about four o'clock

Today Fr. Andrew Meng joins us to clarify any confusion regarding his ethnicity and rub in his high school football state championship to Fr. Drew. Then, he shares the story of God leading him from the despair of new atheism to the joy of the priesthood.

Today Fr. Ed Pelrine from the Archdiocese of Chicago joins us to share about life in Chicago, Bishop Barron asking him to serve in the seminary, and his vocation story, including how his grandma knew on the day of his baptism that he'd be a priest. 

Fr. Jim Weldon joins the studio today to share his vocation story, why he and his brother, Fr. Eric, are so different, and how he sees himself as making the priesthood more accessible for young men: If he can do it, anybody can. 

We are excited to collaborate with the SEEK Podcast for this episode in which we discuss our Spotify Wrappeds for the past year before talking about how to take advantage of large Catholic conferences as a discerner. 

Today we welcome in Sr. Diana Marie of the Hawthorne Dominicans to discuss Hallmark movies and Christmas in the convent before hearing how she converted to the faith and decided to get her life to Christ and the service of the dying as a Dominican sister.

We chat with Sr. Alma Marie of the Hawthorne Dominicans to discuss her order's founding and apostolate, how religious sisters never seem to age, and the gentle and ever mysterious way that the Lord led her to give her life to Him and the mission of caring for the sick and dying. 

Fr. Andrew Bergkamp joins us today to talk about learning to work hard growing up on his family's farm, how he received his vocation to priesthood, and God providing him the words to preach after his younger brother's death. 

We are to be joined by a Wichita native and a monk of St. Benedict's Abbey in Atchison, KS: Br. Leven Harton, OSB. We chat about his unique vocation and community, he and Fr. Chad's high school shenanigans, and how the Lord led him to give his vocation from a desire for deep intimacy with Christ. 

In this episode, we're getting the band together! We talk through plans for our future diocesan clergy rock band and which priests will fill in each important role. Then we discuss the vocational synthesis, which will soon be implemented as the final stage in seminary formation, and how it will help to bring about healthy, holy priests. 

Fr. Drew takes over the studio and talks with two members of the Society of Our Lady of the Trinity (SOLT) to hear about their order's founding and mission before hearing Fr. David Brokke's vocation story. 

In a very special episode, we compiled clips from several priests of the diocese sharing their cherished memories of priests who have passed on from this world to the next. They are equal parts inspiring, humbling, and ridiculous. We thank God for all of the priests who have gone before us. May they rest in peace. 

Today we do some group processing of the ups and downs of Fr. Drew and Fr. Chad's recent golf outing. Then we share our experiences of Stewardship as a way of life in the Diocese of Wichita and shed light on how that encourages a spirit in young people that is ready to say yes to their vocation from God. 

We had a bunch of fun talking with Fr. Trevor Buster about how God called him from the fame of our favorite southeast Kansas punk rock band and the luxurious life of meter reading to lay down his life as a priest of Jesus Christ. 

We had a great time talking to Paula Duling, mother of Fr. Daniel Duling. She helps us shed light on the blessings and struggles a family goes through as their son and brother discerns God's will and lives out his priestly vocation. Our families know us best and are always there to support us...and to keep us humble. 

Today Fr. John Lanzrath joins us to share his love of statistics, his devotion to the Kansas City Chiefs, his interactions with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity, and how Jesus called him to be a priest of Jesus Christ.

This time we begin by talking about our thoughts on state fairs (and some unexpected tension over the Goo Goo Dolls). Then we dive into how to combat the temptation towards perfectionism in prayer and formation. 

We finally convinced Linda Schmidt and Tracy Winslow to join us, and we had a blast. Linda and Tracy have served for years with the priests and seminarians through their jobs at the parish level and the diocesan chancery. Plus, both have sons who spent time in the seminary. From all of this experience, they have a unique perspective and wisdom...as well as plenty of dirt on many of the priests. 

In this episode we have a great time chatting with Fr. Matt Siegman about his love for Italian food as well as his Squidward-like persona. Finally, he shares how he was called away from a job at Learjet to his life as a priest. 

We are joined by Fr. Dwight Birket to discuss his time in seminary and priesthood, including the experience of serving in the missions in Venezuela. It is a blessing to hear him share what helped him persevere faithfully through over 50 years of priesthood when many of his classmates left. 

Today we welcome on one of our newly ordained priests, Fr. Jesus Bañuelos. We discuss his theories on where to find the best tacos before he shares about how the Lord used his love of music to take him from guitar player in a Mexican norteño group to his calling as a priest. 

Today we begin by sharing our greatest dreams of game show stardom. Then we discuss Pope Francis' recent letter on the role of literature in formation and how reading good books shaped our time in seminary and now our life as priests and evangelists. 

We are pumped to welcome Fr. Seth Arnold to the studio to share about his love of running and his excitement to run the Boston Marathon. Then, he explains how a few moments of grace, including a providential encounter with a man in need, gave him the confidence to surrender his life to God as a priest. 

After calming rising tensions between Fr. Drew and Fr. Chad, we discuss the start of the school year: our traditions as kids, experiences returning to seminary each fall, and our practices now as we enter a new academic year as priests. 

Sitting down once more with Bishop Kemme, we begin by talking about memories of road trips and travel before discussing the power of pilgrimage in aiding our growth in prayer and discernment.