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Ever since he was received as a postulant in the Order Friars Minor, Fr. Casey Cole has been sharing his vocational journey. What began as a blog, titled "Breaking in the Habit," has now evolved into a popular YouTube channel, where he teaches about the faith with entertaining videos.
Fr. Cole’s videos cover Catholic concepts and practices, but often come at them from an out-of-the-box angle. In one video, for example, he explores the Catholic faith through the Harry Potter books. Another explains how Franciscans created the concept of a pawn shop.
18 Straight Minutes of Useless Catholic Trivia, featured above, was released earlier this year. The video is about what its title describes -- however, it is anything but useless. Fr. Cole’s smartly spun witticisms and rapid fire factoids are both educational and enlightening.
While the trivia may seem “useless” at first, it is an excellent way to connect with the history of the faith. Some of them are amusing -- like the fact that the next Pope Sixtus would be Sixtus the Sixth -- while others may cause one to view the Church in a new light.
An example of this would be when he touches upon Sr. Mary Kenneth Keller, the first woman to receive a doctorate in computer science. To discover that a Catholic nun helped blaze a trail to the Information Age is a point of pride for Catholics. The same can be said for Fr. Georges Lemaître, who developed the Big Bang Theory.
Fr. Cole presents each piece of Catholic trivia with dry humor that works well with the subject matter. For example, after explaining Sr. Keller’s doctoral thesis (in technical terms) he pauses and says, “Yeah … that.” Later on, he pauses to mention his sponsors, only to reveal there are no sponsors.
There is a wealth of Catholic information on "Breaking in the Habit," from the perspective of a young priest. Fr. Coles personable style is exceedingly accessible and has drawn nearly a quarter of a million followers. It is the perfect way to spend an afternoon laughing, while furthering your knowledge of the Catholic faith.
