Day 233: The Beatitudes (2026)

The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Ascension

On Day 233 of 'The Catechism in a Year,' Fr. Mike Schmitz explores the Beatitudes from Matthew's Sermon on the Mount, emphasizing their role

Key takeaways

• The Beatitudes are paradoxical blessings that sustain hope amid suffering and persecution.
• True happiness (beatitude) is not found in material success, fame, or human accomplishments but solely in God.

Main topics

• The meaning and significance of beatitude
• The Beatitudes from Matthew 5:3-12

Notable quotes

God alone satisfies.

We all want to live happily. In the whole human race, there is no one who does not assent to this proposition.

Conclusion

The Beatitudes reveal the ultimate purpose of human life: union with God and

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:05) 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 the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 233. We're reading paragraphs 1716 to 1729. As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes a 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 in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. And you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Today is day 233, paragraphs 1716 to 1729. Yesterday, we talked about the dignity of the human person and the dignity of the human person being, in so many ways, the basis for Catholic morality. That man is made in the image and likeness of God. I don't know if you remember this. you know, 24 hours ago, maybe, maybe it's even days ago. If you missed a couple of days, that's okay. You're here today. But we recognize that paragraphs 1701 to 1709 was basically almost like a gospel presentation, right? Here's God who's good. He made man in his image and likeness. Intellect, will, we have all that. Then sin happens. And yet at the same time, we still recognize the voice of God. We still recognize our high call. God gives us through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, the power to be able to do good, to be good. Now, today, the next step, article two, is our vocation to beatitude. And so we're going to talk about the actual beatitudes. We're going to look at the ones from Matthew's gospel. And then also our desire for happiness. So beatitude, in many ways, you can translate that as blessing. You can translate that as happiness. The beatific vision is that happiness vision, right? The happy vision of heaven, the blessed vision of heaven that God has made us. for himself. And God alone satisfies. This is so, so critical for us to understand. God has made us for himself. He alone satisfies. And yet, because of concupiscence, remember that big word, because of our attraction to sin, we think that other things, because our intellect is darkened and our will is weakened, we think that other things will make us happy. Yet, yet God's call to us, to himself, God's call to us, to true happiness, to true beatitude, never ceases. And so that's what we're going to talk about today. So let's pray and ask the Lord to help us to choose him today, not just by listening to these words, but by choosing him with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, loving him with everything. So we pray, Father in heaven, we ask you to please send us an abundance of your Holy Spirit so that we can truly love you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, that we can love you with everything. Lord God, the world presents to us. So many alternatives to goodness, so many alternatives to truth, so many alternatives to true beauty. We ask you to please help us to choose you. Help us choose the truth. Help us to choose beauty. Help us to choose goodness. So help us to choose you. God, you will never abandon us. Help us to never abandon you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is day 233. We're reading paragraphs 1716 to 1729. Article 2. Our vocation to beatitude. The Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus' preaching. They take up the promises made to the chosen people since Abraham. The Beatitudes fulfill the promises by ordering them no longer merely to the possession of a territory, but to the kingdom of heaven. As Jesus said in Matthew's gospel, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. Speaker 1 (4:34) The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his passion and resurrection. They shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life. They are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations. They proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ's disciples. They have