The Faith Explained with Cale Clarke - Learning the Catholic Faith

Grumblers want to pass judgement on Moses and stone him to death. Speaking of rocks, God tells Moses to strike a rock. Water pours out for God’s people to drink. St Paul later said, “the rock was Christ”. But what does that mean? Let’s rock and roll!

Cale looks at Genesis 3:1-12 and discusses the concept of sin, the deception of the serpent, and the salvation God provides. Book: “In the Beginning… A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall” by Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI):  https://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Catholic-Understanding-Ressourcement-Retrieval/dp/0802841066

Cale looks at the military campaigns of Judas Maccabeus and the rededication of the temple. When was Jesus born – was it really toward the end of December?

If all Israel was a “kingdom of priests”, why do we have a ministerial priesthood in the Catholic Church? Plus: A fun Q&A mailbag question about angels.

God is about to reveal his 10 Commandments to Moses, on the holy Mountain. There is thunder, an earthquake, a dark cloud, and fire. A powerful trumpet blast. And all of these things reveal something about exactly who God is.

In the business world, they call it “key man risk”. If a CEO burns out or dies, the whole organization falls apart. That’s what’s happening with Moses: he’s trying to do the work of 10 men, and he’s falling into the devil’s trap of trying to be like God in all the wrong ways.

After plagues and battles, what a relief to see the camp of Israel as a quiet place of family, fellowship, and ordinary life! We, too, must find God in the middle of everyday life...or we’ll never find him at all.

Grumblers want to pass judgement on Moses and stone him to death. Speaking of rocks, God tells Moses to strike a rock. Water pours out for God’s people to drink. St Paul later said, “the rock was Christ”. But what does that mean? Let’s rock and roll!

Have you ever had the experience of failing a test, and having to take it over again? In Exodus 17, we see that God sometimes has to “re-test” his children again and again, before they can graduate to the next stage of the spiritual life.

Cale shows how the manna given to the Israelites in Exodus foreshadows the new and far greater “manna” given by Jesus: the Eucharist.

The wilderness was like going to Oxford, Cambridge or Harvard: a graduate education in the inner life. Test after test from God. This time? It’s hunger. God responds with the Manna and Quail. Will the Israelites learn the lesson that you can’t stockpile grace? It’s doled out daily, on demand, just in time...it’s the “Manna Mentality”.

The parched Israelites attempt to drink the desert waters at Marah, but they prove bitter and brackish. God gives a miraculous tree to make the bitter water sweet. Likewise, the Cross of Jesus Christ makes the bitterness of life endurable—and even sweet—as we share in his sufferings.

Women helped save Moses throughout his life, including his sister Miriam. In the same way, another Miriam—Mary—is there at the key moments of salvation wrought by the new Moses, Jesus Christ.

Cale examines the alleged discovery of Egyptian chariot wheels at the bottom of the Red Sea. Just the (arte) facts, Ma’am!

Before God parts the Red Sea, the pillar of cloud and fire separates the Egyptians from the Israelites. On one side is darkness, and on the other is light. Jesus is the light of the world, and one’s response to him determines whether one lives in spiritual darkness or in the light.

What was the original experience of man and woman that St John Paul II said was the “key” to understanding God’s plan? Why does the enemy want to “counterfeit” the sacraments, and marriage in particular? Cale deals with these questions and more in this final episode of the miniseries.

Today’s culture rails at the Bible’s view of sex and marriage. Is the Old Covenant hopelessly out of date? Is morality malleable? Let’s look back to the beginning — through Jesus’ eyes — to see God’s blueprint for relationships.

Given the violence in the Old Testament, many wrongly believe the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of Jesus Christ. The truth is that God always fights against evil, just in different ways throughout salvation history. 

Is God a “moral monster”, as one writer alleges when looking at the violence in the Old Testament? If God commands, “Thou shalt not kill”, then why all the killing in God’s name?

What’s the evidence OUTSIDE the Bible for the Exodus and Conquest of the Holy Land? You’ll just have to “stele” yourself for the results! Biblical minimalists, beware!

In this episode, Cale explains the rise of the “Minimalists” who question the historicity of Old Covenant events like the Exodus and the conquest of the promised land. Do their ideas hold any water? What’s at stake if they’re right?

Cale looks at which elements of modern evolutionary theory are compatible with Scripture and Catholic doctrine, and which are not — which is a separate question from whether or not evolution is the best scientific explanation for human origins.

Cale begins our new mini-series with a look at evolution. Is the Bible out of step with modern science? How should we understand the Creation narrative in Scripture? Learn how science and faith aren’t in conflict, but complement one another.

The mighty Egyptian army roars towards the Israelites, who are trapped against the Red Sea. When your back is against the wall (or the water!), God will rise up and act on your behalf, just as he did for Israel.  

Some Israelites would rather return to slavery under Pharaoh than serve God in freedom in the wilderness. We’re faced with a similar choice today. Like Bob Dylan sang about: “You gotta serve somebody!”