Day 172: What Does Baptism Do? (2026)
6/21/202615 min
Baptism has profound effects upon the baptized: “purification from sins and new birth in the Holy Spirit.” The Catechism shows us that the graces of Baptism are so deep that—for the newly baptized—“nothing remains that would impede their entry into the Kingdom of God.” Fr. Mike relates to us the hard teaching that we are born mere beloved creatures of God—but through Baptism, we become adopted sons and daughters of God. Today’s readings are paragraphs 1262-1266.
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.
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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's 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 in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. It is day 172. We're reading paragraphs 1262 to 1266. 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 versions 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 you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Today is day 172. We're reading paragraphs 1262 to 1266. Yesterday, we talked about the necessity of baptism. We also talked about faith and baptism and who can baptize. Today, we're talking about the grace of baptism, right? What are the effects? What does it do? And this is pretty remarkable, I think, because sometimes, again, we keep saying this again and again, but oftentimes we can look at the sacraments as pure ritual, right? They are symbolic. They're not efficacious, and yet we are declaring in faith that baptism does something. It has a powerful effect. One of the things is it, you know, purifies us of sins. It gives us new birth in the Holy Spirit. We become a new creature, and, uh, we're given the gifts of faith, hope, and love. We're given the power to act under the power of the