Thinking Faith With Eric Gurash And Dr. Brett Salkeld

There are some podcasts you just can't wait to release! This special "2-for-Tuesday" release begins a new multi-part interview with Catholic writer and speaker Mark Shea. We'll discuss his new book "The Church's Best Kept Secret" and dig into the essential pillars of Catholic Social Teaching. Show Snippet: "Catholic social teaching does not begin with the proposition that human beings are fallen...what Catholic social teaching begins with is, unsurprisingly, Catholic Anthropology...(and) what Catholic Anthropology begins with is people are fundamentally made in the image and likeness of God..." Get a signed copy of "The Church's Best Kept Secret: A Primer on Catholic Social Teaching"! Buy direct from Mark at https://markpshea.com/mark-shea-shop/.

Wrapping up a two-part set on voting like a Catholic, Dr. Brett fields questions from those gathered for a recent virtual discussion sponsored by the Catholic Information Center in Grand Rapids Michigan. Show Snippet: "Because something is intrinsically evil doesn't mean you can [simply] vote for or against it, it means that you can [find yourself voting] for policies that...mitigate it, eliminate it, or make it worse..."

This week on the Thinking Faith Catholic Podcast, Dr. Brett Salkeld is invited to speak on the topic of Catholics and voting by the Paulist Fathers and the Catholic Information Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Show Snippet: "Many people have the impression that Church teaching would expect any two well-formed Catholic consciences to come to the same conclusion on election day. It. Does. Not...This is the kind of logic that leads us to excommunicate one another and to cheer on those figures dedicating themselves to setting other Catholics straight on the internet - to the great glee of the parties..." Read the full text of this talk at Church Life Journal

This week on the Thinking Faith Catholic Podcast, we are proud to feature former Archdiocese of Regina speaker, retreat leader, and writer, Dr. Matt Nelson now Assitant Director of Bishop Robert Barron's Word On Fire Institute, and his keynote address for our 2020 Virtual Congress on "The Significance of Hope." Show Snippet: "There are three things I've thought of that I think most of us have done that will appear foolish in the eyes of the world; we trade worldly goods, for heavenly goods; we rejoice in suffering; we believe in that which is unprovable..."

In this part three of three, we wrap up our visit with Brendan Hodge, Catholic writer, blogger, and author of the new book "If you Can Get It" discussing the unique perspective Catholic writing can bring to the world of fiction. Show Snippet: "I feel like what I at least try to do is deal honestly with how other human beings deal with those kinds of questions, and with knowing other people who are dealing with the place of faith in their lives..." Find his book: https://www.ignatius.com/If-You-Can-Get-It-P3662.aspx https://www.amazon.ca/You-Can-Get-Brendan-Hodge-ebook/dp/B08CPZC9RL/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1597257567&sr=8-2 Read More from Brendan at his Darwin Catholic blog: http://darwincatholic.blogspot.com/

Continuing our conversation with Catholic writer and blogger Brendan Hodge on his new book "If you Can Get It" from Ignatius Press and what it means to be a 'Catholic' writer. Show Snippet: "I mean I think we find ourselves at a time right now where a lot of people are struggling with their daily routines being upended...and I think it does cause people to pause and ask really why is it we do the things that we do?" Find his book: https://www.ignatius.com/If-You-Can-Get-It-P3662.aspx https://www.amazon.ca/You-Can-Get-Brendan-Hodge-ebook/dp/B08CPZC9RL/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1597257567&sr=8-2 Read More from Brendan at his Darwin Catholic blog: http://darwincatholic.blogspot.com/

We begin a three-part series with Catholic writer and blogger Brendan Hodge author of the new book "If you Can Get It" through Ignatius Press. We'll be discussing the book itself, what it's like publishing his first novel, and what it means to be a 'Catholic' writer. Show Snippet: "The title is "If you can get it" it's based on the title of a George and Ira Gershwin song "Nice work if you can get it"...but the song is about love and it's about relationships and how love and relationships are what makes life worth living. And I kind of liked it as a play on words." Find his book: https://www.ignatius.com/If-You-Can-Get-It-P3662.aspx  https://www.amazon.ca/You-Can-Get-Brendan-Hodge-ebook/dp/B08CPZC9RL/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1597257567&sr=8-2  Read More from Brendan at his Darwin Catholic blog: http://darwincatholic.blogspot.com/ 

As we wrap up our four-part series on conspiracy theory thinking we discuss a pastoral approach that places emphasis upon spiritual discernment and guidance as an essential first step. Show Snippet: "So if conspiracy theories are troubling you or troubling someone you know, the first question is "How's your prayer life?" If your prayer life has taken a hit because of a certain level of anxiety around this, then that's ground zero..."

In this part three of four, we take a look at some of the psychological and sociological foundations within conspiracy theory thinking that allow false narratives and misleading information to take root in others and in ourselves. Show Snippet: "When there are things that are hard for us, we want to be able to make sense out of that...this is such a core aspect of our humanity that we will latch on to things even when the effects of that lead to greater anxiety and greater fear."

Continuing our four-part series on conspiracy theory type thinking we deep dive into what this kind of thinking is, and how to identify content that may be engaged in this style of thought. Show Snippet: "So conspiracy theories will often give you the illusion of leaving you to your own conclusions so you feel like you've done the research, you're doing the thinking, but it's actually a bit of a set-up..."

This week Deacon Eric and Dr. Brett Salkeld begin a four-part series to discuss conspiracy theory thinking. In this part one, we'll ask what conspiracy theory thinking is and is not, and discuss the difference between this kind of thinking and healthy skepticism. Show Snippet: "This is not just like a social problem, but it's also a Pastoral problem because it's happening in the Church, it's happening to Church people, it's breaking down our capacity as a Church to have health discussions around controversial issues..."

Join Deacon Eric and Dr. Brett as they interview Dr. Stephen Little, Acquisitions Editor of Notre Dame Press, at the University of Notre Dame as we discuss his shift in world view from Catholic Creationism to Theistic Evolution. Show Snippet - "When I was in high school I had to write a research paper and I basically had to synthesize all of the evidence, from a scientific perspective, that I felt presented an obstacle or a challenge to evolution. And I had that reviewed by an English teacher and a science teacher...and one of them even said this almost persuades me..."

As Christian Churches around the world prepare for the "Season of Creation" which begins on September first, we present our Thinking Faith family with a sneak peek at a special YouTube series on Pope Francis' encyclical, Laudate Si hosted by our own Tashia Toupin. Show Snippet: "The rate of consumption that our human society is operating at...it very clearly and very evidently it outpaces rhythms...Pope Francis calls for us to think critically about that..."

In this part two of two, guest Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson joins the show to discuss truth, goodness, and beauty in literature and examines Flannery O'Connor's approach as found in her "Mystery and Manners" collection of essays and talks. Show Snippet: "This is a modern problem where I have students come in, and you look at a college student's calendar, and it's as though their identity is wrapped up in their to-do list. And so I always bring up the problem of the...baby who has this intrinsic beauty and value and worth without a to-do list, that person doesn't need a to-do list to be meaningful. And literature trains us to be that way towards people by training us to be that way towards literature itself. We let the literature be what it is."

This week we are pleased to have Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson, Louise Cowan Scholar in Residence at the University of Dallas, share her insights on a Catholic approach to literature. Show Snippet: "I can't quote C.S. Lewis enough, "In reading great literature I become a thousand people and yet remain myself..." when we delve into these perspectives in literature we actually take on other people's vision but you get to know your own better through that participation. You're not losing yourself in the book but gaining another way of seeing."

For the last four years, we have been blessed to be able to offer a new forum for conversation, dialogue, and sharing the Good News of our Catholic Faith to the Archdiocese of Regina and beyond. Join Deacon Eric, Dr. Brett, and very special guest, Archbishop Donald Bolen as we celebrate our 200th Episode and discuss our shared dreams for the future of our Church and culture. Show Snippet: "You know, in society as a whole and in the Church there's been an erosion of spaces for honest, respectful, public discourse where people can raise difficult issues and raise them in a context where there's a respectful engagement because we're so quick to move towards polarized positions, and I think I have to gain a new appreciation for the way that podcasts are a contemporary, current way where respectful discourse can happen..."

This past June saw the premiere of the very first episode of a new Youtube series produced by the Archdiocese called "The Diocese Tonight" featuring stories, voices, and prayers from all over the Archdiocese of Regina. With a new episode set to release on YouTube on August second, here's just a taste of our premier's keynote talk on Unity by Gabe Dipple. Show Snippet: "We need the breadth of experiences and voices that the Body of Christ is comprised of because, with any crisis, epidemic or blockade on the road, the Body of Christ contains within it every necessary voice required for the Holy Spirit to speak through and guide us..."

In an exciting podcast crossover event, Thinking Faith happily premiers popular guest, Fr. Parker Love's new podcast "Cold Drinks, Questions, and Christ" as he examines Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Moses, Man of the Mountain. Show Snipette: "I could see how, for other people, it might be interesting to hear about things that they might not necessarily think about; its relationship with faith and..to look at all this content I consume and say "How does this impact my faith story?""

Weeks before his ordination to the Transitional Diaconate, Deacon Eric Gurash had a chance to talk with Seminarian Chris Lindenbach about his life, his vocation, and this thing we call 'discernment'... Show Snippet: "They talk about any time you make any sort of commitment you make this big 'yes' and then that's sustained by all these little yeses. And so the big yes for me was to go to the seminary and say okay God, if this is where you are calling me to go, as St. Ignatius said, you discern it to the end whatever that end may be and so for me that big yes was to go down the road not knowing where it will end but trusting that God will lead me and be with me."

Plagues, Murder Hornets, Rivers running blood-red in Russia. Do you get the feeling that 2020 is trying to tell us something? Could this be the end of it all? Show Snippet: "You have these two groups that are contrasted and you see that going on throughout Revelation. It's asking which group are you? Are you the ones despairing because life isn't going the way that you thought it would go? Or are you the ones praising Christ who able to save us even when it seems like the world is coming to an end?"