Fr. Mike Schmitz (0:00)

Foreign 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 toward our heavenly home. It is day 88. We're reading paragraphs 70, 613 to 623. As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the 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 Catechism in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com ciy and you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. It is day 88 today. You know, we've been talking about what is it to talk about the trial of Jesus, to talk about the death of Jesus? What is it to say that Jesus was crucified? How does that save us? Well, we been talking about how his yes to the Father has been remarkable. That his yes to the Father out of love for the Father and also his yes to the Father out of love for us is remarkable. Remember we talked about how Christ's whole life yesterday. Christ's whole life is an offering to the Father. And not only that, but also he gives us Himself, not only on the cross, he offers himself to the Father on the cross, but also he offers Himself to us freely in the Eucharist. Is that incredible participation? It's been said that when you are at the altar, like when you're at the Mass, you're at the foot of the cross on Calvary. That, that is, you're not only at the Last Supper, you're also at Golgotha. You're also at Calvary, which is just remarkable and a mystery. Today we're going to talk about how Christ's death is the unique and definitive sacrifice. One of the things that we remember and we recall, that we understand, is that Christ's death is not an execution. I mean, yes, from the Romans perspective, from maybe even people passing by, their perspective is that this is a merely an execution. Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever thought about, to the casual observer of the crucifixion, they would have merely seen another Roman execution But for us, we understand that Christ's death is not merely an execution, it is a sacrifice that he is freely going to the cross. He is freely offering up himself because he. In Bariatric 6:13 it says Christ's death is both the Paschal sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive redemption of men. Remember, he's the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and the sacrifice of the New Covenant, which restores man to communion with God by reconciling him to God through the blood of the covenant, which is. Both of those pieces are just so powerful, incredible. He's the Paschal Sacrifice which redeems human beings, and the sacrifice of the New Covenant which restores us to communion with God, which is remarkable. And also 6, 14. The sacrifice of Christ is unique. It completes and surpasses all other sacrifices. Remember that when we read the Old Testament, there's all of those sacrifices we talked about, the tada offering, the thank offering, there's the sin offering, there's all these offerings. Christ's sacrifice completes and surpasses all of those other sacrifices. It said that every priest stands at his his duty in the Old covenant, right, and offers up sacrifices. But Jesus is the priest who doesn't offer up a sacrifice outside of himself. He's a priest who is the sacrifice as well, which is just, again, incredible. Paragraph 6:15 goes on to note that Jesus substitutes his obedience for our disobedience, which is incredible. 6 16, 6 17. That it's the love to the end that Christ's sacrifice on the cross, it is love to the end that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemption, reparation as atonement and satisfaction. Remember we talked about this before, that. Yes. Christ endured an incredible agony, more agony than we could possibly imagine. It wasn't merely the pain that saved us, it was the love that bore the pain. Right. It's the love that entered into the pain. It was the obedience that is redemption, reparation. It is atonement and satisfaction. It is love to the end that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value. And we want to highlight that. And then lastly, before our. Our, in brief, today is our participation in Christ's sacrifice. So this is. This is. Yes, about what Jesus himself did for us, you know, unmerited. That he did unwarranted on our part, but he did out of love for us. But then we are called to participate in Christ's sacrifice. We are called, in a way only known to God, the possibility of being made partners in the paschal. Mystery, right. That we can actually participate in the incredible sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to His Father. And that's what our lives are meant to be. Right? Our lives are meant to be conformed to that. Yes. Of Jesus to His Father. And so we're going to talk about that today. And then we have, you know, about five little bullets are in brief nuggets at the end of today. So let's say a prayer as we. As we kick off this day. Day 88. Father in heaven, we praise you and we give you glory. We thank you so much for giving us your only son, whom you love, to be a sacrifice for sinners. And we thank you, Jesus Christ. We thank you for your obedience to the Father. We thank you for not only being the model of what it is to trust in the Father, but also for being the priest, for being the sacrifice, for being the one who not only offered, but the one who was offered. Help us to say yes as well. Help us to have the same obedience that you had. Jesus to the Father. And Father, may everything that we do this day, whether it be full of joy or full of pain, whether it be full of love or full of grief, we ask that everything we go through today be offered to you. Just like Jesus offered everything to you. It is in his name that 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 88. We're reading paragraphs 613 to 6 23. Christ's death is the unique and definitive sacrifice. Christ's death is both the paschal sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive redemption of men through the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and the sacrifice of the new Covenant which restores man to communion with God by reconciling him to God through the blood of the covenant which was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. This sacrifice of Christ is unique. It completes and surpasses all other sacrifices. First, it is a gift from God the Father Himself, for the Father handed His Son over to sinners in order to reconcile us with Himself. At the same time, it is the offering of the Son of God made man who in freedom and love offered his life to His Father through the Holy Spirit. In reparation for our disobedience, Jesus substitutes his obedience for our disobedience. For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous by his obedience unto death. Jesus accomplished the substitution of the suffering servant who makes himself an offering for sin when he bore the sin of many, and who shall make many to be accounted righteous, for he shall bear their iniquities. Jesus atoned for our faults and made satisfaction for our sins to the Father. Jesus consummates his sacrifice on the cross. It is love to the end that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and loved us all when he offered his life, as St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians. Now the love of Christ controls us because we are convinced that one has died for all. Therefore all have died. No man, not even the holiest, was ever able to take on himself the sins of all men and offer himself as a sacrifice for all. The existence in Christ of the Divine Person of the Son, who at once surpasses and embraces all human persons and constitutes himself as the head of all mankind, makes possible his redemptive sacrifice for all. The Council of Trent emphasizes the unique character of Christ's sacrifice as the source of eternal salvation and teaches that his most Holy Passion on the wood of the Cross merited justification for us. And the Church venerates His Cross as it sings Hail, O Cross, our only hope, our participation in Christ's sacrifice. The Cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the one mediator between God and men. But because in his incarnate Divine Person he has in some way united himself to every man, the possibility of being made partners in a way known to God in the paschal mystery is offered to all men. He calls his disciples to take up their cross and follow Him. For Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example so that we should follow in his steps. In fact, Jesus desires to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who were to be its first beneficiaries. This is achieved supremely in the case of his mother, who was associated more intimately than any other person in the mystery of his redemptive suffering. Saint Rose of Lima noted, apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven. In brief, Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures. Our salvation flows from God's initiative of love for us because he loved us and sent His Son to be the expiation for our sins. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. Jesus freely offered Himself for our salvation beforehand, during the Last Supper, he both symbolized this offering and made it really present. This is my body which is given for you the redemption won by Christ consists in that he came to give his life as a ransom for many. That is, he loved his own to the end so that they might be ransomed from the futile ways inherited from their fathers. By his loving obedience to the Father unto death, even death on a cross, Jesus fulfills the atoning mission of the suffering servant who will make many righteous and he shall bear their iniquities. Okay, so there we are, day 88, paragraphs 613, 623. I think it is worth, it is completely worth highlighting the fact that we may not reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as often as we ought. I mean, yes, during Lent we typically will make the Stations of the Cross, you know, the Way of the Cross sometimes, you know, during, when we pray the Sorrowful Mysteries, of course, we focus on, on the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and his scourging and his crowning with thorns, carrying of the cross and his crucifixion. But the reality, of course, is that the sacrifice of Christ is a daily part of our lives, once for all. Right? He's offered Himself once for all and at the same time, this once for all sacrifice is a part of our daily lives. I Love this paragraph 614 where it notes this sacrifice of Christ, you know, which is the Paschal sacrifice and the sacrifice of the New Covenant. This sacrifice of Christ is unique. It completes and surpasses all other sacrifices. We noted that at the beginning of this, of this day, where we talked about the Old Covenant sacrifices, that completes and surpasses all of them and highlights two things. First, it is a gift from the Father Himself, for the Father handed His Son over to sinners in order to reconcile us with Himself. So this remarkable reality that the sacrifice of Christ is a gift from the Father which is given to us in a remarkable way at the same time. The last sentence of paragraph 614 says at the same time, it is the offering of the Son of God made man, who in freedom and love offered his life to His Father through the Holy Spirit in reparation for our disobedience. So it's a gift from the Father and it's a gift for the Father. It was just amazing. In fact, that phrasing I love this. Who in freedom and love offered his life to the to His Father through the Holy Spirit in reparation for our disobedience. You know, that that's one of the ways we, we describe the Mass, that the Mass is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ offered to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. Every time you go to Mass, that is what is happening. That at the altar, it is the unbloody sacrifice of Christ, right? In the Eucharist, we're talking about this mystery. When we get to that section, that second pillar. But at the Mass, it is the unbloody sacrifice of Jesus Christ. What is it? Here's Jesus offering himself to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. We get to participate in that, which is incredible. And that's why the Mass accomplishes two ends every single time. Every single time we celebrate the Mass and participate in the Mass, it does two things. One, it gives glory to the Father, and secondly, it saves the world. I mean, it redeems the world. In fact, we even pray this at every Mass. You know, there's this moment where the priest says to the congregation, pray, my brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Almighty Father. And then the congregation responds, may the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands. And here's this key. A, for the praise and glory of his name, and B, for our good and the good of all his holy Church. So we recognize that we offer the sacrifice again, priests and people united with Jesus, the great High Priest, offering up this sacrifice to the Father in the power of the holy power of the Holy Spirit, A, for the glory of the Father and B, for the good of the whole Church, or essentially for the salvation of the entire world. Which is remarkable. Incredible. That's one of the ways that paragraph 6:18 we participate in Christ's sacrifice. Again, 6:18 says, the cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ. He is the one mediator between God and man. That's 100%. He's the only one who does this. As earlier on we noted that no person, no matter how holy they were, could ever bear the sins of everyone. So Jesus is the one mediator. But because in his incarnate divine Person, he has in some way united himself to every man. Think about those words. His incarnate divine person, right? So he is a divine person who's incarnated. So he has human. He's embraced humanity, Right? He's joined himself to humanity because of that, because he's united himself to every man. The possibility of being made partners in a way known to God in the Paschal mystery is offered to all men. That's from Gaudy met Spez in the Second Vatican Council, which is just remarkable. The possibility of being made partners in a way known to God in the Paschal mystery is offered to all of us to Be able to participate in A, that sacrifice that gives glory to the Father, and B, that sacrifice that redeems the world. You have a share in that. You get to participate in this as well. Now, the last thing I just want to emphasize and point to is paragraph 6 16, where we already noted this, but it's worth kind of ending on this today. It is love to the end that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation and as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and loved us all when he offered his life, which is, again, remarkable. One of the things that we note and have to remember at all times is that God loves you. I mean, just truly remember, we've said this a thousand times. This is not about information transfer. This is about transformation. It's not just about data. This is about conversion. This is not just about. I know a bunch of things about God, but I love him and he loves you so powerfully. He knew and loved us all when he offered His Life. And now St. Paul says the love of Christ controls us because we're convinced that one has died for all, therefore all have died. The existence of Christ in the divine person of the Son, because He is God, that makes possible his redemptive sacrifice for all. Because he is God, he can offer himself, and because he's human, he's offering Himself for us all, which is incredible. We get to get to share in this. And again, that's one of the reasons why, you know, last couple days talking about, you know, praying for those who don't know Jesus, don't know of his great love for them. And whether they're part of a religion or not part of a religion, whether they're raised in the church and walked away or whatever happened, we want them all to know this because this is the good news, that, yes, we have this world that is beautiful but broken. We have this world that is good but fallen, and we are our own hearts, your own heart and my own heart. Beautiful but broken and good but fallen and into this world good but broken. Beautiful but fallen is God's love. Can you imagine walking through this world, walking through life, not knowing this, not knowing that not only is there a God and there is a God who is good, and there's a God who cares about you, who knows your name and who loves you, but the God who offered Himself for you, the God who knew and loved us all when he offered his life, that is incredible news. And he gives us a share in his passion. So today I'm praying that all of us will let this truth penetrate our hearts. That all of us will not only know about the fact that we have a share in his passion, but to embrace that. To embrace that share in his passion for the salvation of the world and for the Father's glory. Let's pray for each other. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. Cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.