As part of our Easter series on conversion stories, we're profiling Dawn Eden Goldstein, author of the book Sunday Will Never Be the Same. She's a convert from Reform Judaism to Christianity: first to Protestantism, and then to Catholicism. Along the way she's been everything from a rock historian to a dogmatic theologian. So how did get from there to here?

Topics we discussed:​

• Our Lady of Sorrows
• What Mary can teach us about ministering to those who suffer
• The reality of human trafficking

Resources we mentioned:

• ​​Way of the Cross at the Colosseum meditations by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger​
• The Catholic Podcast Episode 24 - Natural Family Planning for Sinners
• Polaris Project
• Restore Hope

Interviews in this episode: 

• Simcha Fisher 
• Deacon Brad Sloan 

Find Holy Family School of Faith:

• Online​​

Topics we discussed:

• ​The condemnation of Christ
• Praying and meditating on the Stations of the Cross
• Abortion clinic workers and healing from condemnation 
• Times when Joe and Chloe shared (or struggled to share!) their faith in face of the crowd

Resources we mentioned:

• ​Way of the Cross at the Colosseum meditations by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
• Joe's Lenten series at Cure of Ars Catholic Church in Kansas 

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Interviews in this episode: 

• Laura Ricketts, And Then There Were None

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• Online​​

Last week we looked at major differences in how Methodists and Catholics look at the Church, at the papacy, and Church history. But in today's episode, we take a closer look at Scripture, Tradition, which books belong in the Bible, Purgatory, the saints, and the sacraments (especially the Eucharist and marriage). 

How should we respond when the pastor of the nation's largest United Methodist Church and an ex-Catholic priest team up to do a four part series on Catholicism and Methodism?

Joe discusses the spiritual life of cholerics with Father Kreidler.    

​A day late, but worth the wait: Joe Heschmeyer sits down with Fr. Andrew Mattingly ("the most productive phlegmatic I know") to talk about the spiritual life of phlegmatics, with all of its pros and cons.

Perhaps the most misunderstood of the four temperaments is the Melancholic. Are they just brooding pensives, or does their temperament reflect something of how God wants to call them to sanctity?

Joe discusses with Dr. Troy Hinkel about the spiritual perks and perils of the sanguine temperament.

Topics we discussed:

• A brief overview of the four temperaments 
• How Christ has the strengths of all four temperaments and none of the weakness 
• The saints and the four temperaments 
• How your temperament influences why you don't like going to confession 
• Revealing Chloe's temperament after she takes the quiz for the first time

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Resources we mentioned:

• ​The Big 5 personality test
• "The Four Temperaments and the Spiritual Life" by Father Conrad Hock
• Want to obtain happiness? Harness your passions 
• Type A and B personalities 
• Meyers Briggs and the iPersonic personality type
• "The Temperament God Gave You" by Art and Laraine Bennett
• Temperament Questionnaire 

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Find Holy Family School of Faith:

• Online​​

Whether we're striving for sainthood here on earth or learning about the lives of the saints who've gone before us, we each have a beautifully unique story and path to sainthood.  

Topics we discussed:

• The lives of lesser known saints 
• The road to canonization in the Catholic Church
• How saints inform us about the history of the Church and of the world
• The inspirational and relational role the saints play in our daily lives
• Saints and the virtues 
• Building a relationship with your guardian angel

Resources we mentioned:

• ​If you're looking for a patron saint for the year, try this saint name generator from Jennifer Fulwiler! 
• The Congregation for the Causes of Saints
• The Heavenly Social episode on Saint Dymphna
• "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis

Find The Heavenly Social Podcast:

• Online
• On Facebook
• On iTunes
• On Google Play

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Find Holy Family School of Faith:

• Online​

​Topics we discussed:

• Why our understanding of the Christmas story is probably wrong
• The Jewish wedding stages of kiddushin and nisuin
• The not-so-tricky word 'until' and its role in Scripture
• Why Joseph's actions around Christmas time prove that he really was a just man

Resources we mentioned:

• Joe's recent article on Catholic Answers about Jewish marriage customs 
•  ​A follow-up post on Shameless Popery about Joseph's interaction with the angel in a dream
• Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald on Jewish wedding customs 

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Find Holy Family School of Faith:

• Online​

Topics we discussed:

• Why our conceptions of Heaven are usually too small and too selfish
• What our top five joyful moments in life can teach us about Heaven
• Biblical backing for Divinization
• What the Church Fathers have to say about becoming like God
• How it's only through divinization that we can enjoy and praise God to the fullest
• How our daily lives change when we constantly desire Heaven and divinization

Resources we mentioned:

• "Heaven" by Talking Heads
• "Spe Salvi" by Pope Benedict XVI 

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Find Holy Family School of Faith:

• Online​

Images mentioned in this episode: 

Is the idea of hell - an eternity of suffering apart from God - compatible with the idea of an all-good and loving God?

Topics we discussed:

• Whether or not Hell is compatible with an all-good, loving God
• Our infinite craving for good as human beings (and why we still do dumb things)
• Why we believe that God is capable of satisfying the infinite chasm in our hearts
• Why God can't create a world where we're happy with things other than him
• Reasons why you should confess even your venial sins regularly  

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Resources we mentioned:

• ​God & Hell: Our Infinite Hunger (a Shameless Popery post by Joe)
• God & Hell: God or Hungry Ghosts? (a Shameless Popery post by Joe)
• God & Hell: The Infinite Good (a Shameless Popery post by Joe)
• God & Hell: The "Limits of God's power (a Shameless Popery post by Joe​​
• "Heaven is a Place on Earth" by Belinda Carlisle

Find Holy Family School of Faith

• Online​

The last line of the Nicene Creed says, "I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." Why is it that Christians look forward to the final judgement? And if we don't, why should we?

Topics we discussed:

• When we will be judged 
• On what the Lord will judge us 
• Seeing judgement in a new light 
• The three comings of Christ 
• How we should prepare for this liturgical season of Advent and our lifelong Advent 

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Resources we mentioned:

• Advent of the Heart by Father Alfred Delp
• The Shaking Reality of Advent by Father Alfred Delp
• Saint Pope John Paul II's exhortation on Reconciliation and Penance 
• The World is Ending: The Hidden Meaning of Advent ​

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• Online

Memento Mori, Remember your death. 

Topics we discussed:

• A very traditional take on Advent
• Why we should talk about death during Advent, not just at Halloween or during Lent
• What death is, and what it reveals about us
• Why we should talk about death even though the culture doesn't want us to
• How Christ redeems death
• Why a healthy view of death flies in the face of American culture today

Resources we mentioned:

• ​The Four Last Things by Saint Thomas More 
• The Church's General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar
• Peter Kreeft and Primitive Man's Argument from Dead Cow
• Kristin Lavransdatter by Singrid Undset (if you're picking it up for the first time, get the Penguin translation)
•  Death in Kristin Lavransdatter by Tyler Blanski

Find Holy Family School of Faith

• Online

​Images mentioned in this episode: