Ave Maria In The Afternoon

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus delivers the Beatitudes. We unpack the readings with Rob Corzine.

A new survey from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate finds that the majority of Catholic voters cite the cost of living, inflation and unemployment as higher priorities than life issues. Matthew Bunson joins us with more.

What if you are asked to support someone with whom you are close — a parent, spouse, child, sibling, cousin, friend — in his or her decision to commit assisted suicide. More anguishing, what if your loved one wants you to be there for it? What would you do? Wes Smith joins us.

The latest report from Aid to the Church in Need shows that millions of Christians around the world continue to live under persecution. Ed Clancy has the latest data.

Some Protestants object to the Catholic view on Sacred Tradition on the grounds that we can’t know its content the way we can know the content of Scripture. Tom Nash joins us.

In October 2006, Richard Dawkins published his book “The God Delusion.” As one of the “Four Horsemen” of the New Atheism, Dawkins envisioned a world that had freed itself from the shackles of organized religion. Does his vision have staying power? Louis Markos joins us.

Archbishop James Golka of Denver has asked Father Chad Ripperger to take a yearlong break from public speaking and interviews. Matthew Bunson joins us with a look at this and other Church news.

The stigmata is one of the strangest phenomena in the Catholic faith. Visionaries who have experienced the stigmata are living crucifixions, vividly portraying before the world Christ’s atoning death. We dive into their history with Paul Kengor.

Bishop Mark Beckman of Knoxville, Tennessee has ordered priests to stop praying the St Michael prayer at the end of Mass, saying it is not appropriate to add additional prayers to the liturgy. Marcus discusses the story.

The headlines this weekend brought news of two sudden, shocking deaths. A priest in Ecuador died while celebrating Mass when the crucifix fell of the wall and struck him – just moments after a homily in which he preached about how we prioritize our time. And a member of the US Air Force fell from the rafters during a pregame demonstration at a college football game, later dying of his injuries. If this doesn’t remind us of the fragility of life, nothing will. We must always “memento mori” – remember our deaths. Marcus has more.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, the Pharisees attempt to trick Jesus, asking if it is lawful to pay the taxes to Caesar. Jesus answers that they should “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” We unpack the readings with Rob Corzine.

In today’s First Reading, St. Paul writes to the Ephesians about how all of Salvation history, culminating in the Death and resurrection of Jesus, was envisioned by God from the beginning. And so when Paul declares that believers were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, he’s revealing the eternal horizon of the covenantal purposes that were first disclosed through Israel as a nation. Marcus has more.

Under the Levitical law, the priests were obligated to keep a fire perpetually burning on the altar of sacrifice. We discuss the theology of the temple flame with Mark Giszack.

Steve Ray is heading there on a pilgrimage, and you can join him! He joins us to talk more about the Biblical significance of the area.

Some are celebrating Canada’s government “indefinitely suspending” legalizing euthanasia for mental illness as a great victory for life – but Wes Smith thinks there are still reasons to be concerned. He explains why.