The fellas get a hand from a woman working for the Church to answer questions about... women in the Church. 

NOTE: In this episode, we speak very generally about the role and importance of women in the Catholic Church. However, we don't specifically address the issue of women priests, which is obviously an important aspect of this conversation. We don't want to ignore this, so allow us to defer to someone smarter than us. Please enjoy this talk by the brilliant Peter Kreeft, who discusses this issue much better than we ever could.

Recommended Reads: God in the Dock, C.S. Lewis; Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis; Women and the Priesthood, Alice von Hildebrand & Peter Kreeft; The Privilege of Being a Woman, Alice von Hildebrand.

In this week's episode, we have an interview with Marie Hicks, another old friend of Eric's (FUN FACT: Remember Patrick, our interviewee from two weeks ago? Yeah, he's married to Marie). Marie discusses her personal life philosophy, as well as the impact her charismatic Christian upbringing has on that philosophy, and asks a fantastic question regarding the role of women in the Catholic Church.

Recommended Reads: PAPA JP EDITION:

1. Mulieris Dignitatem (On the Dignity of Women); Pope John Paul II, 1988.
2. Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (Priestly Ordination); Pope John Paul II, 1994.
3. Letter to Women; Pope John Paul II, 1995.

Happy Liturgical New Year! In celebration, here's the second part of a two-fer episode (see Part #1 below). In this second half of the guys' response, they answer Patrick's question regarding whether or not the Catholic Church will change her teachings to fit with world trends. Brian leads the way by taking us on a walk through the great Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman's Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. 

Recommended Reads: Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman's Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (duh); Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words, Rod Bennett; The First and Second Apologies of St. Justin Martyr, St. Justin Martyr; Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper, Brant Pitre; The Hidden Manna: A Theology of the Eucharist, Reverand James T. O'Connor 

Happy Liturgical New Year! In celebration, here's the first part of a two-fer episode in response to our interview with Patrick Hicks. Here, the dudes try to give a Catholic assessment of absurdism, as well as musings on different kinds of evangelization... even the bathroom kind.  

Recommended Reads--ABSURDISTS AND FRIENDS: Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness; Nausea, idem; Fredrick Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy; Beyond Good & Evil, idem; Ecce Homo, idem; Rene Descartes, Meditations of First Philosophy

Recommended Reads--CATHOLICS 4 KNOWLEDGE: Pope St. John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio; Edith Stein, Knowledge & Faith; The Risk of Education, Luigi Giussani; An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Ascent, Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman

Recommended Listen: If you don't want to read Newman's Grammar of Assent, have the Catholic Stuff priests explain it to you: https://catholicstuffpodcast.com/podcast/2017/06/15/when-you-know-you-know.html.

In this week's interview, Eric goes back to his small-town countryside roots and sits down with his old friend, Patrick Hicks. They'll talk about religious education, leg injuries, fulfillment, Laser Jesus, absurdism/existentialism/nihilism, and more!  

Recommended Read: PRIORITY LEVEL--Humana Vitae, Pope Paul VI  http://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html  (it's like four pages long, people, just read it)

Recommended Reads: SECONDARY BUT STILL IMPORTANT LEVEL-- Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II; Theology of the Body, John Paul II; Love & Responsibility, Karol Wojtyla (a.k.a., St. John Paul II)

REPEAT LEVEL -- God or Nothing, Cardinal Sarah; Truth and Tolerance, Pope Benedict XVI; Theology and Sanity, Frank Sheed

This week's focus is on Augustine, but not the saint. How do we know things? How ought we better form those who want to know their faith more truly? 

Episode 14 recommended reads: The Power of Silence, Robert Cardinal Sarah; God or Nothing, Robert Cardinal Sarah; The Risk of Education, Luigi Giussani; The Idea of a University, John Henry Newman

This week, the dudes cut through the banter to get to another interview focused around not subscribing to a spirituality. Which might just be existentialism. In any case, listen in for epistemological quandaries; the likes of which have ne'er graced this podcast. 

Recommended Reads: Fides et ratio, John Paul II; Soren Kierkegaard, Fear & Trembling; W. Norris Clarke, The One and the Many

Can atheists lead moral lives? Does the Catholic Church believe other religions are wrong? Spoiler: yes...and no. Listen to these ponderings and more. Or else.

Recommended Reads: Handbook of Moral Theology, Dominic Prummer; Theology and Sanity, Frank Sheed; St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I-II; The Catechism of the Catholic Church.

"Why does God get the credit for good times but not blame for the bad?" This week, the boys handle this question (and more) from Eric's interview with Aric. They touch on suffering, creation, Animorphs, the reconciliation of religion and science, and free will. 

Recommended Reads: Making Sense Out of Suffering, Peter Kreeft; the Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis; Theology and Sanity, Frank Sheed (specifically p. 421-443); The Giver, by Lois Lowry; Animorphs series; K.A. Applegate.