St. Titus Brandsma has a very inspiring life story, one that is timely for the day and age we’re living in. Listen in as we explore his life in a little more detail, and hear how we can learn how to live more authentic Catholic Christian lives by imitating him.
In the year 64, the Roman Emperor Nero had developed a reputation for being violent, impulsive, and extravagant. Many thought he was crazy. A fire broke out in Rome that burned for nine days and destroyed most of the city. Some say that Nero was responsible for the fire, but according to Nero it was the Christians who were to blame. He systematically rounded up everyone who was a Christian—men and women who learned directly from the Apostles Peter and Paul—then martyred them brutally. Some were crucified, some were fed to wild dogs, and some were covered in tar or wax and burned alive as human torches to light the streets. Rather than stopping Christianity, the martyrdoms helped it spread throughout Rome... like a fire.
CHALLENGE
All too often, we know the the mechanics of our Catholic faith and the words we use, but we really don't take their meaning and own them. The First Martyrs of Rome were martyrs specifically because they embraced the meaning of the faith... and were ...
Saul of Tarsus was born about three years after Jesus in modern-day Turkey into a family that descended from the tribe of Benjamin. Because his father was a Roman citizen, Saul also had the Latin name Paul. When young Saul wasn't being taught the Jewish faith, he learned the trade of tentmaking. Fiery in his faith, after the Crucifixion of Christ he was known for his intense persecution of Christians, including the stoning death of St. Stephen. After his "come to Jesus" moment on the road to Damascus, he became known for his passionate epistles, fearless defense of orthodox Christianity, missionary travels, and evangelistic zeal. During the Christian persecutions by Emperor Nero, he was arrested, tried, and beheaded.
CHALLENGE
Today is the feast of both St. Paul and St. Peter, who were martyred about the same time. St. Augustine of Hippo said, "...though they suffered on different days, they were as one.... Let us embrace what they believed, their life, their labors, their sufferings, ...
St. Irenaeus of Lyons was born in modern-day Turkey around the year 130. Not much is known about the early life of this Father of the Church, so his story begins when he became a disciple of St. Polycarp, who himself was a disciple of St. John the Evangelist. St. Irenaeus was ordained and served the Church of Lyons in present-day France as a priest, then as a bishop. His evangelistic efforts saw him write five books against many heresies, including Montanism and Gnosticism, and he is considered the first Christian theologian to develop a system of theology. He was among the first to call Mary "The New Eve" and in all his writings he shows not just a Marian devotion, but an assumption that Mary's helping role in salvation was common knowledge among Christians.
CHALLENGE
St. Irenaeus of Lyons wrote, "the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary." Many times our lives can seem like a complicated mess, and it's easy to feel "knotted up". Today, bring the biggest ...
Greetings everyone on Locals!
Not to downplay the love and support of my wife and kids, but Catholic Treehouse is a 1-man operation. That means that I have to exercise prudence when deciding how and where I spend my time. Distributing The Saint Challenge across multiple platforms and in multiple formats takes time (a lot of it) that can be used for other Catholic Treehouse projects.
So in time for the annual "reset" of The Saint Challenge, which starts on All Saints' Day, everything will be moving and consolidating. Daily episodes will be delivered via email that will be coming from catholictreehouse.com, and if you're subscribed here on Locals, you should be getting tomorrow's episode delivered to your email. For links to the podcast or to pick up a print copy of The Saint Challenge for your own library or as a gift for someone else, check out: https://catholictreehouse.com/the-saint-challenge/
Now the announcement: the time saved in re-publishing all of the Saint Challenge episodes is ...
If you are coming to the Columbus Catholic Men's Conference tomorrow, February 25th, be sure to stop by our table and say hi. We'd love to meet you!
Hi everyone,
Apparently I forgot to check the "notify subscribers" checkbox for the past three days when scheduling the posts here on locals, which means the emails didn't get sent out. Apologies for the inconvenience. Here are the direct links to each episode:
Day 76 - St. John Calabytes
https://catholictreehouse.locals.com/post/3318405/the-saint-challenge-day-76-st-john-calabytes-january-15
Day 77 - St. Berardes of Carbio and Companions
https://catholictreehouse.locals.com/post/3318424/the-saint-challenge-day-77-st-berardes-of-carbio-and-companions-january-16
Day 78 - St. Anthony the Abbot
https://catholictreehouse.locals.com/post/3322502/the-saint-challenge-day-78-st-anthony-the-abbot-january-17
I've double-checked the upcoming episodes and made sure that the appropriate checkbox is checked.
Also, if you have a smartphone I recommend the Locals app. It makes it easy to stay up to date on everything that's posted, listen to the audio podcast version of The Saint Challenge, as ...
Many people have asked me, “What are you going to do after The Saint Challenge is over? Will there be a Year 2?”
It’s an excellent question, and a quite legitimate one.
There are far more than 366 saints, so in theory it would be possible to do at least a Year 2 and Year 3 with saints that were “passed over” in favor of some other saints. I admit, it was hard some days deciding which saint to choose for an episode. Some days there were two or three saints that each had a fantastic story to tell, so choosing only one was difficult.
There are three good reasons why there won’t be an immediate release of a “Year 2”:
First, The Saint Challenge is about both building holy habits as much as it is doing great things for God and neighbor. Building any habit—good or bad—takes time, and if you look at the lives of the saints, the one thing they all had in common was that they were habitually holy. As long-time subscribers will note, many of the challenges are the same: go to Confession, say the Rosary, pray for someone’s conversion, develop a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, et cetera. These habit-builders are the “easy challenges”. But many of the saints, in addition to their habits of holiness, also did great works. They wrote, read, preached, served, built, donated, and organized. These challenges… these are the ones that many people found difficult. So there’s no need to put out a “Year 2” if some people are already struggling trying to complete “Year 1”.
Second, I don’t want to create a “bad sequel”. Many movies have fallen victim to this phenomenon, leaving the creator and the audience both regretting the release. Thus, I feel it prudent to wait and pray about if a Year 2 is even necessary and what form it should take if it is.
Finally, the work involved in The Saint Challenge was considerable. On average, every day’s release took at least an hour of work to prepare. Sure, some days were easy to write. But others fell into two groups: either there was too much information about the saint and condensing it down to a simple episode was a challenge in and of itself, or else there was only a scant amount of information available and dredging up enough information for an episode was difficult. In the end it was thoroughly enjoyable work, but there are other projects we have in the works that need attention in their own right.
So instead of a “Year 2” we will be re-running Year 1 on Substack. This will give people the opportunity to continue to make forward progress toward the achievable goal of completing all 366 challenges without feeling “left behind” by the release of a second year. It will also give us the opportunity to advance other projects and discern the next steps for The Saint Challenge.
Daily episodes will continue to be released here on Substack. It will give everyone the opportunity to revisit old challenges, become reacquainted with our “old friends”, and build those habits of holiness. Being a saint and living a holy life isn’t the process of a day or a week or a year, but the process of a lifetime of learning the skill of self-mastery and of chiseling away at defects one day at a time.
Many thanks to all the people who have been around since the beginning, and welcome to all the new subscribers. If you’ve enjoyed The Saint Challenge, there are two things we’re asking you to do. First, share it with a friend. Second, support us financially with a one-time donation, a recurring subscription for as little as $5 a month, or by buying a copy of The Saint Challenge book that we just released on Amazon and giving it a review.
No matter what, be sure to stay subscribed, as there are some very exciting things in the works for 2024 that you won’t want to miss. Until then… Be motivated. Be holy. Be a saint.
All Saints’ Eve begins the triduum of Allhallowtide, made up of All Saints’ Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day. The word “Halloween” comes from the word “hallow” which means to make holy, and “e’en” which is a shortening of the word “evening”. As the early Church began to venerate martyrs, there were so many that a common feast was needed. As early as the year 835, All Saint’s Eve was celebrated in Europe, and the date was chosen to consecrate to God what was formerly a pagan festival. Many regional traditions sprung up. In one, children would dress as saints and go door-to-door promising to pray for deceased members of the household in exchange for a treat.
Halloween is turning back towards its pagan roots, and costumes range from horrific to immoral to outright satanic. Today is an opportunity to reclaim this Christian holiday and consecrate it to God. First, it’s a great opportunity to pass out Miraculous Medals or prayer cards in addition to candy. And second, from now on always choose a saint for a Halloween costume. Dress up like them and be prepared to share their life story—and the Gospel—whenever you’re asked, “Who are you dressed as?”
Born into a family of Italian nobles in the 11th Century, Gerard grew up a man of piety and high culture. After moving to Potenza, he saw a need for apostolic work and began to preach. His austere lifestyle, works of charity, and passioned preaching made him beloved by the people of the town, and when the bishop died, the town’s clergy and the people elected him to be their new bishop. Gerard was humbled by this appointment, and he became more diligent and virtuous. Several miracles were attributed to him, including restoring a man’s sight, bringing a young boy back to life, and changing water into wine. He held his see for eight years, until he died in 1118 of natural causes.
St. Gerard of Potenza didn’t move to a new town looking to preach the gospel, but when he saw a need he felt a calling to use the gifts God had given him to fulfill the need. You are alive right now and given certain gifts by your Creator because you are needed, today, to do work for him in his vineyard. Look around you. What needs to be done? How has God equipped you to do the work? Will you answer his call?
