Podcast Summary: The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)

Episode: Day 39 — The Father Almighty (2026)

Date: February 8, 2026
Host: Fr. Mike Schmitz
Covered Catechism Paragraphs: 268-278

Episode Overview

In this episode, Fr. Mike Schmitz explores what it means to confess that God is “the Father Almighty.” Through examining Catechism paragraphs 268–278, he unpacks the Catholic teaching on God’s omnipotence—not simply as a title, but as a living reality that shapes how we view power, love, suffering, and our own trust in God. The episode focuses on three core aspects of God’s almightiness: its universality, its loving nature, and its mystery, especially in the face of evil and suffering.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Meaning of “God Almighty”: Omnipotence Explained

• God can do whatever He wills; nothing is impossible for Him.
  • “The fact that God is almighty means that he can do anything. He can do whatever he wills. And nothing is impossible with God who disposes his works according to his will.” (02:09)
  • The Catechism grounds this in scriptural language, referencing titles like “the Mighty One of Jacob, the Lord of Hosts,” and asserting that God is the Lord of history.

2. Simplicity of God: No Parts, No Arbitrary Power

• God’s attributes are identical:
  • Fr. Mike references St. Thomas Aquinas: “In God, power, essence, will, intellect, wisdom and justice are all identical. Nothing therefore can be in God's power which could not be in his just will or his wise intellect.” (03:30)
  • God's power is never arbitrary or separate from His goodness, justice, or wisdom.
• God is “being” itself, not a being among others:
  • “He's not a kind of being, he's not a certain type of being. God is being itself. He's the ground, the foundation… of all being.” (04:06)

3. The Three Dimensions of God's Omnipotence

• Universal:
  • “God’s power is universal. What that mean?… God created everything. He rules everything. He can do everything.” (20:37)
  • There can be no rival “god” because God’s being is infinite and fundamental.
• Loving:
  • “God reveals his fatherly omnipotence by the way he takes care of our needs, by the filial adoption that he gives us… by his infinite mercy, for he displays his power at its height by freely forgiving sins.” (22:40)
  • God’s power is exercised as a Father—for the good and mercy of His children.
• Mysterious:
  • God’s power is often hidden, especially in suffering.
    • “Faith in God the Father Almighty can be put to the test by the experience of evil and suffering. God can sometimes seem to be absent and incapable of stopping evil.” (27:35)
  • God’s answer is paradoxical: “In the most mysterious way, God the Father has revealed his almighty power in the voluntary humiliation and resurrection of his Son, by which he conquered evil.” (28:13)

4. Challenging the “Limits” of Omnipotence

• Can God make a “square circle”?
  • Fr. Mike tackles a classic paradox: “God can do everything. But here's what God can't do. God can't contradict reason… Power can’t contradict truth.” (22:07)
  • “The square circle is a circle that's not a circle. That is to say, it is nothing whatsoever… God will not do nothing. He can do all things, but he can't do nothing.” (23:09)
  • God’s inability to do the logically impossible is not a limit but flows from His very nature as truth and reason itself.

5. Faith in God’s Power in Suffering and Evil

• True power is revealed in Christ Crucified:
  • “God’s power is made manifest not by squashing evil… but by entering into evil, by allowing suffering to overwhelm him on the cross through which he conquers evil.” (28:53)
  • Only faith can see God’s power in apparent powerlessness.
• The Example of Mary:
  • “The Virgin Mary is the supreme model of this faith, for she believed that nothing will be impossible with God.” (29:47)
• Implications for Trust:
  • “Nothing is more apt to confirm our faith and hope than holding it fixed in our minds that nothing is impossible with God.” (30:15, quoting the Roman Catechism)

6. Practical Faith: If We Believe This…

• “Once our reason has grasped the idea of God's almighty power, it will easily and without any hesitation admit everything that the Creed will afterwards propose for us to believe, even if they be great and marvelous things far above the ordinary laws of nature.” (30:30, quoting the Catechism)
• The ultimate effect: profound trust in God, both in doctrine (what we believe) and in life (how we pray and endure hardship).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On God’s Nature and Simplicity:
  “God doesn’t have parts… God's power is a part of his very existence, and his very will is part of his very existence. And his intellect is part of his existence. All one. It's all identical, as Thomas Aquinas had said.” (05:12)

• On Omnipotence and Reason:
  “God can do everything. But here's what God can't do. God can't contradict reason because… in God, power, essence, will, intellect, wisdom and justice are all identical… that's not a limitation on God's power.” (22:07)

• On the Mystery of Divine Power:
  “God’s power is made manifest not by squashing evil… but by entering into evil, by allowing suffering to overwhelm him on the cross through which he conquers evil.” (28:53)

• On Trust:
  “Once we come to this place of profession… I know that God is almighty, and I know that God is Father… then there's nothing that we think he can't do… We know that we can trust him because we know that he can do all that he says.” (10:00)

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:09 — What “almighty” means; God’s omnipotence
• 03:30 — Thomas Aquinas on God’s attributes
• 04:06 — “God is being itself” explained
• 20:37 — Threefold aspects: universal, loving, mysterious
• 22:07 — Can God make a “square circle”?
• 27:35 — The challenge of evil and suffering
• 28:13 — Divine power in Christ’s Passion
• 29:47 — Mary as a model of faith
• 30:15 — The Roman Catechism on trust
• 30:30 — If we believe God is almighty, we can believe the rest of the Creed

Concluding Reflections

Fr. Mike closes by inviting listeners to let God’s loving, merciful power into their lives, to accept that divine omnipotence is always exercised with perfect wisdom and for our good—even when it is shrouded in mystery. The episode encourages real faith: not simply to confess God is “almighty” as an abstract truth but to trust Him in real, often difficult life situations.

Final Challenge:
Will you let God’s mercy come to meet you? Will you let that loving power come into your life? And will you believe, just like all the great saints and all the characters in scripture, that nothing will be impossible for God? (32:10)

For tomorrow: The discussion will move to God as Creator—how the Almighty God creates heaven and earth.