Catholic Answers Focus

Christianity is the religion of Joy, but few people understand what Joy is or how to gain it. Father Hugh Barbour joins us to explain. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I am Cy Kellett, your host. The world is disturbed right now. It seems there’s so much sadness, so many broken hearts, a great deal of almost despondency, fear, all of those things right now in the world and it’s hard to be happy. I think a lot of people are searching around for their happiness. Maybe happiness that was easy to locate even just a few short months ago is hard to find no…

Of course when a priest stands up to challenge an NFL team on is support for Pride Month he’s going to get smacked down on social media. But were Father Andre Metrejean’s comments hateful?. Karlo Broussard joins us to reason through the comments and the social media responses. A Catholic priest challenges Pride Month – next, on Catholic Answers Focus. Cy Kellett: Hello and welcome to Catholic Answers Focus, the podcast designed to help you explain and defend the Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. This priest in Louisiana aroused kind of a Facebook a…

As Catholics celebrate the feasts of Mary and Martha, we ask Father Hugh Barbour about the family from Bethany that was so intimate with Jesus. Famously, Jesus scolded Martha. What is this about, and what does it teach us about relationship with Jesus? CK: Why is Jesus so tough on Martha? Next on Catholic Answers Focus. Hello and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus the podcast designed to help you to explain and defend the Catholic faith, I’m Cy Kellett your host. In the gospels Jesus can sometimes seem a bit harsh, almost mean. The Catholic Church is getting ready to celebrate the …

Is there a Catholic model for economics? If so, what is it? If not, what contribution can the Catholic Faith make to economic theory and practice? Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. Actually, before we start Trent, Jon Sorensen says that you’re really good at promoting your podcast at the beginning and he tells me that I’m really bad at it, and I have to get better at it. So, could you tell me what you do at the beginning of your podcasts, and then I’ll try it and you tell me if I’m doing a good job? Trent Horn: I’m happy to do that C…

The sacrament of Confirmation can be baffling to today’s Catholics. What is it? What does it do? And what is the correct age to receive it? Father Hugh Barbour answers all our questions. CK: Hello and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. Very glad to have you here with us. Sacrament of confirmation, is it possibly the least understood of the seven sacraments or the one that we might fumble around the most for an explanation of. I think it might be and I’m going to ask Father Hugh Barbour, our chaplain and the former Pryor of St. Michael’s…

Though a saint of the Catholic Church, Father Junipero Serra remains a figure of contempt in some circles because of his association with Spanish Colonialism in California. Who was the man? And what was his role in the vast narrative of the colonial era? Our guest Robert Senkewicz is co-author, with his wife Rose Marie Beebe, of the acclaimed book Junípero Serra: California, Indians, and the Transformation of a Missionary. CK: Hello, and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. Thank you so much for being with us today. We talk about Father Junipero Serra. I&#…

Father Hugh Barbour offers an appreciation of the life of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, who lived more than 30 years as an opium addict. Though he never overcame his addiction, he died a martyr’s death. His story illuminates the mystery of holiness in the life of an addicted person. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I am Cy Kellett, your host, joined by our chaplain, Father Hugh Barbour. He is a Norbertine priest, former Prior of St. Michael’s Abbey in Orange County, where they’re building a beautiful new church and you should check it out online. Hell…

How can the Catholic Church teach that we need Tradition as well as Scripture when the Bible says that Scripture is sufficient as a rule
of faith and for making a man “complete”? And how can the Catholic Church teach that Scripture is not our sole
infallible source for doctrine when the book of Acts praises the Bereans for using Scripture alone to determine the truth? Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. Thanks for being with us. We have in studio with us the author of Meeting the Protestant Challenge: How to Answer 50 Biblical Objec…

Was Fr. Junipero Serra a dark part of history, deserving of his statues and memorials’ desecration, or was he a holy man of God who directly resisted the mistreatment and enslavement of the native peoples he evangelized? Find out here, with Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone. CK: Hello, and welcome to Catholic Answers Focus. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. Thank you so much for being with us. Strange times continue that we’re living through. Very, very odd and, in some ways, maybe a bit obsessive ideological times. That reality has expressed itself here in the state of California an…

Is it time to give up on Columbus? In the light of modern scholarship, should we view Columbus with suspicion? The author of the highly acclaimed book Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem joins us for a look at the real man and at what he meant to do with his voyages of discovery. Christopher Columbus, hero or villain? Next on Catholic Answers Focus. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I’m Cy Kellett your host and we’re living at a time of tearing down statues, covering up murals as people reevaluate our connections to certain figures of the past. Among…

What is the relationship between the soul in a state of grace and the Blessed Trinity? What does it mean to say that the Trinity comes to dwell in my soul? What is the evidence for the presence of the Blessed Trinity in the soul? CK: Hello, and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I am Cy Kellett your host and we welcome once again, our chaplain father, Hugh Barbour, Norbertine priest, former Prior of St. Michael’s Abbey in Orange County. Hello Father Hugh. FHB: Hello there. CK: Father, I feel like I understand almost everything, but there’s a couple of things I don’t un…

How can the Catholic Church teach that we need a Magisterium (a living teaching authority) when John says in 1 John 2:27 that we have no need for a man to teach us since the Holy Spirit will teach us? The author of Meeting the Protestant Challenge responds. CK: Hello, and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. Thank you so much for being with us today in studio with Karlo Broussard, the author of a couple of books, including Meeting The Protestant Challenge. And we take some challenges from that book today. Hello, Karlo. KB: Hey Cy. CK: So these are challeng…

Father Hugh Barbour explains the biblical and medieval roots of the modern devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Is devotion to the Sacred Heart a divine response to an increasingly isolated and lonely modern world? CK: Hello and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I am Cy Kellett, our host, and our guest is Father Hugh Barbour, Norbetine priest, former Pryor of St. Michael’s Abbey in Orange County which is building a new church. You should look it up online. Hello, Father. FHB: Hello. Hello. CK: It’s very nice to be speaking with you in June, a month of many good things inc…

Yes, the earliest Christians celebrated the Mass, and they did so in ways that are impressively similar to today’s Mass. In fact, the Church lived as a liturgical community from the very moment of its birth. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I am Cy Kellett, your host. We’ve been having some conversations in recent weeks with Tim Staples, Director of Apologetics and Evangelization here at Catholic Answers, about the early church and some of the things that are said about the early church. And trying to dig into what’s true about the life of the …

Cy interviews two of our favorite women religious about their work sharing the love of God with others, and how we gain confidence in the love of God. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I am Cy Kellett, your host, and today we tackle a question that is close to the hearts, sometimes closer to the heart perhaps than to the mind. How do we know that God loves us? One of the ways that we can explore that is with people who share the message of God’s love with other people. We have two of our favorite guests here with us today, Sister Maris Stella and Sister Mic…

Was there a golden age at the very beginning of the Church when Christianity was unspoiled by a hierarchical structure? Was there a blessed age when Christians were simply Christian, without authoritative leaders who had the power to govern the Church? Nope. Tim Staples explains. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. Thank you for being with us. We’ve been doing some early church conversations with Director of Evangelization and Apologetics here at Catholic Answers, Tim Staples. And we’re going to continue with that early …

Father Hugh illuminates how God freely gives us all we need for our salvation through the sacraments. He defends this position as we discuss Pentecost and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. CK: Hello and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I am Cy Kellett, your host. And it having been … Now, I say that that way, but we were recording before, but it’s Pentecost. Pentecost celebrated on Sunday and this will reach you on Monday. And so we’re going to talk with our Chaplain Father Hugh Barbour about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Hello, Father Hugh. FHB: Hello. CK: So the gifts …

The author of Meeting the Protestant Challenge explains why Catholics believe that the Church is a visible hierarchical institution when Jesus says that the Church in Matthew 18:20 is an invisible union of believers. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I’m Cy Kellett, your host, in studio again with Karlo Broussard. Hello, Karlo. Karlo Broussard: Hey, Cy. CK: Karlo, the author of a couple of books, including Prepare the Way, Overcoming Obstacles to God, the Gospel, and the Church, and Meeting the Protestant Challenge, How to Answer 50 Biblical Objections to C…

Why is the Church so defensive about marriage even when it is not sacramental? Why does the Church insist on the goodness of natural marriage? What does this say about sacramental marriage? Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. And today, we take a look at marriage with Father Hugh Barbour, Norbertine priest. I know the temptation is killing you right now. Fr. Hugh Barbour: What temptation? CK: You know what I’m talking about. I could see the word forming in your mouth. FHB: No. No, absolutely not. I don’t know what you&#8…

The author of Meeting the Protestant Challenge asks how the Catholic Church can teach that Peter is infallible when Paul rebukes Peter for not eating with the Gentiles? Doesn’t this further show that Peter had no more authority than Paul? CK: Hello and welcome again to Catholic Answers Focus. I’m Cy Kellett your host, and I get the great pleasure of talking with Karlo Broussard again. Hi, Carlo. KB: Hey, Cy. CK: Karlo is a speaker author, and apologist here at Catholic Answers, the author of a couple of books, including Prepare The Way: Overcoming Obstacles To God, The Gospel And The Ch…