Shows
Respect Life RadioFather Brian Mullady: Freedom through His truth"We're actually becoming more free as we understand more about what the truth is ... through Christ's teaching," said Father Mullady, Dominican Catholic Priest, Professor, Scholar and author of eight books. "People who commit sin, enslave themselves to a certain point of view and they're not free even though they interpret freedom as license." In his new book, A Primer on Fundamental Moral Philosophy, Father Mullady explains what a well-formed conscience looks like and underscores that following one's conscience isn't enough without guidance from God and His Church. Chaos follows for individuals and the society around us.
Learn m...
2023-04-1027 minRespect Life RadioDr. Thomas Williams: Alarming persecution of faithChristians are being persecuted at an alarming rate across the world. Churches are being burned and Catholic communities have been driven underground, but most major news outlets aren’t covering the deteriorating situation. “These things are happening, but we are often unaware of how pervasive the issue is,” said Dr. Thomas D. Williams, a 2018 Visiting Research Fellow at the Center for Ethics and Culture at Notre Dame University who has written extensively about theology, philosophy, ethics and spirituality. In his new book, The Coming Christian Persecution, Dr. Williams explains how the post-Christian West has abdicated their position to protect Christians and has...
2023-04-0327 minRespect Life RadioR. Jared Staudt: In silence, find the peace you’re seeking“Cultivating this disposition of being able to enter into silence and to sit with the Lord can be absolutely central for growing in the spiritual life,” said R. Jared Staudt, Ph.D. “It's necessary to be very deliberate, to put up a fence...I want to really have peace of mind, I want to have peace of soul. I want my family to have peace in the home. So, we are going to foster that and protect it and guard it from these outside influences. So, that's the phone and any other devices...[to say] we're going to have a time...
2023-03-2727 minRespect Life RadioRachel Hoover: Why young Catholics are not marrying — and how to help"What I've seen among the circles that I run in — and the survey, as well — is that a lot of young Catholics are looking to date and marry someone who is within the same camp or division inside the Church, as they are," said Rachel Hoover in this Respect Life Radio interview. "So, they're not just looking for fellow Catholics, they're looking for the right type of Catholic, so to speak, the type of Catholic that they are. Obviously, this is very limiting. There are already a relatively small number of faithful Catholics in the world; if you're shrinking your...
2023-03-2127 minRespect Life RadioFr. Jeffrey Kirby: An easier way to read the Bible“The Bible is intimidating and overwhelming until we know it,” said Fr. Jeffrey Kirby, STD, author of “Understanding the Bible: A Catholic Guide to Applying God's Word to Your Life Today” (Our Sunday Visitor). “The Bible is actually a library...of 73 books. Once we learn just a few basic things, suddenly it becomes very approachable, very comfortable. And then we start reading it, we realize this is actually really helping me. God's speaking to me. I know of His presence, I feel more loved, I feel more strengthened. I can do now what He's calling me to do. Once we take th...
2023-03-1327 minRespect Life RadioFr. Timothy Vaverek: Realizing that Jesus Christ came to set us free“Jesus is calling us in this life, not just in the life to come, to throw off the disorder and the resulting evil — whether it's through our ignorance or through our deliberate sin — to throw that all off and come to stand upright. Don't go around crouched and bent over and twisted — and then: oh, we're going to accommodate you so you can walk around in that kind of distorted way.
"No. We have to stand up, walk on our two feet. And that transition from being twisted around — it's like physical therapy. It's painful for us. But it set...
2023-03-0627 minRespect Life RadioEric Sammons: Understanding the titles given to Jesus ChristMany of the titles given to Jesus “have Old Testament connotations. He's called Elijah, Jeremiah, King of Israel, Son of Abraham, Son of David. All these things have connections to the Old Testament. That's something we learn about in the Gospel of St. Matthew. Matthew is writing primarily to Jewish converts, people who have become Christian in the first century; they were Jews. Or, people that were thinking about Christianity from the Jewish background. So he really wanted to tie in that Jesus is that promised Messiah you read about in the Old Testament; here He is," said Eric Sa...
2023-02-2727 minRespect Life RadioFr. John Bartunek: To deepen your prayer, get ready, set, goA simple structure for prayer is "ready, set, go. 'Ready' is you just create a sacred time and a sacred space. I'm going to meet with God. I'm going to have my time alone with the Lord every morning, in this particular place. I'm going to light a candle...You begin that time, you turn off your phone, you recollect yourself...So that's getting 'ready,'" said Fr. John Bartunek, LC, author of books, including "40 Days to Peace and Union with God: A Journey in Prayer Through the Daily Gospels" (Sophia Institute Press).
"Then 'set' is the f...
2023-02-2027 minRespect Life RadioDr. Kevin Vost: Journey through Lent with the help of St. Thomas Aquinas"There's a meditation for every single day of Lent, typically about two pages long...focusing primarily on Scripture and on teachings of the Church Fathers. And yet, there's enough in each of those two pages — that meditation — that if you started that early in the morning, it will give you plenty to chew on, to ruminate, to ponder again throughout the day, in ways that will draw you closer to Christ every day as Lent progresses," said Dr. Kevin Vost, Psy.D., a professor and author whose recent book is "Aquinas's Lenten Meditations: 40 Days with the Angelic Doctor" (Sophia Inst...
2023-02-1427 minRespect Life RadioJoy Stockbauer: Every preborn child, even conceived in a crime, has a right to life"When a woman suffers sexual assault or rape — and especially, becomes pregnant in those situations — a woman is looking for justice. The abortion industry can so easily tell women to believe that justice in their circumstances would be having an abortion, and in fact, that having an abortion is the only just option," said Joy Stockbauer, policy analyst at the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council.
"When in reality, it's super important to speak the truth to women in this circumstance — and to anyone who cares about women in this circumstance — that the unborn child conceive...
2023-02-0627 minRespect Life RadioFr. Ed Broom: Seeking holiness through humility"The saints are God's heroes but they're very humble because they recognize all the good that they can do is because God gives them the grace" that corresponds to it, said Fr. Ed Broom, OMV, an author who wrote a recent article at Catholic Exchange, "Humility: the Cornerstone of Holiness."
Later in the interview, Fr. Broom said, "A lot of people don't want to go to confession because they don't want to humbly admit that they have fallen. But the fact of the matter is, as the psalmist points out, even the just man falls seven times a...
2023-01-3027 minRespect Life RadioJack Rigert: Defending your kids and family amid a spiritual war"There is no grand leader or political force that's going to ride in on the great white stallion to rescue humanity or to rescue your family. You have to be the hero. I don't care if you feel like it or not. God will give you the courage and the grace to be able to do that...," said Jack Rigert, co-founder of the John Paul II Renewal Center. "You have to be speaking about [cultural threats] in your house and your home. You have to be bringing your kids to Mass and the sacraments. You have to be praying...
2023-01-2327 minRespect Life RadioInes Murzaku: How a singing sensation reveals a crisis in vocations"Various religious orders in the Church are failing precisely because they have abandoned their constitutions, their charisms — and for what?" said Ines A. Murzaku, Ph.D., professor of religion and director of Catholic Studies Program at Seton Hall University.
Murzaka wrote a commentary, "Like a Virgin?" for The Catholic Thing. She described what happened to Cristina Scuccia after winning "The Voice of Italy" in 2014. An Ursiline nun, Scuccia later left the religious order and "is now a waitress in Spain," according to the article, citing media reports.
See more from Prof. Murzaka at her webpage.
2023-01-1627 minRespect Life RadioDebbie Cowden: Tired parents, here’s a prayer book just for you"If you're feeling helpless in your vocation, if you're feeling like you're resenting parenthood or marriage, family life — we want you to be able to find hope; to be able to have some practical tools for getting yourself out of that rut and to be able to experience the joy of your vocation and the love of God — and experience God's peace in your home. We really hope that our book accomplishes that for fellow Catholic parents," said Debbie Cowden, co-author with her husband, David, of "The Prayer Book for Tired Parents: Practical Ways to Grow in Love of God...
2023-01-0927 minRespect Life RadioJames Papandrea: Reading the Bible through the Church Fathers"We live in a world that is so focused on the self and individualism and each person making him- or herself their highest authority, that when you apply that sort of worldview and that sort of way of thinking to reading Scripture, then it very quickly becomes...all about me. And that's entirely the wrong way to read Scripture...Especially as our culture has been influenced by the Protestant Reformation and Protestant Christianity, I think that we have lost our way in terms of how we are supposed to read Scripture," said James L. Papandrea, Ph.D., a professor...
2023-01-0327 minRespect Life RadioSister Maris Stella: The Eucharist as the source of our life — and of the gospel of life"Today I would like to speak to you about how the Eucharist is the source of our life and it enables us to live the gospel of life," said Sr. Maris Stella, SV, of the Sisters of Life. "As the basis of my reflection, I'll use the Gospel of John and I'll speak about three things: the dignity of the human person, transforming the culture and abiding in Jesus' Eucharistic heart."
St. Maris Stella spoke as part of the Gospel of Life Presentation 2022, sponsored by Respect Life Denver and held Oct. 22 at St. Thomas More Catholic Parish...
2022-12-2627 minRespect Life RadioJoy Stockbauer: Rebuilding a culture of life by studying the fall of communism"What's really so parallel between communism and the culture of death in the United States is this common quality of failing to respect humanity, failing to respect the dignity of the human person. So we see that within communism — and then, of course, we see that within the abortion culture that has been built in the United States since 1973," said Joy Stockbauer, policy analyst for the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council.
"What Communism Can Teach Us About Rebuilding a Culture of Life" is the title of Stockbauer's recent commentary in The Washington Stand.
Fol...
2022-12-1927 minRespect Life RadioPhil Lawler: No need to apologize for hard truthsEverybody knows "the Catholic position on abortion...on contraception and divorce and homosexual acts...so when Catholic priests or bishops or any kind of spokesman for the Church seems to shy away from saying what everybody knows the Church believes, it makes it look as if we're ashamed of our beliefs or we're hypocritical about our beliefs. It makes the witness of the Church — well, just wimpy. No one is attracted to an institution whose representatives won't be forthright in defending what we know the institution believes and preaches," said Phil Lawler, editor of Catholic World News and book aut...
2022-12-1227 minRespect Life RadioFr. Peter Stravinskas: How to really pursue a Eucharistic RevivalJesus Christ is present "body, blood, soul and divinity" in the Eucharist, "so why the lack of belief in that truth? And I suggest that it's because of the way we regard and handle — and manhandle — the Eucharist, so that the signs and symbols of the liturgy are not reinforcing the doctrine," said Fr. Peter M.J. Stravinskas, Ph.D., who wrote an article for The Catholic Thing, titled "What's Really Needed for a 'Eucharistic Revival.'"
In his article, Fr. Stravinskas cited a number of reasons for that lack of belief in the Real Presence, including the...
2022-12-0527 minRespect Life RadioGreg Baylor: How a proposed marriage law targets religious libertyThe Respect for Marriage Act "poses a pretty significant risk to religious Americans, both individuals and organizations. Like the Equality Act, it hopes to cement into federal law the idea that marriage is not the institution, defined by God, consisting of the union of one man and one woman. It goes, obviously, far beyond that...The first thing it does is to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act that was passed by huge bipartisan majorities and signed by Pres. Clinton in the 1990s. It also imposes an obligation on many — including, potentially, religious organizations — to recognize same-sex marriage. And that's the...
2022-11-2827 minRespect Life RadioDr. Kevin Vost: Taking care of your body for health and holinessCiting the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, "It is a call to properly care for our bodies," said Dr. Kevin Vost, Psy.D., a professor and author whose many books include, "You Are That Temple! A Catholic Guide to Health and Holiness" (Sophia Institute Press). "We're not talking about just the capacity that you can run miles or lift some huge weight, but just that we're properly maintaining our bodies, trying to minimize the chances of getting any diseases that are going to slow us down. So that we're hopefully going to feel good and have...
2022-11-1827 minRespect Life RadioMaggie Green: Praying for your kids to return to the faith"No one wants to be a member of this club. You just wake up and find out that you've got a card. But what I have found is there's a tremendous fellowship. I know of a couple of parishes where they've formed, quite literally, a St. Monica Club, and they started with reading the book and then they meet...to pray for their families and to have fellowship and to help each other bear the burden," said Maggie Green, the pen name of the author of "The Saint Monica Club: How to Hope, Wait, and Pray for Your Fallen-Away...
2022-11-1427 minRespect Life RadioDavid Closson: Biblical principles to engage an arrogant culture"The idea of us trying to impose our sense of right and wrong — especially on something that's so clear [as pro-life] and to tell God we know better — my goodness that is the height of arrogance. But we do live in an arrogant culture that thinks we know better than God," said David Closson, director of the Center for Biblical Worldview at Family Research Council. "In the dialogue and conversations around this particular issue, you see that coming out, unfortunately."
Download a booklet, "Biblical principles for pro-life engagement," from the FRC website. Hear a previous Respect Life Radi...
2022-11-0727 minRespect Life RadioFr. Jeffrey Kirby: How the Brown Scapular can deepen your life in Jesus Christ"The scapular literally sitting on our body reminds us that we are consecrated to Jesus Christ, through Our Lady; that we follow a different path; we carry His yoke, the scapular almost even looks like a symbolic yoke that we wear on our shoulders," said Fr. Jeffrey Kirby, STD, a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, S.C., and the author of books, including "A Journey to Mount Carmel: A Nine-Day Preparation for Investiture in the Brown Scapular of Our Lady" (Sophia Institute Press). "So every day, that scapular is a reminder that I'm going to talk about...
2022-10-3127 minRespect Life RadioCharles Nemeth: Understanding the rules of true happinessFor Aristotle and Aquinas, happiness is "a state of contentment, an ability not to get into the highs or the lows but to be right in the mean of the highs and the lows — which means that you're balanced about these things, so your balance of your own intellect and your own will and you're capable of not getting distressed or too depressed or too happy about any particular thing," said Charles P. Nemeth, Ph.D., author of "Finding Happiness in a Complex World: Rules from Aristotle and Aquinas" (Sophia Institute Press). Nemeth is a professor and program director of...
2022-10-2427 minRespect Life RadioAdam Blai: Avoiding the demonic by honoring God"Most of these extraordinary cases come from violating the First Commandment and that means turning to a spirit other than God for comfort, information or power. So, if you're not playing around with other spirits than God, you're not usually going to end up in trouble. Now, if you start getting close to being in trouble, confession and the Mass — for the Catholic who has access to those sacraments — is going to resolve more than 90 percent of the situations," said Adam Blai, author of "The Exorcism Files: True Stories of Demonic Possession" (Sophia Institute Press).
Blai works in t...
2022-10-1727 minRespect Life RadioKristen Van Uden: How atheism developed and took root"This book really shows us that atheism and communism were not natural disasters that were just bound to happen, but rather they were ideological revolutions that were carefully calculated," said Kristen Van Uden, referring to "The Gods of Atheism," a 1971 book by Fr. Vincent Miceli, S.J., recently republished by Sophia Institute Press.
Van Uden is the author spokesperson at Sophia Institute Press and also "studies the persecution of Catholics under communist regimes," a subject on which she is writing a book. Van Uden is editor of, and a writer for, Catholic Exchange, including the recent article, "...
2022-10-1027 minRespect Life RadioFr. Timothy Gallagher: How Rule Five from St. Ignatius can help save your spiritual lifeDon't make any changes to your intended spiritual practice — such as going to confession, or attending daily Mass or making a planned retreat or reading Scripture — “when you're in the discouragement of spiritual desolation. That's [St. Ignatius of Loyola's Discernment of Spirits] classic Rule Five. I wish everybody in the Church knew that rule. I can't tell you how grateful in my own life I am for that rule; how many bad decisions I have not made because of Rule Five. People love it,” said Fr. Timothy M. Gallagher, O.M.V., author of "When You Struggle in the Spiritua...
2022-10-0327 minRespect Life RadioJoshua Nelson: How to offer up your fear"We submit ourselves to fear and that's a kind of enslavement to passion. And that kind of enslavement to passions damages us. It leads us to sin. It leads us to not fight for the greater good — to sins of omission when we should have done the greater good," said Joshua Nelson, who wrote an article, "Offer Up Your Fear," on Catholic Exchange. "By keeping Christ in mind, and at the forefront, it helps us put our attachments in perspective. Because, in many times and many circumstances that I've experienced fear, it's because I'm overly attached to something else."...
2022-09-2627 minRespect Life RadioFr. Robert Altier: For marriage and family under attack, here is God’s rescue plan"The attack is on the family. The family is the foundation for everything, in our own individuals lives, as well as for the Church and society. So for the good of our children — for the good, of course, of the married people — for the Church and society, as well, it's absolutely a necessity right now to really put the focus on marriage. You look at the history of the Church — and God always raises up people to come to the aid of whatever area is under attack. What the devil tries to do in destroying something, God brings good out of...
2022-09-1927 minRespect Life RadioJonathan Butcher: Let’s start over with Higher Ed"Coming out of the pandemic, the widespread dissatisfaction with the way that colleges, as well as traditional district public schools, handled education is palpable. We see it in surveys, we see it in parents moving their kids from assigned schools and creating learning pods and choosing private schools and finding other options for them," said Jonathan Butcher, the Will Skillman Fellow in Education, Center for Education Policy, at The Heritage Foundation. He wrote a recent commentary, "Don't Reform Higher Education. Rebuild It."
Hear a previous Respect Life Radio interview with him, "Critical Race Theory and the new i...
2022-09-1227 minRespect Life RadioMichael Pakaluk: Embracing four deaths that can lead to eternal life"There are two models of courage: one is absence of fear — and the other is being afraid, but being steadfast in holding your position, even though you are afraid. The Christian notion of...courage, which Our Lord presents, is different from both of those," said Michael Pakaluk, Ph.D., professor of ethics at The Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America.
He wrote an article for The Catholic Thing, titled "The Four Deaths," in which he recommends reading "The Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ," written by St. Alphonsus Ligouri. See more on Pak...
2022-09-0627 minRespect Life RadioKatie Tubb: Pres. Biden’s climate policy undermines American energy needsThe intent of Pres. Biden's climate policy "is to get rid of coal, oil and natural gas in the long term. As I said earlier, 79 percent of our energy needs come from those three resources. And 90 percent of our transportation energy needs are met through petroleum. So, the president's climate agenda is in direct opposition to Americans' daily well-being. And yet he's out there making climate the issue, but apparently only one percent of Americans actually care about," said Katie Tubb, research fellow at the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment at The Heritage Foundation, who wrote a recent...
2022-08-2927 minRespect Life RadioMeg Kilgannon: Combating threats against the innocence of children“I hope that these colleges that are coming from a Christian worldview are teaching the goodness and the beauty and the truth of Western civilization. And the freedom that you experience when you conform your life to the will of God. These are the kind of people that we want coming out of Christian institutions and going into the public school system; to be a witness of that truth. And it's sorely needed. It's desperately needed. And we see that need when we see the videos on sites like Libs of TikTok, the kind of agenda that some of th...
2022-08-2227 minRespect Life RadioLauretta Brown: Catholics who proclaim their faith – then work against it"In some ways it's sad to see people identifying as Catholics but then pushing these issues — not just as things they think are good — but they talk about the language of rights: a right to contraception, a right to same-sex marriage,” said Lauretta Brown, Washington-based staff writer for the National Catholic Register. “In the years that I've covered politics, though, unfortunately I've gotten quite used to seeing this: people being Catholic, talking about their faith, but turning around and disregarding some central Church teachings.”
See Brown's recent article, “Democrats’ Proposal to Codify Same-Sex Civil Marriage Poses Religious-Freedom Issues, Critics...
2022-08-1627 minRespect Life RadioDerek Rotty: How America lost its foundation on natural law“We are living in a new age of tyranny...of relativism, the dictatorship of secular modernity,” said Derek Rotty, who wrote a recent column for the National Catholic Register, titled, “Natural Law and Moral Virtues Bring Independence From Tyranny.” “What America has lost is its understanding, and its foundation, on the natural law.”
Rotty, the director of evangelization and discipleship at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Jackson, Tenn., is the author of the 2019 book, “A Life of Conversion: Meeting Christ in the Gospels” (Our Sunday Visitor).
Follow him @derekrotty on Twitter.
2022-08-0227 minRespect Life RadioSimone Rizkallah: Endow equips women to live out their mission“We call women together to study important documents of the Catholic Church,” said Simone Rizkallah, director of program growth for Endow. “We help women organize themselves into small group communities, whether that's in their homes or in their parishes. We create study guides to help them study the rich and important documents of the Church.”
Endow, founded in 2003, stands for Educating on the Natural and Dignity of Women. It has “grown into an international apostolate in over 130 dioceses, reaching over 40,000 women all over the world,” according to its website, endowgroups.org.
“I'm getting a lot of moms and wo...
2022-07-2827 minRespect Life RadioCharlie McKinney: How Catholics can find the wisdom for these times“The most important thing for any Catholic — right now and frankly, at any time in history — is to focus on your spiritual life. That is what's going to give us the wisdom to deal with the culture and all the problems that beset us. It's going to give us the understanding, the knowledge, the counsel and the piety that we need today,” said Charlie McKinney, president of Sophia Institute Press for the past decade. “We really focus on producing books and producing content that helps people to deepen their spiritual life.”
McKinney told his story in 2014 on "The Journey H...
2022-07-2527 minRespect Life RadioGianCarlo Canaparo: Dobbs decision a victory for U.S. democracyIn the recent Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the abortion issue to the people in each state, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively said, “'We've got to play fair. We need to obey the terms of the Constitution and nobody gets an unfair judicial advantage in these policy fights,'” said GianCarlo Canaparo, senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation. “Dobbs is the most pro-democracy decision the Supreme Court has handed down in several generations.”
Follow @heritage on Twitter.
2022-07-1827 minRespect Life RadioDr. Ray Guarendi: How to master anger and frustration"I realize that 90 percent of what I did that I regret would come from an emotional surge... Emotion doesn't last very long unless you feed it. If I can shut my mouth for...15 seconds and not say what I most had the urge to say, 15 seconds later the emotional surge will be probably cut in half. And then I will be able to control it," said Dr. Ray Guarendi.
Guarendi is "a Catholic father of ten adopted children, a clinical psychologist, author, professional speaker, and national radio and television host," according to his website, DrRay.com. He...
2022-07-1127 minRespect Life RadioAnthony DeStefano: Creating simple, but deep, books for kids and adults
"I always try to write as simply as possible, whether I'm writing for adults or children. My whole goal of my writing career is to simplify complicated spiritual, theological concepts — without watering down or compromising the faith. It's really easy to simplify things if you want to water them down. The trick is to keep them orthodox and traditional, but at the same time make them easier to understand," said Anthony DeStefano, author of "How the Angels Got Their Wings" (Sophia Institute Press).
DeStefano, based in New Jersey, "is the bestselling author of over twenty-five Christian books for adu...
2022-07-0527 minRespect Life RadioBishop Athanasius Schneider: The springtime that never cameSince the days of Saint Pope John XXIII, we were told “that we have entered — with Vatican II — a new time of the Church, a kind of new Pentecost and springtime. But everyone could state that it was really not a springtime. And now we are seeing that the churches are evermore empty and parishes are closed...convents are closed evermore and then the other aspects of the life within the Church, especially the great crisis of the clergy...the sexual abuses cases...and so on. In this sense, we cannot continue to speak about the springtime of the church...
2022-06-2827 minRespect Life RadioJim Papandrea: Pondering the truths of the early Church? It’s Catholic
"Whenever people ask me, 'Give me the short answer of why you reverted to the Catholic Church?' I tell them I discovered two things. Number one, I discovered sola Scriptura [Scripture alone] is false. The other one I discovered: apostolic succession is true. Apostolic succession is that process of the handing down of the truths of the Church through the Church Fathers. When you read the Church Fathers, you finally realize — wait a second — the early Church is Catholic," said Jim Papandrea, Ph.D., a professor at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, and the author of books, including "Read...
2022-06-2027 minRespect Life RadioDaniel Turner: The pro-life case for a fossil-fuel energy economy“Part of respecting life, and having a pro-life sentiment, is creating a pro-life environment. That requires attention to family needs and personal needs and housing needs, etc. And all of that is undergirded by energy. America is what it is right now...because we have 150 years of reliable and inexpensive energy. And that has enabled us to move the vast majority of people into the middle class, to start jobs that open factories and businesses. And that brings with it dignity and purpose and opportunity. And quite frankly, the chance to glorify God, because you have value in your li...
2022-06-1327 minRespect Life RadioPhil Lawler: Denying Communion to Speaker Pelosi a teaching moment for us allIn denying Holy Communion to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi until she publicly repudiates her advocacy of abortion, confesses and receives absolution, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone is "protecting the integrity of the sacraments but...also trying to protect the person — in this case — from herself. Because if you are receiving the Eucharist unworthily, you're just heaping condemnation on yourself," said Phil Lawler, an author of books and editor of Catholic World News. He recently wrote an article, "Pelosi and the archbishop(s): what comes next?"
Follow him @PhilLawler on Twitter.
2022-06-0627 minRespect Life RadioLaraine Bennett: Playing the game of Temperaments"Let's just play a fun game and have people learn about themselves, and others, through that," said Laraine Bennett, a writer, author and the creator of "Know Thyself! The Game of Temperaments" (Sophia Institute Press), a game for those ages 12 and up, played with 480 temperament cards. Among her books, including those co-written with husband Art, are "The Temperament God Gave You" and "The Temperament God Gave Your Spouse."
Follow her @larainebennett on Twitter.
2022-05-3127 minRespect Life RadioMary Szoch: Flip the script to proclaim pro-life protections in the law and culture“We should be referring to the laws that are passing here as 'pro-life protections' — not abortion bans. What we're doing with these laws is protecting unborn children's lives. The goal here isn't to ban things; the goal is to protect. So we need to flip that language and not allow the pro-abortion movement to control this narrative, this idea that we're somehow taking away someone's rights. We're not taking away rights; we're saving lives. And saving women and men from heartbreak," said Mary Szoch, director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council.
Follow them @FRCd...
2022-05-2327 minRespect Life RadioKelsey Bolar: What feminism got wrong — and how to make it right"For so long, the feminist movement has pitted men and women against each other, instead of allowing men and women to naturally complement each other — and encouraging them to work together to solve challenges [facing] families, individuals and societies," said Kelsey Bolar, a senior policy analyst at Independent Women’s Forum and contributor to The Daily Signal and The Federalist. "Women and girls, in particular, have been a focus of the feminist movement for the past few decades and so we've got this girl-boss, rah-rah women culture. And, in the midst of that, men and boys were really forgotten."
2022-05-1627 minRespect Life RadioJoseph Backholm: The U.S. government’s ministry of truth wants to control you“These are people who want to control you. They are going to use information to try to do that. They are going to try to use the authority of the official stamp of government to try to convince a number of people that: that is true because we say it's true; that it's false because we say it's false," said Joseph Backholm, senior fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement at Family Research Council. "And the sad reality is — and what '1984' [George Orwell's dystopian novel that has a Ministry of Truth], a big lesson of that is — there ar...
2022-05-0927 minRespect Life RadioSarah Parshall Perry: Gender identity sows confusion and subverts women"The notion of gender identity is internal, it is subjective, it is malleable. And it's the first time in all civil rights law in the history of America where we're being asked to acquiesce to someone's belief about themselves, treating it as though it is immutable fact," said Sarah Parshall Perry, an attorney and senior legal fellow at the Meese Center of The Heritage Foundation. Perry cowrote a recent commentary, "Lia Thomas Was Just the Beginning. Biden Administration Wants to Eliminate Women’s Sports."
Follow Perry @SarahPPerry on Twitter.
2022-05-0227 minRespect Life RadioLeila Miller: Catholics, rise up to protect the innocence of children"Not enough people are standing up. Catholics, especially, have a role in society and the world to be salt and light, to be different. So when the world is becoming corrupt all around us, and when it's taking our children — when it's trying to steal our children for the devil — it's our job to be there as the one voice that says, 'No, we're not letting you have the children, we're not letting you have their innocence,'" said Leila Miller. "...It starts in the womb and goes all the way through. We need to be paying attention to ever...
2022-04-2527 minRespect Life RadioPaul Larkin: Political will lacking to address fentanyl scourge"There are problems with drugs, but fentanyl clearly can kill and will kill a very large number of people if we don't do something about it," said Paul J. Larkin, senior legal research fellow, Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, Institute for Constitutional Government, at The Heritage Foundation.
"Enforcement has to be one of the three legs of any response. We have to educate people, we have to enforce the laws and we have to treat the people who wound up being addicted," said Larkin, who recently moderated a panel, "The Fentanyl Crisis: The Mexico-Texas Connection."
2022-04-1826 minRespect Life RadioDeclan Leary: No conservative allies who buy babies"What absolutely is a settled question is that something is missing in the worldview of a person who is raised without a mother," said Declan Leary, associate editor of The American Conservative. "Especially someone who is raised without a mother and told that that's the way things are supposed to be. There's a difference between the tragic circumstances where a mother dies and a child is raised by a single father in some other arrangement. But when they're raised in an unnatural arrangement and told that this is the way the world is meant to be — that this is ac...
2022-04-0426 minRespect Life RadioJoy Pullmann: Persecution of Christian speech in Finland a threat everywherePäivi Räsänen, a member of the Finnish parliament, told me "she really hopes that her case will, as it has for many people, not scare Christians or others who have strong beliefs that matter to public discussion, but will embolden them to speak the truth in love. Because if you don't use those rights, then they are more likely to be eroded and taken away," said Joy Pullmann, executive editor of The Federalist.
Pullmann is the author of a recent article, "How A Trial In Finland Could Have Worldwide Effects On Government Persecution Of Reli...
2022-03-2826 minRespect Life RadioBishop Athanasius Schneider: Restoring Catholic liturgy among the ruins“What is the Church living in the past decades since the (Vatican II) Council — in the liturgy? We have a ruin in many places...Therefore we have to restore the centrality of God, of the adoration, in the midst of the chaos. This shall give us hope that we can do this," said Bishop Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C., the auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, and author of "The Catholic Mass: Steps to Restore the Centrality of God in the Liturgy" (Sophia Institute Press).
“These bishops and priests who are against the Traditional Mass, and persecuting it, they a...
2022-03-2126 minRespect Life RadioKara Frederick: Big tech and big government converging to restrict freedomDigital IDs and digital passports are the gateway to the "social credit system, in addition to the second element and that is: tech companies doing the government's bidding to effectively cut you off from digital life, and a public life, if you have the wrong opinions, especially with regard to the government," said Kara Frederick, research fellow in technology policy at The Heritage Foundation who recently published a research report, "Combating Big Tech’s Totalitarianism: A Road Map."
Frederick was previously a fellow at the Center for a New American Security and, prior to that, "helped create an...
2022-03-1426 minRespect Life RadioArielle Del Turco: Ukrainians rise up to fight for their country“We're used to seeing conflicts all around the world. What we're not used to is really seeing the population — average citizens, moms, grandparents, average people — rally together and make a unified effort to say, 'No, we're not all fleeing the country,' though many are. 'We're actually going to stay, we're going to fight, we're going to pitch in.' It's not just that Russia is attacking the Ukrainian military. [Russian President Vladimir Putin] really has to fight the entire country, because the entire country is rising up to fight him," said Family Research Council, who recently wrote a commen...
2022-03-0726 minRespect Life RadioCharles Stimson: Crime rising amid ”rogue prosecutors”"The rogue prosecutor movement operates under a misbelief that the entire criminal justice system is systemically racist. Of course it isn't. And that the only way to fix it is to fundamentally reverse engineer and destroy the existing criminal justice system. Which is hogwash," said Charles "Cully" Stimson, deputy director of the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation. "You cannot find one of their policies, not one, that's pro-victim. Not one."
See Stimson's research at the Rogue Prosecutors web page and follow him @CullyStimson on Twitter.
2022-02-2826 minRespect Life RadioFr. Blake Britton: Reclaim Vatican II for renewal of the Church“What most people assume is Vatican II is actually not Vatican II. It's this paracouncil, this false narrative constructed by these different theologians and thinkers, as opposed to the actual documentation itself," said Fr. Blake Britton, a priest in the Diocese of Orlando, a contributor to Word on Fire and author of "Reclaiming Vatican II: What It (Really) Said, What It Means, and How It Calls Us to Renew the Church" (Ave Maria Press / Word on Fire).
Follow Fr. Britton @frbritton on Facebook and @frblakebritton on Instagram.
2022-02-2126 minRespect Life RadioBob Fu: How the Chinese Communist Party threatens liberty“The Chinese Communist Party [is] not only posing a threat from far away, they are penetrating deeply in our society already, in every sphere of our society,” said Bob Fu, Ph.D., founder and president of ChinaAid, based in Midland, Texas. Fu, a pastor and author, is Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom at Family Research Council and "was a student leader during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations for freedom and democracy in 1989," according to his ChinaAid profile.
“Pray for those who are persecuted and write letters to them to encourage them,” said Fu. “Write to our elected officials...
2022-02-1426 minRespect Life RadioElizabeth Lev: Discovering St. Joseph in art history"What I found was this 1,600 year development to Joseph, which is just so compelling and so beautiful, how he goes from being absent in the early history of art to being truly the patron of the universal Church," said Elizabeth Lev, Ph.D., art historian, professor and author of books, including "The Silent Knight: A History of St. Joseph as Depicted in Art" (Sophia Institute Press).
Lev said she was inspired by the 2020 apostolic letter (With a Father's Heart) from Pope Francis that described St. Joseph as having "creative courage."
St. Joseph is "a man o...
2022-02-0726 minRespect Life RadioJonathan Culbreath: The need for common good conservatism"Only recently have we started to see a resurfacing of an older type of conservatism — they call it a common good conservatism — which is trying to regain a little bit of a foothold in the recognition of the absolute universality of moral truth claims and trying to restore that recognition to the political philosophy of conservatism. Other than that, I think the capitulation to relativism is quite prevalent...," said Jonathan Culbreath, writer of a recent article, "Which Freedom? Whose Relativism?" for The American Conservative.
For more from Culbreath, see Postmodern Perennialist and follow him @maestrojmc on Twitter.
2022-01-3126 minRespect Life RadioDavid Closson: Amid all the confusion, what is your worldview?"Every philosophy of life, every worldview, every religion has to answer four basic questions: Why is there something rather than nothing? What's gone wrong in the world? Is there any hope? Where is all this headed?" said David Closson, director of the Center for Biblical Worldview at the Family Research Council, which is based in Washington, D.C. "Increasingly, even those who would call themselves professing Christians don't understand those basic questions. And that's one of the reasons we have the Center for Biblical Worldview. It's to remind pastors and to remind churches, and Christian parents, why they have...
2022-01-2426 minRespect Life RadioBrock Martin of FOCUS: The goal of SEEK22 is to foster Christian community“The truth is, every single human being has been created by God for a relationship with Him. So the more the world tries to strangle out that reality, the brighter somebody saying, 'Hey, you were created to be unbelievably incredible, you were created to be a great saint' — the more that truth rings true in men's and women's hearts," said Brock Martin, director of regional evangelization for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS).
FOCUS “is a Catholic collegiate outreach whose mission is to share the hope and joy of the gospel with college and university students,” accordin...
2022-01-2126 minRespect Life RadioMichael Lichens: What we can learn from Marian apparitionsMarian apparitions are "proof positive, right there — in the flesh, so to speak — that God didn't just make us and leave us alone. He is still involved in us and His mother still prays for us," said Michael J. Lichens, editor at Catholic Exchange and the editor of the recent book, "The World of Marian Apparitions: Mary's Appearances and Messages from Fatima to Today" by Wincenty Łaszewski (Sophia Institute Press). Lichens also discusses the care taken by the Church in evaluating and approving apparitions.
2022-01-1226 minRespect Life RadioJoey Pontarelli: In divorce, the kids are not O.K. and here’s why“Intuitively, a lot of people know that divorce is this ugly, painful thing. But so often we focus more on the parents who are going through the divorce (rather) than the children. When it comes to the children, the cultural belief is that, 'They'll be fine, they're resilient.' The truth is: they won't be fine and they're not as resilient as you think,” said Joey Pontarelli, founder and president of RestoredMinistry.com and author of "It's Not Your Fault: A Practical Guide to Navigating the Pain and Problems from Your Parents' Divorce."
See also a Denver Cath...
2022-01-0626 minRespect Life RadioCathy Ruse: Parents fight back — radical Sex Ed in schools (Part 2 of 2)“Today's Sex Ed is anti-human, I argue. It goes against what is best for the human person. And, of course, it's a lie. The truth is, every child is born in exactly the right body. Institutionalized, politicized sex education can never replace a healthy dialogue between parents and their children about the goodness and beauty of married love. Every person is made in God's image and likeness, unique and unrepeatable. We are created for each other, male and female, by God's design, to cooperate with Him in creating new life," said Cathy Ruse, Esq., who gave the Gospel of Li...
2021-12-2926 minRespect Life RadioCathy Ruse: Parents fight back — radical Sex Ed in schools (Part 1 of 2)"And that's when I learned that right down the street a spiritual battle was raging over the bodies and souls of the next generation. And the sexual left was winning. And the other side, my side, wasn't even on the battlefield. But I am convinced, thanks be to God, that that is about to change," said Cathy Ruse, Esq., who gave the Gospel of Life Presentation on Oct. 22, 2021, at St. Thomas More Catholic Parish in Centennial, Colo. The event was sponsored by Respect Life Denver. For the full video presentation, go to https://vimeo.com/639728100.
Ruse is a...
2021-12-2326 minRespect Life RadioChristopher Bedford: Fighting for freedom while under siege“We have all the tools to resist this kind of thing, all the tools to understand that we're children of God, not just cogs in a machine that fit into your scientific database, all the tools to say that, 'No, our church will remain open...,'" said Christopher Bedford, senior editor at The Federalist, who recently wrote an article titled, "How COVID Lockdowns Handed Global Warming Extremists The Tools To Crush Freedom."
Bedford is also a founding partner of RightForge.com and author of "The Art of the Donald: Lessons from America's Philosopher-in-Chief" (Threshold Editions). Follow him @CB...
2021-12-1626 minRespect Life RadioCasey Chalk: How to help Christians persecuted in Muslim lands"We need to view the persecuted Church as our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we go to Communion, we can remember them, we can unite our prayers to their prayers, and their sufferings before Christ. The more that we do that — and really make...a spiritual communion of it and devote our prayers to it — the more that we will recognize them as those who are certainly deserving, not only of our prayers, but all the help that we can muster," said Casey Chalk, a contributor for publications including The Federalist, and author of "The Persecuted: True Stories of C...
2021-12-0926 minRespect Life RadioRalph Martin: Misunderstanding the mission of the Catholic Church"It's easy to get the impression these days that the main thing the Catholic Church is concerned about is getting people vaccinated or climate change or the Amazon, things like that," said Ralph Martin, president of Renewal Ministries. "Quite honestly, the primary mission of the Church isn't to save the Amazon, it's to save people from hell. It's to boldly proclaim Jesus Christ as the Savior of the whole world."
Martin, a professor of theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, is the author of books, including "A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward" (Emmaus Road Publishing...
2021-12-0226 minRespect Life RadioKatie Gorka: The great parent revolt and what comes next"It just seems like some of our teachers and administrators and school board members have become so arrogant about their role and feel that they can supersede the role of the parents. And so we are seeing just tremendous pushback," said Katie Gorka, director of the Feulner Institute’s Center for Civil Society and the American Dialogue at The Heritage Foundation. Her commentaries include "Solving the Civics Crisis Begins at Home," as well as "Healing the Family and Saving the Country" and "The Great Parent Revolt." Follow her @GorkaKatie on Twitter.
2021-11-2426 minRespect Life RadioExorcist Msgr. Rossetti: Go to confession to cast out demons"If there's anyone listening to this who has not been to confession recently, you should definitely go...The most powerful thing that the Church offers to cast out demons is the confessional. Plus Mass, of course, and the Eucharist. So, go to confession," said Monsignor Stephen J. Rossetti, Ph.D., author of "Diary of an American Exorcist: Demons, Possession, and the Modern-Day Battle Against Ancient Evil" (Sophia Institute Press). According to his online biography, he "has been an exorcist for the Archdiocese of Washington for over 12 years. He is a priest of the Diocese of Syracuse and is also...
2021-11-1826 minRespect Life RadioJennifer Bauwens: What it really means to follow the science"We're hearing all the time in the media, 'Follow the science, follow the science.' But the reality is that a lot of the people who are saying that aren't actually following the scientific method and the tenets of the scientific method. So, I wanted to unveil the mystery behind what science actually is, and talk about what constitutes good science from bad science," said Jennifer Bauwens, Ph.D., director of the Center for Family Studies at the Family Research Council. She recently published an issue analysis, "Follow the Science: Does Anyone Know Where We Are Going?" (Part 1 of 2). ...
2021-11-1126 minRespect Life RadioChristopher Malloy: Fancy theology could get you to hell"Just stick with the Catechism, that's what Cardinal Burke's been saying... Fancy theology could get you to hell...Good theology that's fancy or sophisticated, that's fantastic. But a lot of it just wants to be cool," said Christopher Malloy, Ph.D., associate professor of theology at the University of Dallas and author of "False Mercy: Recent Heresies Distorting Catholic Truth" (Sophia Institute Press). Follow him @cmalloy70 on Twitter.
2021-11-0426 minRespect Life RadioDavid Ditch: The trouble with Pres. Biden‘s budget"One of the things this bill really wants to do is to enact a federal micromanagement of as many sectors of the economy as possible," said David Ditch, a policy analyst in the Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget at The Heritage Foundation. Among his recent columns is "Biden’s Absurd 'Zero Cost' Claim—$3.5T Is Real Money and It’s Coming Out of Your Pocket." Follow him @DavidADitch on Twitter.
2021-10-2826 minRespect Life RadioJohn Martignoni: Helping Catholics learn and defend their faith"First and foremost, my target are the Catholics because Catholics don't know their faith as well as they should, on average," said John Martignoni, founder of Bible Christian Society, longtime former host of EWTN Radio's Open Line and author of Blue Collar Apologetics (Sophia Institute Press), as well as director of the Office of New Evangelization and Stewardship for the Diocese of Birmingham, Ala. "I use the hook of, 'Hey, I can teach you how to answer those questions that you've been getting from your non-Catholic brother-in-law or your neighbors or your coworkers.'"
For more, see...
2021-10-2026 minRespect Life RadioKatherine Beck Johnson: Optimism that Roe v. Wade will fallThe U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming review of a 2018 Mississippi law that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks "very much has the potential to undo all of the damage that Roe (v. Wade) and Casey (v. Planned Parenthood) have done and we are incredibly optimistic about it," said Katherine Beck Johnson, an attorney who is research fellow for legal and policy studies at the Family Research Council.
Beck's recent commentaries include "Explainer: What is Happening with Texas' New Pro-Life Law" and "Mississippi Boldly Leads the Fight to Overrule Roe." Follow her @_katherinebeck on Twitter.
The Ce...
2021-10-1426 minRespect Life RadioTimothy Gordon: A Christian feminist is a contradiction in terms
The patriarchy "is Christianity in a very real sense. So, when feminists say they want to do away with the patriarchy — down with it — or Marxists say this, of any stripe, they're talking about Christianity. And the funny part is, Christians and Catholics and conservatives being the great losers we are...culturally...we don't know it that when they say, 'Hey, down with the patriarchy,' they're talking about Christianity. But they do," said Timothy J. Gordon, author of "The Case for Patriarchy" (Sophia Institute Press).
Follow him @timotheeology on Twitter.
2021-10-0726 minRespect Life RadioFrank Cronin: How to know that God exists, without exception"The truths of the Church are truths, they're not just 'the Church truths.' They have worked this out, not only from a faith standpoint, but from a factual standpoint. One of the startling realities can be that: not only do I know that God exists, but I can prove it...factually and without exception. When you hear the case, you cannot disagree with this. All you can do is deny it. It's right there. It's so clear," said Frank Cronin, author of "The World According to God: The Whole Truth About Life and Living" (Sophia Institute Press). Learn...
2021-09-3026 minRespect Life RadioAndrea Picciotti-Bayer: Civil liberties hinge on religious freedom"Our civil liberties hinge on our respect for religious freedom," said Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, an attorney focused on civil rights and director of the Conscience Project. "These ideologies demand conformity; they don't allow for dissent. And in that respect, it's very contrary to the American tradition of pluralism and allowing for vibrant debate and disagreement on a range of issues. If you don't allow that, and if people's voices who are inspired by faith are silenced, we've really got a totalitarian situation brewing right now."
Picciotti-Bayer is a legal analyst for EWTN News and columnist for the National...
2021-09-2326 minRespect Life RadioFr. Brian Mullady: Receiving and retaining God‘s grace"For a person to be fully alive, as a human being, grace is absolutely necessary," said Father Brian Mullady, O.P., author of books, including "Grace Explained: How to Receive — and Retain — God's Most Potent Gift" (Sophia Institute Press). "One of the reasons I wrote the book is because [in] giving parish missions around the country, I found out that most Catholics are clueless now as to what sanctifying grace means for them...The Council of Trent was very clear that said justification by grace means the forgiveness of sins, yes, but also the sanctification and renewal of the inte...
2021-09-1626 minRespect Life RadioS.K. Baskerville: What it means to be a gentleman"There's always been over the centuries attempts to infuse the definition of a gentleman with new meaning, and it usually means some kind of ethical and moral meaning that is perceived to be lacking," said S.K. Baskerville, Ph.D., author of "A Gentleman’s Guide to Manners, Sex, and Ruling the World: How to Survive as a Man in the Age of Misandry – and Do So with Grace" (Sophia Institute Press). "Is a gentleman a wealthy man, a high status man, or is a gentleman a man who behaves properly? Those are questions which we need to continuously ask...
2021-09-0926 minRespect Life RadioJames Carafano: Pres. Biden‘s “unmitigated disaster” in Afghanistan“It's an unmitigated disaster for one reason: because the decision the president made. And all of the decisions the president made; made it harder to get out and more dangerous,” said James Jay Carafano, vice president of The Heritage Foundation's Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy. “And where are we? The answer is: we're in the same place when we started. Our interests in the region haven't changed. It's just now we have endured a lot of misery, an enormous amount of expense; we've gotten people killed. And doing the things that we would...
2021-09-0226 minRespect Life RadioConnor Semelsberger: Your tax dollars are funding abortionsA few months into his Administration, not only has Pres. Biden "rerouted money to Planned Parenthood, he's now reverting back to the Obamacare law...and they're going to bill abortion and Obamacare subsidies together, collect them together. And they're not going to let the American public know whether these plans cover abortion or not," said Connor Semelsberger, director of Federal Affairs, Life and Human Dignity at Family Research Council. "It's just important to know that our taxpayer funds are funding abortions through Obamacare."
Analysis by Semelsberger's includes a letter objecting to proposed federal rules, a research paper t...
2021-08-2626 minRespect Life RadioMeg Kilgannon: Is God calling you to run for school board?"This is a spiritual war, this is a cultural war. And we are largely fighting over our children and the future," said Meg Kilgannon, a senior fellow for education studies at Family Research Council, which recently launched a School Board Boot Camp. "We're trying to harness this energy that's out there right now around schools and channel it into, maybe some folks running for office and changing the balance of power on some school boards around the country."
Kilgannon said that, "The fight over Critical Race Theory has really galvanized people in an unexpected and wonderful way. So, to sort o...
2021-08-1926 minRespect Life RadioSister Byrne, MD: Consider alternatives to COVID-19 vaccines“I've been so busy now writing letters — or helping people to write letters — for religious exemption or for medical exemption, since I kind of have both avenues to go with, because there are a lot of people who don't want to get vaccinated with COVID-19 for medical reasons, and many of which for the spiritual or moral reason," said Sister Deirdre Byrne, who is also a medical doctor.
She was recently featured in a LifeSiteNews article, headlined, "'We have lost all common sense and as a result we are losing our religious freedom,’ Sister Dede Byrne warns." She make...
2021-08-1226 minRespect Life RadioDr. Ray Guarendi: Listening to Jesus, the master psychologist"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less," said Dr. Ray Guarendi, explaining that doing so would help people become "more settled, they'd be more at peace, they'd be much closer to joy and contentment. They wouldn't be at the mercy of whatever happens, whatever words happen to come their way."
Guarendi is "a Catholic father of ten adopted children, a clinical psychologist, author, professional speaker, and national radio and television host," according to his website, DrRay.com. He is the author of books, including the recently published, "Jesus, the Master Psychologist: Listen...
2021-08-0526 minRespect Life RadioChristine Wohar: Pursuing holiness with Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati“The universal call to holiness that we're all supposed to respond to, I find it doable, attractive and fun thanks to the example of Blessed Pier Giorgio,” said Christine M. Wohar, executive director of Frassati USA and author of the forthcoming "Finding Frassati: And Following His Path to Holiness" (EWTN Publishing).
Blessed Frassati died at age 24 in Italy in 1925 and was beatified in 1990 by Pope St. John Paul II. Follow @FrassatiUSA on Twitter.
2021-07-2926 minRespect Life RadioEric Sammons: Pope Francis and the Latin Mass conflictThis week's episode is a lively conversation with Eric Sammons, Editor-in-Chief of Crisis Magazine and author of Deadly Indifference. Deacon Geoff and Eric discuss Pope Francis and his new restrictions on the Latin Mass.
2021-07-2226 minRespect Life RadioNoelle Mering: How Christians should respond to the Woke revolution"It seems like this is a cultural revolution that's bloodless — or seemingly bloodless, although I do think that there's human casualties, for sure — but I think it's really hard to see it," said Noelle Mering, author of "Awake, Not Woke: A Christian Response to the Cult of Progressive Ideology" (TAN Books). She is a writer and an editor, and also a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. See more at NoelleMering.com and follow her @Noellem on Twitter.
2021-07-1526 minRespect Life RadioMike Pompeo: On threats to America, international and domestic"I've joked about the fact that, you know, I've met with the Taliban, I've met with Chairman Kim, but nothing frightens me more than what's happening in our schools today. We truly have to get our hands around this because they are educating the next generation that we are a racist nation and that will fundamentally put at risk our republic," said Mike Pompeo, the former U.S. secretary of state who also served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, congressman from Kansas and U.S. Army officer.
A graduate of West Point and of Harvard...
2021-07-0826 minRespect Life RadioLeila Miller: Wake up! Our kids, and our souls, are in danger“We have one judgment at the time of death. Maybe we need to go back to...really learning and teaching and meditating and praying on the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, hell. Because we are at a precipice and everybody is dancing around it, going, 'Well, you know, we don't want to be mean' or 'We don't want to look foolish in the eyes of the world.' It's like, what? We're supposed to look foolish in the eyes of the world. That was what Christ promised. So this is really do-or-die at this point. This is a ti...
2021-06-3026 minRespect Life RadioFr. Ed Broom: Combating the lies of the devil"The devil really pushes to get dysfunctional families because...you have a lot of wounded individuals. The devil goes after us so that we become these gaping wounds that we don't bring these wounds to Christ. Now, if we bring these gaping wounds to Christ — he's known as the Wounded Healer — he can heal us. But if we don't bring the wounds to Christ, they become gaping wounds and we end up by wounding even more wounded people," said Fr. Ed Broom, OMV, who recently wrote about the "Ten lies of the devil — the father of lies."
Listen...
2021-06-2426 minRespect Life RadioCharles D. Fraune: The "big parade" — transitioning to Hell“A parade is a celebration of something. Our world is celebrating disorder all over the place. It is really a big parade marching down to, unfortunately — unless God stops it — to damnation for quite a number of people,” said Charles D. Fraune, author of the 2019 book, "Slaying Dragons: What Exorcists See & What We Should Know."
In a recent blog post, "The 'Big Parade' — Transitioning to Hell," he wrote, "So if we find ourselves becoming soft to the moral evils emerging around us, tolerant of the infection of evil into the souls of those we know and love, and less d...
2021-06-1726 minRespect Life RadioFr. Thomas Dailey: Beholding the Sacred Heart of Jesus"The Sacred Heart is so powerful, precisely because it's that imagery of the actual human heart of Jesus that reminds us — not only of our own hearts physically, that we have one, that it's central to who we are — but that it's in hearts that are united in love that we find our greatest fulfillment," said Fr. Thomas F. Dailey, O.S.F.S., author of "Behold This Heart: St. Francis de Sales and Devotion to the Sacred Heart" (Sophia Institute Press). Fr. Dailey holds the John Cardinal Foley Chair of Homiletics and Social Communications at Saint Charles Borromeo Semi...
2021-06-1026 minRespect Life RadioJim Hanson: America must address the weakness within"Every time America is strong, our enemies don't mess with us. Whenever we have a weak Administration leading us, it empowers and emboldens the tyrants of the world — and they take advantage of it. We've already seen the opening salvos, barely a couple months into the Biden Administration. It's not likely to get better. So that's another reason [for] people to focus on what they need to do to ensure that we don't go down that path of weakness and socialism that the woke Left wants us to follow," said Jim Hanson, president of the Security Studies Group. He is...
2021-06-0326 minRespect Life RadioJude Schwalbach: Public trust at stake in CDC policy on school reopeningsWhen Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "guidelines are taken nearly verbatim from language that justify powerful teachers unions, it diminishes the public trust in our civil institutions. Parents, the biggest stakeholders in education, do not have the political clout to affect CDC reopening guidelines, yet teachers seem to have a direct line to policymakers in the upper echelons of the CDC," said Jude Schwalbach, research associate and project coordinator in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation. He wrote a recent article, "Collaboration Between CDC and Teachers Union Doesn’t Help Our Kids." Follow him @JudeSchwalbach on...
2021-05-2726 minRespect Life RadioLuke Goodrich: Fighting the good fight for religious liberty“Traditional Catholic beliefs about life and about marriage and human sexuality — whereas they were at least uncontroversial decades ago, if not widely held — are now increasingly viewed as a threat to modern culture,” said Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Goodrich is also the author of “Free to Believe: The Battle Over Religious Liberty in America.” Follow him @LukeWGoodrich on Twitter.
2021-05-2026 min