The Catechism, cover to cover, in one year.
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Read The Cat 0606-0660

May 11th, 2012 | Posted by Kyle in Podcast - (0 Comments)

The Pascal Mystery is quite mysterious!

Elevator Pitch: Christ died by his own free will, descended into hell to free the just and rose.

The whole shabang: Christ’s whole life is an offering to the Father. His death is a sign of his love while completing and surpassing all other sacrifices. Jesus substittues his obediece for our disobedience.

No other human could offer such a sacrafice. It was because of Christ’s divinity that he could offer himself as a sacrifice for all. We are called to take up our own cross and follow him. Sacrifice is part of following in the footsteps of Jesus.

At Christ’s death, his soul was separated from his flesh. He descended into hell to free the just who had gone before him.

The empty tomb is not proof of the Resurection, but it is a sign. Christ has the same body but it is glorified. Unlike others who have risen from the dead, this divine resurrection will not die again and is in another life beyond time and space!

CCC 651: The resurrection above all constitutes the confirmation of all Christ’s works and teachings.

This is the source of our future resurrection!

 

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Read The Cat 0551-0605

May 4th, 2012 | Posted by Dan in Podcast - (0 Comments)

Elevator Pitch: Jesus equipped Peter and the other disciples with all that the would need to spread the Gospel, in this hand-over James, John, and Peter join Jesus on top of a mountain where things turn bright white, God speaks from the heavens and things get a little crazy. The CCC defends Jesus for causing such a stir among the religious, social, and political leaders of the day. This podcast wraps up with a look into who is at “fault” for Jesus’ trial, sentencing and crucifixion – as it turns out, anyone who has ever sinned is at fault and get this… Jesus died so that we all might be forgiven. Everyone. No exceptions.

The Pitch from Center Field:
The readings this week start with Jesus ordaining Peter with the keys to heaven, the power to bind and loose, and charges him with the task of feeding his sheep. As Jesus prepares for his crucifixion he takes Peter, James, and John up to the mountain for a meeting with Elijah and Moses and there he is transfigured to dazzling white and the voice of God declares Jesus’ divinity and authority saying “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” St. Thomas Aquinas wrote: “On the threshold of the public life: the baptism; on the threshold of the Passover: the Transfiguration.” The Catechism goes on then to discuss Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem which wraps up article three, His birth and life. Now on to Article 4 as we move through the Profession of Faith: Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.

This, while it’s the most difficult part of the Gospels for many reasons, is crucial to our fully appreciating the works of God and our salvation as his people. Paragraph 571.

This whole next section paragraphs 572 through 594 details how Jesus’ radically different approach to fulfilling the commandments of God put him at odds with the pharisees and essentially fueled the fire the authorities needed when they were preparing to try and punish him. He was not actively working against the law, he embraced the law of his father, he was providing an example and simplifying the law. He honored the temple and when he declared it would be destroyed and built up again in three days he was speaking of himself, the temple of God – those who doubted, those who did not understand that God would become man to set the record straight found Jesus to be just a man claiming to be God, the truth was that he was God made man.

The CCC very charitably discusses Jesus’ trial, crucifixion, and the persons responsible for it. Paragraph 597: “The personal sin …” The church is adamant about not holding the Jewish faithful
guilty and instead reminds us of our own responsibility each time we turn away from what we know to be right and we choose sin. Paragraph 598 “We profess to know him. And when we deny him by our deeds, we in some way seem to lay violent hands on him.”

Closing out this week’s episode paragraphs 599 through 605 explain God’s hand in the sacrifice of Christ. Despite it being requisite and necessary that Christ die for our sins, the free will of the characters who carried out the trial, persecution, and crucifixion did so of their own free will. Paragraph 600 says: For the sake of accomplishing His plan of salvation, God permitted the acts that flowed from their (those responsible for Christ’s death) blindness.

Finally after all this sometimes tough discussion about Christ’s death, sin, and who did what, the last paragraph rather refreshingly reminds us “At the end of the parable of the lost sheep… ” “There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer.”

 

Songs heard on this week’s podcast: T-Fig and the Party on the Mountain by Popple.

Go to www.popple.us for more info, or go to itunes or steal it from a friend, or e-mail us and we’ll send you a free copy of the song, whatever.

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Read The Cat 0496-0550

April 28th, 2012 | Posted by Cory in Podcast - (2 Comments)

Elevator Pitch: God works intentionally. Mary was chosen by God and set aside to be different than everyone else. Christ’s Kingdom is here and now, booyeah!

The whole ball of yarn: We talk about three things in this episode: Mary and her attributes, the mystery’s of Christ early life, and the Kingdom of God.

The Lord works with purpose, and when were talking about His one and only Son, nothing was going to get past Him. Mary was a virgin, so Christ could be conceived by the Holy Spirit and God would be Christ’s one and only Father. Mary is the new Eve, mother of the living. she freely cooperated with the Lord.

No less attention was given to the early life of Christ. The Bible only gives a brief glimpse into the life of Christ and grants us what is necessary for our salvation. Every story shared serves a very specific purpose. God began the fulfillment of His kingdom through Christ’s death and resurrection. We as the Church are the seed, the beginning of that kingdom.

 

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Read The Cat 0441-0495

April 20th, 2012 | Posted by Kyle in Podcast - (1 Comments)

Join us with special guest, Nick Padley, as the bells from the elevator outside our hotel room ding (yes, now you will be distracted by the dings in the podcast).

Elevator Pitch: Jesus is the Son of God and the son of Mary. True God and true man. Fully God and fully man.

The Yarn-ball Unraveled: The Trinity is a mystery but we attempt to crack it open here as we discuss that Jesus is the Son of God. We are also sons and daughters of God but in a different way. He says, “my father” but instructs us to pray, “our father.” The Word became flesh for us men and for our salvation but more specifically:

  1. in order to save us by reconciling us with God (457)
  2. so that thus we might know God’s love (458)
  3. to be our model of holiness (459) – love one another as I have loved you
  4. to make us partakers of the divine nature (460)
“What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ (487).” The dogma of the Immaculate Conception teaches that she was born without original sin, meaning she didn’t have concupiscence, meaning she didn’t have the inclination to sin. She still had free will but her will was perfectly aligned with God’s!

Nick Padley:

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Read The Cat 0386-0420

April 12th, 2012 | Posted by Dan in Podcast - (0 Comments)

Elevator Pitch:Original sin, sin, and Satan are real, thus the importance of Christ who redeems us.

The Rundown: This week we are talking about Sin AKA “humanity’s rejection of God and opposition to him” p.386   Divine revelation sheds light on our relationship to God and shows us that as God’s created people, we have been made capable of loving Him and one another – sin is an abuse of that freedom. To break this open we start at original sin. It was Adam’s original sin that set us on the course to need Christ’s salvation. The Church reads the account of “The Fall” from Genesis 3 as figurative language about a real event, there was a fall and we have original sin. That sin is “contracted” generation after generation in the sense that we are each descendants of Adam whose choice deprived humanity of original holiness and justice, however original sin is not “committed” at birth, it is “a state and not an act.”  The remainder of the paragraphs look at The Profession of Faith’s “I believe in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God.” The paragraphs examine the name of Jesus and the importance of Christ to us as Christians today and the importance of Christ in light of the Old Testament.

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Read The Cat 0331-0385

April 6th, 2012 | Posted by Cory in Podcast - (0 Comments)

Special Good Friday Episode. We were purrrrchased fur a great price.

Elevator Pitch: God created the heavens and the earth and it was good. Then he created man and it was very good.

A blessed and solemn Good Friday to you all. Please take some time today to reflect on the passion of Christ wherever you may be today, and how that event so dearly effects your life today. We have fun and joke around a lot on this podcast, but hopefully when we get back around to something serious it all comes back to these three days of Christ’s passion, death, and (spoiler alert) resurrection.

This episode parallels nicely with the triduum (Evening of Holy Thursday to Easter). We have the opportunity to talk a bit about the First supper and the roll the angels play. We dive into man’s creation, and get a hint of of how Christ has redeemed our nature through His passion death and resurrection.

Man was made for Heaven and God continues to tiresly work to bring us into His presence. This Easter we have the opportunity to recognize and except that gift in a new way. We can enter into a relationship with Christ in a way we’ve never known. Today we are praying for your Good Friday and your fasting and hope that your Easter is blessed.

As promised here’s the Matt Maher Song: Heaven and Earth, that goes along so nicely with today’s episode.

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Read The Cat 0276-0330

March 30th, 2012 | Posted by Kyle in Podcast - (0 Comments)

God made everything out of nothing. Using some of that stuff, I made a podcast.

Elevator Pitch/Takeaway:
The Creed begins with the belief in God and then, quickly talks about Creation. “Creation is the foundation of ‘all God’s saving plans,’ the ‘beginning of the history of salvation (CCC 280 – GCD 51).’”

Breaking it Down:
God, the whole Holy Trinity, created everything out of nothing. In His divine wisdom, he gave us free choice, but can still bring about good from our bad choices. The story of creation is more than just knowing when and how the universe was made, it is the meaning behind it. Understanding why there is evil in the world requires that we understand all of Christianity, it is so embedded in our faith.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1),” expresses three truths:

  1. the eternal God gave a beginning to all that exists outside of himself
  2. He alone is Creator
  3. the totality of what exists depends on the One who gives it being (CCC 290)

Just as God is able to make light shine in darkness, he can also give the light of faith to those who do not yet know him (CCC 298).

More info on creation vs. evolution at Catholic.com

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Read The Cat 0221-0275

March 23rd, 2012 | Posted by Cory in Podcast - (0 Comments)

I hate mice, yarn and the devil (I want to punch them all).

Elevator Pitch/Takeaway:

The backbone of our Faith, The Trinity, three persons in one God. It’s a mystery so we can’t really know what that means, right? The Church sure isn’t going to give up that easy. Paragraphs 0221-0275 digs into the mystery and gives the skinny on the Trinity

Breaking it Down:

In the Old Testament we recognize God as Father. He’s the Father of the Israelites and the Father the Creator. In the New Testament we get a whole new understanding of God’s Fatherhood as well as the other two parts of the Trinity. While we can know a higher being exists through natural reason we can only know the truth of the Trinity through God’s revelation.

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Read The Cat 0166-0220

March 16th, 2012 | Posted by Dan in Podcast - (1 Comments)

Meow, meow, meow, meow, bacon.

Elevator Pitch/Takeaway:
We share a faith in God that is both personal and at the same time corporal as our faith is united with the rest of the Church. When we profess that faith we profess what we believe and what the Church collectively believes. God chose to reveal his name (or names) to us and through that we have come to understand a bit about God and his nature.

Breaking it Down:
While the church is made of many people, each on their own journey of faith, the church collectively has one faith, and as St. Irenaeus points out the church, though scattered through the world has but “a single heart, a unanimous voice” and dwells “in but a single house.” We have come to believe in “God, the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth” and we have come to know things about God in the way he revealed himself and his name to us through scripture.  St. Cyril of Jerusalem points out that the Creed which is the synthesis and symbol of faith “was not made to accord with human opinions… but presents the one teaching of the faith in its entirety.”

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Why The 8-bit Graphcis?

March 13th, 2012 | Posted by Kyle in Update - (0 Comments)

I’m glad you asked, Todd. OK, so no one asked, much less anyone named, “Todd.” But here’s the skinny:

In 1977, the Oakland Raiders won the Super Bowl, Gerald Ford passed the presidential torch to Jimmy Carter, snow fell in Miami, Fleetwood Mac released “Rumours,” Star Wars opened in theaters, and Atari releases the 2600 game system. I would be so bold as to say that the Atari revolutionized the video game industry. My second cousin would “lend” us his long after its prime and I would play games with the joystick and mysteriously burn through power adapters. The games were very simple, yet addictive, and challenging, and if I were honest with myself, I knew why my parents never bought me a Nintendo, despite my constant nagging.

The graphics were made up of huge blocks of colors, like a mosaic, vaguely resembling a ghost, alien, or alligator (Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Pit-Fall being the classics in our house). They referred to the graphics as 8-bit, due to the size of the CPU. All the games today, in their life-like beauty, are decedents of these digital dinosaurs. Evolutionary children of the Atari games.

Likewise, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, goes back to the core. It is the source that other books would use to educate and clarify the faith. It is a font of truth from which all doctrine and Church teachings flow.

For Read the Cat, we decided to go back to the source. We wanted to get to the core of Church teachings and study what the Church teaches and why. There is so much beauty in this simplicity but also challenges. It isn’t a “telephone game” interpretation of an interpretation of truth. It is the product 6 years of Cardinals and Bishops dropping truth bombs on the faithful and 2000 years of the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

8-bit is symbolic of the raw, “Just the facts ma’am” presentation of truth found in the Catechism and we look forward to being educated, challenged, enlightened, and affirmed by the core teachings of our faith.

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