Considering Catholicism

Part 2 of Greg, Ed, and Cory discussing why and how Christmas carols are no longer part of America's "Holiday Season."

Greg, Ed, and Cory ask why traditional Christmas carols are disappearing. Part 1 of a two-part conversation.

Greg's message on the Feast of the Nativity. Merry Christmas from One Whirling Adventure and the Considering Catholicism podcast!

After considering Catholicism for a year, Greg's Protestant friend Ed shares where he's at, whether he's ready to enter the Catholic Church, and asks, "How Catholic can I be without actually becoming Catholic?"

In this Church Chat with Ed, Ed asks Greg about whether and why Catholics have a "Sunday Obligation."

Join podcast host Greg Smith for a once-in-a-lifetime Lenten journey: a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and to Turkey, the land of the New Testament churches. Learn more: www.pilgrimages.com/gregsmith/holyland/

When people stop believing in the Church's central doctrines, they don't believe in nothing: they pick and choose, like in a cafeteria line, and make themselves a plate of pleasing doctrines to suit their own personal tastes.

I told Ed the Protestant that I had a surprise and to meet me at the parish this afternoon. When he arrived, I had him walk through an exhibit displaying the Church's history of Eucharist miracles, then I sent him into the chapel for his first taste of Eucharistic Adoration. When he came out, I turned on the recorder and got his impressions.

Along with the decorations, every year the same myths get brought out about how the Catholic Church was corrupted by the ancient pagans, and invented its Christmas celebrations by borrowing pagan festivals. So, it's time for Greg and Cory to swat down this nonsense and tell the truth about why and how the Church celebrates the Feast of the Nativity on December 25.

Greg and Cory explore the differences between Lutheranism and Calvinism, and how the road to Rome differs depending on whether you begin in Germany or Geneva.

Greg has produced four short videos exploring the connections between the Eucharist and Christmas. You can find them on the ConsideringCatholicism.com website and social media. Ed the Protestant sat down with Greg to explore how the Nativity of Christ echoes down through the ages in Holy Communion.

On the last Sunday before the season of Advent begins, the Church celebrates the Feast of Christ the King. Greg and Cory talk about where this celebration came from, what it means, and how we can apply it in our lives.

Greg and Cory discuss the "Five Solas," the framework that supports the Protestant worldview and keeps Catholicism at a distance…and how cracks can form in that worldview.

In this installment of Book Club, Greg and Cory discuss a novel by Michael O'Brien which, while in the science fiction genre, is a profoundly Catholic story: Voyage to Alpha Centauri.

For Protestants and other non-Catholics, relics are one of, if not the, weirdest things about Catholicism. Why do Catholics have and treasure relics -- bits of bodies and clothing -- of the saints? 

Greg and Cory discuss "sacramentals" (not sacraments), objects and devotional practice which have been blessed by the Church.

Ed asks Greg what Catholicism believes happens to us when we die. Greg explains the "Four Last Things: death, judgment, heaven, and hell." And that we must always memento mori, "remember our death."

Father Noah Thelan is a new, young Catholic priest. Greg asks him about why and how he became a priest, what it means to him, and what he hopes to accomplish in his priesthood.

In this Book Club episode, Greg and Cory discuss Robert Hugh Benson's 1907 novel Lord of the World, which has been strongly recommended by the last two popes (Benedict XVI and Francis).

On the fall equinox, Greg and Ed venture into deep, piney woods and discuss the present and future hope represented by "the Communion of the Saints."

Greg asks Father John Kartje, the Rector/President of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake and Mundelein Seminary, about what a Catholic priest is, how priests are formed in the seminary, and about what qualifies or disqualifies men to advance to ordination.

Paul Kraus, a prosecutor who has spent his career working with family and child abuse cases and is now running to become a family court judge, talks about what he has learned and how his Catholic faith will provide a framework for justly applying the law.

Ed the Protestant has never held or owned a rosary, much less prayed it. So Greg teaches him how.

Ed is curious about the Rosary, and Greg explains where it came from, its purpose, and why Catholics pray it.

I had to overcome my Protestant fear of the Hail Mary, but once I did, I realized that it isn't really about Mary at all.