The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)

BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Date: December 19, 2025
Host: Fr. Mike Schmitz
Guest: Jeff Cavins

Episode Overview

This bonus episode celebrates the launch of "The Bible in a Year" podcast, discussing its unique approach to making Scripture accessible and transformative for Catholics. Fr. Mike Schmitz and renowned Catholic Bible scholar Jeff Cavins—creator of The Great Adventure Bible Timeline—share their personal encounters with Scripture, the vision behind the podcast, and how they hope to ignite a renewal of biblical literacy, community, and rootedness in daily Catholic life.

Main Themes & Purpose

• Introducing the Podcast: Fr. Mike and Jeff Cavins detail how the "Bible in a Year" podcast will guide listeners through the entire Bible using The Great Adventure Bible Timeline, reading Scripture in narrative, chronological order, and integrating context and reflection for a Catholic audience.
• Personal Testimonies: Both share formative stories of how Scripture became central in their lives and families.
• Making the Bible Accessible: The episode focuses on breaking down barriers for Catholics who feel overwhelmed or uncertain about engaging deeply with the Bible.
• Building Community: Emphasis on forming a worldwide, supportive community around God’s Word.
• Encouragement and Invitation: Listeners are invited not just to read, but to live out the biblical story in their own lives.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power of The Great Adventure Bible Timeline

• Fr. Mike expresses deep gratitude for Cavins’ Bible Timeline, calling it “the most significant tool…I’ve ever used that has gotten me more deeply into the Bible” (00:52).
• Timeline breaks Scripture into manageable, narrative “periods,” making the story of salvation history clear, and is the foundation for the podcast’s reading plan.

“The whole idea behind the podcast is like, okay, no, you just get to let the Word of God, like, kind of wash over you in a different way.”
—Fr. Mike (03:34)

2. Why Catholics Need the Whole Story, Not Just Stories

• Many Catholics feel daunted or hesitant about reading Scripture out of fear of “getting it wrong” or not knowing where to start.
• Early encounters, like picture Bibles given at First Communion, can plant seeds ("It gets in my bones" — Fr. Mike, 12:52).
• Repetition and regular exposure shape not only knowledge, but identity and worldview.

“We want all Catholics...to be able to say, ‘This is accessible to me and I know it, it gets in my bones.’”
— Fr. Mike (12:48)

3. Personal Legacies and Encounters with God’s Word

• Cavins recounts receiving a Bible at his confirmation but not knowing how to read it—a relatable experience for many Catholics (13:10).
• Family witnesses (grandparents, in-laws) leave “legacies” of faith by their marked-up Bibles and personal stories (15:50, 16:55).
• Both hosts keep Bibles filled with personal notes and milestones, underlining the living, relational aspect of Scripture.

“The Bible left me a legacy. You know, it left the word legacy. Traces of…”
— Jeff Cavins (16:50)

4. Transformative Power of Scripture

• Listening or reading Scripture regularly is less about acquiring facts and more about letting God reshape vision, prayer, and identity (07:15—Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s story).
• In times of crisis (“pandemic times, living through just trying to be with others in the midst of their brokenness...”), God’s word grounds and guides.

“It wasn’t just like, I got a nugget of truth...it was more like, again, my lens or the way I was looking at the world...was being shaped. It was being, like, fashioned.”
— Fr. Mike (06:52)

5. How the Podcast and Reading Plan Works

• The podcast follows 14 narrative books that tell the continuous story, with the other 59 books “sprinkled in” contextually (22:00–24:14).
  • 12 Color-Coded Periods: Used to structure reading and understanding.
  • Messianic Checkpoints: Every three months, a Gospel is read in its entirety within one week (“take in an entire Gospel in a week and just allow it to...that was the story” — Fr. Mike, 49:48).
• Daily episodes feature readings, short commentary, prayer, and sometimes context from Cavins.

“You’re going to take people through that entire journey...not just reading it like it is in the Bible, but you’re going to read it in chronological order so that they basically get the story.”
— Jeff Cavins (07:45)

6. Practical Tips for Engaging Scripture

• Mark your Bible—underline, highlight, write dates and prayers to track your spiritual journey (39:00–48:00).
• Don’t worry about mistakes or keeping the Bible pristine; life and faith are messy and real.
• Use color-coding or even bullet journaling to make study personal and memorable.

“Your Bible becomes kind of a spiritual diary in a sense...you can see where you’ve been.”
— Jeff Cavins (40:23)

7. Building a Scripture-Centered Community

• Listeners are encouraged to share the podcast, discuss readings with friends, families, church staff, or online groups (42:00–45:00).
• Testimonies of how Scripture “breaks the ice” for deeper conversations—even just listening in the car can set a spiritual tone for the day or family life.

“There’s a community of people that comes out of this that’s willing and able to support each other in prayer and intercession and brotherhood and sisterhood.”
— Fr. Mike (30:27)

8. Purpose and Hopes for Listeners

• Vision: Letting God form how we see the world.
• Rootedness in Prayer: Growing in authentic, transforming prayer.
• Community: Supporting each other as disciples and doers—not just hearers—of the Word (28:30–31:30).
• Legacy: Hoping families, parishes, youth, and individuals become not just readers, but living parts of salvation history.

“My hope is that there will be thousands and thousands of people who will go beyond reading and listening, and they’ll do it, and we’ll see a movement...I want to enter this story.”
— Jeff Cavins (32:10)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The Word of God...gets to my heart more quickly when it goes through my ears.”
  — Fr. Mike (27:35)

• “Jesus said, ‘Do not be afraid’...If you follow Jesus as a disciple, you are going to go and meet people you never thought you would meet...It has to do with passion and relationship.”
  — Jeff Cavins (31:17)

• “It’s not just data, it’s transformation. And if it gets into your heart, prepare yourself. You’re going to get changed.”
  — Jeff Cavins (53:23)

• “The more...we expose ourselves to God’s Word, the more and more we know: Oh, this is the voice of God vs. ...the voice of a counterfeit or the thief, the liar.”
  — Fr. Mike (34:00)

Important Timestamps

• 00:52–03:34 — Introduction & Fr. Mike’s gratitude to Jeff Cavins for The Great Adventure Bible Timeline.
• 07:15–07:42 — The story of St. Ignatius and the power of forming worldview.
• 15:50–16:50 — Legacy of faith: family members and personal Bibles.
• 22:00–24:14 — How the reading plan is structured: “Not just the stories, but the story.”
• 39:00–41:26 — Writing in your Bible as spiritual journaling; importance of keeping a tangible record.
• 49:48–51:36 — “Messianic Checkpoints” and reading the Gospels throughout the year.
• 53:23 — The Word is not just information—it is transformation.

Closing & Call to Action

• How to Participate:

  • Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform (“Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz”)
  • Text “CatholicBible” (no spaces) to 33-777 for updates.
  • Download the reading plan at ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear

• Prayer for Listeners:

  • Fr. Mike and Jeff conclude by praying for all future listeners—that they may be transformed, rooted in God’s Word, and participate fully in God’s plan.

Tone & Language

The episode is inviting, upbeat, down-to-earth, and deeply reverent. Fr. Mike’s enthusiasm and humor make the invitation accessible, while Jeff Cavins balances with decades of wisdom and warmth. The conversation is both personal and practical, always returning to the hope that no matter your starting point, God’s Word is alive, accessible, and ready to transform you.

For those who haven’t listened, this episode lays the foundation for an accessible, community-driven journey through the whole of salvation history, blending personal testimony, clear practical steps, and a passionate call to let Scripture come alive in everyday Catholic life.