Pints With Aquinas - Lent: Do or do not, there is no try!

Episode Date: February 17, 2021

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Hello, hello, and welcome to Pints with Aquinas. Hope you're doing well on this Saturday. Hey, check this out. We have dual camera angles. What is happening? It's only getting better and better. I thought I'd jump on today to do a live stream about Lent. What I want to do is talk about, you know, just what we've given up, and talk about three bad ideas when preparing for Lent that I'm seeing among even good Catholics. Like Catholic friends of mine who are way better than me in every respect are saying these things. I'm like, I just don't think that's terribly creative or clever. You'll see what I mean later. Then I want to share with you three

benefits of fasting that Thomas Aquinas shares with us. And then if you're in the live stream, it's great to have you here. I'll be taking some of your questions later on. I also will be asking you what you're giving up for Lent. All right, so first of all, let's just do this. Chick boom. Man, that's nice, huh? That's nice.

That's nice. I like it. Now, listen, I, so much to say, so much to say. Why don't we begin with, I think, three bad ideas for Lent? You know, or at least if you want to have a good Lent, what should you do? All right, so here are three things I just came up with off the top of my head. First, don't be vague. Don't be vague with whatever it is you're going to give up.

You know, I think it's one of these things that we can just sort of jump into Lent and not really think it through. Or we're vague and we say something like, I'll probably just, you know, whenever you say probably, that's not good enough. I'll probably just give, yeah, no. What are you doing? And don't say something like, I'm going to try to, no. No, there is no try, young Padawan. There is only doing. What are you going to do?

So don't be vague about it. Don't be half, I won't say that, half cocked that a word I was gonna say half-assed but I thought that would be inappropriate then I said anyway so what are you gonna do just come up with something I think another thing is and this is along the lines of don't be vague I think don't come up with multiple things and I mean look you do what you want this is is just my suggestion, right? And these are things that I've figured out from doing this for a while. Like I used to kind of go into Lent and I'm like, I think I'm going to see that thing. No, what are you going to do? I think I'm

going to like maybe give up chocolate and just sort of like maybe also I'm going to pray a rosary every day or three times a day. And you know what you do? You come up with all these things. And then as Lent progresses, you start giving up on the harder ones and then you're left with that one remaining. That's what I do. So I would say, I don't want to do that. So don't be vague. That would be the first piece of advice I would have for you. You should have an answer when I ask you in a minute here in the live stream, what do you give it up? Second thing I would say is keep it simple. Keep it simple. Don't underestimate how pathetic you are. You know, though, seriously. Don't choose something that Padre Pio would have given up for Lent because he's way cooler than you

are. Give up something that's hard, but is something that you're quite convinced that you will be able to do. So if you're like, you know what? I'm going to give up everything but water. My daughter said this today, actually. I'm going to give up everything but water. Okay. Or I said to her,

you could give up everything but water and milk. Make it somewhat easier, right? So keep it simple. And this leads me to the third one. And that is don't be terribly clever. I think whenever we start getting terribly clever about Lent, then I think that's a sign that we're not going to have a good Lent. So here's what I mean when i say don't be clever i heard someone say recently this is a friend of mine good guy and he said you know like i just don't think that god cares about whether we give up chocolate or alcohol i think he just wants our heart oh my gosh i love you but please don't say things like that obviously that, that sounds, of course, that's true. But the reason you need to give up chocolate or alcohol is because that has taken the place of you turning to Christ.

And therefore, that's why he doesn't have your heart. So just give something up. Don't try and be clever. And see, I'm getting old and bitter. So there's a lot of things that upset me these days. The older I get, you know, like double masking. Maybe you saw me post about that. Anyway, I digress. Like another thing is like, you know, like when you say things like, yeah, like I'm going to try to just enjoy my meals and not just scoff them down. It's like, okay, just fine.

Like do what you want, right? Like, by the way, it's not obligatory that you take on anything in addition to what the church already asks us to do for Lent. But if you're going to do it, like be a man about it. Like don't, don't be saying, don't be saying things like, I'm going to just enjoy my rest. Just shut up, just rest and then take something on that's difficult. All right. So what I'm going to do, but yeah, this, this idea that God doesn't care about this, he just, shut up. Like, you've got to stop saying that. This sounds like when people say things like, I think that God doesn't need me to go to

church. He doesn't care about like an hour on Sunday. Yeah, he does actually. He absolutely does. And it's a matter of justice that you do it. You know, or when people say things like, I don't think marriage is about a piece of paper. Shit, stop it.

Stop it. It's not clever. And you're not Socrates. What you're saying is not as I don't think marriage is about a piece of paper. Shit, stop it. Stop it. It's not clever. And you're not Socrates. What you're saying is not as wise as you think it is. I think keeping it simple and not being vague is a really good thing. So I want to tell you what I'm giving up for Lent. Now, you might think, well, isn't that rather virtue signaling?

Well, it might be. I am also pathetic, right? But the reason I'm going to say when I'm giving up for Lent is because I think I'll be better. I'll be more likely to stick to it. All right. I was sitting here in the studio the other day with Cameron Bertuzzi, and we were talking about what I'm going to give up. And I'm like, I don't know. I'll probably give up like technology, something like that, you know.

And he said to me, and you watch this, you saw it. He said, why would you go to technology? You hate technology, which is true. I hate technology. And he said, what do you like doing? I'm like, I like alcohol, I like smoking. He's like, all right, give up that. And I looked at him, and everything inside went, shut up, Cameron, you stupid Protestant.

What do you know? But I decided I'm going to give up alcohol. And I'll be honest with you guys. It'm going to give up alcohol. Um, and, and I'll be honest with you guys. Like it scares me to give up alcohol. And, uh, that's, you know, I'm sure there's going to be people who mock me in the comment section for that. Uh, but I don't care. I actually, I'm, I'm a nervous, I'm nervous about giving up alcohol. Now I don't drink to excess. I mean, I do sometimes very infrequently and then I repent of it. I never intend to, right. But like, I'll just have a drink every night. That's just sort of what I do, man. I, you know, come home and open up a bottle of bourbon. Just, I'll just have a glass. Like, you know, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not getting drunk. I'm not even getting tipsy. I'm just like having a glass to kind of

take the edge off of him. So when Cameron said that, I was like, man, I think he's right. You know? So, so that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give up alcohol for Lent and that includes Sundays. You, again, when you take upon yourself a do. I'm going to give up alcohol for Lent, and that includes Sundays. Again, when you take upon yourself a particular penance, you can give up that penance. You can remit what you yourself impose. So you're not sinning, right? If you say, okay, on Sundays I'm going to whatever. But I've just decided I think it's actually going to be easier for me if I give up alcohol for the entire, what is it, six weeks or something.

So that's what I'm going to be doing. And I've got a few friends I think who are going to do something similar, and we're going to kind of hold each other accountable. So that's what I'm going to be doing. And I've got a few friends, I think, who are going to do something similar. We're going to kind of hold each other accountable. So that's what I'm going to do, man. That's what I'm going to do. So in a minute, I'm going to ask you what you'll be doing. But before we get to that, I want to look at three things that Thomas Aquinas has to say about fasting. This comes from the Secunda Secundae, question 147.1.

By the way, if you didn't see yesterday's episode, go check it out. I give seven reasons you should love Thomas Aquinas. And it's like an introduction to Thomas. So if you're not really sure who Thomas Aquinas is, well, you should subscribe to this channel. And you should also go check that out because I think it was a good episode. People seem to get a lot out of it. So all right, here's what Aquinas says for the three reasons we fast. He says, an act is virtuous through being directed by reason to some virtuous good. There you go. How's that?

That's what a virtuous thing is. If you want to know what a virtuous act is, Aquinas just told you. An act which is directed by reason to something good. Fair enough. Now, it is consistent with fasting because fasting is practiced for a threefold purpose. First, in order to bridle the lusts of the flesh. And this is why St. Paul says, in 2 Corinthians 6, verses 5 through 6,

in fasting, in chastity, since fasting is the guardian of chastity. Lust is called by abstinence in meat and drink. Here's a way I've heard Christopher West put it. He said, if you can't say no to that next slice of pizza, that next cup of coffee, that cigar, that whiskey, how will you ever say no to the temptation to look at pornography, or to masturbate, or to fornicateate or to act out sexually in some way? Because sexual pleasure, I mean,

generally speaking, is way more enticing than food and drink and sleep and things like this. I mean, unless you haven't eaten in a week, in which case I'm pretty sure the food would seem way more interesting than the sex, but it's an interesting point, and I think it's a good one. So, you know, if you are struggling in this area of chastity and other things, by disciplining yourself in certain areas, you can become stronger to discipline yourself against temptations to lust. Now, here I will say this. I think there is a lot of merit in giving up technology because I just feel like we live in a different day and age to Thomas. Like I don't think, okay, I haven't thought this through, right? But you know, you give up

alcohol, you get coffee or you give up something, right? You, some of us, maybe we do have too much alcohol and then we look at porn, right? And so, yeah, it's a good reason you should stop drinking alcohol. But, you know, like giving up chocolate, I don't think you've eaten chocolate and then went right to porn. But there are things that we engage in

that do lead us to pornography, like social media cruising. You know what I mean by that? When you shut your brain off and you're just sort of scrolling mindlessly through YouTube or Twitter or something like that, that does, you kind of start to dissociate and you start to engage in behaviors to sort of soothe. And I do think that giving up technology will be a huge thing. But again,

don't be vague about it. Don't say I'm going to limit my use to social media. Give up Twitter and Facebook. Give up Instagram. Say it. Say it. Say it. Make it simple. Don't be vague. All right. Here's the second reason that fasting is virtuous. We have recourse to fasting in order that the mind may arise more freely to the contemplation of heavenly things. Hence, it's related of Daniel that he received a revelation from God after fasting for three weeks. You've heard me say this before. We were not made for chocolate or sex or black Russian tea, which is fantastic. Thank you for asking. We were made for God.

And sometimes we take that ache that we feel, that agitation that we feel, not to the one who fulfills our desires and soothes our heart and comforts us in our anxieties. You know, we take it to other things, and those things gradually take dominion of our heart, you know. And so that's another reason we should fast, is because we turn away from those things that we have sought refuge in, in order to now seek refuge in God. Here's the third reason. In order to satisfy for sins, wherefore it is written, Be converted to me with all your heart in fasting and in weeping and in mourning. The same is declared by Augustine.

And this, honestly, this sums it up. I love what Aquinas... Let's see if I can get the cigar going. No, it's out. It's out. This is why I should only smoke if somebody else is in the room. Or never, according to most of you. Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble,

scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, kindles the true light of chastity. How fantastic is that quote from St. Augustine? Let's read that again, because he's, man, that was absolutely beautiful. Not just true, but beautiful. Excuse me. Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fires of lust, kindles the true light of chastity. That's beautiful. So look, I don't know about you guys, but I mean, going into Lent, first of all, my last Lent was a shipwreck. I went into Lent with a grand desire to use the internet one day a week,

and COVID hit, and I just was like, yeah, no, just everything's falling apart, and I give up on everything. So that was last Lent. I'm hoping that this Lent will be better. So that's why we fast, says Aquinas. Now, I think you should be specific about what you're fasting from. Don't be vague, keep it simple, and try not to be overly clever. All right, so that's what I would say. All right, so now I would love to take your thoughts in the live stream there. Let us know what it is that you will be giving up, if you don't mind. I mean, I understand that this is a personal thing, and so if you don't want to tell me, don't tell me. But I honestly, because I'm so weak, telling other people about what I'm giving up is actually helpful. So let's have a look here. Emily Harrison, thanks for being here, Emily. She says, I'm giving up complaining and gossip.

Okay, so that's awesome. How will you be specific about that? And how will you know when you're complaining? And what will you do when you do it? Because complaining is a very difficult thing to give up, especially if you're in the habit of it. You know, like giving up alcohol is somewhat easy. It's not like I'm accidentally drinking alcohol, right? I hope not. But it can be easy to accidentally complain

and to accidentally gossip. So my advice to you, Emily, which you have not asked for, but which I'm giving you anyway, is that you should be a little bit more specific and concrete about that resolution. Like maybe wear a thick rubber band around your arm, around your wrist and slap yourself, smack yourself every time you gossip or complain. That's one example example or just get down wherever you are and do 10 push-ups wearing your mask wherever you are just do it it's an idea what do you think what do you think all right litz krieg says i'm giving up alcohol because my brother a veteran

with ptsd struggles with alcohol and i'm gonna fast fast in solidarity with him. God bless you. That is a beautiful thing to do, man. I'm also working through conversation with God for Lent. Good for you. That's wonderful. So here we have Veronica. I'm giving up complaining and don't get me wrong. I should give up complaining. There's nothing so boring as listening to people complain. And this is like a grade A complainer here, right? I get it. Like I'm bad at it, but I would, I would, yeah, I would try to be a little bit more specific or to have a game plan for what you're going to do when you find yourself doing it. Given this, Daniel, thanks, Daniel says, giving up alcohol gives my liver a break too.

God bless you. God bless you. I'm going to light my cigar. I'm sorry. It's right before Lent. Okay. So I promise I won't be doing this during Lent. But, okay.

That's awesome. The other thing I think we shouldn't do is complain when people give up something that we find whatever. And I know that I've done that this entire time. Speaking of giving up complaining. But, like, you know, some people were like, don't give up chocolate. Do something that we find whatever. And I know that I've done that this entire time. Speaking of giving up complaining. But like, you know, some people were like, don't give up chocolate. Do something serious this Lent. And I just want to say, how about shut up?

Because giving up chocolate can be really difficult for some people, like my wife. So just let people do what they want to do. All right. Just give me a second here. I know that this is not exactly what you came for. All right. YouTube. Good for you, dude.

That's an idea. You could give up YouTube. Now, I have covenant eyes on all of my devices, including my phone. My phone doesn't even have the internet on it. That actually makes it really awkward when people text me a link because I can't view it. But I would say if you're going to give up YouTube, be really, set up some boundaries so

you don't accidentally fall into it. Like getting covenantized and blocking it, you know, or something like that. Laurie is going to do a two-week cleanse. Good for you, Laurie. Again, I think this is awesome. I don't know what a cleanse means. I don't know if that means you're just doing a juice cleanse or something, but good for you. I would also say, too, like whenever we give up things that are beneficial to our body like this, like, you know, like we have dual reasons for doing most things. So we have multiple reasons for doing many things. But, you know, if someone's out there being like, okay, I'm going to just eat paleo this Lent or something, I think that's awesome. But I would just like incorporate prayer into it. Um, so it doesn't just become dieting because fasting

without prayer is often dieting. Um, what? Virgin Taylor Marshall. What does that mean? Artificially lowers his voice online, sells Catholic books, mainly complaining about Pope doesn't even know why he's all right. That, that feels a bit. Yeah. Hmm. Well, uh, shame on you for publicly shaming somebody on the internet. How about that? Boom. Uh, Brendan is giving up the internet. That's awesome. I don't know. How will you do that? I mean, I gave up the internet in August and that was very, very, very difficult. Um, in the sense that I have a job that depends upon the internet, but I would say after the first week or two, it got, it got super easy. I enjoyed it. Um, just having the headspace man to read books. This guy says video. Oh my goodness gracious video games, alcohol and junk food. Congratulations,

you are a better man than me. I think that's amazing. And I love that what you're doing is simple. Here's what I would encourage you to do. Again, no one's asking for my advice. Nobody. You probably don't even want me, I'm going to give it to you because it's my channel. I think you should be specific about what you mean by junk food. I'm going to give it to you because it's my channel. I think you should be specific about what you mean by junk food. Is chocolate junk food? Is Chick-fil-A junk food?

Sugar and social media. God bless you. I think giving up social media is a great way to live a more beautiful life. I would say too, though, what do you mean by sugar? I mean, I understand what sugar means. I'm not saying I don't understand what sugar is. But I do think, you know, like, do you mean sugar in everything? Or do you mean candy? You know, because giving up sugar in everything can be really difficult.

Like, even in things like almond milk or something, you find sugar, you know. This guy's giving up anime. Good for you. Meat on weekdays. God bless you, man. That is, that's amazing. And again, I love how specific it is. That's awesome. Johnny Pop-Tart, fantastic last name, by the way, best last name I've read today.

I think I'm going with my phone and I think I'm going, wow, giving up your phone and computer. Good for you. I'm not smoking for Lent. God bless you, man. That's awesome. And I just love, again, how specific it is. I'm leading Exodus 91, Lenten exercises and doing intermittent fasting. Cool. You know, with intermittent fasting, I've tried doing that before. I actually find it difficult. Most people fast like in the morning, you know, so they won't eat until lunch or something. I find that difficult because I love having a big breakfast, but then my wife wants me to sit down for dinner at night, which is understandable. So I'd love to know how you're doing that. What, what side of the day you're kind of giving up stuff on.

Connor Kurtz says TV specifically keeping it on in the background all day. Yeah, good for you. Wow, God bless you, man. Guys, you should be really proud of yourself here, right? Like, I know it's tempting to sort of like underestimate, or not underestimate, but to kind of belittle what we're giving up. You know, you're like, man, there's people, there's some people, like I knew a priest once, he gave up all food. All solid, all solid food.

He would actually just drink juice for the entire day. So he would get his vegetables because he was an old guy. He was like, I think 60s or 70s. He was a priest with the Companions of the Cross. I forget his name. That's incredible. But like, I think for most of us, giving up what you guys are saying, giving up like you should be, you should be, this is awesome. This is really, really great.

I'm giving up chocolate, says Jacob, and sleeping in, I'll be redoing consecration to St. Joseph and reading the interior castle. That's awesome. When are you going to sleep into? What's your alarm going to be every single morning? Ricardo says, well, I'm giving up social media. I have given up Parler a bit ago. Well, I mean, it doesn't exist. So that helped. I uninstalled Instagram about three weeks ago. And now I'm just going to log off Twitter. God bless you. You have no idea how much better your life is going to be without that stuff. I'm giving up watching Pints with. God bless you. You have no idea how much better your life is going to be without that stuff. I'm giving up watching Pints with Aquinas.

It consumes my entire existence. It's got to go. Honestly, God bless you. Give up Pints with Aquinas. Read sacred scripture. I'm pretty sure your life would be much better. Honestly, man, honestly. I'm giving up YouTube, replacing it with prayer, reading.

See, this is good. I like this a lot. I love this a lot. So what you're doing is you're not just... remember how I said earlier, there's this kind of clever idea that people come up with. Like, I'm not going to give up something. I'm going to take something on. It's like, okay, just fine. That's great. But I like this. You're taking something on, but you're also giving something up. In other words, like, I mean, a part of going into Lent, we call it the great fast in the East. It's like like we're going into the desert. We're going to be less distracted. So merely taking on another spiritual activity might seem

holy, but it might just make you more frantic. So I like what this guy's doing. He's giving up something and then in its place, what's he going to do? That's really cool. Oh my goodness. Look Look at this guy. Complete abstinence from meat and its byproducts. Butter, eggs, milk, etc. As well as social media. In my case, it would be Facebook since that's the platform I use. That's amazing. You guys are really showing me up here. This person is going to pray the divine office daily. That's awesome. You didn't ask for my advice, but I would say give up something as well.

Because obviously praying the divine office is going to entail more time. So what are you going to take it from? Unless you're sitting around with a ton of time on your hands. Maybe it's like giving up an extra hour of sleep. Maybe it's giving up social media. And then that's cool. This guy says, I'm giving up secular music. I'm especially tired of music that uses the Lord's given up social media. And then that's cool. This guy says,

I'm giving up secular music. I'm especially tired of music that uses the Lord's name as a curse. Yeah, I think that's a great idea. As a brother in Christ, I would say you should give up media that blasphemes entirely after Lent as well. So good for you for taking a step though. entirely after Lent as well. So good for you for taking a step though. Brett says, dumb question. I'm sure it's not. Actually, I'm not sure, but here we go. Can you give up something arguably sinful for Lent? Marijuana, for example. Okay. So like maybe leaving to one side, the whole debate about marijuana in moderation, just taking that question, can you give up something sinful for Lent? mean um you should give up you should give up sin anyway um i'm of the opinion here we go we're getting into it i'm of the opinion that if you live in a state that has legalized marijuana and you smoke marijuana without getting high, I don't think, I've yet to hear an argument

that would make me conclude that it's sinful. Ooh, ooh, baby. I'm open to being convinced, but I have to be honest. I don't have to be, but I am honest. I want to be honest. That said, like, okay, let's just take for the sake of argument that you can smoke marijuana in moderation, I know, and it's in a state where it's legal perhaps. Yeah, I think that would be giving something up that you turn to to satisfy yourself like that and instead going to the Lord I think is a beautiful thing.

I think it depends where we are spiritually. Um, so I mean, I think it depends where we are spiritually. Like, I guess if, if, if someone's been walking with the Lord for a while, I would say you should give up sin anyway. And in addition, give up something that's not sinful. That's what I would say. Look at this guy. Walking around aimlessly with headphones, listening to music, stupid habit leads to an inerrant imagination. All right. So what I would say to you, Reggie, is what are you going to do to make this concrete? Because this is vague, right? Walking around aimlessly, like what does that mean? I need to know what that means in order, if you want to meet the fad criteria for the upcoming Lenten season. Yeah, like what's it going to be? You know, like, you know, what does aimlessly mean? Does that mean going to work in

the car? Does that mean going to work in the car? Does that mean going to work in the bus? Does that mean going for a run? I'd be more specific about that. And it actually might be helpful if you just gave up listening to music on your headphones, except for maybe one or two or three situations, you know? Just a suggestion.

Arkangelos says, I'm doing the tradition fasting and abstinence during the week and giving up non-creative or work-related computer use. The exceptions are podcasts because most of them are religious. That's cool. Again, I love how specific you're being. You know, you're not just saying giving up podcasts. Okay, except for this. I love it.

You guys are great, man. You guys are great. I don't care what you say. This guy's giving up sugar and coffee. It's going to be rough. Ooh, baby. Okay, so here's what I would suggest, right? Because I don't know you.

But if my wife said she was going to give up coffee, like I'd be nervous, you know? Because I could live with her wife said she was going to give up coffee, like I'd be nervous, you know, cause I got to live with her and she's beautiful, but she likes her coffee. So you might say, okay, well, like you can drink tea, maybe drink black tea to get your caffeine fix. That is a sacrifice, man. Like giving up coffee and just drinking tea, you know, I mean, there'll be some kind of a detox period. So if you just want to give up coffee and all caffeinated beverages, that's massive. But if not, I think be specific about that now. Either way is fine, but being specific will help. Because I think otherwise, if you don't be specific right now, you're saying I'm going to give up coffee.

And maybe in your head, you're thinking and also black tea and things like that. And a week will go by, like, I have a bit of black tea. That's fine. That's fine. And then because you weren't specific about it, you might be like, well, I've had black tea. I might as well have coffee. Whereas if at the beginning, you're like, I'm just going to drink black tea, but not black coffee. I have a bit of black tea. That's fine. That's fine. And then because you weren't specific about it, you might be like, well, I've had black tea. I might as well have coffee. Whereas if at the beginning you're like, I'm just going to drink black tea, but not black coffee. I think that that could be cool. Uh, reamless is giving up fiction. All right. Fair enough, man. Good for you.

Frank Carr says I'm a former Catholic, now a conservative Presbyterian. now Lenten sacrifice is not an issue since Jesus takes that role. Oh my gosh, shame. Okay, Catholics do not give up things for Lent because they think the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is insufficient in atoning for our sin and winning our salvation. Catholics fast because fasting is like specifically recommended by Jesus Christ himself for a start, right? When he says, well, they have the bridegroom with them, so they're not going to fast, you know, but they will fast when the bridegroom leaves, when the groom leaves, you know. He also says things like these spirits can only be cast out with prayer and fasting. We could multiply examples, Frank. So this is a straw man, the idea that Catholics and Protestants, by the way, give up things for Lent because they think

that Jesus Christ's death is somehow insufficient. I love this Laurie this is awesome what you just said because I would have forgotten about it because I'm a gigantic sinner doing all three giving alms increasing my devotion daily through prayer and going to confession adoration we often leave that aside don't we as conservative

Catholics I'll be honest I really think that conservative Catholics have a problem with downplaying social justice and reaching out to the marginalized. And I think that, I don't know, what do you think? I do think that's true. So I love that. What about if every time you encountered a homeless person or a person who is homeless, you gave them something or you invited them to coffee with you. Maybe not if you're a woman, like I would never want my wife to invite a homeless guy to coffee,

but maybe she could give him a gift card or something like that. Cause I want her to be safe. You know, I don't want her inviting random strangers for coffee. Um, but you know, something, something like specific like that, I think is really cool. So God bless you for saying that. I think that's beautiful. Okay. Emily says, I'm giving up an hour a day to learn guitar. God bless you. With the intention of learning songs to lead worship. I'm also giving up the perfectionism that keeps me from everything, even trying to learn it. You are fabulous. I think you're wonderful. Yes. Good for you. Learn the guitar and have the freedom to suck at it, right? Like give yourself the freedom to not be great at it, but man, make a joyful noise to the Lord, whether you're terribly talented or

you're not. I think that's, that's lovely. Um, let's see what else we got. I think that's lovely. Let's see, what else have we got? I'm trying to find, man, there's so many of you. I'm trying to find some. Okay, so this guy, okay, so this is a good question, right? Like Johnny Pop-Tart, again, great name, says, but how do we deal with the fake homeless, real issues where I am?

Here's the thing, though, like this is what I struggle with. Like our blessed Lord, right, says that like we will be judged by how we treat the least of these, you know? And he says, you know, like somebody asks you, you got to give it to them, you know? And I know like we have like soup kitchens and things like that. I just don't think that was ever meant to take the responsibility from us to love the poor and to welcome the outcast, you know? So, so I think what you could do is whether they're real homeless or to, you know, to quote you, they're fake homeless, do it anyway. I mean, if somebody is like not homeless and not desperate for money, honestly, I don't know why they'd be on the street asking for money anyway. I think if anybody's on the street, like asking for money, they're not in a great situation. Like I would never go on the street and look for change. You know what I mean? Cause I'd be kind of ashamed to do that, honestly, partly because I don't need it. That's mainly because I mainly,

mainly why. So I would say, uh, you could make the decision to give to anybody who begs of you. And if you're taken advantage of give glory to to Jesus Christ. We take advantage of him all the time, you know. Forever Young, great name. Yes, Matt, all conservatives have this outreach to the poor problem. Yeah, like I don't want to, I think it's, I don't know, man. I wouldn't say all, but I do think like it's something we need to look at. It's true, don't you think? Like if you're a liberal, quote-unquote, liberal Catholic, right?

And, like, the conservatives, like, why aren't you teaching church teaching? And they're like, why aren't you feeding the homeless and welcoming in, like, the outcast? And it's like, we need to be better at doing both of these things. Being orthodox and loving the poor. That's what I think, man. Melanie F... It's a dangerous last name. Fark, Falk. Melanie Falk says, lovely to have you here, Melanie. My last name's Frad. I promise I

wasn't trying to bash on your last name. I am a lapsed Catholic, but I'm trying to get my spirituality back on track for Lent. God bless you. You're beautiful, Melanie. I want to go to Mass every single Sunday, go to confession at least once, and pray daily. Melanie, you are lovely, and our blessed Lord rejoices over you. He loves you dearly. He wants you back in the fullness of His church, and He just thinks you're fantastic. Like if I read your comment and thought you were fantastic, our blessed Lord loves your socks off. He thinks you're lovely. Good for you. I'm so glad you're here. It's so wonderful to have you here. What a beautiful thing to try to get your spirituality back on track. So I would say

that's beautiful. Don't just want to go to mass every single Sunday. Go to mass every single Sunday. Can I challenge you like that? Just gently. And you want to go to confession at least once? Good. Do that at least once. Again, I love how specific that is. And you want to pray daily? I think that's beautiful. So what I would say about like praying daily, especially if you're a lapsed Catholic and you're trying to get back into it, is be specific about what it is you want to pray daily. Oh, I forgot. Here's the other thing I'm going to do. I'm going to pray the prayer of St. Ephraim. I think that's sometimes referred to as that. When I wake up in the morning, O Lord and master of my life,

grant that I may not be afflicted with the spirit of sloth, inquisitiveness, ambition, and vain talking. And then you do a bunch of prostrations. I should teach you guys that because you'd love it. That's what I'm going to do. First thing in the morning, I'm going to do that prayer. Second thing is the alcohol. You're lovely, Melanie.

I'm so glad you're here. Let's see. Forever Young says, I don't know what to specifically do yet. Coffee, meat, fasting, YouTube. Okay. So here's the thing. You've got three freaking days. Make a decision. That's partly why I just spat everywhere. Did you see that? That was beautiful. Maybe. Yeah. Okay. So I think being really specific, what are you going to give up? And that's why I wanted to do this podcast today. Cause we've got like three weeks. No, we don't. We've got three days. I was, I was distracted. We had about three days. That's why I want to do this. I don't

want us to get caught flat footed. So make a decision, you know, and, and don't necessarily choose the hardest one. Choose the one that you know you... Can I just give a bit of Jordan Peterson advice here? I think it's brilliant. What can I do that I would do that would make my life better? I think that is just a great piece of advice. Not what can I do to make my life better? Because there's all sorts of things you can do, but don't forget, you're more pathetic than you think you are.

Or is it just me? So, no, it's you as well. So don't just say, well, what can I do that would be the hardest? I mean, maybe that's what the Lord's calling you to. I mean, our blessed Lord might be calling you to give up coffee, meat, and YouTube. But if you realistically, if you think, man, if I give up coffee, it's going to be brutal, then give up something else. Guys guys i want to apologize that i keep lighting this cigar because you know but okay here by the way i am fully aware that cigars are bad for me because i think that some people don't know that I'm convinced of that.

I am convinced of it. But I just really enjoy it. It tastes great. So, what do you know? All right. You are not judged if a fake homeless deceives you, says Duong. Duong. That's a great name.

People mostly use this excuse so they don't feel guilty. Well, that's why I do it. That's totally why I do it. I feel unsafe. I don't want to be put out. It makes me feel awkward. That's why I don't do it. But I should do it.

You know, shame on me for not doing it. Paul is, I'm going to stop too much drinking tea. It's turning me into a Hebrew. All right, man. This is, this is, oh, Google accounts. Probably not your real name. Google account says, I recently bought a prayer rope from Father Sefram at Mull Monastery. So I'll be sticking to Jesus prayer.

You are just fantastic. That's lovely. Good for you. This person says, I've never had fear of homeless folks. Cool. Good for you. I have. La Luz says, the first commandment, love God with all your heart, was Jesus talking about himself or the Father who sent him? That's a good question um i would say that might let's see maybe a false dilemma i mean he's obviously talking about loving god with our whole heart soul and strength and um jesus christ is god ergo as is the Father, right? One God, three persons. Oh, can I suggest something else you should try? Here you go. Okay. So, I have to say, like, I am really proud of this and want you to check it out.

Let me, oh, wow, that's weird. Look at that. Sorry, guys. I'm going to figure this out. Let me, oh wow, that's weird. Look at that. Sorry guys, I'm going to figure this out. Isn't that funny? That is what my real camera looks like. How bad is that camera? Oh my goodness. Anyway, the reason I'm doing this is I want you to check out Strive, which is my course for overcoming pornography. Strive21.comcom, strive21.com. This is something you might be able to do. If you're a man who struggles with porn or lust in any way, go to strive21.com and then for 21 days, you'll get emails from me helping you break free of porn. There's over, look at that, right now, this isn't how many men have completed the course. This is how many are going through the course right now, 24,800 men. So check it out, strive21.com. Maybe that's something else you could do.

This bloke says, I'm coming into the church at Easter. Lots of roadblocks, especially in sexual sin that began long ago before my conversion, giving it up entirely for Lent and talking to my girlfriend more about it. You're a lovely person, and I just wish you all the best. And I'm so glad that you're coming into the church. Welcome, brother. Let's see. Victor says, in Belgium, churches are still closed due to COVID. Oh man, I'm sorry. Please pray for Christians in Belgium so we can go back to Holy Mass.

It's now been more than three months. Victor, if I were you, I would find a priest to celebrate Holy Mass in secret. Reach out to every good priest you know, and then I'd do that. That's me, though, you know. Man. Oh, this is good. Listen to this from Jason Jones. He says, pro tip, your iPhone has a downtime setting

that will limit access to all or certain apps between certain hours. Basically all my apps turn off at 8 p.m. and it's great, game changing. God bless you, Jason. Thank you for sharing that. The only problem with that is you have to set up a code, right?

And like, if you don't have self-control, it'll shut off your app unless you change the code. So what I did on my phone is I had my wife. You can do this in the back end of the iPhone. You can block the App Store. So that's what I did. I blocked the App Store and then I basically deleted all apps that access the internet. Well, that's not true. I have email.

I have Marco Polo. I've got a few things like that. So there you go. Cameron Batuzzi, who is responsible for the setting up of this studio and who has a wonderful YouTube channel, which you should go and subscribe to right now. And yes, he is paying me to say that. No, he's not. He said the wide shot's pretty cool. Thanks, man. I appreciate it, Cameron. Yeah, I just kind of finangled a camera around and I used the wide shot camera. We've got three cameras in here. By the way, two awesome things are happening next week.

I have Scott Hahn coming on the show. Cameron loves Scott Hahn because Scott Hahn's the one who's gonna help make him Catholic. And also we have a debate next week, an Orthodox versus Catholic debate, which is gonna be really fantastic. So if you haven't subscribed to this channel yet,

would you please do that? Because that would really support me until YouTube kicks me off. And I would love your support until that happens. You know, just... Can I tell you something that happened to me the other day? It was beautiful. I was given a talk at this big Legatus meeting in Austin.

And after the talk, this woman comes up to me and she says, love the talk on pornography. Thank you so much. What do we do about the music industry and things like this? And I just said to her, listen, I don't know. I said, I think America is totally coming undone and the whole thing's falling apart. So I would just try to get as many people aboard the bark of Peter as possible and focus on your own sanctity and your children's sanctity. I just think we have no hope. Like America's dying. Like to live in a country

where like we think men can like cut off their genitalia and call themselves women and where, correct me if I'm wrong, but we like kill more people in the womb per year than auschwitz did while it was well ever how can you and then how can you have an administration that backs that up and think we're good we're good this is normal i think the whole thing's coming apart and uh that's what i think anyway um anyway anyway what was cool though is this woman like she was listening to me and then at the end she was about to leave she said to me I just want you to know and she didn't say this in a mean way in a mean spirited way or in a sarcastic way she said I just want you know I'm going to pray for

your hope and I went thank you like I I do appreciate that. I appreciate that, man. And by man, I mean woman. Aw, thanks, Laurie, for loving my channel. Let's see. Hey, Matt, are you going to quit smoking for Lent? No, I'm not going to. I'm just going to give up alcohol. Sorry, it's what I'm going to do, man.

Matt, when do you think you're going to do an episode on Eastern churches as a Maronite? I'd love to see more exposure to our churches. That's cool. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to teach you that prayer of St. Ephraim before we go. All right. I'm going to do that. That's what we're going to do. I'm not going to go soon. We're going to chat for a while. I got some time here, but let's see. Prayer of Saint Ephraim the Syrian. It's so beautiful, man. Now, I use a different translation to this one, but here's what I'll do, all right. So I'm going to show you this. There's different versions of it, as I say. But here's what I'll do every morning. And you guys might want to do this. I don't know. Maybe it would be cool for you all to do. Basically, I would wake up and I would say,

oh, God, be merciful to me, a sinner, three times while bowing to the floor. So I bend at the hips. I touch the ground with my fingertips. Oh, God, be merciful for me to sinner three times while bowing to the floor so i bend at the hips i touch the ground with my fingertips oh god be merciful for me to see i do that three times and i say oh lord and master of my life grant that i may not be afflicted with the spirit of sloth inquisitiveness ambition and vain talking and then i don't just bow to the ground i actually push my head on the floor so not push it but like i bow and then I get on my knees and I bow my head to the floor and I get up. And then, okay, I'm forgetting it because it's so rote in my mind. So then it says, I'm reading it here. It's a different translation, but give to me your servant, a spirit of purity, humility, patience, and love. I make the sign of the cross. I go to my knees. I push my,

don't push my head to the floor. I touch my head to the floor. I get up. Yes, O Lord and King, grant me the grace to see my own sin and not to judge my brethren. Make the sign of the cross, go to my knees, bow my head to the floor. For you are, I forget. For you are blessed forever and ever. Amen. And then what I do is I say, O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I do that 12 times. And I do something else. That wasn't very helpful, was it?

But the point is, and I think this is good. You guys may have fallen into this trap as well, like me. I tend to look at my phone. One of the first things I do in the morning. It's a habit I try to get out of, but I've kind of gotten back into. So I would say y'all should try that. You know, do what you want. I mean, maybe you want to pray the Holy Rosary every day.

And so in the morning, you could just pray that opening prayer for the Rosary. You could pray the Creed, Our Father, Three Hail Marys, and a Glory Be. That could be what you do the very first thing you wake up. You know, I think that would be a beautiful way to kind of give the Lord your day. you know that i think that would be a beautiful way to kind of give the lord your day now another thing you could do is you could um you could have a crucifix by your bed and kiss it and let that be the first action of your day oh here we go this is lovely oh i mean i say it's lovely all i read from this person's first couple of lines is i'm pregnant and breastfeeding you're beautiful just the fact that you're pregnant and breastfeeding, you're lovely. So I know we are not bound to fast, but I've heard some say it's actually imprudent to give up meat or something. Surely that's not

the case. Imprudent to give up meat. I don't understand the question. Yeah, I would say you are. I mean, if you're growing a child with your body and feeding a child with your body, like, that's like, I almost want to genuflect to you. That's the most beautiful thing in the world, isn't it? Women are incredible. But I would say you could give up something other than food, you know. You could give up technology or something, maybe. But, hey, it's lovely to have you here. Xavier wants to know if that's a Doctor Who mug.

Yeah. My daughter and I are watching Doctor Who together. My daughter's one of the coolest people I've ever met. And she's super into that. Hi, Matt. I like your channel, but watching you smoking today in a live stream is a great shock to me. I'm so sorry. I hope it wasn't too negative of a shock. I don't mean to scandalize you or make you feel bad.

Oh, how nice is this? You should make an app of that. Your singing voice is very meditative. That's very lovely of you. Thank you. This person is going to pray the entire rosary. God, wow. God bless you. Giving up meat and fasting until 12. Feeding two children at once.

That's what she's doing, that beautiful woman. God love you. That's lovely. Oh, here we go. What system do I use for my live stream? My software is Ecamm. What kind of cigar is that? Well, it's about bloody time, somebody asked. The Tabernacle. This is my favorite cigar, the Tabernacle. It has what looks like an Eastern King on it, although it may be be something else i'm not sure but um that's what i'm smoking matt i love seeing a gentleman enjoying his life with a cigar oh that's nice of you i think you're in the minority but thank you for not cigar shaming me man Man. There's no way I could read this, guys.

Z-Man from the Coast 2. There you go. I just read it. What's the moral difference between cigars and weed and hard drugs? Well, you know, I mean, the reason alcohol can be sinful is because we lose our rationality and become like the beasts. So if you have a glass of wine, I mean, our Lord, I mean, he turned water into wine, so he was okay with people drinking wine, as is the church. But if you drink wine and begin to lose your rationality, you know, that's not good. And that's a great sin. That's a serious sin. And you should go to confession if you've done that.

I think we live in a society that kind of glamorizes or makes light of certain sins. But look, here's the fact, man. I mean, if you do something that you consider serious, like adultery, which is bloody serious and awful, and you die unrepentant, you can go to hell for all eternity. Same thing is true with drunkenness. So we shouldn't make light of these things, you know? So cigars, I would say if you abuse tobacco, if you smoke too much and it has a detrimental effect on your health, I don't know. I would say that it can begin to be sinful. But here's the thing. We eat things that are bad for us and drink things that are bad for us. And there are many things we do that are bad for us. So I don't think you would want to say, well, a cigar is as sinful as

it is unhealthy. Because then you would have to make the claim that whenever you have a can of Coke or a Big Mac, you've just committed a sin to some degree. And I don't know if we would say that. I don't know if we would want to say that. But I think if I have a, not that I would ever eat a Big Mac, it's disgusting. I don't know how people can do it. But then you're probably thinking the same thing with me here. You know, if I have a Big Mac like once a day, it's like, man, that's not, you're deteriorating your health. If I have a cigar every day, probably the same thing, I guess. I don't know. I think it's a, I don't think it's as cut and dry, but I think with weed, the reason weed would, could be sinful is that it, uh, it has this, can have the same effect as alcohol and maybe other things. I mean, you know, what do I know? I don't consider myself an expert. I'm sure you guys are maybe no more than me. Rachel Morlock

says, love the new setup. Now I want a bookshelf with dark walls man you're beautiful thank you so much I appreciate it yeah I love it I'm really happy with this setup hopefully it's just going to get better and better Niermal says Matt are you a traditional Roman Catholic? which congregation do you follow? I don't know what that means I am a Roman Catholic is that what you mean?

I'm not a Byzantine Catholic for the last six years I've attended a Byzantine Catholic church, but I've always been Roman. This person says, I've asked twice. I don't know what you've asked, so I'm sorry. There's so many things coming in. It's hard to... It's hard to keep up. Matt, don't worry about people complaining about cigar smoking. You're doing great, brother. God bless.

Thank you. It's also okay if you hate it, you know. It's like we can't, we can't. I just, I just, I just want to do what I do on my show. I want to be myself on my show. And if you don't like that, you don't have to, you don't have to watch it. I mean, I'd like you to watch it, but it's okay if you don't like the smoking or whatever else. Matt, have you smoked a tobacco pipe?

Yeah. You see that tobacco pipe? That's, but I prefer cigars too. Oh, like one similar to Gandalf's. Yeah, I used to live in Ireland and I went down to this cigar store, Peterson's and bought a cigar thing. Not a cigar thing, a pipe cigar thing a pipe thing see i

cannot do two things at once i read your comments and weird words come out of my brain that don't mean anything so i'd like to apologize for that uh don't drink from the goblet of abomination cool i think that's probably good advice oh i, I asked what the cigar was. Oh, okay. Yeah. So I already told you it was the tabernacle. Luke, thank you for your super chat. It's very kind of you. What's a good alternative to fasting if you're skinny and really shouldn't lose any more weight? I'm planning on doing short, intense workouts every day. I mean, why don't you just eat bread for the land? That'll help. Just eat donuts. That's, you know, you can fast from all meat and vegetables. I don't know.

Yeah, no, I mean, you don't have to fast from food. You could fast from alcohol. You could, you could fast from sugary foods and just eat more fatty foods. I mean, if you're, if you're eating like avocado and meat and things, you know, healthy fats like that, I mean, I think that's all right. Michelangelo says, I always find my cigar smoking times being prayerful and meditative. Shows just how evil cigars are.

Well, I mean, you know, I think we shouldn't underestimate the fact that tobacco and nicotine is a drug and can be bad for us. But yeah, I tend to agree, man. I love sitting down with a friend and having a cigar. I mean, look, I've been here for an hour and I've still got about half hour, 40 minutes to go left on this bad boy. So, you know, it's, it's really conducive, I think, to a good conversation with people, you know? Okay. Do you want to see the pipe i'll show you the pipe that's what my pipe looks like it's got a flat bottom so you can put it down uh what else we got here

uh matt what do you think of thomas merton i like him a lot yeah his book said is what's it called the seven story man uh mountain is that what's it called? The Seven Story Mountain? Is that what it's called? He is an excellent writer. And I found that book really fantastic. People who know more than me say that he began to maybe fall into a certain religious indifferentism towards the end of his life, where it would seem that he religious indifferentism towards the end of his life, where it would seem that he lost some of that orthodoxy that, of course, Christ demands of us. Now, I don't know a great deal about him, so I don't want to say anything bad about him, because what do I know? So I would just say be careful, though. I've heard that towards the end of his life, you know, he may have began to religious indifferentism is the

idea that all religions are kind of equal and that there's so much merit to be found that a Buddhist not need, need not convert or a Jew need not convert and these sorts of things. And obviously that, that wouldn't be good. So maybe just read with some caution. Matt, do you ever fear being canceled? I don't fear it, but I do expect it. I expect that I'll be canceled, but I don't fear it. Does that make sense? If you have a follow-up, let me know. Nicholas says, Matt, greetings from Columbia. I became Catholic some years ago.

I will fast from sweets and read a good book a week. Wow, a book a week. God bless you. That's fantastic. Man alive. Kateri says, I think a lot of people treat Lent and fasting like New Year's resolutions. Do you have an explanation for how it is deeper than that? Yeah.

So I do think it's true, right? Like if you're like, man, I've got a belly. I need need to get rid of it or i'm kind of fat and i need to work out more and you just and that's and you're just like i'm just gonna so i'm gonna work out every day that's a good thing but it might not be a good enough thing i said it earlier fasting without prayer is dieting you know so i think it's important that we incorporate prayerfulness into whatever it is we're giving up. I tend to be much better at the sprints than the long hauls. So I think many people are like that as well. It's easy to give up something for six weeks and it is an entire year.

Daniel Rocha. Oh, hey, it's great to see you. He says, who is that nun framed on your bookshelf? Well, I'm glad that you asked, Daniel. That is St. Mary MacKillop. She is the first and only canonized saint of Australia. She was actually excommunicated by a bishop, the Bishop of Adelaide, close to where I'm from. And, um, she, uh, he was a, he was an alcoholic and, and excommunicated her, um, unjustly. And she just, she just shut up. And when I say she shut up, I mean, she, she suffered in silence until she was vindicated, which I think is honestly like

a really good witness to people like us in this day and age where there's so much scandal in the church that we feel like we've got to comment on all of it. And hey, look, I know, like exhibit A, I know I've probably fallen into things where I've been unduly critical of people and it's a hard balance, but I do think we can learn a lot from these saints who are just, you know, when it's a hard balance, but I do think we can learn a lot from these saints who are just, you know, when it's a personal attack, at least I think that, I mean, it's probably different. Like if somebody else is suffering and you don't speak up, that's not a good thing. You know what I mean? Like if you know somebody who's hurting children in the church and you don't speak up because you want to be like Mary McKillop, that's not what I'm talking about. But like, I think that there is something to learn there, of that patience and that submission to Holy Mother Church,

even in light of prelates that are abusing their power, perhaps. What is that icon on the shelf below? Oh, that's Ephraim the Syrian. Is it? Yeah. So that's the guy who wrote that prayer I was reading. Who is the best Christian author of all time? Thomas Aquinas.

Now, I guess it depends on where you are and what you're after. It's a difficult question to answer. It's like saying, like, what's the best movie that's ever been made? Well, it depends on what kind of movie you want to see and what you're talking about. But, you know, Augustine is a beautiful author. You could read, yeah, you could read The Confessions. That's absolutely lovely. Oh, we got a super chat.

Thank you so much. Let's see here. Lovely to hear from you, Alexandra. Thanks for your super chat. Hi, Matt. Could you keep my grandmother in your prayers? I found out she's, oh, a witch and despises Catholics. She's trying to cast spells on my sister. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. Lord Jesus Christ, oh, you're good. You're good and you're powerful. And I pray for Alexandra's grandmother. And I ask that you would free her from this slavery and that you would reveal yourself to her so that like St. Paul, defend Alexandra. Rescue her grandmother from evil and protect Alexandra's sister.

Amen. Oh, golly. Yeah. Alphonse de Saligori is amazing. You know, who's really, I love reading is Francis de Sales. I forget who, who, who, who did this, but someone did like a, a, a, basically looked at his work and found out how many times he used analogies these beautiful analogies you know like from nature and and it's it's it's it's crazy like he's always using analogies which is the sign of a good teacher when you can use an analogy well to help teach a spiritual truth he's a fan i mean i know you're talking about saying alfonso stegori who's amazing but but Francis de Sales' Introductions to Devout Life is absolutely incredible. I would highly recommend that you read it. Man. What is the explanation that in the Eastern tradition,

they make the sign of the cross the other way? All right. So my understanding, and I should do a whole show on this in case I'm butchering this, is that this was the traditional way to make the sign of the cross the other way all right so my understanding i should do a whole show on this in case i'm butchering this is that this was the traditional way to make the sign of the cross right from from the right side to the left side and so the understanding is that christ comes from heaven to earth that's one of the understandings of it but either way is legitimate of course james says do you have any advice about idolizing fasting and penance during Lent? It can be so easily turned into a competition, check boxes versus an act of love. Yeah, it's true. I mean, but I would say don't let that prevent you from making a concrete resolution.

Because I think like most of us are like we always have mixed motives whenever we do anything, don't you think? like we always have mixed motives whenever we do anything don't you think and so if the only time you were going to attempt a virtuous act is when you were certain that you had no mixed motivation you may never do a virtuous act so i would say don't allow the recognition that you are doing things with a dual purpose one of them being tainted prevent you from doing that good thing. If you recognize that, hey, this is becoming a competition or whatever, or I want people to know these good things about me,

I'm noticing, then you can repent of them, but don't quit doing the virtuous thing. I mean, don't quit the thing you're giving up. I think that's what I would say. Matt says, Mark, Matt says, Matt, in reading Intro to the Devout Life, do you recommend reading it in its entirety at one time or reading it and go practice what's being laid out? Yeah, so like Introduction to the Devout Life has a series of meditations in the beginning, which are probably meant to be read differently to the rest of the book.

But yeah, I think you could read the whole thing. And maybe you just do one of those meditations per day and then read the rest of the book. That's an idea. I like the Carmelite saint writing, says Samuel. Teresa of Avila. Drez of Ligure, Journal of the Cross. 100%. 100%. Yeah, I would say, I did an eight-day fast last year, and I read The Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila in like four days, because I had nothing else to do, you know, I was just sitting around praying

and stuff. And it was absolutely incredible. And the one thing she emphasizes over and over and over and over is humility. Humility, humility, humility. We've got to be humble. And it's so hard to be humble because you can't sort of set yourself a list of humble actions to perform because then if you do them successfully and aren't humble, you'll take pride in those things. So I think like a great sign of humility is when we can recognize that we have failed and not let it crush us and not become despondent and not become discouraged. You know, like sometimes like I'll shout at one of my kids because I'm cranky. And I think it's a great sign of pride if I end up like hating myself for that or beating myself up for that. I think it's a great sign of pride if I end up like hating myself for that or beating myself up for that. I think it's a sign that the Lord is working in me when I can recognize what

I've done is wrong and apologize to that child, say. I'm just using one example. And not let it steal my peace. I think that's a sign of humility, not beating yourself up, you know. Luke says, what is the theme song for pints with aquinas whoops i always love the intro but never get to hear the whole thing what intro are you talking about my sister wrote a song you should check out her her name's emma frad and that was a song i used to play for a while um her the band she was in back in the day that wrote that song was called Interior Castle, speaking of Teresa of Avila. So you might want to go check that out.

Let's see. We have more here. I am a cradle Roman Catholic. My wife is a convert to the Ukrainian church. I've never done the Great Fast before, and I'm terrified. You should be. It's absolutely awful. It's terrifying. I mean, fast and like the East does, God bless you. Man, that's tough. But you could speak to your priest about certain dispensations. Again, I think I've said it in the beginning of the show and I don't say it to try and offend anybody. I just think

it's true. Like you and I are more pathetic than we think we are. We're also more amazing than we think we are. It's like both of those things are true at once somehow. But I would say like to give up what you think you can actually give up. Let it be hard, but you don't want to try and give up too much and then fail and then give up. I think it's better to be consistent

than to do something, you know, that seems super cool, but then you give up a few days in, you know. Mouthwash Typhoon, just the best name. How can we balance wanting to publicly be Catholic with wanting to be humble and not have people think we're holier than we are? Yeah, gosh. I'm constantly dealing with that. Yeah, here's a good example.

Like if I'm walking down the street praying the rosary am I praying the rosary so other people can see me or is it good that other people see me because they might be inspired to pray that's a difficult thing because our Lord does say pray in your room

but then he also says elsewhere that he wants people to see our good works and give thanks to our Father in heaven how do you do that there's been times I've been walking down the road, praying the rosary or praying the chotki, and I'll just put my hand in my pocket because I'm like, I'll realize sometimes like, wow, maybe, maybe I've mixed motivations. And again, I wouldn't be afraid of mixed motivations, but I would just sort of acknowledge your lack of humility and just trust in the Lord, give it over to him, that kind of thing, you know?

It wouldn't be, I don't know. Does that help? I would say if you feel this, if you catch yourself realizing you're praying so that other people recognize what you're doing, then put the rosary back in your pocket. But if you're in a place where you're like, oh, people are going to think I'm weird, maybe pray the rosary out in the public, you know? I don't know if that helps or not. Daniel says, hello, Matt. I asked this question at the beginning of the podcast. I wanted to clarify, what are your thoughts about the congregation's gestures during the mass? I'm so sorry. I don't know what that means. The

congregation's gestures. I don't know if you're referring to kneeling and standing and making the sign of the cross or what. Please forgive me if I'm just a bit thick here. Matt says, Nicholas, do you have any knowledge on Saint Jose Maria Escriva? If you do, what do you think about his work and writings? I think he's absolutely amazing, and all of us would benefit greatly from reading his works. That's what I think. Matt and Cameron sing some songs together. You can find them here on YouTube. It's beautiful. Matt singing. That's, that's nice. That's not Cameron though. That's my, that's my sister, Emma and I singing. My wife is not a good singer at all. So, and she'd be the

first to tell you that. So, but yeah, it's my sister and I. You can find us on YouTube. Don't Matt and Emma frat in. You can find us singing a song somewhere. Man, this is good. Glory to Jesus Christ. Well, here's what I'm going to do, my friends. I'm going to light this cigar one more time. If you want to stick around, we can share a bit longer. If you want you can take off i'm really enjoying this oh yeah lawrence says sorry for the mix-up no don't be sorry, man. That's my sister. Yeah. Like the new studio? Thank you very much. The best Matt Fradd book to read during lent i don't know i mean i i don't i haven't written a

lot i've written several books um father gregory pine and myself wrote a book called um consecration with aquinas you could check that out uh if you struggle with pornography you could get my book the porn myth it's um on audible it's on Audible. It's on Amazon. It's a non-religious response to pro-porn arguments. You might find that good. Chaser, 22222, says, Do you have any ideas on how to keep a routine during lockdown? I'm in the UK.

First of all, I don't know what lockdown's like over there, but I'm really sorry if it's difficult. You know, I think a few obvious things would be to get up at the same time, go to bed at the same time, you know, doing something, you know, like working out every day or working out every other day, having a routine of prayer, things like this, I think would be really good. You might even write that down and put it on your fridge so that it can be a reminder to you when you're not actually going through with things. Madsen Tobson says, did you get that Pines with Aquinas flag behind you

made locally or from a service? Okay, so I did get it from a service, but it's made here in the United States and it's hand-stitched, not hand-stitched, but it's not a print. It is actually stitched on. It's really cool. Guys, this is funny.

Listen to this person here. They say masturbation equals self-pleasure equals sin. Smoking equals self-pleasure equals sin. This is a really bad argument. This is a really bad argument. Because masturbation is not a sin because it's pleasurable. Masturbation is a sin because it's a perversion of the sexual act. So the argument doesn't have any legs there.

It's like you're saying if masturbation is a sin because it's pleasurable, then it would follow that anything that's pleasurable is a sin. And you can see why that's not a good argument. I mean, if that would follow that if you're enjoying this broadcast right now, that you're sinning. And maybe you hate this broadcast. And maybe that's why you're watching it because you think it's not sinful if you hate it. I don't know, man. But yeah. Emily says, Matt, how do we deal with any disappointment in church leadership? For example, I'm upset that the church was so quick to be lenient for the vaccine with aborted fetus tissue. They should have fought.

So I did a whole episode on this with Jimmy Akin. I agree with the Catholic Church that you can take this vaccine and not be formally cooperating with evil. That is not me making a statement about whether it's a good thing to take the vaccine in the sense that it's healthy. I have no idea. But, you know, the congregation for the doctrine of the faith has made it clear that have no idea. But, you know, the congregation for the doctrine of the faith has made it clear that you are not culpable, you know, in taking a vaccine like this. And if you think, oh, that's just the bloody liberal Catholic Church. Yeah, but so did the, so did SSPX. SSPX came out with a statement confirming, you know, what Jimmy Akin and I talked about on our show and what the Catholic Church has said.

What are your thoughts on the use of the Orans posture in the congregation during the Our Father? I think if somebody wants to stand with their hands open like that, they can do it. I don't do it. I don't think it's in the rubrics. So encouraging people to do it, I think would probably be inappropriate. I hate when people try and touch my hand though. Is that okay if I hate that?

Intro, new intro, slow mo of Matt lighting his cigar with Gregorian chant. Yeah, that's one thing. with Gregorian chant. Yeah. That's one thing. Thanks for your super chat, Chaser. He says, yeah, I'll make a list. Good for you, man. That's awesome.

Favorite Protestant writers besides Lewis? I imagine you're referring to sort of philosophical writings. I mean, I love William Lane Craig. I really like him and I enjoy his writings. There's one. Man. Yeah, Matt. Laurie says you put the hypocrite in his place.

I don't know what you're referring to. I hope I didn't do it without charity. I'm also a hypocrite who needs to be. Well, I hope I'm not a hypocrite, actually. A hypocrite isn't somebody who fails to live up to what he ought to live up to and what he knows he ought to live up to. A hypocrite is somebody who expects others to live up to a certain standard that he refuses to submit himself to. And I hope that's not me.

But, okay. Ty, thanks for your super chat. Do you have any thoughts on Alistair,cindyre and herbert mccabe i know a little bit about alistair mcintyre he's incredible i'd love to have him on the show one day i don't know herbert mccabe unfortunately daniel says matt are there any other saints of the Dominican order that you have admiration for? Oh, sure. What's that lady's name? Oh, Catherine of Siena was a third order Dominican. So she was not actually a sister, but she did take a personal vow of chastity and her writings are absolutely beautiful and scary actually she was such a amazing woman so i would say there's one

uh justin says matt i would love to get involved with my local church but all the people there are just cringe. All right. I also, I am also antisocial and have high functioning autism. What do I do? I mean, it might be your fault. That's possible, right? Like you might find them cringe because you're so antisocial.

So maybe you need to love these people regardless of how cringe that you think they are. Maybe that's what the Lord's calling you to do. What are your thoughts on the Catholic Church in Africa? Hey, it's so lovely to hear from you, Beverly. Well, I mean, you may be aware of this. Two years ago, I went to Uganda and taught apologetics to Catholic leaders. Gosh, it was fantastic.

The most beautiful people in the world I've ever met, I would say. My plan this August is to go to Nigeria, Uganda. I was supposed to go to Zimbabwe, but I don't think they want me anymore. I go for free, by the way. I pay my air ticket. I don't ask them to pay me anything. I bring a bunch of books and things down, rosaries and stuff like that. So I was just so impressed. I think though there is, in certain countries in Africa, they're more sort of economically depressed than others. And because of that, some Catholics are falling prey to the health and wealth gospel that's being trotted out by certain Protestants.

And so that's why I thought it was really necessary to help my brothers there and sisters understand and defend the Catholic church, you know, and the Catholic faith. So I'm really hoping to go there this August, but who knows what's going to happen because of, uh, because of COVID. Samuel says, Lord of the Rings is great. Oh man. Yeah. All right. Sweet man. Good. Yeah. I agree. Uh, Henrique, Henrique says, Oh, who is that? Someone's calling me. What kind of food-related modifications you'd suggest for Lent? Whatever scares you the most.

My friends, I will take a couple more super chats because I see that they're here, and then I've got to get going because that was my wife calling me. Matt, thank you for helping me grow in my faith. We went to AZ2016. I know what that is. I'm so sorry. Do you have any suggestions for people who have a hard time understanding St. Augustine? So, yeah, Peter Kreeft wrote a commentary on Augustine's Confessions,

and it's published by Ignatius Press. You should get that. wrote a commentary on Augustine's Confessions. And it's published by Ignatius Press. You should get that. Lawrence says, Matt, who would you really want to chat with on Pints this year? Also, would you narrate your own audio books?

Two questions and I'll end with this. So I just want to thank you everybody for being here in the live chat. It is such a joy. And I love you all. And it's been cool. So I would say, who would I love to chat with this year? I want to chat with Peter Kreeft again.

If Peter is open to coming due to COVID, I mean, he's an older guy, so I fully respect the fact that he may not be, then I would love to sit down with Dr. Peter Kreeft and chat with him for like three hours. I'm going to try and make that happen. Also, would you narrate your own audio books? It's funny that you should ask that because I tried to narrate my book, The Porn Myth.

There was a publisher that reached out to me, a publisher of audio books, and they said we want to make it an audio book. And I said, well, I should read it perhaps because I think people enjoy, you know, when the author reads his own audio books. And they said, okay, well, send us a sample. And I did, and they went, no. Yeah, it hurt a bit, you know. So I don't know. They got some English bloke to read it instead. By the way, my book, The Porn Myth,

is one I would really encourage people to check out. 100% of the royalties go to help sexually traffic victims in San Diego. There's a group there called Children of the Immaculate Heart. So I'm not just pushing my book, The Porn Myth, because I make money from it, because I literally make no money from it. As I say, 100% of my royalties go to help this group. But the book is really good. I've got endorsements from neuroscientists and former porn performers and things like this. And I think it's a good book. I really do. And you can listen to it on Audible,

but there is a ton of resources. Like I got about 30 pages worth of footnotes. It's very well documented. So anyway, there's my bad camera shot. And, but that's, that's my wife again. I really got to go now. I really got to go. Hey, I love y'all.

God bless you. Have a beautiful Lent. And remember, next week, we're having a debate on this channel. We're also going to have, I think, Dr. Scott Hahn next week. So you need to subscribe to this channel if you haven't. And that way, you won't miss out on another show. God bless y'all. Thanks.