Here's a talk on a little-discussed bit of Catholic theology - redemptive suffering. If you've never understood Col 1:24, this is probably the talk for you.

From what I understand, there were few things more common 60 years ago than for a whining Catholic kid to hear, "Offer it up!" Hopefully Fr. will go a bit deeper... ;0)

I can't believe we're now resorting to this:

Here are a couple of lectures on St. Augustine from the University of Sydney:

Augustine, City of God, download, listen. [Augustine thinks not in opposites but in terms of an order with many levels. Manicheanism; his theory of evil. Structure of the City of God. Some themes: Fate, foreknowledge and free will; the greatness of the Roman empire, honour as a simulacrum of virtue; the two cities; the possibility of cooperation between citizens of the two cities.]

Augustine on Freewill and Predestination, download, listen [Augustine's conception of free choice. According to Pelagius, living the good life is up to you. Augustine's dissatisfaction with Pelagius' doctrine. According to Augustine, after the Fall, human beings need God's help for each and every good act of choice. This help is gratuitous, not earned or deserved as a right. Needed also is the gift of perseverance; salvation or damnation depends on the state in which one dies. Predestination. Adam's sin attributed to all human beings. The basis for Augustine's doctrine in the bible (see extracts from bible). Later contests over Augustine's doctrine: Ockham, Bradwardine and Gregory of Rimini, Luther, Calvin, Molina, Jansen, Arnauld, Arminius.]

If you've never heard Fr. Corapi, he's probably the best preacher I've ever heard. He truly has the charism of Apostolic Preaching, and you can find him on EWTN on a regular program (TV schedule here).

As part of the New Evangelization, Father is undertaking an online subscription program to keep people informed through video downloads on a weekly basis and give us, his children, words of wisdom and strength for our times. Click here to see a short video of Father Corapi introducing his new program. The cost is about $10/month, but if you're not tithing (or could spare $10 to simply try it for a month) you should prayerfully consider supporting his apostolate.


If you would like to evangelize your fellow parishioners but don't quite know how, you could start an audio/video library at your parish (be sure to run it by your priest first, and volunteer to keep track of it!). Buy a few at a time (or a bunch if you can afford it) and put a notice in your bulletin saying that these are available. People might not read what's put out, but if there are CDs available you're rather likely to get folks listening on their commute.

In any case, below is an abbreviated version of his conversion story (with some details I hadn't heard before). Give it a listen, then ask yourself if God wants you to reach out and be reached through this holy priest.

From Jimmy Akin:

Below is an hour-long video interview with Justice Antonin Scalia which was aired on the Charlie Rose Show.

Charlie Rose comes across at numerous points not as a serious journalist as a hard leftie who thinks he's a serious journalist and who insists on viewing every issue through an ideological lens--although in fairness to him he does at times try to view things from what he takes to be Scalia's perspective.

Despite the annoying Rose-factor, though, the interview is still well worth watching due to the remarkable candor and insight of the man being interviewed.

I ran across a site which has an extremely big catalog of William Lane Craig debates - he's a Protestant debater par excellance about whom I've blogged before. I'm pretty sure I've already posted a few of these before, but here they are nonetheless:

UPDATE: Thanks to ChristianJR4, these links have been updated here.

A reader writes:

I thought I'd give a heads-up to some more nuggets of gold that you may want to share with the rest of your fan/web-base. Fr. Mike Schmitz is a young, rock-solid, zealous, and hilariously relevant priest from the Diocese of Duluth in Minnesota. He is currently the chaplain at the University of Minnesota Duluth where his homilies have been recorded and put online. Being a young priest himself, and with a college-age audience, he preaches with a flavor and spunk that probably reaches the young adult crowd best, while still being worthwhile hearing for 25+ers. I have used his podcasted homilies in my classroom and my students have LOVED him. He preaches the truths of the faith (completely orthodox) and brings almost every homily around to Jesus in the Eucharist.

http://umdnewman.blogspot.com/

One statement of Fr. Mike's from an earlier entry got me hooked. Here it is:

Here are a couple of lectures on a couple of Doctors of the Church, from the University of Sydney's Medieval program. I haven't listened yet, so if there's some...er...not-quite-right stuff in here be sure to drop a notice in the comment box.

Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, download; listen. [The importance of history within the western intellectual tradition. Medieval historians, like the classical predecessors who influenced them, were rhetors, skilled in the technique of 'invention'. Their rhetorical background explains: (i) their use of attributed direct speech; (ii) their predilection for hagiographical stereotyping; (iii) their concern for literary style. Christian aspects of medieval history writing: (1) conception of history as a comprehensible whole; (2) a concern with time and accurate dating; (3) explanatory themes derived from the biblical (especially Old Testament) conception of history.]


Gregory the Great, download, listen [Pope Gregory 1 (the Great) was the highly influential moral teacher of Europe between 600 and 1100. Manuscript survivals, library catalogues and citations by many other writers show his popularity. His Letters were mined for information; his works of biblical exegesis, especially his Moralia on the book of Job, were regarded as models of allegorical exposition by later writers and enshrined practical moral advice with a Stoic bent; his Pastoral Care provided a model of leadership for the secular clergy; his Dialogues introduced a new model of sanctity based on everyday Christian virtues. In general, his writings portrayed a world where the boundaries between the natural and supernatural were porous and advocated the individual's obligations to other members of the body of Christ.]

David Schütz, an Australian blogger (Sentire cum Ecclesia - great name!) whom I've followed sporadicly for quite some time, alerted me to an Orthodox conference which looks rather meaty. Since it's from the Orthodox, I'm expecting a different take on some issues than I profess, but it looks so high-brow I couldn't resist posting it. Enjoy!

Thursday June 5, 2008

• Metropolitan Philip-Canon 28 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council

• Bishop Keith Ackerman-Authority:Magisterial, Confessional or Conciliar?

• Rev. J. Robert Wright (paper read by Fr. Paul Clayton)-Primacy in the Anglican Tradition

• Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon-Holy Scripture and the Evangelization of America

Friday June 6, 2008

• Fr. John H. Erickson-Primacy and Primacies in the Orthodox Church

• Fr. Richard John Neuhaus-Reconciliation Between East and West

• Bishop Hilarion (Alfeyev)-Primacy and Catholicity in the Orthodox Tradition

• Fr. Warren Tanghe-Primacy, Authority and Communion

• Panel Discussion - Where Are We So Far?

Saturday, June 7, 2008

• Fellowship announcement by Fr. Stephen Platt and a greeting and remarks from Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury (delivered by Canon Jonathan Goodall from the office of the Archbishop

• Metropolitan Kallistos-Primacy and the Pope

• Igumen Jonah Paffhausen-Primacy and Eccesiology

*HT to Dave "the coolest facial hair you've seen in quite some time" Schütz

Got an e-mail and I'd sure like to help...but I've been doing some searching and I keep coming up short. Could someone out there in the blogosphere be of assistance?

J.M.J.

Greetings from ***!

Praised be Jesus Christ! My name is Sister *** and I am legally blind. I use a digital talking book player for my spiritual reading. I am longing to read: "Divine Intimacy," by Father Gabriel of St. M. Magdalen, O.C.D. I am looking for an mp3 version to load on my digital player. I would even be happy to find a pdf or .txt version. The player can convert printed materials into speech.

Thank you for your consideration.

God bless you,
Sister ***

Needless to say, I'm sure whoever takes this up this little task for Christ will get some powerful prayers sent their way. If you would be so kind, just leave a link in the comment box or e-mail me using the link on the top left of this site.

SWEEEEET. I can't rave enough about Peter Kreeft's lectures; with a marked note of under-exaggeration, it's life changing stuff. His lecture ability (IMHO) far exceeds his debate skills, but it's simply impossible to listen to him without learning something. Regardless, here's the free media from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute:

Is God Dead?: Atheism vs. Christianity — NEW Peter Kreeft, Professor of Philosophy, Boston College Michael Tooley, Professor of Philosophy and College Professor of Distinction, University of Colorado, Boulder Wheaton College, Norton, MA 4/29/2008

Flash MP3

Steve Ray has to be in my top 10 Catholic speakers list. I'd always drop whatever else I'm listening to and give a lecture of his a listen. If he's not in your top 10, you probably haven't listened enough. That said, here's another:

Defending the Eucharist-Steve Ray

A conference entitled The Eucharist and celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi was presented by the Real Presence Association of Michigan on May 24, 2008. The conference was hosted by Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish. Mr. Steve Ray addressed the audience with his talk on Defending the Eucharist.

AUDIO download: DefendingTheEucharist-SteveRay.m4a

*HT to Dave from Detroit...again.