Forte Catholic Podcast: Making Catholicism Fun Again

In the first segment, I begin answering questions and topics posed by listeners of the show on social media. The first few questions are all about Church politics/bureaucracy and how we can respond to that. In the second segment, I am joined by my long-time friend Brother Sean Stilson of the Brothers of the Beloved Disciple. We talk about what the life of a brother/seminarian looks like, what the role of a priest is supposed to be and what we can learn from that truth as lay people. In the final segment, I continue to discuss suggested listener topics like "I'm not getting anything out of Mass", how to get started in being able to defend your faith and of course the classic question of whether I wear boxers or briefs. I hope you enjoy this episode! If you haven't done so already, please subscribe and rate the show and then share it with your compadres. Thanks!

Happy 4th of July! This episode aired live on Independence Day so we HAD to talk about freedom in the first and third segments of the show. We talk about how so many of us live in guilt and shame instead of walking in the power of the resurrected Christ. He came to set us free! In the second segment, I am joined by old friend Marcus Guevara, the founder of Thirsting for Truth to talk about his ministry and how technology, math, philosophy and theology all mix to reveal God. As always, please like, rate, comment and subscribe!

My mom came to the studio! We had a lot of fun talking about how I didn't turn out thaaaat bad because of her billions of hours of prayer for me. We then play the game "Prescription Drug of Biblical King" which was a hoot! In the first segment, I intro the discussion on prayer by looking at the Old Testament story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. In the third segment, we discuss the importance of taking a Sabbath. So many in our fast paced world, including myself, find it difficult so we look at what the Bible and Catechism have to say to challenge us to do what God knows is best for us.

The show was pre-recorded this week as I am currently leading a Junior High Summer Camp! In the spirit of summer camp, we talked pre-evangelization, what fun has to do with faith and how events like this can really be an avenue to bring people to Christ. So often, we try to catechize people who haven't been evangelized and evangelize people without making a human connection with them first. In this episode we explore how we can bring Christ to others no matter where they are in their journey with him. I am also joined by Vern Laborde from Deer Creek Camp to hear how they impact the lives of young people in a huge way each summer! Hear her stories, insights and her love for camp! In the final segment, we dive a little deeper into the topic of prayer. So many of us struggle with prayer and I will walk through two stories from Scripture that can help us when we don't feel like praying.

In this episode, Taylor is joined by the beauty of a man Marcel LeJeune, who enlightens us with his brilliance :) Marcel is an awesome dude with a ton of experience ministering to college students. In his interview, we will talk about bridging the gap between millennials and the older generations of the Church. (second segment) In the first segment, we play the Scripture trivia game "Worship Song or Love Song" where Taylor faces off against producer Jake and Kyle "the heathen" Turner. SPOILER: Taylor isn't good at this game. In the final segment, Taylor shares how an R&B love song and reading the Song of Songs caused a huge breakthrough in his spiritual life. As always, please like/share/rate the podcast in your podcasting app of choice to help build the show's community!

The highlight of this episode was our interview in the second segment with Tommy Tighe, the Catholic Hipster. Tommy is a master at using social media and the interwebs(that's what hipsters call it, right?) to build community and share his authentic love for the Catholic Faith. He has multiple projects including podcasts, blogs, a book coming soon and a tremendous presence on Twitter. He is an interesting dude and has a lot of wisdom to share with us on how we can use social media to build the Kingdom. In the first and third segments, I share some insights into two Scripture stories that connected for me in a big way at my yearly retreat. We will dive in to the story of Lazarus being brought back to life and the Anointing at Bethany story through a new lens. As always, please like/rate/share the show. You rock!

On this episode of Forte Catholic, the Director of Resource Development at Lifeteen and author of "True North: A roadmap for discernment" Joel Stepanek joins the show for the whole hour! During our quite enjoyable time together, we get to know Joel and he enlightens us with the knowledge and practical advice on discernment that he has learned throughout his experience and study in preparing to write the book. He dispels a few myths about discernment, explains that it is a vital part of the Christian life and not just for the "big decision" of our primary vocation. He also explains what discernment looks like with guidance from a spiritual master, St. Ignatius. Tune in and if you like it, please subscribe to the show, like, rate and share with your social media followers.

In the first and third segment of this week's show, we find out how to be "after God's heart" from David in the Old Testament. We look at how David sought God's will, even through trials, and did not hold back in his worship of the Father. In the second segment, I was pleased to be joined by Catholic Answers author Eric Sammons on his book "The Old Evangelization." He shares how we need to get back to the basics of sharing the Good News the way Jesus did. Please subscribe to the channel, like, rate, and share this show with your friends. I would be ever grateful!

This week, we continue the conversation on signs and wonders! So often in the Scriptures, we see miracles preceding people turning to the Lord. Tune in as we explore what that means for our walk with Christ and especially our prayer this week! Segment 1-Bible Trivia Game w/Sam and Kyle. I quiz this dynamic duo on their knowledge of the Ten Commandments (Hint: It was pretty brutal) Segment 2-Ashley Breland Interview. A local student at St. Joseph Catholic school, Ashley has had an amazing experience in her life of prayer this semester. So many huge things she has prayed for have had tremendous results! Tune in to hear her story and how it has impacted so many! Segment 3-Signs and Wonders in the Acts of the Apostles. This is the book that the Church reads at daily Mass throughout the Easter Season. There are 18 accounts of miracles in Acts alone! We will discover what we can learn from these stories to improve our prayer and evangelization.

It's good to be back! After missing a week due to illness, I am back at it with full force with a great episode consisting of big show announcements(possibly including an addition to my family), a great interview with the Catholic Drinkie and a fun Bible Trivia Game with some hooligans in the studio. Tune in for a good mix of games, faith, mixed drinks and scripture! Only on a Catholic podcast!

Howdy! This is a HUUUUUGE episode with the hosts of the "Catholic Man Show" joining me for an interview AND I reveal the WINNER of the Ministry Madness Bracket! 1st Segment-Mass Text. We dive into last Sunday's readings and I explain how the connection between the 1st reading and the Gospel absolutely blew my mind! 2nd Segment-The hosts of the popular radio show and podcast "The Catholic Man Show" join me to talk about manly spirituality. Adam Minihan and David Niles are hilarious dudes doing great things for the Church! 3rd Segment-The moment we have all been waiting for! After two weeks of voting, the Ministry Madness winner has been decided by you, the fan. Tune in to hear the top ten finisher countdown and a look into some key matchups that ended neck and neck!

Episode 28 of the show covered a wide range of topics... Segment 1-Easter Joy First show during the Easter Season! I talked about my Holy Week experience and we did the "Mass Text" segment where we took a deeper dive into the Gospel reading from Easter Sunday and what it means for the times where we don't understand what God is doing. Segment 2-Andrew Laubacher In one of my favorite interviews, I talk with Andrew about his music ministry, extreme conversion of heart in his teen years and one of his favorite topics, the Holy Spirit. Segment 3-Ministry Madness Update It has been a week since we launched the bracket of ministry leaders from across the US deciding once and for all "which ministry leader would win in a boxing competition." In this segment we finish introducing all of the candidates and I give a sneak peak into how some of the matchups are going. Head to ministrymadness.com to cast your votes now!

Forte Catholic has a tremendous new game you can play online! We have made a bracket of 64 Catholic Ministry leaders from across the nation to ask one question..."Who would win in a boxing match?" Head to ForteCatholic.com now to fill out your bracket and decide who wins the whole thing! This show is about two things: 1. Introducing the Ministry Madness Bracket with help from our producer Jake and Becka Landry who helped with the creation of the bracket. We also have guest appearances by some of the contenders like Chris Bartlett and Tony Vasinda. I interview Chris Bartlett about his work with Next Level Ministry and how we can have the best Holy Week possible! Tune in now and don't forget to like, subscribe, share and leave a rating of the show. Thanks!

Lent has been a struggle for me this year. I share what has been going on and how a little book written by a monk over 1000 years ago is helping me through it. I am also joined by "The Catholic Hack" Joe McClane. He shares his amazing life story about how God completely changed his life and what he learned about Fatherhood through it. 0:00-16:20 Lent Struggles 16:20-43:30 Joe McClane 43:30-51:57 Our Father in Heaven

We did something special for the 25th episode of the show. Instead of having a guest for 18 minutes in the second segment like normal, I had Rose Sweet as my guest co-host for the entire hour!  The primary reason for having her on the show was to talk about the difficult subject of marriage, divorce and annulments. She has been a speaker and author on the topic for over 25 years and has great personal insight to go along with her deep knowledge of Catholic theology on the issue.  So whether you are a single person wanting to get married at some point, struggling in a current relationship or have felt the pain of divorce in family or friends, this podcast will help you focus on the truths and mercy of Catholic teaching as well as dispel common misconceptions about the church's view on divorce and annulment.

This episode had one topic and one topic only: Vocations. Choosing to follow Christ is the most important decision we will ever make; discerning and living our vocation is the second. Whether you have been married, a priest, or a religious for many years or are single and discerning your vocation, this is the episode for you.  In the first segment, I share what I learned from a recent talk I heard from the Vocations Director of the Austin Diocese. He brought a great pamphlet for those discerning vocations that I share from to start off the show. It tackles many of the common objections to living the priesthood or religious life with a little comedy along the way. In the second segment, I am joined by Dean Ouellette "The Married Catholic Guy." He shares about how his faith took him from the brink of divorce twice to having a happy and loving marriage. He now shares his story and encouragement with other married couples to prevent and help heal broken marriages.. For more from Dean, check out his website. In th

Tune in to hear Tim Staples call me "bro" and "friend"!!! He also talks about his book "Behold Your Mother" which tackles common objections to Marian devotion. As a convert, one of Tim's final struggles with Catholicism was Marian devotion so he has great insight on answering the tough questions. I learned a lot in the interview so I hope it helps you as well! In the first and third segment, we talk about giving and receiving mercy. We do so in the context of talking about receiving presents so we had interaction on social media of people sharing about the best gift they've ever received. I then look through the parable of the prodigal son to see what we can learn from the story about sharing mercy.

Mardi Gras! Lent is upon us, so let's talk about getting prepared for this great season while also dealing with the reality of stress in our lives. This weekend, I went on a retreat called "Stressed Out" about how to deal with stress as a Christian. I share what I learned over the weekend and how it applies to our Lenten season. We also do a Forte Five countdown segment of the best 5 things I've ever given up for Lent. I am also joined by the founder of Saint Paul Street Evangelization. He has a great story of how God has worked in his life and also talks about how their ministry works and what they can do to help us grow in our ability to share the Gospel.

In the 21st episode of Forte Catholic, we have a large focus on the Scripture in Mass with the introduction of the "Who Was Paying Attention At Mass?" segment about the past Sunday's readings. So often we go to Mass on the weekend and have forgotten what we heard by the next day so we revisit it to help us continue the lesson of the Scriptures throughout the week. In the second segment, I am joined by the Ragin' Cajun Apologist, Karlo Broussard. Karlo is a southern louisiana musician turned Catholic apologist and speaker for Catholic Answers. Tune in as we talk about his conversion, share laughs and discuss his newest book on miracles. Then in the final segment, the "Mass Text" segment returns as we dive into the day's first reading from Sirach and what it tells us about suffering, God's faithfulness and Lent.

Big new episode! The latest Forte Catholic Radio Show includes my interview with the amazing Trent Horn from Catholic Answers! Tune in now to hear the interview as well as Pope Francis' thoughts on sports/the Super Bowl and the final segment about everyone in the studio's best and worst #ValentinesDay with the radio's general manager Thaddeus Romansky and youth minister's Sam Shepard and Jake Blaszak