Twenty Centuries. Twenty-Four Timezones. Two Hemispheres. One Church.
Considering Catholicism

Recent Episodes

May 17, 2024

Catholicism and the Bible, Part 2: Before the Bible? (#223)

In this "Deep Dives" series, we explore what the Catholic Church teaches about the Bible and the role the Bible plays in the Catholic faith. In this installment, Greg asks how the Church functioned before the Bible as we know it was completed. And di...

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May 15, 2024

Why Does the Pope Have His Own Country? Part 2 (#222)

The Vatican, headquarters and home to the papacy, is its own sovereign nation. It's small (108 acres), but it has its own army (the Swiss Guard), embassies in 180 countries, status in the United Nations, and until 1999 printed its own currency. But w...

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May 13, 2024

Why Does the Pope Have His Own Country? Part 1 (#221)

The Vatican, headquarters and home to the papacy, is its own sovereign nation. It's small (108 acres), but it has its own army (the Swiss Guard), embassies in 180 countries, status in the United Nations, and until 1999 printed its own currency. But w...

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May 10, 2024

Catholicism and the Bible, Part 1: What is "God's Word?" (#220)

In this new "Friday Deep Dives" series, we explore what the Catholic Church teaches about the Bible and the role the Bible plays in the Catholic faith. In this first installment, Greg asks what exactly is meant by the term "God's Word" or "Word of Go...

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May 8, 2024

Listener Questions: Traditional Latin Mass? Priests in Cassocks? (#219)

Greg answers questions listeners have sent in about the Traditional Latin Mass and why some younger priests are starting to wear cassocks again. Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Website: https://www.consideringcatholicis...

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May 6, 2024

Listener Questions: Becoming Catholic, Baptizing Grandchildren, Parish Shopping (#218)

Greg answers questions listeners have sent in about joining the Catholic Church, what relatives can (and can't) do if the parents aren't baptizing their kids, and whether you have to attend your "geographic parish" or if you can shop around for one t...

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May 3, 2024

Podcast News: Friday Deep Dives! (#217)

Last week, two things happened on this podcast: we passed 100,000 total downloads and we wrapped up a 10-week Bible study of Genesis on Fridays. So, to start our run at 200,000 downloads, we're launching a new feature: Friday Deep Dives. Support this...

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May 1, 2024

Catholicism Meets Modernity (#216)

For 1600+ years, the Catholic Church took the gospel to the ends of the earth. But eventually, revolutionary changes in Europe and the Americas (the Protestant Reformation, the Enlightenment, revolutionary ideologies, etc.) shattered the old Christia...

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April 29, 2024

How Catholicism Overcame Paganism (#215)

Christianity was born in a pagan world. At first, it was an oppressed sect but it came to overcome the religions of Greece and Rome, the Celtic and Germanic tribes, and carried the gospel to the ends of the earth. How and why were Catholic missionary...

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April 26, 2024

Bible Study of Genesis, Part 10: Into Egypt (#214)

The sons of Israel lie to their father and sell their brother Joseph into slavery in Egypt. But the Lord takes what they intend for evil and lays the foundation to save the two nations. Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! W...

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April 24, 2024

Why Is It So Hard to Join the Catholic Church? (#213)

A listener asked why entering the Catholic Church is so much more complex than joining a nondenominational church. Greg and Ed discuss what entering the Church means and the steps involved. Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicis...

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April 22, 2024

Do "Good Works" Get Us to Heaven? (#212)

Protestants like to say that Catholicism is a religion of merit that teaches we are saved by our own good works. Is that true? Greg and Ed discuss how salvation by faith gets us airborne, but good works pilot us to our destination. Support this minis...

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April 19, 2024

Bible Study of Genesis, Part 9: Wrestling with God (#211)

What's the origin of the word "Israel?" In Hebrew, it means "wrestles with God." Why was this the name of Jewish nation, both ancient and modern? Because the grandson of Abraham literally wrestled with God one night, and his descendants have metaphor...

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April 17, 2024

The "Vision Thing" (#210)

Greg knows a Catholic priest who was criticized for not having a "vision." Greg and Ed discuss how destructive the "vision thing" has been in the evangelical world, and how comforting it is that the sacramental and pastoral ministry of Catholic paris...

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April 15, 2024

Are Catholics "Born Again?" (#209)

Evangelical and Pentecostal Protestants say that salvation begins with being "born again" or "born again in the Spirit." They also say that the Catholic Church doesn't believe in or help Catholics to become "born again," and so many or most Catholics...

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April 12, 2024

Bible Study of Genesis Part 8,: A Father's Faith (#208)

Abraham chose to believe God's promise for innumerable number of descendants, despite the circumstances of his life. And then God tested his faith through the loss of his nephew, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the command to sacrifice his ...

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April 10, 2024

Why Didn't I Choose Eastern Orthodoxy? (#207)

Many listeners that are considering Catholicism ask Greg about whether they should consider Eastern Orthodoxy. In this second of two episodes, Greg and Cory discuss why they chose the Roman Catholic Church. Support this ministry so more people can co...

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April 8, 2024

What is "Eastern Orthodoxy?" (#206)

The Orthodox churches of the East are the "other half" of the ancient Church founded by Jesus' apostles. They have been separated from the Roman Catholic Church since the Great Schism of 1054. In this first of two episodes, Greg and Cory discuss what...

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April 5, 2024

Bible Study of Genesis, Part 7: The Patriarch (#205)

The Lord called a man to leave his country and travel to a distant land. He gave that land to this man and his descendants, and promised that one day they would be as numerous as the stars of the sky or the grains of sand on the beach. And he gave th...

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April 3, 2024

From the Vault: Easter and "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" (#204)

As we reflect on the joy of Easter, Greg and Cory recall one of the most profound and revolutionary works of Catholic literature, St. Francis of Assisi's "Canticle of the Creatures. Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Websi...

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April 1, 2024

From the Vault: Easter in a World Gone Trans? (#203)

This was the 13th episode of Considering Catholicism, back in 2022. Since then, the challenges to a biblical and Catholic understanding of the human person and the resurrection have grown more dramatic. In 2024, the United States Government declared ...

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March 29, 2024

Bible Study of Genesis, Part 6: The Nations (#202)

In Genesis chapter 11, the story widens to encompass the peoples, tribes, nations, and languages that make up human history. And we begin to understand that God's plan of salvation will involve one small tribe, one chosen nation, through which he wil...

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March 27, 2024

Resistance and Rejection on the Road to Rome (#201)

A 19-year old listener named "Kate" has been investigating and considering Catholicism. But she is facing harsh resistance and rejection from her Protestant  friends and family who argue that Catholicism is a false Christianity and she is falling for...

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March 25, 2024

Did Jesus Establish the Catholic Church? (#200)

A 19-year old listener named "Kate" has been investigating and considering Catholicism. But as she discusses and debates with her Protestant friends and family, she still wrestles with an important question: how do we know that the Catholic Church is...

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March 22, 2024

Bible Study of Genesis, Part 5: Noah's Ark (#199)

Almost everyone has heard of Noah's Ark, usually in Sunday School or children's bibles. But it's a very adult story that looks back to the Fall, establishes covenants with all mankind, and points forward to our salvation in Christ and his Church, the...

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Recent Blog Posts

Taking Death Seriously

I’m recording and releasing this a few hours before our parish celebrates the mass of All Souls Day. It’s part of a three-day focus on death and the dead: All Saints Eve on October 31 (or Halloween), the solemnity mass of All Saints Day …

(Un)Happy Reformation Day

Listen to Episode 148 So today is not just Halloween, which for Catholics is the eve of All Saints’ Day, but for Protestants, it's Reformation Day. This means that my Facebook timeline is filled with my former colleagues telling each other, "…