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.

Most of us think of the resurrection as Jesus simply "coming back to life"...but that's not what actually happened. If you've ever though Easter was just about proving Jesus's power over death...this episode will blow that wide open!

In this episode, we dive into the reality of the resurrection. It's not just a cool miracle like Lazarus being raised, but something far more radical. Jesus didn't just return to His old life...He entered into a completely new, glorified existence.

And here's the part that changes everything: He did it for us.

We talk about what it means that Jesus's resurrected body is transformed, how He opens the door for us to share in His divine life, and why the resurrection isn't just something to celebrate once a year. It's the foundation of the life we're called to live right now.

"Offer it up" sounds holy...but what if you're not actually ready to?

In this episode, we unpack the reality of redemptive suffering and how our relationship with suffering develops over time.

Too often, we try to jump to the language of the saints without first going through the necessary stages of growth. Like St. Paul, when he said in Colossians 1:24, "...I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions..." He could only say that after years of following Christ and growing in holiness.

We talk about:

• Why it's okay if you're not "rejoicing" in suffering yet
• The stages of spiritual maturity in suffering
• What it really means to unite your suffering to Christ

Wherever you are in your journey, God is working! Happy Triduum!

In this episode we dive into our experience of embracing the three Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. What’s the point of these disciplines? Do they make us more worthy of God’s love or do they make us more capable of receiving the love God already has for us? Duh. But how we frame these practices for ourselves makes all the difference between a performative experience of penance and a transformative one. Join us as we discuss the highs and lows of Lenten disciplines and also make fun of Scott’s gut!

Is that perfection even possible? It is, but we must also have a proper understanding of what Jesus means by this. Join us as we discuss this rather challenging teaching and learn the difference between a human understanding of perfection and Jesus’ understanding. Perfection is possible but only if we first learn to receive from the Father of all goodness.

St. Paul describes a struggle that we all have—doing the very thing we hate or know we shouldn’t do (Romans 7). He describes a war that goes on between our conscience and the desires of our flesh for earthly pleasure. Join us as we explore this all-too-common challenge we face as human beings. Together we lay out our own personal challenges and discuss how Lent helps us overcome our divided hearts through the grace of Christ.