The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 95: Christ’s Reign on Earth

Episode Date: April 5, 2023

Together, with Fr. Mike, we explore Christ’s reign on earth. We examine the reality of Christ’s reign as both “already” and “not yet.” For, even though Christ reigns on earth, we are still waiting for the fulfillment of his kingdom. Because, while the Church is Christ’s kingdom on earth, it is endowed with a “sanctity that is real but imperfect.” Fr. Mike also reiterates that Jesus Christ is truly the fulfillment of every promise made to Israel in the Old Testament. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 668-674. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy If you have found this podcast to be helpful in your faith life and would like to help us continue bringing this Catholic media to as many people as possible, please consider making an ongoing financial gift at ascensionpress.com/support. Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Before we get started, I just wanted to offer a quick thank you to all those who have supported the Categism and Ear or the Bible in Ear podcasts. We hear stories every day about how those shows have transformed people's lives. And because of your prayers and financial gifts, you are a significant part of that. You might ask a question though. The question is, what does the ascension do with these financial gifts? Great question. The answer is we make authentically Catholic podcasts and videos and other digital content to help people know the Catholic faith and grow closer to God every day. And we do it all for free. If you found this podcast be helpful in your life and would like to help us continue making

free Catholic content we can post online. Please consider making a financial contribution and ongoing financial contribution by going to ascensionpress.com slash support. That's ascensionpress.com-support. That's AscensionPress.com-support. Thank you and God bless. [♪ Music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the background, music playing in the and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catholicism in a year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days we will read through the Catholicism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity and God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. It is the 95 reading paragraphs, 668-674, as always I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catholicism, which includes the foundations of faith approach. You can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

We also can download the Catechism and your reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. And you can also click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates, and daily notifications. Just quick, thank you again. Once again, gosh, all the time we want to thank you for those who have supported the production of this podcast by your prayers and financial gifts. We couldn't do this without you. As I said, it is day 95, we're reading paragraphs 668 to 674, we're on Article 7, which is from there he will come to judge the living and the dead and this declaration that we make today that Jesus will come again in glory. And so we're going to hear today's kind of two days today and tomorrow this section. Today we're going to talk

about how Christ already reigns through the church, that the Christ's kingdom has been established on this earth through his church, so it's already here. And at the same time, it is still to come, right? So this reality of already and not yet. So what are the ways in which Jesus Christ continues to reign? Well, part of that is he continues to reign in his church, his body on earth. Another thing, he continues to reign. Well, part of that is he can use to reign in his church, his body on earth. Another thing, he continues to reign because he is exalted in heaven at the right hand of the Father. He is head of the kingdom. He is head of the church. And so he reigns in paragraph 671 and 672. It says until all things are subjected to him. And so we recognize that here's the first line of 671. It says,, though already present in his

church, remember, because Christ already reigns in his church, though already present in his church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled with power and great glory by the kings returned to earth. And so we recognize that this kingdom, this reign is still under attack on earth, right? We are called the church militant. We are the Church who continues to fight in the name of Jesus Christ against the powers and principalities on the earth and under the earth. And so here is Jesus. We continue to pray for him to return even though he's with us, right? Even though his church is established on this earth, even though the kingdom reigns in heaven, there is still the time of waiting, right? We await the Christ's return with power and great glory.

And so we have this prayer that we always pray, Maranatha, or Maranatha, right? Commodore Jesus, yet at the same time. I love this, this last section, paragraphs 673 to 674, talk about the glorious advent of Christ, the hope of Israel. Now tomorrow we'll talk about the Church's ultimate trial and the anti-Christ and whatnot, but these sections, 673 and 674 highlight the fact that this is something we believe as Christians, we've talked about this before. But Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of every promise that God made to the people of Israel.

And so Christ is, Christianity is the fulfillment of Judaism. And I know that can sound so triumphalistic, that can sound so kind of like, hey, we win, but it's not, we got brought into this. We get grafted onto the tree of St. Paul says, what Christ wants, what God wants, is for the people of Israel to win. And so in paragraphs 673 and 674 talks about this last line here,

is the full inclusion of the Jews in the Messiah's salvation, in the wake of the full number of Gentiles, will enable the people of God to achieve the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ in which God may be all in all. This is the great prayer and the great hope that not only here we are, having been brought into Christ's body, having been brought into Christ's reign, into his church, into his kingdom. And yet, there is something undone when the people of God, when we read the Old Testament,

we recognize the great love God has for the chosen people of Israel, for the chosen Jewish people. You can imagine the great pain for all those chosen people, all the Jewish people who do not yet know Jesus. And so we continue not only to pray for ourselves, Jesus, come, Lord Jesus, come. But also we pray for that fulfillment, the fulfillment of the chosen people of God, the Jewish people. O, who indeed, that God has not revoked his choosing of them. He has not turned back his love, he has not turned back, he's not avoided his covenant, he wants it to be

fulfilled in the life of every human being. And in particular, in a particular, mysterious, beautiful way in the life of every Jewish person. And so, yeah, that's just, that's just a powerful thing. And it might be, seem, sound strange to say, because we kind of live in a culture that is live in that live. Of course, we live in that live. At the same time, it's not, I don't care about you. At the same time, we realize that the more we care about someone, the more we want them to know the fullness of what God wants for them. And that's true of our family members, that's true of our friends, that's true of ourselves. You know that you are someone who's worth loving, that you are someone who's worth taking care of. And we believe that even though we have a division when it comes to religion,

when it comes to what we believe and who we follow, that we do proclaim and profess that Jesus got our Father in the Holy Spirit, they have not revoked their choosing of the people of Israel, of the Jewish people. So we pray, we pray now for ourselves, we pray for the church on earth, for the kingdom yet to come, and we pray for all people on earth,

all people on earth who do not yet know Jesus Christ. So we pray, Father in heaven, we ask you, please send your Holy Spirit into our hearts, that we can be fully converted to you. Please send your Holy Spirit into the hearts of all of our friends, our family members, who have walked away from the church. Those who have never encountered you and your love, we ask you to send your Holy Spirit upon all people who share other beliefs. That they may be drawn by your Spirit of truth to your very heart, which is truth.

Lord God, your Son, Jesus Christ, declared that He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to you except through Him, and so we ask, please help us all, all of us. Whether we are professing Christians or not, help us all to come to know the way the truth in the life Jesus Christ, and by that knowledge, and by that following of him, to come to you, Father. We make this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen. And the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. As I said, it is the 95-reeding paragraphs 668-674. Article 7. From there, he will come again to judge the living and the dead. He will come again in glory. Christ already reigns through the church. St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, states,

Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Christ's ascension into heaven signifies his participation in his humanity in God's power and authority. Jesus Christ is Lord. He possesses all power in heaven and on earth. He is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion for the Father has put all things under His feet.

Christ is Lord of the cosmos and of history. In Him, human history and indeed all creation are set forth and transcendentally fulfilled. As Lord, Christ is also head of the church, which is His body. Taken up to heaven and glorified after He had thus fully accomplished His mission, Christ dwells on the earth in his church. The redemption is the source of the authority that Christ, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, exercises over the church. As Lumingenciam states, the kingdom of Christ is already present in mystery, on earth, the seed, and the beginning of the kingdom.

Since the ascension, God's plan has entered into its fulfillment. We are already at the last hour. Already, the final age of the world is with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably underway. It is even now anticipated in a certain real way for the church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real, but imperfect. Christ's kingdom already manifests its presence through the miraculous signs that attend its proclamation by the church. Until all things are subjected to Him. Though already present in His church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled with the power and great glory

by the King's return to earth. This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ's Passover. Until everything is subject to him, until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the Pilgrim Church in our sacraments and institutions which belong to this present age carries the mark of this world which will pass. And she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and prevail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God. That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ's return by saying to him, Marna Tha, our Lord come. Before his ascension, Christ affirmed that the hour had not yet come for the glorious establishment of the Messianic Kingdom awaited by Israel,

which, according to the prophets, was to bring all men the definitive order of justice, love, and peace. According to the Lord, the present time is the time of the Spirit and of witness, but also a time still marked by distress and the trial of evil which does not spare the church and usher in the struggles of the last days. It is a time of waiting and watching. The glorious advent of Christ, the hope of Israel. Since the ascension, Christ's coming and glory has been imminent, even though it is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.

This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial that will precede it are delayed. The glorious Messiah's coming is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by all Israel for a hardening has come upon part of Israel in their unbelief toward Jesus. St. Peter says to the Jews of Jerusalem after Pentecost, repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from

of old. St Paul echoes him, saying, for if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean, but life from the dead? The full inclusion of the Jews in the Messiah's salvation, in the wake of the full number of the Gentiles, will enable the people of God to achieve the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, in which God may be all in all. Right, there is day 95 reading paragraphs, 68 to 674.

There is something so powerful about this reality that yes, from there, he will come again to judge the living and dead that Jesus will come again in glory, that he already is established in his church. One of the things we recognize is that as we said before, Jesus is the Messiah as the Messiah, he has established the kingdom. That's one of the things is the Messiah, as the Messiah, He has established the kingdom. That's one of the things that the Messiah would do. He's established the kingdom, and we recognize that the kingdom is the church,

the church on earth. And so on paragraph 669, it says, as Lord Christ is the head of the church, which is His body. And this is so important. The body of Christ on earth also has a head. Now, we need both, right? And this is one of those declarations that as we dive more deeply later on into the reality of Christ on earth also has a head. Now we need both, right? And this is one of those

declarations that as we dive more deeply later on into the reality of the church and the necessity of the church, we're going to be reminded of this is that the church on earth is Christ's body. So we need the church. Jesus Christ is the head of the church and we need the head. There's a problem sometimes people have when they have, maybe a, I'm not gonna say like a merely one-on-one relationship with Jesus. Now of course we all need to have a one-on-one relationship with Jesus. All of us need to have a personal relationship with Christ.

In fact, that's why we're made, we're made to have a personal relationship with the Holy Trinity at the same time. We are meant to have a communal relationship with his body. So to have a relationship with merely the head and to essentially remove ourselves or to consider ourselves exempt from the body would be to decapitate Jesus in some ways, right? It would be kind of like cradling the head and ignoring the body. We are made as Christians.

We are made to not only love our head, Jesus Christ, but also to love his body, the body. We are made as Christians. We're made to not only love our head, Jesus Christ, but also to love his body, the church. Go on to say. So this is real. This church dwells on earth and Christ dwells on earth in his church. Paragraph 670 highlights this. That since the ascension, God's plan is entered into its fulfillment. We're already at the last hour. So we think like, when is it going to come? When Jesus is going to come again? Well, we're already in the last hour. This is the final age. And goes on to say, already, the final age of the world is with us. This is from Lumingencium. Already, the final age of the world is with us. The renewal of the world is irrevocably underway. So not only is this thought, these are the last days, but the

renewal of the world. This is remarkable. Like the Holy Spirit is present here on this planet, the Holy Spirit is present in every single Christian. And so there's this renewal of the world that is irrevocably underway. Goes on to say, it is even now anticipated in a certain real way for the church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real. The church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real. The church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real. The church is holy. This is one of the things again in coming days when we hit the church. We're going to talk about this. The Holy Spirit is the soul of the church. And therefore

the church is holy. The church is the body of Christ. Therefore the church is holy. It already has a sanctity. And that's why it's very important for us to emphasize this and to be able to truly and boldly proclaim this, that by virtue of the Holy Spirit, that Christ's kingdom is already the Church on Earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real. The last two words of that sentence, though, it says, again, the Church on Earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real. It's already holy. The last two words of that statement though are real, and here's the last two words, but imperfect. So the church has a sanctity, has a holiness.

That is real, but imperfect. And we recognize this. The church is divine and human, right? The church is, yes, the soul of the Holy, of the, the soul of the church is the Holy Spirit, and at the same time, the church is also comprised of human beings who are like us, and they are, we're broken. And we're claimed by Jesus, right? We're, we're made holy by Jesus. We're claimed by, by Him, and we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us.

We're temples of the Holy Spirit, but we realize this, that we can be holy in a unique way, and at the same time broken. And so why would we expect anything different from the Church of God? The Church is already in doubt with a sanctity that is real, but imperfect. Now, we go on in, say, in paragraph 671, this is so important to wait. So already Christ's reign is present in the church, and yet it is still yet to come. And so we recognize, yes, this is the last age. Yep, this is the the final age of the world is with us, and this renewal is happening right now. And at the same time, this reign is still under attack by the evil powers. You know, tomorrow we're going to talk about that,

we're going to talk briefly about the antiichrist, just real briefly. We recognize that the church is the reign of the kingdom of God is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ's Passover. And so there's this recognition that we're already and not yet. That's kind of the phrase that maybe you've heard that phrase before. But that the kingdom is established already and not yet. That Christ has come. Yes, he definitely has come. And so this reality of his reign is already, it's already here, and not yet. There is something that's been done and there's something yet to be done. And so he is one definitively, and at the same time, there is still a battle to be

fought. If you're familiar at all with the book, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, you'll recognize that if you've ever read those books, maybe even if watched the movies, one of the critiques about the final movie, The Return of the King, is that, the goal of the whole movie is to destroy the ring. And then they destroy the ring, sorry spoiler, they destroy the ring.

And then what happens is there's a lot of movie left. There's my, I don't know, I didn't add it up. Maybe there's like 45 minutes left. In fact, people complained about how there are multiple endings to this movie where you're like, okay, that's the end. Oh, wait, there's more. Oh, that's the end. Oh, wait, there's more.

You know, fades to black. And that was another scene. Well, that was kind of the critique in some ways from people who didn't understand Tolkien's original work. Where here, here's the ring, that's been destroyed. Here are the hobbits that get rescued. The fellowship gets reunited. That's it.

Well, that's not it, because what happens is the hobbits then return to the shire. That's their original home, that. Their home, that had been pretty much untouched by darkness. But while they were away on this journey to destroy the ring and to defeat the evil one, Sauron. What happened was evil had infected their home. So even while that, you know, the big bad guy, Sauron,

had been definitively defeated when that ring was destroyed, they come back to their home and realize, oh my gosh, evil, the effects of evil, has touched our home. The effects of evil have touched the people around us. And so there still is a battle to fight even though there's been a definitive victory. And so there's this, I think one of the final chapters is called the scouring of the Shire. And so basically, evil has been defeated, and yet there's still work to be done. There's consequences to evil, just like there's consequences to good. And so here we are. We find ourselves, Jesus Christ has conquered death. He's conquered the evil one, and yet there still is a battle to fight. In paragraph 672, it highlights this, and it says, according to the Lord, the present

time is the time of the Spirit and of witness. That's what's been given to us, right? We worship God now in Spirit and in truth, and we give witness to him. That's what he says before he ascends to heaven. You, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and you will witness to him. That's what he says before he ascends to heaven. You, with the Holy Spirit, will come upon you and you will be my witnesses. But also, it's a time still marked by distress and the trial of evil, which does not spare the church.

This is important for us. Think about this. Here's the church writing in the 90s, and we're in 80s when they began writing this. It's a time still marked by distress and the trial of evil, which does not spare the church. And we recognize, I think it's pretty, I don't know, stupid, pretty ignorant of ourselves to deny that the trial of evil, of course, has entered the church as well as has entered every aspect, every corner of humanity.

And we have not been spared. The trial of evil has not been spared. The church has been just in any other way, as in any other area in our lives, even in our own hearts. Church has been just as affected by this trial of evil as any other place, which is one of the reasons why we have to keep on fighting. In fact, this paragraph, 672 concludes by saying this trial of evil, which does not spare the

church and usher in the struggles of the last days. It is a time of waiting and watching. And so that's what we have to do. We always have to be vigilant. That's that waiting and watching, being vigilant. Remember, back in we were reading the books of the prophets and the Old Testament during the Bible in a year. And there was the watchman.

And the watchman has to watch, right? The job of the watchman is to be on guard, is to be vigilant. The job of the watchman is to say, okay, when there is good, I will call out and point out the good and say, that's where we're going. When there is evil, we must be willing to call out and point out the evil. And for too long, for too long, what we do in our own lives is we let the evil in our hearts, in our actions, in our relationships, we let the evil just remain in darkness. And that's what in the church we've done at times too. Is we let the evil remain in darkness and don't bring it into the light. And yet this

is part of the challenge. A time of waiting and watching time of being vigilant, and actually fighting and realizing that part of that fight is simply, imagine this part of that fight is simply bringing what is dark into the light. That's where we start today. And that's one of the things for us right now we can start today. Is what is in my own heart that is in shadow? What's in my own heart that is in darkness? Here you are.

If you've been baptized as a Christian, if you've been confirmed by the power of the Holy Spirit, there's God's done a miracle in you and that he is victory, right? You are part of the kingdom. You've been brought into the body of Christ. So you're holy. The Holy Spirit dwells in you and at the same time, if you're like me, you're broken. If you're like me, there's part of your life, there's part of your heart that remains in shadow. And so, just like the church, just like Christ's kingdom on earth, there is holiness and there is brokenness. And one of the first things we need to do in this time of waiting and watching is bring

what's broken to the Lord to be healed, to bring what is in shadow into the light, to bring what is in darkness to be seen. And so that's what we do today and we do every day. That takes a lot of guts though. Takes a lot of courage. It takes a lot of grace. And so please pray for each other that we have that grace. Please pray for me.

And I'm praying for you. Man, not a great day. I'm a great invitation to know that you're made holy, even though we remain broken. But these are the last days, these are the last days, these are the last age, the last final age of purification and of glorification for the Lord. So I'm praying for you, please pray for me, my name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.