The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 96: The Church’s Ultimate Trial (2025)

Episode Date: April 6, 2025

The Catechism concludes the section on The Son with an examination of the final trial and judgment that will happen before Christ’s Second Coming. This final trial will involve the "supreme religious deception" of the Antichrist, a deception that has already been present at various times in human history. Fr. Mike emphasizes that apostasy is a dramatic turning away from what we hold to be true. He reminds us that no other person can usher in the Messianic Age other than Christ. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 675-682. 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.

Before we get started, I just wanted to offer a quick thank you to all those who have supported the Catechism in the Ear or the Bible in the Ear podcasts. We hear stories every day about how those shows have transformed people's lives and because of your prayers and financial gifts, you are a significant part of that. You might ask a question though. The question is, what does Ascension do with these financial gifts? Great question. The answer is, we make authentically Catholic podcasts and videos and other digital content to help people know the Catholic faith and grow closer to God every day. And we do it all for free. If you've found this podcast to be helpful in your life and would like to help us continue

making free Catholic content we can post online, please consider making a financial contribution, an ongoing financial contribution, by going to ascensionpress.com slash support. That's ascensionpress.com slash support. Thank you and God bless. 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 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. This is day 96.

It is the last day of talking about Jesus Christ, the Son, before we start tomorrow, the third person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit. 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. You can also download your own Catechism into your reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y and lastly you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Man day 96 you guys okay as I just said it is this is the last section over in chapter 2 on the Son. And so tomorrow we'll start chapter 3 on the Holy Spirit. And so we've talked about, you know, creation,

talked about revelation, talked about faith, we talked about the Father and the qualities of the Father, what he's revealed about himself as the Father. We've talked about how Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has been revealed and who He is in Himself and tomorrow we're gonna start this whole section, kind of a long section, a great section, a beautiful section on the Holy Spirit. Yesterday we talked about how in the Apostles Creed from there He will come again to judge the living and the dead, that Jesus will come again in glory. We talked about how, yes, Christ's kingdom is established on earth in the Church and that Church truly is holy at the same time that holiness is real but imperfect.

We still await the final coming of Jesus, we still await that final fulfillment and so even though Jesus has definitively defeated the power of evil, we find ourselves in the time of battle still. We continue to pray and to ask the Lord Jesus to come. He continues to send out his Holy Spirit, but this is a time of battle still. We continue to pray and to ask the Lord Jesus to come. He continues to send out his Holy Spirit, but this is a time of distress. This is a time of watching and waiting. This is a time of vigilance. Now, today, we're going to talk in this last section, these last chapters, paragraphs,

I mean, paragraph 675 to 682 on the Church's ultimate trial. Now, this is kind of, I mean, the stakes are huge. The stakes are eternity, right? The stakes are life and death, eternal life, and eternal death. In this last little section, these last few paragraphs on the Church's ultimate trial, we'll talk about the reality that,

before Christ's second coming, the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers There will be a persecution There will be religious deception There will be the Antichrist this reality of what's called a pseudo messianism like member Jesus is the Messiah so a pseudo messianism is This idea that oh, this is the one we've been looking for. This is the, I'm gonna take the Lord himself

and put him off to the side, because some other, quote unquote, solution has presented itself. And that's one of the realities the church has discerned over the 2,000 year history now saying, okay, so what is the Antichrist? And again, it says this in paragraph 676, so you can kind of get your mind wrapped around this.

It says, the Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world Every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history To the eschatological judgment. So basically there's all these options. These all these people offering Okay If we only we do this this will usher in a new time of peace, prosperity. This will usher in a new time of salvation. We recognize as Christians, we recognize that, you know, there are there's progress to be made in this world. Yes, there's always good that can be done in this world.

But no program, no person, no government, no policy, no culture will ever usher in this messianic age, right? That that can it's not gonna happen within history It's only gonna happen at the close of history at the close of the age and so the big temptation has been Is and will be this is again the church's final battle and will be this temptation To Replace God with anything else. So we're gonna talk about that today. And also recognizing the last two paragraphs before the in brief, before our nuggets at the end of this section, are that Jesus Christ will come to judge the

living and the dead. It's only two paragraphs, but it highlights the reality that there is a judgment to come for every one of us. There's a judgment to come at the end of time, but there's also a judgment to come at the end of each of our lives. Now we'll talk about that again later on when it comes to the four last things here in the Catechism, but today we're reminded of that because today is given to us by the Lord so that we can repent. God is patient with us so that we can change our hearts and say yes to His grace. And so as we begin this day, let's do that.

Let's turn to our Lord and just pray that while it is still today, God gives us the grace to say yes to Him, to say no to our sin and to live this new life. Father in heaven, we trust in you and we thank you. We praise your name, we give you glory. We ask that you please reveal to your reveal to our hearts your heart Reveal the depth of your love for us to us help us to say yes to you

Help us to avoid the temptation toward idolatry help us to avoid the temptation towards the Antichrist Help us to avoid the temptation to turn away from what you've given to us in favor of something new in favor of something flashy in favor of something that Is not from you. Lord God, help us to strive with all of our hearts and our whole lives to help the people around us, but to never replace your kingdom with a pseudo false kingdom. Help us to never place you and your victory on the cross with any other kind of victory. Help us to live as you've called us to never replace you and your victory on the cross with any other kind of victory. Help us to live as you've called us to live. Help us to love as you have called us to love. Help us to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in this world.

By the power of your Holy Spirit, 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 is day 96. We're reading paragraphs 675 to 682. The Church's Ultimate Trial Before Christ's second coming, the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the mystery of iniquity in the form of a religious deception Offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth the supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist a Pseudomessianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh

The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the Kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the intrinsically perverse political form of a secular messianism.

The Church will enter the glory of the Kingdom only through this final Passover when she will follow her Lord in His death and resurrection. The Kingdom will be fulfilled then not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil which will cause his bride to come down from heaven. God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the last judgment after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world. To judge the living and the dead. Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgment of the last day in his preaching. Then will the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgment

of the last day in his preaching. Then will the conduct of each one and the secrets of hearts be brought to light. Then will the culpable unbelief that counted the offer of God's grace as nothing be condemned. Our attitude about our neighbor will disclose acceptance or refusal of grace and divine love. On the last day, Jesus will say, truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. Christ is Lord of eternal life.

Full right to pass definitive judgment on the works and hearts of men belongs to him as Redeemer of the world. He acquired this right by his cross. The Father has given all judgment to the Son, yet the Son did not come to judge but to save and to give the life he has in himself. By rejecting grace in this life, one already judges oneself, receives according to one's works, and can even condemn oneself for all eternity by rejecting the spirit of love. In brief, Christ the Lord already reigns through the Church, but all the things of this world are not yet subjected to him.

The triumph of Christ's kingdom will not come about without one last assault by the powers of evil. On Judgment Day, at the end of the world, Christ will come in glory to achieve the definitive triumph of good over evil which, like the wheat and the tares, have grown up together in the course of history. When he comes at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, the glorious Christ will reveal the secret disposition of hearts and will render to each man according to his works, and according to his acceptance or refusal of grace? Okay, so I said again day 96 man We are ending this section chapter 2 on our Lord God the Son second person of the Trinity with a bang Wow, just this recognition of the church's ultimate trial paragraph 675. Let's let's highlight this We recognize that before Christ's second coming the church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.

There is going to be, as I said, a persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth that will unveil the mystery of iniquity in the form of a religious deception, offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. This is dramatic. This is, I going to say insane, but I just mean that in terms like bananas. We recognize that, remember the people of Israel, what was their primary sin again and again? We read those stories, we hear those stories, and we're like, why are you doing this again and again? What their temptation was, was even though the Lord God had revealed himself to them, even though the Lord God had chosen them, had covenanted himself to them, what did they

continue to do? Time and again, they turned away from God and tried to replace him with something else, anything else. In fact, remember even those stories about, here's the Assyrians coming in from the north, here's the Babylonians coming in, and what did Israel want to do again and again? What did the Kingdom of Judah want to do again and again? It wanted to ally itself with Egypt, ally itself with someone else. It wanted to like turn to another solution other than let me just be faithful to the Lord God. You know

apostasy from the truth is this rejection of the truth, right? It's this turning away, this I don't say definitive turning away, but it is a dramatic turning away. It's not just an error. It is saying, I reject what I know to be true. In the form of a religious deception, offering men an apparent solution to their problems of a price of apostasy from the truth. And this is gonna be so important

because we need to have our eyes open. There, in fact, the scripture says that, that there are many people who come forward offering solution. It goes on to say here, the supreme religious deception is, it's still paragraph 675, the supreme religious deception is that of the antichrist, a pseudo messianism, right? A fake messiah by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his messiah come in the flesh. Any temptation we have to glorify ourself in place of God and I would say this you know it could be anything to

glorify education in the place of God, to glorify politics in the place of God, to glorify good deeds in the place of God, to glorify tech you know technology in the place of God, to glorify a person in a place of God. All of those temptations we all have, every single one of us, we say okay you know this policy this is gonna be our solution or this political party this is gonna be our solution or this person we can elect that person will be our solution every time we have that or even you know again science science is gonna be our solution. All those things can be good, obviously can be good, but every time we replace God for any one of those things

it is turning away from the Lord. It's idolatry. It's turning toward the Antichrist. Now paragraph 676 becomes even. I mean man, every one of these paragraphs is like it's a punch to the face. I don't know if you felt it, but I did as I was reading it. 676, the Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history. So this promise for peace on earth, that is not going to happen until Christ returns. Yes, we fight for peace.

Yes, we long for peace. We work for peace. We work for justice. All of those things, but not at the price of truth Not the price of the dignity of individuals goes on to say the church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism Especially the intrinsically perverse political form of a secular messianism again whenever we decide to trust in a Kingdom whenever we decide to trust in a Kingdom whenever we try to trust in a nation whenever we decide to trust in politics our government it is

Those things have their place obviously and it's what a great gift it is when those things are working well That's amazing and there have been some pretty incredible civilizations At the same time to replace God with any of those civilizations. To place them above God is a severe and incredible error. Goes on to say, so the church, this is important for us, 677, this is so important. The church, that's us, that's what we're like, okay, I'm not going to give my heart over to politics, I'm not giving my heart to government, I'm not giving my heart to education or a policy. Well, I'll just give my heart over to politics. I'm not giving my heart to government. I'm not going to give my heart to education or a policy.

Well, I'll just give my heart to the church. Well, okay. Here's what you get prepared for. The church will enter the glory of the kingdom. Yes, but only through this final Passover when she will follow her Lord in his death and resurrection. It goes on to say the church will be fulfilled then not by a historic triumph of the church through progressive ascend then, not by a historic triumph of the church

through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil. Now think about this, what does this mean? You know, Pope Benedict, back years ago, he said that essentially, the church is gonna have to grow smaller, rather than the church becoming this massive force on the earth, like you know, Christendom, where all of the Western world is basically Christian, all the Western world

is basically Catholic. Here's the Church saying, nope, that's not what we're talking about. Where the Kingdom, the Church takes over the world, that's not going to happen. Only when we follow our Lord and His death and resurrection. So the Kingdom will be fulfilled not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy but only by God's final victory over the final unleashing of evil. And this is so important for us. If we're expecting, anticipating, the Church will be more and more powerful, you know,

the Catholic Church will be greater and greater, and we'll have so much influence on this world, that's what we're expecting. We may be expecting the exact wrong thing. We might be expecting something else. What we have to be expecting is we're going to follow our Lord in His death, in being misunderstood, in being rejected, in being hated, in being killed. That is the only way the Kingdom will be fulfilled by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause His bride to come down from heaven,

not by your and mine having power, not by your and mine winning and being loved by everybody. That won't happen. So don't expect that to happen. Does that make sense? I know it's a hard word, but it's just, man, it's a word that the church is just telling us. Listen, this is the 4,000 years of wisdom that has been painfully earned since Abraham till now. So last, last two paragraphs here, 678 and 679 before the nuggets, we recognize that there is the last day. And it says here a couple of new things that I just wanna highlight.

I know this is a little bit longer, yesterday was a little longer too. It says, then on the last day. And it says here a couple of the things I just want to highlight I know this a little bit longer yesterday was the longer two it says then on the last day the conduct of each one and the secrets of hearts will be brought to light so important our conduct and our secrets brought to light then will the culpable unbelief again the unbelief that we're responsible for not inculpable or not the belief that we're not culpable for but but the belief that unbelief that we are culpable for, that's our responsibility, then will the culpable unbelief that counted the offer of God's grace as nothing be condemned? How many times have you and I been offered God's gifts, offered His love, offered His grace, and just we counted it as nothing,

then that will be condemned. Our attitude about our neighbor will disclose acceptance or refusal of grace and divine love. Remember in Matthew chapter 25, Jesus has the sheep and the goats, right? He separates human being, all of humanity, like sheep and goats and says to one, truly I say to you, as often as you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me. And the others, he said, as often as you did not do this to one of the least of my brethren, you did not do it to me.

So our attitude about our neighbor will disclose acceptance or refusal of grace and divine love Last year in paragraph 679. This is all this is just worth praying about because it is it's the final test, right? This is the exam This is the final exam that the Lord will present before all of us in our last after our last breath Christ is the Lord of eternal life. Full right to pass definitive judgment on the works and hearts of men belongs to him as Redeemer of the world. He acquired this right by his cross.

Yet he did not come to judge but to save and give the life he has in himself. He doesn't want to, he didn't come to do this. He came to save us and to give the life he has in himself. Last sentence here before the nuggets. By rejecting grace in this life, one already judges oneself, receives according to one's works, and can even condemn oneself for all eternity by rejecting the spirit of love. This is possible. So because it's possible, let's take a moment. By rejecting grace in this life, I have the opportunity to go to confession

Ah, I'll go some other time. I'm already condemning myself. I Can even condemn myself by rejecting the spirit of love to recognize this that curious God who loves you so much And I could say I can be indifferent to this I can ignore that love I rejecting grace in this life. I judge myself make it personal. I judge myself And I receive according to my own works. And I can even condemn myself for all eternity. Not because I wasn't good enough. Not because I didn't do amazing things.

But because I rejected the spirit of love. So my prayer is, my brothers and sisters, right now, that all can change. It all can change with one decision. It all can change with this moment. I can make a decision right now. Lord, I resolve. The very next opportunity I have to go to confession, the very next opportunity I have to change my life,

the very next opportunity I have to say yes to you, I say yes to you now, right now. And just say yes to grace. In this life, we can say a yes that endures for all eternity. Or in this life, we can say no that endures for all eternity. Please pray for each other. Pray for honestly right now in this moment, please pray for every person listening to this podcast. Pray that every one of us, every one of us says yes in this moment says yes to God's grace. Pray that because we don't, I mean, mean all of us we don't tune into this podcast because we're perfect

We tune in because we're like I want to know I want to learn I want to love but I don't do it Perfectly, so please pray for every person right now in this moment Listening to this podcast that we all just say yes I'm I'm praying for each one of you That you say yes Please pray for me that I say yes now and at the hour of my death. That's how I'm praying for you and that's how I'm asking you to please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.