The Patrick Coffin Show | Interviews with influencers | Commentary about culture | Tools for transformation

The Patrick Coffin Show is 100% listener supported. Help us keep our show independent and unfiltered. Consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation HERE. Tweet to Patrick HERE Follow Patrick on Facebook HERE Check out the store HERE Sign up for our Inside Scoop newsletter with the best of The Patrick Coffin Show each week. Join the Conversation Question of the week: What is one concrete thing I can do to be an ambassador of hope for someone in my life who may be suffering depression or otherwise feeling despair? ********************** Ours is an age of social disruption, isolation, and atomization. Rates of suicide among young people, rich and poor, along with instances of clinical depression are on the sharp rise since 1999. A dark ennui—call it despair, or melancholia, or depression—has settled into the lives of millions of people. Sources of community support that used to provide a bullwark against all this "apartness," such as a vibrant parish at the center of family life and vice versa, mens' and womens' social clubs, and a culture that supported the ideals of monogamy, have withered or vanished. Psychiatrist Dr. Aaron Kheriaty deals with the fall-out of these disruptions every day in his clinical practice and as an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California Irvine where he is also director of the bioethics program. This is a fascinating exchange of ideas—from social science data, to poetry, to the life witness of the saints to the truths of Scripture—related to helping those suffering maladies that seem to cruelly evacuate hope from the human heart. Very few doctors see the interconnectedness between the order of nature (and nurture) and the order of grace. Aaron Kheriaty is one of them, and he's downright evangelical about getting the word out about the urgently needed, good old-fashioned hope. He's also a fine writer who is attuned to the mystery of suffering in a way that is wise and accessible. The Hail Holy Queen prayer describes the location of our sojourn as "this vale of tears" for good reasons. If you or someone you know has had serious vicissitudes, trials, or setbacks in his or her life, this is a "don't miss" interview. In this interview, you will learn: Why the worlds of psychiatry and of faith have large areas of overlap and agreement A workable definition of despair and its antidote How the lives of some of the (mentally ill) saints can be a sign of great hope and consolation Why suicide, and examples of triumph over despair, can both be "contagious" The ways in which the Incarnation of God in Christ provides the direct proof of divine accompaniment and healing regarding mental illness and the loss of hope The difference between human hope and the supernatural virtue of hope Resources mentioned in this episode: The Catholic Guide to Depression by Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, with Monsignor John Cihak Man's Search for Meaning by Dr. Viktor Frankl People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil by Dr. M. Scott Peck The Hound of Heaven and Other Poems by Francis Thompson, Intro by G.K. Chesterton Dying of Despair essay in "First Things" by Dr Aaron Kheriaty University of California Irvine link to Dr. Kheriaty's bio and contact info

The Patrick Coffin Show is 100% listener supported. Help us keep our show independent and unfiltered. Consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation HERE. You may have heard of 40 Days For Life, and you may have heard of its founder and former CEO David Bereit. This interview dives into his story, what inspired him to get directly involved in pro-life activism, and into the reasons why he entered the Catholic Church this past Easter. Bereit is a pro at communicating the pro-life message with reason, balance, and passion. In this interview, you will learn: The secret ingredient in your approach that can mean the difference between an abortion and a life saved. The specific reasons why the timeless teachings of the Catholic Church won Bereit over. The originating incident that led to the founding of 40 Days For Life. Why abortion will never be defeated until we tell the truth about what it does to baby and mother. Why it's vital that we link arms with people of other faiths, or no faith, to form a non-violent army of people committed to ending abortion and to healing moms and dads whos chose it. Resources mentioned in this episode: 40 Days for Life: Discover What God Has Done...Imagine What He Can Do by David Bereit and Shawn Carney. Tweet to Patrick HERE Follow Patrick on Facebook HERE Check out the store HERE Sign up for our Inside Scoop newsletter with the best of The Patrick Coffin Show each week.

The Patrick Coffin Show is 100% listener supported. Help us keep our show independent and unfiltered. Consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation HERE. You may have seen Father Mike in one of his popular Ascension Presents video commentaries. His topics—delivered in his energetic and telegenic style—tend toward what's currently trending but he always anchors his subject (living together, chastity, celebrity culture, movie and TV examples, etc.) in the timeless teachings of the Church. From what I can see, there is no topic territory that is off limits, including the teaching on homosexuality—the forbidden topic par excellence in today's climate of political correctness and confusion. Which brings me to this week's episode, in which Father Mike and I talk about his new book, Made For Love: Same-Sex Attractions and the Catholic Church https://amzn.to/2J8Ikxj. It's all about balance, understanding, and having the courage to put the focus where it belongs: on compassion that is yet unafraid to speak the truth. The issue of homosexuality has been massively co-opted by the secular media and by so-called pro-gay factions with Christianity. The result is widespread confusion: what exactly is the Catholic teaching? Where is it in the Bible? How to respond to family members and friends who "come out"? Is it possible to be biblically faithful and pastorally attuned to peoples' real needs? In this interview, you will learn: Why the Church makes the careful distinction between inclination and behavior, or between unbidden temptation and chosen sin. How best to respond to a loved one who a loved one who "comes out" to you How our culture of relativism makes it doubly hard to have a conversation about objective morality, especially when it comes to something this emotion-charged The way in which Father Mike's relationship with his same-sex attracted brother provides a model for imitation Why identifying as "gay" represents a terrible reduction of the dignity of the human person Why the legal reality of "gay marriage" is best understood as a matter of redefinition and has nothing to do with sexual behavior, per se. Resources mentioned in this episode: Made For Love: Same-Sex Attractions and the Catholic Church by Father Mike Schmitz Catechism of the Catholic Church Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality: A New Clinical Approach by Dr. Joseph Nicolosi Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything by Robert Reilly Tweet to Patrick HERE Follow Patrick on Facebook HERE Check out the store HERE Sign up for our Inside Scoop newsletter with the best of The Patrick Coffin Show each week.

Are atheists uniformly dedicated to truth and evidence, to rational thought and logic? Might there be a hidden causal factor at play in more cases than one would imagine? Psychologist and researcher Dr. Paul Vitz thinks so. It's fatherlessness. His latest book, Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism, sets forth the case that abusive, absent, or weak fathers very often provide the psychological soil from which atheist weeds are more likely to fester. Using example after example of leading atheists (start the list with Nietzsche, Hume, Sartre, Russell, Camus, Freud, and the so-called New Atheists Dennett, Dawkins, and Hitchens), Vitz reviews the basic life biography and finds a "father wound" in one degree or another. The Patrick Coffin Show is 100% listener supported. Help us keep our show independent and unfiltered. Consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation HERE. Are atheists uniformly dedicated to truth and evidence, to rational thought and logic? Might there be a hidden causal factor at play in more cases than one would imagine? Psychologist and researcher Dr. Paul Vitz thinks so. It's fatherlessness. His latest book, Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism, sets forth the case that abusive, absent, or weak fathers very often provide the psychological soil from which atheist weeds are more likely to fester. Using example after example of leading atheists (start the list with Nietzsche, Hume, Sartre, Russell, Camus, Freud, and the so-called New Atheists Dennett, Dawkins, and Hitchens), Vitz reviews the basic life biography and finds a "father wound" in one degree or another. He doesn't reduce atheism to a pop psych theory (not all atheists share the same experience of an abusive father, and, besides, human beings are complex) but he carefully traces the atheists own words and the ways in which their respective intellectual journies led them to reject God—the Father. It's a fascinating read. And, as you'll soon find out, Dr. Vitz is a fascinating guest. In this interview, you will learn: Why Sigmund Freud was right in asserting that God is "an exalted father," but not in the way Freud believed How the memories of even a long deceased father can influence your faith perspective Why Jesus called God Father and not Mother The reasons why Vitz did a control group comparison of philosophers and other writers of the same era and social backgrounds who had warm, close relationships with their father—and how their spiritual outlook differed from the atheist group Why "public atheists" (those devoted to writing and debating their atheism) is overwhelmingly a male phenomenon Why, when women leave a relationship with God they usually don't become atheists, but they form a new relationship: yogi, guru, New Age community, goddess worship, etc. Resources mentioned in this episode: Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism, by Paul C. Vitz Surprised By Joy: The Shape Of My Early Life, by C.S. Lewis The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism by Edward Feser My Father, Bertrand Russell by Katherine Tait Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton Tweet to Patrick HERE Follow Patrick on Facebook HERE Check out the store HERE Sign up for our Inside Scoop newsletter with the best of The Patrick Coffin Show each week.

The Patrick Coffin Show is 100% listener supported. Help us keep our show independent and unfiltered. Consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation HERE. I have been reading Rev. Dalbey's books with great profit since the mid-90s. One of the first Christian leaders to address the crisis of masculinity, Dalbey has laid his hand on an urgent and increasingly obvious problem: men don't know how to be men. The source of the problem is multiform: the throwaway divorce culture, the failed Sexual Revolution, the epidemic of pornography, bad or non-existent modeling from one's own father, and a sense of shame that gets covered over by excessive pride. What is your relationship like with your father? How has it contributed to the man you are, for better or worse? Did your dad teach you how to pray? Talk to you about sex in a healthy way? Do you struggle to be real—in all that that implies? How has a rules-based approach to religion insinuated itself into your relationship with Christ our Savior? Gordon Dalbey has your back, and most probably understands your heart. In this interview, you will learn: How the enemy likes to foment confusion about manhood and masculine identity. Why so many men fall for the false substitutes of portfolio size, power, and pornography, and how to find a way out What the Bible says about the meaning of "male and female He made them" (Gen 5:2) The ways in which the father, not the mother, instills and imparts male identity in young boys The source of the war over "gender" and how to recognize the error at the heart of it A way of renewing your faith in God as Father and Christ as divine Brother Resources mentioned in this episode: Healing the Masculine Soul: God's Restoration of Men to Real Manhood by Gordon Dalbey Sons of the Father: Healing the Father-Wound in Men Today by Gordon Dalbey Fight Like a Man: A New Manhood For a New Warfare by Gordon Dalbey Rev. Dalbey's website Tweet to Patrick HERE Follow Patrick on Facebook HERE Check out the store HERE Sign up for our Inside Scoop newsletter with the best of The Patrick Coffin Show each week.

The emotional, some say spiritual, effect music has on us is notoriously difficult to put into words. It's sort of like analyzing why something is funny. The reality ever exceeds our verbal grasp. Why are minor chords sad and majors happy? Why, when you hear a song from your childhood is there a superglue of emotion attached, bringing you instantly to those moments long ago? This week's guest is one of the greats in the choral music world. If you enjoy music with a lush, cinematic sound created for multiple voices on the exquisite side, Morten Lauridsen is your man. The most frequently performed American composer of choral music, Lauridsen is a National Medal of Arts recipient (2007), he was composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale (1994–2001), and has been a professor of composition at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music for more than 50 years. His work has been recorded on over 200 CDs including five with Grammy nominations. We're talking serious musical gravitas here. On November 11, 2018, a massive concert for international television is being held at the Brandenburg Gate in Germany to mark the centenary of the end of World War One. In addition to Welsh composer Karl Jenkins' Mass for Peace, the other piece selected is Lauridsen's beautiful Lux Aeterna. I predict not a dry eye on that night. You can imagine my surprise when, during the interview, the great man spontaneously began playing a portion of his classic O Magnum Mysterium to explain why the notes for the word "Virgo" ground the piece in a special way! In this interview, you will learn: Why every artist has to risk failure; as not trying guarantees failure How Lauridsen became a late bloomer as a composer, at age 50, and maybe how you can, too Why poetry deserves a massive revival The importance of stillness and quiet for human serenity and creativity The mysterious way in which music connects us to the divine Resources mentioned in this episode: O Magnum Mysterium performance Lux Aeterna performance Profound talk by director Karl Paulnack to music freshmen at Boston College Conservatory CD album, Morten Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna; Madrigali; Ave Maria; Ubi Caritas CD album streaming, Lauridsen: Mid-Winter Songs Connect with Morten: www.mortenlauridsen.net The Patrick Coffin Show is 100% listener supported. Help us keep our show independent and unfiltered. Consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation HERE. Tweet to Patrick HERE Follow Patrick on Facebook HERE Check out the store HERE Sign up for our Inside Scoop newsletter with the best of The Patrick Coffin Show each week. Join the Conversation Question of the week: With only one life to live, if you feel like you have something to create, musically or otherwise, what is stopping you?

Christopher West has devoted his adult life to communicating the beauty of the Catholic Faith, particularly through the insights of what's known everywhere as the Theology of the Body. First in archdiocesan religious education, then with the Theology of the Body Institute, and now with The Cor Project, West has been out in front, pointing out the Source of Beauty, making connections between superficially disperate dots, and, of course, being the world's most famous expositor of the thought of St. John Paul the Great's Theology of the Body. His life work of explaining and interpreting the five years' worth of the great Pope's General Audiences (1979-1984) has launched a whole cottage industry of books, DVDs, and seminars. I have interviewed Christopher West more than once, but this conversation with him is my favorite. We talked films that fairly vibrate with low-density gospel ideas, pop music lyrics that point Upward, the sad misalignment that leads to giving into the siren song of porn (he calls it "aiming too low"), and why he thinks the Sexual Revolution is on its last lap. You'll find this conversation bracing, and maybe challenging, if I had to guess. West pulls insights whole cloth from unexpected places. I'm grateful for his endorsement of the upcoming revised and expanded edition of my first book, Sex Au Naturel. (More about that exciting development down the road.) In this interview, you will learn: The factors that led to the Sexual Revolution and why it is collapsing under its own weight Examples of pop music, from Bono to Bruce Springsteen, that reflect a deep yearning for the mystery, ultimately, of the divine How the insights of the Theology of the Body are not merely abstract ideas but concrete ways of personal transformation The hidden providential timing of the founding of Playboy magazine by Hugh Hefner, and the radical approach to sex promulgated by a young Polish priest around the same time named Father Karol Wojtyla (later John Paul II). The phenomenon of what West calls "twisted mystics," otherwise secular artists who tap into universal longings and point in some dim but real way to the reality of the incarnation. Resources mentioned in this episode: Theology of the Body For Beginners: Rediscovering the Meaning of Life, Love, Sex, and Gender by Christopher West Love Is Patient But I Am Not: Confessions of a Recovering Perfectionist by Christopher West Fill These Hearts: God, Sex, and the Universal Longing by Christopher West The Cor Project website The Patrick Coffin Show is 100% listener supported. Help us keep our show independent and unfiltered. Consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation HERE. Tweet to Patrick HERE Follow Patrick on Facebook HERE Check out the store HERE Sign up for our Inside Scoop newsletter with the best of The Patrick Coffin Show each week. Join the Conversation Question of the week: Do I believe I have a human (body and soul) and not just a spiritual, nature?

She didn't want to do it. No way, no how. Not becoming Catholic. Lizzie was an established and very popular presence in the "young Protestant dispenses advice to the like-minded" space on YouTube; she grew up in the Church of Christ and imbibed the standard myths about Catholicism. She might pray for Catholics, but become one? Riiiiiight. Attending Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA, Lizzie began to run into fellow Protestants who were either intensely interested in the Faith or had converted to full membership. Meanwhile, her YouTube channel began to really grow wings. (As of this writing, she has 34,808,077 total views.) Perhaps wanting to be kind and informative, Lizzie ended up shooting some video commentaries with titles like "Seven Lies Protestants Believe About Catholicism," and "Questions Protestants Have For Catholics." Then she discovered the Church fathers, and, in her revelatory video called (wait for it) "Why I Am Becoming Catholic," she goes one to explain how the book Upon This Rock by Steve Ray was instrumental in her decision. I grinned audibly. My buddy Steve! My interview with her, as you'll see, was a delight. She is direct, candid, and very open about her diagnosis with bipolar disorder. Her journey is about to take a profound leap forward when she enters full communion with the Catholic Church at Easter, 2018. Pray for this young leader. As an evangelist and content creator for Christ, Lizzie Estella Reezay is going places. In this interview, you will learn: How her experience of being immersed in misconceptions of Catholicism led to acceptance of countless errors of fact Why you can't be too careful which authors you read… The one book that supercharged Lizzie's desire to get to the bottom of The Catholic Thing How her friends and family reacted to the news of her conversion Tools in how to, and how not to, reach out to our separated brethren Resources mentioned in this episode: Upon This Rock: St. Peter and the Primacy of Rome in Scripture and the Early Church by Steve Ray An Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis De Sales Fundamentals of the Faith: Essays in Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft The Patrick Coffin Show is 100% listener supported. Help us keep our show independent and unfiltered. Consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation HERE. Tweet to Patrick HERE Follow Patrick on Facebook HERE Check out the store HERE Sign up for our Inside Scoop newsletter with the best of The Patrick Coffin Show each week.

Is art just a luxury for the wealthy? Can there even be a definition for it? How did the Incarnation of the Logos change the world? What did Dostoyevsky mean by having one of his characters in The Idiot say, "in the future, man will be saved by beauty?" Jonathan Pageau possesses a unique combination of gifts. He is an extraordinary artist, chiefly in the area of carving and iconography (feast your eyes and soul on his stunning work at www.pageaucarvings.com), and he is an articulate social critic, making important connections between the zeitgeist and trends in the world of art and public images. He is also a convert to Orthodoxy from a Protestant background, and serves as the editor of the Orthodox Arts Journal (www.orthodoxartsjournal.org). Hire this man to speak at your next conference. You're welcome. Don't forget to subscribe to the show. Ratings and reviews really help!

I keep having the same exchange with my seriously Catholic friends whenever Pope Francis comes up in conversation. It goes something like this: we were enthused about the initial days of the election (he was saying things about evangelization that needed saying, he encouraged us to get out of "mindset ruts" and bring the gospel to the peripheries since the periphery dwellers aren't knocking on the church door) and then….something happened to the enthusiasm. Troubling things were said during airplane interviews (which have become more frequent), homilies began to sound more and more political, then official documents began to contain ambiguities and it became increasingly hard to domesticate the problem by blaming "the media" for "misquoting the Pope again." Enter Philip Lawler. Lawler is known for his incisive, non-nonsense journalism. But Lawler is no muck-raking, axe-grinding ideologue. His work epitomizes the term, "seasoned veteran." He was the first layman to edit The Pilot, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston; he's a Harvard alumnus, and has covered Catholic affairs for 30 years. The year Pope Francis was elected, Lawler co-wrote a warm tribute book to the new Pontiff, A Call to Serve: Pope Francis and the Catholic Future http://amzn.to/2HhAroh That was five years back. A number of years ago, he wrote a book about a difficult topic—what happened to the Catholic Church in Boston before and after the 2002 scandals exploded—titled The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston's Catholic Culture http://amzn.to/2FpXuwm He has a new book on an even more difficult topic: an extended attempt at contextualizing and understanding the doctrinal confusions have seeped into the way in which the Holy Father leads, teaches, promotes, and demotes. How to discuss them without disrespecting the person and the office of the Sovereign Pontiff? Of course, there are plenty of "rad Trads" who despise Pope Francis and have devoted themselves to attacking him since his election on March 13, 2013. That's both unfortunate and predictable, since Pope Francis's three predecessors didn't pass muster with the (mercifully small) clique of anti-Vatican II activists, either. Lost Shepherd: How Pope Francis Is Misleading His Flock http://amzn.to/2tpGS6D, despite its provocative title, is a well-researched account of a papacy that, five years after it began, has untold numbers of orthodox Catholics scratching their heads. In case you're wondering, no, Lawler is not accusing the Pope of heresy nor does he think the Holy Father is an anti-pope. Like all serious Catholics, he prays daily for the pope and earnestly wants him to succeed as a teacher and spiritual leader. It's not a book Lawler even wanted to write. A recent Pew Center poll http://www.pewforum.org/2018/03/06/pope-francis-still-highly-regarded-in-u-s-but-signs-of-disenchantment-emerge/ reflect a troubling drop in favorability among Catholics polled since he was first elected. Not that the barque of Peter is sinking, at least not yet, but the winds have gotten stiffer and the waves bigger. Seems to be more like rudder damage. In the past few months, there has been a sea change in Catholic media regarding coverage of the Pope's personnel decisions and the ambiguities within certain documents such as, perhaps the highest-profile example, the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, ("The Joy of Love") the fruit of a seemingly rigged Synod. The sense of unease is growing, and despite the lingering fear to even bring it up, mainstream outlets in the Catholic media world, from EWTN to the UK's Catholic Herald, Catholic World Report, The Catholic Thing, and others have begun to speak up about this with greater boldness. As long as the tone and content is respectful, Catholics have the right and duty under Canon 212.3 to speak honestly about matters of leadership involving the good of the Church. Interestingly, Catholics almost relish castigating popes of the past (start the list with the Borgia and Medici Popes) as "scoundrels" or worse. This is done to emphasize that the Holy Spirit protects the universal Church in a particular way through the office of the Successor of Peter, who is protected against teaching something contrary to faith and morals. Today, there is an unhealthy papalolatry in the air that takes the form of taboo against saying even mildly critical things about what a modern pope has said or done, things, of course, that don't rise to the level of infallibility. A kind of ultramontane loyalty is attached to everything a pope does no matter how troublesome or controversial. It's not helpful. Neither is staying silent. You don't have to agree with all of Lawler's interpretations or conclusions to see that there is a massive amount of discord in the Church today and that her visible head on earth is not doing much to "confirm the faith of the brethren" as the invisible Head said to His first Vicar in Luke 22:32. In this week's interview—in a spirit of genuine concern for clarity and filial respect for the person and the office of the Pontiff, who is ever in our prayers—we "go there." In this episode, you will learn: How to understand that the human side of the papacy does not invalidate it A sense of balance and historical proportion when assessing Pope Francis' leadership style Why comparing one pope with another is not a helpful exercise The major "upside" to the current papacy—and the opportunity it provides Catholics How Jesus is still faithful to His bride, the Church in the midst of every crisis Many examples of documented statements, pastoral priorities, and political biases that have characterized the management of the Holy See since 2013 Resources mentioned in this episode: Lost Shepherd: How Pope Francis Is Misleading His Flock by Philip Lawler A Call to Serve: Pope Francis and the Catholic Future by Philip Lawler and Stefan von Kempis The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston's Catholic Culture by Philip Lawler The Patrick Coffin Show is 100% listener supported. Help us keep our show independent and unfiltered. Consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation HERE. Tweet to Patrick HERE Follow Patrick on Facebook HERE Check out the store HERE Sign up for our Inside Scoop newsletter with the best of The Patrick Coffin Show each week.