What’s the deal with nativity scenes? That’s what the hosts want to know. A young Steph leveraged her family’s nativity set as a chance at her directorial debut. Little Anne coveted her best friend’s family’s nativity set (there was real hay!). The hosts learn about a rather shocking Catalan nativity tradition and how some Catholics are super smug about Protestants’ veneration of statues during Advent.

LINKS

Jesus Was Probably Born in a Relative’s House, Not an Inn

Salty Article about Protestants and Nativities

Black Catholic Messenger Interview: Fr Chris Kellerman, SJ on his new book 'All Oppression Shall Cease', covering Catholic slavery and abolitionism

America Magazine Interview with the Pope

COLLECTION BASKET: 

Refugeeone.org

• Share your stories, thoughts, and questions with us at [email protected] or at www.lapsedpodcast.com or call us and leave a message at 505-6-LAPSED.
• Follow us on Twitter (@lapsedpodcast) Instagram (@lapsedpodcast) and Facebook.
• Subscribe. Rate. Review. Tell your friends!

We'll have a new episode ready for you in a couple weeks, but for now we’d love to invite you to share your stories! In the past we have asked you to share your experiences, and you have come through. From questions about navigating Catholic family to stories about how you chose your confirmation name, we are so appreciative of the ways you have contributed your voices to the podcast.

While we’re certainly never afraid to shy away from the bleaker parts of Catholicism, this week’s call for stories takes a little bit lighter tone. We want you to share your funny Catholic stories. What is it about the solemnity of a Catholic Mass that can lead many of us to end up with a case of the giggles? Maybe you attended a Catholic Baptism or wedding where things went sideways. Or you were an alter server trying to hold it together as everything went downhill. Truly, who among us has never found ourselves in a bit of trouble for laughing in church?

Send us your stories!  You can write up your story or email us a voicemail at [email protected]. Or you can simply leave us a voicemail at 505-6-lapsed. We cannot wait to hear from you.

• Follow us on Instagram (@lapsedpodcast) and Facebook.
• Subscribe. Rate. Review. Tell your friends!

The hosts learn about the Church’s beef with birth control. Anne shares some rather racy Catholicism in the News. Steph points out some colorful language used to describe contraception in the bible. There’s also a Steve Carrell reference, and really, who doesn’t love Steve Carrell? 

LINKS

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly Being Weird 

The Pope Urges Priests and Nuns to Delete Porn from Their Phones

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Marcus Mumford’s Awkward Interaction with the Pope

COLLECTION BASKET: 

https://native-land.ca/

https://nativegov.org/news/voluntary-land-taxes/

The hosts do a deep dive (pun only kind of intended) into Catholic baptism. Anne realizes her older son’s baptism involved a lot of fibbing. Steph is freaked out by all the Satan talk. This episode also involves some fangirling over one of our very favorite lapsed celebrities, Melissa McCarthy.

LINKS

Test scores show Catholic schools largely escaped COVID-induced ‘learning loss’

Collapse: Inside Ireland’s stunning rebuke of Catholicism

Pilsen Parishioners Camping Outside Former Catholic Church To Block Archdiocese From Removing Beloved La Pietà Statue

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Young Gay and Single Among the Nuns and Widows

Melissa McCarthy: Sex, Nuns and Ghosts on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast

COLLECTION BASKET: 

Fairelectionscenter.org

• Share your stories, thoughts, and questions with us at [email protected] or at www.lapsedpodcast.com or call us and leave a message at 505-6-LAPSED.
• Follow us on Twitter (@lapsedpodcast) Instagram (@lapsedpodcast) and Facebook.
• Subscribe. Rate. Review. Tell your friends!

Things get unexpectedly spooky as Stephanie and Anne talk murdered saints, postmortem popes, and the occult in this Halloween season-appropriate episode. Join the hosts as they dive into feast days, patrons, canonization, and martyrdom. Steph is still proud to be the only Chavara cousin who got $3 instead of $2 on her patron saint’s feast day. Little Anne dreamed of being one day canonized but never totally worked out the details. The hosts also get macabre as they talk ouija boards and preserved pope corpses (only ONE of which the Catholic Church apparently finds creepy. Can you guess?!?!). 

LINKS

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/10/07/ouija-board-spirituality-243154

On Second Vatican Council anniversary, Pope urges Catholic unity

COLLECTION BASKET: 

National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center

• Share your stories, thoughts, and questions with us at [email protected] or at www.lapsedpodcast.com or call us and leave a message at 505-6-LAPSED.
• Follow us on Twitter (@lapsedpodcast) Instagram (@lapsedpodcast) and Facebook.
• Subscribe. Rate. Review. Tell your friends!

Stephanie and Anne take a deep dive into what Catholic school and CCD taught them about life after death. A young Steph imagined a cloudy heaven that was harp-filled and toga-forward. Anne realizes how the Wizard of Oz impacted her early view of the afterlife. The hosts also launch into their own lapsed Catholic version of #yesyesno as they struggle to make sense of a Catholic-adjacent tweet involving #depop, #coquettegirlies and #cleangirlaesthetic (#eldermillenialsareconfused). This episode also once again involves a Harry Potter reference, care of Steph.

LINKS

A Depop Seller Offering $5 Absolution Online Created A Mess Of Catholic Discourse

Catholic Crypto Conference

What Jesus Really Said About Heaven and Hell

What Does the Catholic Church Believe About Life After Death?

Heaven And Hell Are 'Not What Jesus Preached,' Religion Scholar Says

COLLECTION BASKET: 

https://chinations.org/

• Share your stories, thoughts, and questions with us at [email protected] or at www.lapsedpodcast.com or call us and leave a message at 505-6-LAPSED.
• Follow us on Twitter (@lapsedpodcast) Instagram (@lapsedpodcast) and Facebook.
• Subscribe. Rate. Review. Tell your friends!

Steph and Anne are back with Season 2 of Lapsed!  Steph discusses one rather big development in her life (hint: he’s adorable and shares a name with a very Jesuit saint). The hosts also catch up on several months of Catholic news, including Francis updates, newly Catholic celebrities (we’re looking at you, Shia LaBeouf), and Catholic references in the media (oh hey, A League of Their Own). This episode may or may not be peppered with some super cute baby noises.

LINKS

1. Pope Francis says he may “think about” stepping aside 
2. The Pope Apologized for Abuse of Indigenous Children.  That’s Not Enough. 
3. Shia LaBeouf as Padre Pio
4. A Catholic Podcasting Star Says Theocracy is Not The Way
5. The Greedy Peasant!
6. 
   

COLLECTION BASKET: 

Abortionfunds.org

Plannedparenthood.org

• Share your stories, thoughts, and questions with us at [email protected] or at www.lapsedpodcast.com or call us and leave a message at 505-6-LAPSED.
• Follow us on Twitter (@lapsedpodcast) Instagram (@lapsedpodcast) and Facebook.
• Subscribe. Rate. Review. Tell your friends!

The hosts grapple with their feelings around the recent Dobbs ruling. Steph dishes on the Kardashian’s recent brush with Catholic aesthetics even though by all accounts they practice…Kardashianism? Anne recalls that one time as a kid when she accidentally stumbled into a Protestant Vacation Bible School. The hosts announce they’re going extra lapsed for summer.

LINKS

How Catholicism Became a Meme

Bishop says school flying BLM, LGBTQ flags can no longer call itself Catholic

COLLECTION BASKET: 

Abortionfunds.org

Plannedparenthood.org

• Share your stories, thoughts, and questions with us at [email protected] or at www.lapsedpodcast.com or call us and leave a message at 505-6-LAPSED.
• Follow us on Twitter (@lapsedpodcast) Instagram (@lapsedpodcast) and Facebook.
• Subscribe. Rate. Review. Tell your friends!

The hosts catch up on ***Catholicism IN THE NEWS****. Steph dishes on Francis’s drink of choice. Anne is jazzed that some Catholic bishops are starting to speak out about gun control legislation…until Steph totally (rightfully) harshes her mellow. Anne also fangirls over a fellow progressive, midwestern, redhead “straight, white, Christian, suburban mom" and does her best to sniff out Catholic influences in Disney. The hosts come to the striking realization that no one in the Western world knew how babies were made until pretty darned recently.

Buffalo Shooting Should Be a Wakeup Call For White Catholics

Pope Francis Says He Needs Tequila for Sore Knee

The ‘straight, white, Christian, suburban mom’ taking on Republicans at their own game

Human conception was still basically a total mystery until as recently as 1875

Catholic teacher fired for teaching about black culture-Decatur GA

An Unholy Alliance

COLLECTION BASKET: 

Everytown for Gun Safety

Petition:  Ordain Catholic Women Now!

• Share your stories, thoughts, and questions with us at [email protected] or at www.lapsedpodcast.com or call us and leave a message at 505-6-LAPSED.
• Follow us on Twitter (@lapsedpodcast) Instagram (@lapsedpodcast) and Facebook.
• Subscribe. Rate. Review. Tell your friends!

An Interview With Nate Tinner-Williams of Black Catholic Messenger

You’ve probably heard of a pandemic marriage or a pandemic move, but what about a pandemic Catholic convert/seminarian/nonprofit founder/writer? In this episode, the hosts chat with someone who checks all of these boxes and more. Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger, a nonprofit media publication covering stories of interest to African-American Catholics. He is also a seminarian with the Josephites and a master's student in theology with the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA). He became Catholic in December 2019. Join the hosts as they talk with Nate about conversion, Black Catholic history, dialogue between practicing and lapsed Catholics, and even musical theater. 

You can learn more at Nate’s website and find him on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok.

COLLECTION BASKET: 

Black Catholic Messenger

Everytown for Gun Safety

• Share your stories, thoughts, and questions with us at [email protected] or at www.lapsedpodcast.com or call us and leave a message at 505-6-LAPSED.
• Follow us on Twitter (@lapsedpodcast) Instagram (@lapsedpodcast) and Facebook.
• Subscribe. Rate. Review. Tell your friends!