Day 59: Summary of The Fall (2026) - The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)

Episode Summary:

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

Episode: Day 59: Summary of The Fall (2026)
Date: February 28, 2026
Theme: “Nugget Day”—A summary of the Church’s teaching on Original Sin and The Fall, focusing on Catechism paragraphs 413-421.

Overview:

On Day 59, Fr. Mike Schmitz provides a comprehensive, high-level summary—or “nuggets”—of everything covered about The Fall and Original Sin. He reviews the Church’s foundational teachings about humanity’s relationship with God, the entry of sin into the world, the reality of human brokenness, and, ultimately, the hope held out in Christ. The episode closes the Creed’s section on God the Father and prepares listeners to dive into “I believe in Jesus Christ” starting tomorrow.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Structure and Purpose of “Nugget Day”

Fr. Mike explains “Nugget Day" as a time to review and condense big ideas into concise summaries.
He reiterates the journey so far, emphasizing the importance of knowledge—not just as information, but as a means to grow in love and trust for God.
- “I want to know you better in order to love you better. I want to know you better in order to be able to trust you better and follow you more closely.” (03:20)
Today’s text (CCC 413-421) is described as an “incredible 50,000 foot overview” of the last week of catechism readings.

2. God Did Not Create Death

Wisdom 2:24 is highlighted to emphasize that “God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. It was through the devil’s envy that death entered the world.” (06:10)
Fr. Mike underscores the biblical and doctrinal teaching that God only creates good; evil and death are distortions, not creations.
- “God is love. So he cannot be envious, right? He cannot create evil... The only thing that comes off the sun is light and heat, because that’s all it is. Well, God is love. God is life. God is goodness itself.” (07:10)

3. The Fallen Angels and Their Permanent Choice

The devil and other demons are “fallen angels who have freely refused to serve God and his plan.” Their choice is definitive; according to the catechism, there’s no going back (06:50).
Fr. Mike uses a vivid analogy:
- “It’s the difference between a thief and a vandal… a thief wants to have what he steals, a vandal doesn’t want anyone to have it... The devil, in this strange, strange way, is both: he steals, kills, destroys, but also tries to vandalize.” (10:00)

4. Human Participation in the Fall

Drawing from Gaudium et Spes and the Catechism, Fr. Mike explains that Adam, “enticed by the evil one, abused his freedom… he lifted himself up against God and sought to attain his goal apart from him.” (07:45)
Original justice and holiness were lost not just for Adam and Eve, but for all humanity. This is the core of the doctrine of Original Sin.

5. The Nature and Transmission of Original Sin

Original Sin means that all of humanity now inherits a nature “wounded by that first sin and hence deprived of original holiness and justice.” (08:20)
“Original sin is transmitted with human nature by propagation, not by imitation,” citing the Council of Trent (08:40).
As a result, “human nature is weakened in its powers, subject to ignorance, suffering, and the domination of death, and inclined to sin. This inclination is called concupiscence.” (10:30)
- “Just because I want something doesn’t mean that it’s good for me, doesn’t mean that I should choose it. Just because I’ve always been a certain way doesn’t mean that that’s actually good… Every human being is good, but also every human being is broken.” (11:00)

6. Hope in Christ’s Victory

Despite original sin, the “victory Christ won over sin has given us greater blessings than those that sin has taken away from us” (12:30).
Fr. Mike references St. Paul, St. Leo the Great, and St. Thomas Aquinas:
- “Greater blessings, better blessings. The gifts that God gives because of sin are greater than the gifts that he gave without the sin.” (13:00)
- Romans 5:20: “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

7. The Ongoing Battle and Unending Hope

Fr. Mike draws attention to the battle every Christian faces: the world, the flesh, and the devil (09:30). He encourages perseverance and faith, even in periods of “distress.”
- “You might find yourself in a place of distress, but you will never find yourself abandoned.” (04:40)
Concludes with a summary from Gaudium et Spes (CCC 421): The world “has been established and kept in being by the Creator’s love, has fallen into slavery to sin, but has been set free by Christ, crucified and risen to break the power of the evil one.” (13:55)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“Just because I want something doesn’t mean that it’s good for me, doesn’t mean that I should choose it. Just because I’ve always been a certain way doesn’t mean that that’s actually good… Every human being is good, but also every human being is broken.”
— Fr. Mike Schmitz, (11:00)

“You might find yourself in a place of distress, but you will never find yourself abandoned.”
— Fr. Mike Schmitz, (04:40)

“Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”
— Quoting Romans 5:20, (13:20)

“The gifts that God gives because of sin are greater than the gifts that he gave without the sin.”
— Fr. Mike Schmitz, referencing Aquinas & Leo the Great (13:00)

Important Timestamps

00:05-03:00 — Introduction, “Nugget Day” explanation, episode context
03:20-04:45 — Purpose of knowledge: love, trust, and hope in life’s battles
06:10-07:10 — God did not make death; the devil’s envy in Wisdom 2:24
08:20-09:00 — How original sin is transmitted—“by propagation, not by imitation”
10:30-11:00 — Nature of concupiscence; struggle with human brokenness
12:30-13:20 — Christ’s victory brings blessings greater than humanity lost
13:55-14:30 — Gaudium et Spes and hope in redemption
14:30-end — Appreciation for community, encouragement for listeners

Tone and Language

Fr. Mike maintains an encouraging, relatable, and honest tone; he speaks directly to the listener’s experience and struggles.
The message is both pastoral (“We have hope, even in the battle”) and catechetical (clear explanation of doctrine).

Conclusion

Fr. Mike’s Day 59 episode draws together the threads of the Catechism’s teaching on The Fall, offering both a doctrinal summary and practical encouragement. The reality of sin, suffering, and brokenness is not the whole story; because of Christ, grace is always greater, and hope is real and present. Tomorrow, the podcast will pivot to consider the person of Jesus, marking a new phase in the year-long journey.

End of summary

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 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 throughout the our heavenly home. It is day 59. You guys were reading paragraphs 413 to 421. It is nugget day. Nugget Day is always a good day. And I'm not talking about chicken nuggets. I'm talking about catechism nuggets. And I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach. You can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Also, if you want to download your own Catechism in a Year reading plan, Please just visit ascensionpress.com ciy and lastly, you can click Follow or subscribe to your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. You guys, this is the last part of the section on the Father and on the original sin. It's the little Nugget day. Tomorrow we're going to talk about the Son and Man. I just. Hasn't it been incredible to be able to cover things like remember back when we talked about there is the theology of God in himself, right? That sense that we just get to say, okay, God is almighty. Remember that. That sense that the reality is we can get to know God as he is and also get to know God for what he does. Which is, I think, just incredible because both of those, you know, what he does also reveals to us who he is. But there's something about this that when I grow in knowledge of someone, I grow in my capacity to be able to love them, my ability to be able to love them the more I know them. And I think there's something about this time we've been able to journey together here on day 59, where it's just, okay, God, keep revealing things about yourself. Keep revealing yourself. Not just so I can have a collection of data, data points or information, but because I want to know you better in order to love you better. I want to know you better in order to be able to trust you better and follow you more closely. And so that's what we've been doing. Hopefully that's what it's been like for you. I know that, as I say almost every other day now, it can be slow going at times. But to realize the more and more we have an accurate view of who God is and what his plan is for our lives and also even the wounds that come against us, like the last few days talking about original sin and today talking about original sin, then it seems like this gives us hope for the present and hope for the future because, okay, God, I know that you're not going to abandon me. God, I know that, okay? The fact that it is a battle, okay, I'm not going to be surprised by that. This is life in which it is difficult and broken, but it is beautiful and worth living that yes, I find myself in a place of distress, but I never find myself abandoned. You might find yourself in a place of distress, but you will never find yourself abandoned today. In this, in brief, the Nuggets from 4:13 to 4:21, we're going to hear basically a summary of everything we've been talking about. That God didn't make death, that here's Satan, the other fallen angels, that they rebelled against God in a definitive way. Right? There's no going back. And they also, they want us to share in their brokenness. They want us to share, share in their rebellion. And yet, yes, even though God made us in complete goodness, original holiness, original justice, in a state of rectitude, the catechism says today, in that state of right relationship with God, we abused our freedom and rejected God. And that abuse led to taking away, losing original holiness, losing original justice, and losing some of those powers that God had given to us as part of our human nature. And yet we remain good now broken. And we hold therefore, that original sin is transmitted now by propagation, right? Original sin is transmitted through the propagation of the human species in human nature or human nature through the human species. And yet the victory that Christ has won over sin has given us greater blessings than those that sin has taken away from us. As we have hope. Even in the midst of original sin, even in the midst of our brokenness, we have hope. And that's what we're going to hear today. Again, paragraphs 4 13, 421 is a summary of almost everything we've been hearing for the last few days. And so it's almost like, oh wow, this is a 50,000 foot overview of what we've been diving into deeply for the last week or so. So let's get started. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we know that we can trust you. We know that you do not abandon us to to the domain of death. You did not abandon us to the power of the Evil One. We know that we can trust you. Even when we say God can you just take us out of this situation. You remove us from the battle. You don't. Instead, you do something more incredible. You enter into the battle. You didn't take us out of the fight. You enter into the fight. You didn't take us out of suffering. You enter into our suffering. Thank you for being here with us. Thank you for being here with us on this day. And we know that you will be with us every day until that great day when you will be all in all. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As I said, it's day 59. We're reading paragraphs 4, 13, 4 21. In brief, Nugget day. Here we go. In brief. The Book of Wisdom states, God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. It was through the devil's envy that death entered the world. Satan or the devil and the other demons are fallen angels who have freely refused to serve God and his plan. Their choice against God is definitive. They try to associate man in their revolt against God. Gaudi Mat? Spes states, although set by God in a state of rectitude, man enticed by the evil one abused his freedom. At the very start of history. He lifted himself up against God and sought to attain his goal apart from him. By his sin, Adam, as the first man, lost the original holiness and justice he had received from God, not only for himself, but for all human beings. Adam and Eve transmitted to their descendants, human nature wounded by their own first sin, and hence deprived of original holiness and justice. This deprivation is called original sin. As a result of original sin, human nature is weakened in its powers, subject to ignorance, suffering and the domination of death, and inclined to sin. This inclination is called concupiscence. Pope Paul VI we therefore hold with the Council of Trent that original sin is transmitted with human nature by propagation, not by imitation, and that it is proper to each the victory that Christ won over sin has given us greater blessings than those which sin has taken away from us. As St. Paul wrote to the where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. According to Gaudi? Mat? Spes, Christians believe the world has been established and kept in being by the Creator's love, has fallen into slavery to sin, but has been set free by Christ, crucified and risen to break the power of the evil one. All right, so there it is, nugget day today. Paragraphs 4, 13, 4, 21. I actually, if there's ever been an in brief right at the end of a section that has been more comprehensive, we have not had it yet, because this starts from the very beginning. God did not make death. He does not delight in the death of the living. You know, if you want to read an incredible, incredible book of the Bible, well, they're all pretty remarkable. But wisdom, the book of wisdom, is often overlooked by so many people. But there is. We get so much about this critical question of what happened. Does God not care? No, no, no. The book of wisdom makes it explicitly clear God did not make death. He does not rejoice or delight in the death of the living. How did it happen? Well, Wisdom, chapter two, verse 24, says it was through the devil's envy that death entered the world. And that is so remarkably important for every one of us to realize that God only. Only gives good, God only gives life. God is love. So he cannot be envious, right? He cannot create evil. And you think like, well, how is. How does. How does that. Well, because remember that image, that analogy of the sun? The only thing that comes off the sun is light and heat, because that's all it is. Well, God is love. God is life. God is goodness itself, Himself, he's being itself. And so death and evil and lies, they just. They can't come from God because those are all distortions, those are all privations. And yet here's back to the envy of the devil. They rejected the Lord. They rejected God in. In a definitive way, in a free and definitive way. So as we mentioned, the question before, do we pray for the evil one? We pray for the enemy. Do we pray for the devil? And the answer is essentially no, because their choice is definitive. There's no going back, as far as we know. So there's that. And yet here, now, they try to associate us human beings in their revolt against God. And so we recognize we have three enemies. The world, the flesh, and the devil. According to scripture, the world. Again, that broken world, the flesh, meaning our broken human nature. And again, this evil one who wants to get us to rebel against God like he rebelled against God. You know, it is the heart of those who reject things that are beautiful, who reject things that are. That love that's freely offered is. They don't want other people to experience the beauty either. They don't want other people to experience that love that's freely offered. Either it's the difference. I've mentioned this before, but it's the difference between a thief and a vandal, right? It's the difference between someone who steals something and someone who vandalizes something. If you steal something, it's like, why? It's because you want to have it. If you vandalize something, it's because you don't want anyone to have it. And here is the evil one, right? The devil who is a thief, yes, he steals, he kills, he destroys. But also in this strange, strange way, he also some ways vandalizes, right? Where you think, like, okay, evil one, devil, you don't want the Lord, okay, go your way. But there's this darkness there that exists in us too, because we experience this brokenness. There's this darkness in the evil one that says, I don't want it and I don't want you to have it either. And so we have to be on guard ourselves, of course, against that. Because that lives inside of you and that lives inside of me as well, because that's original sin. Remember, paragraph 418 says, as a result of original sin, human nature is weakened in its powers. We're subject to ignorance. Our human nature is subject to suffering, the domination of death, and inclined to sin. Remember, the $25,000 word of being inclined to sin is called concupiscence. And we have to realize that every one of us has that. That's one of the reasons why we recognize that just because I want something doesn't mean that it's good for me, doesn't mean that I should choose it. Just because I've always been a certain way doesn't mean that that's actually good. Now remember, every human being is good, but also every human being is broken. We all have this inclination to sin, and that is something. If we lose that, we lose sight of that reality, then we will make excuses for ourselves all of the time. We have an inclination to sin, and we just. We have to fight against that. That's part of the battle of earthly life. At the same time, in paragraph 4:20, the victory that Christ won over sin has given us greater blessings than those which sin had taken away from us. Remember, we said this yesterday, that St. Leo the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas both had said, greater blessings, better blessings. The gifts that God gives because of sin are greater than the gifts that he gave without the sin, which is again, hard for us to understand. But we recognize, as St. Paul said in Romans 5:20, where sin increased, grace abounded, all the more gaudymus spez. I think it's worth ending today with what we believe in paragraph 4. 21. Because we believe that the world has been established and kept in being by the Creator's love. Yes, it has fallen into slavery to sin, but has been set free by Christ, who was crucified and risen to break the power of the evil One. That is just a word of hope. And how amazing is this? Tomorrow. Tomorrow we get to start this. This next section of I Believe in the Son. Remember, this is. We're following in this first pillar and the pillar of the Creed. We're following the Apostles Creed. And so we. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and Earth. We're going to start tomorrow. And I believe in Jesus Christ, his only beloved Son. And so that's what we get to do tomorrow. I'm so excited, you guys. This has been. It's been a journey, hasn't it? And I would love to be able to hear, like, what it's been like for you for these first, you know, two months here. We're coming up on day 60 very, very quickly, in fact, tomorrow. And for these first two months, like, what has it been? Like, is it like showing up for class every day? I don't know. Has it been a situation where it's been like, oh, my gosh, my mind is being opened, my heart's being opened? Or has it been kind of a. I feel like I'm waiting in the dark, you know, because we have big ideas, and the church has been revealing to us in the cat. These first paragraphs in the catechism some really, really big ideas. And so it can be a challenge. I, believe me, I can understand that. As we get more and more deeply into the catechism, I am convinced that our hearts will continue to grow. And so that's my prayer for you. So let me know, though. I just. I would love. I don't know how you let me know these things, but please know that if this has been one of those where it's like, yeah, I'm waiting for the heart to kick in. Or, like, I'm waiting for that love to kick in. I'm waiting for the joy to kick in. Just know it's coming. It's coming, because here you are being faithful. Here we are as part of this community, people journeying through the catechism this year. It's. It is remarkable because I don't know if we could do this without each other. I know I couldn't do. I literally. I could not do this without you. And so I'm so grateful. So let's keep praying for each other. I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.