Ave Maria In The Afternoon

When people do us wrong, Jesus instructs us to turn the other cheek and forgive – 70 times 7. It’s easier said than done. Jennifer Hubbard experienced the ultimate horror on December 14, 2012, when her six-year-old daughter Catherine was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting. She joins us to share how she learned to forgive.

Chapter 7 of the Gospel of St. Luke records an encounter that took place when Jesus was eating in the house of a Pharisee named Simon when a woman enters the house and anoints his feet with precious oil. Simon is aghast that a supposed prophet would allow himself to be touched by such a sinner, and Jesus rebukes him. We talk more about the nature of Christ’s forgiveness with Joe Heschmeyer.

Pope Leo XIV has called his recent pastoral visit to France a “great gift,”saying the trip could be understood through one central image: the reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. We talk about his trip and other church news with Matthew Bunson.

Suffocation awaited a young man with Down syndrome when the eroded surface of a toxic sewage tank crumbled beneath his feet. Joseph Vander Woude would have died alone in the cramped tank surrounded by toxic fumes, but his father jumped in, pushing him toward the surface with his last breath. Nearly two decades later, a group of Catholics are working to open the cause for Tom Vander Woude. His son Chris joins us.

Why am I here? Where am I going? How do I get there? Those are the questions we all face as we ponder our place in this world. Fr. John Riccardo has written a new book inviting everyone to rediscover the message of the Gospel – that there is a God, and that He loves them. He joins us.

When he was a Protestant, Steve Ray believed that Marian apparitions were a trick of the devil designed to draw Catholics away from Jesus. Today, he regularly visits places like Lourdes and Fatima. Steve takes us on a deep dive of how he came to understand these mysteries.

Fifty-eight years after its promulgation, Humanae Vitae is still a pivotal document and you see its living heartbeat in numerous nations, including in Poland, where Mark Regnerus recently visited. He shares what he saw there.

Marcus and Paul Kengor discuss the lasting impact of the Church’s newest Blessed!

Preschool is no place to teach three- and four-year-olds to choose their own gender, but in Colorado, families choosing schools that share this belief are denied the state funding that all other families receive. Andrea Picciotti-Bayer has more.

Religious freedom and academic freedom suffered a blow this past summer when Purdue sociologist Fenggang Yang was disinvited from delivering the keynote address at a conference in Texas. Dan Philpott tells the story.

A new form of relationship estrangement is afoot. Whereas, in the past, relationships tended to rupture over issues like abuse, today, people are increasingly estranged because of politics. More than sixty-eight million Americans are currently alienated from close family members. Though going no contact is frequently framed as an act of empowerment and self-care, behind the numbers are millions of hurting people—and an ideology that threatens not only relationships but the entire fabric of society. Noelle Mering joins us.

In this Sunday’s First Reading, Isaiah invites us to seek the Lord and call on His name. We unpack the readings with Rob Corzine.

Matthew Bunson was a seven-year-old boy living in Hawaii the day his family hosted Fulton Sheen for dinner. He shares some memories.

Jack Ludwick is a sophomore at Yale. Over the last two years, he has seen a growing presence of Catholic faith and philosophy on the Ivy League campus. He shares more.

One of the strange ironies of the Christian life is that sorrow and suffering are to be celebrated as a chance for sanctification. Marcus reflects on today’s Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.