Ave Maria In The Afternoon

The modern world and our imprudent use of technology have left many of us isolated and struggling in fruitless cycles. We are often seeking what is right, with a strong desire to be transformed to participate in what is good, but don’t feel that we have the power to get there on our own. Alex Ziolkowski is launching a new app to help people in this fight. He joins us.

On December 16, 2002, Ken Craycraft made an impulsive decision that changed the course of his life. He gathered the liquor bottles from around his house and poured them down the sink – and he has not taken a drink since. Ken and Marcus speak about their experiences as alcoholics, bearing the cross of addiction, and what they want the loved ones of alcoholics to understand.

What does it mean to say that the Lord our God is a jealous God? And how does that relate to the doctrine of the Eucharist? Jared Staudt joins us.

Facing the English justice system and knowing his life was on the line, St. Thomas More refused to back down, insisting he could not set his private judgement against “the general council of Christendom.” He would not sever himself from the living body of the Church in history. Nearly five centuries later, society has forgotten that lesson. The West has not simply drifted from Christianity. It has, in a profound way, orphaned itself. We talk about it with Brendan Towell.

Päivi Räsänen, a Finnish Christian politician who had been barred from entering the United Kingdom to give a talk on free speech at a Northern Ireland church conference last week, was eventually granted a visa to enter the country — but it arrived too late. Matthew Bunson has more on this and other Church news.

Daniel Ortega has told Nicaragua to forget about elections. Nobody who has watched his regime work should be surprised. What should alarm Americans more is what Ortega and his wife, co-president Rosario Murillo, have already done to the one institution in Nicaragua they cannot fully control: the Catholic Church. His crackdown on Catholics shows why religious freedom is not a gift from the state — and why Americans should never take it for granted. Andrea Picciotti-Bayer has more.

In today’s First Reading, St Paul instructs the Thessalonians to ”stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.” Marcus unpacks today’s readings.

The Sacrament of Baptism saves us on an individual level. But it also goes beyond that – it is a vehicle to union with those who need God’s love. Mike Schramm joins us.

Rob Corzine unpacks the Sunday readings and David Bonagura asks why reading is on the decline.

Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio has announced that John Mary Foster, a priest of the archdiocese, has been found guilty of schism and has been dismissed from the clerical state. Matthew Bunson has more on this and other Church news.

Newly released texts show that Dr. Anthony Fauci privately told colleagues that a reaction some people had after their second COVID-19 vaccine dose “theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester.” Days later, he told the public that 10,000 pregnant women had received COVID-19 vaccines without any concerning safety signals being detected. “No red flags,” as he put it. Granted, the texts don’t prove the vaccines caused harm. But they do show a gap between what officials knew and worried about privately and what they told the public. All of this makes a court order out of Virginia worth attention. Andrea Picciotti Bayer has more.

A new survey by CatholicTV suggests widespread emotional distress among US Catholics, raising questions about how mental health may shape parish life and Mass attendance. Dr. Greg Popcak joins us.

On August 16, 1896, gold was discovered in the Yukon Territory of Canada, and the Klondike Gold Rush was on. More than 100,000 prospectors migrated north with dreams of striking it rich, but only a few thousand succeeded. It’s a warning for all of us today – where does your treasure lie? Marcus has more.

In 1974, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen stated that he intended to write a book about the demonic. But such a book never came to fruition. Now, some fifty years later, Sheen’s intended book has finally been compiled, all in his own words.’ Fr. Dave Tomaszycki joins us.

Today we celebrate the Feast of Blessed Michael McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus. His feast is today because it falls directly between the anniversaries of his birth and death. We talk more about his life and canonization cause with Brian Caulfield.