Episode 104: Year B – 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on four apologetical details in the readings for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. The first detail comes from the first reading, taken from Daniel 12:1-3. The apologetical topic is the reality of hell. The second detail is found in the second reading, taken from Hebrews 10:11-14, 18, and the relevant topic is the “once saved, always saved” doctrine that some Christians profess. Finally, the last two details...

Episode 103: Year B – 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on six details that relate to apologetical conversations found in the Mass readings for this upcoming 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. Four of the six details come from the second reading, which is taken from Heb 9:24-28. The topics that come to fore are the Sacrifice of the Mass, the scope of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, Purgatory, and Mary’s sinlessness. The last two of the six details come from the long version...

Episode 102: Year B – 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on three details that have significance for apologetical discussions. The first two come from the second reading, which is taken from Hebrews 7:23-28. The relevant topics are the Sacrifice of the Mass and the intercession of the saints. The detail from the Gospel reading, taken from Mark 12:28b-34, relates to the topic of justification and its relation to love. Readings: Click...

Episode 101: Year B – 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we look at one detail from the second reading, taken from Hebrews 5:1-6, and the whole of the Gospel reading, which recounts the story of Jesus healing the blind Bartimaeus, recorded in Mark 10:46-52. The apologetical topic that relates to the detail in the second reading is the nature of the Mass as the Sacrifice of Christ. The topic of focus for the Gospel is the historicity of Jesus as a healer. Readings: Click...

Episode 100: Year B – 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on several details found in all three readings for this upcoming 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. All the details converge together on a single apologetical theme: the nature of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. Readings: Click Here Looking for Sunday Catholic Word Merchandise? Look no further! Click Here Hey everyone,   Welcome to The Sunday Catholic Word, a podcast where we reflect on...

Episode 99: Year B – 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus solely on the Gospel reading for this upcoming 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, which, at least the long version, is Mark 10:17-30. There’s no major detail that requires an in-depth study. However, there are several details that have some relation to apologetics, even if only in a cursory way. The related topics are the divinity of Jesus, God as the source of our goodness, the causal role good works play for our...

Episode 98: Year B – 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we look at three details in the readings for this upcoming 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. Two of the three come from the second reading, which is taken from Hebrews 2:9-11. Both details pertain to the topic of Jesus’ divinity. If Jesus is God, so it’s asked, how can he be “lower than the angels” and “made perfect”? The third detail comes from the Gospel reading, taken from Mark 10:2-12 and it has to do with the topic of...

Episode 97: Year B – 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on three details in the Mass readings for this upcoming 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. The first is found in the first reading, taken from Numbers 11:25-29. The relevant apologetical topic is Baptism. The second and third details come from the Gospel reading, taken from Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48. The two apologetical topics are the possibility of salvation outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church and...

Episode 96: Year B – 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on four apologetical themes for this upcoming 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. The first theme, which is the nature of justification as interior righteousness, comes from the entirety of the second reading, which is taken from James 3:16-4:3. The other three themes map on with specific details from the Gospel reading, which is taken from Mark 9:30-37. The topics are as follows: the divinity of Jesus, the Papacy,...

Episode 95: Year B – 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, there are four apologetical details that we focus on that come from the readings for this upcoming 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. The first two are found in the first reading, which is taken from Isaiah 50:5-9a, and it has to do with Jesus being the fulfillment of prophecy concerning the suffering servant. The third detail comes from the second reading, which is taken from James 2:14-18, and the relevant apologetical...

Episode 94: Year B – 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on several details that come from the Gospel reading for this upcoming 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, taken from Mark 7:31-37, two of which tie into the first reading, taken from Isaiah 35:4-7a. The key apologetical themes for the details that tie into the first reading are Jesus’ Messiahship and Divinity. The other details in the Gospel reading give rise to the opportunity to talk about the historical...

Episode 93: Year B – 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on several details found within the readings for this upcoming 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. One detail comes from the first reading, which is taken from Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8, and the related topic is the Ten Commandments as an expression of the natural moral law. Another detail comes from the second reading, taken from James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27, which relates to the topic of God’s immutability. James...

Episode 92: Year B – 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we continue our study of Jesus’ Bread of Life Discourse in John 6. The portion of the discourse that makes up the Gospel reading for this upcoming 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, is verses 60-69. Like in last week’s episode, the question is whether Jesus intended his teaching to eat his flesh and drink his blood to be taken literally or figuratively. We argue for a literal interpretation.   Readings: Click...

Episode 91: Year B – 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on the Gospel reading for this upcoming 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, which is the exchange that Jesus has with the Jews concerning his command to eat his flesh. The passage is taken from John 6:51-58. The key apologetical topic, of course, is the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Readings: Click Here Looking for Sunday Catholic Word Merchandise? Look no further! Click Here Hey...

Episode 90: Year B – 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on one detail from the Gospel reading, taken from John 6:41-51, continuing the theme of the Eucharist. That one detail is Jesus’ comparison of the bread of life that he will give, which is the Eucharist, and the Manna in the wilderness. This revelation of the Eucharist as the New Manna, so I argue, supports the belief that the Eucharist cannot be merely a symbol of Jesus’ body and blood,...

Episode 89: Year B – 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on one detail in the Gospel reading, taken from John 6:24-35, that pertains to the Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is Jesus’ metaphorical use of the images of eating and drinking. For many Protestants, such a metaphorical use is the key to unlocking the meaning of Jesus’ instructions to “eat his flesh” and “drink his blood” later in John 6. But we argue this is not the...

Episode 88: Year B – 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on two details, both of which come from the Gospel reading for this upcoming 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, taken from John 6:1-15, which is John’s account of the feeding of the five thousand. One detail, Jesus’ question to Philip, gives rise to the topic of the historical reliability of John and Luke’s Gospels. The second detail, the fragments picked up after the crowd ate, pertains...

Episode 87: Year B – 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time  In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on two details in the readings for this upcoming 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. The first detail is found in the second reading, taken from Ephesians 2:13-18. The relevant apologetical topic is that we as Christians are no longer bound by the ceremonial precepts of the Old Covenant, which would include the Sabbath. The second detail is in the Gospel reading, which is taken from...

Episode 86: Year B – 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focuse on three details in the readings for this upcoming 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, one of which comes from the second reading, taken from Ephesians 1: 3-14. The relevant apologetical topic is the gratuity of the initial grace of salvation. The other two details are found in the Gospel reading, which is taken from Mark 6:7-13. The first detail has to do with the topic of Jesus’...

Episode 85: Year B – 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday of Catholic Word, we focus on one detail from the Gospel reading for the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, taken from Mark 6:1-6—namely, the mention of Jesus’ brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude, along with his “sisters.” Obviously, the topic of concern is the Catholic belief of Mary’s perpetual virginity. Readings: Click Here Looking for Sunday Catholic Word Merchandise? Look no further! Click Here …

Episode 84: Year B – 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on three details for this upcoming Sunday Mass Readings. Two of the details come from the first reading, taken from Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24, and both have to do with theological questions concerning death—God’s causal relation to it, and its relation to the fall of Adam. The third detail is Jesus’ raising of Jairus’ daughter in the Gospel reading, taken from Mark 5:21-24, 35b-43, which is the shorter version that...

Episode 83: Year B – 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on three details from the second reading and Gospel reading that are relevant for doing apologetics. The detail in the second reading, taken from 2 Corinthians 5:14-17, is Paul’s teaching that in Christ we are a new creation. The topic that comes to fore here is the nature of justification as intrinsic righteousness. One of the details in the Gospel reading, taken from Mark 4:35-41, is...

Episode 82: Year B – 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on three details in all, two of the three coming from the second reading, taken from 2 Corinthians 5:6-10. The relevant apologetical topics are Purgatory and the causal effect that our good works have on receiving eternal life at judgment. The third detail, found in the Gospel reading Mark 4:26-34, relates to the topic of Sacred Tradition. Readings: Click Here Looking for Sunday...

Episode 81: Year B – 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on two details found in the readings for this upcoming 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, both of which have to do with Mary. The first detail, found in the first reading, taken from Genesis 3:9-15, is the enmity that God promises to set between the devil and the “woman.” For Catholics, as we shall see, this relates to Mary’s freedom from sin: both original and personal. The other detail is found in the Gospel...