Mass Prep | The Jesus We Try to Edit (Matthew 16:21–27)

Some saints were said to literally glow.In this episode, we look at the strange stories of luminous saints, the Transfiguration, theosis, and what it might mean for a human life to become radiant with Christ.---🕊️Resources 🕊️Mysticism, Word By Word -- Theosis: https://youtu.be/TRbknjxcA5U?si=BzlYg2gZhzG9V8xz My Catholic Zine, The Margins: www.stanthonystongue.com/margins My Book, A Catechism of the Strange: https://www.amazon.com/Catechism-Strange-Stigmata-Relics-Miracles/dp/0829460683 My Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/anthonystongue 

What if heaven is closer than we think?In this Mass Prep, we explore Matthew 18:15–20, communal prayer, the Bride of Christ, and Jesus’ strange promise to be in the midst of us.

What happens when Silicon Valley’s values start shaping the Catholic imagination?In this episode, I’m talking about optimization, branding, algorithms, prayer streaks, Catholic AI, “frictionless faith,” and the danger of treating holiness like something that can be measured on a dashboard.This isn’t an anti-tech rant. It’s a plea for a messier, more embodied, more human Church — one where people still have faces, names, wounds, and time for one another.I just want to see her face.🤖Resources 🕊️Essay - Against Silicon Valley Catholicism: https://stanthonystongue.substack.com/p/against-silicon-valley-catholicism Issue V - Beware of Catholic Robots: https://www.stanthonystongue.com/margins/p/issue-v-beware-of-catholic-robots My Book, A Catechism of the Strange: https://www.amazon.com/Catechism-Strange-Stigmata-Relics-Miracles/dp/0829460683 My Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/anthonystongue 

Join my PatreonCheck Out my ZineOrder my BookIn this week’s Mass Prep, we look at Matthew 16:21–27: Peter trying to correct Jesus, what it means to actually follow Christ, and the strange call to lose your life in order to find it.

What if the spiritual life is less about finding God, and more about realizing that God has been chasing you the whole time?In this episode, we look at Francis Thompson’s The Hound of Heaven, the conversion of Jacques Fesch, Jonah, the lost sheep, and the strange, relentless mercy of a God who refuses to stop coming after us.God Chases You Like a Dog (Essay)The Margins: A Catholic Zine Buy My Book, A Catechism of the Strange

Order my book here.Buy a zine here. In Matthew 16:13–20, Jesus asks Peter one of the most important questions in the Gospel: “Who do you say that I am?”This week, we’re reflecting on faith becoming personal, learning to recognize Christ, and the beautiful moment when Peter names Jesus—and Jesus names Peter.

Order my book, A Catechism of the Strange here: https://www.amazon.com/Catechism-Strange-Stigmata-Relics-Miracles/dp/0829460683 In this episode of Mysticism, Word by Word, we explore the Christian idea of becoming more like God through grace, where it appears in Scripture, how the mystics understood it, and what it looks like in everyday spiritual life.

In this episode of From the Margins, I’m talking about why I wrote Beware of Catholic Robots — my new manifesto on Catholic AI, prayer apps, digital spirituality, human dignity, work, and what happens when faith becomes optimized, monetized, and frictionless.We’ll get into Catholic AI companies, spiritual formation, AI and pastoral care, the gamification of prayer, ethical labor, and why the Church should remain stubbornly human.Get Issue V: Beware of Catholic Robotshttps://www.stanthonystongue.com/margins/p/issue-v-beware-of-catholic-robots

Order My Book, A Catechism of the StrangeWhat is the stigmata — and more importantly, what does it mean?In this episode, we explore the strange Catholic phenomenon of the stigmata, the wounds of Christ appearing on the bodies of saints and mystics. We’ll talk about St. Francis of Assisi, redemptive suffering, victim souls, “offering it up,” and why these mysterious wounds reveal something deeper about suffering, sacrifice, and union with Christ.This is also one of the central ideas behind my new book, *A Catechism of the Strange*: strange Catholic phenomena aren’t just curiosities — they teach us something about God, holiness, and the human soul.

Matthew 14 gives us two banquets, and two very different kinds of kings.Herod feasts inside a palace, surrounded by wealth, spectacle, and powerful guests. By the end of the night, John the Baptist’s head is carried into the room on a platter.Then Jesus gathers the hungry in the wilderness.No palace. No guest list. No VIP section. Just grass, hunger, compassion, and bread placed into the hands of God.In this Mass Prep, we explore what these two feasts reveal about power, Catholic leadership, luxury spiritual experiences, and the uncomfortable question of whether we sometimes look more like Herod at the banquet than Christ among the hungry.Every kingdom eventually sets a table.The question is what it eats.