How on Earth could it really be a mortal sin to miss Mass? This seems so harsh! Catholic Answers Apologist Karlo Broussard takes up a hard challenge as he defends the Catholic requirement to participate in Sunday Mass. There are exceptions, of course, but as Karlo makes clear, missing Mass is not a thing to take lightly.
Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers has an apparently unpopular answer to the scourge of racism—imitating Jesus. Our society refuses this path, preferring a culture of constant critique and revolution. It is time that the revolutionaries heard the hard truth—their cure is no cure at all. Real healing requires us to take up the Gospel with courage and humility.
From the beginning, support for abortion has relied on using language to hide reality — specifically the reality of killing an innocent boy or girl. We expect an avalanche of such language in the year ahead, given the likelihood of a new US Supreme Court abortion decision. In preparation, we asked pro-life brainiac Stephanie Gray Connors to help us cut through the deadly propaganda.
Mark Brumley, the well-read president of Ignatius Press, joins us for a brief conversation about books in which he gives his suggestions for Catholics looking for some good summer fiction.
Does the Catholic Church still teach that divorce is wrong, even sinful? And if so, why, especially given that so many Catholics are divorced? Leila Miller, author of Primal Loss: The Now-Adult Children of Divorce Speak, explains what the Church teaches about divorce and why this teaching remains essential.
Catholic author and speaker Elizabeth Kelly joins us for a discussion of the supposed “anti-woman” bias in Christianity. Is it real, or is it just a modern story disconnected from historical reality? Kelly is the author of books for and about Christian women, including Love Like a Saint: Cultivating Virtue with Holy Women.
You can hardly tune into a Catholic podcast or read a Catholic publication these days without someone complaining about the lack of manliness. But is a lack of manliness the problem, or a lack of Christianity in men? We asked the world’s most manly man, Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, to help us get to the roots of the manliness panic.
Todd Aglialoro, director of publishing here at Catholic Answers, offers ideas for some “delightful” Catholic summer reading. In this first of a two-part reading series, Todd offers non-fiction ideas, with fiction to come later.
Catholic writer Shaun McAfee joins us to defend the Catholic use of sacramentals — holy water, crucifixes, blessings, etc. This practice looks a lot like magic to both our Protestant and secular friends. Do they have a point? Shaun draws from his new book — 20 Answers: Relics and Sacramentals — to explain just what Catholics are up to.
It turns out that Catholic Answers Apologist Joe Heschmeyer is also a lawyer, so we asked him about the recent Supreme Court decision that allowed a Catholic social service agency to continue refusing to place foster children in the custody of gay couples. Is this discrimination? And what does this ruling suggest about the future of religious freedom?
Our own Tim Staples discusses the Catholic claim that there is no salvation outside the Church? How are we to understand this truth, and what does it mean for those who do not enter the Church?
In his new book, Love Never Fails, Madison Wisconsin Bishop Donald Hying helps Christians to take up the adventure of living in Christ, even in the modern world, every day. We asked him if we Catholics have taken on too much of the culture and lost our distinctiveness.
Karlo Broussard, author of Prepare the Way: Overcoming Obstacles to God, the Gospel, and the Church, answers the common Freudian objection to belief in God—It’s just wish fulfillment.
Tim Staples draws on his new School of Apologetics course — Evidence for the Church — to address the growing reluctance of some Catholics to accept the authority of church councils. Where do councils get their authority, and how much deference must a Catholic give them?
Karlo Broussard takes up the challenge of those who say Romans chapter 8 assures the Christian that salvation cannot be lost. The author of Meeting the Protestant Challenge puts this passage within the context of the full teaching of Jesus and the Apostles in order to uncover the truth about salvation.
Tim Staples returns to Focus with a question taken from his School of Apologetics course “Evidence for the Church“: Did Jesus really give his authority to a human institution?
Clearly Catholic bishops need closer collaboration with lay Catholics if we are ever going to get past the leadership models that led to the sex abuse crisis. But what is appropriate lay participation in keeping bishops honest? Jason Negri discusses one model being pursued by the Daniel Coalition, a local effort for reform in Lansing Michigan.
Fr. Simon Esshaki talks about the call from Jesus Christ for all Christians to go out into the world, sharing the good news. The call to evangelize has only grown more important, though it may look different today than it did in 100 A.D. Cy and Fr. Simon discuss the great importance of using social media properly in order to introduce people to Jesus Christ.
With his death and resurrection, Jesus completes the great work of our salvation and gives us the perfect sign that he has conquered sin and death. So are the Ascension and Pentecost just add-ons? Apologist Tim Staples says no. They are essentials, and filled with power.
Not all opposition to the idea of free will comes from atheists. In fact, a prominent strain of Christianity denies free will as it strives to defend the omnipotence of God. But does such a strategy turn God into a monster? Trent Horn explains.
