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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    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.

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    Be My Guest: Favorite Things with Sister Miriam James

    December 17th, 2019  |  28 mins 20 secs

    In today’s special episode, Sister Miriam James Heidland joins Father Josh to talk favorite childhood Christmas memories, YouTube videos, books, saints, and more.

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    Corrupt Church History, Saints Reading Minds, and "Mary Did You Know?"

    December 10th, 2019  |  26 mins 40 secs

    Father Josh answers questions about how to talk about corruption in the Church’s history, whether the saints know our thoughts, and whether Mary knew that Jesus was God.

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    All About Advent: Christmas Music, Prayer, and the Liturgical Calendar

    December 3rd, 2019  |  26 mins 58 secs
    advent, advent season, advent traditions, christmas, liturgical calendar, liturgical season

    Father Josh answers questions about how to live Advent in a meaningful way, whether Catholics should listen to Christmas music during Advent, and what the “Christmas season” is according to the liturgical calendar.

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    Happy Thanksgiving, and Send Me Advent-Related Questions!

    November 26th, 2019  |  7 mins 29 secs

    Father Josh shares four things he’s grateful for and wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving! He also encourages you to send all your Advent and Christmas related questions to him at [email protected] for a special themed episode in the coming weeks.

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    Feminism, Devotionals Guaranteeing Salvation, and Kanye West

    November 19th, 2019  |  27 mins 25 secs
    catholic, catholic answers, catholic church, catholic prayers, catholicism, devotionals, feminism, jesus is king, kanye west, prayers, saint, saints, salvation

    Can Catholics support feminism? Why do some people believe women shouldn’t work outside the home? How do the promises of devotional prayers work—can they guarantee salvation? Should we be embracing the current interest in Christianity due to Kanye West and his album, Jesus is King? Fr. Josh answers this and more in today’s episode.

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    Anxiety, Parish Involvement, and Can Catholics Be Masons

    November 12th, 2019  |  31 mins 44 secs
    anxiety, catholic, catholicism, depression, free masons, freemasonry, freemasons, mental health, parish, parish involvement

    Father Josh answers questions about how to find healing in the midst of anxiety or depression, how to get involved in your parish, and whether or not Catholics can be Freemasons.