The Electric Waffle

Katie & Tommy are joined by Katie's younger sister, Laura, a canon law student at the Catholic University of America, to discuss death, life, new year's resolutions, the construct that is time, and the ins, outs, ups, and downs of canon law, along with a few stories from the Prejean sisters' childhood, how Laura gets zero pop culture references, and why it's important to maintain a healthy fear of death while also contemplating it. Sponsored By: Sock Religious: Popes, Saints, Symbols of the Faith, and Jesus...what more could you want on a sock? Guadalupe Roastery : Join the Electric Waffle Coffee Club to support farmers, this podcast, and to help parishes bring speakers & musicians in to evangelize their communities. Subscribe today and get coffee delivered right to your door, each month. Subscriptions start as low as $13.95/month, and $2 from each order will directly support our ministry efforts both at home and around the world.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...which means quotes abound, stories are told, Santa is coming, and baby Jesus is longed for. In their first ever Christmas episode, Katie and Tommy rank their favorite Christmas episodes from The Office, talk about the best Christmas gifts they've ever received, explore the true meaning of this holiday (spoiler alert: it has a lot to do with community), talk about the importance of fathers, share their favorite family traditions, and get excited about sharing Christmas with their 1 year old daughter, Rose. Sponsored By: Guadalupe Roastery : Join the Electric Waffle Coffee Club to support farmers, this podcast, and to help parishes bring speakers & musicians in to evangelize their communities. Subscribe today and get coffee delivered right to your door, each month. Subscriptions start as low as $13.95/month, and $2 from each order will directly support our ministry efforts both at home and around the world. Sock Religious: Popes, Saints, Symbols of the Faith, and Jesus...what more could you want on a sock? Links: Catholic Parents: it's O.K. to let your kids believe in Santa — But I think there is one very simple reason to teach children about Santa Claus, perhaps even talk about him throughout the month of December and advocate for some of the whimsy and wonder surrounding the figure of jolly ole St. Nick: Santa Claus was, in fact, real. Come and Get Your Love Commercial

Katie & Tommy unpack their time at the National Conference on Catholic Youth Ministry (NCCYM) and explore what it means to be aware of your giftedness and talents, but also learn how to continue growing and improving, ultimately hoping to use those gifts and talents to serve others and the Church. They also debate when is the ideal time to wash a pair of jeans, how to accept compliments from others, and they get pretty excited about their fancy new sound equipment and newest sponsor. Sponsored By: Sock Religious: Popes, Saints, Symbols of the Faith, and Jesus...what more could you want on a sock? Guadalupe Roastery : Join the Electric Waffle Coffee Club to support farmers, this podcast, and to help parishes bring speakers & musicians in to evangelize their communities. Subscribe today and get coffee delivered right to your door, each month. Subscriptions start as low as $13.95/month, and $2 from each order will directly support our ministry efforts both at home and around the world. Links: GoFundMe for Michelle Myers — Our friend and coworker is battling Stage 3 breast cancer. A single mom and English teacher, she has to undergo surgery and has to take 8 weeks off to recover. Please be generous in your support.

Every now and then you just need to talk about what you really like: what dessert you'd always choose, what TV show you could watch over and over again, which Saint is your current "saintly best friend," and which church is your favorite place to pray. This episode, Katie and Tommy take a deep dive into their favorite "things," and give info. on how to get some awesome Electric Waffle SWAG sent right to your mailbox this holiday season. Sponsored By: Guadalupe Roastery : Join the Electric Waffle Coffee Club to support farmers, this podcast, and to help parishes bring speakers & musicians in to evangelize their communities. Subscribe today and get coffee delivered right to your door, each month. Subscriptions start as low as $13.95/month, and $2 from each order will directly support our ministry efforts both at home and around the world. Links: Sign up for Electric Waffle SWAG — Sign up to receive stickers, coasters, and a Christmas card from the Electric Waffle crew!

If we all want community, and we all yearn for authentic friendships, then what are we doing to build it? And, if we're building it, how are we modeling it after the communities we see in Scripture, namely Acts 2:42? This week's conversation tackles the necessity for community and the ways we should strive to build it, while focusing primarily on the importance of seeing the presence of God in each person we encounter and the importance of being truly present to those we meet and grow to know and love. Sponsored By: Guadalupe Roastery : Join the Electric Waffle Coffee Club to support farmers, this podcast, and to help parishes bring speakers & musicians in to evangelize their communities. Subscribe today and get coffee delivered right to your door, each month. Subscriptions start as low as $13.95/month, and $2 from each order will directly support our ministry efforts both at home and around the world.

Why is it that we all want to spend time with people, desperately longing for authentic, life-giving community, but are often so bad at building it? And why is it that anytime someone says "this is the way you build community!" we all secretly roll our eyes because we know, deep down, that pre-conceived "programs" don't really work, but that community must develop and grow organically? Katie and Tommy unpack and explore the concept of community in this episode, namely why we long for community and still often struggle to find it. They explore the marks of a good community: being present, being authentic, being vulnerable, and being unafraid to give fully of yourself with and for others, and they acknolwedge that ultimately, all experiences of community are a mirror of the communion of the Trinity, which means all community is important, all community is valuable, and if you’ve made it this far, you’ve now read the word community a grand total of ten times. Sponsored By: Guadalupe Roastery : Join the Electric Waffle Coffee Club to support farmers, this podcast, and to help parishes bring speakers & musicians in to evangelize their communities. Subscribe today and get coffee delivered right to your door, each month. Subscriptions start as low as $13.95/month, and $2 from each order will directly support our ministry efforts both at home and around the world. Links: Follow us on Twitter The Catholic Origins of Thanksgiving — So the Catholics deserve the credit not only for the first Thanksgiving, but for the first real religious freedom in America. Not the Puritans whom we call Pilgrims. The Electric Waffle on Friendship (Season 1, Episode 7)

Katie & Tommy tackle the concept of competition, exploring healthy vs. unhealthy attitudes about competing with others, especially in regards to ministry, working within the life of the Church, and on social media. They propose that healthy competition is rooted in good community, and we’re only able to be the best we can be when we consider the good of others, even those we “compete” with. They also explore the power of the Litany of Trust, written by the Sisters of Life, which is perhaps even more challenging than the (dangerous) Litany of Humility, and as usual, they laugh about things their 1 year old daughter does, weird things Katie's seen on airplanes, and how Tommy is totally not Twitter savvy. Sponsored By: Guadalupe Roastery : Join the Electric Waffle Coffee Club to support farmers, this podcast, and to help parishes bring speakers & musicians in to evangelize their communities. Subscribe today and get coffee delivered right to your door, each month. Subscriptions start as low as $13.95/month, and $2 from each order will directly support our ministry efforts both at home and around the world. Links: Litany of Trust by the Sisters of Life — From the belief that I have to earn Your love Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear that I am unlovable Deliver me, Jesus. From the false security that I have what it takes Deliver me, Jesus.

Katie and Tommy discuss Halloween & horror films, the culture’s fascination with all things supernatural, the art & importance of dialogue, the way we avoid things that make us uncomfortable and scared, and go into great detail about the Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment, including some of their hopes and dreams for the gathering. For more information on the Synod on Young People, follow #Synod2018 on Twitter, subscribe to Ave Explores, and tune back in for future episodes unpacking the Synod after it's finished. Featuring quotes from The Office, Parks and Rec, Community, Hamilton, Touched by an Angel, and Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman Sponsored By: Guadalupe Roastery : Join the Electric Waffle Coffee Club to support farmers, this podcast, and to help parishes bring speakers & musicians in to evangelize their communities. Subscribe today and get coffee delivered right to your door, each month. Subscriptions start as low as $13.95/month, and $2 from each order will directly support our ministry efforts both at home and around the world. Ave Explores : Sign up for weekly updates from experts unpacking the Synod on Young People, Faith, and Vocational Discernment.

Katie and Tommy talk about marriage in all its ordinariness, mundaneness, beauty, glory, and grace, while also reminiscing about their engagement, some of their favorite things about each other, and how the ministry of presence is so important in married life. In just two years, they've learned a lot (though they're certainly not experts on married life), and they've realized that the most beautiful moments of marriage are often when the smallest, most insignificant things are happening. Featuring clips from: The Office, Parks and Rec, The Good Place, and The West Wing. Sponsored By: Ave Explores : Sign up for weekly updates from experts unpacking the Synod on Young People, Faith, and Vocational Discernment. Guadalupe Roastery : Use code WAFFLEPOWER for 15% off an order, and subscribe to The Electric Waffle Coffee Club (click "coffee club" on their website) to contribute to our mission to spread conversational goodness to parishes and dioceses around the world. Promo Code: WAFFLEPOWER

Katie and Tommy are back for Season 2 with a conversation about TV shows, the Emmy Awards, accompaniment in (and out of) ministry, mom shaming, Ad Orientem Masses (spoiler alert: they like them), and the undeniable fear of being vulnerable. Why is it that we desperately desire accolades, approval, and feel the need to broadcast every good thing we've ever done? And why are we so scared to let people get close to us and walk with us on our journeys, when we so clearly want people to see us (sometimes), or at least what we think? And why do some moms like to shame other moms, because that ain't cool. Season 2 is in full swing...and there's a lot of waffling going on.Sponsored By: Guadalupe Roastery : Use code WAFFLEPOWER for 15% off an order, and subscribe to The Electric Waffle Coffee Club (click "coffee club" on their website) to contribute to our mission to spread conversational goodness to parishes and dioceses around the world. Promo Code: WAFFLEPOWER

Katie & Tommy look back fondly on the episodes of Season 1 of The Electric Waffle, contemplating how time is the relentless and cruel enemy of parents, podcasters, and pretty much anyone who wants to reflect on moments past. In all seriousness, how is it the end of August already? Where did the summer go? What did we even do? What have we even talked about? Time, whether circular or linear, is a strange construct, and somehow, we're stuck in it. Sponsored by The Liturgical Institute. Sponsored By: The Liturgical Institute: Dr. James Pauley, Professor of Theology and Catechetics at Franciscan University, is offering a conference on September 14, 2018 that explores how to Re-Imagining Sacramental Preparation, answering how Catechists, Pastors, and Parents Can Turn the Tide of Sacramental Indifference. Go to liturgical institutes.org/conferences for more info.

This episode is a bit different than other episodes of The Electric Waffle. There are no clips from shows, there are no jokes making light of the current culture or things happening in the Church. This is a conversation between two people who have found themselves stunned, angered, hurt, and confused by the scandal involving Archbishop McCarrick and the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report outlining the sexual abuse of over a thousand children over decades. There aren't any "hot takes" concerning this crisis in this episode. It's just an honest look at how Katie & Tommy feel about what they've heard and read, and more importantly, how the woundedness we all face matters when brought to Jesus on the Cross.

After 30,000 miles traveled, 14 ministry events spoken at, the writing of one book of Lenten reflections, and weekly Bible studies at their parish, Katie and Tommy take a few minutes (58 to be precise) to reflect on the ministry in Summer 2018, unpacking how a lot of times we can become attached to the "highs" of a ministry event or conference and never want to return back to the normal ordinariness of a daily faith life. When an event is over, re-entry into daily life can be difficult, and re-integrating into life with this new zeal for the faith can become nothing more than a nice idea instead of an actual transformation. How do we "come down the mountain" and "walk through the valley" after a moving conference, powerful retreat, life-changing camp, or even just a weeknight Bible study at the parish? What must we do to walk through the valley of normal life and walk with Jesus day by day? Also, why is saying Michael Cain's name repeatedly so darn fun? This week, contribute to an ongoing discussion about ways to re-integrate after a profound faith experience by chatting with other "Electric Wafflers" (what we affectionally call our listeners) here. Sponsored by The Liturgical Institute. Sponsored By: The Liturgical Institute: Dr. James Pauley, Professor of Theology and Catechetics at Franciscan University, is offering a conference on September 14, 2018 that explores how to Re-Imagining Sacramental Preparation, answering how Catechists, Pastors, and Parents Can Turn the Tide of Sacramental Indifference. Go to liturgical institutes.org/conferences for more info.

Mary, the Mother of God, is the most dynamic, engaging, and important person in the Church (other than Jesus, of course), and paying attention to her is...well...kind of necessary. We're meant to listen to her, which means we need to know what she's said. We're meant to go to her with our petitions, which means we need to know what she's said. We're meant to imitate her, which means we need to know what she's said. We're meant to honor her, which means we need to know...well, you get it... Devotion to Mary, and honoring her, is a surefire way to get to know Jesus, and isn't that what we all want? To know the Lord, intimately? Well who better to help us know Him, than the woman who raised Him? Sponsored by The Liturgical Institute Sponsored By: The Liturgical Institute: Dr. James Pauley, Professor of Theology and Catechetics at Franciscan University, is offering a conference on September 14, 2018 that explores how to Re-Imagining Sacramental Preparation, answering how Catechists, Pastors, and Parents Can Turn the Tide of Sacramental Indifference. Go to liturgical institutes.org/conferences for more info. Links: Wholly Mary: Mother of God — A book by our good friend, Chris Padgett, that is well worth your time. A heart like Mary's: 31 daily meditations to help you live and love as She does — A stellar book by Fr. Edward Looney on devotion to Mary. Praying the Angelus: Find Joy, Peace, and Purpose in Everyday Life — Wonderfully simple, straightforward book on a powerful daily prayer honoring Mary, by our friend Jared Dees

There's an anecdote on friendship commonly attributed to C.S. Lewis: one knows they have found and made a friend when they see the other and think, "Ah! You too! I thought it was just me..." Companionship with others is critically important and necessary to both survive and thrive in life - even the shyest, most introverted people want people they can trust, rely on, suffer with, and take delight in. Even the most extroverted people long for deep, intentional, purposeful connections with trustworthy individuals. Katie and Tommy unpack the virtues of friendship, share stories from their own experiences with good (and bad) friends, and outline ways to find friends, keep friends, and ultimately be a good friend yourself. Sponsored by The Liturgical Institute Sponsored By: The Liturgical Institute: Dr. James Pauley, Professor of Theology and Catechetics at Franciscan University, is offering a conference on September 14, 2018 that explores how to Re-Imagining Sacramental Preparation, answering how Catechists, Pastors, and Parents Can Turn the Tide of Sacramental Indifference. Go to liturgical institutes.org/conferences for more info.