Day 127: Consecrated Life (2026)
5/7/202622 min
There are many ways that God calls people to lives of holiness. Just as he calls lay people to holiness, he also calls individuals to consecrated life, including hermits, consecrated virgins, widows, and religious. In a very intentional, specific, and lifelong way, those in consecrated life commit themselves to the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Father Mike helps us see how all the different kinds of consecrated life are a great gift to the Church and the world. Despite the many ways the Lord calls his children to holiness, the goal of each human life remains the same – intimacy with Christ. Today's readings are Catechism paragraphs 914-924.
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.
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMike Schmitz· Host0:00
[gentle music] 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 three hundred and sixty-five 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 one hundred and twenty-seven. We're reading paragraphs nine fourteen to nine twenty-four. 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. You can also download your own Catechism in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com/ciy. And also, you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast for daily updates and daily notifications. Today is day one hundred and twenty-seven. We're reading paragraphs nine fourteen to nine twenty-four about the consecrated life. You know, yesterday we talked about, and the day before, the lay faithful, how the vocation of laypeople is to be holy and to bring that holiness into the world by participating in Christ's priestly office, his prophetic office, his kingly office. Today, we're talking about consecrated life. So a couple things to keep in mind. One is we're gonna start by talking about the evangelical counsels. Now, you might say, "I wonder what those are." [chuckles] And the answer is e-evangelical counsels are poverty, chastity, and obedience. So every one of us is called in some way to live poverty, chastity, and obedience. And so every Christian, every baptized person, is called to live poverty, chastity,