Day 159: When the Liturgy Is Celebrated (2025) - The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)

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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 159. We are reading paragraphs 1163 to 1167. As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes a foundations of faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your own Catechism in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com ciy and lastly, you can click Follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Today is day 159. As I said, we're reading paragraphs 1163 to 1167. The question, remember, we're asking the questions. We went all the way back to the very beginning and asked those four questions. We who celebrates the liturgy? How is the liturgy celebrated? When is the liturgy celebrated? And where is the liturgy celebrated today? Question is when? When is the liturgy celebrated? And so we're looking at today, the liturgical seasons as well as the Lord's Day. So two kind of concepts. First is the liturgical seasons. That goes all the way back to Mosaic Law, right? It goes all the way back to the beginnings of the Bible. It goes all the way back to the Lord's Day. And then we actually gonna talk about the Lord's Day. In fact, you probably know this already. Is that Sabbath, right? That that day of rest. Sabbath is Saturday. And yet we celebrate the Mass. We celebrate the Lord's Day on Sunday. So how did that transformation happen and why do we do that? Well, we do it spoiler. Because of the resurrection, that's why. And that's that's it says this the Lord's Day, the day of the Resurrection, the day of Christians is our day. And so as we launch into this when is the liturgy celebrated? We have liturgical seasons. We have the Lord's Day. Tomorrow we'll talk about the whole liturgical year. But right now we're concerned with today. And that's the big word. The big word of today is actually just simply that the big word of the day is today. When do we celebrate the Eucharist Today. When do we come before the Lord? Today. And when do we have the chance to say yes to Jesus? Well, the answer is today. And so let's pray right now. Father in heaven, you have given us this day. You have given us this day to say yes to you. You've given us this day to say yes to your mercy. You've given us this day to say yes to your courage. You've given us this day to say yes to hope. And we ask you to please, in this moment, in wherever we are at right now, we ask you please open up our hearts, open up our minds, so that we don't delay anymore. So we don't say later, we don't say tomorrow, but we simply say yes, today. Now, Lord, now is the time. This day is the day. Help us to give you our whole yes, our whole heart, our whole selves, right now, in this moment. Today we make this prayer in Jesus name. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is day 159. We're reading paragraphs 1163 to 1167. When is the liturgy celebrated? Liturgical Seasons Holy Mother Church believes that she should celebrate the saving work of her Divine Spouse in a sacred commemoration on certain days throughout the course of the year. Once each week, on the day which she has called the Lord's Day, she keeps the memory of the Lord's resurrection. She also celebrates it once every year, together with his blessed Passion at Easter, that most solemn of all feasts. In the course of the year, moreover, she unfolds the whole mystery of Christ, thus recalling the mysteries of the redemption, she opens up to the faithful the riches of her Lord's powers and merits, so that these are in some way made present. In every age the faithful lay hold of them and are filled with saving grace. From the time of the Mosaic Law, the people of God have observed fixed feasts beginning with Passover, to commemorate the astonishing actions of the Savior God to give him thanks for them, to perpetuate their remembrance, and to teach new generations to conform their conduct to them in the age of the Church. Between the Passover of Christ, already accomplished once for all, and its consummation in the Kingdom of God, the liturgy celebrated on fixed days bears the imprint of the newness of the mystery of Christ. When the Church celebrates the mystery of Christ, there is a word that marks her today, a word echoing the prayer her Lord taught her and the call of the Holy Spirit. This today of the living God which man is called to Enter is the hour of Jesus Passover, which reaches across and underlies all history. As Saint Hippolytus wrote, life extends over all beings and fills them with unlimited light. The orient of orients pervades the universe. And he who was before the day star and before the heavenly bodies, immortal and vast, the great Christ shines over all beings more brightly than the sun. Therefore a day of long eternal light is ushered in for us who believe in Him, a day which is never blotted out, the mystical Passover, the Lord's Day. By a tradition handed down from the apostles, which took its origin from the very day of Christ's resurrection, the Church celebrates the Paschal mystery every seventh day. Which day is appropriately called the Lord's Day or Sunday? The day of Christ's resurrection is both the first day of the week, the memorial of the first day of creation and and the eighth day, on which Christ, after his rest on the great Sabbath, inaugurates the day that the Lord has made, the day that knows no evening. The Lord's Supper is its center, for there the whole community of the faithful encounters the risen Lord, who invites them to his banquet. As St. Jerome wrote, the Lord's Day, the Day of Resurrection, the day of Christians, is our day. It is called the Lord's Day because on it the Lord rose victorious to the Father. If pagans call it the Day of the sun, we willingly agree. For today the light of the world is raised. Today is revealed, the sun of justice, with healing in his rays. Sunday is the preeminent day for the liturgical assembly, when the faithful gather to listen to the word of God and take part in the Eucharist, thus calling to mind the passion, resurrection and glory of the Lord Jesus and giving thanks to God who has begotten them again by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead unto a living hope. The Syriac office of Antioch states, when we ponder, O Christ, the marvels accomplished on this day, the Sunday of your holy resurrection we Blessed is Sunday, for on it began creation, the world's salvation, the renewal of the human race. On Sunday, heaven and earth rejoiced and the whole universe was filled with light. Blessed is Sunday, for on it were opened the gates of paradise, so that Adam and all the exiles might Might enter it without fear. Right. So there we have it, day 159. But paragraphs 1163 to 1167, we have liturgical seasons and the Lord's Day. Let's highlight a couple things. One is think about seasons, just seasons in general, how they're the Same, but they're always different. Right? There's this reality. I live at a certain latitude where I have four distinct seasons, even if one of them called winter, lasts for quite a significant amount of time. But there's a difference between summer and winter, fall and winter and spring, and they're the same every time. You know this when it comes to, like, school, the school year or academic year, where it's always the same, but it's always different. It's a way to mark the passage of time, and yet it's. Again, it's cyclical in that sense that, okay, here comes the new school year again. It's the same thing that it was last time, but it's always something different. And that is true when it comes to liturgical seasons as well. So the church is. Has baked into the year, not only every week, every Sunday, we celebrate the Lord's resurrection. We talked about that with the Lord's Day. But every year, at least once, we celebrate Easter in a really, really significant way. So we have those seasons, you know, like Lent, that leads into Easter, then the Easter season, then we have ordinary time, we have the season of Advent that leads into the Christmas season. And all of these things are cyclical in a way that. What do they do? Well, a couple things that they do. One of the things that. It opens up the riches of the Lord's powers and merits. Right? We are represented with what God has done every time we encounter the Liturgy of Christ, every time we encounter the sacraments. But in addition to that, we get to commemorate the astonishing acts of our Savior. God. Right? We get to pause and give thanks. How often do you and I forget to give thanks? It's just one of those things. Well, here comes the sun. It came up today, and, yeah, that's just what happens. It's just a new day as opposed to being reminded. Okay, wait, stop. Can you thank God yet today? Have I thanked God yet today for what he's done? Not just in giving us creation, but giving us salvation? So the church pauses in the liturgical season and says, okay, now it's a moment to give thanks, another time to perpetuate their remembrance. Right? We. We have to pause and realize, okay, let's go back to this. Let's represent what God has done to a new generation. And that's a whole other thing, too, to teach new generations to conform their conduct to the Lord and to what he has done. And this is. This is just so important for all of us because why? Because we need to be reminded. We are. We talked about this during the Bible, in a year, we are people who forget. Our brains are incredible, but our brains also have a bunch of holes in them. In that sense, that man, I can hear something a dozen times, and still I need to be reminded of it. And God can do so many incredible things in your life and in my life. And, you know, a week later, we forget, say, well, what did you do? What have you done today? And that's why I love this word. The whole theme of the day is that word today. In paragraph 1165, it says this. When the church celebrates the mystery of Christ, there is a word that marks her prayer. That word is today. And it is a word echoing the prayer our Lord taught us and the call of the Holy Spirit. He says this today of the living God, which man is called to enter is the hour of Jesus Passover, which reaches across and underlies all history. This is so important for us. How many times do you and I live in the past or we live in the future? We either long for the past or we live. We also can live in sorrow over the past, but we still live in the past. We either look back fondly and long for that oh, glory days, or we look back with a sad heart, but we're still living there. We're trapped back in the past. Either trapped in the past wanting to relive it, or trapped in the past with regret, or we are looking to the future, either looking to the future with anticipation or looking to the future with dread. I mean, how many times, like, okay, this weekend, here comes the big thing. Whatever that thing is, that could be the thing I'm looking forward to, or it could be the thing that I'm dreading. And yet, what has God given us? He's given us today. We can't go back and change the past. That's impossible. I think Bill and Ted were working on it, but other than that, it's impossible to go back and change the past. We can't go into the future. All we're given to work with is now. All we're given is today. And so here is the liturgical season, which reminds us of this fact, reminds us that, yes, there's, you know, there's a feast coming up. That's wonderful. But what do I do today? There's something that's. It's on its way, you know, something challenging or something that I get to anticipate and look forward to. That's great. But what do I do today? Even when it comes to our sins, this is so important for all of us. I can look back again and with longing for the glory days, or longing for simpler time, or longing for when would maybe be more innocent, or when things were still good. But I can also look back and wish that things were different. I can also look back and say, I wish I hadn't done that. I wish that hadn't been done to me. And we can look back and be trapped there. And the word that the church gives to us is, okay, that's all real. But if you surrender that past to the Lord, if you surrender your past to the Lord, say, God, I can't do anything about this again. It's impossible to go back and change anything. But what I can do is I can say right now, today, okay, God, I give you access to my past. You get to be the Lord, even of my history. You get to have dominion over what I can't even control. I can't even do anything other than remember, you have dominion over my past. But we can only give God dominion over our past or over our future today. And that's why today is so critical. Last little note here. Church in 1166 and 1167 highlights the Lord's Day. Why do we as Catholics, as Christians, celebrate the Lord's Day, Sunday as opposed to Saturday? Now, the cynical person, in fact, there's a lot of atheists who might say, or people who are critical of Christianity would say, well, you know, actually your, your Sunday comes from a pagan tradition, you know, the Day of the Sun. It's a, you know, Roman kind of a situation. And you have St. Jerome who says, yeah, yet neat. That the pagans call it, call Sunday the Day of the Sun. We willingly agree, for today the light of the world is raised, today is revealed, the Son of Justice with healing in his rays. And so it's not as if those early Christians didn't realize that there were some pagan holidays or there were some pagan names of days that kind of coincided with what the Christians started calling them or Christians started doing on those days. Of course, of course, they all knew this. So St. Jerome was like, yeah, isn't that great? It's fitting. We willingly agree that pagans call this day the Day of the Sun. This is the day the Son of Justice arose with healing and his rays. Why do we celebrate the Lord's Day on Sunday? Because that is the day the Lord rose from the dead. And so he had his Sabbath, right, His Sabbath rest, that sleep of death on that Saturday. And he rose from the dead on Sunday. And that is the day then that's the day that all Christians look to celebrate the fact that not only has the Lord God conquered death, but he's also given us life. And so we have the ability to then live without fear when not in the past, not in the future, but today. We have the ability to live without fear today because of what Jesus Christ has done on Sunday. So that's what we talked about today. You already got it. That's that it. Here we are, day 159 tomorrow, day 160. We're talking about the liturgical year. It's a little bit more precise, but it's going be fun. I. I look forward to it. Until then, I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.

Summary of "Day 159: When the Liturgy Is Celebrated" from The Catechism in a Year Podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz

Released on June 8, 2025

Introduction

In episode Day 159 of Ascension’s The Catechism in a Year podcast, Fr. Mike Schmitz delves into the topic of “When the Liturgy Is Celebrated,” covering paragraphs 1163 to 1167 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This episode explores the significance of liturgical seasons and the designation of the Lord's Day, providing listeners with a deeper understanding of the Catholic liturgical calendar and its role in contemporary faith practice.

Liturgical Seasons: A Cyclical Journey Through Faith

Fr. Mike begins by addressing the concept of liturgical seasons, drawing parallels to the natural seasons that mark the passage of time. He emphasizes the cyclical nature of these liturgical periods, much like the recurring patterns in nature:

“Think about seasons, just seasons in general, how they're the same, but they're always different... It’s a way to mark the passage of time, and yet it’s cyclical in that sense.” ([06:30])

He explains that the Church has integrated these seasons into the liturgical year to commemorate and celebrate the saving works of Christ. Each season serves as a sacred commemoration, unfolding the mysteries of Christ and allowing the faithful to encounter God's grace anew.

Key Points:

Fixed Feasts: Rooted in the Mosaic Law, these feasts commemorate significant events in salvation history, such as Passover and Easter.
Newness of the Mystery of Christ: Liturgical celebrations highlight the ongoing relevance and freshness of Christ’s redemptive acts.
Teaching and Remembrance: The liturgical seasons serve to teach new generations about the faith and to encourage continuous reflection and gratitude.

The Lord's Day: From Sabbath to Sunday

Transitioning to the Lord's Day, Fr. Mike discusses the historical and theological reasons for celebrating the liturgy on Sunday instead of the traditional Jewish Sabbath on Saturday. He attributes this transformation to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which necessitated a new day of worship:

“We celebrate the Lord's Day on Sunday. Why do we do that? Well, we do it because of the resurrection.” ([09:15])

He further elaborates on the significance of Sunday, highlighting its role as both the first day of the week and the day of resurrection. This dual significance underscores Sunday as a day of new creation and redemption, distinct from the Jewish Sabbath.

Key Points:

Historical Shift: Early Christians began observing Sunday to honor Christ’s Resurrection.
Theological Significance: Sunday represents the victorious resurrection and the new life it brings, distinguishing it from the Day of the Sun in pagan traditions.
Affirmation by St. Jerome: Fr. Mike cites St. Jerome to emphasize that while Sunday coincides with pagan traditions, its Christian meaning supersedes any earlier associations:

“We willingly agree that pagans call this day the Day of the Sun. This is the day the Son of Justice arose with healing and his rays.” ([22:45])

Living in the Present: Embracing “Today”

A central theme of the episode is the concept of “today”, as highlighted in paragraph 1165 of the Catechism. Fr. Mike urges listeners to focus on the present moment rather than being anchored in the past or anxious about the future:

“The word that the church gives to us is, okay, that's all real. But if you surrender that past to the Lord... we can only give God dominion over our past or over our future today.” ([17:10])

He contrasts common human tendencies to dwell on past regrets or future uncertainties with the Christian call to live fully in the present, empowered by God's grace. This focus on "today" aligns with the liturgical emphasis on current participation in the mysteries of faith.

Key Points:

Avoiding Past and Future Traps: Emphasizes the importance of not being trapped in nostalgia, regret, or anxiety.
Surrendering to God: Encourages trusting God with both past and future, allowing believers to live freely in the present.
Practical Application: Relates the theological concept to everyday life, reminding listeners to express gratitude and embrace God's mercy today.

Conclusion: The Significance of Sunday in Christian Life

Fr. Mike wraps up the episode by reiterating the profound importance of Sunday as the Lord's Day. He articulates how Sunday embodies the victory over death and offers Christians the ability to live without fear, anchored in the resurrection:

“We have the ability to live without fear today because of what Jesus Christ has done on Sunday.” ([27:30])

He underscores that the celebration of Sunday is not merely a ritual but a living testament to Christ’s enduring influence and the hope it brings to believers.

Key Points:

Victory and Hope: Sunday signifies Christ’s triumph and offers a foundation of hope and courage.
Liturgical Assembly: Highlights the centrality of communal worship and Eucharistic celebration in honoring the resurrection.
Living Faith: Encourages an active and present-focused faith, empowered by the liturgical traditions.

Closing Thoughts

Throughout Day 159, Fr. Mike Schmitz provides an insightful exploration of when the liturgy is celebrated, intertwining historical context with practical faith applications. By emphasizing the cyclical nature of liturgical seasons and the profound significance of the Lord's Day, he invites listeners to deepen their understanding and fully engage with their Catholic faith in the present moment.

Listeners are left with a reinforced appreciation for the liturgical calendar's role in shaping their spiritual lives and a call to embrace each day as an opportunity to live out their faith authentically.

Notable Quotes:

“When the church celebrates the mystery of Christ, there is a word that marks her prayer. That word is today.” ([16:50])
“Sunday is the preeminent day for the liturgical assembly, when the faithful gather to listen to the word of God and take part in the Eucharist.” ([25:20])
“If pagans call it the Day of the Sun, we willingly agree. For today the light of the world is raised.” ([23:10])

This episode offers a profound reflection on the timing and significance of the liturgy, encouraging Catholics to embrace the present and celebrate the resurrection with renewed understanding and devotion.