Forte Catholic Podcast: Making Catholicism Fun Again

Jon "Bearded" Blevins cohosts and has some big life changing news to share! Hear what has been going on behind the scenes of this big life change and where Jon has found God in the midst of all of it. Taylor is frustrated with a common idiom used in Christian circles and wants to destroy it once and for all. He also shares his favorite bible verses and gives Jon a pop quiz. They also debate which sport God loves the most. They go through the pros and cons of many of the major sports and end up narrowing it down to a top 3. Let us know which sport you think God loves the best and why in the comments! Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks! YouTube Check out the show and other exclusive videos on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/fortecatholic Connect

Taylor shares a story with Allison about a terrible experience he had in Chili's with his family that was instantly turned around into a great experience because of how the staff responded and made up for their mistakes. He was able to find God in Chili's that night Next, he forces Allison to play one of the listener's favorite games that she absolutely hates: Freestyle Preaching! Each host gives the other three words that they have to incorporate into a 60 second message about faith. She loves spontaneity! Finally, Taylor shares a lesson he learned from a consistent theme in many recent movies. We really have more impact on the people around than we may think. Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks! YouTube Check out the show and other exclusive videos on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/fortecathol

Fr. Anthony cohosts a hilarious episode where Taylor comes in with a ton of things to yell about. They kick off with his thoughts on seminarians wearing collars, should seminarians be on social media & is religious life higher than the priesthood?!?! Fr. Anthony has all the answers. Edmund Mitchell joins the show to share about his new project called Real + True. So many Catholics(including us) have never read or really used the Catechism all that much. This new project makes the Catechism less daunting and much easier to engage with. There is so much depth to our faith, the Catechism has that depth and Real + True brings it to you in a way that's fun and easy to use. Check it out at RealTrue.org. Taylor has more to yell about with Fr. Anthony. This time he shares how often people's personal devotions can get to a point where they're absurd and mostly just bothering those around them. We try to find a balance between honoring personal piety & not being a distraction to your neighbor. We have a lot of fun exa

Taylor drove all the way to Liv's house to record this episode in her home studio. The kick off the show with Chicken Soup for the Schroll: sharing stories of times that God did something awesome for them in their childhood/teen years. They talk about the importance of remembering and sharing what God has done in your life. Kathryn Whitaker was also in studio and Taylor had a bone to pick with her :) But the three of them shared some things that are anchors or foundations for them as people that keep them strong during even the toughest of times. To close out the show, Taylor tries a segment about how salvation would work in the multiverse and Liv wanted nothing to do with it. So Taylor tried to pivot and talk about death bed conversions, especially for people who did horrible things and Liv didn't like that idea either lolol. Super fun episode that we really hope you enjoy! We definitely all did being together in the studio :) Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the sub

Jon "Bearded" Blevins cohosts. We start the show with the story of why he recently had to get stitches in his hand and then he and Taylor each share the story of how they proposed to their wives. The next segment introduces the "Biblical Fantasy Draft" where Jon and Taylor each select the best biblical characters to run Forte Catholic: CEO, CFO, HR, etc. A really fun segment with some insight into which characters from the Bible would be great at running a modern Catholic media non-profit. Plus, you might learn about some biblical characters you've never heard of before. Taylor tries to close the show by sounding smart with a discussion on behavioral cognition that he learned from "The Happiness Lab" podcast. It's about how we mimic the people we are around and this concept's importance in our faith growth. Enjoy! Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leav

We have all heard that we should be like God in every way. But Taylor says there are certain times that we shouldn't and shares one of those with Fr. Anthony to kick off the show. In the second segment, our priest asks Taylor to compare and contrast two prayers for engaged couples. It shows the pure weirdness and beauty of Catholicism. Finally, Taylor makes the claim that he can make a spiritual point out of Nickelback's hit "Photograph." Do you think he pulled it off?!?! We hope you enjoy this episode! If you do, please hit the subscribe button! :) Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks! Connect

Taylor & Allison spar with words and might have also physically fought!?! Did the boxing match promised years ago finally happen!?! Taylor is back from Life Teen summer camp and had a blast! He shares a terrible travel story, Allison is covered in gasoline for some reason and they fight about kids going back to school. The first segment goes off the rails QUICK! In the second segment, this is what you have all been waiting for. The long awaited Forte Catholic boxing match between Taylor & Allison finally happened. Hear as they recount their versions of what happened at Taylor's first day at the boxing gym. To close out the show, Taylor flips a common complaint we have against God back on ourselves. Enjoy! Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks! Connect

Liv Harrison cohosts a tremendous episode tackling a wide variety of topics! She found a Hollywood star of the nickname Taylor has given her on the show. Taylor shares some of his favorite memes including attacking "daddy God", some that give great life advice and one that makes Taylor look like Iron Man. Our guests debaters this week are Kaitlyn Facista of Tea with Tolkien and David Bates of Pints with Jack. They debate once and for all who is the better author and man: Tolkien or Lewis. It is a thrilling and fun debate that you don't want to miss! The show wraps up with Taylor sharing a VERY long comment he got on Facebook about how he needs to repent and prepare himself for the Apocalypse. Fun stuff! He and Liv have a laugh and talk about what Catholics believe about the last day. Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting

After his summer hiatus, Jon "Bearded" Blevins is back baby! He & Taylor spend the 1st segment catching up and bromancing about how absence makes the heart grow fonder. Kris Frank was in town so Taylor invited him over for an interview. He shares key insights on finding hope even in the darkest moment. To close out the show, Taylor shares a stat that shows how big the global Church really is and the role the US plays in it. The stat may shock you! Enjoy! Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks! Connect

This is the moment Taylor began to lose his mind and control of the show Liv, Taylor & Allison all together for her 1st appearance as a guest We've been doing this show for five years and we know that not everyone has listened since back in the day. So we've started a new series called Forte Flashbacks highlighting the best moments of the show. This week, we listen to the first time Liv came to town in order to drive Taylor crazy. Not only that, but Allison is also involved so the ladies team up against Taylor to make him look like the bad guy. It's a fun episode to listen back to to see how so much has changed and yet stayed the same. Enjoy! Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks! Connect

Taylor brings the heat this week with some hot takes on kids in Mass, Martyrs and Satanists. Fr. Anthony isn't just along for the ride but tries to guide him back to sanity. Parents often feel unwelcome in Mass with their little kids. There are often glares and "shushes" from other parishioners. Because of this, there has been a public outcry for allowing and welcoming kids in Mass. BUT Taylor thinks the pendulum has squng too far! With such a focus on welcoming kids in Mass, there has been less of a push on parents parenting their kids during the Mass. He shares a horrendous story of this happening at a recent Mass and tries to bring the conversation back to the middle and some sanity. Taylor's next take on martyrdom has Fr. Anthony very worried about him. Taylor wonders why Christians have to accept martydom in the case of someone making you deny your faith. Why not let them hear what they want to hear knowing you don't mean it? Why not just plan on going to Confession? How does culpability come in to play

We've been doing this show for five years and we know that not everyone has listened since back in the day. So we've started a new series called Forte Flashbacks highlighting the best moments of the show. Taylor listens to the interview and then shares his thoughts and highlights from the conversation. This week is Jon’s first appearance back in 2018. It's amazing how much has changed in three years but also seeing the seeds of friendship being sown in this conversation. Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks! Connect

Allison Sullivan is back from her fancy trip to Hollywood to launch her acting career and...it was a great trip! She shares the highlights of the trip & the joy that it brought her and her family. In the second segment, Coach Kramer Soderberg, joins the show. He is a college basketball coach who is very open about his Catholicism. He shares the key values he wants to instill in his players and how those correlate very easily into living out our Catholicism. Check out his book "Fill Your Cup For Christ" at https://kramersoderberg.com/ To close out the show, Taylor shares a new apology technique that he saw on Instagram that he thinks is bonkers. Allison isn't so sure though. She shares that it's terrible advice for Taylor in particular but actually good for a certain group of people. Everyone was surprised in this conversation! Thanks for watching.listening! Be sure to subscribe if you enjoyed today's episode. Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT

We've been doing this show for five years and we know that not everyone has listened since back in the day. So we've started a new series called Forte Flashbacks highlighting the best moments of the show. This episode proves how far we've come! Fr. Anthony sounds like he called in from a cell phone in Atlantis, Taylor had no mic ettiquette BUT we learn where "Pittsburgh's okayest priest" came from, the things he's done as a priest for the first time in human history & highlight his first utterly insane first podcast, The Flue. Enjoy his origin story on Forte Catholic! Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks! Connect

This week's episode is brought to you live from Liv Harrison's studio in Houston, Tx! Taylor talks about how Liv ruined the beatific vision for him(and she doesn't even know what it means!). He also shares some shower revelations about all the repetitive things we all have to do every day. Next, they bring back the Chicken Soup for the Schroll segment where they share positive & uplifting stories. This week includes a story that doesn't seem positive at first & a random coffee shop encounter. Finally, Taylor has another issue with how people are interpreting a certain Gospel story. He thinks we've been missing a huge point and Liv finally gets to be right ;) Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks! Connect

We've been doing this show for five years and we know that not everyone has listened since back in the day. So we're starting a new series called Forte Flashbacks highlighting the best moments of the show. We're kicking off the series with each of the five cohosts first appearance on the show as guests. Every Friday, we will take a listen to their first segment and Taylor will provide his commentary on it at the end. Enjoy the origin stories of the best cohosts in the Catholic world!!! Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks! Connect

We could do this show differently, but we explain why we do it the way we do it. Edmund Mitchell joins the show to talk about spiritual growth compared to milk and meat. In the second segment, they share their thoughts on the new Loki series from Disney+. One of them loves the show, the other hates it. Tune in to find out why. Finally, they answer a few random questions from PodDecks and get some out of left field answers. Enjoy! Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks! Connect

Forte Catholic Live in Pittsburgh! Gambling, Texting & Effeminacy w/the Sciarappas Catholic Entertainment, Catholic Faith, Catholic Comedy Taylor flew to Pittsburgh to celebrate Fr. Anthony's 5th anniversary and recorded this episode in the Sciarappa home while they were together. They kick off the episode by talking about their time together, including Fr. Anthony's first ever trip to a casino and the Catholic view on gambling. Next, there's a blast from the past with a letter to a mom from a teenager asking for text messaging in 2008. Reminisce about this strange occurrence 13 years ago and what it has to do with Catholicism. Finally, Taylor has a new pet peeve: people using the word effeminacy as a derogatory term. He & Fr. Anthony discuss where this term came from, how it's being used and our options on how to move forward. P.S. Hands down the best commercials we've ever done! Huge thanks to Nick & Riley for letting us invade their home! Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by h

Liv Harrison is in studio for the first time in 16 months! Taylor & her in the same room always brings some comedy and drama lol. They kick off the show by talking about summer: Taylor's recent tubing trip, a Summer activity Liv has never done & the return of summer blockbusters. Next, Taylor saw a Beyond Meat commercial and Arby's commercial back to back and it made him think about the Church (huh?). In a quickly changing world, the Catholic Church (and Arby's) remain steadfast. Finally, Taylor reveals one of his biggest pet peeves: people not wanting to improve. He shares stories of how he's seen this play out professionally, spiritually and in coaching. He compliments Liv deeply in the segment and also lashes out at her. Perfect way to end the show. Enjoy! Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks! Connect

Taylor kicks off the show with an announcement of a fun update to the show. He & Fr. Anthony also discuss the premise from a recent Marvel post that "real men only compliment each other behind their backs" which leads to a fun conversation about friendship. Next, JP Quinn rejoins the show to play the game he invented: Forte, Mezzo, Piano. He shares hot takes that Father Anthony and Taylor have to grade and share their views on. Man, let me tell you, JP wanted absolute chaos this week and he got it. Fr. Anthony and Taylor haven't been this united in months as they take aim at JP's ridiculous takes. Absolute blood bath lol Finally, you've heard the Pange Lingua, but have zero clue what it means in English. We're going to fix that. Enjoy! Subscribe/Rate Never miss out on the craziness of each episode by hitting the subscribe button RIGHT NOW! Help other people find the show and #MakeCatholicismFunAgain by taking a few moments to leave a review in your podcasting app. Thanks! Connect