"The Bible in a Year" podcast hosted by Father Mike Schmitz became a global sensation after its debut in 2021, helping millions around the world encounter the word of God. Now, the popular podcast from Ascension is back — but with a twist: "The Bible in a Year: Family Edition," hosted by Father Josh Johnson, launches on Jan. 1, 2027.
The new podcast is designed for families with children ranging in age from 7 to 12. Using both video and audio, families will be guided through the story of salvation in 365 daily episodes using readings from Ascension's upcoming "The Great Adventure Catholic Bible for Beginners."
The new podcast will follow a similar format as the original "The Bible in a Year" podcast. Each episode will include a Scripture reading, age-appropriate reflections from Johnson, time for prayer, and answers to a variety of Bible questions from children.
Johnson, a priest from the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, told EWTN News that the inspiration for the podcast came from those involved the first time around who realized that many of the original listeners of the podcast were now having kids and becoming parents.
Johnson has been working with Ascension for over 12 years. A year ago his bishop asked him to found the Blessed Stanley Rother House of Formation in the Baton Rouge Diocese. Johnson stepped away from his work with Ascension in order to focus on the seminary, his parish, and his parish school. He said when he was approached to take part in the new podcast, he "took it to Jesus."
While discerning whether or not to take part in the project, Johnson thought of all the children he works with personally at his school and in the community as well as their parents and the many gifts the podcast could bring them.
"We live in the inner city here in Baton Rouge. We serve a very impoverished low-income neighborhood. And so we have a lot of stuff we do for the teens in my neighborhood, but I was like, what if I could put this podcast, 'Bible in a Year,' in the hands of their parents to do it with them at home and this could be the reason why the parents would start coming to the sacraments," Johnson explained.
He added: "Every time we visit our neighbors who need help with their groceries, we feed them and we give them groceries and we help with their bills, I could always leave this podcast and that way as a family, many of them who aren't even Catholic or Christian yet … they could also be exposed to the word of God. So all these really beautiful things I thought could be a gift."
After praying and discerning, and receiving the approval of his bishop, Johnson took the plunge. He said he immediately felt an immense amount of peace after saying "yes" and that recording the podcast has been "the most intimate thing for me and Jesus."
He shared that he reads Scripture all day in order to make the commentaries for each episode. After he records an episode, it takes about 15 minutes to upload the episode, so he goes to Eucharistic adoration in the chapel he has below his recording studio.
"After 15 minutes of adoration, I come upstairs, record another episode, come back downstairs, adore Jesus, come back upstairs," he said. "So it's like a rhythm, almost like a monk. I get to proclaim the word of God and then pray in adoration, proclaim the word of God and pray in adoration. So it has honestly been one of the greatest gifts in this season of my priesthood."
Johnson explained that while the family edition of the podcast is very similar to the original, one of the main differences is the use of video. If families choose to watch each episode on YouTube, then children will be able to see cartoon images of the given story they're reading from the Bible that day. However, families can also choose to simply listen to the audio version.
He also pointed out that while there are many opportunities for parents and children to have encounters with God through conferences or retreats separately, there are few opportunities for children and their parents to have these experiences together.
"We want to bring families together. We want families to have conversations about the word of God," Johnson said. "Families watch movies together, they watch TV shows together, they read books together — we want them to read the greatest book together."
Johnson emphasized the importance of instilling a love for Scripture in children because "the Bible is the voice of God and God wants to speak to kids … God wants his voice to be heard by all of us, including kids."
"Imagine if they learn the language of the Lord, which is Scripture, then as they go to high school and college and they're tempted with the different temptations, the enemy that vies for their attention all day along with his many lies and accusations, they're going to know that's not the voice of God," he added.
As for his main hope for the podcast, Johnson said: "I hope that families fall in love with God."
"Jesus is love. It's what we were created for. So my deepest desire is that families together fall in love with the word of God and desire and begin to learn, to hunger, and yearn for God's word more than they yearn and hunger for social media or for their cellphones or for these passing pleasures."
The "The Bible in a Year: Family Edition" will be available on the Ascension YouTube channel and on all major podcast platforms.
