Ask Father Josh (Your Catholic Question and Answer Podcast)

Fr. Josh helps you navigate the tricky times in life when our Catholic Faith doesn’t give you an easy, “fill-in-the blank” answer.

About the show

Ask Fr. Josh is the podcast where I hear you out and do my best to help you navigate the tricky times in life when our Catholic Faith doesn’t give you an easy “fill-in-the blank” answer. On this show, we’ll listen to one another, problem solve together, and ultimately entrust everything to our Lord. If this is your first time tuning in, here’s how the show goes: Each episode, I'll address three to four of your questions. I’ll cover everything from Catholic teaching to moral dilemmas to relationship advice. I'm not perfect, and I can’t guarantee that my advice is going to make things easy, but I'll do my best to share what I've learned during my time as a priest, pastor, and friend.

Send me your questions at ascensionpress.com/askfatherjosh

Episodes

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    The Sacraments and Mass During COVID-19

    April 7th, 2020  |  29 mins 16 secs
    confession, coronavirus, covid-19, last rights, livestream mass, mortal sin, recorded mass, sacraments, virtual mass

    Fr. Josh answers questions about receiving the sacraments and staying engaged in a virtual mass during COVID-19.

    Snippet from the Show:
    When it comes to making the act of spiritual communion, this practice can be done anywhere, anytime. And ask God to transport your soul to the nearest tabernacle if you can’t get out of your home to be in the presence of Jesus.

    For more shownotes visit media.ascensionpress.com or text “askfrjosh” to 33-777 to subscribe to Fr. Josh’s shownotes

    Email your questions and feedback to Fr. Josh at [email protected].

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    Be My Guest: Chika Anyanwu on ADHD, Bad Homilies, and Making a Good Confession

    March 31st, 2020  |  40 mins 2 secs
    adhd, catholic, catholic church, catholic faith, catholic families, catholicism, chika anyanwu, confession, father josh, going to church, homilies, homily, priest, questions about catholicism

    Fr. Josh is joined by Chika Anyanwu, Catholic speaker and author, to answer questions about being disappointed with homilies, teaching the Faith to a child with ADHD, and how much we need to divulge in order to make a good confession.

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    Be My Guest: Fr. Brad Doyle on Birth Control for Medical Reasons and Male Fertility Testing

    March 24th, 2020  |  40 mins 43 secs
    ascension, body of christ, catholic, catholicism, coronavirus, covid-19, heaven, holiness, intercessory prayer, pandemic, saint

    On today’s episode, Father Josh is joined by his good friend Fr. Brad Doyle to answer questions about the ethics of fertility testing and birth control for medical reasons.

    Producer’s note: Father Josh is now live streaming his daily Masses to Ascension’s Facebook page every morning at 9:30 AM ET. Go to facebook.com/Ascensionpress and join us tomorrow for Mass with Fr. Josh at 9:30 AM! Hope you can join us! God bless.

    For full shownotes, text ASKFRJOSH to 33-777 or visit AscensionPress/com.

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    An Invitation to Pray with Father Josh during COVID-19

    March 17th, 2020  |  11 mins 2 secs
    ascension, body of christ, catholic, catholicism, coronavirus, covid-19, heaven, holiness, intercessory prayer, pandemic, saint

    Father Josh shares a message of hope and perseverance for these escalating times of COVID-19. He reminds us how to pray Lectio Divina, modeling this spiritual exercise as he reflects on the way the apostle John responded when Jesus was taken away from him.

    For more shownotes visit AscensionPress.com or text ASKFRJOSH to 33-777.

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    Be My Guest: Fr. Paul Gros on OCD, Anxiety, and Therapy

    March 10th, 2020  |  41 mins 30 secs
    anxiety, depression, mental health

    Father Josh and Father Paul Gros answer questions about OCD and anxiety, family members with mental illness, and navigating life changes after therapy.

    For full episode shownotes, visit AscensionPress.com or text ASKFRJOSH to 33-777.

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    All About Christian Fasting: Eating Disorders, Spiritual Effects, and Challenges

    March 3rd, 2020  |  35 mins 41 secs
    fasting, lent, lenten fasting
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    All About Lent: What's Best for Your Soul This Year?

    February 25th, 2020  |  24 mins 14 secs
    ash wednesday, catholic lent, catholic lenten, catholic lenten season, catholics, lent, lenten, lenten journal, lenten practices, lenten reflections, lenten season, reflections for lent

    Fr. Josh answers the question, “What’s the point of Lent?" He then asks a set of questions to help you determine which Lenten practices will be best for your soul this year.

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    Yoga, Forgiving the Devil, and Mary’s Free Will

    February 18th, 2020  |  38 mins
    christians and yoga, devil, free will, mary, mary's fiat, yoga

    Fr. Josh answers questions about whether Catholics should do yoga, whether we should forgive the Devil, and whether Mary truly had free will.

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    Sex in Marriage, Arguing about Contraception, and Recovering from Sexual Sin

    February 11th, 2020  |  33 mins 31 secs
    married sex, sex, sex in marriage, sexuality

    What kinds of physical acts are morally acceptable when it comes to sex in marriage? What do you do when one spouse embraces NFP and the other insists on using contraception? How can an engaged couple recover chastity and peace after giving into sexual temptation together?

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    Fear of the Lord, Explaining the Eucharist to Children, and Baptizing a Grandchild

    February 4th, 2020  |  30 mins 40 secs

    Father Josh answers questions about fear of the Lord, explaining transubstantiation to children, and whether a grandparent should secretly baptize their unbaptized grandchild.

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    All About the Priesthood: Women Priests, Married Priests, and Flawed Priests

    January 28th, 2020  |  39 mins
    can priests get married, can women be priests, catholic, catholic mass, catholic priests, catholic questions, eucharist, faith, fr. josh, in persona christi, married priests, priesthood, priests, women priests

    Fr. Josh answers three questions about the priesthood: Why can’t women be priests? Why can’t priests get married? And how can we look past the human flaws of the priest when he is acting in persona Christi?

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    All about Being Pro Life: Abortion after Rape, Excommunicating Politicians, and Single Motherhood

    January 21st, 2020  |  36 mins 24 secs

    In this week’s pro life themed episode, Father Josh addresses questions about abortion after rape, the often-misunderstood Church teaching on excommunication, and a unique challenge of single motherhood.

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    All About Living a Chaste Life (Even after Lost Virginity)

    January 14th, 2020  |  25 mins 28 secs

    In today’s episode, Father Josh answers questions about the call and the challenge to pursue a chaste life. He answers a question from a mother who suspects her son is gay, a young woman who wants to enter the religious life but lost her virginity in college, and a listener looking for recommended chastity speakers.

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    Be My Guest: Andy Lesnefsky on Catholic Community, Tattoos, Fitting in, and Avoiding Burnout

    January 7th, 2020  |  39 mins 28 secs
    andy lesnefsky, catholic community, tattoos

    Andy Lesnefsky from Vagabond Ministries joins Father Josh to discuss how to find/build Catholic community, why you shouldn’t worry about fitting a perfect Catholic mold, and how to avoid burnout when you’re always serving others.

    Today’s podcast was recorded live last week in Phoenix Arizona at the FOCUS Student Leadership SLS conference...thank you for all your prayers for this incredible conference and all the young Catholics who attended!

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    A New Years Prayer from Father Josh

    December 31st, 2019  |  2 mins 5 secs
    focus, sls20

    Happy New Years Y'all! I'm taking one more week off from my regular recording schedule, but tune in next week when we kick off 2020 with the first ever LIVE recording of Ask Father Josh!

    This week I'm in Phoenix, Arizona for the FOCUS SLS conference, so if you're at the conference too, come say hi and see me podcast LIVE on Tuesday at 4:15 in the Media Feed (check the FOCUS app for the location).

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    A Christmas Prayer from Father Josh

    December 24th, 2019  |  5 mins 12 secs
    christmas prayer

    Father Josh prays for grace and peace to fill your soul as you approach this Christmas season.