Father Mike Schmitz’s hit podcasts to begin airing on EWTN radio Jan. 15

 

Father Mike Schmitz preaches the homily while celebrating Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City before a Eucharistic procession through the streets Oct. 10, 2023. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

CNA Staff, Jan 12, 2024 / 15:10 pm (CNA).

EWTN Radio announced this week that Father Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” and “Catechism in a Year” podcasts will begin airing nationwide on Monday, Jan. 15.

Nationally, the podcasts will air back-to-back in a one-hour time slot beginning at 10 p.m. ET, the EWTN network said in a press release this week. (EWTN is the parent company of CNA.)

Local radio affiliates who add the show to their lineup will have the freedom to shift the program to a time that’s best for their audience. Listeners are therefore encouraged, EWTN says, to check the schedule of the EWTN affiliate in their area or listen for free on the EWTN app. More than 600 domestic and international AM and FM radio affiliates carry EWTN’s Catholic programming.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by EWTN Catholic Radio (@ewtnradio)

Schmitz, a priest of the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, who serves at the University of Minnesota-Duluth’s Newman Center, hosts both podcasts and offers prayers and reflections to accompany the daily text. “Bible in a Year” episodes run for an average of 23 minutes while “Catechism in a Year” episodes are generally slightly shorter.

Beginning at the start of 2021, the “Bible in a Year” proved to be a hit on the podcast charts, rising to No. 1 overall on Apple Podcasts shortly after the new year. Despite eventually relinquishing its No. 1 spot on the charts, “The Bible in a Year” has gone on to be downloaded more than 430 million times.

Instead of reading the Bible in a linear fashion from cover to cover, the podcast follows “The Great Adventure Bible Timeline,” developed by Jeff Cavins. This approach, which pairs readings from the 14 “critical narrative books” with readings from nonnarrative books each day, helps to maintain the story structure of salvation history, Schmitz previously told CNA.

“The Catechism in a Year” podcast follows a similar format to the “Bible in a Year” podcast, with 365 daily episodes, each including Schmitz adding his own short prayers and reflections. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops had to give Ascension specific permission to distribute the catechism in this format because it owns the copyright to the English translation for the distribution in the United States. That podcast, too, topped the charts for a time at the beginning of 2023.

While some people might think of the catechism merely as a resource, “like an encyclopedia,” Schmitz previously told CNA, he said he hopes his podcast will help listeners to appreciate the catechism as being permeated by “truth spoken in love.”

“[The catechism] is not just a heady document. [It has] a beauty that speaks to the heart, not just to the head,” Schmitz said.


If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!

Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.


About Catholic News Agency 12503 Articles
Catholic News Agency (www.catholicnewsagency.com)

1 Comment

  1. Great news!
    I find the Catechism in a Year actually easier to follow and more readable/listenable than some parts of the Bible.
    I can’t believe it took me thirty years to discover it. Where have I been??

1 Trackback / Pingback

  1. SATVRDAY AFTERNOON EDITION • BigPulpit.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

All comments posted at Catholic World Report are moderated. While vigorous debate is welcome and encouraged, please note that in the interest of maintaining a civilized and helpful level of discussion, comments containing obscene language or personal attacks—or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory—will not be published. Thank you.


*