Catching Foxes

Latest Episodes:

Episode 43: 43 So I Told God that I Hate Him May 06, 2016

Show notes

Have you ever found your faith ...stalled? You see other people having "experiences" of God, but you are running on E with the gas light on and there seems to be no station in sight to refuel your faith. After dancing around the whole super-sensitive college student thing, Luke tells Gomer how recently in a time of rather dramatic prayer, he told God that he hates Him and hates feeling this way. If you can relate, then you should give this episode a listen.

In the end, we talk about the new Marvel movie, Captain America 3: Civil War, which I'm taking my wife and another couple out on a date to go see, and yes, I'm taking off of work to do it.

Super Important Announcement

I'm trying to build something big and beautiful at my parish called The Pentecost Vigil. It consists of gathering a bunch of Jesus followers in the church and begging God for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on our parish and in our city. It is a time of praise and intercession AND I WANT YOU TO BE A PART OF IT!

Starting today, Friday, May 6, I would love it if you started praying for your own parish's renewal by taking up the Novena to the Holy Spirit and praying it till the Vigil. Also, if you can get some people in your parish together for the prayer vigil, head over to our old friend Fr. Dave Pivonka's website www.thewildgooseisloose.com for more resources and you can register your parish in this worldwide Vigil.

So for 9 days will you join us in fasting, prayer and praise in order to allow God's anointing to fall on our Church?

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Episode 42: 42 Reservation Missionary Kenn Cramer Apr 29, 2016

Show notes

Kenn Cramer is the Senior Director of Parish Life for the St Paul Mission who, alongside his wife Laura, the Director of Religious Education and all around financial planner and bookkeeper, ministers to the needs of the Native American Nakoda and A'aninin people living on a reservation in Montana.

Kenn explains how his community of 4,000 is 80% Catholic, but only 4% ever step foot in a Church outside of his or her own baptism and funeral. The community is has a 75% unemployment rate and a barely subsistent life. There is a widespread sense of hopelessness and a lack of personal dignity, which leads to crushingly high levels of suicide, drug addition and alcohol abuse.

And in the midst of such poverty, Kenn has encountered the utter uniqueness of these people and the Church's dire need of them in her life. "How can the body of Christ function missing an entire limb?" Yet that is what is happening in the Third World poverty of these reservations in the middle of the world's richest nation.

Modern Native Americans

Congress Raids Ancestral Native American Lands with Defense Bill

Natives Against John McCain: An investigation into living conditions in the Navajo nation of the southwestern United States

Diocese of Gallup serves the nation’s largest reservation: The Diocese of Gallup has a rich history, especially when it comes to the many Native American tribes contained within its borders. These tribes, including Navajo, Zuni, Hopi, Apache, and Pueblo peoples, form a unique and important part of the Diocese… The purpose of this office is to assess and meet the spiritual needs of the Native American members of the Diocese.

Pine Ridge Reservation, the Poorest in the country: From 1980 to 2000, the counties that make up Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota comprised the poorest of our nation's 3,143 counties. The 2000 census found them the third poorest, not because things got better on Pine Ridge, but because things got worse on two other South Dakota Indian Reservations.

Extreme Poverty: The poverty on Pine Ridge can be described in no other terms than third world. It is common to find homes overcrowded, as those with homes take in whoever needs a roof over their heads. Many homes are without running water, and without sewer.

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Episode 41: 41 - Gomer Sings A Lot Apr 22, 2016

Show notes

The State Legislature of North Carolina passed a law that interferes with a Charlotte discrimination bill that, in part, allowed for transgendered people to choose which bathroom and locker room to use. Donald Trump thinks North Carolina should have left well enough alone, and Ted Cruz is all for the law.

(Also, This episode has chapters... although I forgot to URL them. If you have a podcast app that supports chapters, I think you should be able to skip around.)

CHAPTERS

00:00:01 Bill in North Carolina
00:01:37 Isn’t America Exploding Already
00:04:54 The Extremes aren’t extreme anymore
00:06:08 Luke bashes the anti-trans meme
00:09:35 Gomer goes epistemological on Transgenderism
00:14:15 Luke is so done with people who think they own truth
00:20:44 Gomer offers some stolen advice
00:21:29 JD Flynn is so great
00:24:11 Christianity, GOP and Left/Right Dualism
00:29:16 Obama is not the Devil
00:33:20 Joy of Love and Consciences
00:41:55 The Boss and Bathrooms
00:443:01 Brave New World
00:45:54 I Hate The Benedict Option
00:49:01 Star Wars Rogue One
00:51:00 Music Recommendations
00:54:55 That Catholic Couple YouTube Interview
00:55:35 Dadness
00:56:44 Closing Remarks!

Luke launches into pure rage mode, but against the anti-trans memes that are going around, because it sounds like we're saying, "Here. Let me tell you how dumb you are. Now join our side!"

Gomer dives a little bit into the Left/Right Dualism in America that is so divisive, and why the GOP chose to make Abortion a central platform issue since the 80's.

Then we talk Rogue One, a Star Wars Story.

Also, on Saturday, April 24th, at Noon Central Time, we will be interviewed by That Catholic Couple live on YouTube.

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Episode 40: Hashtag Blessed! with Lisa Brenninkmeyer Apr 15, 2016

Show notes

Why do some ministries die and some thrive? Lisa Brenninkmeyer, author and founder of Walking With Purpose shares with us how she built a grassroots women's ministry and not just another program. Leadership training and mentoring form the backbone of Walking With Purpose and are precisely what makes it so powerful. The show starts off with me, your old pal Gomer, thank you, our beautiful listeners, for being amazing. LayEvangelist.com is a continued experiment in bringing about the new evangelization and as we expand our number of shows to, you know, more than one, we hope that it can change your life, your faith and your city.

Then Lisa, out of no where, just starts affirming Luke, which made me very uncomfortable, because, it's Luke.

We dive into the Call, Revival, and even our recent interview with good, old Father Dave Pivonka of www.thewildgooseisloose.com.

Lisa brings up a very good point about the Church and women. Often teachers and preachers tend to focus on chastity when the girls are young, and maternity when the girls become women. They are basically locked in a sexual viewpoint. Lisa's presentations are powerful because she goes beyond sexual value or maternity and focuses on the foundation: my identity as a woman in Christ. Thus her ministry is wide open to women of all vocations and backgrounds.

Oh yeah, she's that good. This is one of my favorite interviews yet.

#Blessed

From the website...

What is Walking with Purpose?

Walking with Purpose is a women’s Catholic Bible study program.

Walking with Purpose endeavors to meet women where they are, giving them practical Biblical teaching that is consistent with Church doctrine and uses the Catechism of the Catholic Church as an additional resource. All materials have received the imprimatur from the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Walking with Purpose aims to bring women to a deeper personal relationship with Jesus Christ by offering personal study and small group discussion that link our everyday challenges and struggles with the solutions given to us through the teachings of Christ and the Catholic Church.

Walking with Purpose has three elements: at-home study, weekly small group meetings (if in the parish-based or small group programs), and a monthly talk on relevant course material. Most courses contain 22 lessons; one short course contains six lessons.

Walking with Purpose has over 130 parishes involved in our Leadership Training Program in the United States, Europe and Canada and has helped thousands of women grow closer to Christ.

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Episode 38: 38 - Dynamic Dream Pop with Emma Fradd Mar 25, 2016

Show notes

Emma Fradd is one to two artists for the band Interior Castle, self-described as "Dynamic Dream Pop", which is just about the coolest genre I've ever heard.

In this interview you'll hear what it is really like trying to make it in the UK music scene, as well as the influences, tastes, and processes that drive a modern musician like Emma. You can find them on Facebook and here on the Interwebs. Here's an interview that he ugly brother, Matt Fradd, did on his website.

You get their 3 EPs on iTunes and Apple Music (Finished Dreaming, Listen and Talk, Buy Me Free) and they sound fantastic. She recommends some music, like:

And near the end Luke and I get into a huge argument over which is better, Vinyl vs. CD (clearly CD), and I shame all with science. SCIENCE! (sciiiiiiiience)

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Episode 37: 37 A Necessary Discussion Mar 12, 2016

Show notes

Luke leads us in a very personal and very necessary discussion on the Clergy Sexual Abuse scandal. What does it look like for Catholics to seriously love their Church and to seriously support the victims of abuse? Luke puts the emphasis on the role of the laity, especially to not try and sidestep this deep scandal by attributing it to the "gay agenda" or other stupid crap.

Get Safe Environment training. Luke and I both have VIRTUS certification and training, and all of our volunteers who work with youth have it as well. Even if you don't work with kids, you should get the training at a local parish so this never happens again.

Let's make sure we honor Luke's dad and not look away from this horrific crime in the Church's life today.

From the USCCB...

“ A Statement on the Protection of Children
Bishop Edward J. Burns of Juneau
Chairman of the USCCB Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People
March 3, 2016
This week brought painful, but important, reminders that we must remain vigilant in our efforts to protect children from the scourge of abuse. The movie “Spotlight” won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It chronicles the courage of the victims and the journalists who told their story. In statements from Cardinal O’Malley in Boston and the Vatican newspaper in Rome, the Catholic Church renewed our determined and firm resolve to protect children and felt deep sorrow for the tremendous pain.
On Tuesday, we received news of a grand jury report out of Altoona, Pennsylvania. Although I can’t speak to the specifics in Altoona and would defer to the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference as to any statewide impact, like everyone, I read the news with great pain.
It is heart wrenching and shocking to hear of this grand jury report or of any incidents of abuse, and it is even more disturbing when we learn that innocent children were abused by priests within the Church. Once again, the wounds inflicted through these heinous crimes have caused great pain and further mistrust in the Church. We must never lose sight of the fact that every victim/survivor has personally experienced profound injury, suffering, and betrayal.
These moments are a reminder why the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, adopted by the U.S. bishops in 2002, exists and must be followed. This highlights all the more the importance that we never grow complacent. As stated in the Charter, we are to cooperate with law-enforcement agencies, permanently remove those who have offended, and effectively create a safe environment for our children. Only with vigilance can we ensure that children are kept safe and so allow the Church to help our people in a process of healing and address the mistrust that rises from these cases.”

— http://www.usccb.org/news/2016/16-026.cfm

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Episode 36: 36 Fr. Dave Pivonka Insults Us Constantly Mar 04, 2016

Show notes

The Ancient Celts had a nickname for the Holy Spirit, "Dave Pivonka". Oh wait, no, that's not it. It's "The Wild Goose." And Father Dave Pivonka takes us on a tour of his vocation, ministry, the skills of religious discernment, and finally, his new project "The Wild Goose is Loose", unleashing the power of the Holy Spirit in everyone's life.

      <a href="http://thewildgooseisloose.com/" target="_blank">


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      </a>

A List of Father Dave's Books:

        <img class="thumb-image" alt="Look at this picture of Father Dave and I. Yes, I'm taking a selfie, but you know who isn't there? Luke. LUKE! So take that!" data-image="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/551def6fe4b09619c3abc306/t/56d93a8f86db43b3796768d9/1457076900619/" data-image-dimensions="3600x2400" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" data-load="false" data-image-id="56d93a8f86db43b3796768d9" data-type="image" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/551def6fe4b09619c3abc306/t/56d93a8f86db43b3796768d9/1457076900619/?format=1000w" />





      <p>Look at this picture of Father Dave and I. Yes, I'm taking a selfie, but you know who isn't there? Luke. LUKE! So take that!</p>

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