The Catholic Culture Podcast

In the last of the YouTube livestreams related to Catholic Culture's May fundraising campaign, Jeff Mirus and Phil Lawler discuss their approach to writing responsible, sober commentary during a time of crisis in the Church: that is, when the news is crazy, how can we talk about it sanely? We're a week into CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. Generous donors have offered a $50,000 matching grant, so any donation you make by May 24 will double in value! You can donate on our website or PayPal (tax-deductible). Donation links below: http://www.CatholicCulture.org/donate https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DZRZRJ5723MLA Go to Catholic Culture's website for tons of content, including news, articles, podcasts, liturgical year info, and a vast library of documents: https://www.catholicculture.org

In this livestream, James Majewski and Thomas Mirus we discussed errors artists can fall into in pushing back against a moralistic approach to art found within the Church. Rather than reacting away from rigidity to excessive openness, the mature Catholic artist has to get over himself and be a servant. Also discussed: The relation between order and surprise in beauty, morality and culture. Note: the video begins abruptly in the middle of our introductory fundraising campaign pitch - because of some glitched-out audio, we cut the first 6 minutes or so. We're a week into CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. Generous donors have offered a $50,000 matching grant, so any donation you make by May 24 will double in value! You can donate on our website or PayPal (tax-deductible). Donation links below: http://www.CatholicCulture.org/donate https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DZRZRJ5723MLA Go to Catholic Culture's website for tons of content, including news, articles, podcasts, liturgical year info, and a vast library of documents: https://www.catholicculture.org

For those who missed the YouTube livestream Q&A with Mike Aquilina on May 8th, 2023, here is the audio. It was a lively conversation where Mike fielded viewer questions about important cities of the early Church, early evidence for papal primacy, the role of charity in the early Church, Origen, the providential role of easy travel for the spread of the Gospel in the first centuries, and more. We're a week into CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. Generous donors have offered a $50,000 matching grant, so any donation you make by May 24 will double in value! You can donate on our website or PayPal (tax-deductible). Donation links below: http://www.CatholicCulture.org/donate https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DZRZRJ5723MLA We'll be doing more YouTube livestreams where viewers will be able to interact, ask questions and prompt discussion via the live chat box. Upcoming livestreams: 5/15, 8pm ET—Thomas Mirus & James Majewski (hosts,Catholic Culture Podcast, Catholic Culture Audiobooks, Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast) 5/22, 8pm ET—Phil Lawler & Jeff Mirus (CatholicCulture.org writers)

Catholic University of America Press recently launched a major new series: the English Critical Edition of the Works of Karol Wojtyła/John Paul II. The first volume of the series was a new translation of Wojtyła's 1969 book Person and Act, along with related essays. In Person and Act Wojtyła set forth the foundation of his blend of phenomenology, Thomism and personalism, a foundation underlying much of his other philosophical and theological writing. The first English translation is generally considered to be quite inaccurate, and, crucially, removed the Latin terms by which Wojtyła refers to the Thomistic and scholastic tradition, leading to a false impression that Wojtyła was much more of a pure phenomenologist and less of a Thomist than he really was. Thus the new translation by Gregorz Ignatik is a significant moment for the reception of Wojtyła/John Paul II's thought in the Anglosphere. In this episode, Timothy Flanders joins Thomas Mirus to discuss Person and Act as they attempt to boil down some of the key points of this rather challenging book, to set Wojtyła's philosophy in its intellectual, cultural, and religious context, and showing why his insights about human consciousness, the experience of morality, and the person are important for us as well. Points discussed include: How Wojtyła's use of phenomenology and personalism relates to the traditional Aristo-Thomistic anthropology The importance of phenomenological methods for the "healing of experience" and giving an objective account of the subjective Correcting modern errors about consciousness The concept of the person in relation to the traditional concept of human nature The need to integrate cognition with experience and the danger of the "emotionalization of consciousness" The centrality of morality to personhood Links The Meaning of Catholic https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaMoKEEA-KKDNgx3icjA36Q Person and Act and Related Essays https://www.cuapress.org/9780813233666/person-and-act-and-related-essays/ Recommended secondary sources: Accessible: Crosby, The Personalism of John Paul II https://www.amazon.com/Personalism-John-Paul-II/dp/1939773148 Jablonska, A Pope for All Seasons https://www.amazon.com/Pope-All-Seasons-Testimonies-Inspired/dp/1621388840 Less accessible: Buttiglione, Karol Wojtyla: The Thought of the Man Who Became Pope John Paul II https://www.amazon.com/Karol-Wojtyla-Thoughtof-Became-Thought-ebook/dp/B002BWPTOW Weigel, Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II https://www.amazon.com/Witness-Hope-Biography-Pope-John/dp/0062996010/ DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio Go to Catholic Culture's website for tons of written content, including news, articles, liturgical year info, and a vast library of documents: https://www.catholicculture.org

We'll be doing YouTube livestreams on the next 3 Monday evenings, as part of CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. In these freewheeling conversations, you'll have the opportunity to ask questions and prompt discussion in the live chat box! 5/8, 8pm ET - Mike Aquilina (host, Way of the Fathers podcast) 5/15, 8pm ET - Thomas Mirus & James Majewski (hosts,Catholic Culture Podcast, Catholic Culture Audiobooks, Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast) 5/22, 8pm ET - Phil Lawler & Jeff Mirus (CatholicCulture.org writers) You can use this link to connect to the Mike Aquilina livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNXvhOJuLZ8 The links to the other two livestreams will go up on the Catholic Culture YouTube channel a few days before each one.

This episode features highlight clips from episodes 50, 58, 60, and 66 of the Catholic Culture Podcast. 50: A Catholic Composer in Queen Elizabeth's Court, Pt. II – Kerry McCarthy https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-50a-catholic-composer-in-queen-elizabeths-court-pt-iikerry-mccarthy/ 58: A Hidden Life Film Review w/ James Majewski https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-58-hidden-life-film-review-w-james-majewski/ 60: Princeton Hosts Event Dedicated to St. Cecilia https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-60-princeton-funds-catholic/ 66: Christopher Tolkien, 1924-2020 – John Garth https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-66-christopher-tolkien-1924-2020-john-garth/ Donate to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio Go to Catholic Culture's website for tons of written content, including news, articles, liturgical year info, and a vast library of documents: https://www.catholicculture.org

It's time for a big-picture look at Church history! Timothy S. Flanders joins the podcast to discuss his book City of God vs. City of Man: The Battles of the Church from Antiquity to the Present. The book is a synthesis of the approaches of St. Augustine and Christopher Dawson, whom Timothy calls the two greatest Catholic historians. Themes discussed include: The Hebrew (Old Testament) view of history The need for alliance between the "strict" and "moderate" parties of Catholic orthodoxy Ethnic pluralism in Christendom The Grand Coalition of the Status Quo The ideology of Roma and its role in the Eastern schism The love of money as a key factor in the breakdown of Christendom Links City of God vs. City of Man: The Battles of the Church from Antiquity to the Present https://www.amazon.com/City-God-vs-Man-Antiquity/dp/0578317346/ The Meaning of Catholic https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaMoKEEA-KKDNgx3icjA36Q Please consider donating at http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Go to Catholic Culture's website for tons of written content, including news, articles, liturgical year info, and a vast library of documents: https://www.catholicculture.org

Marly Youmans joins the podcast to talk about her new verse tale, Seren of the Wildwood, the story's relation to the biblical giants or Nephilim, and the difference between myth and faerie. Publisher's description of Seren of the Wildwood (Wiseblood Books): Seren is born on the brink of Wildwood, realm of shadowy fey who listen and laugh–who sometimes bless and sometimes curse. As she grows into young womanhood, shaped by a familial tragedy tied to her conception, she is lured from home by a whispering mystery in Wildwood, where the supernatural roams freely through time and space. In riddling, often dangerous forests and mountains marked by fallen powers and holy women, oracles, hermits, and giants, Seren finds both violence and balm on a path arrowing toward transformation. Links Seren of the Wildwood https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p128/Seren-of-the-Wildwood-by-Youmans.html Marly Youmans https://thepalaceat2.blogspot.com/ Lord of Spirits episode mentioned https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/lordofspirits/land_of_giants?fbclid=IwAR1thosaICBidKK6XPl8v6wbQlIkqcC8B426WnW5T2VnnCubSRyMPuYFq6g This show is listener-funded. Please consider donating! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio Go to Catholic Culture's website for tons of written content, including news, articles, liturgical year info, and a vast library of documents: https://www.catholicculture.org

It's universally acknowledged that music effects our emotions. But does it actually make sense to talk about music "expressing", emotions in any intrinsic sense (that is, can music itself be happy or sad)? And even if it does, should we treat emotional expression as the essential purpose of music, or the criterion by which we judge musical beauty? If music doesn't literally contain emotions, how does it still manage to affect our feelings so powerfully? And what is music expressing, imitating or reflecting, if not emotions? If we want to understand the nature and purpose of music, much less its relation to our moral and spiritual lives, we have to give some answer to these questions. Thomas Mirus, drawing on the thought of the 19th-century music critic Eduard Hanslick and psychologist Edmund Gurney, argues against the conventional view that music is essentially a vehicle for emotion. This podcast is listener-funded. DONATE at http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Go to Catholic Culture's website for tons of written content, including news, articles, liturgical year info, and a vast library of documents: https://www.catholicculture.org

For decades, Steve and Evelyn Auth have been giving tours of NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art. When Steve (who last appeared on this show talking about his book The Missionary of Wall Street) had a reversion to his Catholic faith 20 years ago, that tour soon enough became a Catholic tour of the Met. Since there is now so much demand for that tour that they can't give it to everyone, they have written its essence in their new book, Pilgrimage to the Museum: Man's Search for God. Steve joins the show to talk about his spiritual approach to art history, viewing works in light of the underlying search, or at least grappling, with God that is manifested by every true artist. But he also talks about what makes the Met special (it's one of the most encyclopedic museums in the world if you want to learn about all of art history), and offers tips for how to get the most out of your visit to any art museum. Pilgrimage to the Museum https://sophiainstitute.com/product/a-pilgrimage-to-the-museum/ DONATE at http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Go to Catholic Culture's website for tons of written content, including news, articles, liturgical year info, and a vast library of documents: https://www.catholicculture.org