The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 47: The Angels (2024)

Episode Date: February 16, 2024

The angels belong to Christ as they were made through him and for him, and he has made them messengers of his saving plan. We learn that angels have been present throughout the history of salvation, and the life of Christ is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels. Fr. Mike explains how in the liturgy, we join the angels in praising God, and all of human life is surrounded by angels’ care and protection. He reminds us that all angels and saints have the power to intercede for us before God. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 331-336. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sure 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 and God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home, it is day 47. We're reading paragraphs 331 to 336. You guys, we're just chipping away, which is awesome. And also, if you're showing up here on day 47, this is, it's really phenomenal because I keep mentioning, we're diving more and more deeply into everything that we believe, we profess and we are called to live, but it just,

it keeps getting richer and richer. But it just keeps getting richer and richer, I think it keeps getting richer and richer, sometimes more complicated, at the same time really, really beautiful 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. Also, you can download your Catechism in the year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. And also you can click on follow or subscribe or whatever the word is in your podcast app for daily notifications. One of the things, as I said, gosh, you guys, okay, here we are, day 47. It is kind of a big deal that you're still here with us, that we're a month and a half

into this whole thing, and that you're still showing up, you're still pressing play is a really, really big deal. And so thank you for this. You know, today, as it says, you're still pressing play is a really, really big deal. And so thank you for this. Today, as it says, we only have 331 to 336 paragraphs, or paragraphs, you know what I'm saying? These ones, we have these paragraphs. And so it's kind of short, it's not a nugget day. We have one of those in a couple of days from now,

but we get to continue to talk about the angels. Yesterday, as you know, if you remember, if you have a memory that lasts, you know, longer than one day, we remember that we talked about how God created heaven and earth, all that is visible and invisible. And this recognition of every time we look at this created world, everything we're seeing is something that God either directly or indirectly created. I mean, actually he directly created all of the atoms and time and all those things.

So here's looking at God's creation, but also there is an invisible world that we don't often get to see. God sometimes reveals it to us, and that is remarkable, incredible. Among that invisible world are things called angels. We talked about this yesterday, that St. Augustine says the angel

is the name of the office, right? So not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is spirit. If you seek the name of their office, it is angel. What they are is a spirit. What they do is angel. So they're messengers. That's it. That line that said, with their whole beings, the angels are servants and messengers of God. And this is what we're going to emphasize today. We said yesterday in paragraph 330 that as purely spiritual creatures, angels have intelligence and will. They're personal and immortal. They're surpassing and perfection all visible creatures as the splendor of their glory bears witness. Incredible. They are fully, fully surrendered to the Lord. They belong completely to Him. And so today we're going to highlight the fact that Christ is the center of the angelic world.

In fact, that's the first line in paragraph 331. The next line is, I just love this, they are His angels. Like they belong to Him. And so even though we might talk about, I mentioned this yesterday, even though we might say, oh my guardian angel, such and such, right?

We recognize, no, they are His. They are His angels. They belong to Him because they were created through Him and for Him. And that's just incredible. Now, even more they belong to Him because He's made them messengers of His saving plan. So this is what Catechism 331 is gonna establish for us. That yes, Christ is the center of the angelic world.

They're His because He made them, but also because He's made them as messengers of the saving plan, His plan of redemption for the world. And so we're going to look at in paragraph 332 the ways in which angels have been present since creation and throughout the history of salvation. So paragraph 332 is going to highlight the fact that angels have been present since creation and throughout the history of salvation. And so we're going to go through this list of some occasions where the angels show up in

sacred scripture. So if you're a member in the Bible, in the beginning of Genesis, you have the story of the angel that gets placed in front of the Garden of Eden to guard the garden so that people can't come in and re-eat from the Tree of Life and live forever in their brokenness and in their sin. We also have the time where an angel protected Lot or saved Hagar in her child, stayed Abraham's hand all these times. And obviously, the big guns of Gabriel, announcing the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus himself. And so we're going to talk about this. It's just, it's going to be incredible. The last section we're reading today is Angels in the Life of the Church. So yes, there's angels in the life of salvation, the history of salvation, like leading up to Jesus

and in the life of Christ, but also right now, we recognize that angels continue to have a role. We're gonna talk about that in the reading today. So I hope that makes sense, that we're talking about the fact that here, Christ is a center of the angelic world, that he has used these angels to be his messengers throughout the history of salvation

and these angels, these messengers, they continue. They continue to act in and for the church and in and for this world. Does that make sense? Well, let's pray. I think it makes sense. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we give you praise.

We give you praise for the created world, visible and invisible. We give you praise for the created world, visible and invisible. We give you praise for creating this earth and the heavens. We give you praise for the fact that the heavens is your place, your home, and yet you're present to us in this place, in our home. Lord God, lead us through this dangerous world by the protection of your grace,

by the protection of your angels. Help us to be aware more and more of the unseen world. Help us to be aware more and more of your divine presence in our lives. Help us to be more and more aware of the angelic presence of these creatures, these beings that love you and serve you and surround us. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ,

our Lord, Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. As I said, it is day 47. We're reading paragraphs 331 to 336. Christ with all his angels. Christ is the center of the angelic world. They are his angels.

As Jesus states in Matthew's gospel, when the Son of man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, They belong to Him because they were created through and for Him. As St. Paul wrote to the Colossians, For in Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.

Whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities, all things were created through Him and for Him. They belong to Him still more because He has Whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. They belong to him still more because he has made the messengers of his saving plan. As the letter to the Hebrews states, are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation? Angels have been present since creation and throughout the history of salvation, announcing

this salvation from afar or near and serving the accomplishment of the divine plan. They closed the earthly paradise, protected Lot, saved Hagar and her child, stayed Abraham's hand, communicated the law by their ministry, led the people of God, announced births and callings, and assisted the prophets just to cite a few examples. Finally, the angel Gabriel announced the birth of the precursor and that of Jesus himself. From the incarnation to the ascension, the life of the Word incarnate is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels.

When God brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all God's angels worship him. Their song of praise at the birth of Christ has not ceased resounding in the church's praise, glory to God in the highest. They protect Jesus in his infancy, serve him in the desert, strengthen him in his agony in the garden when he could have been saved by them

from the hands of his enemies as Israel had been. Again, it is the angels who evangelize by proclaiming the good news of Christ's incarnation and resurrection. They will be present at Christ's return, which they will announce to serve at His judgment. The Angels in the Life of the Church In the meantime, the whole life of the Church benefits from the mysterious and powerful help of angels. In her liturgy, the Church joins with the angels to adore the thrice holy God. She invokes their assistance in the funeral liturgies in Paradisum de Ducante de Angeli, may the angels lead you into paradise.

Moreover, in the Cherubic hymn of the Byzantine Liturgy, she celebrates the memory of certain angels more particularly, for example, Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, Saint Raphael, and the guardian angels. From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. As Saint Basil stated, beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life. Already here on earth, the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God. Okay, so as I said, it's all about angels yesterday and today and the great gift.

I love this fact that I emphasize this before the reading, but they're his angels, they belong to Christ. And there's something about that that just, I don't know, it just grips my heart because here's this, that's supposed to be us. This whole creation, this whole universe is his as well. And here we are, made in God's image and likeness, and God made us, out of his love, to reveal his glory

and to communicate his divine life to us We're supposed to say this we are his creatures. We are his beloved We are his children and it's just so incredible that we can state that about the angels Without without hesitation without qualification because all of the angels who are faithful to the Lord are completely Completely surrendered to him and that's and that's again our call is to be just as completely faithful to the Lord are completely surrendered to him. And that's again our call is to be just as completely surrendered to the Lord. So Christ is the center of the angelic world. I know I stated this before we did the reading, but I just

want to highlight this again. They belong to him, it says, because they were created through him and for him. They belong to him still more because He has made them messengers of His saving plan. So not only in their very existence do they belong to Him, just like us. Our very existence belongs to God. Remember we highlighted this, not only our conception and being brought into existence, but the fact that God continues to hold us in existence, the fact that we continue to exist because He wills us at every single moment to exist. And so there's that reality of, okay, so we belong to him because we were created through

him and for him. But also we can belong to him still more fully when like the angels, we serve as his messengers, right? We serve as his servants. When we do his will on this earth, we're even more fully belong to him. Does that make sense? It's almost like not just in our existence, like the angels, but also in the exercise of our existence. Not just in the fact that we are,

but in what we do as well. There's something about that that just again, captivates my heart and captivates my mind paragraphs 332 and 333 as I mentioned before highlight the ways in which in sacred scripture The angels have played a part right so as we noted close the earthy paradise They protected lot saved Hagar Etc. Etc. And then in the life of Christ the the first line of paragraph 333 says, from the incarnation to the ascension, the life of the word incarnate is surrounded

by the adoration and service of angels. And then it highlights, I mean, it goes throughout the reality here, their song of praise at the birth of Christ has not ceased resounding in the church's praise, glory to God in the highest. So remember, at the nativity, at Christmas, who appeared to shepherds who were keeping watch over their flock by night? The glory of God in the angels of God. When were they singing Glory to God

in the highest? If you know this, at every Catholic Mass on Sundays and big, big solemnities, we sing a thing called the Gloria that begins with Glory to God in the highest. We try to, we attempt to unite our prayers to the prayer that is going on forever in heaven, continually praising and glorifying God, but also, you know, was revealed to us at Christmas or at the first nativity of our Lord. It's so cool. I love the fact that we get to join the praise

of the angels. In fact, we recognize that we sing at every mass, holy, holy, holy, what they call the sanctus. Sanctus is holy in Latin. And where do we get that? Well, we get that from Scripture. Around God's throne, the angels are crying out and praising God, holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. That is what we get to unite ourselves with. And that's why it's so incredible to realize That here human beings are body and soul here are angels pure spirit

And we get to we have a you know, I remember I think Jeff Cavens had mentioned this Years ago when when teaching about the first chapters of Genesis that even maybe the first first chapter of Genesis in the days of creation And the fact that here we are that even maybe the first chapter of Genesis in the days of creation. And the fact that here we are, human beings, in the story of Genesis one, we're created on the same day as the beasts. We've created the same day as the animals that walk on the land.

And we have an opportunity. We recognize that we're connected to this. We're connected to other animals. We are, we have bodies. But we're called to live on the Sabbath. We're called to live in that place of belonging fully to the Lord. Yes, yes, we have bodies.

We're called to even not transcend bodies. We're not trying to escape our bodies because our bodies are good. That's something we're gonna reaffirm many, many times. The created world is good. The spiritual world is good. And yet, like we said yesterday, that one priest who is an expert in angelology,

he said, okay, yep, we can be cousins with the chimpanzees, but we maybe actually are closer cousins to angels than we are to the chimps. And that's something so powerful and such an incredible reminder that we get to actually pray like the angels in some ways. We join our prayers to the prayers of the angels.

So lastly, we have angels in the life of the church. And so again, recognizing that in the liturgy, right? And when we come together at mass, we are invoking the intercession of angels. One of the things that's really helpful for us, I think it can be helpful for us to understand is the angels have intercessory power. It looks like that. Angels have intercessory power. So do the saints, right? All those who are in God's presence, you know, the Book of Revelation

points out that the lift up prayers to the Lord, the lift up prayers to God, the prayers that are people on earth crying out. So there's an element where angels and saints have this intercessory ability, intercessory power. They have lived this life of ministry of intercession. Angels are unique because not only do angels lift up our prayers to the Lord and so do saints intercede on our behalf before God, but angels kind of have a, let's say,

ascendant and a descendant mediation. So on the one hand, this is what another that the priest from yesterday, Father Bidino, he's mentioned this. On the one hand, they bring and transmit to us the tenderness of God. On the other hand, they make us go up to God in prayer and intercede for us. So angels have this double mediation where they bring us to the tenderness of God, transmit to us the tenderness, the message of God, but also on the other hand, they make us go up to God in prayer and intercede for us. And that's just again, just a beautiful

and powerful thing to be reminded of. As I said, in paragraph 336, from its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession this is just so important for us to understand right now obviously you have access to the Father's heart which is bananas that is just incredible but also already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God. And just to be able to walk that way, not only to walk in the way that

says, God, I know you're present to me completely. I know I have complete access to you and to your heart, but also you haven't left me alone. You're present and your angels are present. So through the intercession of these angels, God, please protect me. Through the intercession of your angels, God protect the people I love. Through the intercession of angels, God, please let my prayers rise up to you

so you may be glorified. So I can unite my heart, my prayers, my life to the prayers and the will, the intellect, the praise of the angels in heavens. That makes sense. I think it does. It does make sense to me. So anyways, you guys, this is an incredible day. Tomorrow we're going to be talking more and more about the visible world and just the kind of the beauty of the universe, the reality of different creatures possessing its own particular goodness and perfection. Anyways, more on the visible world tomorrow, but today, this reality of the invisible world, of the angels that surround us.

Are we aware of them? And if not, can we wake up? Can we become more aware? What a gift, you guys. Here we are, day 47. I just think it is an honor to be able to be with you on this day. So please, pray for me.

I am praying for you. My name's Father Mike. Can't wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.