The Art of Catholic with Matthew Leonard

What does the spiritual life of a ninja blackbelt surfer look like? The answer might surprise you. (The dude quotes Aquinas, for crying out loud.) Join me for the conclusion of my conversation with adventurer and EWTN radio host Bear Woznick. We're getting deeper into the practicalities of meditative prayer and the overall trajectory of the spiritual path for Catholics. But that's not all. A big p...

I meet a lot of people in my line of work...none like this guy. Have you ever talked prayer with a guy who is a World Surfing Champ? Ever discussed the spiritual life with a bona fide ninja blackbelt? How about chatting virtue with anyone who rode their bike (i.e. bicycle) from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean? Me, neither. That is, until I met Bear Woznick. (Yes, that's actually his legal...

I already know the answer, but I'm going to ask anyway: Have you ever been fully satisfied? How about completely free? For how long? How long until you want a new smartphone? How far into the woods do you need to hike to "get away from it all"? How long before the new car smell wears off? (Approximately 3 1/2 minutes for those with children.) Most of us discovered a long time ago that nothing here...

I told you it was good. Part one of my interview with Mike Aquilina about his book Keeping Mary Close: Devotion to Our Lady Through the Ages was awesome. The conclusion is even better. You've got to hear Mike because he really gets fired up showing how even heretics and atheists understood early Christian devotion to the Mother of God, and mocked them for it. He also discusses how love of Mary is...

I sure wish I'd known this 18 years ago. I'd probably have become Catholic a lot faster. In this episode of The Art of Catholic, I've got one of my favorite people, Mike Aquilina, ready to lay down some serious Early Church knowledge. But we're not just interested in history. We're going to dig into what the Early Church believed and practiced with regard to the Virgin Mary. Adding to the already ...

Admit it. Just like everybody else, your 2016 New Year's resolutions are already in the toidy. (That's a technical term.) And for most of us,  those resolutions dealt with habits we've acquired and want to get rid of like smoking, drinking, or Jazzercise. Then there are those virtuous habits we want to acquire. Virtuous habits will get their own podcast at a later date. Since most of us remain in...

I've made no bones about the fact that Mary was easily the most difficult issue I faced in becoming Catholic. This show is about the scriptural argument that got me over the hump. In the last two episodes (23 & 24), we dealt with the Immaculate Conception. This time, we're going to fill in some background on the Ark of the Covenant from the Old Testament, and then explore the stunning parallels la...

The more you understand it, the more you realize the Immaculate Conception is a fundamental part of the Gospel message. And, yes, it's in the Bible...big time. This is part 2 of what I started in Episode 23. This episode is going to focus on the Angel Gabriel's encounter with Mary in the Annunciation scene from Luke chapter 1. Far more than just a classic scene in every school's Christmas play, it...

You may love Mary, but can you explain the Immaculate Conception? Better yet, can you explain it from the pages of the Bible? The dogma that Mary was preserved from the moment of her conception from the effects of Original Sin is one of the most important, yet misunderstood Catholic teachings. Many Catholics, not to mention Protestants, don't realize the vital role played by this dogma, much less...

It's not just because we want to look cool or think bigger is better. Catholic Bibles are simply bigger than Protestant Bibles. (And I don't mean they're printed in a larger font. I mean ours have more books than theirs.) The question is "Why?" It's a huge issue...one of, dare I say, biblical proportions. One of the fundamental principles of Protestantism is the doctrine of sola scriptura - the Bi...

This one may be better than the first (which is saying something). In Episode 020 of The Art of Catholic, I began an interview with Dr. Andrew Jones about the very different world of the High Middle Ages. (By different, I'm not only referring to their penchant for body armor and ale.) In particular we talked about the huge impact of the Fourth Lateran Council, and started to dabble in how medieval...

Okay. I'm about to ask you a question. Be honest...Raise your hand if you've ever heard of the Fourth Lateran Council. Okay...How about Pope Innocent III? For those of you with your hands still up, how many of you can give me any details on either?...Anyone? Bueller? (That never gets old.) Believe it or not, not knowing is a giant hole in our education. Everyone should know something about both be...

The entire Catholic faith boils down to one thing - be like Christ. That's the point of prayer and the purpose of the sacraments. It's the whole enchilada. And if you want to know what it means to be like Christ, look no further than Philippians 2. The opening verses of St. Paul's letter to the Church at Philippi are the key to unlocking his inner life; the self-sacrificial, self-emptying, life-gi...

Do you believe in the Trinity? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is both all God and all man at the same time - consubstantial with the Father? Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God? Most of you are nodding your internal head, saying "Yes, Matt, of course we do." These are issues most Christians take for granted. We believe them because they are fundamental to our faith. We believe them becau...

We all want to know where we come from. What are our biological roots? Who are we related to? People spend a lot of money every year tracing their family tree (hoping it forks!). As Christians, we should desire to know our family tree, too. Like in our natural families, we should want to know who has gone before us in the Faith and what they believed. We should want to know our history. Now's our ...

Are you concerned about your children and grandchildren? Do you worry whether or not they'll stay in the faith? Have they already left? Allow me to introduce you to someone who has devoted his life to doing everything he can to help them stay, or bring them back. His name is Mark Hart, and he's the Executive Vice President of Content and Identity at Life Teen, one of the leaders in evangelizing yo...

You can have all the money in the world, but you can't buy suffering insurance. Doesn't matter if you're Catholic, Protestant, Pagan or Martian. Everybody experiences it. And when Jesus offered himself back to the Father for our sake, he didn't merely deal with the consequences of sin. Rather, he struck at the root of suffering - Original Sin - the sin of Adam. But he did it in a way that seems cr...

Question: What do adoption, 80s singer El DeBarge, and the spiritual life have in common? Answer: Bob Rice. Any man who plays the accordion (and has an album starring said instrument titled "The Gospel Accordion to Bob Rice") is just a little on the unusual side. But if by "usual" you mean boring and predictable, I'll take unusual any day. And trust me when I say this show was anything but boring...

"Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy. Amen" We say that "Fatima prayer" at the end of every decade in the rosary. But what exactly are we begging deliverance from? This is probably the deepest podcast I've done to date. How could it not be when dealing with the scariest topic in the world...hell. Nob...

Question: What do you get when you take a Canadian Presbyterian pastor's kid and send him to an orthodox American Catholic university where he has to take a Natural Family Planning class with a pretty girl? Answer: A convert with eight kids! That's what. But unlike a lot of Catholic converts in the public eye, Kevin Lowry is a businessman. That doesn't mean he doesn't do the normal convert stuff....

Paul got knocked off his high horse (maybe). Augustine heard a voice say "take and read." David Currie got a catalog. The Lord moves us to conversion in mysterious ways. If you're thinking "a catalog doesn't seem like the most interesting of manners in which to convert", you're wrong. I love this conversion story. I mean, how many convert stories have you heard where a guy who really, really wants...

Do you consider yourself an evangelist? Can you easily share the Catholic faith with others? Does the phrase "New Evangelization" conjure up images of people knocking on your door? Even if your answers were "No." "No." "Yes.", you can relax...but not too much! My guest on this edition is Terry Barber, founder and President of St. Joseph Communications, and founder and chairman of Lighthouse Cathol...

Lots of people have stories. Few of them are as exceptional and inspirational as this one. Shak Hill is a former Air Force fighter pilot pilot who flew classified Top Secret missions, including combat in Desert Storm.   He finished off his military career serving as a flight commander in the presidential wing at Andrews AF Base, MD, providing congressional and VIP support. He made a run at the US...

Lots of saints make strong statements about prayer. St. Alphonsus Ligouri is probably the scariest. Referencing St. Teresa of Avila, he once stated that "He who neglects mental prayer needs no devil to carry him to hell. He brings himself there with his own hands." Yikes! Lucky for you (and me), we're not talking prayer with him today. Instead, Mr. Dan Burke is the featured guest in this episode o...

Everybody comes from some kind of family. Some are good. Some are bad. Most are crazy in some way or another. Regardless, family is the building block of all society because our families image the family of God. And as we all know, families are under attack. In fact, one of the biggest problems men face in today's society is that we're constantly being fed this ludicrous idea that men are idiots....