I'll bring you for you.

Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.