This Should Be Good
This Should Be Good is a video podcast hosted by Bishop Michael Martin and Andy Pfeiffer — two longtime friends having honest conversations designed to reach the disengaged, the curious, or those who have left the Catholic Church. To do so, they discuss topics people ask about and position the bishop as the humble, genuine, real, yet great spiritual guide that he is.
Ep9: Hope or Optimism? What’s the Difference, and How to Use Both | This Should Be Good
Bishop Michael and Andy take a listener’s question about caring for aging parents with no end in sight, and land on why hope is different from optimism, why it’s rooted in relationship, and why the first step out of despair is reaching out to someone.
Episode Highlights:
00:00 — This week’s listener question from Eric: how do you find hope while caring for aging parents, or in any season with no light at the end of the tunnel?
01:44 — Why hope can’t be summoned on demand, and the daily question that builds it: what are...
Ep8: Is There a Rule Book for Heaven? | This Should Be Good
Bishop Michael and Andy take on a listener’s question about whether there’s a rule book for getting into heaven, and land on why the answer has less to do with rules than with relationship, the small choices that shape who we become, and trust in a merciful God.
Episode Highlights:
00:00 — A listener named Jessica asks whether there’s a rule book for getting into heaven or avoiding hell, and whether one big bad thing counts more than a lot of little ones
00:43 — Andy on losing his father, Elliott, and the image from Bisho...
Ep7: From $500 and a Friend's Floor to a 40-Person Agency | This Should Be Good
Andy takes the hot seat to answer a listener's question about starting a business and leading a team, tracing his path from sleeping on a friend's floor to running a 40-plus-person ad agency, and he and Bishop Michael land on why hard work, open eyes, and authentic relationships matter more than the money and whether God has a plan for your career or you're writing your own.
Episode Highlights:
00:31 — Charlotte's Greek festival weekend, and a review of The Odyssey on IMAX: some eternal truths, and a warning about lotus flowers
01:50 — This week's listener ques...
Ep6: The Part of Forgiveness Nobody Talks About | This Should Be Good
Bishop Michael and Andy take on three listener questions on forgiveness and confession (whether it's better to forgive or be forgiven, how to forgive someone while still drawing a boundary, and why Catholics confess their sins to a priest) and land on why forgiveness starts with humility and means letting go of the hurt, not erasing the consequences.
Episode Highlights:
00:31 - Andy tries something new, opening with three listener questions, including one from Sara, a pastor's daughter, on forgiveness and boundaries
03:49 - Andy's take on forgiveness as shedding the layers we pile on...
Ep5: Staying Friends Across the Political Divide | This Should Be Good
Bishop Michael and Andy tackle a listener's question, inspired by a mother and daughter torn apart by politics, about how to stay close to people whose politics differ from yours. They land on why seeing past labels and choosing relationship over being right matters more than winning the argument.
Episode Highlights:
00:39 — Andy asks Bishop Michael if he's ever crushed a homily, only to find out later it fell completely flat
03:11 — Preaching to a congregation that spans newborns to 90 year olds, every political persuasion, and every kind of pain walking in the door
04...
Ep4: The Vow That's Hardest to Keep | This Should Be Good
Bishop Michael and Andy break down the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, trace the word “friar” back to its Latin roots, and land on which vow is hardest to actually live and why real selflessness has almost nothing to do with money.
Episode Highlights:
00:00 — Andy makes his case for honorary Franciscan status, from a company called “Fran Holdings” to a dog named Franny
02:07 — The real meaning of “fraternity,” and how diocesan priests differ from religious orders like the Franciscans, Jesuits, and Benedictines
07:21 — What “ordained” actually means, and who takes vows without becoming a pri...
Ep3: Is Comparison the Thief of Joy? | This Should Be Good
Andy and Bishop Michael tackle a listener's question about comparison culture and social media: why do we measure our lives against everyone else's, and what actually helps? Along the way, the Bishop gets honest about whether the life he chose ever leaves him envious of the one most people get to live, and the two land on gratitude as the real antidote to comparison.
Episode Highlights:
00:00 — Introducing today's topic: comparison culture and envy
01:11 — What Bishop Michael says he still misses, and what he doesn't
05:24 — Is social media the cause of comparison cultur...
Ep2: I have my doubts. Do you? | This Should Be Good
Bishop Michael and Andy dig into one of the biggest questions listeners have sent in: is it okay to have doubts? After a round of rapid-fire questions, the two get into what doubt really is, why the opposite of faith isn't doubt but certainty, and how even a bishop wrestles with it.
Episode Highlights:
00:00 — Introducing today's topic: doubt versus faith
00:45 — Rapid-fire: the career he'd have chosen instead of the priesthood
03:35 — Rapid-fire: his most embarrassing sing-along confession
04:10 — The phone call that led him from sportswriting to religious life
08:02 — Discernmen...
Ep1: Is Rest Actually Allowed? Bishop Michael on Hustle Culture and the Sabbath | This Should Be Good
Bishop Michael and Andy have been friends for over 30 years, and they're kicking off This Should Be Good by tackling a question a lot of us are quietly asking: is it actually okay to rest? Between hustle culture, the $1.8 trillion wellness industry, and the guilt that creeps in the moment we slow down, Bishop Michael breaks down what the Sabbath was really designed for, and it's not about doing nothing.
Episode Highlights:
00:00 — Bishop Michael and Andy open with this week's real question: is rest actually allowed?
02:02 — Bishop Michael on his own Friday day off...
