Day 171: The Necessity of Baptism (2026)
6/20/202620 min
“Baptism is the sacrament of faith.” The Catechism explains to us who can baptize as well as why we need Baptism for eternal life. It also explains to us what happens when people die without the opportunity for Baptism. Fr. Mike addresses our “what about” questions concerning Baptism. Most especially, Fr. Mike addresses the destination of those who will never have the opportunity to hear the Gospel or be baptized. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1253-1261.
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
[outro 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 seventy-one. We are reading paragraphs twelve fifty-three to twelve sixty-one. 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 free Catechism in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com/ciy. And lastly, you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Today is day one hundred and seventy-one. We are reading paragraphs twelve fifty-three to twelve sixty-one. We're talking more about baptism. So we recognize that faith and baptism go hand in hand, and sometimes it's the faith of the baptized person, right, the faith of the person who's asking for the sacrament of baptism, and sometimes it's the faith of the parents or the godparents that speaks. But nonetheless, there always has to be faith. We're also gonna talk about who can baptize and the necessity of baptism today. And so as we launch into these three pieces, how closely united faith and baptism are, who can baptize, and the necessity of baptism, I think it's worth it. I think it's worth it to come before the Lord and just give this day to Him. Whether you're listening to this at the beginning of the day, middle of the day, end of the day, to be able to say, "Okay, God, whatever this day