I heard an interview with Fr. Mike Schmitz for the first time yesterday. His Bible in a Year podcasts have had over 170 million downloads year-to-date, and are one of the most popular podcasts in the world. (The daily broadcasts will repeat starting January 1, and you can sign up anytime.) Fr. Mike explained the logistics of the daily broadcasts, but I was struck --- as he was --- as to the reason why he began them. He explained that through his own reading of the Bible, he developed an awareness of the big picture, the one constant throughout the Bible. God opened his eyes.
Throughout the Old Testament, he noted, the Jewish people were often rescued by God from terrible disasters, for which they gave Him thanks and praise --- only to forget a few years later all that He had done for them. So, the Jewish people then abandoned worship of God, only to be struck again with disaster for their sins. Over and over again, flood, exile, slavery, and slaughter of the Jewish nation came about, until God heard their prayers and rescued them, until the cycle repeated again. “But,” Fr. Mike noted, “I saw how despite their sins and abandoning of God, He never abandoned them. In their worst tragedies, they could be certain God would hear their prayers, and answer: You are not alone.”
Fr. Mike noted that the dark times we are in right now are not unlike the many dark times of the Bible. He thought that listeners of the Bible in a Year podcasts might be having the Bible’s big picture sink in for them also, and that may be the reason for its popularity. People yearn to hear: In these dark times, you are not alone.
It seems to be a message the whole world is yearning to hear.
The podcasts will repeat starting January 1, 2022.
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