Glory Be: Interesting People & How They Pray

Very Reverend Michael Knipe is the pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Tulsa and Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Tulsa. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1988 and has served the diocese as pastor of several parishes and as chaplain at Bishop Kelley High School. Fr. Mike was educated at Northeastern State University (Tahlequah), received his Bachelor of Arts from Conception Seminary College...

Fr. David Webb is the chaplain at the University of Tulsa Newman Center. He holds a bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Catholic Studies from the  University of St. Thomas in St. Paul Minnesota and a Master of Divinity from the Athenaeum of Ohio- Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West in  Cincinnati Ohio.  Fr. Webb was ordained to the priesthood in 2017 for the Diocese of  Tulsa...

Fr. John Jirak is the pastor of the Church of the Magdalen in Wichita, Kansas and Vicar for Evangelization, Discipleship and Stewardship for  the Diocese of Wichita. He is a graduate of Conception Seminary College in Conception, Missouri and holds a masters degree in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. Fr. Jirak also has his licentiate in canon law from...

Chef Michael Fusco is the manager of kitchen and garden ministries and head chef at Catholic Charities in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Johnston and Wales University in Providence Rhode Island. After graduating he continued a  two year teaching fellowship where he served as a teaching liaison between the chef and the students. He has received numerous awards, ow...

Mrs. Ellen Doyle grew up in Cleveland Ohio the second of 9 children. She graduated from the College of Mt. St. Joseph in 1969 with a BA in  Secondary education and she received her Masters in Religious Education  in 1993 from Loyola University in New Orleans. Ellen taught in illinois, Broken Arrow, and most recently as a religion  teacher at Bishop Kelley High School before she reti...

Megan Hoffman is a School of Saint Mary ('03) and Bishop Kelley ('07)  alumnus. Megan continued her education at the University of Kansas with a  Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Occupational Studies and at  the University of Kansas Medical Center, earning her Master in  Occupational Therapy. Megan first gained interest in occupational  therapy while completing her...

Today’s guest Meredith White. She is 23 years old and just recently graduated from Benedictine College with a degree in Theology.  She was raised in Tulsa until she was ten and then spent the next eight years moving with her father’s job. God has blessed her with with two loving parents, four older sisters, a younger brother, three brother-in-laws, eight nephews and one niece. She lives in th...

Sister Mary Hanah Doak, RSM is a Religious Sister of Mercy of Alma, Michigan and the new President of Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She entered her religious community in 2004 from her native Denver, Colorado. She holds a Minnesota Teaching License in Elementary Education with an endorsement in Middle School Mathematics and has taught multiple subjects at the Junior High Level for...

Amy Zvacek is a lifelong Catholic who serves the Church as the office  manager at Saint Catherine of Alexandria Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Saint Catherine of Alexandria Church is home to an English-speaking  parish that dates back to the 1920s and is currently led by Father John Grant. The church is unique in that another parish prays there led by  Father Robert Kim, the only perman...

Millie and John are second graders who share stories of how their families are observing advent and preparing for Christmas. Having very made their First Reconciliation, they look forward to receiving their First Communion.

Cindy Howard is the art teacher at the School of Saint Mary in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She grew up in Tulsa a couple of blocks from the Hanisch family and attended St. Pius X Church. She graduated from the University of Tulsa with degrees in Marketing and Design. Before joining the teaching staff at the School of Saint Mary, Cindy worked in advertising  and public relations at a variety of places an...

Dr. Marcel Brown is the headmaster of Holy Family Classical School. Dr. Brown, a native of Denver, graduated from The University of Dallas with a  degree in English prior to pursuing doctoral studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He and his wife married in 2005. The couple served as team-teaching catechists at St. Rita Catholic  Church in northern Virginia whi...

Ernest Neal is the organist and choirmaster at Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Faith was always important to Ernest as he grew up in  south central Oklahoma, the son of a Southern Baptist preacher. When Ernest was old enough to play piano through a Sunday service, he became  the pianist at his father's church.  Having completed two musical degrees, Ernest uses his gifts to...

Susan Deax-Keirns is a marriage and family therapist and Director of behavioral health at Valley Springs Health and Wellness center in Northern California. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy from the University of Oklahoma and her Masters in Counseling psychology with a pastoral emphasis from Santa Clara University. She worked in Campus Ministry at Santa Cla...

V. Rev. Elkin J. González is a priest of the Diocese of Tulsa. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2008 and currently serves as Vicar General and Pastor of the Parish of Christ the King in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has a B.Ed in Philosophy and Religious Studies from UCO in Rionegro, Colombia; a MDiv from St. Meinrad School of Theology in Indiana, and a S.T.L. (Sacred Theology Licentiate) and S.T.D. (Sa...

Bruce Sander, a seminarian for the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma, is currently in a pastoral year at the Church of Saint Mary in Tulsa. Bruce earned his associates degree in Business and Enterprise Development from Tulsa Community College and In 2020 graduated from Conception Seminary College in Missouri with a bachelors degree in Philosophy. Before entering seminary Bruce worked for 12 ye...

Sr. Christine Ereiser entered the Benedictine Sisters at St. Joseph’s Monastery in Tulsa in 1984 and made perpetual vows in 1989. She had graduated from Oral Roberts University in 1982 with a Bachelors degree in business administration and management and had received her  Masters degree in management for nonprofit organizations from the University of Notre Dame in 1996. She served as prioress...

Very Reverend Gary Kastl was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese  of Tulsa in 2007. He grew up in Perkins, Oklahoma and graduated from Conception Seminary College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts. He continued his theological studies and formation at St. Meinrad School of Theology in  Southern Indiana.  Fr. Kastl has served as the Associate Pastor at the Church...

Fr. Karl Kiser entered the Detroit province of the Society of Jesus in  Berkely, Michigan in 1986 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1997. This past June he was installed as Provincial of the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus.  He grew up in Menomonie, Wisconsin and  holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Michigan State University. He studied Theology at We...

How does a church staff pray? Father Matt Gerlach, pastor of St. Anne Catholic Church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and select members of his staff share how they kept their  rapidly growing suburban parish praying during the pandemic and beyond. Laura Jones, Director of Parish Operations, Jacquelyn Bassett, Administrative Assistant, and Megan Polly, Director of Children's  Programming, cont...

Barbara: "Social work is my calling. It can be very draining ff one  doesn't take care of ones's spiritual needs." Deacon Alonso: "Remember when you were young and Mass seemed to take  forever? Now I blink and Mass is over because I understand more each  part of Mass and I've found meaning in them." [Full disclosure: Producer Mike Malcom is married to Barbara’s sister.] Barbara grew...

Today's guest, Carla Lechner, was born and raised in the small German Catholic community of Jasper, Indiana. She attended college at the  University of Evansville and worked for ten years as a radiologic technologist. She moved to Tulsa in 1976. She married Junie Lechner in 1979 and later became a stay-at-home mom for their three children. Carla changed  careers in 1992 and began to work...

Diane Erbacher and Carol Kmetz are catechists at the Church of Saint Mary specializing in Adult Faith Formation. Diane grew up in Central Kansas on a dairy farm and is second oldest of 5 children. She graduated from Fort Hays State University with a double degree in Elementary Ed and Special Ed.  Diane is retired after  teaching school for 4 years, was working as the Office Manager for h...

"These were the things that after 20 years as a priest, I needed  to let  God's grace be poured out upon [those things including the] misery.  Saint Faustina said there is nothing in your life that God's mercy does  not want to be poured out upon - to heal and convert." Very Reverend Bryan Brooks is the vicar for priests for the Diocese of  Tulsa & Eastern Oklahoma. Fr...

"I think what's most important [in prayer] is time with the Lord, a heart-to-heart with Jesus." Most Reverend Robert Gruss is the Bishop for the Diocese of Saginaw, in Michigan. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Davenport in 1994 and in 2011 was consecrated Bishop of Rapid City. Bishop Gruss attended Madison Area Technical College, in Madison, Wisconsin, and Spartan School of Ae...