This past weekend, as I'm sure you noticed, I was not in Wyoming at the parish. I was out in San Diego attending the annual Catholic Answers Conference and wanted to share with you all a bit of my experience with Catholic Answers and of the weekend!
Catholic Answers Mission Statement:
Catholic Answers is a media ministry that serves Christ by explaining and defending the Catholic faith. We help Catholics grow in their faith, we bring former Catholics home, and we lead non-Catholics into the fullness of the truth.
If you haven't heard about Catholic Answers or want to see/hear more, check them out on www.catholic.com
Catholic Answers has been around for decades and their flagship show is Catholic Answers Live, a 2-hour M-F radio show where any person can call into the show and get answers to their Catholic questions from trained Apologists (a trained defender of the Catholic Faith).
For me it all started years ago, my parents had subscribed to the Catholic Answers Magazine, which is a publication of Catholic Answers, and my parents would quiz me with the trivia that was included in the magazine. Ever since then I've always been aware of Catholic Answers, but didn't start listening to the show until around 2021 because I could download it as a podcast and listen to it while I was working in the office.
I quickly grew to love the show and all the apologists of Catholic Answers, Jimmy Akin, Tim Staples, Joe Heschmeyer, Karlo Broussard, Trent Horn and others. Even though I have an advanced Theology degree, these guys were helping me learn and go deeper in the Catholic Faith as well AND give me better tools to help others understand our Catholic faith better.
3 years ago, after listening to Catholic Answers Live advertise their annual conference in San Diego, I decided to go and my mom, who listens to Catholic Answers as well, joined me. It was a phenomenal experience to meet the apologists and staff of Catholic Answers in person and to be able to celebrate Mass with them and grow in fellowship.
Ever since, my mom and I have made it our annual trip to go to San Diego in September to attend the Catholic Answers conference and will continue to do so. Not only is it nourishing our faith lives, but it better equips us to bring that faith to others more effectively.
This past weekend the theme of the conference was all on the parables of Jesus and Scott Hahn was the keynote speaker. Kimberly Hahn was also a speaker and they were fantastic to hear.
As a follower of Catholic Answers myself and understanding how important their ministry is, I want to help in their ministry by making their materials available in our parishes. In doing so, our parishes will be "Parish Partners" with Catholic Answers and this will allow us to give away free Catholic Answers materials to our parishioners. These materials are coming soon!