The description of this volume states:
“Get even more out of The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)!
The Catechism in a Year Companion takes Catholics through the #1-hitting podcast The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) including daily summaries, transcripts of Fr. Mike’s daily prayers, and extra content for each episode.
It’s the perfect way to remember what you’re hearing and to learn even more about each section of the Catechism!
“The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for.” –CCC 27
The Companion presents daily content for each episode of the podcast, including:
• The proprietary Catechism in a Year Reading Plan
• “Reflect on the Faith,” where readers will find a summary of the key points and highlights of Fr. Mike’s commentary on the daily passages
• “Take It to Prayer,” where Catholics will be able to pray the daily prayer alongside Fr. Mike and the rest of the CIY community
• “Dive Deeper,” which features unique content related to each day’s readings, from images and Q&As to prayer prompts and ways to live out the teachings of the Church in the day-to-day
In addition to the daily content, each volume of the Companion will provide an introduction and review for the sections of the Catechism it covers. Written by Dr. Petroc Willey, professor of theology and Catechetics at Franciscan University of Steubenville, these introductions and reviews will help Catholics know what to look for in the days ahead and recall what has happened in the days completed.
Volume I of The Catechism in a Year Companion covers days 1–120 of The Catechism in a Year podcast.
This sought-after guide to the #1-hitting podcast The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) is coming to you thanks to many collaborators, including
• Fr. Mike Schmitz
• Dr. Petroc Willey
• Ann Koshute
• and more!”
And father Mike states at the end of the introduction:
“Early on, the Church had to develop a comprehensive and intelligible way to communicate the Faith to people who were hearing about the one true God for the first time. In the early centuries of the Church, it often took people three years to learn the Faith. Someone’s entire worldview needed to be re-shaped and re-fashioned. Many had to learn that God was one, and that he was good and just. They needed to learn that Jesus cared about them—and even loved them to the point of giving up his own life so that they could have life. Many had to learn of the dignity of the human person. Because of this, the process of becoming Christian did not just involve a transfer of information but an actual transformation.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is more than just information about the Catholic Faith. It is more than just bits of data about what we believe about God, about the world, and about the human person. The Catechism is a blueprint for life. Its first part, or pillar, by presenting the Creed, tells us what we believe about God, revelation, faith, the human person, and our eternal destiny with God. But it then seeks to lead us to a place of conversion, to a place of love. This first part of the Catechism seeks to tell us who God is to lead us to love him. After all, how can we love what we do not know?
As you go through this first volume of the Catechism in a Year Companion, keep in mind that what you are listening to is the result of the Gospel being proclaimed for two millennia to people just like you. You are in good company. All who have gone before us were called to a conversion of heart, to love God with their whole heart, mind, soul, and strength; they were called to be saints—and so are you.”
Each day contains the same three sections:
Reflect on the Faith
Take It to Prayer
Dive Deeper
But they very greatly in length. Reflect on the Faith is a summary of Fr. Mike’s commentary for the day. Take It to Prayer, you will pray along with Fr. Mike every day. The Dive deeper section varies greatly sometimes it includes and image , some a prayer prompt, some a challenge to live out. Each section also contains and introduction and overview by Dr. Petroc Willey, it includes teacheings on the significance of the colour coding, key teachings and breakdown of sections and chapters. Also Dr. Willey offers a review at the end of each section
A sample day is:
“DAY 24: Unity of Faith
Reflect on the Faith
• The Church’s role is to faithfully guard the Faith. St. Paul, writing to Timothy, called the Church “the pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15; see CCC 171).
• St. Irenaeus of Lyons was one of the Early Church Fathers with a direct connection to St. John the Apostle. St. Irenaeus said, “The Church, though scattered throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, having received the faith from the apostles and their disciples … guards [this preaching and faith] with care, as dwelling in but a single house” (quoted in CCC 173).
• One of the marks of the Church is that it is one.
• St. Irenaeus says, “For though languages differ throughout the world, the content of the Tradition is one and the same.” What the Church teaches “is true and solid, in which one and the same way of salvation appears throughout the whole world” (quoted in CCC 174).
• From the very beginning, the Church has stood for unity. In the Councils, the Church had to come together, invoke the Holy Spirit, and address big questions. The answers that they recognized have been passed on throughout the whole world so that we have one united Faith—one Church.
• Our prayer today is, “Lord, I don’t have all the answers. Your Church is going to guide me into all truth by the power of your Holy Spirit. Help me today not just so I can know more about you but so that, in knowing you, I can love you better and follow you better.”
Take It to Prayer
Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. We thank you so much for bringing us to this moment. We thank you for the fact that you have passed on your Word. You passed on your revelation of yourself to us, through the Church. Lord God, we also know that we do not simply believe in formulas. We believe in the realities that those formulas express. We know we don’t believe in the idea of you as Father, and as Son, and as Holy Spirit. We believe in the reality: you are Father, you are Son, you are Holy Spirit. We don’t believe merely in the idea that you came to save us from our sins, but in the reality that you have done this, and you continue to do this by sending out your Holy Spirit and meeting us ever new with your mercy every morning. So, Lord, help us to continue to recognize that you are not merely an idea. You are Reality itself. You are Being itself. Help us to be aware of your reality. Help us to be aware of your being. Help us to be aware of you this day and every day. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Dive Deeper
The Church says that the Catholic Faith has remained essentially unchanged since the time of Jesus. But haven’t new teachings been proclaimed over the centuries?
Jesus is Truth itself (see John 14:6). Through the apostles, he has handed on to us the fullness of truth and life. There is, therefore, “one faith, received from the one Lord, transmitted by one Baptism” (CCC 172). So our Faith is the same Faith taught by Jesus and proclaimed by the apostles.
When we are given something wonderful, it takes time to realize just what we have been given. After telling his disciples that he is the Truth, Jesus promised to send the Spirit to “guide [them] into all the truth” (John 16:13). The fullness of God’s revelation was given, and it was for the apostles and then their successors (the bishops) to deepen their understanding of this truth. Thus, the saving truth of the Faith does not change, but it must be understood and manifested in all ages and cultures. A development in understanding of a particular teaching (see CCC 94) does not involve an overturning or rejection of what went before. It involves making explicit something that is implicit, unpacking the gift we have been given. In all cases, the Magisterium judges whether a particular development of understanding or expression within a culture (see CCC 854) is faithful to the one unchanging Faith.
Key reading: CCC 94, 170–175”
This is another excellent resource from Father Mike and Ascension. Most days I have listened to the pod cast in the morning. And then on my first coffee break at work, I read through the day. I love praying the pray that Father Mike prayed that day, and I love the going deeper sections. I believe this is a must have resource to support your Catechism in a Year journey. This is my second time through the podcast and I see it being an frequent journey going forward. If you are listening to the CIAY pick this up as a supplement to that journey.
