Pints With Aquinas - BONUS | Awesome Stuff Happening, Peeps!

Starting point is 00:00:00 this is so much fun it's probably really annoying for you but it's a new it's a new feature on GarageBand what's up peepity peeps this is Matt Fradd and in this bonus episode I want to share with you about a bunch of really cool stuff coming up like our pilgrimage to Italy next year which you can attend like this upcoming SEEK conference like some books that I'm currently writing slash editing and will be publishing like how you can read the Sumer in a year and what it was like quitting my job a year ago okay so hey what's up? Good to have you.

Starting point is 00:01:00 Welcome to this bonus episode of Pints with Aquinas. My name is Matty Fratty. Hey, so as I say, this is just a bonus episode. i wanted to touch base before the end of the year i hope you're doing really well um so i know most of my listeners are catholic and i suppose most of my listeners are in the united states of america and i know many of you are going to be going to focus's seek conference in ind Indianapolis this coming January. Guess what? I have a table there. It's like a huge table right by the entrance. Okay. And I want you to come and see me and my bride. We'll both be there hanging out, making out, probably not making out, but hanging out. And we would love to visit you. I've told Luke and Gomer from the podcast Catching Foxes that they're welcome to come hang out at our

Starting point is 00:01:49 table if they want to as well. But we would just love to see you. So please stop by and say hi. I'll be running a Pines with Aquinas podcast with Father Michael O'Loughlin about Byzantine spirituality and stuff like that. It's going to be amazing. So if you're at the Sikh conference, be sure to come by. My wife, Cameron, who runs the podcast Among the Lilies, which is a podcast for the ladies, will also be running one. Isn't that cool? Now, here's what's really cool. If you're a patron, please come and see me because I have special gifts just for my patrons that I have created only for you. Isn't that nice of me? I'm a super nice guy. You have no idea. So please stop by and say hi. And as I say, especially if you're a patron, come by, let me know that you're

Starting point is 00:02:30 a patron so I can give you this special gift. Okay, good. All right. So I want to tell you about a couple of things that we're doing here at Pints with Aquinas because I am super jazzed about it and I hope you are too. Lots of stuff is going on. But before we do anything else, I wanted to read you an email I just got from one of our patrons. Here's what's really great. When I started Patreon, I expected that people who agreed with the sort of work that I was doing would want to support me. And I think that, by and large, is certainly the case. And massive thanks to all of you who are doing that. But I'm always blown away when somebody starts supporting me and they're not even a Catholic.

Starting point is 00:03:07 So like I've had atheists on Patreon, like we have a private Patreon community forum, who like respond critically and say, look, I'm an atheist and I don't think that Eleanor Stump in your episode with her made the case well enough or something like that. I'm like, oh my gosh, you are an atheist and you're giving me money to

Starting point is 00:03:25 grow this. You are the bomb.diddly. All right. So check this out though. I'm not going to use this person's name. I asked him if I could share this little note with you. And this person said, yes. They just asked that I would withhold their name. So here's what this person said. Thank you for the video response. That's right. I sent him a video response. He says, I was not expecting that. I obviously enjoy listening to your podcast and have recently become a Dostoevsky fan. So I wanted to listen to your vodka with Dostoevsky videos. I am actually not a Christian. In fact, it was four years ago today that I left the faith. I grew up Catholic, became Protestant in junior high and aspired to become a pastor. It was my junior year of high school that I gave up the faith and became

Starting point is 00:04:02 an atheist. It wasn't until two years ago in basic military training, after much reflection and some conversation with a fellow trainee who was a Mormon missionary, that I became open to the idea of God, particularly one that cares for his creation. After about a year back and forth, I finally decided I had to make a leap of faith, and God simply made more sense than any alternative I could come up with. Currently, I think the most accurate label for me is deist. I believe God created us to live morally and pursue him, but doesn't actively interject himself in human affairs. In the past year, along with studying Jewish philosophy, I have a renewed love for the Catholic church and its social teaching and attend mass

Starting point is 00:04:46 regularly. So cool. He says, that is where I must thank you. Your show is one of the reasons Catholicism is not just a passing interest, but something I genuinely want to learn from. You explain Aquinas very well, which has helped me to realize just how rich in philosophy the church is. I obviously do not agree with everything you say. How dare you? No, I'm just joking. But I so appreciate the work you do, which has helped shape my spiritual journey in so many ways. Isn't that amazing? I do get these from time to time, and occasionally I'll share them with you on Patreon, but I'm just so just blown away at how podcasts can reach so many different sets of ears, you know?

Starting point is 00:05:27 So big thanks to this particular individual who is supporting me on Patreon, even though he doesn't agree with me on a lot of things. Yeah, what else you want to talk about? I really have not much else. I just wanted to come on and say a quick hi because I miss you. I'm actually massively introverted. I don't know if you know that. I think like introverted has become cooler the more awkward we as society have become. We just don't like people. So we're like,

Starting point is 00:05:49 oh, I'm introverted. No, shut up. You're not introverted. You're just more accustomed to Netflix than a human face. Shut up. You know what I'm saying? But I actually do think that I'm really introverted if by introverted we mean I get my energy from being alone. And I don't know why I'm bringing that up, except that I know I just said I missed you, but you're not here. What? I'm just talking into a microphone and I miss you, but I miss you because I don't have to look at you and listen to you. So not really, but kind of, but not really, but kind of, but there will be a table between you and me at Seek and that'll make me super comfortable. What else? So I'm doing the Matt Fradd Show. You know we have the Matt Fradd Show podcast now, right? Check it out, the Matt Fradd Show podcast. It's amazing. You can actually download it on iTunes, subscribe,

Starting point is 00:06:36 so you'll see them when they come out. You can listen to the entire episode. And then on YouTube, we're releasing clips every week. We just released one from Paul Thigpen, On YouTube, we're releasing clips every week. We just released one from Paul Thigpen, who is a church historian and award-winning journalist about his encounter with the demonic. Absolutely fascinating story. We have some other ones set up for the near future. And we've got Christopher West coming in actually this week.

Starting point is 00:06:59 Whoop-de-whoop. So that's really exciting. I just want to say a big thanks, you know. Thanks for making all of this possible. It was at about this time a year ago that I decided to quit my job. If I told you, oh my gosh, like I went to my wife, I'm like, all right, I'm going to quit my job and do pints with Aquinas, you know. And she's like, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Starting point is 00:07:21 And she's a good wife, right? So she didn't just go, that's a terrible idea. But she was a little nervous, especially when we're like, okay, worst case that happens, I'm like, here's what we'll be making. And she's like, yes, that's nothing. I'm like, mm-hmm, but I'll be free, woman, free, free to spread my wings and soar to the heights. Luke from Catching Fox has texted me the day I quit. He's like,

Starting point is 00:07:46 all right, dude. He said, congratulations. I wish I had your courage or something like that. And I said, well, I'll be like the canary in the coal mine. Like if I drop, do not attempt this. But it's just been such a powerful year. And I am so thankful to almighty God for allowing me to do this work. And I've just been so blessed to hear your stories. It seems like wherever I travel and speak, I'm always encountering y'all, you know, listeners of Pints with Aquinas, patrons of Pints with Aquinas. And on more, like multiple occasions now, I've given a talk somewhere at some university, someone's come up after and went, hey, I'm a patron. I would love to get you a beer. And I say, done. And we've hung out and we've drank and you've told me what the show has meant to you. And this has just been such an incredible

Starting point is 00:08:33 ride. And I hope that you know that I am so honored. And I just want to do my best to help you love Thomas Aquinas. And by that, I guess I mean mean, I want him to like help you and me love Jesus Christ so that we can be saints. I think one of the things our church needs now in a particular way, especially in the United States of America is like true doctrine and like tradition in the healthy sense, you know? And I feel like by studying the works of Aquinas, we kind of get both of those things. I think that's why this has been such a popular year. This is why we've gotten so many great, such great feedback and stuff, you know? So many of you are listening and reaching out. Oh, do you know that I bought Summa365.com? So here's what I'm doing right now, right? I've heard Bishop Barron say, if you want to read the Summa Theologiae, one way to do it is to read the

Starting point is 00:09:25 article and then to read the article title and then Aquinas' main response. So he says, okay, so skip all the objections, the said contra and the reply to the objections, and just go straight to his main response. So for example, an article name would be, whether God exists. And then Aquinas, you read his main response, I answer that and he gives you the response, right? I think one of the reasons Bishop Robert Barron and others have suggested we do that is it's easy to kind of get bogged down in the weeds otherwise. So guess what I'm doing? I've bought Summa 365. So you can sign up to that if you want, and you'll get an email in your inbox every day for 365 days. Now, Summa 365 used to give you a portion of the Summa Theologiae, but it was so bloody big that I have to think that most people got really excited about day one and then never read day three or four or five or six, or if you're really strong, seven.

Starting point is 00:10:19 So what I've done is I've taken out all of the objections. I've taken out the reply to the objections. I've taken out the said contra, and I've left just the respondio to make it a lot more manageable. So you could read the bulk of the Summa in one're going to be publishing these works on Amazon. So you could buy these books. We want to make them as beautiful as we can. And it'll actually have like day one, day two, day three. And in one year, you'll be able to go through the entire Summa again by reading the article and the respondio. So that's pretty cool.

Starting point is 00:11:00 Like that's something we're doing. It's taking a lot of work. Yeah, there's just so much. Every time I feel like I'm telling you what I'm doing, more crazy stuff starts happening and it's awesome. Next year, and I'll shut up after this, right? Next year, I'm really excited about next year. What's going on? Do you know I'm running a pilgrimage? See, there's one of the things I forgot about. How could I possibly forget about that? Hey, why don't you come to Italy with me and my wife? Come on, treat yourself. You know, you know, you never do anything. That's not true. You always do anything

Starting point is 00:11:29 stuff yourself. You're a selfish bastard, but no, you should come. Let me just try and find it's mattfradpilgrimage.com. Go on, go there. Check out what we're going to do. You, me, a bottle of wine, my wife, and like 30 other people. We're going to go to Italy and we are going to walk in the footsteps of Thomas Aquinas. And by walk, I mean take trains and cars and stuff, but still it'll be awesome. We're going to go from July 8th to July 19th. Come on, come, it'll be bloody great. Yeah, but isn't it expensive? Yes, of course it's expensive. Water's free, whiskey costs money, baby. But it's really worth it.

Starting point is 00:12:08 I mean, everything is included. It looks amazing. We're going to go to Aquinas' birthplace. We're going to go to the Benedictine monastery, Monte Cassino, where he went to school. We're going to go to Naples. We're going to go to Assisi to discuss the mendicant orders and see the tumus in Francis. We'll be in Rome. It's going to be amazing.ome it's gonna be amazing we're

Starting point is 00:12:25 gonna it's gonna be a spiritual trip as well there will be talks assigned for every kind of every day it'll be a retreat as well we're gonna have an amazing holy priest with us and it'll just help you learn a lot about thomas aquinas and um but also can i just be honest like the what i'm most excited about is going to italy in the summer and like drinking beer with you that's what i want to do i want us to drink beer smoke cigarettes no sorry it's italy so you to Italy in the summer and like drinking beer with you. That's what I want to do. I want us to drink beer, smoke cigarettes. No, sorry. It's Italy. So you smoke cigarettes in the morning while you drink your coffee before breakfast. Actually, that is your breakfast. It's a breakfast of champions. And then after 12, you know, after we've prayed and talked, we got to just hang out and drink. Not in an over thethe-top way, but just a couple. Wouldn't that be great? Come on.

Starting point is 00:13:14 Come. Again, that's, what did I say it was? Mattfradpilgrimage.com. Mattfradpilgrimage.com. And we are only taking 40 people. No more. So go there right now. Mattfradpilgrimage.com and come along with us. What else was I talking about? I was talking about something and then that happened. and come along with us. What else was I talking about? I was talking about something, and then that happened. I just keep getting excited about all the stuff I'm doing. And all of this stuff, my peeps, is made possible because of y'all. So just a big thanks for making all this happen.

Starting point is 00:13:34 You are pints with Aquinas. Actually, no, you're not. I am. But you have really helped. I just think I might have ADD, and I can't tell if you get the humor or if there is any humor. It's quite possible that there is none and all I'm doing is offending you. What else? So, going to Italy next July. I plan on taking a trip to Africa where I don't charge them at all, but I just help print and, you know,

Starting point is 00:13:57 material, apologetics material. Plan on speaking in Uganda. What else am I doing next year? I'm going to Australia to speak. all of May, month and a half. So, summer of April, all of May, a little bit of June, I'll be speaking all over that gorgeous bloody country from which I hail, Australia. So, by the way, I think I'm pretty much booked for 2019. So, like you can try and book me, but you probably won't be able to. But if you want to, you know, maybe there's a free weekend here or there, write to my assistant, Melanie. Melanie is, she should be president. She is the greatest person in the world and the most organized human being on the face of the planet, which is really helpful to an ADD person like myself who barely

Starting point is 00:14:41 knows what I'm doing tomorrow. So check her, you can write to her at assistantatmattfrad.com. That's assistantatmattfrad.com. And you know, if you want me to speak, feel free. But as I say, I think 2019 is pretty much booked up. I'm not really selling myself well, am I? I'm basically saying, yeah, you could try, but don't even bother really. You're not going to get through. No, but I mean, maybe you will. Or 2020. I'd love to come speak at your event, maybe. Oh, baby. All right.

Starting point is 00:15:11 I think that'll do. You've probably stopped listening hours ago. How long has this been going for? This has been a real rant. Would you believe I'm not even drinking? Let's see. Chka-boom. Chka-boom.

Starting point is 00:15:22 14 minutes. That's all this has been. I promise I'm just drinking LaCroix because it's still Exodus 90. All right, y'all. God bless. Have a beautiful Christmas. Again, if you're at the Sikh conference and if you don't come and say hello, I will take it personally. And, you know, that'll be the end of our relationship.

Starting point is 00:15:41 Okay? To come and say hi. My wife will be there. I think we're going to take our two eldest kids. We're just so pumped to be there. So much great stuff happening in the church. A lot of awful things happening in the church as well, but it's helpful sometimes just to focus on the very good men and women

Starting point is 00:15:54 who are out there doing awesome stuff. Don't you think? Hmm? Hmm? Hmm? 응? And I would give my whole life to carry you, to carry you. And I would give my whole life to carry you, to carry you. And I would give my whole life to carry you To carry you To carry you

Starting point is 00:16:53 To carry you To carry you Thank you.

Pints With Aquinas - BONUS | Awesome Stuff Happening, Peeps!

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