Saint In Progress

Last week, Mike talked about “Hobo Evangelism” and “Hobo Code” and how it relates to us helping out our fellow travelers on the road home to the Father’s house, in particular the new converts to the Church.

This week, Mike takes a look at how Hobo Evangelists should share the True, with upcoming episodes covering sharing the Good and the Beautiful.

Also a reminder that all subscribers get a free PDF download of an examination of conscience based on the virtues of Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence, Temperance, Justice, and Fortitude. After this episode… you’ll definitely want it!

Our work here on Substack is made available at no charge, but that doesn’t mean that it’s free to make. Your generous support keeps the lights on in the treehouse, and helps us deliver our content to thousands of people every day. Support our work with an annual or monthly subscription.

It’s springtime in the northern hemisphere, and with over 100,000 new converts to the Catholic Church this past Easter vigil, it’s also springtime in the Father’s vineyard.

In this episode Mike takes a look at what we need to do for these new Catholics by introducing the concept of “hobo evangelism.” What do hobos have in common with saints in progress? Listen and find out!

Our work here on Substack is made available at no charge, but that doesn’t mean that it’s free to make. Your generous support keeps the lights on in the treehouse, and helps us deliver our content to thousands of people every day. Support our work with an annual or monthly subscription.

Trump said this… Pope Leo said that… Vice President Vance said…

If you’re looking for a hot take, this isn’t it.

There is zero discussion about AI generated images, what current politician or figure in the Church said what, or what anyone posted on social media.

Instead, Mike talks a little Thomas Jefferson, a little JFK, and quotes a whole lot of saints.

So if you’re wondering what’s the right road to take for saints in progress—as well as a look at how we got into this mess in the first place and the dangers of continuing to do what we’re doing—then be sure to listen.

Bonus Links

* Address of Senator John F. Kennedy to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, September 12, 1960

Our work here on Substack is made available at no charge, but that doesn’t mean that it’s free to make. Your generous support keeps the lights on in the treehouse, and helps us deliver our content to thousands of people every day. Support our work with an annual or monthly subscription.

He is risen! Indeed, he is risen!

This week, Mike gets into the topic of apologetics, in particular when someone comes to you with an honest question… or an attack. He addresses how to handle the situation if:

* You are well-informed

* You aren’t well-informed

* You get the answer wrong

* Your response normally starts with, “Well, actually…”

Covering the importance of humility and docility to the Holy Spirit, he also includes tips on how to keep the conversation going, as well as the most important apologetic tool you can use.

Episode Links

* Divine Mercy Sunday is this Sunday, April 12. Here’s everything you need to know: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/mercysunday/ewtn

* Great books for your apologetics library:

* Forty Anti-Catholic Lies: A Mythbusting Apologist Sets the Record Straight

* Seven Lies About Catholic History: Infamous Myths about the Church’s Past and How to Answer Them

* Where We Got the Bible... Our Debt to the Catholic Church

* The Bible Is a Catholic Book

Our work here on Substack is made available at no charge, but that doesn’t mean that it’s free to make. Your generous support keeps the lights on in the treehouse, and helps us deliver our content to thousands of people every day. Support our work with an annual or monthly subscription.

Fully understanding the Passion of our Lord can be daunting, and we also run the risk of allowing it to become less-than-special. However, if we meditate on Our Sorrowful Mother, she will constantly invite us to understand the effects of our sins in a new and powerful light. In this episode, meditate on the image above while listening to a meditation by Fr. Bonaventure Hammer OFM.

The image above is by French painter, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and can be downloaded in high-resolution from Wikimedia Commons.

The devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows as given to St. Bridget of Sweden, which carries with it a promise of seven graces for those who practice the devotion, can be found here: https://carmelitesistersocd.com/devotion-to-our-lady-of-sorrows/

Our work here on Substack is made available at no charge, but that doesn’t mean that it’s free to make. Your generous support keeps the lights on in the treehouse, and helps us deliver our content to thousands of people every day. Support our work with an annual or monthly subscription.

This week, Mike goes on a purposeful ramble. Join him as he talks about:

* The Pearson Integrated Humanities Program at the University of Kansas

* St. Patrick

* Listening for God’s voice (and why most of us aren’t)

For fun, he even throws in a snippet from this comedy bit by Fr. Guido Sarducci. (Yes, Mike is that old.)

Note: Just after recording this episode, the power went out in the Treehouse. You’ll realize how appropriate that is after you listen to the episode.

Our work here on Substack is made available at no charge, but that doesn’t mean that it’s free to make. Your generous support keeps the lights on in the treehouse, and helps us deliver our content to thousands of people every day. Support our work with an annual or monthly subscription.

A conversation over a lunch of cheese coneys turned to the topic of Baptism, and—believe it or not—Mike didn’t know that many mainline Protestant denominations teach that Baptism is not necessary for salvation.

By Divine Providence, Joe Heschmeyer’s recent Shameless Popery podcast provided some starting points for this episode’s discussion on the Sacrament of Baptism, who does the “work” of the sacraments, and the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity.

For Further Information

* Joe Heschmeyer, Shameless Popery Episode #254 “No, Catholics Aren't Pharisees”

* On Baptism by Tertullian (Church Father, early 3rd Century)

* St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture 3—On Baptism (Church Father, 4th Century)

For Fun

Many Protestants cite the “good thief”—St. Dismas—as not being baptized in water, but still meriting heaven through his faith. A dogma of the Catholic Church teaches that one can also be baptized through blood (martyrdom) or through desire, and it would seem that St. Dismas would fit the bill for “baptism by desire” as in “he desired to be with Christ, but would die before a baptism is possible.” But there’s an old legend that is worth noting that implies a water baptism...

In Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s The Seven Last Words, the second chapter is entitled “This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise,” and it shares this:

There is a legend to the effect that when, to escape the wrath of Herod, Saint Joseph and the Blessed Virgin were fleeing into Egypt with the Divine Child, they stopped at a desert inn. The Blessed Mother asked the lady of the inn for water in which to bathe the Babe. The lady then asked if she might not bathe her own child, who was suffering with leprosy, in the same waters in which the Divine Child had been immersed. Immediately upon touching those waters baptized with the Divine Presence, the child became whole. Her child advanced in age and grew to be a thief. He is Dismas, now hanging on the Cross by the side of Christ!

Whether the memory of the story his mother told him now came back to the thief and made him look kindly on Christ, we know not. It might have been that this first meeting with the Savior was on the day when his heart was filled with compunction on hearing the story of a certain man that went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among robbers. Perhaps, too, his first intimation that he suffering with the Redeemer came to him as he turned his torture head and read an inscription which bore His name, “Jesus”; His city, “Nazareth”; His crime, “King of the Jews.”

At any rate, enough dry fuel of the right kind gathered on the altar of his soul, and now a spark from the central Cross falls upon it, creating in it a glorious illumination of faith. He sees a Cross and adores a throne; he sees a condemned Man, and invokes a King: “Lord, remember me when Thou shalt come into Thy Kingdom.”

…

It was the thief’s last prayer, perhaps also his first. He knocked once, sought once, asked once, dared everything and found everything. When our spirits stand with John on Patmos, we can see the white-stoled army in Heaven riding after the conquering Christ; when we stand with Luke on Calvary, we see the one who rode first in that procession. Christ, Who was poor, died rich. His hands were nailed to a Cross and yet He unlocked the keys of Paradise and won a soul. His escort into Heaven was a thief. May we not say that the thief died a thief, for he stole Paradise?

The story can also be found in The Life of Mary As Seen by The Mystics, by Raphael Brown.

Our work here on Substack is made available at no charge, but that doesn’t mean that it’s free to make. Your generous support keeps the lights on in the treehouse, and helps us deliver our content to thousands of people every day. Support our work with an annual or monthly subscription.

* Almsgiving: where to give, and where to avoid

* Prayer: lifetime devotions often start during Lent

* Fasting: St. Basil the Great returns to give us encouragement for the benefits of a good fast

Resources

The Lepanto Institute charity reports

Find out why Fr. John Riccardo says, “Please read this and give it to every married man you know!” Get your copy of Honor Thy Wife today!

Fr. Anthony Gerber had a beautiful post on Substack entitled, “Why Your Kids Don’t Go to Confession,” and it is definitely worth the read.

Mike read it, read it again, then made the mistake of wading into the comments where someone with a rather anonymous account name said a few things that Mike found… rather offensive. Trying not to be like St. Jerome (a.k.a. “The Great Name Caller”) Mike restrained his reply, took some time to cool off, then recorded this episode.

He then put together an examination of conscience based on the Theological and Cardinal virtues that is a combination of several different examines, and he has made it available for free as a PDF to all subscribers on Substack or at www.catholictreehouse.com. If you’re not a subscriber, sign up and get the download link.

A backed up drain leads to some thoughts about the American DIY mindset, and why it’s largely incompatible with growth in the spiritual life. Whether it’s plumbing or weighty spiritual topics, sometimes you need to call in an expert.

Our work here on Substack is made available at no charge, but that doesn’t mean that it’s free to make. Your generous support keeps the lights on in the treehouse, and helps us deliver our content to thousands of people every day. Support our work with an annual or monthly subscription.