The Real + True Podcast

In this podcast, we’re joined by Jennifer Baugh, the founder of Young Catholic Professionals (YCP). Parish ministries often overlook one crucial age range – people who have recently graduated college but haven’t yet fully established themselves in a career or marriage. For the Church to better evangelize and accompany this age range, we need to understand their unique needs. We discuss Gen Z and t...

Summary: In this podcast, we’re joined by Dr. Timothy O’Malley, Notre Dame Professor of Theology and Director of Education at the McGrath Institute. This episode tackles the relationship between catechesis and evangelization and what parish leaders can practically do in light of this relationship. The need to evangelize plays out on the ground in parishes. And many parish leaders don’t know where...

Summary:  “We are entrusted to each other.” In this podcast, we’re joined by Dr. Lesley M. Rice, Assistant Professor of Bioethics at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at The Catholic University of America. Today she shares about the WHY behind the Church’s teachings on IVF, reproductive technologies, end of life care, and how God’s plan for life and love lead...

Summary:  This episode is a concise and practical explanation of a way to use a unique feature of the catechism to unlock scripture. Using the index of citations, found in the back of the catechism, we can look up specific passages of scripture and find all the paragraphs of the catechism that reference this scripture passage. This is a great way to read scripture and the catechism together and vi...

S2E8 Podcast Show Notes: Mari Pablo   Mari Pablo, a seasoned religious educator and youth minister, joins Edmund on this episode of the Real+True Podcast. Their discussion starts with dissecting Maris’ pedagogy in presenting the Church’s moral teaching, the importance of ‘first principles,’ building trust with students, and finally the power of personal testimony. Edmund asks Mari how she’d respon...

“I'm convinced most of our problems in catechesis is we spend more time talking about what God wants of us than who God is.” Deacon Bob Rice, professor of Catechetics at Franciscian University of Steubenville, joins us to dive into the heart of catechesis, what our youth are most hungry for, how we can share the Gospel with those far from God, and how to make the bridge between dogma and ever...

Emily and Edmund welcome John Galvan, Vice President of Assessments at the National Catholic Education Association. John has served in Catholic ministry for many years and brings to the podcast a wealth of wisdom and fever for sharing the Catholic faith. Together with our host, he discusses the power of experiences, practical ways to share the faith in your home, and what’s giving him hope these d...

Summary: “I think to look at the catechism as a just book would be a mistake.” Edmund welcomes Julianne Stanz, author, speaker, USCCB consultant and Director of Parish Life and Discipleship for the Diocese of Green Bay. Julianne shares her extensive knowledge on discipleship and how she sees the role of the Catechism within the life of a missionary disciple. Get to know her story, how her relation...

Summary: Edmund and Emily invite Pete Burak to this episode of the Real+True Podcast. Pete is the Director of i.d. Young Adult Ministry, and Vice President of Renewal Ministries in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He’s a graduate of Franciscian University, and Sacred Heart Major Seminary. Pete has been in young adult ministry for a decade and shares his insights into the roadblocks young adults are facing in...

 “The dogmas of the faith are points that we can start at to begin the lifelong adventure of trying to understand them.” Edmund welcomes the Director of the Vatican Observatory, Br. Guy Consolmagno. Together they dive into the mystery of the universe, science, and how all of God’s creation leads back to him. Listen to hear practical advice of walking with science-minded skeptics of the faith, and...

Emily and Edmund welcome to the Real+True podcast Dr. Petroc Willey, Ph. D, who has dedicated his life to studying and sharing the gift of the Catechism with our Church. This episode tackles the questions, “what’s the difference between catechesis and evangelization? Do they overlap at all? And how do we encounter Christ in the Catechism?” Dr. Petroc Willey, Ph. D shares how he first encountered t...

Join us for a NEW season of the Real+True podcast. We have some exciting changes planned – including interviewing expert guests about the intersection between the catechism and the modern world. Plus: we'll be talking about how we can continue to use the catechism to answer relevant and important questions people have, and where we see the catechism as a source of inspiration for our lives an...

What role does ‘beauty’ play for our catechesis in the modern world? Emily and Edmund welcome Dr. Jem Sullivan, an expert in catechesis and sacred art, and professor at the Catholic University of America. Together they explore how beauty is a path for catechesis, including architecture, sacred music, paintings, sculptures, mosaic, and stained glass. They give practical tips to incorporating beauty...

Show Notes: (00:11) Your hosts Emily and Edmund welcome you to the Unit 12 podcast. This unit’s theme is: Jesus died to destroy death and rose to restore life until he comes again. These videos cover Catechism paragraphs: https://www.catholiccrossreference.online/catechism/#!/search/988-1065 (988-1065). Proclamation video: How to die well. Explanation video: What happens after we die?  Connection...

Show Notes: (00:11) Your hosts Emily and Edmund welcome you to the Unit 11 podcast. This unit’s theme is: Jesus gave the Apostles and the Church the power to forgive sins. These videos cover Catechism paragraphs https://www.catholiccrossreference.online/catechism/#!/search/976-987 (976-987): Proclamation video: Is there room for mercy in the justice system? Explanation video: How does the Catholic...

Join Emily and Edmund as they dive into the gift of our heavenly friends, the saints. In this unit, Real+True explores the power of role models, and the communion of saints. Our hosts explains who the saints are, how we can have a relationship with them, and what role they can play in our lives. Watch out for news about Real+True presenting at the Vatican this fall.(00:08) Your hosts Emily and Edm...

Join Emily and Edmund as they dive into the mystery of the Church! Unit 9 is all about the Church as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. This episode breaks open the invitation of unity offered to us by the Catholic Church, and reveals how the Catechism articulates that invitation. Emily references Star Wars, and Edmund reflects on how we can transform our attitudes toward our neighborhoods. Take...

This unit is all about the Holy Spirit. Join Real+True as we explore God’s breath, and how we are transformed by the Holy Spirit. Edmund gives us a new tool for teaching about the Holy Spirit. Emily shares behind-the-scenes insights about a major Real+True announcement. Together they explain how the Holy Spirit wants to lead us and guide us on our faith journey. (00:11) Emily and Edmund welcome yo...

Summary: Why do we take pictures of our food for social media? This episode enters into the mystery of the Eucharist- as sacrifice and communion. This is the first themed Unit for Real + True. It is inspired by the USCCB’s Eucharistic Revival that launches this summer. Take a listen as Emily and Edmund explain the decisions behind using the story of St. Maximilian Kolbe, imagery from Frank Sheed,...

Summary: Dive into Unit 7, which brings to focus the center of our faith: Jesus Christ. Explore the heart of the Catechism as your hosts Emily and Edmund explain how these videos can be used to share the faith. Learn about a strategy change for the Proclamation video, and learn what lines are “worth the whole Catechism” in the Explanation video. We touch on feedback from a listener, newly publishe...

Join Emily and Edmund as they dive into Unit 6. This podcast is packed. You’ll hear about Emily’s wonder at creation, Edmund’s favorite Catechism passage, and some listener feedback. A highlight of this episode is the process around animating imagery for the Trinity; Emily explains the “why” behind what you’ll see in Unit 6. Edmund takes on a Catechism Challenge in this episode. And finally, learn...

This Unit 5 podcast is packed! Your hosts Emily and Edmund share about animating the burning bush, the power of knowing God’s name, and much more. The thesis for Unit 5 is, “I believe in God.” Belief in God as a person, not as a distant concept is addressed. Edmund shares about being cast as an astronaut for a day and the power of the Creed. Emily shares a story of persecuted Christians professing...

In our Unit 4 Podcast, we discuss the thesis of this unit: Faith is a free and personal response to God made possible by grace. To highlight what trust in God really is, Emily shares a childhood experience that went into the scripts, and Edmund gives insight into a fatherhood moment with his kids. Plus: We have an announcement about our animation team, and share the news that we’re out of the pilo...

In this episode, we discuss the videos from Unit 03. The Real + True Podcast is a place for us to discuss the unit of videos in more detail, dive deeper into the content, and share a bit of the behind the scenes of working toward our mission. In this episode, we'll cover the videos from Unit 03 which explore the Catechism paragraph 50-141.*[00:53] Welcome and Unit Overview! *Emily and Edmund...

[00:30] Welcome and Unit Overview! Emily and Edmund open the second episode sharing a brief overview of the videos from Unit 01 and the thesis statement that holds it all together. “The Desire for God is Written on the Human Heart”[01:30] Proclamation VideoWe explain the content strategy behind the Proclamation Video, and a little behind the scenes of how we brainstormed and came up with the appro...