Sunday Catholic Word

Episode 82: Year B – 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on three details in all, two of the three coming from the second reading, taken from 2 Corinthians 5:6-10. The relevant apologetical topics are Purgatory and the causal effect that our good works have on receiving eternal life at judgment. The third detail, found in the Gospel reading Mark...

Episode 81: Year B – 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on two details found in the readings for this upcoming 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, both of which have to do with Mary. The first detail, found in the first reading, taken from Genesis 3:9-15, is the enmity that God promises to set between the devil and the “woman.” For Catholics, as we shall see, this relat...

Episode 80: Year B – Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord In this episode, we focus on two details found in the first and second readings, along with the Gospel, for this upcoming Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Year B. Both of them pertain to the Eucharist. The detail in the first reading, taken from Exodus 24:3-8, overlaps with the one detail in the...

Episode 79: Year B – Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity In this episode, we confine ourselves to the Gospel reading for this upcoming Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year B, taken from Matthew 28:16-20. There are several details that relate to a variety of apologetical topics, two of which deal specifically with this Sunday’s solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity: The trinitarian formula fo...

Episode 78: Year B – Pentecost Sunday In this episode, we have the readings from Pentecost Sunday, Year B as our target for reflection. There are several details that we touch on. The first is the gift of “tongues” found in the first reading, taken from Acts 2:1-11. We will briefly touch on this detail given that we’ve already dealt with it for Pentecost Sunday, Year A. The other details, ho...

Episode 77: Year B – Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord In today’s episode, we reflect on several details found in the readings for this upcoming Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Year B, that are relevant for doing apologetics. We’ve already had the opportunity to reflect on some of them for the Solemnity of the Ascension, Year A in episode 26 of the Sunday Catholic Word. The othe...

Episode 76: Year B – 6th Sunday of Easter There are three details that I want to focus on in the readings for this upcoming 6th Sunday of Easter, Year B. The first two come from the first reading, which recounts the event involving. Cornelius and his Gentile friends, taken from Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48. The apologetical topic that both details relate to is the Sacrament of Baptism. The th...

Episode 75: Year B – 5th Sunday of Easter There are three details that we focus on in the readings for this upcoming 5th Sunday of Easter, Year B. One detail comes from the second reading, taken from 1 John 3:18-24. The relevant topic is the role good works play in our salvation. The other two details are found in the Gospel reading, which taken from John 15:1-8. The apologetical topics that...

Episode 74: Year B – 4th Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday There are three details that we highlight in the readings for this upcoming 4th Sunday of Easter, Year B, also called Good Shepherd Sunday. The first two details come from the first reading, taken from Acts 4:8-12. The relevant apologetical topics are Peter the Rock (and thus the Papacy) and Jesus’ divinity. The third detail is...

Episode 73: Year B – 3rd Sunday of Easter There are four details that we focus on for this upcoming Sunday Mass Readings for the 3rd Sunday of Easter. The first two come from the first reading, taken from Acts 3:13-15, 17-19. The relevant topics that come to fore are the early Church’s belief about Christ’s divinity and the Church’s teaching on invincible ignorance when it comes to sin. Deta...

Episode 72: Year B – Divine Mercy Sunday In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on three details that are relevant for apologetics in this upcoming Divine Mercy Sunday readings. The first comes from the first reading, which is taken from Acts 4:32-35, where we’re told the early Christians didn’t claim any possessions to be his own but had everything in common. Of course, the r...

Episode 71: Year B – Easter Sunday In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on five details found in each of the readings for this upcoming Easter Sunday, Year B. The first detail comes from the first reading, taken from Acts 10:34a, 37-43, which is Peter’s testimony that they have witnessed the ministry of Jesus and his resurrection. The relevant apologetical topic is that Chri...

Episode 70: Year B – Palm Sunday In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on nine details found in this upcoming Sunday Mass readings for Palm Sunday, Year B. The first two details come from the Gospel reading for the procession with palms, which is taken from Mark 11:1-10. The relevant apologetical topic is Jesus’ Messiahship. The next set of details come from the second readin...

Episode 69: Year B – 5th Sunday of Lent In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on five details from the readings for the 5th Sunday of Lent, Year B that relate to apologetics. The first two come from the second reading, which is taken from Hebrews 5:7-9. Each detail gives rise to questions concerning Christ’s perfection and the extent of his knowledge in his human nature. The...

Episode 68: Year B – 4th Sunday of Lent In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, there are two details in the readings for this upcoming 4th Sunday of Lent, Year B that we’re going to focus on that are relevant for apologetical discussions. The first comes from the second reading, taken from Ephesians 2:4-10, and it relates to the important topic of the relationship between our good work...

Episode 67: Year B – 3rd Sunday of Lent In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, there are three details that we focus on. One comes from the first reading, taken from Exodus 20:1-17, which records God’s deliverance of the ten commandments. The related apologetical topic is having religious statues within our religious spaces. Another comes from the second reading, taken from 1 Corinthia...

Episode 66: Year B – 2nd Sunday of Lent In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on three details that come into play when engaging in apologetical discussions. The first two come from the first reading, which is taken from the story of Abraham’s offering of Isaac in Genesis 22:1-18. The relevant topics here are several. First, there’s the issue of whether it’s consistent with G...

Episode 65: Year B – 1st Sunday of Lent In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on several details found in the second reading and Gospel reading that are relevant to doing apologetics. The first two come from the second reading, which is taken from 1 Peter 3:18-22. The relevant apologetical topics are the Sacrifice of the Mass, Purgatory, and the Sacrament of Baptism. The last...

Episode 64: Year B – 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on several details found in all the readings for this upcoming 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. Unlike what we’ve seen in all the previous episodes of the Sunday Catholic Word, these details aren’t as directly related to apologetical discussions as the details in previous readings. But...

Episode 63: Year B – 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on two apologetical details found in the second reading and Gospel reading for this upcoming 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. The first detail is found in the second reading, which is taken from 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23. The relevant apologetical topic that we discuss is the idea of...

Episode 62: Year B – 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on three details that are relevant for doing apologetics. The first comes from the first reading, taken from Deuteronomy 18:15-20. The apologetical topic that comes to the fore is the intercession of the saints, and particularly the objection from necromancy. The second and third details co...

Episode 61: Year B – 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we’re going to focus on three details that are relevant to apologetics. The first comes from the first reading, which is taken from Jonah 3:1-5, 10. The related apologetical topic is God’s immutability (the doctrine that God can’t change). The other two details are in the Gospel reading, which is taken from Mark 1:14-20. The r...

Episode 60: Year B – 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, the major apologetical topic that we focus on is Peter and the papacy. There are two details in the Gospel, taken from John 1:35-42, that enter this sort of discussion. The first is the fact that Andrew followed Jesus before Peter and the second is Jesus’ promise that Simon’s new name would be “Ceph...

Episode 59: Year B – Epiphany of the Lord In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, I focus on several details that come from the Gospel reading for this upcoming Sunday’s feast, the Epiphany of the Lord. The Gospel is taken from Matthew 2:1-12. We’ve already talked about some of the details and challenges that arise from this text in episode 7 of the Sunday Catholic Word for Year A, the...

Episode 58: Year B – Feast of Holy Family In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, I focus on five details that come from all three readings for this upcoming Feast of the Holy Family, Year B. The first detail is Abraham’s faith and the righteousness that is credited to him spoken of in the first reading option taken from Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3. When this detail is read in tandem with th...