Fr. Josh answers questions on Derek Chauvin, why there are so few men in the Catholic Church, and how tall Father really is.
Snippet from the Show
“Connection is more important than perfection.”
Shownotes
“In Heaven, we don’t have any unforgiveness in our hearts, we are completely aligned with the will of God, and the will of God is for us to desire the salvation of even the most hardened hearts.”
Shownotes
Glory Story (3:07)
Feedback (8:52)
Lack of Men in the Catholic Church (12:17)
Hi Fr. Josh,
Thanks for your awesome podcast! Thank you in particular for all the work you do to promote racial reconciliation in the Church.
My question is, Why are there so many more lay women than men in the Catholic Church? I see many faithful women in the pews, the young adult groups, the retreats . . . I see women taking their kids to Mass while their husband stays home. Where are all the men?? Is this a modern thing, or a Western thing, or has it always been like this? And how do we get more men to be involved Catholics?
Thank you and God bless!
– Aimee
Is Derek Chauvin the Body of Christ? (19:08)
Hi Father Josh,
I am completely new to your podcast! In fact I am about to listen for the first time. I have been a listener of Father Mike for the last couple of years. I am a 52 year old white woman and doing my best to be as Christ-like as possible.
I hope my question to you is not offensive. In your discussion with Father Mike, you discussed how we could pray for each other as the Body of Christ. We were to insert the name of a person into the prayer about the Body of Christ and by doing so we would build compassion for that person. Your examples were George Floyd, George Bush and a couple of others. I see Derek Chaivin as evil and the enemy, but would he also be a person that we should insert into that prayer possibly for the conversion of his soul? I believe it would be a hard thing to do, but is that not something that Jesus calls is to do? At this point, my feelings for him are disgust and disdain and as sinful as it is hatred, is that hatred justified?
I truly am curious, this is not meant to be a rhetorical question.
– Jennifer
Are you tall? A question from a 3rd grader (29:42)
Dear Fr Josh,
So here’s your random question of the day because my third grader loves seeing photos of you and our friend Fr Dean in Sacramento off my Facebook feed. Seeing other priests doing the same stuff our amazing pastor Fr Maxy does helps her feel reassured that all the members of the body of Christ are being well taken care of.
She was wondering if you’re “very tall,” and if you’re really tall, how you shop for your vestments and clerics.
And happy priest-iversary too. We’re praying for you!
– Heatherle
Resources:
- Pocket Guide to Adoration by Fr. Josh Johnson
- Email your questions and feedback to Fr. Josh at askfrjosh@ascensionpress.com
- Text “askfrjosh” to 33-777 to subscribe to Fr. Josh’s shownotes
- Broken and Blessed by Fr. Josh Johnson
- Ascension is pleased that our Catholic Community is starting to come Together Again — at our parishes, with Jesus in the Eucharist, or in small group settings where you can share and live in Christ. We invite you to explore our many resources and programs to help us all come together again.
Meet Fr. Josh Johnson
While Fr. Josh was raised Catholic, he didn’t like the Church growing up. Then, one day in adoration, he fell in love with Jesus and received the call to become a priest.
Now, Fr. Josh is the Vocations Director of the Diocese of Baton Rouge in Louisiana. He is a presenter in four of Ascension’s programs: Altaration, YOU: Life, Love, and the Theology of the Body, The 99, and Connected: Catholic Social Teaching for This Generation, as well as the author of Broken and Blessed: An Invitation to My Generation, Pocket Guide to Adoration, and co-author of Pocket Guide to Reconciliation.
I think it’s because priests don’t know how to relate to men. Many grew up in woman-strong homes. They don’t tend typically to have manly traits anymore. My boys have left the church and one reason is solely the limp-wrist handshake after mass and our priests inability to look at them in the eye and make a meaningful connection with them. So many priests are admittedly introverts. They can talk from the pulpit, but in one on one they turn into this weak, cringey-like individual. And this does not appeal teenage boys as a way they would like to be.
The other ironic thing here is as Catholics you talk about having traditional families and all. And so the wives maybe stayed home to have kids, and now the kids are older and the mom maybe still doesn’t want a full-time out of the house job. So they volunteer in the church. And the husband, where is he? Still at his 40 hour job. So this question is kind of loaded in that sense.
I think the third thing might be that often you don’t see the dads in the lay leader roles inside the church, but I put in a ton of time at our parish in coaching and scouts, and those are typically dad-heavy areas, while the moms are maybe setting up for mass or whatever… I know that’s old stereotype, but a lot of that is still the case in catholic church.
And here’s a real one that you don’t want to hear probably… I am tired of the pedophilia and the hiding of it by our bishops and priests… so if it’s not something at the church that directly involves my kids, I’ve kind of checked out. no personal offense to you or statement about you, but I don’t want to hang out with priests. I also am turned off when they won’t shake my hand and look me in the eyes after mass. If I am important enough to pastor to from the pulpit, why am I treated like a nobody in that line?
and sorry, but your Derek Chauvin take is just whacked out…always saying “one of our greatest saints”…. every saint, anytime you talk about that saint, is one of your greatest saints. If George Floyd gets to heaven, if he makes it through purgatory? Your ridiculous idea of purgatory has no place in this talk.
Ridiculous idea of purgatory??