Day 253: Participation in Public Life (2026)
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What is the Catechism’s teaching on the obligation to participate in the common good?
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 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. This is day 253 We Are Reading Paragraphs 1913 to 1927. As always, I am using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes a 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 catechism in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com/slash CIY.
Lastly, you can click follow or subscribe on your podcast app for daily updates. Dealing notifications. Today is day 253. We're reading 1913 to 1927. It's the end of this little section, the section we talk about participation in social life. So we talked about authority a couple days ago. Yesterday we talked about the common good, and today we're talking about responsibility and participation that essentially Everyone, to whatever degree they're able, to whatever how about this, make it personal. All of us to whatever degree we are able to Must participate according to our position and role in promoting the common good. This is kind of baseline humanity. So remember, we're talking about human dignity, the dignity of the human individual, the human person.
That's so good. But we need community. And as part of community, we need to participate in that community. We can't just merely be recipients of the benefits of the common good. We have to be contributors in some ways as well. We can't just be consumers, the church is saying here. We have to participate. Participate and take personal responsibility for whatever we can do. So we're going to talk about that today. It's pretty straightforward. I'm pretty pretty clear, but it involves also a deeper sense of conversion, which is also why we're going through this whole catechism, right? This not just data transfers, not just information transfers, but transformation. And paragraph nineteen sixteen highlights this.
It highlights that there must be a continual, renewed conversion of everyone involved. And that's what we're here for. We're here for conversion. We're here to take responsibility for our own spiritual lives, responsibility for what we can do. to promote the common good and participate in the life of the society. So since we need help, let us pray. Let's pray and call upon our Father in heaven. Father, in heaven, we praise you and we glorify your name.
How does paragraph 1913 define participation as a voluntary and generous social engagement?
In the name of your Son Jesus Christ, we ask that you please Help us. Help us to see where it is we have a circle of influence and where we have merely a circle of interest. We ask that you please help us in that circle of influence to act in whatever way is best, not just for ourselves and for those who are close to us, but also for the common good. Help us to act in whatever way is best for the most amount of people. Help us to always, always take responsibility for our individual and personal participation in our Society, in your church, and in the way in which you desire to save the world. Jesus, please. Send us your Holy Spirit. Send your Holy Spirit upon the earth and renew the face of the earth.
Pour forth your spirit into our hearts, into our minds, and help us take responsibility for the tasks and the positions, the roles that you've given to us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It's day two hundred and fifty three. We've got some nuggets at the end of nineteen thirteen and nineteen twenty seven. Responsibility and participation. Participation is the voluntary and generous engagement of a person in social interchange. It is necessary that all participate, each according to his position and role, in promoting the common good.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the Catechism’s teaching on the obligation to participate in the common good?
0:05–2:18
2
How does paragraph 1913 define participation as a voluntary and generous social engagement?
2:18–5:43
3
Why is personal responsibility essential for fulfilling our role in society (para 1914‑1915)?
5:43–8:13
4
What does the principle of subsidiarity mean for everyday actions like “see a need, fill a need”?
8:13–10:31
5
How are citizens called to take an active part in public life and voting (para 1915‑1916)?
10:31–12:45
6
What is the ongoing need for continual conversion among social partners (para 1916)?
12:45–14:59
7
How do stories of courage, justice, and mercy shape the next generation according to the Catechism?
14:59–16:49
8
What practical steps can listeners take today to promote the common good in their families and communities?
16:49–21:46