The Art Of Catholic With Matthew Leonard

It's the book quoted by God the Father. It's the book quoted by Christ on the Cross. It's the one book we read at almost every Mass. It's the Psalms. While many view the Psalms as merely a collection of beautiful poetry (which it is), there's a whole more going on in this amazing book of the Bible. In fact, it's no exaggeration to say it's one of the most important in all of Sacred Scripture. Yes, they're all important, but the Psalms are special. St. Basil the Great said that the Psalms actually train the soul. He declared they are "the elementary exposition of beginners, the improvement of those advancing, the solid support of the perfect, the voice of the Church" (On the Psalms). In other words, they'll help you get to heaven. So I brought in one of the most popular Art of Catholic guests to illuminate us even more. Dr. John Bergsma is the author of a new book titled Psalm Basics for Catholics. It's the latest in his line of best-selling "Basics for Catholics" books. But he's more than an author. He's one

Ever felt yourself sinking? St. Peter certainly did when after he briefly walked toward our Lord on the surging waves of the Sea of Galilee. And you have to hand it to Peter. He jumped out of the boat during a raging storm. All because Christ said, “Come.” That’s exactly what Jesus says to us every day…”Come.” No matter what storm is raging in your life, you can walk over the crashing waves toward our loving Lord. That’s not pious sentiment for a Hallmark card or an "inspirational" cubicle poster featuring cats. There's something in that passage most people totally miss that raises the whole story on a different level. Christ literally says, “Take heart, it is I: have no fear.” These words are far more than mere encouragement. In this brief episode I recorded in Jerusalem, I’ll tell you why Jesus’ word’s to the Disciples can totally change the way you view every struggle in your life. They’re the secret to astonishing faith. God bless! Matthew P.S. If you liked this episode, you might like: 019: The Kenosis o

How about if we do it differently this time? I don't know about you, but it seems like every year Ash Wednesday just sneaks up on me and I'm left scrambling trying to figure out what I'm going to do for Lent. I'm guessing I'm not the only one. But let's make a change. Let's make this Lent the best one ever. How? I'm glad you asked. In this episode of the Art of Catholic podcast we're going to discuss: How to prepare for Lent...and keep it rolling all 40 days How the Catholic liturgical calendar mimics the spiritual life What the pre-Vatican II Church (and current Polish Catholic Church) did to prepare for Lent...(and it sounds like a pretty good idea) Why the Crown of Thorns has to precede the Crown of Life The nuclear power of redemptive suffering (and how it works) The two Lenten practices to avoid All that and more in this power-packed Lenten episode of the Art of Catholic! God bless you! Matthew If you liked this episode, check out these, too: Episode 47 - The Secret Back Door Out of Purgatory Nobody Talk

There are several questions every Christian needs to ask themselves on a regular basis. The problem is that the world has warped most of our minds to the point that even if we answer them, we're not answering correctly. And there are consequences. (More on the questions themselves later...) In our last episode, Number 72, we began our rediscovery of St. John Paul II's theological time bomb known as the Theology of the Body. It's something many have forgotten, but is desperately needed by a culture in steep decline. The Holy Father knew the human condition. He understood it deeply. And he provides not just answers, but a roadmap for recovery. So in this the second (and final) part of our discussion on Theology of the Body, I'll lay out: The questions every Christian needs to ask themselves on a regular basis The Catholic response to the world's twisted notion of freedom How the sense of shame can be both good and bad Why we now have the "battle of the sexes"...in which we all lose How both prudishness and prom

Tick...tick...tick... Famous Catholic author, George Weigel, said Pope St. John Paul's Theology of the Body is  a "theological time bomb set to go off with dramatic consequences sometime in the third millennium of the Church." That time has come. In fact, we're practically past time. Unless you've been under a rock for the last few weeks, you've surely heard about the ever-increasing number of famous figures accused of sexual abuse and immorality. Hollywood moguls, US Senators and Congressmen, famous actors...the list goes on and on. While I'm glad this has all come to light, realize it's nothing new. This has all been going on since almost the beginning of time. But we seem to have reached a crisis point in modern culture. People are starting to realize that something is wrong. Terribly wrong. And they want answers to questions they don't even know how to formulate. St. John Paul II saw it coming a mile away. In fact, right from the beginning of his pontificate he provided the answers in a series of Wednesda

We're not supposed to talk about them. They're supposed to be like that embarrassing uncle no one mentions by name at family functions. But that's crazy. In this episode of the Art of Catholic podcast we're going to unveil the beautiful theology and practice of indulgences. Far from being an indefensible leftover we'd rather sweep under the medieval rug, indulgences are a powerful witness to God's mercy. They are an incredible help in our journey to heaven. But we need to understand them. So as to help us make use of the Church's treasury of merit (and really understand what in the world the "treasury of merit" even is), I brought in Mary Moorman. She's a brilliant lady who recently wrote a pretty thick book on the topic titled, "Indulgences: Luther, Catholicism, and the Imputation of Merit". Among other issues, we'll discuss: What an indulgence is and how to obtain one Pope St. John Paul II's insightful take on indulgences The very important difference between sacraments and indulgences Why indulgences can b

Have we lost? Because a lot of people think so. Earlier this year a book came out called The Benedict Option. It's a runaway bestseller written by a famous former Evangelical named Rod Dreher. He basically says we've lost the culture war and radical change in lifestyle is needed if Christianity is going to survive in the West. And he's right...most of the time. While Dreher's call for a retreat into a kind quasi-monastic existence rings true on many levels, it misses a key ingredient that can change everything...Mary. Enter Dr. Carrie Gress. In this year of the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions, she provides a little different slant...a Marian slant. Her new book "The Marian Option: God's Solution to a Civilization in Crisis" presents what I think is Dreher's missing link. If you don't recognize the hand of Mary in our past then you can't understand her pivotal role for our future. So in this episode, Dr. Gress and I will discuss: What exactly is the Marian Option Why Mary is the "Cultivator of Cult

Twenty years ago, I lost my faith. I didn’t lose my belief in or about faith, but I officially gave up the certainty that I had enough of it to be saved. It was Easter Vigil, 1998. That’s when I became Catholic. 2017 is the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Rebell…I mean, Reformation. It’s been a catastrophe. There are now more than 40,000 Protestant denominations…and counting. As a result, Christianity has become the poster child for hypocrisy. The religion that professes one faith in Jesus Christ, can’t even agree what faith is. Not since Martin Luther, anyway. He had some strange ideas about it, ideas most of our Protestant brethren don’t even really understand. And to be honest, a lot of Catholics don’t really have a firm grasp of the topic either. So we’re going to set the record straight. I brought in my biblical bazooka named Curtis Mitch. You remember him. He’s the guy who wrote the commentary in the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. He was also my guest on the extremely popular episode 54, explaining

By now you've come to expect this. And by "this", I mean challenging topics. Well, this one is a doozy. We're going to talk about nature. And by that I don't just mean forests and rivers and cute little squirrels. I also mean human nature. My guest is the brilliant Dr. Ben Wiker, author of an incredible new book titled, "In Defense of Nature: The Catholic Unity of Environmental, Economic, and Moral Ecology." He's a genius at showing how the respect and care for creation necessarily leads to respect and care for human nature...and vice versa. In other words, it's illogical to be an environmentalist and try to destroy humans at the same time. Similarly, if you are a defender of life and human nature, you need to not forget about the natural world. If the tree hugger alarm bells are faintly ringing in your brain, don't worry. I'm not that guy. (I haven't even worn Birkenstocks since the 90s.) This is an incredibly deep topic and a massive issue between Left and Right, Liberal and Conservative. To bridge the gap,

I'm tired of people asking, "Where have all the good men gone?" It's not really all that hard to figure out. They've gone where they've been told to...out. Men are meant to play a God-given, pivotal role in the family, in the Church, and in culture at large. It's a role that's too often abandoned or belittled...to dire effect. We lack children. We lack vocations. We lack men. We are in a crisis that is simply not being addressed by enough people. And if we don't change things quickly, the extensive damage will only get worse. This is not a "let's beat our chests and be men" episode of the Art of Catholic. Nor is it  a "let's hammer on men" episode. This is an episode centered around an epidemic that desperately needs attention from both sides of the gender aisle (and yes, there are only two). It's a topic crucial to the vitality of the Church. To help address the issue I brought in Bear Woznick, a giant of a man who just completed the second season of a new EWTN show called "Long Ride Home." In this episode w

Ever wonder how we got into the mess we’re in? Why is the modern world so opposed to the Christian faith? What went wrong and how do we get back on track? These are pretty tough questions, which is fine because I've got a pretty smart guest. Today on the Art of Catholic I brought in Dr. Andrew Jones. He's got a PhD in Medieval History and is an expert on the Church in the High Middle Ages. He's also the Executive Director at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. Some of you will remember him from Episode 51 when he spoke about the Crusades. But as big a topic as that was, this is even bigger. Dr. Jones is going to use his deep knowledge of Catholic history to drop a bomb on the modern world. Namely, he'll expose some of the underlying reasons things are the way they are (a fat mess), and give some direction as to the solution. He spells it all out in his new, fat book titled "Before Church & State" that took 10 years to write. (Yes, 10 years.) Here’s the thing I love about Andrew. He’s a contrarian.

It's one of the most overlooked miracles in Scripture. All too often we focus so much on the Passion, death and Resurrection of Our Lord that we breeze right over a pivotal event in our eternal pilgrimage - the Ascension. That would be a huge mistake. Not long ago I picked up one of my many books by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Not a good idea if you have a lot of items on your "to-do" list. He's so incredibly brilliant that I just couldn't stop reading. Benedict's focus was on the importance of the Ascension and how it leads to Pentecost and beyond. It was a real eye-opener. I learned a lot and I can't wait to share it with you. Among other things, in this episode I'll cover: Why the Apostles were strangely "full of joy" after Christ disappeared Where I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall before the Ascension How the Ascension points to our divine destiny Why Jesus rose on a cloud (and not something else) Why the people in Lystra weren’t totally wrong about Paul and Barnabas…and what that says about

Holy Week is upon us. Hasn't Lent flown by? It seems like Ash Wednesday was just a couple weeks ago. And oftentimes we get to this point thinking we could have done a lot more...So let's do something about it. In this episode of the Art of Catholic, we're not going to just talk about theology. We're going to enter into it. How? By meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary as a kind of progression or maturation in the spiritual life. What do I mean by that? Well, it seems to me that the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary are a kind of parallel to the 3 stages of the Spiritual Life: the Purgative, the Illuminative, and the Unitive Ways spoken about by spiritual giants like John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, and many others. And if you've never heard of those stages, no worries. I give  a brief overview of them in this episode. I found some Scripture passages that evoke some of the spiritual fruit of the Sorrowful Mysteries and wrote short meditations about how the Mysteries relate to the spiritual lif

It might seem a bit odd to discuss beauty at the beginning of Lent. Actually, I find it totally appropriate. After all, this is a season of stripping away the outer layers of this world and conforming ourselves to Him who is beauty. If God is the Beatific Vision, then beauty matters all the time...perhaps especially in Lent. The topic of beauty is something I've wanted to address for a long time because it's all too often ignored. I would go so far as to say that it is crucial for Catholics to reacquire a true understanding and appreciation for beauty. Its lacking is not only a major contributor to massive cultural decline in the Western world, but also for the decline of people practicing Christianity. We've forgotten how to make the faith beautiful. And I don't mean just sprucing it up. I mean the essence of our faith. My guest is John Henry Crosby, a cultural entrepreneur and founder of the Hildebrand Project. Promoting a renewed aesthetic is in his blood. After this show, it will be in yours, too. Among o

Make no mistake, this episode is going to challenge you. But it can also dramatically transform your relationships with other people...and God. It's full of deep and practical wisdom that you can start to practice immediately. Our topic is kindness - real kindness - the kindness identified by St. Paul in Galatians. In other words, this is way beyond the "be nice to one another" stuff we learned in pre-school. It's the virtue that radically re-arranges our priorities and changes the world. My guest is Charlie McKinney, the President of Sophia Institute Press. He's on the show to discuss an extremely powerful book titled The Hidden Power of Kindness by an amazing 20th century priest named Fr. Laurence Lovasik. Fr. Lovasik is one of these priests who is so full of wisdom that it seems to radiate out of every statement he makes. He wrote more than 30 books and spoke around the globe for decades, helping people draw closer to the Lord. I've read some of his other works before turning to The Hidden Power of Kindnes

It sounds like a wild exaggeration. But according to best-selling author Mike Aquilina (a generally trustworthy source), it was music that saved the ancient world from its descent into despair. My first thought was "Seriously?" Yep. He's not kidding.  It's all in his book "How the Choir Converted the Word: Through Hymns, With Hymns, And In Hymns" from Emmaus Road Publishing. (The book is worth a look for the subtitle alone.) Given the state of some current liturgical music, I was skeptical to say the least. (I probably should have told the publisher that before I agreed to blurb the book.) But since everything else I ever read by Mike is pure gold, I agreed. I wasn't disappointed. This book rocks. Music really did save world. But it wasn't without conflict. Music isn't always used for holy purposes. (Ever been to a Def Leppard concert? Yeah...me neither.) That's as true today as it was in the ancient world. In case you haven't noticed, music continues as a battlefront in modern culture. And it's a battle we h

A little bit of knowledge goes a long way...especially when it comes to prayer and Scripture. In fact, you don't need to have any hardcore theological training or lots of letters after your name to get a lot out of prayer. That said, actually studying the Bible - what Pope Benedict XVI calls the "soul of theology" - will put your prayer life on steroids (which is still legal). And a key to understanding Scripture is known as typology. ("Ty-what?") Typology is a 25 cent word that shows how the people, places and events of the Old Testament point forward to the people, places, and events of the New Testament. It shows connections. In this episode of The Art of Catholic, I share a personal experience from my meditations the other day in my parish's adoration chapel. I thought it a good example of how making connections (i.e. typology) in Scripture can really juice up your time with Our Lord. In this mini-cast, I'll focus in on the 5th Joyful Mystery (The Finding of Jesus in the Temple) and discuss: Parallels bet

In case you hadn't noticed, we're at war. We need a weapon. A powerful one. One feared by the Devil. Most of us already have one. It's called the rosary. And if wielded properly it cuts through the darkness like a light saber (especially if it's glow-in-the-dark:). In this special episode of The Art of Catholic, I interview Fr. Donald Calloway, author, speaker, and Vicar Provincial of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception. He knows the rosary. In fact, he wrote a great book on it titled Champions of the Rosary: The History and Heroes of a Spiritual Weapon. So I brought him in to give us all a greater appreciation for the history, beauty, and power of the "Bible on Beads." Among other things, we discuss: The miraculous origin of the rosary through St. Dominic The history of the Marian Psalter (which predated the rosary) How the horrific Black Plague shaped the rosary The epic defeat of the Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Lepanto (because of the rosary!) Why you should know a guy named Alan de la Roche

I've heard it. You've heard it. I used to even say it! "The Catholic priesthood isn't biblical."...Wrong! If you were to boil the (so-called) Protestant  Reformation down to its essence, it basically did away with the priesthood. Most Protestants have no sacramental life because there are no priests to give them the sacraments. (Most don't believe in the sacraments at all.) They believe (and I realize I'm painting with a broad brush here) in something called "the priesthood of all believers." After all, 1 Peter 2:5 says, "and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Our Separated Brethren take this to mean that every Christian has equal potential to minister for God, thus there is no need for a separate ministerial priesthood. But that's not what the Bible says. In this episode of the Art of Catholic I interview Fr. Tommy Lane, a Professor of Sacred Scripture at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, who

Why do Catholics exalt Mary? I don't mean in general. I mean specifically.  The answer may surprise you.  Is it because she's perfect? Kind of. But there's a deeper reason. So in this "brief" episode, I'll dig in a little to the underlying, foundational reason we venerate Our Lady. In this episode we'll discuss: Why the Immaculate Conception is demanded by Mary's divine maternity The vital role of the Council of Ephesus in 431AD in Marian doctrine Why St. Thomas declared Mary was predestined to be the Mother of God How Mary is intimately united to the hypostatic union The definition and distinction of hyperdulia (and why people who say Catholics worship Mary are nuts) All that and more in this episode of the Art of Catholic! God bless! Matthew P.S. I'm leading a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Jim Caviezel, star of The Passion of the Christ! We'll also be joined by Fr. Don Calloway and John Michael Talbot! It's going to be epic! CLICK HERE for details! P.P.S. If you'd rather go to Italy, I'm heading there on