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Feeling out of control and helpless?  Maybe you are filled with anxiety and fear?  Listen in ... you CAN do something!

Why do so many feel lost today? In our post-Christian modern world we have lost our sense of identity, and it is like being spiritually "lost in the cosmos."

Cy Kellett and apologist, Trent Horn, discuss a variety of questions submitted via email and social media. If you have a question you’d like to submit for the next internet open forum, please email it to [email protected].  

Questions Covered:

03:23 - I’m a Catholic in Qatar and have many Muslim friends. We often get into friendly debates and one thing that comes up sometimes is that Jesus never said he was God. How would you respond? 

07:04 - Could you please help give some background or insight on the tradition of praying for Mary’s intercession as a newly married couple at the end of a wedding ceremony Mass? 

11:04 - I have a question about holy days of obligation. I think in Galatians Paul says why we still observe ‘holy days’? Why do different countries have different holy days? 

16:21 - I have grown up with mass on Sunday but I get challenged by those that say nature is their church or like that. Can you give me some thoughts and verses to support gathering on Sunday? 

19:10 - How can you explain to an atheist that non-Catholics cannot do meritorious deeds in order to achieve eternal life? 

24:22 - Do you recommend studying formal logic? Can you recommend any resources? How did you learn to apply logic in your discussions and debates so effectively? 

32:00 - What would you do if someone who firmly believes in evolution theory and says facts are facts and Religion and Faith (especially the Catholic faith) are silly? What should I say to them?    

34:53 - I was talking to a J.W. about the Catholic Church and what Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 “will build my church”… in which he responded, the church only means people, which means everybody, not you Catholics. How do you respond to that? 

41:08 - If God’s Word is objective, then how are we allowed to interpret the Bible subjectively?

44:16 - How would you recommend defending the faith to those who also “believe in the same faith,” such as parents or siblings not following the Church’s stance on contraception?

Cy Kellett and apologist, Trent Horn, discuss a variety of questions submitted via email and social media. If you have a question you’d like to submit for the next internet open forum, please email it to [email protected].  

Questions Covered:

06:19 - Who recognized the Old Testament canon?  

16:00 - The Bible says we are saved by faith alone.  

30:25 – Why should a non-Catholic couple be considered by the church to have a valid civil union, when a formerly Catholic (or even just baptized-in-infancy) couple cannot, even if the natural elements of the two unions are the same?   

37:43 – How can saints watch over us in heaven & hear our prayers of intercession when the Bible says in heaven there will be no pain & tears?  

45:25 - When Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days and was tempted by the devil, did the devil know that Jesus was God?  

48:41 - Last Sunday in the Gospel of John, Jesus said “Neither he, nor his parents sinned”. Wait – isn’t everyone a sinner except for Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary? Jesus came to forgive sins, but he needed here only to cure the man’s blindness. So, what is a sin? And why didn’t Jesus mention the sins of the blind man needing forgiveness?

As we learn to stay home, we can learn to "stay home" deeply within our hearts.

So as you shelter in place, stay home, or perhaps put your own life at risk on the front lines of essential services and medical care, let these words of God bring your heart peace. “Be still, and know that I am God, exalted over nations, exalted over earth!” (Psalm 46) This pandemic is not more powerful than God who holds us all in the palm of his hand. Having “outward stillness” imposed on us through “lockdowns” gives us the opportunity to search for the tiny flickering lights of inner stillness, the relieved sighing of our exhausted hearts that we are not alone, that the darkness has never and will never overcome the divine plan at work in the world’s history. As the Abbot General of the Cistercians said in his recent letter, “A time of trial can make people harsher or more sensitive, more indifferent or more compassionate. Fundamentally, all depends on the love with which we live them out, and this above all is what Christ comes to grant us and to awaken in us with his presence. Any trial whatever comes and goes, but if we live it with love, the wound that the trial cuts into our lives will be able to remain open, like that on the Body of the Risen One, like an ever surging spring of compassion.”

A former lacrosse player who is an avid surfer and serves as the Director of Campus & Sports Ministry at JSerra Catholic High School in Orange County, California. He is also a 3rd degree Knight. He attended Creighton University (a private, Jesuit university) and Franciscan University of Steubenville where he majored in Theology. Be sure to stick around for his emotional story about the "Jersey Ceremony" as well as why May 18th is so significant.

Alexandra Sullivan is the blogger behind Transform Our Hearts and co-host of the podcast, Raising Saints: Helping Kids Hear God's Voice, which is available on all major platforms.

Sometimes things we read stick with us, even if we’re not sure why until much later. Alexandra shares a section from psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl’s iconic book, Man's Search for Meaning, which she first read in 11th grade morality class. 

"Everything can be taken from man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way."

What a gift this freedom is, and how important it is that we cultivate it and use it rightly. Listen in for more, and then let us know what you think!

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To suggest a quote or a guest, follow the show on Instagram, @quoteme_podcast, or contact Lindsay at her website, LindsaySchlegel.com.

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Until next time, God bless you!

When was the last time you looked at your life and reflected on what God has done for you?  In times of crisis, we may forget all He has done. So let's take a moment and contemplate with a grateful heart today.