What's New on Ascension's Website?
The Ascension TeamShare
Here’s what’s new across all our platforms this week. Below you will find a roundup of everything from Game of Thrones to transubstantiation. If you aren’t aware of all the amazing free content Ascension’s website has to offer, here’s your chance to get a taste.
Ascension Presents
Fr. Mike Schmitz
Ascension Presents’ popular series with Father Mike covers faith, pop culture, and headline reflections.
Alcohol can certainly help us to live in the moment, grow in friendship, and simply enjoy life more, but when we drink too much it distorts the goodness of alcohol. The Bible always condemns drunkenness, and in Catholics, Alcohol, and Drinking Fr. Mike points out why. In doing so, he also shows how to really enjoy a drink with friends or family, and enjoying a drink the right way is much better than getting drunk.
Encountering the Word
In this week’s Encountering the Word video for the Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, entitled Connecting Paul with Genesis in the Bible, Jeff Cavins reflects on the story of the Fall of Man in Genesis as he encourages us, with St. Paul, to focus on things that are unseen and not just transient things.
Matt Fradd
Matt Fradd opens up a discussion about Pascal’s Wager, the argument that lays out why—in the end—believing in God is more beneficial for us than not believing in God. He also wants to know what you think of Pascal’s argument. Check out Why You Should Believe in God: Pascal’s Wager and leave your thoughts on the matter in the comments below.
Find out more about Matt Fradd at mattfradd.com.
The CFRs
The CFRs have two new videos in the roundup this week. Last week, their day finally came. After years of preparation, the four newly ordained priests—Father Mark-Mary, Father Angelus, Father Francesco, and Father PT—were overjoyed to embrace their vocation as they shared their ordination experience. In their video, Excited to be Priests!, Father Francesco prays a beautiful prayer of gratitude, and the four priests encourage their viewers to take advantage of the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist.
In a follow-up to that video, we learn that Father Francesco is moving to London for his first assignment as a priest, so his Franciscan brothers say goodbye to him in How to Properly Say Goodbye to a Friend. They share a tradition they have when saying goodbye to friends by inviting viewers to their “dinner table” discussion. Father Francesco shares that the path of a Christian is a call to friendship. Honor is central to friendship, and in honoring Father Francesco while saying goodbye, the three other friars are honoring God.
Learn more about the CFRs at franciscanfriars.com.
Ascension Podcasts
Don’t miss out on Ascension’s impressive variety of podcasts.
Ask Fr. Josh
In Ascension’s newest podcast, Fr. Josh Johnson answers your questions about life, faith, morality, and relationships.
We posted three episodes in celebration of the launch. In the first episode of Ask Fr. Josh, Fr. Josh answers questions about the Eucharist, relationship standards when it comes to faith, and the morality of smoking weed. In the second episode, Fr. Josh answers questions about the Rosary, Working on Sundays, and NFP. In the third episode, Fr. Josh answers questions about Game of Thrones, fallen-away Catholics, and discernment.
If you have a question, comment, or a response for Fr. Josh, email us at askfrjosh@ascensionpress.com. You may hear your question or comment in an upcoming podcast episode!
The Tightrope
In The Tightrope, host Colin MacIver invites his listeners to take three to five minutes to embrace opportunities to live out our faith in the midst of our busy lives.
Does your day-to-day life feel tangled? Well, then you should listen to Colin’s latest podcast episode, Tangled.
The Jeff Cavins Show
In the roundup this week, we also have two new episodes of The Jeff Cavins Show, which is where Jeff shares personal tips for living life as a modern-day disciple of Jesus Christ.
We all have fallen into the trap of comparing ourselves to others. In an age of social media, constant comparison is hard to avoid and it leads to us feeling bad or anxious about our own lives compared to those of our 500+ closest online friends. In Mirror Mirror on the Web, Jeff explains the dangers of comparison and shows you how to look to God when you start down this path.
Spiritual boredom doesn’t happen overnight. You slide into it until you finally realize how much your relationship with the Lord has suffered. If you are thinking “wow this is me” and feel like you need a break from this slippery slope, then listen to Jeff’s three tips on how to avoid spiritual boredom. There is nothing more powerful and fruitful than a relationship with the Lord.
Ascension Roundtable
In the Ascension Roundtable Podcast, Catholic ministry professionals share stories and brainstorm solutions to common ministry challenges.
Dr. Kerry Cronin doesn’t just give her students essays; she gives them an assignment that requires them to ask someone out on a good, old-fashioned first date. It’s something she’s been doing for a while, and her experiment is featured in a new feature-length documentary recently released called The Dating Project. If you work with teens, college students, or young adults, you won’t want to miss what Dr. Cronin has discovered about hook-up culture and dating in today’s day and age.
Learn More About The Dating Project
Go to www.thedatingprojectmovie.com.
Find the DVD at Amazon, Target, Walmart, or Best Buy.
Girlfriends
In the Girlfriends podcast, Danielle Bean invites you to connect with other Catholic women.
Girlfriends’ topic this week is conflict in marriage. How can we handle the inevitable disagreements that come in our married relationships with maturity and grace? In this week’s episode, Fight Fair in Your Marriage, Danielle shares some ideas for what I consider “fighting fair” but I want to hear yours too!
Ascension Blog
Ascension’s blog offers insightful and informative articles to help you know and live the Catholic Faith. Here’s a summary of what the blog has published this week.
In the article, A Quick Primer on Transubstantiation, Chris Mueller reflects on the fact that every time the Mass is celebrated, something incredible happens. A miracle takes place. During the Eucharistic rite, the priest speaks Jesus’ words from the Last Supper:
“Take, eat; this is my body.”
In Stones on the Jordan: What Do Memorials Mean to You?, Sarah Christmyer encourages you to set up a stone of remembrance when God acts powerfully in your life.
In A Christmas Story in June: St. Boniface, Thor, and German Communion, David Kilby tells the story of the missionary and spiritual father to Germany, whose feast we celebrated this week. This story may shed light upon a few things that were once well understood, but we now for the most part take for granted.
In Satan Is Strong but Jesus Is Stronger, Chris Mueller tells of howMark’s Gospel is a breathless account of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. In the first chapter alone, Jesus calls his disciples, casts out a demon, heals Peter’s mother-in-law, cures “many who were sick” and “drives out many demons.” It should be no surprise then, by the third chapter, Jesus is drawing huge crowds.
In Does Marriage Have a Home Among Millennials?, Matthew Pinto examines why, in increasing numbers, young people are ending up in temporary living arrangements, predominantly with parents, but also alone, with friends, and as single parents, rather than entering into committed relationships and forming new families.
That’s our roundup for this week. Be sure to check back every week for just as much new content.