Matt Fradd
Spirituality/Belief • Books • Writing
This PWA community exists to facilitate an online community of PWA listeners and all lovers of philosophy and theology.
Interested? Want to learn more about the community?
3 hours ago

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time — Matthew 10:37–42

Today is the Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A, and the Gospel comes from Matthew 10:37–42. This passage is one of the most demanding — and most liberating — things Jesus ever said to His disciples. Let's break it down.


📖 The Gospel Text

Jesus says: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man's reward."


🔍 What Is Jesus Actually Saying?

1. Love Rightly Ordered — Not Love Destroyed

This is not Jesus telling us to stop loving our families. When Jesus says, "He who loves father or mother… son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me," He certainly does not intend to undervalue love for parents and children — but He knows that if family bonds are put in first place, they can deviate from the true good.

When love for parents and children is inspired and purified by love for the Lord, it then becomes wholly fruitful and produces good fruits within the family itself and well beyond it.

The key word is more than. Jesus isn't asking us to love less — He's asking us to love rightly. God first, and everything else finds its proper place within that love. This is what the Church calls the right ordering of loves — a core principle flowing from the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-38).

That is the sneaky onset of idolatry — loving something or even someone over and above God. In the beginning of today's Gospel, Jesus is cautioning us against idolatry and reminding us that the life of discipleship requires sacrifice.

2. Take Up Your Cross — Daily, Personally

Following Christ means following Him along the path that He Himself trod, without looking for shortcuts. There is no true love without the cross — that is, without a personal price to pay.

The cross is not a metaphor for mild inconvenience. It is the real cost of discipleship. Our cross changes from time to time — the cross of today is different than it was a month ago, or ten years ago, and it may be different a month or ten years from now. We all have different crosses to bear at different times in our lives.

The cross is not frightening when borne with Jesus, because He is always at our side to support us in the hour of the most difficult trial, to give us strength and courage.

3. Lose Your Life to Find It

This is the paradox at the heart of the Gospel. The leap that Jesus asks us to take with Him in this Gospel reading is not to cease loving other people, but to seek Him first — which requires trusting in Him as we undertake the burdens and crosses in our life.

Jesus asks us to let go of the attachments that keep us from pursuing Him in the selfless way that He pursues us.

4. Receive Christ by Receiving His Disciples

The one who receives a prophet or righteous person, the one who gives cold water to the "little ones" — all of these share an identity with those whom they serve and with Christ. That's Jesus' idea of family: acting like family, we become family.

Jesus reveals the extraordinary depth of this when He says, "Whoever receives you, receives me, and whoever receives me, receives the One who sent me."


🌿 The Big Picture

Jesus' idea of family was very different from that of His contemporaries — and much larger. In today's Gospel, Jesus turned His culture upside down in regard to families. He wasn't dismantling the family — He was expanding it into the Kingdom of God.

The whole passage is a call to radical discipleship: love God above all, carry your cross without flinching, and serve Christ in every person you encounter. This is not merely a counsel for mystics or monks — it is the universal call of every baptized person.


💡 One Practical Takeaway

Ask yourself honestly: Is there a relationship, a comfort, or an attachment in life that has quietly moved into the place that only God deserves? The question becomes: What is my cross? Am I taking it up — or am I leaving it on the side of the road?


What is the one thing in your life right now that, if surrendered to God completely, would most transform your relationship with Him?


Download Truthly, the Catholic AI app. Get on-demand answers to questions, be inspired daily, and learn to share the truth with confidence. Download now: https://get.truthly.ai/TlbX/sharetruthly

Interested? Want to learn more about the community?
What else you may like…
Videos
Podcasts
Posts
Articles
Accidentally Agreeing with Calvinist TikToks | Dr. John Bergsma | Last Call Ep. 21

It’s Last Call, Dr. John Bergsma is back to respond to Calvinist TikToks and explain where Catholic theology agrees and diverges from the five points of Calvinism. 

Pints: Last Call Ep. 21


📚Resources Mentioned: 

The Gospel of John Course by Dr. John Bergsma: https://stpaulcenter.com/

Truthy 30 Day Free Trial: https://get.truthly.ai/TlbX/MATT30


📕 Get my newest book, Jesus Our Refuge, here: https://a.co/d/bDU0xLb

🍺 Want to Support Pints With Aquinas? 🍺

Get episodes a week early, score a free PWA beer stein, and join exclusive live streams with me! Become an annual supporter at 👉 https://mattfradd.locals.com/support


💻 Follow Me on Social Media:

📌 Facebook:   / mattfradd  

📸 Instagram:   / mattfradd  

𝕏 Twitter/X:   / pints_w_aquinas  

🎵 TikTok:   / pintswithaquinas  

📚  PWA Merch – https://dwplus.watch/MattFraddMerch

👕 Grab your favorite PWA gear here: https://shop.pintswithaquinas.com

#MattFradd #DrJohnBergsma #LastCall #Catholicism #CatholicChurch #PintsWithAquinas#DailyWire

00:27:33
SSPX Ordinations, Vatican II, and the Liturgy Wars (Jacob Phillips)

Catholic theologian Jacob Phillips is here to discuss papal authority, the SSPX's looming schism over unauthorized ordinations, liturgical division between the Novus Ordo and Traditional Latin Mass, and the broader crisis of institutional trust facing the modern Church.

Ep. 585

Theotokos Rosaries: https://dwplus.shop/TheotokosRosaries

📚 Resources Mentioned:

Jacob Phillips: https://jacobphillips.net

Truthy 30 Day Free Trial: https://get.truthly.ai/TlbX/MATT30

01:57:53
Michael Jones DESTROYS Muslim TikToks | Last Call Ep. 20

It’s Last Call! Michael Jones is back to destroy pro-Islam TikToks  from fake Quranic miracles to Sharia law apologists.

Pints: Last Call Ep. 20

📚Resources Mentioned: 

Michael Jones: Inspiring Philosophy – https://youtube.com/@inspiringphilosophy

00:31:49
Simple NEW Lofi Song

Working on an entire album of lofi music. Here's one of those songs. Album should drop next week. THEN, a couple of weeks after that we hope to have our 24/7 stream up and running.

Simple NEW Lofi Song
December 01, 2022
Day 5 of Advent

THE ERROR OF ARIUS ABOUT THE INCARNATION

In their eagerness to proclaim the unity of God and man in Christ, some heretics went to the opposite extreme and taught that not only was there one person, but also a single nature, in God and man. This error took its rise from Arius. To defend his position that those scriptural passages where Christ is represented as being inferior to the Father, must refer to the Son of God Himself, regarded in His assuming nature, Arius taught that in Christ there is no other soul than the Word of God who, he maintained, took the place of the soul in Christ’s body. Thus when Christ says, in John 14:28, “The Father is greater than I,” or when He is introduced as praying or as being sad, such matters are to be referred to the very nature of the Son of God. If this were so, the union of God’s Son with man would be effected not only in the person, but also in the nature. For, as we know, the unity of human nature arises from the union of soul and body.

The...

Day 5 of Advent
November 27, 2022
Day 1 of Advent

RESTORATION OF MAN BY GOD THROUGH THE INCARNATION

We indicated above that the reparation of human nature could not be effected either by Adam or by any other purely human being. For no individual man ever occupied a position of pre-eminence over the whole of nature; nor can any mere man be the cause of grace. The same reasoning shows that not even an angel could be the author of man’s restoration. An angel cannot be the cause of grace, just as he cannot be man’s recompense with regard to the ultimate perfection of beatitude, to which man was to be recalled. In this matter of beatitude angels and men are on a footing of equality. Nothing remains, therefore, but that such restoration could be effected by God alone.

But if God had decided to restore man solely by an act of His will and power, the order of divine justice would not have been observed. justice demands satisfaction for sin. But God cannot render satisfaction, just as He cannot merit. Such a service pertains to one who ...

Day 1 of Advent

Interesting seeing Protestants calling Mary, the Mother of Our Savior an "evil queen."

Lord, have mercy.

Hello Matt,
Fellow Aussie Here.
Have no clue if you will see this or not.
I am a recent leaver from the PBCC ( Plymouth Brethren Christian Church) or the Exclusive Brethren Cult, its a small sect that is getting a lot of attention in the Australian Media. I have become Catholic and was Confirmed at the Past Easter Vigil along with 8 other family members all at once, Yeah the poor parish priest, the poor bugger! . We are hoping to travel to the States in September for our first holiday, these are mostly banned in the PBCC, we are going to be in Nashville for a couple of days, i know you a busy guy obviously but i would love to thank you in person for your Youtube channel, its was this among others that made me question everything i was fed as a child and adult, seeing the facts of the One true Church, the Fullness of Truth.
Anyway i thought i would post as its worth a shot.
Vegemite Rules!
Cheers,
Scott

I thought I’d post my book talk in case anyone was interested:

When I was younger, I’d overhear daily greetings between old timers, and they would go something like this, 
“How ya doing, Bob?”
 And I’d hear something like, “Can’t complain. No one wants to hear it!” 
I’d hear a chuckle with a response of, “Ain’t that the truth?” 
I found it a little morbid, but we’d all chuckle together, eventually, because that’s how we solved our problems back then, with jokes, and lots of ‘em! After all, if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. As I got older, I realized there was something else hidden in those exchanges. Beneath the punchline was a quiet acknowledgment of suffering. They weren’t really saying, “Nobody wants to hear it.” They were saying, “Life is hard, and we’re carrying it together.” 
And that’s where advocacy begins. 
Disability advocacy is not standing at a podium and shouting at people, not always anyway. Christian advocacy, or what we call evangelization, is definitely not that. Instead, it ...

Since Joining The Daily Wire...

Since joining The Daily Wire, we’ve started streaming the show on Spotify, and somehow we’re now in the top 7 under Religion & Spirituality. 

Take that, other religions and spiritualities!

Seriously though, thank you to everyone who watches here on Locals, Youtube, or Spotify. 

Christ is King. Glorify Him. 

PS: I know the Internet keeps saying that the Daily Wire is a sinking ship but I disagree :) But even if PWA will sink, it will sink proclaiming the goodness of God and Holy Mother Church.

Thanks for helping me do that.

Read full Article
December 16, 2025
post photo preview
6 Month Daily Wire+ Membership (FREE!)

Hello dear Locals member!

I want to thank you again for your support. And I'm not talking about your hard earned money (though I'm grateful for that!). I'm thankful for you for trusting me during this transition. And more than that, some of you have even come to my defense when haters online have accused me of selling out to those nefarious Jews!

Here's a comment we just got on my interview with Scott Hahn:

"What an absolute delight. I hope that everyone who was throwing shade and casting judgement on the new PWA/DW relationship takes a deep listen to this first post-collaboration episode. Seriously! I feel that having Hahn on speaks volumes to the integrity of PWA and the respect DW has for that integrity." - @arealdonut

Okay ... with that out of the way, I'm happy to annoucne that:

  • Locals members (whether monthly or annual members) will get 6 months of DailyWire+ for free!
  • Existing Daily Wire subscribers will get a 6 month extension on their account. No action needed.
  • If you’re not yet subscribed to DailyWire+, you’ll be sent an email the week of January 5 containing a unique code for 6 months of DailyWire+ for free.
  • If you’re not subscribed to our emails, be sure to go to pintswithaquinas.com/subscribe, scroll to the bottom where it says “sign up to get the Latest”, enter your name and email and click sign up now.

God bless you guys, and thanks again.

Matt

Read full Article
October 23, 2025
post photo preview
It's finally here! Jesus Our Refuge 🙌

It’s finally here! 

I’ve been pouring my heart into what I truly believe is an important book—Jesus Our Refuge (get here). It’s the most personal thing I’ve ever written, and my hope is that it helps you find peace and refuge in the heart of Jesus. 

Please consider getting a copy here and reviewing!

P.S. I don’t earn anything from this book. When I wrote it, I knew it had to reach far and wide, so I partnered with a publisher who believes in that mission. Every bit of the royalties I’d have received goes into a fund to give away one million copies for free.

 

 

Read full Article
See More
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals