The whole concern of doctrine and its teaching must be directed to the love that never ends. Whether something is proposed for belief, for hope or for action, the love of our Lord must always be made accessible, so that anyone can see that all the works of perfect Christian virtue spring from love and have no other objective than to arrive at love. [Roman Catechism, Pref 10] CCC 25
As I sit down to close this journey through the Catechism in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz, the paragraph quoted above keeps coming back to me.
Everything I’ve read, prayed, and reflected on this year has pointed to that: love. Not abstract ideas, not rules for the sake of rules, but love. The love of God and the love we are called to share with others.
It reminds me of what St. Paul wrote:
"So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor 13:13)
I love God, wretched sinner I may be. I see His love in the sacraments, in Scripture, in the moral teachings, in prayer, and in the life of the Church. Even on the (many) days I felt distant, distracted, or weak, God’s love never left me. Those struggles themselves have been part of His grace, teaching me patience, humility, and trust.
I began this journey at the end of June 2024 and, despite some bumps and hiccups along the way, have now reached an end of sorts. For those who have read or followed this online journal, please forgive my sometimes incoherent rambling, as well as my occasional lack of understanding. I am a simple man who loves God, with a finite mind attempting to touch the Divine the best I can. If you find anything useful here for your own journey, that pleases me. I stand by the recommendations I made back in January for anyone else on this journey, except I'd add Vol III as well.
As I finish this journey, my prayer is simple: let love be what I see, what I say, and what I do. Let it guide my thoughts, my actions, my heart. May everything I have learned become not just knowledge, but my life as a Catholic.
Amen.
Something more I'd like to add is my deepest gratitude to Fr. Mike Schmitz and the Ascension Press team. Their work, building on what St. John Paul II and his team began, has made this second go-round very rewarding.
Finally, what's next? The journey is never really over, as I will go back to the Catechism to mine it for more insights and expand into other readings. I probably won't blog daily on this, but next on my list is re-reading St. Augustine's Confessions using the Catholic Classics podcast with Frs. Gregory Pine and Jacob Bertrand Janczyk, followed by Bible in a Year podcast and then Rosary in a Year. After all these, who knows?
God bless.
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