American Papist has posted a 40 year celebratory post for Humanae Vitae, and has included a debate between Dr. Janet Smith and Dr. Charles Curran about contraception. Dr. Smith dominates the debate, having utterly dismantled every lame argument Curran proposes in her opening statement.

Since Dr. Smith is the speaker who really opened my eyes to the Catholic take on things, I was really looking forward to the debate - and I wasn't disappointed. Even if you're not a big debate fan, you should give these a listen:

• [Listen to Part One] - Dr. Smith and Fr. Curran give their presentations and rebuttals.
• [Listen to Part Two] - They ask each other questions, and take more from the audience.

If you're just plain set on not liking debates, here are links to her talk "Contraception: Why Not" - absolutely a must listen, regardless of your position on the matter.

CONTRACEPTION- Why Not-01of02.mp3
CONTRACEPTION- Why Not-02of02.mp3

Presbyterian pastor Dr. Mark D. Roberts debated noted atheist Christopher Hitchens on a radio program half-way through last year. Here's the audio:

part 1

part 2

part 3


Read the debate transcript here

Ok...not really. Again. I have a post with the same title a few posts down which claims the same thing, but Jeff Miller was kind enough to point out to me that it wasn't Dr. Hahn's "new" book, but rather one of his more recent. I got confused.

Fortunately, Chris Cash (the host of the Catholic Spotlight) came to the rescue. He writes:

"[Benjamin Wiker's interview] is an interview with his co-author about his latest book. Scott did not want to do the interview himself, he said that Ben was much more knowledgeable on the topic than he was and he has 3 deadlines he was trying to meet. I will let you know when I get him on again. I did have an interview with Kimberly that will post on monday at CatholicSpotlight.com, if you are at all interested in her new book, Graced and Gifted."

Oh, in case you don't know, Dr. Hahn's (and Dr. Wiker's (Bio)) new book is called "Answering the New Atheism: Dismantling Dawkins' Case Against God". You can read excerpts from it here at Amazon.

But if you're only planning on listening, here's a direct link to the Catholic Spotlight interview of co-author Dr. Benjamin Wiker. If you like what you hear, please vote for them at Podcast Alley - and feel free to vote every month to help them get their show in front of more people.

UPDATE: here's a link to Dr. Wiker's website - just FYI. Thanks to his site, I'm glad to give you the Emmaus Road Publishing's three part interview of Dr. Hahn (for reals this time!) and Dr. Wiker via YouTube. If you would like to convert the YouTube to .mp3 to listen on your way to work or whatever it is you do, here's a program for download which will do it quickly and easily (which is what I use) or a website which will do the same.

Reader Tom wrote in and recommended these Bible Studies. Here's the Bible Study on the Gospel of St. Matthew:

Bible Study - Matthew (Part 1) Five 15-minute teachings covering Mt 1:1 - Mt 9:34 (Fr. Al Lauer) Play Download
Bible Study - Matthew (Part 2) Five 15-minute teachings covering Mt 9:35 - Mt 17:27 (Fr. Al Lauer) Play Download
Bible Study - Matthew (Part 3) Five 15-minute teachings on covering Mt 18:1 - Mt 25:46 (Fr. Al Lauer) Play Download
Bible Study - Matthew (Part 4) Five 15-minute teachings covering Mt 26:1 - Mt 28:20 (Fr. Al Lauer) Play Download

Here are a couple of versions of the Ave Maria. I'm particularly fond of the neo-trad version called "Ave Maria XXI Century" - hauntingly beautiful. Found the first two here. Do give them a listen.


*HT to Mr. Bernardino, who can pray a 9 day novena in 6 hours. True story!

From the Catholic Spotlight:

Scott Hahn began his career in ministry as a Presbyterian minister out to show Catholics the error in their ways, but his biblical and historical detective work led him to the conclusion that the Catholic church was the historical church of the bible. In 1986, Dr. Hahn joined the Catholic church and has since come to be known as ‘Luther in Reverse’ due to the large number of protestant pastors and bible scholars who have followed him on the journey home to Rome. The tape of his conversion story ‘A Protestant Minister Becomes Catholic‘ is one of the most circulated and listened to Catholic audios over the past 20 years. He is currently a Professor of Theology and Scripture at Franciscan University of Steubenville, and is the founder and director of the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology.

In our interview, Scott talks about the legacy of John Paul II, his favorite Saint, and his new book, Reasons to Believe. He discusses the need for a pope as well as why Christ had to die for our sins. He also touches future books that he is currently working on, Ever Ancient, Ever New, a Catholic Bible Dictionary, and a revision of his doctoral dissertation.

Be sure to listen to Kimberly Hahn talk about Chosen and Cherished.

Standard Podcast [24:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

So I got the following e-mail the other day, and I have to admit that I'm pretty impressed. First, it's better than most of what I hear on Christian radio day-in day-out (particularly Tara's vocals). Second, I'm doubly impressed at the quality coming from a group of Cath-a-holics not yet legally able to throw back a cold one. Here's the skinny:

I wanted to send you a message regarding my catholic/christian band named Full Armor. Full Armor is unique in the fact that it is made up of 6 young catholics, ranging in age from 15-20. Full Armor writes and records all original music. [We] were recently honored to play at the pope's youth rally in yonkers in front of 25,000 people....I would love for the band to gain some exposure through your website. The band's website is www.fullarmorband.com

So, yeah, color me impressed. I'm not going to deep-link to their audio because I think you should all go to their site - but you should know there are 10+ tracks available for free download. You should go get them while they're still free. ;0)

Oh, and if you're in the NY/NJ area you ought to try and catch a show. Check their schedule for a list of upcoming appearances.

Reader Darren writes in:

Thought you'd be interested in some talks by philosopher and advisor to the Pontifical Council for Culture John Haldane that I came across via a Google search.

http://www.abc.net.au/sundaynights/stories/s2302457.htm - An interview on Australian radio focussing on Haldane's analytical Thomism viz a viz postmodern perspectives. Includes a lovely choir piece by Thomas Tallis.

http://www.stpt.usf.edu/hhl/radio/whyiamatheist.htm - Interview outlining Haldane's reasons for his theism.

http://www.catholica.com.au/forum/forum_entry.php?id=14042 - A debate on Australian radio on whether morality can exist without God.

[UPDATE: direct download]

http://www.christianworldviewconference.org/audio/2007conference/ - Poor quality audio of presentations by Haldane and others (eg. Philip Jenkins & Fr. Richard John Neuhaus) at a conference on the Christian Worldview and the Academy.

I am interested - thanx much.

And anyone else who finds a tasty morsel, do be sure to share!

Brothers Christopher Hitchens (notorious atheist and author of God is not Great) and Peter Hitchens (Christian theist) debate. While I don't so much care for his theology (or lack thereof), I can't help but find Christopher Hitchens funny - so I'm looking forward to this.

Oh, and in case you didn't know or couldn't guess, the guy on the left in the photo is the atheist, the guy on the right is the theist.

This file is available for download here.
Ctrl-Click and 'Download Linked File' (Mac)
or Rt-Click and 'Save Target As' (PC) the link above.

From EWTN. Be sure to go there for the live coverage and updated audio:

Opening Mass with Cardinal Pell
Video: 100K 300K
Audio: MP3 WMA

Arrival and Welcome of the Holy Father
Video: 100K 300K
Audio: MP3 WMA

The Stations of the Cross
Video: 100K 300K
Audio: MP3 WMA

Life on the Rock - WYD Special (90 min.)
Video: 100K 300K
Audio: MP3 WMA

Fr. Frank Pavone from Priests for Life has made the following videos which are quite instructive as to what happens in an abortion. This is a must watch for anyone who talks about "lumps of tissue" or "not human until X". It's one thing when you're abstractly philosophizing, and something else when you see what's actually going on.

WARNING: While not bloody or gruesome, the following videos DO describe what happens in an abortion.


HT: A Faithful Rebel

Found this while working on a reply to some wonderful folks about why the sacramental presence of Christ in the Eucharist cannot be described as "physical" in the Church's eyes. Hope you enjoy:

Transubstantiation - Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. (MP3 File)

Fr. Hardon, who was Blessed Mother Teresa's spiritual director, was asked by Sister Fredrick to give a talk on the definition of Transubstantiation to the Missionaires of Charity who were preparing for their final vows in Calcutta India in 1997. This audio is a half hour extract from that talk which is a response to a question: What do you mean by this statement, "The physical property of Christ's human nature is present in the Holy Eucharist?" on 11/29/97 Class #3 on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and the document "Mysterium Fidei".