All Roads Lead to Rome: On Becoming Roman Catholic (OCIA)

M.S. Bickford
  • 4.9 (18)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Weekly

This podcast is for people interested in the teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. It is especially helpful if you have only heard negative things about it, or if you are in an OCIA class.

  1. 4d ago

    060 - Hell

    Hell is one of the most avoided topics in Christian life. This is true even though Jesus talked of judgment, separation and hell in 21 of 39 parables. The episode also walks through some of the most influential images of hell in Western thought, including Dante's Inferno, Milton's Paradise Lost, and C.S. Lewis's reflections in The Problem of Pain and The Screwtape Letters. From fire and torment to frozen isolation, "darkness visible," and doors locked from the inside, these images point toward the Catholic understanding of hell as definitive self-exclusion from communion with God. The episode closes by turning to Scripture and the Catechism, reminding listeners that hell is not meant to be a fascination or fear tactic, but a serious call to choose God freely, live faithfully, and stay on the road to Rome.   Please visit our website: www.AllRoadsLeadtoRome.net. You can sign up for our newsletter, leave me a voice message with a comment or suggestion, get connected with us on socials, and you can become a Patron who makes all of this magic happen! AllRoadsLeadToRome.net   We are also on Facebook, Instagram, X, and Youtube.   Please tell A Catholic Curious friend about us!

  2. Aug 11

    059 - Thomas Aquinas

    St. Thomas Aquinas, the greatest Theologian in Christian history, was once called the "Dumb Ox" in school by other students. This episode starts with his noble upbringing near Aquino and his dramatic entrance into the Dominican Order to his studies under Albert the Great and his lasting impact on Catholic thought. He is one of the 38 "Doctors of the Churh" and is known both as the Universal Doctor and the Angelic Doctor. The episode also explains why Aquinas remains so central to Catholic theology 800 years after his death. We look, especially the Summa Theologica, his integration of Aristotle with Christian doctrine, his treatment of virtue, the sacraments, and the existence of God, and the ongoing importance of Thomistic thought today.   Please visit our website: www.AllRoadsLeadtoRome.net. You can sign up for our newsletter, leave me a voice message with a comment or suggestion, get connected with us on socials, and you can become a Patron who makes all of this magic happen! AllRoadsLeadToRome.net   We are also on Facebook, Instagram, X, and Youtube.   Please tell A Catholic Curious friend about us!

  3. Aug 4

    058 - Papal Infallibility

    Papal Infallibility is one of the most misunderstood Catholic teachings. The pope is not a monarch who can simply declare anything true, nor is every papal comment automatically infallible. Instead, papal infallibility is rooted in the Catholic understanding of the Deposit of Faith, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the Church's responsibility to preserve and clarify what Christ entrusted to her. The episode walks through the distinction between settled doctrine, theological debate, and changeable Church customs, then shows how the Magisterium serves as the Church's teaching office. It then explains the three narrow conditions required for an infallible papal statement: it must be made from the chair of Peter, concern faith or morals, and define doctrine for the whole Church.   Please visit our website: www.AllRoadsLeadtoRome.net. You can sign up for our newsletter, leave me a voice message with a comment or suggestion, get connected with us on socials, and you can become a Patron who makes all of this magic happen! AllRoadsLeadToRome.net   We are also on Facebook, Instagram, X, and Youtube.   Please tell A Catholic Curious friend about us!

  4. Jul 28

    057 - The Importance of Tradition

    This episode explores why Tradition matters so deeply in the Catholic Church and why it is often viewed very differently in Protestant communities. It contrasts two foundational ways of thinking: Epistemic Realism, which assumes objective truth and meaning, and Nominalism, which treats truth as more individual and self-defined. This philosophical difference helps explain why Catholics look to Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium together, while Protestants often emphasize personal interpretation of Scripture.   It also introduces the Catholic idea of the "Deposit of Faith," which is the complete revelation entrusted by Christ to the Apostles and safeguarded by the Church through history. The Magisterium serves this deposit rather than invents new doctrine. The Holy Spirit protects the Church in matters of faith and morals through the doctrine of infallibility. This episode also discusses the role of saints and Church history, and the recurring challenges of heresy, corruption, and the current crises in postmodernism. The episode closes by presenting Tradition as the living inheritance that offers clarity, continuity, and a path toward objective truth.   Please visit our website: www.AllRoadsLeadtoRome.net. You can sign up for our newsletter, leave me a voice message with a comment or suggestion, get connected with us on socials, and you can become a Patron who makes all of this magic happen! AllRoadsLeadToRome.net   We are also on Facebook, Instagram, X, and Youtube.   Please tell A Catholic Curious friend about us!

  5. Jul 21

    056 - The Lectionary

    The Lectionary is an organized schedule of Scripture readings used at Mass throughout the world. It is a 3 year cycle that was developed in the 1960s, after Vatican II and replaced a 1 year cycle of readings. There is a second lectionary for daily Mass readings. So, the Scripture readings you hear at any mass are not chosen by the priest. They are part of a carefully developed cycle that ensures you will hear most of the Bible read in church over the course of the cycle.   This episode also compares the Catholic Lectionary with the Protestant Revised Common Lectionary, showing how many Protestant denominations often hear the same or similar readings because their system is based on the Catholic model.   Please visit our website: www.AllRoadsLeadtoRome.net. You can sign up for our newsletter, leave me a voice message with a comment or suggestion, get connected with us on socials, and you can become a Patron who makes all of this magic happen! AllRoadsLeadToRome.net   We are also on Facebook, Instagram, X, and Youtube.   Please tell A Catholic Curious friend about us!

  6. Jul 14

    055 - Teresa of Avila and the Interior Castle

    St. Teresa of Avila's spiritual masterpiece, The Interior Castle, describes the spiritual life as a journey thorough seven rooms of a castle. This episode gives the biography of this great Carmelite nun, mystic, and Doctor of the Church (one of only 38). It then walks through each stage of Teresa's castle, from the early rooms of self-knowledge, struggle, moral stability, and detachment to the deeper rooms of infused contemplation, spiritual betrothal, purification, perseverance, and mystical marriage. Teresa's central message is that holiness is not reserved for a spiritual elite: every soul is made for God, called inward by grace, and invited to grow through humility, prayer, surrender, and love of neighbor until it becomes a channel of God's grace to the world.   Please visit our website: www.AllRoadsLeadtoRome.net. You can sign up for our newsletter, leave me a voice message with a comment or suggestion, get connected with us on socials, and you can become a Patron who makes all of this magic happen! AllRoadsLeadToRome.net   We are also on Facebook, Instagram, X, and Youtube.   Please tell A Catholic Curious friend about us!

  7. Jul 7

    054 - Faith vs. Works

    This episode addresses one of the oldest debates between Protestants and Catholics: are we saved hy faith or works? Beginning with Martin Luther's struggle with scrupulosity and his emphasis on Sola Fide, this episode explains how the Reformation framed salvation as an either/or question—and why Catholic teaching sees that framing as a false dichotomy. Through Scripture passages from Ephesians, Romans, Galatians, James, Matthew, and Philippians, as well as a study of the Catechism, the episode explores how grace, faith, and works fit together rather than compete with one another. The central takeaway is that salvation begins with God's free gift of grace, is received through faith, and is lived out through a transformed life of charity, holiness, and service.  Catholics do not believe we can earn heaven through good deeds, but neither does Scripture support a faith that remains unchanged and inactive.   Please visit our website: www.AllRoadsLeadtoRome.net. You can sign up for our newsletter, leave me a voice message with a comment or suggestion, get connected with us on socials, and you can become a Patron who makes all of this magic happen! AllRoadsLeadToRome.net   We are also on Facebook, Instagram, X, and Youtube.   Please tell A Catholic Curious friend about us!

  8. Jun 30

    053 - Your Vocation

    This episode explores what it means to discover and live out your calling from God. Beginning with Dante's Divine Comedy and its sobering image of the "Lodge of the Indolent," the episode challenges you to consider whether you are taking your faith seriously or simply drifting through life while postponing the deeper questions of purpose, vocation, and obedience to God's will. The psychological concept of Selective Attention is introduced to show how we filter out things that are truly not our focus in life. So, if our faith life isn't the focus, then God related moments get filtered out and ignored.  Finally, it is through focused attention, prayer, spiritual direction, patience, and a willingness to follow God's will rather than our own that leads us to understand our true vocation   Please visit our website: www.AllRoadsLeadtoRome.net. You can sign up for our newsletter, leave me a voice message with a comment or suggestion, get connected with us on socials, and you can become a Patron who makes all of this magic happen! AllRoadsLeadToRome.net   We are also on Facebook, Instagram, X, and Youtube.   Please tell A Catholic Curious friend about us!

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This podcast is for people interested in the teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. It is especially helpful if you have only heard negative things about it, or if you are in an OCIA class.

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