A Word from Our Outpost: A Podcast for Catholic Missionary Disciples

Recording an episode with a newborn is slightly trickier than we remembered from last time, so fortunately Joseph's brother Jacob was coming through town, and stopped to record an episode with Joseph!

We use as a launching point two paragraphs from Plato's Phaedrus, reproduced here, including the bit that the title of this episode alludes to at the end of the quote:

"At the Egyptian city of Naucratis, there was a famous old god, whose name was Theuth; the bird which is called the Ibis is sacred to him, and he was the inventor of many arts, such as arithmetic and calculation and geometry and astronomy and draughts and dice, but his great discovery was the use of letters. Now in those days the god Thamus was the king of the whole country of Egypt; and he dwelt in that great city of Upper Egypt which the Hellenes call Egyptian Thebes, and the god himself is called by them Ammon. To him came Theuth and showed his inventions, desiring that the other Egyptians might be allowed to have the benefit of them; he enumerated them, and Thamus enquired about their several uses, and praised some of them and censured others, as he approved or disapproved of them. It would take a long time to repeat all that Thamus said to Theuth in praise or blame of the various arts. But when they came to letters, This, said Theuth, will make the Egyptians wiser and give them better memories; it is a specific both for the memory and for the wit. Thamus replied: O most ingenious Theuth, the parent or inventor of an art is not always the best judge of the utility or inutility of his own inventions to the users of them. And in this instance, you who are the father of letters, from a paternal love of your own children have been led to attribute to them a quality which they cannot have; for this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality."

With that as the launching point, you can imagine that our discussion was quite lively. I imagine that were you to use this passage as a launching point, your discussions would be lively as well!

Feel free to rate, review, share, and subscribe to this podcast. In so doing, you may be aiding in the reclamation of wonder and conversation in our world.

As always,

• check out our work, and join our email list, at https://ouroutpost.org/
• join our free resource library platform here
• catch our other podcast, Love Your Marriage, by clicking here: https://ouroutpost.org/podcasts/
• see what we have upcoming in terms of events here: https://ouroutpost.org/events/
• send us an email at [email protected]
• and please rate, review, and share!
• If you're a Catholic husband, feel free to sign up for some time to chat with Joseph! https://bookme.name/ouroutpost/45-minutes-with-joseph

Bad homilies. Scandalous public figures. Awkward teachings, hypocritically taught. Most Catholics have had to face these aspects of being in the Catholic Church, and it has left many wondering why they should stay. We interview one woman, Mallory Smyth, who has written a book devoted to explaining why she stays Catholic when confronted with the same reasons many others have had to leave.

I had marked many passages that we wanted to discuss with her, but somehow didn't bring up my favorite passage from her new book, Rekindled:

"They began with the bad news: 'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' (Rom 3:23). Bad news? I remember thinking, this is great news. If everyone has fallen short of the glory of God, if each one of us has gone our own way, then we are all starting from the same place. This truth set me free. I could stop trying to be better than other people. In reality, I was no better than them anyway." (Rekindled p. 7)

The whole book is filled with twists on what it means to be a follower of Jesus in the Catholic Church that breathe new life into teachings that many have found stale, difficult, or confusing. We greatly enjoyed our discussion with her, and only wish that we had time to talk further. We hope you enjoy both the conversation and her book!

Check out a free preview of her book here: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B08G89MBR3&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_SVccGbXZJF3SS

And order a copy of her book here: https://www.avemariapress.com/products/rekindled

As always,

• check out our work, and join our email list, at https://ouroutpost.org/
• join our free resource library platform here
• catch our other podcast, Love Your Marriage, by clicking here: https://ouroutpost.org/podcasts/
• see what we have upcoming in terms of events here: https://ouroutpost.org/events/
• send us an email at [email protected]
• and please rate, review, and share!
• If you're a Catholic husband, feel free to sign up for some time to chat with Joseph! https://bookme.name/ouroutpost/45-minutes-with-joseph

Marriage is beautiful, marriage is under attack, and marriage can be remedied. Those are the principle messages of Casti Connubii, and in this episode, we consider the final part of Pope Pius XI's encyclical.

After all of the problems presented in the last episode, you might expect a specific solution to each particular problem. Instead, Pope Pius XI shows that the solution is a mix of personal, communal, ecclesial, and civil responsibility and cooperation.

Here's an outline of the whole encyclical, to aid you in your reading!

Casti Connubii

Unofficially and Unmagisterially Outlined by Joseph Gruber

Outline

I. Introduction- paragraphs 1-9

II. The Three Marks of Marriage- paragraph 10

a. Offspring- paragraphs 11-18

b. Conjugal Fidelity- paragraphs 19-30

c. Sacrament- paragraphs 31-43

III. Attacks on Marriage- paragraphs 44-52

a. Specifically on Offspring- paragraphs 53

i. Contraceptive/Sterile Sex- paragraphs 54-62

ii. Abortion- paragraphs 63-67

iii. Eugenics- paragraphs 68-69

iv. Sterilization- paragraphs 70-71

b. Specifically on Conjugal Fidelity- paragraph 72

i. Adultery/Open marriages- paragraph 73

ii. A disordered household/false emancipation of women- paragraphs 74-78

c. Specifically on the Sacrament- paragraphs 79-81

i. Mixed Marriages- paragraphs 82-84

ii. Divorce- paragraphs 85-93

IV. Remedies

a. Return to the Original Plan- paragraphs 94-96

b. Combat Lust- paragraphs 97-101

c. Have the Church Teach the Truth- paragraphs 102-109

d. Each Couple Takes Ownership- paragraphs 110-111

e. Prepare Couples Ahead of Time- paragraphs 112-115

f. Support the Poor and Needy- paragraphs 116-122

g. Church and State Should Cooperate- paragraphs 123-127

V. Conclusion- paragraphs 128-130

As always,

• check out our work, and join our email list, at https://ouroutpost.org/
• join our free resource library platform here
• catch our other podcast, Love Your Marriage, by clicking here: https://ouroutpost.org/podcasts/
• see what we have upcoming in terms of events here: https://ouroutpost.org/events/
• send us an email at [email protected]
• and please rate, review, and share!
• If you're a Catholic husband, feel free to sign up for some time to chat with Joseph! https://bookme.name/ouroutpost/45-minutes-with-joseph

"I'd like to think I'm a good listener. In fact, let me tell you a story about me being a great listener...rather than actually listen to you." It's an oft-experienced phenomenon-- we start to think maybe genuine sharing of selves is about to happen, and then out of nowhere, we throw up a roadblock to real intimacy.

It's good to know about these roadblocks, and why they hinder real, meaningful conversations, so we share three of them. We referenced another pretty heavily in the third part of the vulnerability series, and that one is the giving of advice (when not asked for).

They're not always bad, and sometimes even good, but when we habitually turn a conversation into a storytime, or start praising someone evaluatively, or start reassuring them, we're thoughtlessly turning conversations into discussions about ourselves, our opinions, and our convictions, rather than giving the other a chance to share their side.

If you'd like to hear about more of them, let us know, or check out where we got them from: We're pulling from a book called People Skills, by Robert Bolton: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003BFXAS0/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

It's a good book. It's not perfect, but it's ok.

As always,

• check out our work, and join our email list, at https://ouroutpost.org/
• join our free resource library platform here
• catch our other podcast, Love Your Marriage, by clicking here: https://ouroutpost.org/podcasts/
• see what we have upcoming in terms of events here: https://ouroutpost.org/events/
• send us an email at [email protected]
• and please rate, review, and share!
• If you're a Catholic husband, feel free to sign up for some time to chat with Joseph! https://bookme.name/ouroutpost/45-minutes-with-joseph

We're delighted to be joined by Andy Hickman, whose approach to work and organization somehow, and we're not sure how, contains elements that appeal to both Joseph and Crystal, who have...very different approaches to work and organization.

Andy Hickman is the Founder of hēl, a ground breaking art form for clarifying thoughts, healing emotions, and regenerating creativity.

After losing his mind in a neurotic breakdown at age 17, Andy found the four specific behaviors that create overwhelm, foster apathy, and sterilize playfulness. These four negative behaviors each have a positive counterpart. Instead of overwhelm, they create clarity and presence of mind. Instead of fostering apathy, they reenergize you by reconnecting you with your core self and desires. Instead of sterilizing your playfulness, they animate and organize your creative faculties. These four core positive behaviors form a simple and practical ecosystem that unlocks your personal development and transforms your life. This ecosystem, called hēl, is the organic and natural alternative to overly complex and stressful productivity systems. It is designed to be used in both your personal and professional life. It is the rare and middle way between the path of control and the path of chaos. Find out more here: https://hel.co/

As always,

• check out our work, and join our email list, at https://ouroutpost.org/
• join our free resource library platform here
• catch our other podcast, Love Your Marriage, by clicking here: https://ouroutpost.org/podcasts/
• see what we have upcoming in terms of events here: https://ouroutpost.org/events/
• send us an email at [email protected]
• and please rate, review, and share!
• If you're a Catholic husband, feel free to sign up for some time to chat with Joseph! https://bookme.name/ouroutpost/45-minutes-with-joseph