Apologist Joe Heschmeyer joins us to review Catholic Just War teaching, and spend some time discussing how that teaching applies to modern American wars. Cy Kellett: Is it still possible to have a just war in the modern world? Joe Heschmeyer is next. Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. War become more common in recent years than it was in the past. We thought maybe in the modern wo...
Feb 23, 2022
Are you a simulation created by some dude on his computer in his basement? In fact, couldn’t our whole universe be a simulated universe? Patrick Flynn, Catholic philosopher and host of The Pat Flynn Show and Philosophy for the People tackles the growing consensus among the smart people that we might be living in a simulation. Cy Kellett: Could we really be living in a simulation? Pat Flynn is next. Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and def...
Feb 16, 2022
In recent years, people have been discussing the legitimacy of Pope Francis’s papacy. Patrick Coffin, former host of Catholic Answers Live, released a video presenting an argument that suggests Pope Francis is an antipope. Cy sits down with Joe Heschmeyer to evaluate Patrick’s main points. Cy Kellett: Is it possible that Pope Francis is not the pope? Joe Heschmeyer is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending yo...
Feb 14, 2022
Who gets to say what a religion is, and why do “World Religions” classes so often fail in their approach to Christian Faith? Joe Heschmeyer, author of The Early Church Was the Catholic Church, explores the politics around the word “religion.” Cy Kellett: Why modern definitions of religion get Christianity wrong. Joe Heschmeyer is next. Cy Kellett: Hello and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answer’s podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I...
Feb 09, 2022
Schools are indoctrinating your kids into the woke agenda. How did we get here? Noelle Mering, author of Awake, Not Woke, reviews the history that brought our educational institutions to their current crisis. Why did we go down this road, and can we recover? Cy Kellett: How did we get to the point where schools are actively indoctrinating children? Noelle Mering is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic f...
Feb 02, 2022
God came among us as a man, but the world is still a mess. So what difference did the life of Jesus make? Gary Michuta, author of Revolt Against Reality, explains how Jesus initiated a revolution in world affairs. Cy Kellett: How is your world different because God became a man? Gary Michuta is next. Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. And Gary Michuta joins us this time. He has a...
Jan 26, 2022
Will they or won’t they overturn Roe v. Wade? All the focus on the Supreme Court life cases means lots of media spewing confusion about abortion. Who can answer all of this confusion? Well, you can, by keeping things honest and simple as Apologist Joe Heschmeyer explains in this episode. Cy Kellett: An extremely simple pro-life argument. Joe Heschmeyer is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith...
Jan 19, 2022
Number two will BLOW YOUR MIND! Popular Catholic Apologist Trent Horn, the author of Why We’re Catholic, reflects on the three big errors all apologists should avoid. Cy Kellett: What are the big mistakes apologists make? Trent Horn is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. Cy Kellett: I’m Cy Kellett, your host. One of the great defenders of the Catholic faith and one of the great defen...
Jan 12, 2022
Drawing on his newest book — The Early Church Was the Catholic Church — Joe Heschmeyer describes what the very earliest Christians believed was happening in the celebration of the Eucharist. Did they see it as a sacrifice or just a memorial? Did they understand it as a sign or as the real presence of Jesus? Cy Kellett: Did the very earliest Christians think about the Eucharist like we do? Joe Heschmeyer is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast fo...
Jan 05, 2022
Was it a comet? Was it a shooting star? Do we have any clues as to the nature of the Star of Bethlehem? Jimmy Akin brings some fascinating speculations about what the star might have been. Cy Kellett: Is there any way to know what the Star of Bethlehem was? Jimmy Akin gives it a try next. Cy Kellett: Hello and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. This time, a little bit of understanding. What exactly is the Star of Bethlehem...
Dec 29, 2021
The most wonderful time of year — the tree, the lights, the cider — oh, and don’t forget the stories about how Christmas is a pagan holiday basically stolen by Christians. Jimmy Akin joins us to get to the root of some of the claims made about the hidden paganism of Christmas. Catholic Answers is proud to present a very Pagan Christmas, with Jimmy Akin. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic fa...
Dec 22, 2021
Deacon Charlie Echeverry from the Living the Call podcast joins us for a discussion of the opportunities available to better serve the Latino Catholic community. He explains how an apostolate such as ours — and maybe yours — can help bring the Church together in the US and make things less difficult for Catholic families in the future. Cy Kellett: You know what’s weird in the American church? It’s getting more Latino while Latinos are getting less Catholic. Deacon Charlie...
Dec 15, 2021
Drawing on his book, Light From Darkness: Nine Times the Catholic Church Was in Turmoil and Came Out Stronger Than Before, historian Steve Weidenkopf answers our questions about the current Vatican deal with China. Is the agreement to let the Chinese government have a say about bishop appointments a return to the days of the Investiture Controversy? Cy Kellett: Is the China deal a repeat of the investiture controversy? Steve Weidenkopf is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Cathol...
Dec 13, 2021
Joe Heschmeyer — author of A Man Called Joseph: Guardian for Our Times — joins us to wrap up the year of St. Joseph. We dig into the fascinating history of his veneration, and ask why he seems such a perfect father-figure for modern people. Cy Kellett: Turns out St. Joseph has a lot to teach modern people, Joe Heschmeyer is next. Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett your host. And p...
Dec 09, 2021
Monica Doumit, the Director of Public Affairs and Engagement for the Archdiocese of Sydney, is one of the clearest pro-life voices on Earth. Here’s what happens when we ask her to admit some of the things pro-choice people are right about. Cy Kellett: Pro-choice arguments actually get a lot right. Monica Doumit is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. And we’re not exactly going to be d...
Dec 01, 2021
Vox Media’s series of explainer videos failed badly when it tried to use science to suggest that monogamy doesn’t really fit with human nature. We asked Dan Kuebler, Professor of Biology and Dean of the School of Natural and Applied Sciences at Franciscan University, to help us understand monogamy in a more adult way, using both scientific and moral arguments. Cy Kellett: What can science really tell us about monogamy? Dr. Dan Kuebler is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus,...
Nov 24, 2021
In the second part of our discussion with Father Hugh Barbour about Catholic Faith and the transgender movement, he brings out a forgotten document from Pope John XXIII. The document was never promulgated by the Second Vatican Council, but it says a great deal about how the Church thinks about sex, and sex “reassignment.” Listen to the first part here: Aquinas on Transgenderism Cy Kellett: What the Second Vatican Council almost said about sex changes. Father Hugh Barber next. Cy Kellett: Hello, ...
Nov 17, 2021
Thomas Aquinas, the Church’s greatest theologian, had lots to say about the nature of the human person. So what would he say about the modern transgender movement? We asked Father Hugh Barbour. Cy Kellett: What would Thomas Aquinas say about transgenderism? Father Hugh Barbour is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. So much talk about transgenderism these days, and it finally occurred to us,...
Nov 10, 2021
The Jews of Jesus’ time, like Jews today, prayed for the dead. Apologist Joe Heschmeyer looks at how Jesus and the early Church responded to this widespread practice and finds strong evidence that the Lord intended his Church to continue it. Cy Kellett: God’s people have always prayed for the dead. Joe Heschmeyer is next. A shocking change occurred when in the 16th century some Christians began to teach that we could not or should not pray for the dead. Jesus never said any such thin...
Nov 03, 2021
Netflix goes heavy Catholic in its series Midnight Mass. But does it get the Catholic view of death right? Apologist Joe Heschmeyer joins us for a discussion of the various takes on death presented in Midnight Mass. Cy Kellett: Catholic take on Netflix’s Midnight Mass, Joe Heschmeyer is next. Hello and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host, and one thing that we know in this movie era, in...
Oct 27, 2021
Some Christians miss or explain away the amazing gift that Jesus gave his Church when he told the Apostles, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven…” This unique moment is given to us in John 20:23. Karlo Broussard joins us to explain why the most obvious reading is the right one — Christ gave the Apostles the power to forgive sins. Cy Kellett: Did Jesus give the church a sacrament of confession or not? Karlo Broussard is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Ca...
Oct 21, 2021
Catholics in politics are big in the news these days. But a truly Catholic politics might not be what you think. We talk about the meaning of politics form a Catholic perspective with theologian Andrew Willard Jones author of new book, The Two Cities: A History of Christian Politics. Cy Kellett: What is the place of the church in politics? Andrew Willard Jones is next. Hello, and welcome to Focus, The Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m...
Oct 13, 2021
Loki now has his own TV show on Disney+, and the god of mischief raises serious issues of atheism, polytheism, freewill, and conversion. We get Joe Heschmeyer’s take on all of it from a Christian perspective. Cy Kellett: Disney’s Loki raises big questions. Joe Heschmeyer’s glorious purpose is to answer them, next on Focus. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your...
Oct 06, 2021
Being entirely objective, the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome is the best building in the world! We ask Duncan Stroik, the founder of the Sacred Architecture Journal, to explain why this is, and why churches, and other buildings today, don’t match it. Why don’t we build churches like St. Peter’s anymore? Architect Duncan Stroik is next. Cy Kellett: Duncan Stroik is Professor of Architecture at Notre Dame University and the founding editor of Sacred Architecture Journal. And we had the ...
Sep 29, 2021
Do you have trouble with the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Not sure about? Don’t know quite what to say? Father Hugh Barbour gives a brief lesson on what really happens in confession, and offers tips on how to make confessing part of your life. Cy Kellett: What does confessing to a priest actually do? Father Hugh Barbour is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. How I’m making Jesus happy. Is ...
Sep 22, 2021
Father Hugh Barbour explains what Jesus meant when he said the measure with which we measure will be measured back to us. Is he really going to judge us the way that we judge others? If so, its time to get to work on all that judgment, gossip, and resentment. Cy Kellett: Are you telling me I can never judge somebody? Father Hugh Barber, next. Cy Kellett: Hello and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, you...
Sep 15, 2021
More than anything, the devil hates to see you at Mass. And Jesus was clear that he, personally, desired you there. Father Hugh Barbour is back, and he explains why the Mass must be at the center of every Christian life. Cy Kellett: Getting back to mass, participating fully in the mass. Fr. Hugh Barbour is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus. The Catholic Answers Podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett your host. A little bit about livi...
Sep 08, 2021
Catholic Scholar Christopher Kaczor finds a great deal to admire in Jordan Peterson and his followers. But is Peterson’s work a fully-satisfying body of thought, or is it more of a doorway to deeper satisfactions for the mind? We discuss Kaczor’s new book — Jordan Peterson, God, and Christianity: The Search for a Meaningful Life. Cy Kellett: Is Jordan Peterson leading people to Christianity? Christopher Kaczor is next. Cy Kellett: Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answe...
Sep 01, 2021
Theologian and Catholic Worker Larry Chapp joins us for a discussion of Pope Francis’ Motu Proprio on the Latin Mass. Was this a missed opportunity for the pope to achieve his larger goals? Is there any better way available to reach those goals? Cy Kellett: Is this a self-defeating papacy? Dr. Larry Chapp is next. Cy Kellett: Hello and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host. I’ve bee...
Aug 18, 2021
The author of Purgatory Is for Real tackles a tough philosophical question — is my soul made to last forever? If so, how do we know this? If not, what could happen that would destroy the life of my soul? Cy Kellett: Is there something immortal about you? Karlo Broussard next. Hello and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding, and defending your Catholic faith. I’m Cy Kellett, your host, and I really enjoy talking with Karlo Broussard and maybe go at l...
Aug 18, 2021
