Episode 10: Year A–Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we look at two details that have relevance to doing apologetics. The first, which is Jesus’ teaching on poverty in spirit and purity in heart, comes from the Gospel reading, which is the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12a. The other, which is Paul’s teaching on the “righteousness of Christ,” comes from the second reading, which is 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. Both details have to do with the of nature of justification. The Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012923.cfm Looking for Sunday Cath…

Episode 9: Year A–Third Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we look at five details that have some connection to doing apologetics. Four of the five come from the Gospel, which is Matthew 4:12-23, and one from the second reading, which is 1 Corinthians 1:10-13. The five details are: 1) Jesus and the fulfillment of the Isaian prophecy from 8:23-9:3, 2) the non-narrative attestation to the healing ministry of Jesus, 3) the residence of Peter and Andrew, 4) Jesus’ meeting with Peter and Andrew, and 5) the factions within the Corinthian Church. The Readings: …

Episode 8: Year A–Second Sunday of Ordinary Time In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we look at the Gospel and second reading for the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. Of the three apologetical details that we’re going to look at, two of them—the images of “water and spirit” and the “baptism of the Holy Spirit”—come from the Gospel, which is John 1:29-34. The third detail—Paul’s use of “saints”—comes from the second reading, which is 1 Corinthians 1:1-3. The Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011523.cfm Looking for Sunday Catholic Word Merchandise? Look no fu…

Year A–Epiphany of the Lord This upcoming Sunday is the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. Consequently, the readings are selected to match this feast. In this episode, we’re going to focus solely on some challenges that pertain to the Gospel reading taken from Matthew 2:1-12, where Matthew narrates the story of the Magi and the star. Of the two challenges that we will consider, one of them pertains to the star itself and the other to the journey that the Magi make. The Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010823.cfm Looking for Sunday Catholic Word Merchandise? Look no furth…

Mary Mother of God, Year A: In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on the second reading for the feast of Mary, Mother of God, which is Galatians 4:4-7, and show how it provides biblical evidence for the belief that Mary is the Mother of God. We also go outside the readings for this feast and look at the key biblical passage that the Church has looked to throughout history for biblical support of Mary’s divine motherhood: Luke 1:43. Looking for Sunday Catholic Word Merchandise? Look no further! https://shop.catholic.com/catholic-answers-merchandise/?q=sunday Speaker 1: This is …

The Nativity of Our Lord/ Midnight Mass, Year A In this episode of the Sunday Catholic word, we reflect on the Gospel reading for the Midnight Christmas Mass. The lectionary prescribes different readings for the different Christmas Masses: Vigil, Midnight, Dawn, and Christmas day. Since the Midnight Mass deals with the events surrounding Jesus’ birth, and it has the most details that are relevant for doing apologetics, we focus on the Gospel reading for the Midnight Mass, which comes from Luke 2:1-14. We address two objections that skeptics pose to us as Christians, one of which pertains to Lu…

Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year A In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on two apologetical themes found in the Liturgy of the Word for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year A. The first theme, the perpetual virginity of Mary, comes up in the Gospel reading, which is Matthew 1:18-24. The second theme is the nature of justification as intrinsic righteousness and is found in the second reading from Romans 1:1-7. 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 apologetics perspective. Karlo Brou…

Third Sunday of Advent, Year A In this episode of The Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on four apologetical themes that all arise out of the Gospel reading for the Third Sunday of Advent (Year A), which is taken from Matthew 11:2-11. The four themes are as follows: 1) the Messiahship of Jesus, 2) the divinity of Jesus, 3) the historicity of the “messenger” text, and 4) the greatness of John the Baptist in relation to the Blessed Virgin. Looking for Sunday Catholic Word Merchandise? Look no further! https://shop.catholic.com/catholic-answers-merchandise/?q=sunday Speaker 1: This is the Sunday Ca…

Second Sunday of Advent, Year A In this episode of The Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on four apologetical themes that appear in the Liturgy of the Word for the Second Sunday of Advent, Year A: 1) The divinity of Jesus; 2) The nature of Christian baptism; 3) Hell; and 4) The importance of good works once we’re converted. All four themes come from the Gospel reading from Matthew 3:1-12. Looking for Sunday Catholic Word Merchandise? Look no further! https://shop.catholic.com/catholic-answers-merchandise/?q=sunday   Voiceover: This is the Sunday Catholic Word, a production of Catholic Answe…

First Sunday of Advent, Year A: In this episode of The Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on two apologetical themes that arise out of the Liturgy of the Word for the First Sunday of Advent, Year A. The first is the so-called rapture doctrine (at least the pre-tribulation version of it), which comes up in the Gospel reading from Matthew 24:37-44. The second is the doctrine of “once saved, always saved,” which the second reading from Romans 13:11-14 gives us an opportunity to talk about. Readings …