Forte Catholic Podcast: Making Catholicism Fun Again

In today's first segment, I explain some crazy things that happened right before the show and share some of the key points from a cool devotional I just finished on the Youversion Bible App. In the second segment, I interview Toni Hendricks about the RCIA. This is the process of becoming Catholic so whether you are a Catholic and want to learn more about this treasure of the Church and how you can help or if you aren't Catholic and have questions about the faith and want to know more about the Church, this is the interview for you. In the final segment, I am joined by Christopher Dowling to talk about the Young Adult Listening Session he and I both attended with both of Austin's Bishops. This was a tremendous opportunity the Bishops held to know how to best serve the young Church.

What an episode! In the first segment, I share from my heart some really powerful things that God has done for me in the past couple of weeks. After a long period of spiritual dryness, I have had some huge prayers answered! In the second and third segment, I interview Carlos Zamora; a man with an incredible story of conversion from gangster to passionate Catholic hip-hop artist and speaker. We talk about his life pre-conversion, how God changed his life in a huge way and what has happened since. This is one of the most powerful conversion stories I have ever heard. He uses his passion for hip-hop and the Church to build the Kingdom of God. I pray that as you listen, his story and music will inspire you to take the next step in growing closer to Christ. If you like the show, please subscribe and rate the show in iTunes as it helps tremendously to help the show reach more people. Thank you!

My good ol' pal and youth ministry buddy Joe Mastrangelo drove up from Houston to join me for this whole episode. We chatted about his ministry, how his parish is doing something very different in order to evangelize their young people and what we can learn from thinking outside the box in the Church. We also were pitted in a vicious youth minister vs. youth minister trivia game with a perfect balance of questions about Catholicism and Pop Culture in the second segment. In the final segment, I asked Joe what he is passionate about and he answered coffee, so that's what we talked about. He compares coffee to evangelization about how a familial and home-y atmosphere can do a lot for a Church community.

We had a Forte Catholic record 9 people in studio for the recording of this episode! Last month, Ablaze Ministries took Junior High students to camp. Here, I interview 3 campers, two of their parents and a high school counselor on the impact camp and youth ministry have had on their lives from each of their unique perspectives. I also pit the youth vs. the parents in an epic trivia game called "Taylor Swift or Lamentations"(DownloadYouthMinistry.com) where I read a line and they have to guess who said it. Hilarity ensued. If you are in ministry, love youth ministry, have kids or have fond memories of your time as a young person in the Church, you will enjoy this episode. As always, please subscribe to the show and rate in on iTunes. Thanks!

In this week's show, I continue answering listener submitted questions. This week, I tackle two questions about leading young people to Christ, especially when they don't seem to enjoy church. I also want to equip parents with the tools they need to speak with their children about faith. For more, visit beyondthepew.org. In the second segment, Trent Horn returns to the show to talk about his new book "Why We're Catholic." This book is flying off the shelves due to its non-confrontational style to urge people to grow in their faith instead of trying to win them over simply through argument. In the final segment, we play a rapid fire question and answer game with those in studio. This is to help get across the point that building trust and getting to know who people are is the necessary first step in evangelization.

What an unbelievable opportunity I had to be a guest on the Jennifer Fulwiler show on Sirius XM's The Catholic Channel! (TheCatholicChannel.org) I had so much fun on the air with Jen! I wrote her a song about her show, we talk about how the only reason I got on the show is because of the combination of twitter and wine, and then discuss topics like worship, youth ministry and complacency. I had so much fun and I look forward to being back on her show on September 1st at 1:20pm Central!

In the first segment, I begin answering questions and topics posed by listeners of the show on social media. The first few questions are all about Church politics/bureaucracy and how we can respond to that. In the second segment, I am joined by my long-time friend Brother Sean Stilson of the Brothers of the Beloved Disciple. We talk about what the life of a brother/seminarian looks like, what the role of a priest is supposed to be and what we can learn from that truth as lay people. In the final segment, I continue to discuss suggested listener topics like "I'm not getting anything out of Mass", how to get started in being able to defend your faith and of course the classic question of whether I wear boxers or briefs. I hope you enjoy this episode! If you haven't done so already, please subscribe and rate the show and then share it with your compadres. Thanks!

Happy 4th of July! This episode aired live on Independence Day so we HAD to talk about freedom in the first and third segments of the show. We talk about how so many of us live in guilt and shame instead of walking in the power of the resurrected Christ. He came to set us free! In the second segment, I am joined by old friend Marcus Guevara, the founder of Thirsting for Truth to talk about his ministry and how technology, math, philosophy and theology all mix to reveal God. As always, please like, rate, comment and subscribe!

My mom came to the studio! We had a lot of fun talking about how I didn't turn out thaaaat bad because of her billions of hours of prayer for me. We then play the game "Prescription Drug of Biblical King" which was a hoot! In the first segment, I intro the discussion on prayer by looking at the Old Testament story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. In the third segment, we discuss the importance of taking a Sabbath. So many in our fast paced world, including myself, find it difficult so we look at what the Bible and Catechism have to say to challenge us to do what God knows is best for us.

The show was pre-recorded this week as I am currently leading a Junior High Summer Camp! In the spirit of summer camp, we talked pre-evangelization, what fun has to do with faith and how events like this can really be an avenue to bring people to Christ. So often, we try to catechize people who haven't been evangelized and evangelize people without making a human connection with them first. In this episode we explore how we can bring Christ to others no matter where they are in their journey with him. I am also joined by Vern Laborde from Deer Creek Camp to hear how they impact the lives of young people in a huge way each summer! Hear her stories, insights and her love for camp! In the final segment, we dive a little deeper into the topic of prayer. So many of us struggle with prayer and I will walk through two stories from Scripture that can help us when we don't feel like praying.

In this episode, Taylor is joined by the beauty of a man Marcel LeJeune, who enlightens us with his brilliance :) Marcel is an awesome dude with a ton of experience ministering to college students. In his interview, we will talk about bridging the gap between millennials and the older generations of the Church. (second segment) In the first segment, we play the Scripture trivia game "Worship Song or Love Song" where Taylor faces off against producer Jake and Kyle "the heathen" Turner. SPOILER: Taylor isn't good at this game. In the final segment, Taylor shares how an R&B love song and reading the Song of Songs caused a huge breakthrough in his spiritual life. As always, please like/share/rate the podcast in your podcasting app of choice to help build the show's community!

The highlight of this episode was our interview in the second segment with Tommy Tighe, the Catholic Hipster. Tommy is a master at using social media and the interwebs(that's what hipsters call it, right?) to build community and share his authentic love for the Catholic Faith. He has multiple projects including podcasts, blogs, a book coming soon and a tremendous presence on Twitter. He is an interesting dude and has a lot of wisdom to share with us on how we can use social media to build the Kingdom. In the first and third segments, I share some insights into two Scripture stories that connected for me in a big way at my yearly retreat. We will dive in to the story of Lazarus being brought back to life and the Anointing at Bethany story through a new lens. As always, please like/rate/share the show. You rock!

On this episode of Forte Catholic, the Director of Resource Development at Lifeteen and author of "True North: A roadmap for discernment" Joel Stepanek joins the show for the whole hour! During our quite enjoyable time together, we get to know Joel and he enlightens us with the knowledge and practical advice on discernment that he has learned throughout his experience and study in preparing to write the book. He dispels a few myths about discernment, explains that it is a vital part of the Christian life and not just for the "big decision" of our primary vocation. He also explains what discernment looks like with guidance from a spiritual master, St. Ignatius. Tune in and if you like it, please subscribe to the show, like, rate and share with your social media followers.

In the first and third segment of this week's show, we find out how to be "after God's heart" from David in the Old Testament. We look at how David sought God's will, even through trials, and did not hold back in his worship of the Father. In the second segment, I was pleased to be joined by Catholic Answers author Eric Sammons on his book "The Old Evangelization." He shares how we need to get back to the basics of sharing the Good News the way Jesus did. Please subscribe to the channel, like, rate, and share this show with your friends. I would be ever grateful!

This week, we continue the conversation on signs and wonders! So often in the Scriptures, we see miracles preceding people turning to the Lord. Tune in as we explore what that means for our walk with Christ and especially our prayer this week! Segment 1-Bible Trivia Game w/Sam and Kyle. I quiz this dynamic duo on their knowledge of the Ten Commandments (Hint: It was pretty brutal) Segment 2-Ashley Breland Interview. A local student at St. Joseph Catholic school, Ashley has had an amazing experience in her life of prayer this semester. So many huge things she has prayed for have had tremendous results! Tune in to hear her story and how it has impacted so many! Segment 3-Signs and Wonders in the Acts of the Apostles. This is the book that the Church reads at daily Mass throughout the Easter Season. There are 18 accounts of miracles in Acts alone! We will discover what we can learn from these stories to improve our prayer and evangelization.

It's good to be back! After missing a week due to illness, I am back at it with full force with a great episode consisting of big show announcements(possibly including an addition to my family), a great interview with the Catholic Drinkie and a fun Bible Trivia Game with some hooligans in the studio. Tune in for a good mix of games, faith, mixed drinks and scripture! Only on a Catholic podcast!

Howdy! This is a HUUUUUGE episode with the hosts of the "Catholic Man Show" joining me for an interview AND I reveal the WINNER of the Ministry Madness Bracket! 1st Segment-Mass Text. We dive into last Sunday's readings and I explain how the connection between the 1st reading and the Gospel absolutely blew my mind! 2nd Segment-The hosts of the popular radio show and podcast "The Catholic Man Show" join me to talk about manly spirituality. Adam Minihan and David Niles are hilarious dudes doing great things for the Church! 3rd Segment-The moment we have all been waiting for! After two weeks of voting, the Ministry Madness winner has been decided by you, the fan. Tune in to hear the top ten finisher countdown and a look into some key matchups that ended neck and neck!

Episode 28 of the show covered a wide range of topics... Segment 1-Easter Joy First show during the Easter Season! I talked about my Holy Week experience and we did the "Mass Text" segment where we took a deeper dive into the Gospel reading from Easter Sunday and what it means for the times where we don't understand what God is doing. Segment 2-Andrew Laubacher In one of my favorite interviews, I talk with Andrew about his music ministry, extreme conversion of heart in his teen years and one of his favorite topics, the Holy Spirit. Segment 3-Ministry Madness Update It has been a week since we launched the bracket of ministry leaders from across the US deciding once and for all "which ministry leader would win in a boxing competition." In this segment we finish introducing all of the candidates and I give a sneak peak into how some of the matchups are going. Head to ministrymadness.com to cast your votes now!

Forte Catholic has a tremendous new game you can play online! We have made a bracket of 64 Catholic Ministry leaders from across the nation to ask one question..."Who would win in a boxing match?" Head to ForteCatholic.com now to fill out your bracket and decide who wins the whole thing! This show is about two things: 1. Introducing the Ministry Madness Bracket with help from our producer Jake and Becka Landry who helped with the creation of the bracket. We also have guest appearances by some of the contenders like Chris Bartlett and Tony Vasinda. I interview Chris Bartlett about his work with Next Level Ministry and how we can have the best Holy Week possible! Tune in now and don't forget to like, subscribe, share and leave a rating of the show. Thanks!

Lent has been a struggle for me this year. I share what has been going on and how a little book written by a monk over 1000 years ago is helping me through it. I am also joined by "The Catholic Hack" Joe McClane. He shares his amazing life story about how God completely changed his life and what he learned about Fatherhood through it. 0:00-16:20 Lent Struggles 16:20-43:30 Joe McClane 43:30-51:57 Our Father in Heaven