Christians often misunderstand the meaning of "peace". Too often, it gets reduced to “just be nice” or “never fight back”—but that’s not what Jesus taught, and it’s not what the Church believes.

In this episode of Wise Guys Podcast, we challenge the idea that peace equals passivity. We dig into what Scripture actually says, what the Church teaches about self-defense, and why protecting human dignity requires us to establish and sometimes enforce real boundaries. Peace isn’t about avoiding conflict, it’s about responding to it rightly.

✅ NOTES: During this episode, when addressing Jesus’ prohibition of armed revolution, (turn the other cheek), I failed to mention one obvious point: by turning the other cheek, Jesus tells us to oppose political injustice through non-violent resistance. The three best examples of this are the March on Montgomery, the Solidarity Movement in Poland, and the March for Life. The logic of non-violent resistance does not eliminate the right to self-defense. Rather, it affirms that armed resistance is almost never a morally licit means for resolving political failure. It’s too destabilizing to the commonwealth. The same logic is applied when the state seeks to execute a Christian because of their faith. Non-violent resistance represents the decision to appeal to a higher authority, namely, God. It is not a command to be passive in the face of abuse.

-Dr. Michel Therrien

We talk about justice and mercy a lot, but do we actually know what they mean?

In this episode, we keep it simple. We define justice and mercy, walk through some real-life examples, and talk about how to actually live them out. Along the way, we also tackle why God's mercy can seem confusing-and why it's not.

This is a practical conversation to help you make better decisions in everyday situations.

In this episode we discuss:

• what justice actually means
• what mercy actually means
• how they work together rather than against each other
• how God's mercy reveals His justice, not the absence of it

The world is watching the situation with Iran unfold, but how should Catholics respond?

In this episode, we dive into the Church’s call for peace, why the Vatican often avoids taking political sides, and what that actually means. We also explore the reality of self-defense, the limits of Just War Theory, and the difficult question: what happens when your enemy doesn't want peace?

This isn’t a black-and-white issue, and we don’t pretend it is.