Healing Our Spiritual Snake Bites (March 24, 2026)

Welcome to The Daily Catholic Deep Dive, the daily show that connects the dots between the Bible, the Catechism, and the Catholic life.

Ever wonder what the hidden connection is between today's Old and New Testament readings? Or how the central theme of The Bible in a Year aligns with The Catechism in a Year? We even look at how the daily Rosary meditation and the Saint of the Day tie it all together.

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Today’s Sources:

• Daily Bible Reading - March 24, 2026 | USCCB (Reading I: Numbers 21:4-9; Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21; Gospel: John 8:21-30)

• Day 83: The Gibeonite Trickery — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (Joshua 8–9, Psalm 126)

• Day 83: Jesus and the Temple — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (Paragraphs 583–586)

• March 24, 2026 | Catholic Daily Reflections | Formed (Reflections on Numbers 21 and John 8)

• The Great Fast | Day 30 (St. Michael's Abbey Lenten reflections on the bronze serpent and the Passion of Christ)

• “I AM” — The claim that shocked everyone (Good Catholic Morning Offering reflection on John 8:21-30)

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Daily Catholic Dip Dive. We're here to connect the dots between the Bible, the Catechism, and your daily life. Every day we go over the daily mass readings, Father Mike Schmitz's Bible in a year and Catechism in a Year, plus other popular Catholic podcasts and videos released today we find interesting. If you feel a bit overwhelmed by all the daily Catholic listening, don't worry. We are here to find that one golden thread that ties it all together. Let's dive in. Today is Tuesday, March 24th, 2026. So uh we have a really profound menu for you today. We're pulling from the USCCB Daily Mass readings, Father Mike's Bible in a year, and Catechism in a year, and you know, we've also got some great daily reflections from Dr. Tim Gray at the St. Augustine Institute, St. Michael's Abbey, and good Catholics.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Yeah, it is a packed one. And um to really get into it, we should probably start with the Old Testament reading today. It's from Numbers chapter 21, verses 4 to 9. So the Israelites are in the desert, they're complaining, and God sends these fiery serpents.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Right. The the whole snake bite situation.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Exactly. And God tells Moses to mount a bronze serpent on a pole. Anyone who looks at it will live. And you know, Jesus makes a direct, striking callback to this in the gospel today. That's from John chapter 8, verses 21 to 30. He tells the Pharisees, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Which honestly brings up a tension I think a lot of us wrestle with. I mean, Dr. Tim Gray and the reflection from St. Michael's Abbey both point out that we are all, spiritually speaking, anyway, snake-bitten by sin. But why does God use the exact image of our poison like a serpent or, you know, the brutality of the cross to cure us?

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Well, it's because gazing at the consequences of our rebellion kind of forces us to confront our reality. It's this ultimate paradox of healing.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Oh, I see.

SPEAKER_01 1:45

Right? We look at the very thing that poisoned us or the very instrument used to kill the Son of God. And instead of finding condemnation, we find God's ultimate love. And that love is what actually cures our refusal to love.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Wow, yeah. And the gospel makes it clear that the person on that cross isn't just like a prophet. The good Catholic reflection really hones in on Jesus saying, I am, to the Pharisees. He tells them if they don't believe that I am, they're gonna die in their sins.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Yeah, by using the divine name I am, Jesus is doing something radical. He isn't simply stating that he exists, he is stepping completely outside of linear time and claiming to be existence itself. I mean, he is God.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Wait, really? So if Jesus is stepping outside of linear time by saying, I am, does that mean the crucifixion isn't just an isolated historical event? Like is it happening outside of time?

SPEAKER_01 2:33

That is the crucial takeaway exactly, because he's existence itself. The saving action of the cross becomes this eternal, ever-present reality. It's something we can tap into right now in the midst of our own daily failures.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Aaron Powell Speaking of our failures, gazing at our own snake bites really requires us to admit when we've messed up. And uh the Israelites give us an absolute masterclass in messing up on day eighty-three of Bible in a year. This is covering Joshua chapters eight and nine.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Oh, the Gibeonites.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Yeah. I mean, they get entirely tricked by the Gibeonites into a peace treaty because they just didn't ask God for direction. It's honestly like signing a 30-year mortgage without reading the fine print or uh even consulting your spouse.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

That's a great analogy. It is a massive blunder, yet God honors this flawed, deceptive agreement. He takes their foolish, rushed decision and uses it to ultimately save the Gibeonites, bringing them right into the family of Israel.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

Aaron Powell, which you know makes sense when we look at how ancient covenants actually worked. A contract is just an exchange of property, but a covenant is an exchange of persons. It's essentially an adoption.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

So even though the Israelites were tricked, they swore an oath that legally bound the Gibeonites to their family tree forever, which explains the mechanism of why God held them to it.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Aaron Powell And if we carry that idea of expanding the family over to day eighty-three of Catechism in a year, Father Mike explores how Jesus expands the covenant for all of us through the temple. So just as God brought outsiders in, Jesus replaces the physical building of the temple entirely.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Because the physical temple was the dwelling place of God, right? And the site of sacrifice.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Precisely. Jesus offers his own lifted up body as the new temple. He becomes the eternal site of the sacrifice of Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Which is literally what the word Eucharist means.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Right. And it's open to everyone. And that brings us right to our golden thread for today. God takes our brokenness, our foolish decisions made without his direction, our snake bites, and he heals them all when we look up to his son, who makes that eternal sacrifice present to us.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

It really reframes the entire narrative of our faith.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

It does. And it leaves you with an important challenge as you go about your day. When you look at a crucifix today, do you just see a historical event or do you see your own personal rescue mission?

SPEAKER_00 4:48

That's our deep dive for today. We hope this helped you see the big picture. If you enjoyed this content, please remember to subscribe to the show or support our mission through the link in the description. God bless.