TOT: The Francis Effect
This week we concluded our current round of Theology On Tap. At the beginning of this series, Fr. Jacob gave a talk entitled: “The Francis Effect: Living the life of JOY!”. The audio is available below.
(Download)
"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
This week we concluded our current round of Theology On Tap. At the beginning of this series, Fr. Jacob gave a talk entitled: “The Francis Effect: Living the life of JOY!”. The audio is available below.
(Download)
Here’s the audio for the final Theology On Tap of this series entitled: “Call to Serve: Responding to the 2nd Greatest Commandment!” by Fr. John Tasto.

As I was driving into work today I realized that I never posted the handout from Theology On Tap. This is a single sheet which broadly outlines the approach to Bible study which I suggested in my talk. Here it is:
Theology On Tap is an initiative in the Diocese and throughout the USA where young adults gather in a bar or restaurant to listen to a speaker, to fellowship with one another and grow in their faith.
Earlier in the month, I gave a talk at Theology On Tap about Sacred Scripture. The series continues, this time with the talk being given by Jamie Cleaton.
Jamie is a fellow resident of San Diego, where he lives with his wife and three children. Jamie has been a youth minister for four years. He has been involved with all kinds of youth events and he has been a professional speaker since 2008.
Here is the audio for his talk entitled “Making tough decisions: Listening to God’s voice as you make daily life decisions”:
Main Talk (Download)
Q&A (Download)
It has taken me a while, but I finally got around to editing the audio from my recent Theology On Tap session entitled “Reading the Bible for all its worth”. The audio quality wasn’t great, but I’ve cleaned it up the best I can. For the benefit of those who couldn’t attend my talk, I have created a YouTube video which plays the audio synchronized with my slides:
The video doesn’t contain the Q&A after the talk or the “Mega Bible Study” discussion which took place afterwards. The audio for these sections is available below:
Main Talk (Download)
Q&A (Download)
Mega Bible Study (Download)
Handout (Download)
In my talk I recommend looking for one thing at each Sunday Mass to take away for your spiritual nourishment during the rest of the week and I suggest writing this down in a Mass Journal. I have six Mass journals to give away!
Simply leave a comment below describing an insight from a recent talk, sermon or Bible study which touched you. It doesn’t have to be earth shattering, just something which you might record in your new Mass Journal! The first six comments will win.

If you are a young adult in San Diego, want to know more about the Bible and love hearing the sound of an English accent, well, you’re in luck!
On 8th October I’m going to be giving the talk at Theology On Tap entitled “Reading the Bible for all its worth”. Click on the image below to download the flyer.
The talk is going to be at the Searsucker Restaurant in Del Mar (directions). We’ll have dinner 6:30pm-7:30pm. I’ll then give a 45 minute talk, there will be some Q&A and group discussion. We’ll have everything wrapped up by 9pm.
Will you come if I promise to talk about dating? 😉
Theology On Tap continues…
This week’s Theology On Tap talk was given by a Theology On Tap veteran, Dr. Michael Barber. Dr. Barber is a San Diego local and Professor of Theology, Scripture and Catholic Thought at John Paul The Great University.
In a previous Theology On Tap series, Dr. Barber gave a talk called “Spiritual lessons about politics” in which he looked at the wisdom which can be learned from the final book of the Bible, the book of Revelation.
This time his talk focused on understanding our Sunday liturgy, with a lecture entitled “Understanding the Mass: Why do we do what we do?”. This audio is available for download below:
Main Talk (Download)
Q&A (Download)
In the main talk Dr. Barber walked through the Mass, explaining meaning and Scriptural basis for the things that we do. If you would like to read more on this subject then I’d invite you to read Scott Hahn’s book, The Lamb’s Supper, as well as Dr. Barber’s book, Coming Soon.
The Q&A section was particularly lively this session. Here are the questions which were asked:
1. “What is the significance of King Melchizedek [mentioned in the Mass]?”
2. “Can you talk about the Eastern and Western liturgies for a bit?”
3. “The Eastern Rites make the sign of the cross one way, we do it another. Is there a ‘right’ way?”
4. “Why is it called ‘The Mass’?”
5. “Why do we have Mass every day?”
6. “In Acts, the Early Church has held ‘all things in common’. How does that apply today?”
7. “I went to Mass in LA and they stand instead of kneeling [after the Lamb of God. Is that allowed?]”
8. “Is there any difference between attending Mass and attending the Divine Liturgy?”
9. “Why is there a shift in the Apostles Creed between ‘We’ and ‘I’?”
10. “Why is there an additional part to the Our Father in most Protestant parishes?”
11. “Does someone remain a Catholic just because he/she was baptized in the Catholic Church?”
12. “The liturgy was recently re-translated from the Latin. Why wasn’t it done right the first time?”
13. “Who is your favourite student?”
14. “What was the part of the Mass you first fell in love with?”
15. “If you arrive late to Mass can you still take Communion?”
16. “How is the Mass a sacrifice?”
17. “What does it mean to be ‘a living sacrifice’?”
18. “‘I would be a Christian if I saw a Christian’. What does this mean?”
19. “Can you please explain the meaning of 1 Timothy 2:5? What is Paul trying to say?”
If you would like to hear a talk given by his better half, Kimberly Barber previously gave a talk on Mary, the Saints and the Angels.
The article “Words without thoughts never to Heaven go” first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net