How many of us know of — have traveled on U. S. Route 66 in the old days? Winslow, Arizona was a railroad town complete with cafes and the requisite number of motels and curio shops. Like many Highway 66 towns, Winslow has suffered a significant decline of overnight tourists; cafes have mostly closed and while the trains do stop in Winslow, the railroad switching yard is no more. Those who need gas as they progress west or east stop at one of the truck and auto gas stops just off I-40 and in 15 or 20 minutes are back on the interstate.
Yet — Catholicism is strong here in the Catholic Communities of Winslow. Fr. Frank Chacon is pastor and he is a holy and learned shepherd. He is also the author of a number of books — most notably for our show – Father Frank is the author of nine books in the Apologetics Series. We are offering two of these books free in a random drawing for Friends of Catholic Vitamins on our Facebook page.
The website and book titles discussed on our show are indicated below. Let me share just one example from the first book: Beginning Apologetics 1: How to Explain and Defend the Catholic Faith. Can you answer these questions (comfortably)?
-Why do you Catholics call your priests “father?”
-Why do you Catholics worship the Eucharist? Isn’t it just a symbolic piece of bread?
-How can you believe in God when there is so much suffering in the world?
-Why are Catholics opposed to abortion?
-Why is Mary such a big deal to Catholics?
-Aren’t there errors and contradictions in the Bible?
-Do Catholics believe in the Rapture?
All of those questions and more are discussed in Fr. Frank’s first book — the first of nine.
Apologetics: the strange word which really comes from a long time ago — meaning the basics of discussion and rebuttal in a civil discourse between people of differing views. Look at the web site below and try obtaining one of the books, CDs and DVDs offered by the people of San Juan Catholic Seminars.
And as a service — we’re including a list of some other good books on the topic for today’s program. If you have any family or close friends who have left the Catholic Church — as a deacon, I’d particularly recommend the SEARCH AND RESCUE book and the SURPRISED BY TRUTH series by Patrick Madrid.
If you have any books or comments on this topic, we’d love to hear from you.
Blessings.
Deacon Tom
Show Links and Referenced Materials
To visit Fr. Frank Chacon (& associates) website, go to:
www.catholicapologetics.com
There are a number of books and CDs and other resources available from the group called SAN JUAN CATHOLIC SEMINARS.
The books that are mentioned on the show all begin with the title BEGINNING APOLOGETICS and their numbers include:
1. How To Explain and Defend the Catholic Faith
2. How To Answer Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons
3. How To Explain and Defend the Real Presence
4. How To Answer Atheists and New Agers
5. How To Answer Tough Moral Questions
6. How To Explain and Defend Mary
7. How To Read the Bible
8. The End Times
9. How To Answer Muslims
Other Books Helpful on Apologetics
Search and Rescue by Patrick Madrid
Crossing the Tiber by Steve Ray
Born Fundamentalist Born Again Catholic
Surprised by Truth Series by Patrick Madrd
Welcome Home: Stories of Fallen Away Catholics Who Came Back by Fr. John Corapi and Other Contributing Authors
Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Krefft & Fr. Ronald K. Tacelli, S. J.
Catholic Questions, Catholic Answers by Fr. Kenneth Ryan
Archdiocese of Denver
Thanks again to Dr. Anthony Lilles, the Academic Dean of the St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver. He visited us for a brief refresher on Beauty — this time, the beauty of this Passion Week and Easter coming. To reach out to Anthony or to sign up for some of his teaching venues (i.e. Facebook and others) — go to the website for the Archdiocese:
www.archden.org