The Catholic Gentleman

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John Sablan spent the better part of his adult life being what he now calls the X factor in his family: the one holding everything back. Raised in abuse, living a wayward life, he and his wife stumbled into the Catholic Church, and he settled comfortably into being lukewarm. His marriage came to the edge. Then at a men's conference, with a general confession, and a priest praying deliverance over him in Latin changed the trajectory. In this conversation, John Heinen and Devin Schadt sit down with John Sablan to get at the real roots of what's keeping men soft and what it actually takes to do something about it.

Rooted in Thomistic psychology (which he studied under Fr. Chad Ripperger), John defines effeminacy the way Aquinas did: not a personality flaw, but a moral vice. The inability to deny pleasure in order to pursue the arduous good. He unpacks the trap men fall into when they finally decide to get serious: trading softness for stoicism, white-knuckling virtue as a self-improvement project, making the whole thing about proving themselves rather than serving God. They also tackle why "do you want to save your marriage?" is the wrong question.

🔥 Follow John and all his work -
www.serviaminstitute.com
www.johnsablan.com
www.worldablaze.org

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This stat should shake every Catholic father awake: 85 to 90 percent of kids raised in Catholic homes will leave the faith by adulthood.

We've somehow accepted that as normal. It's not. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Greg Popcak, a Catholic counselor with over 30 years in the trenches and author of more than 20 books, to talk about what the families who beat those odds are actually doing differently.

Greg walks me through the 12 research-validated habits that families who successfully pass on the faith all share in common, what he calls the Liturgy of Domestic Church Life. We get into why just dragging your kids to Mass and white-knuckling the family Rosary isn't enough if there's no joy behind it, why your kids need to experience the Faith as the source of the meaning in your home and not just the source of the rules. He breaks down what headship actually looks like when it's modeled after the ministerial priesthood rather than a dictator, and he tells a story from his time in Hong Kong about a father who tried to hug his daughter for the first time and she didn't even know what he was doing.

Catholic Hom App — https://www.catholichom.com/
Catholic Counselors — https://catholiccounselors.com/
More to Life — Greg and Lisa's daily EWTN radio program https://www.ewtn.com/radio/shows/more2life
Books by Greg Popcak: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001JS8324/allbooks

FREE Handmade Wooden Rosary with Pardon Crucifix This Month for those joining CG+
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👉 Devin Schadt's new book The Rule: ⁠https://sophiainstitute.com/product/the-rule/
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Exorcist priest Fr. Chad Ripperger grew up working in his father's diesel mechanics shop, where he learned that reality doesn't care what you think or how you feel. A bolt either fits or it doesn't. A machine is either fixed or it isn't. And a man is either being formed or he's being stunted. In this conversation, Fr. Ripperger unpacks why young men today are trapped in adolescence, what the curse of Adam has to do with effeminacy, and how the simple act of learning to use tools and do hard work is the antidote to the softness crippling an entire generation.

From the lessons his father taught him through one-liners and long days under the hood, to why men find such deep fulfillment in buying a new tool, to how his formation as a mechanic directly prepared him for his work as an exorcist, Fr. Ripperger connects the practical and the spiritual in a way only he can. If you're raising boys or trying to become the man you never had an example of, this one's worth your time.

This conversation was originally recorded in June 2024.

Get Fr. Ripperger's Book - Shop Talk - https://www.amazon.com/Shop-Talk-Catholic-Philosophical-Theological/dp/B0D5W954DK/ref=sr_1_1

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Video Producer – Pietro Damasceno
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Every man knows the difference between a morning that owns him and a morning he owns. In this episode, Devin Schadt and I walk through a practical seven-point framework for building a morning routine that actually holds. From the heroic minute and the science behind a fixed wake time, to what you put in your body before prayer, to why your evening examen the night before may be the most overlooked factor in how your next day unfolds.

We get honest about what didn't work, like falling asleep face-down at 4:45 a.m., white-knuckling 18 months without caffeine, and trying to out-pray their wives out of competition rather than conviction. This isn't a productivity hack. It's a rule of life built on obedience, worship, and the promise that God doesn't bless leftovers. He blesses first fruits.

🟢 Join Catholic Gentleman+ for over 31 sessions of exclusive formation, daily saint quotes, and a brotherhood of men pursuing holiness: ⁠⁠https://catholicgentlemanplus.com⁠⁠

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Video Producer – Pietro Damasceno
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Men today are doing everything they’ve been told, working hard, providing, staying faithful, yet they still feel disconnected or confused from their wives and children. In this episode, John Heinen and Devin Schadt sit down with Adam Lane Smith to uncover why. Drawing from the science of attachment theory, Adam exposes how a man can be highly capable on the outside while remaining emotionally isolated on the inside, and how that disconnect quietly shapes every relationship he has.

They explore the hidden dynamics behind fading desire, emotional shutdown, and why so many men default to solving problems alone. Adam also lays out a clear framework for rebuilding connection in marriage, including the overlooked steps that either strengthen or slowly erode a wife’s trust and intimacy.

Adam Lane Smith - https://adamlanesmith.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AttachmentAdam

🟢 Join Catholic Gentleman+ for over 30 sessions of exclusive formation, daily saint quotes, and a brotherhood of men pursuing holiness: https://catholicgentlemanplus.com

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