The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 52: Male and Female (2024)

Episode Date: February 21, 2024

The Catechism teaches about God’s plan and design for men and women—male and female—and their equality, complementarity, dignity, and destiny. Fr. Mike shows us how men and women can be both complete in themselves and yet made “for each other.” Today's readings are Catechism paragraphs 369-373. 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 52. You guys, well done. I didn't mention this two days ago, but you made it past day 50.

That is a good portion. That's like significant. We're reading paragraphs 369 to 373 today. As always, 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 you can download your own Catechism and Hear Reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y and little known fact,

you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. That actually is a thing today. As I said, it's day 52. We're reading paragraphs 369 to 373. This is remarkable. Yesterday we talked about the fact that here is humanity, human beings are body and soul, but truly one, right? So we have these, these two things, these two component parts. I don't know if you know if you say it like that, but we're, we are body and soul in a unity today. As human beings, we are male and female. And there's this remarkable reality. I love the fact that even in just a few short paragraphs, the catechism unpacks so much of what Jean-Paul II called an

adequate anthropology that in order to understand who we are as human beings, we need, as he said, an adequate anthropology, which is, you know, study of human beings. So here in the catechism, we talk about the fact that male and female are equal. This is reiterated and re-emphasized so many times and also different, that we're equal and different, that we're equal and complementary. The church always stands outside of the culture. The church is in the culture, obviously, right? But in so many ways, you can go back to the very beginning and you realize that the church in some ways was out of time in the sense of it asserted and affirmed that men and women are equal in dignity.

And so there were people over the course of time that disliked Christianity or rejected it because it would assert that male and female are equal. Now in our culture, there are people who reject the church or are upset at the church because the church continues to affirm that we're equal, but also affirms that we're complementary. It also affirms that we're different. And there's something about this that here's the church

that has this incredible paradox because there's so much in the church that is a paradox. So much in our faith it's a paradox. What is a paradox? It's a seeming contradiction the church that is a paradox. So much in our faith, it's a paradox. What is a paradox? It's a seeming contradiction that actually isn't a contradiction. And that seeming contradiction or that seeming paradox, when it comes to male and female, is that human beings,

male and female, are equal. And also at the same time, different, equal, and complementary. And there's something so, so incredible about this. We're gonna talk about that today. So let's say a prayer as we dive into something that is in some ways counter-cultural, in some ways it stands against the culture,

some in some ways uphold the culture, because we realize this, right? What we believe as Catholics has shaped this culture, that we would not have the women's suffrage movement, even though it, you know, in this country took a long time, we wouldn't have that without the doctrine that we are going to unpack today. We wouldn't have that without the doctrine that we are going to unpack today. We wouldn't have that without Christianity.

We would not have this recognition that men and women, male and female, are created equal in dignity and co-heirs to the life of grace. So let's pray, Father in heaven, you have made us male and female. You have made us co-heirs to your life, to your divine life, to the grace that you offer to all human beings. We ask that you come and meet us with that grace. We ask that you come and meet us in our maleness, come meet us in our femaleness, come meet us in our humanity because you've made us different. And yet at the same time, you've imprinted your divine image on every single one of us. And so we are equal.

And yet unique and yet complimentary. Lord, help us to appreciate and uphold our equality. Help us to appreciate and honor our complementarity. We ask this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen, in the name of the Father and of Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. As I said, St. 52, we're reading paragraphs 369-373. Male and female, He created them. Equality and difference, willed by God.

Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God. On the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons, on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. Being man or being woman is a reality which is good and willed by God. Man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator. Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity in the image of God. In their being man and being woman, they reflect the Creator's wisdom and goodness. In no way is God in man's image.

He is neither man nor woman. God is pure spirit, in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes. But the respective perfections of man and woman reflect something of the infinite perfection of God, those of a mother, and those of a father and husband. Each for the other, a unity in two. God created man and woman together and willed each for the other. The Word of God gives us to understand this through various features of the sacred text. In Genesis, it is written, it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for

him. Also, none of the animals can be the man's partner. The woman God fashions from the man's rib and brings to him elicits on the man's part a cry of wonder, an exclamation of love and communion, saying, This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Man discovers woman as another I, sharing the same humanity. Man and woman were made for each other. Not that God left them half-made and incomplete. He created them to be a communion of persons in which each can be helpmate to the other, for they are equal as persons,

bone of my bones, and complementary as masculine and feminine. In marriage, God unites them in such a way that, by forming one flesh, they can transmit human life, as God commanded them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. By transmitting human life to their descendants, man and woman as spouses and parents cooperate in a unique way in the Creator's work. In God's plan, man and woman have the vocation of subduing the earth as stewards of God. This sovereignty is not to be an arbitrary and destructive domination. God calls man and woman, made in the image of the Creator who loves everything that exists,

to share in His providence toward other creatures. Hence, the responsibility for the world God has entrusted to them. Okay, oh my gosh, you guys, I have to tell you how much I love these paragraphs. This is just incredible. So let's let's highlight what might be the gist or what might be the most important kind of things that are communicated here in these paragraphs. Number one is the equality of male and female, which is, you know, it's taken for granted by us as modern people, as 21st century human beings. That's taken for granted by us. But that was not always the case.

It was not always just assumed that male and female were equal. And yet here is what the Catechism is saying, that this is what the Church believes. That equal indignity, at the same time, complimentary. And this is the unique, as I said before we read the readings, the paradox of this whole thing. That equality and complementarity is so vitally important for us to hold intention, because we realize that while men and women are equal, men and women are not the same. At the same time, we are made for each other, right?

We're complimentary. Now, paragraph 372 highlights this in a really incredible way. It says, men and women were made for each other. And then it clarifies, not that God left them half-made and incomplete. Like, a human being is complete, right? You're not like sometimes there are certain kind of philosophies or certain kind of romantic

ideas that a person's walking around this world kind of like looking for their other half. Like I get it but that's not really entirely accurate, right? Where you're not half. If you're single, that you're not almost a full person. You are really a full person. You're not half made and incomplete. That the man in the Garden of Eden, he wasn't incomplete. Now, again, he couldn't live out his vocation. His vocation is to love. That's a very important thing. We'll talk about that in the weeks, days and weeks to follow. But he's complete. And so is the woman, right? But how amazing is this? The paragraph goes on to say, but God created them to be a communion of persons

in which each can be helpmate to the other for they are equal as persons. And here's the next thing, complimentary as masculine and feminine. In marriage, God unites them in such a way that by forming one flesh, they can transmit human life. Now, here's the mystery. I've been emphasizing the fact that yeah, you're not incomplete. You know, human being, male or female is not incomplete in and of themselves, which is true, what we'll say,

is true ontologically, right? It's true in their personhood at the same time. If you look at a human body, male or female, you'll find that every biological system is complete, right? Your neurological system is complete and intact inside your body. Your digestive system is whole and complete in your body. Your endocrine system is whole and complete in your body. Every one of your biological systems

is whole and complete inside of your body except for one. And that's the reproductive system. The reproductive system, in order to, you know, do what it's meant to do, it needs another body and doesn't just need any other body. It needs a complimentary body. Think about how remarkable this is. I mean, this is one of the reasons why we have

a sexual ethic and that sexual ethic is, okay, male and female, why? Because that is literally, at the biological level, what we're oriented towards. This male and female complementarity is not just that, well, boys like girls and girls like boys as a whole. It's the male body is a complement to the female body. And the female body is a complement to the male body. Remember yesterday, we talked all about the fact that you are your body, you are your soul,

this body and soul in a unity. And so you can't get away from this. The body reveals something to us. And this is remarkable. It reveals that, yes, while human beings are equal in dignity, we are also complimentary. That we cannot bring forth life without the other. That male on its own doesn't make any sense and female on its own doesn't make any sense.

I mean, there's some ways in which it does make sense, but when it comes to reproduction, does not make sense. And this is just remarkable and incredible. And praise God for this. This is really, really, really remarkable. And at the same time, let's go back to this. We keep saying God's image and likeness in male and female. Paragraph 370 specifies and clarifies, in no way is God in man's image. So God is neither man nor woman. God is pure spirit. So when we say God is Father, yes,

He's revealed Himself as Father, and that is very important for us to understand. But God is not male. God is not a man. And he's not a woman. That God is pure spirit. And so there are ways in which we can, we can speak of God as, as it says here in the Catechism, has perfections of a mother and perfections of a father and perfections of a husband. That is all very important. As we say those words, we know that those words are limited. And we just, yeah, we just note that. And I think it's worth noting. The last paragraph says paragraph 373.

In God's plan, man and woman have the vocation of subduing the earth as stewards. So again, we're gonna talk about this when it comes to our responsibility later on. I mean, much later, our responsibility to care for the earth. But once again, we highlight this, that God's sovereignty is that he loves everything that exists, that God's image, that God's heart

is that he loves everything that exists. And therefore, if we're gonna be stewards of what God loves, then we have to have a heart like his, right? So even as stewards, we're not owners, but we're stewards. Our approach to creation and our approach to each other is the same approach as God, who in wisdom chapter 11 says, who loves everything that exists and we share in his providence toward other creatures.

Hence our responsibility for the world that God has entrusted to us. And that's the reality. I mean, God has entrusted this world to us. And if you're listening to this and you're married, God has entrusted that person to us. And if you're listening to this and you're married, God has entrusted that person to you. Let's just highlight that for one moment. We're talking today about the difference between male and female and it's beautiful, it's powerful, it's incredible.

But if you're married, God has entrusted that person to you. And how are you caring for that person? How are you loving them well today? How are you loving them like God loves them today? If you have been blessed with children, God has entrusted them to you. Again, we're not owners of our children or stewards of our children. God has entrusted those children to you. How have you loved them the way God loves them? If you don't have a spouse, you don't have any children, there are people in your life. Maybe they're siblings, maybe they're parents, elderly way God loves them. If you don't have a spouse, you don't have any children, there

are people in your life. Maybe they're siblings, maybe they're parents, elderly parents, maybe they're their nieces and nephews, maybe they're the next-door neighbor and we recognize, right, as stewards of this incredible world that God has made, He has entrusted the people next door to us. He's entrusted our elderly parents to us. How are we loving them the way God loves them? It's something worth, something worth praying about today. Because yeah, God calls man and woman, paragraph 373, made in the image of their Creator who loves everything that exists to share in His providence toward other creatures, including our neighbors. And so here we are.

Then God help us. God help us to love the people that you love. Help us to love the people in our lives. Help us to love the people who get ignored, get overlooked and get passed by. One of the ways we can love them is by praying for them. And I think, I don't know, one of the ways I can love you

and we can love each other is by praying for each other. You know, I've been saying this for like 51 days. I've been saying I've been praying for you, which is true, I have every single day and ask you to pray for me. I have forgotten to mention, please pray for each other. My gosh, I'm so sorry for having forgotten to ask that for 51 days up to now, day 52.

But we need prayers, not just mine for you and yours for me, but for each other. Because we're not alone here, and you're not alone here. Anyways, please pray for each other. I am praying for you and please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.