The Future is Human

St. Catherine of Siena w/Simone Rizkallah Today we have the opportunity to dive into the lives of one of my favorite saints (and one of the four women who are Doctors of the Church)--St. Catherine of Siena! Simone Rizkallah, Director of Program Growth for Endow joins me on the show to talk about St. Catherine's witness, her courage, her willingness to confront the Catholic hierarchy, and why she i...

Why Black Lives Matter w/Gloria Purvis Today on this Vernacular Podcast + Creedal Catholic crossover episode, Gloria Purvis joins us to talk about racial justice, George Floyd, systemic racism, and our national moment. It's a really good conversation, and Gloria has challenging words for the Church and for all Americans. NOTE: The title of this episode, "Why Black Lives Matter," expresses unqualif...

COVID-19 in Rome, a Women's Diaconate(?), and more w/Hannah Brockhaus Hannah Brockhaus, Senior Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency, joins us to talk about what it was like to be in Rome during COVID-19, the city's gradual reopening, Pope Francis' commissioning of a new body to examine women's diaconate ordination (again), St. Philip Neri, and more. Follow Hannah on Twitter: @HannahBrockhau...

Consecrated Virginity w/Lisa Marie Hunt Today I sit down with Lisa Marie Hunt, a Consecrated Virgin in the Diocese of Colorado Springs and the author of The Moment is Now . Lisa tells us about her conversion to Catholicism, her discernment process, her consecration, and more! If you'd like to learn more about consecrated virginity, check out consecratedvirgins.org for more info. You can also email...

Is God Behind COVID-19? w/ Fr. Anthony Giambrone, OP In this episode, Fr. Anthony Giambrone joins me to talk expand some of the ideas in his recent lecture for the Thomistic Institute entitled "Plagues: What We Can Learn from the Bible." We talk about breakfast with Emmanuel Macron, Albert Camus' The Plague , Thomas Aquinas, King David, and theological continuity between the Old and New Testaments...

The Physical Resurrection and Reflections on Divine Mercy On today's episode I announce a brief hiatus of new episodes until mid-May (while I record and plan new content), I dive into the evidence for the real, flesh-and-blood resurrection of Jesus Christ, and I reflect on the wonderful gift for the Church that is Divine Mercy Sunday. I'd love to hear what you think of this episode! Reach out to u...

Benedict XVI's "Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week" (Pt. 2) In today's episode I wrap up our Lenten Book Club by discussing the remaining chapters of Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week. Benedict XVI's exegesis helps us unpack a lot of interesting insights surrounding the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the trial of Jesus, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension. I highly recommend teh book if you haven'...

The Dangers of Gossip w/Simone Rizkallah In this episode, Simone Rizkallah, Director of Program Growth for Endow Groups ( www.endowgroups.org ) joins me to talk about the dangers of gossip. Along the way we talk about the Eastern Churches, the greatest theologian of the 20th century (you'll never guess who!), and a precocious high school student of Simone's. We'd love to hear what you think of thi...

Uniformity with the Will of God by St. Alphonsus Liguori Amidst the uncertainty of a global pandemic, it is important for all Catholics everywhere to remember the importance of uniformity with God's Will. As St. Alphonsus Liguori reminds us in this audiobook, "the essence of perfection is to embrace the will of God in all things." And yes, he even mentions plagues! "Uniformity with the Will of God...

Explaining Purgatory w/Kevin Beauchemin Zac sits down with Kevin to talk about the doctrine of purgatory, articulating the Church's teaching on purgatory and explaining that purgatory's existence is attested to by the threefold witness of reason, Holy Scripture, and Holy Tradition. We'd love to hear what you think of this episode! Reach out to us: Email | Instagram | Twitter | Patreon Other shows...

Benedict XVI's "Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week" (Pt. 1) Zac and Kevin break down the first four chapters of Benedict XVI's "Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week." Along the way, they talk about the Zucchetto color schemes, the Temple of Jerusalem, church unity, Plato's forms, and more. We'd love to hear what you think of this episode! Reach out to us: Email | Instagram | Twitter | Patreon Other shows on the...

Liturgical Living w/Kendra Tierney In this Lenten preparation episode, Kendra Tierney of Catholic All Year ( catholicallyear.com ) joins me to talk about what it means to live liturgically, why we all need to do it, and how you can start! To buy Kendra's book while it's on sale (through April 11th) at Ignatius Press, head to https://www.ignatius.com/The-Catholic-All-Year-Compendium-P3032.aspx . We...

Encylicalpedia: Caritas in Veritate w/Kevin Beauchemin In today's episode, Kevin Beauchemin returns to talk about Benedict XVI's third and final encyclical, "Caritas in Veritate" (Love in Truth). We talk about Catholic social teaching, American politics, Bernie Sanders, and more! We'd love to hear what you think of this episode! Reach out to us: Email | Instagram | Twitter | Patreon Other shows on...

Problems in Ecumenical Dialogue w/Casey Chalk In today's episode Casey Chalk rejoins the show to talk about some common problems in ecumenical dialogue. We talk about logical fallacies, argumentation, and what true ecumenism should look like. We'd love to hear what you think of this episode! Reach out to us: Email | Instagram | Twitter | Patreon Other shows on the Vernacular Podcast Network: Verna...

Appreciating St. John Henry Newman w/Paul McCusker I sit down with Paul McCusker to talk about the influence of St. John Henry Newman on the Church and on us personally, and Paul relates what it was like to be present for St. Newman's canonization (!!). Links: Some of Newman's work at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/8264 Formed: formed.org The Augustine Institute: augusti...

Reviewing "The Two Popes" On today's episode I sit down with Irish journalist, playwright, and author John Waters to talk about Netflix's hit movie The Two Popes (Mr. Waters recently reviewed the movie for First Things . The movie's critical success has been impressive, and both of its main actors (Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins) have received Oscar nominations. But underneath the acting perfo...

Episode Notes In today's episode--which is a crossover from Vernacular Podcast --we're talking about abortion--more specifically, how we're moving away from the language of "safe, legal, and rare" to an ideation of abortion as an unqualified good. This is a short conversation, but you may be interested in our longer discussion of this topic that we recorded originally in 2016. See our episode from...

5 Lessons From the Infancy Narratives Happy Epiphany! I hope you had a wonderful 12 Days of Christmas and are continuing the celebration of the Infant Jesus during this week of Epiphany. In today's episode, I draw on Benedict XVI's " Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives " to talk about 5 lessons from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke on 1) the Annunciation of John the Baptist; 2) the Annunciati...

"God Made His Word Short": Benedict XVI's Christmas Eve Homily (2006) Merry Christmas from Creedal Catholic! Enjoy this short reading of Benedict XVI's Christmas Eve Homily from 2006. It's great stuff. Music: What Child Is This (Greensleeves), Exzel Music Publishing ( freemusicpublicdomain.com ), Licensed under Creative Commons 3.0 We'd love to hear what you think of this episode! Reach out to us:...

"Protestantism Made Me Catholic" w/Casey Chalk In today's episode we sit down with Casey Chalk, who is a regular contributor to The American Conservative, Crisis Magazine, and New Oxford Review, among other publications. Casey and I talk about his journey to the Church and his recent article, Protestantism Made Me Catholic , which was responding to Onsi Kamel's opinion piece in First Things called...

"Familiaris Consortio" and the Catholic Family w/ Fr. Jim Baron In today's episode Fr. Jim Baron, Pastor of Holy Apostles Catholic Church in Colorado Springs, joins me to talk about Pope St. John Paul II's Apostolic Exhoration "Familiaris Consortio: The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World." We discuss whether or not the lessons of 1981 still apply today (they do), talk about vocations...

The Greatest Problem Known to Man In today's episode we briefly explore the "Problem of Evil," using atheist J.L. Mackie's formulation, which can be paraphrased as: "It is not possible that all three of the following are true at once: 1) That God is omnipotent; 2) that God is wholly good; 3) that evil exists." Is Mackie right? Is God not all good? Does God cause evil or only permit it? Why? Send y...

Defending the Real Presence w/ Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P. Today we sit down with Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P. (Order of Preachers--the Dominican Order) to talk about the real presence, how to understand the dogma of transubstantiation, and how to respond to some of the more serious objections to it. Fr. Dominic is the Director of the Thomistic Institute and Assistant Professor in Systematic Theology at th...

The Amazon Synod w/CNA's Hannah Brockhaus In today's episode we discuss the Amazon Synod with Hannah Brockhaus, Senior Rome Correspondent for the Catholic News Agency. We talk about living in Rome and our favorite pastas, why the Synod was called, what the Synod means, and the ridiculous "Pachamama" episode. Follow Hannah's on Twitter ( @HannahBrockhaus ) and read her work at the Catholic News Age...

How-To Catholic: Devotional Practices In this episode we talk about the traditional monthly devotions of the Church, bowing at the Holy Name of Jesus in Mass, abstaining from meat on Fridays, praying the Angelus at noon, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and much more! Links: How to Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet The Monthly Devotions of the Church "The Angelus" by Jean Francois-Millet "Are Catholics suppo...