Forte Catholic Podcast: Making Catholicism Fun Again

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

In this week's episode, we talk about the amazing Super Bowl that happened this weekend, why we love sports, what sports can teach us and how it can help us grow in our faith. I talk about the things that I learned while playing sports growing up and how those lessons have made me a better Christian. In the last segment, I interview youth minister Chris Johnson, also known as the Pokevangelist. Tune in to join in our laughter and find out what the heck a Pokevangelist is, how pop culture can be used to assist in ministry and more.

Here in Episode 18, I start by discussing the Holy Spirit. By looking at the story of Pentecost, we explore together how the Apostles receiving the Holy Spirit completely transformed them and what this means for modern day Catholics. In segment 2, listen to an interview with Matt Arismendez, the leader of Tongues of Fire Ministries in San Antonio. He is a mentor of mine and it was a pleasure to have him on the air to talk about the importance of commitment. In the final 20 minutes, we do the Mass Text segment, looking at the Gospel reading from Monday about Jesus healing a possessed man. It is quite an interesting story that has meant a lot to me in a stressful week. Tune in and enjoy! If you like it, please share it with your friends.

On this episode of Forte Catholic, I talk about my experience last weekend on the RED-C Family Retreat that I both spoke at and attended with my family. I share what I learned about growing in holiness as a family in preparation for the retreat and from great speakers like Marcel LeJeune, Matt Rice and more. In the second segment, I interview the Director of the Fullness of Truth conference about how they are helping families grow in holiness, his conversion story and more. And finally, I share a bit from one of my keynote sessions this weekend about what I learned in marriage preparation about relationships between spouses from Ephesians 5 and the book "Love and Respect" by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs.

Tune in to Forte Catholic radio tonight for a really fun show about following, twitter, discipleship, an interview with my Twitter friend Lex Lutheran. I'll also be revealing the order of this top 10 list and more.

Tune in now to the newest episode of Forte Catholic on Red-C Radio with special guest Matt Rice as we talk about his new ministry, St Monica's Army, ministering to those who have had people in their family leave the Church. I also talk about taking my son to the movie "Sing" and what I learned about marriage as an engaged man many moons ago.

Forte Catholic Episode 14 Aired Live on Red-C Catholic Radio. It's my daughter Maggie's birthday and I told the crazy story of how she was born on the side of the road and how God was so much a part of that! I'll also reflect on 2016, interview former NET Missionary Sam Shepard about her 2 years on NET and then address the pros and cons of technology for our faith. Song in 1st Segment is Audrey Asaad "Good To Me"

First show after Christmas so we talk about favorite Christmas memories, the importance of memories in faith, best/worst Christmas gifts, and the newest Star Wars movie with our guest Brian Lennox, Director of Faith Formation at a newly created parish in the Houston area.

Tune in to this week's show from Red C Radio for a conversation about finishing Advent strong, some advent/Christmas songs, overcoming failure, and an interview with youth minister Darren Seibert about celebrating the holidays as a family and more.

Tune in to Forte Catholic today for a fun episode on relationships with Steve Pokorny who started a great ministry called Freedom Coaching and an interview with newly engaged couple. We play the newly made up "Taylor's Marriage Prep Test Game." Tune in to see how they do and learn about Catholic relationships. catholic radio relationships www.fortecatholic.com/radio

Jimmy Akin! Jimmy Akin! Jimmy Akin! I can't believe I got to interview this giant in apologetics! Tune in to hear the interview with Jimmy as well as a discussion about the National Catholic Conference of Youth Ministers I went to this weekend and the Forte Five segment returns.