In this bonus leap year episode, Fr. Mike shares three profound excerpts from early saints—St. John Chrysostom, St. Jerome, and St. Vincent of Lérins—that highlight the importance of keeping God's Word close to our hearts. Fr. Mike invites us to take the next step in our faith journey by continuing to delve into Scripture and deepen our understanding of it. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.
Full Episode
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story unfolds and how we fit into that story today.
Today is day 366. because this year is a leap year. And so we have a little bonus episode. You were like, wait a second, I got done with the Bible in a year yesterday. What is happening today? Well, as I said, today's day 366. We're still another day left in this year. And if you are on your own reading plan, it might not be December 31st right now for you, but it could be any time of the year.
Praise God for that. Because we have, again, day 366. You know, it's been a number of years since we first recorded the Bible in a year. And it's remarkable the ways we've seen this podcast change people's lives. And the first question people asked him, how's it changed your life? I realized, well, I'm going to read some things today.
And today, as I'm reading things, I need to put on some readers. So there's a little change there. But in other ways, I'm just so grateful for, because I go back and I listen. I listen on a regular basis to this podcast. I have to listen at two times speed. And I know people think that's crazy, but I listen at two times speed for at least two reasons.
One is that, you know, when you listen to your own voice, you just are like, oh my goodness, that's what I sound like. If I go at two times speed, I can't hear myself. And then secondly, if I do listen at the normal speed, I am sitting there the entire time thinking, bro, you gotta talk faster. You're going so slow, which I know is maybe news for some people.
But the deeper reality of how has this podcast changed my life is the more and more I come into contact with God's Word as a whole, because of course, as a priest, we read the Bible multiple times a day, every single day. But there's something about coming into contact with God's Word as a whole that just roots me even more deeply in the heart of the Father.
And I don't know what I mean by that, other than there's something about, here as Catholics, we have liturgical seasons. And so we have kind of the same readings over the course of, on Sundays, over the course of a three-year plan. And when it comes to weekday masses, over the course of a two-year plan. And so we have the same readings regularly, which is fantastic and really, really good.
But there's something about those readings that we seldom encounter. That is just so good for me. I love the fact that, you know, even when we get to the names, we get to just, here is a bunch of names that could strike us as very random. There's something about those less read parts of scripture that are just really, really good for me. Beyond that, it's changed the lives of many, many people.
And I'm so grateful for that. The number of times I hear families saying that they have done the Bible in a year podcast, or we even have freshmen who show up on campus and they say, hey, my parents and I, we did the Bible in a year podcast, or I did this as a senior. I did this as a junior in high school. And I think that is amazing and so remarkable. And it just impacts my heart every time.
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