The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 81: Christ’s Paschal Mystery (2026)

Episode Date: March 22, 2026

Fr. Mike begins his examination of the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s passion, death, and ultimate Resurrection. He emphasizes that all of Scripture points to this Paschal Mystery, and that through our faith, we can try to examine the circumstances of Jesus’ life to fully understand our own redemption. We also explore Jesus’ relationship with Israel and our own relationship with our Jewish forefathers. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 571-576. 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 in God's family. As we journey together toward our heavenly home, this is day 81. We're reading paragraphs 571 to 576. We're in a new section. The new section is Article 4, which is Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, were entering into the mystery of Christ's passion and death.

But before we get started, I wanted to remind you that I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the foundations of faith approach, but you can use any recent version. You know, any official version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your catechism into your reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash CIY. And lastly, you can. I don't know if I mentioned this yesterday. Did I forget to mention that you can click follow or subscribe in this podcast app for daily updates

and daily notifications, I have the sense that I might have forgotten. I don't know. And that's, I'm bothered. I couldn't sleep at all last night thinking about the fact that I might have forgotten to let you know that you can click follow. You can click subscribe in order to follow. In order to subscribe, it's day 81. As I said, paragraphs 571 to 571 to 576. Last few days, we've been talking about the mysteries of Christ's life, right? Everything from the prophecy of his birth to his infancy, to his hidden life, to the public ministry, all the way up to this moment where we're going to dive deeply into the mystery of his suffering and his crucifixion and his death and his burial. I mean, you know, we're going to get to this

place, but what is it to say that Christ descended into hell? Because we're going to say that at some point. What is it to say that he suffered an apacheous pilot? You know, we're going to highlight this today. Paragraph 521 highlights it very, very clearly. It says the paschal mystery. So when we talk about paschal mystery, think of it in this term, like Passover, right? So the passion of Jesus. These are words that they don't all mean the same thing, but they all kind of reference to the same reality. And so they all come from the same root, right? So we have this reality that the paschal mystery of Christ's cross and resurrection. If you want to know what the paschal mystery is, it is the mystery of Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection. That's

the pascal mystery. So the pascal mystery of Christ's cross and resurrection, paragraph 571 says, stands at the center of the good news. The pascal mystery, Christ's cross and resurrection, stand at the center of the good news. Not only this, stand at the center of the good news that the apostles and the church after the apostles are to proclaim to the world. That we know this. God's saving plan was accomplished once for all by the redemptive death of his son, Jesus Christ. That's what we're going to highlight.

And we're also going to highlight in paragraph 572 that we're faithful to the interpretation of all the scriptures that Jesus gave both before and after his Passover. When, you know, on the road to Emmaus, he's talking to the couple. that they don't recognize that it's Jesus. And they're downcast, their heartbroken because they thought they had hoped that Jesus would be the one to restore Israel. And Jesus says, was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?

So we recognize that Jesus' sufferings, his death, and ultimately his resurrection, they take their historical concrete form from the fact that he was rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes who handed him over to Gentiles, right, the Romans, to be scourged and mocked and crucified. Now, in this, we also have paragraph 574 to 576. We're going to talk about Jesus and Israel. And it's very important for us to never forget that Jesus was Jewish, right? That also the whole Old Testament is the story of how God lovingly and faithfully chose the Jewish people as his own, as the firstborn, right? He chose the Jewish people and entered into covenant with them in a powerful and remarkable way.

Again, and that Jesus is the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Jewish religion. So it's not a distinction of like, well, are you Christian or Jewish? Well, now in this case, right, there's this distinction. But we remember from the very beginning, all of those early Christians, they simply saw themselves as this is the fulfillment of everything we've been praying for, hoping for, waiting for, everything we've been promised. Here is now in Jesus.

So they did not necessarily see themselves as, a new religion at all. What they saw themselves is this is the fulfillment of everything that God has done because God has done this. And so, you know, we're going to talk about here, paragraphs 574 to 576, Jesus and Israel, we recognize that there has been a tense relationship at times between Jews and Christians. We want to do our best as we're walking through this catechism to have a good understanding of what that relationship really is, what that relationship ultimately could be for us as well. So just keep that in mind as we can move forward. Let's as we start this day. Let's start this. Yeah, this episode. Let's continue to pray. We'll pray Father in heaven. We give you

praise and glory. Thank you so much for the gift of your son. Thank you so much for the Jewish people. We praise you and glorify you. Thank you for giving us the Hebrew scriptures, like the Old Testament. Thank you for calling us into relationship with your son, Jesus Christ, through baptism and giving us your Holy Spirit and making us into your sons and daughters. Father, send your Holy Spirit right now so that we can hear your wisdom, hear the truth, and say yes to it with all of our hearts. In Jesus' 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 day 81. We're reading paragraphs 571 to 576. Article 4. Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

The pasical mystery of Christ's cross and resurrection stands at the center of the good news that the apostles and the church following them are to proclaim to the world. God's saving plan was accomplished once for all by the redemptive death of his son Jesus Christ. The church remains faithful to the interpretation of all the scriptures that Jesus gave both before and after his Passover, as he himself said, was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? Jesus' sufferings took their historical concrete form from the fact that he was rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes who handed him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified. Faith can therefore try to examine the circumstances of Jesus' death,

faithfully handed on by the Gospels and illuminated by other historical sources, the better to understand the meaning of the redemption. Paragraph 1. Jesus and Israel From the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, certain Pharisees and partisans of Herod, together with priests and scribes, agreed together to destroy him. Because of certain of his acts, expelling demons, forgiving sins, healing on the Sabbath day, his novel interpretation of the precepts of the law regarding purity, and his familiarity with tax collectors and public sinners, some ill-intentioned persons suspected Jesus of demonic possession. He is accused of blasphemy and false prophecy, religious crimes which the law punished with death by stoning. Many of Jesus' deeds and words constituted a sign of contradiction, but more so for the religious authorities in Jerusalem, whom the gospel according to John often calls simply the Jews than for ordinary people of God. To be sure, Christ's relations with the Pharisees were not exclusively polemical.

Some Pharisees warned him of the danger he was courting. Jesus praises some of them, like the scribe of Mark chapter 12, verse 34, and dines several times at their homes. Jesus endorses some of the teachings imparted by this religious elite of God's people, for example, the resurrection of the dead, certain forms of piety, like almsgiving, fasting, and prayer, the custom of addressing God as Father, and the centrality of the commandment to love God and a neighbor. In the eyes of many in Israel, Jesus seems to be acting against essential institutions of the chosen people, For example, first, submission to the whole of the law in its written commandments, and for the Pharisees, the interpretation of oral traditions. Second, the centrality of the temple at Jerusalem as the holy place where God's presence dwells in a special way.

And third, faith in the one God whose glory no man can share. Okay, so here we are entering into the mystery, right? The mystery of Christ's suffering, his death, and his burial. And in order to enter into this, the church begins once again in this article four by just kind of giving us a reset. And that reset is, okay, Christ's death, his mystery of his cross and resurrection is the center of the good news. Is the central mystery of the good news. Remember that every part of Jesus' life not only reveals the mystery of his life. And teaching wants to give us, every part of his life is part of that redemptive work of God.

but of course the paramount, the preeminent work of redemption occurs in his pastical mystery, in the passion death and ultimately resurrection of Jesus. And we have to continually utter this we have to continually proclaim this over and over again. Now, because the church remains faithful to the interpretation of all the sacred scriptures, we realize that all of the Old Testament truly does in some mysterious way point to the life and the passion, the death, and ultimately resurrection of Jesus. This helps us to understand what is the happened. Now, paragraph 573, that's a summary of 571, 572.

Paragraph 573 says, faith can therefore, because all these things, right, faith can therefore try to examine the circumstances of Jesus' death, faithfully handed on by the Gospels, and illuminated by other historical sources, the better to understand the meaning of the redemption. So again, since the past. mystery stands at the center of the Christian mystery, right, and the mystery of our redemption. And since so much, you know, all the scripture points to this, all that the law and the prophets had foretold Jesus fulfills. Because of this, our faith can try to examine the circumstances

of Jesus' life and find out even more depths, even more richness of what is truly happening and the meaning of our redemption. So then that's kind of the golf ball on the tea. And then we start launching into this in paragraph 574 to 576 talks about, again, as I said, the beginning of this, the relationship between Jesus and Israel. And says from the basically beginning of Jesus is a public ministry, there were certain Pharisees and partisans of Herod, together with priests and scribes that agreed together to destroy him. Now, this is limited. This wasn't everybody.

This wasn't also the Jews in the sense of like all Jewish people. Remember how many thousands of Jews came out to hear Jesus as teaching. thousands came out to be fed by him, thousands came out to be healed by him. Hundreds were his disciples. And we have, of course, the core of the apostles. Those, all of them were Jewish. And so to recognize that there were some who rejected some of the elite who rejected Jesus.

And there's some reasons why, right? Some of them say that the reasons why were, well, they some ill intentioned persons that says in paragraph 574 suspected Jesus of demonic possession because he's doing incredible things, expelling demons. He's forgiving sins, claiming to forgive sins and doing it. He's healing on the Sabbath day. He is a novel interpretation of the precepts of the law regarding purity. His familiarity with tax collectors and public sinners that gave rise to some people saying,

well, he has to be. He has power. So maybe that power must come from somewhere else, right? This conclusion that some of the religious authorities came to. Now, not all of the religious authorities, again, paragraph 575 said this. Jesus is a sign of contradiction. He's a sign of contradiction. And so there were some religious authorities, remember scribes and Pharisees, who rejected him.

But there were many who did not. Some warned him of the danger that he was courting. Jesus praised some of them. He dined several times at their homes. He endorses some of the teachings imparted by the religious elite, as it says in paragraph 575. And there's something that's very core. Jesus is a Jewish rabbi. Keep this in mind.

Jesus, again, divine person with a human and divine nature is a Jewish rabbi. He is teaching in this line of teachers. At the same time, he has a unique authority, has unique teaching. And this is remarkable. Now, it's worthwhile to note what the catechism points out in paragraph, the last paragraph for today. This is the last thing. Paragraph 576 says this. In the eyes of many in Israel, Jesus seems to be acting against essential institutions of the chosen people. I want to emphasize the word seems to be. Because these next three things, For example, submission to the whole law in its written commandments and for the Pharisees' interpretation of the oral tradition. Remember, the Pharisees had this whole other, they did not just follow all the, tried to follow all the commandments written down in the Bible, but also the oral tradition and tried to follow all of those as well.

Secondly, the centrality of the temple at Jerusalem as the holy place where God's presence dwells in a special way. Thirdly, faith in the one God whose glory no man can share. So keep this in mind. Jesus, by and large, I mean, you're pretty safe to say. that he would uphold virtually all of those. Yes, there are some times when Jesus is saying, like, you know, you have rejected the tradition or the teaching of the Lord for the traditions of men,

though be some of those oral traditions. But by and large, Jesus, he was not rejecting the whole of the law. He's not rejecting the law. In fact, he even says that not a speck of the law, essentially, will be done away with. Anyone who rejects the law and teaches others to reject it,

it that that's a bad deal. So Jesus, yes, he upheld the law in a unique, but also according to what he knew as truth, because he is the truth. Secondly, the centrality of the temple at Jerusalem. Of course, Jesus recognized that God's presence dwelt in the temple in a unique way. But also he realized, I mean, he realized and he taught that he was greater than the temple, which is not wrong. and yet he did not reject the centrality of the temple. He just knew there was something greater than the temple. And lastly, faith in the one God whose glory no man can share? Absolutely right.

But here is Jesus, who is fully man, but it's also fully God. And so there's a lot that hangs on that word seems in paragraph 576. Jesus seems to be acting against essential institutions of the chosen people. Is he? Well, I don't think so. I don't think so. But he seems to be. Because of this, there's this rejection.

Because of this, there is this hostility. And ultimately, because of this, there's a hand to him over to the Gentiles. Now, for all of us today, as we can finish today's reading, one of the things we get to do is we get to ask about ourselves is what is our perspective on Jesus' origins? When I mean by Jesus' origins, I mean his human origins. What is our perspective on the Jewish people? and our perspective, we'll talk about this more as we go further, our perspective is of gratitude. Our perspective is that we would not have Jesus without the Jewish people.

That in so many ways, we, you know, I think it was Pope Pius the 6th who said, spiritually we are all Semites. Like spiritually, we're all Jewish. And that's not meant to be claiming something that doesn't belong to us. That's not meant to be diminishing someone else. What it's meant to be is the fact that we owe the Jewish people. and what God has done in the Jewish people is the life of history of Israel. We owe them more than we can never repay.

And so we constantly pray for the Jewish people. We constantly pray gratitude to the Lord for the Jewish people. And we also pray that Jesus, who was Jewish, the apostles, who were Jewish, we pray that our brothers and sisters now who are Jewish. Again, not brothers and sisters in baptism yet, but our brothers and sisters in humanity who are Jewish. we pray that they come to know the truth of who Jesus is as well, that they come to that place of being able to say yes to Jesus with their whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. Because Jesus is the fulfillment of everything in the Old Testament. And so we pray for our friends, our older brothers and sisters, the children of Abraham.

We pray for them and ask the Lord to enlighten their minds enlighten their eyes so they can see the Lord, they can know him and they can love him with their whole heart, just like we ask God to open our eyes so we can see him. Our minds, we can know him and our hearts, we can love him even better. Let's pray for them. Our friends, let's pray for those people who are among us who God loves so much and wants to embrace them and adopt them as his own through baptism as well. Let's pray for each other as well. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.