In January 2021, I had decided that I would not start the then-number-one podcast The Bible In A Year by Fr. Mike Schmitz. I had nothing against the lively priest (I had watched many of his Ascension Presents videos) nor Scripture of course, but I thought there were better ways to grow closer to the Lord in the new year. Months went by and many of my friends stopped listening to the podcast, but my mom continued to be a faithful follower. Prompted by her, I started listening to the podcast in May 2021, am now on Day 184 and counting.
Though I have read the New Testament and parts of the Old Testament, I have not read or listened to the entire Old Testament on my own. From Genesis onwards, the richness of the books and the wise insights from Fr. Mike struck me and increased my faith and wisdom.
The podcast always begins with an introduction, transitions into readings of passages from two or three books of the Bible, has a prayer of thanksgiving or praise, and closes with personal reflections on the text by Fr. Mike.
On Day 2, Fr. Mike laid out one of the main struggles of our lives through the lens of the Fall of Adam and Eve: trusting God as our Heavenly Father. “[The Evil One] doesn’t overtly challenge God’s existence or authority to declare the tree to be off-limits, but he does challenge God’s trustworthiness … Here is Satan who says, ‘You’ll certainly not die. God knows full well if you eat of this you’ll be like Him,’ and the implication is he doesn’t want you to be like Him … It’s a challenge of ‘Will you belong to Him or will you take your life into your own hands?’”
In my own life, I sometimes find it difficult to undertake a task the right way, as cutting corners is more appealing on the surface when doing so will require less time and energy. I see, like Adam and Eve, sin has the appearance of being good, but, as they and I have learned, is not truly good. As Fr. Mike says in this and other episodes, God is not arbitrary, but a providential, loving Father who knows what we need and provides a path for us that, though difficult at times, is moving us closer towards Heaven every day we decide to stay on it.
On Day 34, the Passover was instituted in the Book of Exodus. Fr. Mike connects the Passover lambs and their blood that prevented the deaths of the first-born sons of Israel with Jesus Christ. John the Baptist proclaims Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, St. Paul calls Jesus our Passover lamb, and St. Justin Martyr writes about only professing Catholics being able to eat of the Eucharist, which is the true body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus and the Sacrament prefigured by the Jewish Passover feast. Further, before the Jewish Passover, participants would live with the sacrificial lamb for a week to keep it unblemished in preparation. You would become attached to the lamb, like we do when reading the words of Christ in the New Testament, but still trust God the Father to allow His Son’s sacrifice to be completed for the salvation of many.
On Day 99, the first Messianic Checkpoint, when listeners move ahead to the New Testament so that we can hear the words of Christ before November, in the Gospel of John, Fr. Mike emphasizes St. John the Evangelist’s establishment of Jesus’ identity from the introduction, writing, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Many people today see Jesus as a ‘nice guy’ or ‘wise man’, but his beloved disciple St. John, as well as his apostles and the early Church Fathers, knew and wrote that Jesus was and is divine, co-eternal with the Father.
I plan to finish the podcast by the end of this year and I look forward to listening to books like Sirach, Daniel, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and other books I haven’t read much from. I encourage everyone to listen to The Bible In A Year on the bus or walking around the Res. It will serve as a mirror to your own life and encourage you to keep the faith.
Max Montana is a senior studying philosophy and theology. When not writing for The Torch, he enjoys reading more about the Catholic faith and philosophy, serving the unborn and mothers in need, and hanging out with friends. Max is honored to hail from the state with many gators and the bishop of the moon: Florida.
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