Celibate Christian, Catholic Historian, and Leader in an Opus Dei Residence in Amsterdam, Paul Graas join Scott on the podcast to discuss Catholicism and his journey of discovering his personal vocation to join Opus Dei and live a life of celibacy. He has a Spanish mom and a Dutch dad with six siblings. He grew up in a Calvinist primary school in the Bible Belt of the Netherlands, then Catholic high school in the southern tip of Spain, in a town where spaghetti westerns were filmed, then back to the Netherlands for his university days. He operates often in between the two Catholic and Protestant worlds. This gives Paul a unique ability to articulate Catholic doctrine in ways that Protestants can relate to. He is also a published author, a co-host on the Dutch podcast Goed, Beter, Best, and an expert on character formation and spirituality, especially on topics concerning the digital world, like social media, porn, screens, etc.
Paul's Personal Vocation: Paul got a personal call from when he was 16 to truly give his life to God. He calls it his personal vocation to join the Catholic order called Opus Dei. But what it involved was living a life of celibacy. He confronts the feeling that celibacy is a curse Christians put on other people whose sexuality is not condoned in the Bible. His story shows that celibacy is a gift God can give to some and that the brothers he lives with in Opus Dei bring him fulfillment.
In Paul's Part Two Paul has some hard-hitting things to say for Protestants and for non-Christians. You will come away from these episodes feeling challenged and curious about just how wrong your Catholic stereotypes were.
Questions for the Community:
Message Us: