We focus on two details that come from the first and second readings, Both details touch on the topic of the Sacrament of Holy Orders…

Hey everyone, Welcome to The Sunday Catholic Word, a podcast where we reflect on the upcoming Sunday Mass readings and pick out the details that are relevant for explaining and defending our Catholic faith. I’m Karlo Broussard, staff apologist and speaker for Catholic Answers, and the host for this podcast. In this episode, we’re going to focus on a total of five details that come from all three readings. They relate to several different apologetical topics: the spiritual efficacy of the Sacrament of baptism, the nature of justification, the intercession of the saints, and the Eucharist. THE F…

Episode 22: Year A – Third Sunday of Easter In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on three details in the readings for the Third Sunday of Easter, Year A. The first detail is Peter’s speech on the Day of Pentecost, which makes up the first reading from Acts 2:14, 22-23. This corresponds to the apologetical topic of the Papacy. The second detail, coming from the second reading (1 Peter 1:17-25), is Peter’s comment about God judging us according to our works, which, of course, relates to the topic of salvation and the relationship that good works have with it. The third det…

Episode 21: Year A – Divine Mercy Sunday In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, Karlo focuses on three details that are relevant to discussions concerning Socialism, the Sacrament of Baptism, and the Sacrament of Confession. The details come from each of the readings for this upcoming Divine Mercy Sunday. The first detail is Luke’s reference to the early Christians holding all things in common, which is taken from the first reading in Acts 2:42-47. The second detail is Peter’s statement in the second reading, which is taken from 1 Peter 1:3-9, that we are born anew through the resu…

Episode 20: Year A – Easter Vigil In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus specifically on the Gospel reading for the Easter Vigil Mass because it relates directly to the solemnity that we celebrate this upcoming Sunday, the Resurrection of our Lord. The passage comes from Matthew 28:1-10. We pick out five details in the narrative that skeptics point to as evidence that the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection aren’t trustworthy. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040823.cfm Looking for Sunday Catholic Word Merchandise? Look no further! https://shop.catholic.…

Episode 19: Year A – Palm Sunday In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on five details found in the opening Gospel and second reading for this upcoming Palm Sunday, Year A. For the Gospel, we stick with the Gospel reading (Matthew 21:1-11) for the procession with palms at the beginning of Mass since it specifically relates to Palm Sunday. The second reading comes from Philippians 2:6-11. The apologetical topics that the details relate to are the historical reliability of the Gospels and the divinity of Jesus. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040223.cfm Loo…

Episode 18: Year A – Fifth Sunday of Lent In this episode of The Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on several details found in the Gospel and second reading for the 5th Sunday of Lent, Year A. The story of the raising of Lazarus in John 11:1-45 and Paul’s teaching on “the flesh” in Romans 8:8-11 equips us with tools needed to engage in conversations about the problem of evil, soul-sleep objections, the Eucharist, Jesus’ resurrection, the doctrine of the resurrection in general, the divinity of Jesus, and the historical reliability of the Bible. The Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/re…

Episode 17: Year A – Fourth Sunday of Lent In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on five details in the Liturgy of the Word for the 4th Sunday of Lent, Year A. Four of the five come from the Gospel reading, which, for the long version, is taken from John 9:1-41 (the short version is verses 1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38). It’s the story of the blind man whom Jesus healed by applying mud mixed with His spit and telling him to wash in the pool of Siloam. The fifth apologetical detail is taken from the second reading, which is Ephesians 5:8-14. The apologetical themes covered in this …

Episode 16: Year A–Third Sunday of Lent In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we’re going to focus on five details present in the Liturgy of the Word for the 3rd Sunday of Lent that are relevant for doing apologetics. Four of the five come from the Gospel reading, which is taken from John 4:5-42. These four details are connected to several different apologetical themes: Catholic rituals in worship, the divinity of the Holy Spirit, the incorporeality of God, the male only priesthood, and the Eucharist. The fifth detail comes from the second reading, which is taken from Romans 5:1-2…

Episode 15: Year A–Second Sunday of Lent In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we’re going to focus on two details present in the readings for the 2nd Sunday of Lent (Year A) that are relevant for doing apologetics, particularly with our Protestant brothers and sisters. The first detail is Jesus’ communication with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, which comes from the Gospel reading taken from Matthew 17:1-9. The second detail is Paul’s teaching on the gift of salvation being given independent of our works, which is found in the second reading taken from 2 Timothy…