Forte Catholic Podcast: Making Catholicism Fun Again

This week was crazy on the Catholic Twitterverse and we talk about it throughout the show! From producer Sam being a hit on Catholic Twitter without even having a twitter account to my wife Sam(different person) being back on Twitter...it led to a lot of confusion and hilarity. Our guests this week are often at the center of Catholic Twitter...the hosts of the Roman Circus Podcast, Matt Baker & Zac Mabry. We talk about their show, our Twitter beef and share a special instant classic Forte Catholic moment in regards to their intro. We died laughing. We're all dead now... In the final segment, we share some bloopers and behind the scenes into how the show is made. Enjoy and please help other find the show by leaving a review in iTunes and sharing the episode on your social media.

We kick this week's show off trying to find some levity in the midst of troubling times. Taylor shares some recent realizations(and prank ideas) he's had recently & producer Sam gives him a new challenge. In the second segment, Shaun McAfee rejoins the show to talk about his new book, "Social Media Magisterium" on the proper use of media in our time. It helps that since his first appearance on episode 76, Shaun and Taylor have spent countless hours playing video games & becoming great friends. Tune in for this laughfest with nuggets of truth bombs throughout from señor McA4! In the final segment, Taylor shares how one of his favorite rap songs from High School has ironically been helping him through the tough last few weeks. Tune in, subscribe, share with your friends & leave a review for time off of Purgatory!

Forte Catholic Ep 97-Emma Fradd of NET Ministries & addressing the priest abuse scandal by Taylor Schroll

We kick off the show talking about the new Bible Lens App and how Taylor is using it to laugh non-stop. We share some of our best creations with you and invite you to play along! We also have not one but TWO guests this week! In the 2nd segment, we are joined by Catholic Video Game Streamer extraordinaire, Jonathan "Bearded" Blevins. He is a member of the "Royal Family of Twitch Streamers(a title bestowed by Taylor)" as the eldest brother of Ninja and Invictus. By day, Jonathan is a full-time Director of Evangelization and Catechesis at a parish up north and by night he is living out the New Evangelization in a special way by sharing the Gospel & the love of God on his Twitch stream(@BeardedBlevins). He is also answering people's questions about faith while playing. His work is so refreshing in a place that is not usually uplifting. Jonathan is a fascinating dude and was a blast to speak with! In the final segment, Taylor is joined by fellow podcaster Chris Agron to talk about his obsession with Catholic meme

This week’s episode is here! We are joined by professional actress and model, Kalyn Hemphill, to hear her story of living as a Christian in Hollywood. She is from Taylor’s hometown and became so much more successful than him! She is the winner of Project Runway Season 6 and has appeared in Days of Our Lives and NCIS:Los Angeles. She has a great story to share so tune in! The rest of the show, we play a new game called “Life Verse,” Taylor tells a joke he might regret and we talk about a new awesome app called Bible Lens that Taylor uses for some comedy.

"So you had a bad day" -Daniel Powter (2005) Why yes Daniel, yes I did. And then another...and then another. This week, Taylor talks about his really stupid week that involved a hit and run and everything around him breaking. We address trying to deal with frustrations and stress in our day to day lives and how it creeps into our spiritual life. Taylor opens up about his current frustrations in his spiritual life and the one thing keeping him grounded through it all. We also have a bit of levity in the middle to talk about the lights in the darkness of this week like how great the Forte Catholic/Everyday Catholics crossover went, a hilarious compliment Taylor received, and a new partnership with Catholic Balm Co.! If you or someone you love has a beard, skin or lips, click here to get a discount on your next purchase while supporting Forte Catholic and Catholic Youth Ministry. We are also joined by recent High School grad, Blaine Tamez, to talk about continuing to grow in your faith despite peer pressure and

The epic crossover event is (FINALLY) here! The hosts of Everyday Catholics, Fr. Ryan Higdon & Alyssa Trutter, join the show and I join theirs this week as well! Here in this episode, I tell them they stole my show name and we have interesting quotes such as "I am the chubby weapon," "Taylor has two volumes: off or on" & a possible heresy involving "By Girth alone." We get an intro to their show, how its expanding my boundaries and I ask them what a Catholic world view is and how do we get it? Keep an eye out for part 2 of the crossover on the Everyday Catholics podcast releasing this week! The rest of the show, producer Sam & I do a deep dive into our long-lost "Mass Text" segment on how hilarious the Apostles can be & the importance of finding rest.

Episode 92 had a large cast of characters! Hunter Batten joins Taylor & producer Sam to talk about the recent Jr High summer camp where we compared the Avengers to our faith. Then we spoke with Taylor’s former Professor and current bro Scott Sollom about RCIA and how to get involved. He uses some pretty hilarious imagery to describe the great process of people becoming Catholic. Finally, two HS students who were on the mission trip in Detroit with Taylor wanted to make their radio debut so we talked about their experience on the trip and they face off in Yoda or Bible(from downloadyouthministry.com). Tune in now! Like/rate/subscribe & share

Ever felt crazy in Mass? Bad Music? Bad Homily? Bad lectors? We all have. We commiserate together and try to come up with a solution for how to fix it and the role we play in the whole deal. We get help from rockstar liturgical musician Kevin Kapchinski as he shares what music at Mass is supposed to be, how he picks songs to bring the Mass to life and more. We close out the show with a discussion of Jesus feeding the 5000 and what it teaches us about serving those physically and spiritually hungry. If you like the show, share it with a friend, rate and subscribe on your favorite podcasting service.

Producer Sam is back and the intro to this show will blow your mind!!!! Taylor is back from Detroit and boy does he have some stories! From an "interesting" first Mass to hiking in the city to his name being changed, there's a story for everyone. In the second segment, we're joined by Rich Curran of Parish Success Group to talk about the essentials for making your parish as alive and vibrant as it was intended to be. In the final segment, I talk about seeing Canada and my response to everyone's favorite Canadian Catholic podcast "The Coaster" since they brought up my name is vain so many times in their latest podcast about Canada. Let the "Texas is better than Canada" argument continue! ;)

Zac Mabry is here! The actor who starred as "Porky" in every millennials favorite children's movie "The Little Rascals" joins the show to talk about his journey of faith and becoming Catholic. Taylor and Zac also have a showdown in a game of debate about the "Greatest of All Time" in a variety of categories. Taylor also shares his silly insights into this last weekend's Gospel story. This is an episode you absolutely don't want to miss! Tune in, subscribe and leave a review. It really does help. Thanks!

Sooo many voices on this episode! Producer Sam is back! We catch up with her and talk about this new term Taylor learned called "moral licensing," how it may define his spiritual life...and maybe yours. In the second segment, we are joined by self-proclaimed "Pittsburgh okayest priest" and "gift to the show," Fr. Anthony Sciarappa. He is a hilarious priest and talks about the things he has done that might have been the first time ever in the eternal priesthood. In the third segment, the newest Patreon supporter, Brian Baudoin, rejoins the show to talk about why he supports the show, favorite memories, what he would do if he was in charge AND invents a new segment specifically to mess with producer Sam. This was a fun one! Hope y'all enjoy listening as much as we all did recording. Please rate and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts and share the show with a friend.

Lots of laughs in this week's episode as we have a surprise guest co-host(even a surprise to Taylor!) We kick off the show with not one but TWO Forte Five countdowns of Taylor and the mysterious co-hosts' favorite Holy Spirit songs. In the second segment, Taylor continues his beef with Canada through this week's guest Matt Nelson. But primarily, the conversation is about the role indifference plays in the faith(or lack there of it) in people's lives. He explores this in depth in his new book "Just Whatever." ...but we also try to convince him to move to Texas and away from "Canadia"...and it just might work! In the final segment, we explore the term "forgotten God" in regards to the Holy Spirit and compare our view of the Holy Spirit to Earth's Mightiest Heroes, "The Avengers." If you enjoy today's episode, please like/rate/subscribe and share it with your friends/social media followers. Everything helps. Thanks!

Taylor had a busy week so we cram a lot of great stuff into this episode from a recent ordination he attended, speaking at a senior's day retreat, attending one of producer Sam's talks and learning a new game called "Google Feud." We cover it in the episode! It is a blend of cool Catholic truth & insight balanced with stupid games and laughter. We are also joined by everyone's favorite "second mom" Pam Marvin. She talks about her work with "root sin", what the term means and how recognizing our areas of struggle can help us in our search for holiness and healing. Sneak Peek... Ordination=long and awesome! Seniors day retreat=the older people surprisingly don't hate Taylor Google Feud=wth! Relational Ministry=Taylor's ridiculous notes during producer Sam's talk

Howdy! We did a little something new for this bonus content of the podcast. This is a long-form interview with a friend of mine named Dan about his faith journey from growing up in a nominal Catholic family, to priestly formation, to marriage and now an "almost complete de-conversion from Catholicism." He shares his story & the things that led to where he is now. I was fascinated with the interview because while our stories have taken different paths, I see a lot of similarities between Dan and I in some of the struggles with faith and Church(and personality). It is my hope that in having this conversation and you listening to it, that we will hear the things that he struggles with and other issues that led to where he is now and begin to think about how we address them in our own lives and how we as the Church can be a supportive and loving community. While Dan and I may disagree on issues throughout the convo, I truly appreciated my time with him & his honesty. He gave me a lot to think about and I hope it

Taylor and Producer Sam are back from retreat and have a lot to share! In the first segment, we ask how saints hear our prayers and do the Forte Five countdown(for the first time in forever!) on the top 5 things Taylor took away from the retreat. In the second, we are rejoined by one of our favorite guests, Karlo Broussard. He yells silly things and then talks about the best ways to overcome obstacles in sharing the faith. For more from Karlo, check out his book "Prepare the Way" from Catholic Answers. In the final segment, I talk about my first love of basketball and a spiritual breakthrough I had while playing the game a few days ago. Thanks for listening! Please rate & subscribe in your podcasting service and share with a friend you think may enjoy the show!

This week's show kicks off with silly thoughts on the Ascension as Taylor's imagination runs wild. In the second and third segment, we are joined by the one and only Josh Calhoun on his holy desire for marriage and what that looks like as a single man. We also play the “Stranger Kings” game (from DownloadYouthMinistry.com) where we have to identify which king played a role is some bizarre stories from the Old Testament.

Taylor is back from his trip to Sioux City, IA for a couple of speaking events and he has stories :) Usually, his "Spiritual Warfare" talk is pretty serious but this group of students made it an absolute blast! In this show, we go through the talk through the eyes of the young lady who took hilarious notes throughout the evening. We also discuss a recent twitter debate to end a Mass controversy. In the second segment, I was honored to be joined by Joe Sikorra. His biography alone is impressive...definitely vying for the title of "Most Interesting Man in the World." He shares his moving story of how his family found joy after their hopes and dreams were shattered by the rare, fatal neurological illness of their two sons. What initially seemed to be a tragedy for Joe’s family became a story of human triumph, an outcome made possible by the compassion and mercy of God.

WHAT!?!? It finally happened! After months of publicly calling out my favorite baby priest, Fr. Jared Cooke finally came on the show! He's the Matt Damon to my Jimmy Kimmel. We talked highlights from his first year as a priest, confession, who's holier, ambition, & went toe to toe in a trivia game. We almost lost our voices from laughing so hard. Tune in for this extra special episode of Forte Catholic!

Speaker, author, podcaster and man who changed Taylor's life, Paul George joins the show this week to talk about how we all want to be happy and how to find true happiness. Check out his work at paulgeorge.la. Segment 1 has a fun diversion into a conversion on friendship but centers on two crazy stories from Acts, one of which gives Taylor hope for sainthood(crazy right?!?!) In the final segment, Taylor has a convo with producer Sam and Catholic Guilt, shame and how to get out of it. Please like, rate and subscribe on whatever podcasting service you are using. Thanks!