Ave Maria in the Afternoon Full Hours

Segment 1: Want a better marriage? Go to Church A new report by the Institute for Family Studies found that church attendance is correlated with happy, fulfilling marriages but urges parishes to increase support for big families. We talk more about the study with Dr Greg Popcak. Segment 2: Cancel Culture – The Modern-Day Pharisees Two recent stories encapsulate the ongoing prevalence of “cancel cu...

Segment 1: St. Ignatius’ Advice for Deacons Today’s Office of the Readings includes a letter from Ignatius of Antioch on the role of Deacons in the Church. Ignatius begins his letter from the language of communion. Christianity for him is not an isolated spiritual experience. It’s covenantal. God gathers a people into an ordered body together with him. And deacons are ministers of the mysteries of...

Segment 1: The Good Samaritan: Eternal Life is not a birthright In today’s Gospel, Jesus encounters a legal scholar who asks what he must to do inherit eternal life. Taking a closer look at his language, we can see it’s actually a rather dangerous question – the scholar seems to think he is owed eternal life as part of his heritage, and wants to know what he must do to claim his right. In response...

Segment 1: Confronting the “Anti-Christ” Philosophies We live in a post-reason and post-truth era. These “anti-Christ” philosophies is the ultimate trial for the Church. Marcus discusses this trial and our response. Segment 2: The Cost of Fruitfulness We often ask what God wants for us. Even if he doesn’t often tell us the details, we can be sure, whatever our vocation, location, time in history,...

Segment 1: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (2 segments) This Sunday’s readings include a very challenging passage about how the Lord has created the Vineyard, a reference to Israel, and about the coming judgment for those who have rejected Jesus. We unpack the readings with Carl Olson. Segment 2: God Wants Even Your Wounds (2 segments) Chapter 7 of the Gospel of S...

Segment 1: Angelic Attributes A poll in found that 7 in 10 US adults believe in Angels, but that half of those people do not believe in organized religion. The study of angels has largely resurfaced in the West, driven by trends such as the New Age Movement, which has resulted in many misrepresentations of the nature of angels. On this feast of the Guardian Angels, Marcus helps to clear up some of...

Segment 1: A Catholic Revival in France? (2 segments) 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 Segment 2: The Four Last Things: The Kindness and Severity of God (2 segments) Questions a...

Segment 1: Big Men and the Little Flower Today we celebrate the feast of St Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower. Men, in particular, have much to learn from this gentle Doctor of the Church and her Little Way. Marcus explains how. Segment 2: On retreat with Thérèse and Joan Is the Lord calling you deeper into his heart? Let Thérèse & Joan light the way to enter Holy Week like never before. Sean...

Segment 1: The Cantankerous Translator who saved Western Civilization The early centuries of the Church faced a problem – Christianity was spreading rapidly, but bishops were fighting for orthodoxy. Heresies were multiplying like weeds, and the Bible itself existed in a bewildering patchwork. St. Jerome was the man who would answer the call to translate the scriptures. Marcus has more. Segment 2:...

Segment 1: Striving for Sainthood with the Temperament God Gave Me (2 segments) Are you trying to be your best but just can’t seem to get past your own shortfalls? Fear not. Your unique and beautiful temperament may hold the key to becoming the saint God made you to be. And just as he did with the saints before us, God will build upon your temperament to bring you to perfection. Rose Sweet joins u...

The Resistance: God’s Plan for Renewing the Human Family (full hour) 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. This is a public episode. If you would like t...

Segment 1: The man who battled New York’s Euthanasia Law (2 segments) Dovie Eisner was a New Yorker who battled a muscular disease called nemaline myopathy for his entire life. He was confined to a wheelchair and needed a portable ventilator to assist in his breathing. Yet he never felt his life was lesser, or not worth living. He was also a vocal opponent against the push for assisted suicide in...

How I learned to love Marian apparitions (full hour) 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. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other su...

Segment 1: Remembering Israel is Remembering Christ The history between the Church and Judaism has been tenuous. But St. Paul reminds us that to Israel belongs the Sonship, the covenants, the patriarchs and more. What does this mean for us today? Marcus has more. Segment 2: Michigan Women’s Retreat: The Heart of Feminine Holiness Women from across Michigan are invited to come together for a day ro...

Segment 1: “Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you” (2 segments) In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus warns the chief priests and elders that “tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you” because the priests did not listen to John’s warnings, while the sinners did. We unpack what the readings have to say to us with Rob Corzine. Segment 2:...

Segment 1: A Christian who Rejected Christianity William Faulkner was a Nobel-laureate author whose life can tell us a lot about evangelizing the culture. He was brought up in a Christian household and, although he did not profess an explicit Christian worldview as an adult, it still formed a bedrock in his life. Marcus looks at his life and how we can evangelize the culture by learning the langua...

Producer’s note: Today’s Ave Maria in the Afternoon was preempted by EWTN’s live coverage of the Beatification Mass. We have compiled some alternate discussions about the life of Fulton Sheen, which we share here: Segment 1: The Meaning of Liberty According to Fulton Sheen In his book Freedom Under God, Fulton Sheen writes “Liberty is not the right to do whatever I please, nor is liberty the neces...

Segment 1: Colorado Keeps Waging War On Religious Freedom 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. Segment 2: Join the Worldwide Rosary for Peace Pope Leo has invited Catholics to pray the Rosary...

Segment 1: What Padre Pio tells us about suffering Today we celebrate the Feast of St Pio of Pietrelcina, better known as Padre Pio. In one of his letters, he writes that we are like stones destined for building an eternal edifice, but that the builder must first polish the stones to prepare them for use. In this way, the Lord allows suffering to prepare us for our mission in life. Marcus has more...

Segment 1: Compassionate Problem Resolution The way we’re disciplined as kids tends to impact the way we handle interpersonal conflict as adults. Greg Popcak encourages parents to employ “Discipleship Discipline,” in which parents calmly work and pray with the child to identify the intention behind their actions and then teach more appropriate ways to meet those intentions – and this rolls over in...

Segment 1: Rescuing the sheep gone astray Today’s Office of the Readings includes a sermon by St Augustine on Ezekiel 34. He observes how the world is full of sheep who have gone astray, desperately searching for a leader. God promises that He will search for His sheep, and He will chastise the shepherds who let them go astray. Marcus reflects on the reading. Segment 2: Vanity of Vanities, all is...

Segment 1: “Live in a manner worthy of the call you have received” On this Feast of St Matthew, St Paul tells us to “live in a manner worthy of the call you have received.” Marcus unpacks what this means for our lives as Christians. Segment 2: The distressing rise of family estrangement (3 segments) A new form of relationship estrangement is afoot. Whereas, in the past, relationships tended to rup...

Segment 1: Benedict Arnold’s Anti-Catholicism On September 21, 1780, Continental Army officer Benedict Arnold met with British leaders and advanced his conspiracy to surrender West Point. Today, he is remembered as a traitor – though if the British had won the war, he might be remembered as a hero. What is sometimes forgotten, however, is his hostility towards Catholicism. Marcus has more. Segment...

Segment 1: “Seek the LORD while he may be found” (2 segments) 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. Segment 2: What the “$20 Burrito” Debate Really Tells Us (2 segments) Fast food burritos are the latest controversy to consume social media. A viral post pointing out that a fast food burrito now costs nearly...

Segment 1: Why do so many Pastoral Plans fail? (2 segments) Peter Andrastek has worked for the Church at the parish and diocesan levels for nearly twenty years, and in all that time he has never seen a parish pastoral plan produce the wide-spread transformative fruit its authors hoped for. While there are certainly exceptions, why do so many of these strategies fall short? Peter joins us. Segment...