Episode 56: Year B – 3rd Sunday of Advent In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on three details, two of which are found in the second reading, taken from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24. The third detail is in the Gospel reading, which is taken from John 1:6-8, 19-28. The apologetical topics that the two details in the second reading relate to are the good of the charismata (charisms of the Holy Spirit) and the nature of the human person. The main topic that the Gospel reading...

Episode 55: Year B – 2nd Sunday of Advent In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on two details that pertain to apologetics. The first comes from the first reading, taken from Isa. 40:1-5, 9-11. Its apologetical significance comes to light when read in tandem with the Gospel reading, which is taken Mark 1:1-8. The apologetical topic that relates is Jesus’ divinity. The second detail comes from the second reading, taken from 2 Peter 3:8-14. The related topics there are...

Episode 54: Year B – 1st Sunday of Advent In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we start a new Liturgical year, Year B. There are three details that we focus on for this upcoming First Sunday of Advent, each coming from a different reading. The detail from the first reading, taken from Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7, relates to the apologetical topic of the problem of God’s permission of sin. The detail from the second reading, taken from 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, is related. It deals with...

Episode 53: Year A – Solemnity of Christ the King In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we end our apologetical reflections for Year A of the Sunday Mass readings with the Gospel reading for the Solemnity of Christ the King, taken from Matthew 25:31-46. We focus primarily on the Gospel reading. However, the apologetical value of some of the details can only be appreciated against the backdrop of the first reading, which is taken from Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17. So, we reflect on both the...

Episode 52: Year A – 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on the Gospel reading alone, which is taken from Matthew 25:14-30. There are two details that relate to the apologetical topics of good works (and their relation to salvation) and the doctrine of Hell. 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 the...

Episode 51: Year A – 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on two details that are relevant for doing apologetics. The first comes from the second reading, which is taken from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. The relevant apologetical topic is the Rapture. The second detail comes from the Gospel reading, taken from Matthew 25:1-13, and it relates to the apologetical topic of Hell. Readings: Click Here Looking for Sunday Catholic Word Merchandise? Look no further! Click Here     Hey...

Episode 50: Year A – 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we spend our time focusing on two details found in the second and Gospel readings for this upcoming 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. The first detail comes from the second reading, which is taken from 1 Thessalonians 2:7b-9, 13. The relevant apologetical topics are Sacred Tradition and the Protestant belief in Sola Scriptura—the belief that Scripture alone is our infallible rule of faith. The...

Episode 49: Year A – 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on four details that are relevant to apologetical discussions. Two of the four come from the first reading, which is taken from Exodus 22:20-26, and each deal with separate questions: whether God is a moral monster for killing people and whether charging interest on a loan is sinful. The other two details come from the Gospel reading, which for this 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A is...

Episode 48: Year A – 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we do not focus so much on a particular detail that’s relevant for apologetical discussion. Rather, we focus on the whole exchange that takes place between Jesus and the Pharisees in the Gospel reading, which is taken from Matthew 22:15-21. The first reading, which is taken from Isaiah 45:1, 4-6, comes into play as well, but only in light of what’s going on in the Gospel. The relevant apologetical...

Episode 47: Year A – 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on three details from the Mass readings for this upcoming 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. One of the three comes from the first reading, which is taken from Isaiah 25:6-10a. The remaining two come from the Gospel, which is taken from Matthew 22:1-14. The correlating apologetical topics include the problem of evil, the necessity of good works for salvation, and the reality of...

Episode 46: Year A – 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on one detail that arises from the Gospel reading for the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A, taken from Matthew 21:33-43—Jesus as the “cornerstone.” The relevant apologetical topic is Peter and the Papacy. The question of concern is whether the metaphor of the cornerstone applied to Jesus in this upcoming Sunday’s Gospel reading excludes Peter being the “rock” upon which Christ promises...

Episode 45: Year A – 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on three details that arise from the first and second readings for this upcoming 26th Sunday of Ordinary Tiem, Year A. The apologetical topics that these details relate to are the problem of evil and the divinity of Jesus. The detail that pertains to the problem of evil comes from the first reading, which is taken from Ezekiel 18:25-28. The other two details both, both of which pertain to the Divinity of Jesus, come...

Episode 44: Year A – 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on three details that are relevant for apologetical discussions, each of which are found in the first reading, taken from Isaiah 55:6-9, the second reading, taken from Philippians 1:20-24, 27a, and the Gospel reading, taken from Matthew 20:1-16a. The detail from the first reading relates to the problem of evil. The detail from the second reading relates to the Catholic doctrine of...

Episode 43: Year A – 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time   In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on one apologetical topic. We will be focusing on our duty to forgive offenses committed against us.   Speaker 1: This is the Sunday Catholic Word, a production of Catholic Answers, the only podcast to look at the Sunday mass readings from an apologetic’s perspective. Karlo Broussard: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Sunday Catholic Word, a podcast where we reflect on the upcoming...

Episode 42: Year A – 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on two details that are relevant for doing apologetics. One is found in the second reading, which is taken from Romans 13:8-10. The relevant topic is capital punishment and lethal self-defense. The second is found in Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel, which is taken from Matthew 18:15-20, and relates to the nature of the Church as a visible and hierarchical society. Readings: Click Here Looking...

Episode 41: Year A – 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode, we focus on three details that are relevant to doing apologetics. The first of the three comes from the second reading, which is taken from Romans 12:1-2. The relevant apologetical topics are the relation that our good works have to Christ’s sufficient work on the cross and our final salvation and the nature of our justification as interior righteousness. The other two details come from the Gospel, which is taken from Matthew...

Episode 40: Year A – 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on one detail that’s relevant to apologetics: the keys of the Kingdom of heaven given to Peter, which is found in the Gospel reading for this upcoming 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, taken from Matthew 16:16-20. Many familiar with apologetical discussions know that this detail relates to the Papacy. Many also know that its relevance to the Papacy becomes especially clear when this detail is...

Episode 39: Year A – 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we going to focus on five details found in all the Mass readings for this upcoming 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. One detail comes from the first reading, taken from Isaiah 56:1, 6-7. Three come from the second reading, which is taken from Romans 11:13-15, 29-32. The fifth detail comes from the Gospel reading, which is Matthew’s record of Jesus’ exchange with the Canaanite woman who requests...

Episode 38: Year A – 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on four details found in this upcoming Sunday Mass readings. One detail comes from the second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 9, verses 1-5. The other three come from the Gospel, which is taken from Matthew 14:22-33. The relevant apologetical topics for the three details in the Gospel are the Historical Reliability of the Gospels, Jesus’ Divinity, and the reality of...

In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on three details relevant for apologetical discussions found in the first reading and the Gospel for this upcoming Sunday’s Feast of the Transfiguration. The topics that these details relate to are Jesus’ Divinity and the intercession of the saints. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080623.cfm Looking for Sunday Catholic Word Merchandise? Look no further! https://shop.catholic.com/catholic-answers-merchandise/?q=sunday Hey...

In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on a total of five details that come from the three readings for this upcoming 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. The first detail comes from the first reading, which is taken from 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12. The relevant topic there is the Divinity of Jesus. The two details that come from the second reading, taken from Romans 8:28-30, relate to the problem of evil and the mystery of predestination. The problem of evil is also tied to one of the...

Episode 35: Year A – 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus solely on Jesus’ parable of the Weeds Among the Wheat found in the Gospel reading for this upcoming 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A, which is taken from Matthew 13:24-30, and 36-43. There are two apologetical topics that this parable gives us opportunity to focus on: the reality of Hell and the problem of evil. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072323.cfm Looking for...

Episode 34: Year A – 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we zero in on three details in the readings for this upcoming 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. The first two come from the second reading, taken from Romans 8:18-23. The relevant apologetical topic that each relate to, though in different ways, is the problem of evil. The third detail is basically the whole of the Gospel reading, which is Jesus’ parable about the Sower and the seed in Matthew...

Episode 33: Year A – 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we highlight four details that are relevant for doing apologetics from the readings for this upcoming 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. Two of them, which have to do with the bodily nature of Christ’s resurrection and the possibility for Christians forfeiting the gift of salvation, comes from the second reading, taken from Romans 8:9, 11-13. The other two come from the Gospel reading, taken from...

Episode 32: Year A – 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on three details that are relevant to explaining and defending the Faith. The first comes from the second reading, which is taken from Rom 6:3-4, 8-11, and the relevant topics are the salvific efficacy of Baptism and the nature of justification. The remaining two details come from the Gospel reading, which is taken from Matthew 10:37-42, and the relevant topics are Jesus’ Divinity and the...