We often hear the names Cosmas and Damian during the First Eucharistic Prayer, but how much do we actually know about these saints? The two brothers serve as examples for Christians today because of their radical dedication to the faith and to their vocations as doctors. Fr. Lewi dives into the identity, vocation, and mission of these two laymen in this Catholic Bytes episode.
Further Resources:
1. Book: The Patrons of the Doctors by Heinz Skrobucha
Who doesn’t love free gifts? The Lord offers us countless gifts and ways to experience his love and grace here on earth, one way in through the sacraments. Discover the beauty of the sacraments and how they are of indispensable help for the spiritual life and the journey to become a saint through this podcast with Msgr. Powers.
Further Resources:
1. Book: Apologetics and Catholic Doctrine by Archbishop Michael Sheehan
At the mention of Adam and Eve it is common to think immediately of the fall, but in this Catholic Bytes episode we look at the more romantic side of things. The love between Adam and Eve can be called the first romance because it was the first human love. The human heart longs to give itself fully to another, and this desire mirrors the continuous donation of love found within the Trinity. Hear Fr. Mark Baumgarten explain this first love story and how everyone is still called to self donation today.
God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only begotten son, but how can a good God demand such a sacrifice? The story of Abraham and Isaac illustrates the great faith and trust of Abraham while also foreshadowing the ultimate sacrifice found in Christ.
Everyday we are tempted to turn away from God for passing goods, but how can we fight against sin and focus our time on strengthening our relationship with the Lord? Practical steps in prayer, confession, fasting and forming good relationships offers us the opportunity to not only avoid sin, but to thrive in our relationship with God.
Further Resources:
Being made in the image and likeness of God; what does that really mean? Fr. Garrett Nelson explains how man and woman, through living out their vocation to love in relationship to one another, come to a deeper understanding of being created in God’s image and obtaining a greater likeness throughout life.
Love your enemies. This teaching is one of Christianity’s greatest contributions to humanity. When Christians truly love, those who were once enemies become siblings. The response of the Coptic Christians towards the ISIS executioners who martyred 21 people in Libya offers a current day testimony of this specifically Christian love.
For believers, the Universe does not simply serve as God’s beautiful masterpiece readily admired. Instead, it offers powerful arguments that God in fact does exist. Discover key arguments pro- and contra- God’s existence via the Universe and how, fundamentally, denying the former is a denial of logic and scientific evidence.
Further Resources:
In St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians we find the scriptural basis for “tradition”, both of which — scripture and tradition — work together to express revelation. Concerning the Institution of the Eucharist, pronounced by Christ at the Last Supper, St. Paul is ‘handing on’ what he has ‘received’. This ‘handing on’ from the beginning is what the Catholic Church holds as tradition.
Further Resources:
‘Apostle of the New Marian Era,’ and great martyr of the 20th c., St. Maximilian Kolbe was a light in heavy darkness. Always with joy, he was ridiculed on the streets of Rome and, ultimately, gave up his life in the Auschwitz camps. Every hero, however, has a secret formula for victory. For St. Max’s, tune in and listen up!
