In this special episode from our archives, I'm joined by Dr. Michael Foley, renown author, professor of theology, and one of the best storytellers out there to explain some of the incredibly weird and terribly wonderful Christian roots of our favourite Christmas traditions.

Dr. Foley unpacks the dating of Christmas, the roots of Santa Claus, the incredibly weird world of "Mutant Christmas Saints," and much, much more as we sit down for a glass of egg nog and stir up some Christmas cheer.

Listen, enjoy, and impress your family around the Christmas table with the most incredibly strange facts about the origin of the Christmas traditions we know and love. I guarantee you you'll learn something new – and have a ton of fun listening!

To find more from Dr. Foley check out his website. And find his latest book "Why We Kiss Under the Mistletoe" from Regency Press and everywhere books are found.

Send your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com.

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For more information visit the Patreon page. All patrons receive access to exclusive content and if you can give $5/mo or more you'll also be entered into monthly draws for fantastic books hand-picked by me.

If you'd like to give a one-time donation to The Cordial Catholic, you can visit the PayPal page.

Thank you to those already supporting the show!

This show is brought to you in a special way by our Patreon Co-Producers. Thank you to Elli and Tom, Fr. Larry, Gina, Heather, James, Michelle, Noah, Robert, Shelby, Susanne and Victor, and William.

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In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Nathan Smith, the Director of Ecumenism for Glenmary Home Missioners, a Catholic religious community, and as a consultant for the USCCB’s Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and one of the authors behind The Gift of Being Christian Together, a new document seeking to build a bridge between Catholic and Evangelical communities.

In this amazing conversation, Nathan shares the heart of ecumenism: how we can reach out to our separated brethren – other non-Catholic Christian communities – to successfully find common ground and work towards a closer relationship. We talk about Christ's vision in John 17, how to understand non-Catholic Christian communities especially for converts, and how to reconcile the truth found only in the Catholic Church with the Body of Christ, broken and separated, in other Christian communities.

This is a profound conversation!

For more visit The Gift of Being Christian Together.

Send your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com.

Sign up for our newsletter for my reflections on episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive contests.

To watch this and other episodes please visit (and subscribe to!) our YouTube channel.

Please consider financially supporting this show!

For more information visit the Patreon page. All patrons receive access to exclusive content and if you can give $5/mo or more you'll also be entered into monthly draws for fantastic books hand-picked by me.

If you'd like to give a one-time donation to The Cordial Catholic, you can visit the PayPal page.

Thank you to those already supporting the show!

Theme Music: "Splendor (Intro)" by Former Ruins. Learn more at formerruins.com or listen on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp.

This show is brought to you in a special way by our Patreon Co-Producers. Thank you to Elli and Tom, Fr. Larry, Gina, Heather, James, Michelle, Noah, Robert, Shelby, Susanne and Victor, and William.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

Find and follow The Cordial Catholic on social media:

Instagram: @cordialcatholic
Twitter: @cordialcatholic
YouTube: /thecordialcatholic
Facebook: The Cordial Catholic
TikTok: @cordialcatholic

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the inestimable Kenny Burchard. A convert to the Catholic faith, Kenny joins us to tell the remarkable story of his encounter with purgatory while preaching and studying the Bible. It was in his preparation work for a sermon series that Kenny first encountered the idea of purgatory – and it changed his life!

Listen and learn, in this episode, about the deep biblical roots of purgatory in the Bible. Kenny takes us through verses, through some of the logical problems of a Christian worldview without purgatory, and then tackles some of the most pressing objections that he himself would've held as an Evangelical – now debunked!

Find Kenny and Dave Armstrong's fantastic book God of Love, Fire, and Light: A Biblical Defence of Purgatory.

Also find a follow Kenny's YouTube channel Bible Highlights and, as always, his work with the Coming Home Network International.

Send your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com.

Sign up for our newsletter for my reflections on episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive contests.

To watch this and other episodes please visit (and subscribe to!) our YouTube channel.

Please consider financially supporting this show!

For more information visit the Patreon page. All patrons receive access to exclusive content and if you can give $5/mo or more you'll also be entered into monthly draws for fantastic books hand-picked by me.

If you'd like to give a one-time donation to The Cordial Catholic, you can visit the PayPal page.

Thank you to those already supporting the show!

Theme Music: "Splendor (Intro)" by Former Ruins. Learn more at formerruins.com or listen on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp.

This show is brought to you in a special way by our Patreon Co-Producers. Thank you to Elli and Tom, Fr. Larry, Gina, Heather, James, Michelle, Noah, Robert, Shelby, Susanne and Victor, and William.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

Find and follow The Cordial Catholic on social media:

Instagram: @cordialcatholic
Twitter: @cordialcatholic
YouTube: /thecordialcatholic
Facebook: The Cordial Catholic
TikTok: @cordialcatholic