Day 366: Special Leap Year Message

Tue Dec 31 2024

In this bonus leap year episode, Fr. Mike reflects on the transformative journey of the past 365 days and invites us to take the next step in our faith journey. He emphasizes the importance of remembering God daily and encourages us to strengthen our faith by learning to pray deeply.

Summary

Summary of "The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)"

Podcast Information:

Title: The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Host/Author: Ascension
Episode: Day 366: Special Leap Year Message
Release Date: December 31, 2024

Introduction

In the special leap year episode of The Catechism in a Year podcast, Fr. Mike Schmitz reflects on the journey of completing the Catechism of the Catholic Church over the past 365 days. This final message serves as both a celebration of the completed year and an encouragement for continued spiritual growth.

Reflection on the Year

Fr. Schmitz begins by acknowledging the unique opportunity presented by a leap year, granting listeners an additional day beyond the planned 365 episodes. He appreciates this "bonus day," emphasizing gratitude for every extra moment to deepen one's faith.

"If you are listening to this during a leap year, you are in luck because you've been blessed with one extra day. It's a bonus day, and we thank the Lord for every single bonus day."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [00:25]

He reminisces about the podcast's inception, noting the initial challenges in finding the right format to convey the rich content of the Catechism effectively.

The Challenge of Engaging Hearts

Fr. Schmitz discusses the difficulty of not just transferring information but also touching the hearts of listeners. In the early days, he grappled with balancing comprehensive teachings with heartfelt engagement.

"Here is an information transfer. I know there's a lot of information, but how do we do this in such a way that hearts are touched."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [00:25]

Eventually, he discovered that consistently reminding listeners to "remember God" became the cornerstone of the podcast, ensuring that the teachings resonated deeply on a personal level.

Importance of Remembering God

The recurring theme of "remember God" is highlighted as the essential takeaway from the year's lessons. Fr. Schmitz emphasizes that amidst busy lives, it's easy to forget the presence and importance of God.

"Remember God. If there's any two words that I can think of that really helped shape this last year for the catechism is remember God."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [00:25]

He compares the faithful to "leaky buckets," constantly needing to refill with divine knowledge and grace to prevent spiritual emptiness. The daily reminders through the Catechism serve as this necessary refilling.

Transformation through the Catechism

Fr. Schmitz shares his personal transformation experienced through the catechism, particularly in enhancing his prayer life. He notes how understanding the Catechism has deepened his connection with the Lord's Prayer, making his prayers more meaningful and reflective.

"Going through the catechism and reading, here's what we can think of, here's what we can be entering into when we pray the Lord's Prayer. It just has really transformed my heart, really transformed my prayer."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [00:25]

He encourages listeners to recognize that the journey doesn't have to end with the podcast. Continual engagement with Scripture, the Catechism, or other devotional practices can further strengthen one's faith.

Invitation to Continue Growing Spiritually

As the year concludes, Fr. Schmitz invites listeners to persist in their spiritual journey. Whether it's revisiting the Bible, continuing with the Catechism, or adopting new practices like the Rosary, he urges believers to keep nurturing their relationship with God.

"This doesn't have to be the last day. Just a reminder. It doesn't have to be the last day."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [00:25]

He underscores the importance of prayer in every season of life, likening it to building a house on solid rock. This foundation ensures resilience against life's inevitable storms.

"The person who knows how to pray in every season of life will never be alone and will be able to weather any storm."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [00:25]

Concluding Remarks

Fr. Schmitz closes the episode with heartfelt gratitude for the opportunity to guide listeners through the Catechism. He pledges to continue praying for his audience and requests their prayers in return. His final thoughts serve as both a conclusion to the year's journey and an affirmation of the ongoing nature of faith.

"Every single day I have been praying for you. And I'll tell you this, every single day I, I will continue praying for you."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [00:25]

He extends a warm farewell, expressing anticipation for future encounters and blessings for his listeners.

"I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [00:25]

Key Takeaways:

Consistent Remembrance: The importance of daily reminders to keep God at the forefront of one's life.
Heartfelt Engagement: Balancing doctrinal teaching with personal spiritual growth.
Continual Growth: Encouragement to persist in faith practices beyond the podcast.
Prayer as Foundation: Establishing prayer as a resilient foundation for navigating life's challenges.

This special episode serves as both a reflection on a year-long spiritual journey and a call to continue nurturing one's relationship with God through ongoing faith practices.

Transcript

A (0:05)

Hi, my name is Fr. 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 Years, 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.

B (0:25)

Today is day 366. If you are listening to this during a leap year, you are in luck because you've been blessed with one extra day. You're like, I thought I was done. Well, you would be done, because, you know, today's day 366, we have to realize that the way the Gregorian calendar works, we get this extra day. It's a bonus day, and we thank the Lord for every single bonus day. You know, it's been a little bit of time since the Catechism in the year was recorded, the podcast was recorded, and since then, I've seen this podcast change some lives in just incredible ways. And for first of all, myself and I want to note on this day, day 366, just a couple quick notes. One is how things started. Another is how things ended. So if you can recall 366 days ago, when we started day one of the Catechism in a Year podcast, I don't know, you know, it was a different format. It is a different format from the Bible in a Year. And for me personally, it was one of those kind of situations where I'm like, it took me a bit of time to get into the groove. And it was one of those situations where if you ever listened to the Bible, you know that how we did it was. Here's the. The opening introduction. Here's kind of an overview of what we're going to cover. And then, like, launching in, and afterwards was a prayer, and after that was the commentary, essentially. And then, of course, for the Catechism, what you've been doing for the last 365 days has been slightly different. And one of the things that I found was so kind of challenging was like, okay, how on the. Especially in these first days, the first 21 days of the Catechism, it was a situation where I was just like, I don't. I know we're meant to be touching heads, right? We've talked about this so many times. Here is an information transfer. I know there's a lot of information, but how do we do this in such a way that hearts are touched. And it seemed to me that one of the things I discovered personally of going through the catechism in a year, from the beginning, was after I kind of settled in and was like, okay, here's how we do this. It was a matter of every single day having some truth about God himself or some truth about salvation, or some truth about. About God's grace, or some truth about merit, or some truth about the commandments, or, you know, the morality that God desires us to live so we can have freedom. All of those things. It just seemed like for me personally, every single day of having this touch point, remember God. And that was the thing is remember God. If there's any two words that I can think of that really helped shape this last year for the catechism is remember God. Because I think so often God is the easiest one to forget. I mean, the most important being in the universe, outside of the universe, I guess the ground of all being, the source of all being, is in some ways the easiest to forget. We say, well, no, no, no, I know God's important. But then we just get busy. We realize that, oh, my goodness, I have not thought about God. I have not pondered the mystery of God in so long. No, for you getting today, 366, that's not been the case for a year. For a year now, at least, there's been a moment or a, you know, chunk of chunk of moments every single day where you've been able to stop and realize, okay, God is real. Here's the truth about who God is. Here's the truth about what God does. Here's truth about how God calls us to worship him, or how he calls us to pray to him, how he calls us to live in this life, that all of those just reminders. Remember God. That just keeps coming back again and again and so, so powerful for me to be able to be the one to read this, to be able to be the one to try to explain some of these things. Because there's something so powerful about simply remembering God. And if there's. If you've. Never done the Bible in a year, you would discover that one of the key injunctions of scripture is remember is to just remember, remember God. Because it is so easy to forget. I remember someone saying something along the lines of, we are leaky buckets. And that sense of, like, just, we constantly are leaking what we know to be the most important, what we know to be true, what we know to be the most valuable. We just leak those out so therefore, we have to be continually filled, or else pretty soon we'll be empty vessels. And yet, for the last 366 days, including today, you've been filling yourself up. So my invitation, of course, is to not stop. To not stop filling yourself up. One of the things I find is that every time I go through the Bible anywhere, every time I go through the catechism in here, there's always something new. You know this. I mean, we all know this, that there is so much unsaid than was said, like, in the sense of, like, the commentary, right? There's so much that I missed that was already there, that was declared, that was proclaimed. And so my invitation is, this doesn't have to be the last day. Just a reminder. It doesn't have to be the last day. Because how things ended in the catechism, not just with nugget Day, anticlimactic nugget day, 365 was the prayer. And I have to tell you that since I last recorded those reflections on the Lord's Prayer, I don't think that there is a. I don't say a day, but at least not a couple days, not a week that goes by where when I'm praying the Our Father, when I'm praying the Lord's Prayer, that I don't reflect on what was shared in those pages here in the catechism. And I think, this is crazy. I've been praying the Our Father every day, multiple times a day, probably of my life, as long as I've been able to speak. And yet, you know, going through the catechism and reading, here's what we can think of, here's what we can be entering into when we pray the Lord's Prayer. It just has really transformed my heart, really transformed my prayer. And I hope. I hope it's done the same thing for you. You know, one of the things that we realize is that there is a desire in every one of our hearts not just to know more about God, but to love God. Not just to talk about God, but to talk with God. And every one of us is made for prayer, because we're all made for relationship. And prayer is our relationship with God. And therefore, we're all called to take that next step. So again, it could be go through the Bible in a year again, it could be go through the catechism in a year again. Or it could be go through the Rosary in a year for the first time, the recognition of, okay, if God is calling me to pray, you know, of course God is always calling us to form our minds because we cannot love what we don't know. And so we always want to know more and more about God. At some point, though, we need to. At some point, we need to look up. At some point, we need to look up and say, okay, God, let me talk to you. I can talk to you about you, God. I can talk to you about me. I can talk to you about the stuff going on in my life or in other people's lives and in the world. But at some point, we have to look up from the page and talk to the Lord. And that's my invitation, is that on this day 366, to be able to say, okay, take everything that you've learned from prayer in pillar four here and bring it into your life. And one of the things I'm convinced of, and maybe I said this before, but one of the things I'm very convinced of is a person who learns how to pray and knows how to pray in every season of life will never be alone. The person who knows how to pray in every season of life and does it, will not only never be alone, but will be able to weather any storm. You know so many ways, my desire for my students here on campus is that when they leave here, that their faith doesn't fall by the wayside. My prayer, of course, for all of you in this catechism, in your community, is that day one, tomorrow, you don't. Your faith doesn't fall by the wayside. And one way to ensure that is to become men and women who know how to pray and choose to pray in every season, no matter what storms come against your life. You know Matthew, chapter seven, where Jesus says, the one who hears these words of mine and acts on them is like the person who builds their house on rock. The rains fell, the floods came, the winds blew and buffeted the house, but it did not collapse. It had been set solidly on rock. We know that whether we build our house on sand or on rock, the rains will fall, the floods will come, and the winds will blow and buffet the house. We know that. But to be able to set your house on the foundation of rock, the Bible, the catechism, and above all, prayer means that when those storms come, your house won't be collapsed, it won't be completely ruined, that your life will be in the Lord's hands even until the very, very end. So my invitation, of course, here is, what now? What do I do now? Look up and talk to the Lord. Whether that's by listening to scripture and talking to the Lord about that, listening to the catechism and talking to the Lord about that or listen to the rosary in a year and in the course of that program to learn more and more each and every day how to pray, how to talk to the Lord because the person who knows how to pray in this season will be able to pray in every season. Anyways, those are some of my thoughts here on day 366, this little bonus day. Not a nugget day but a bonus day. And please know as I said yesterday, it was an incredible, incredible gift to be able to journey with you on these365 now 366 days and every single day I have been praying for you. And I'll tell you this, every single day I, I will continue praying for you because I. Well I promised and so I'm going to do that. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.