Always Hope

Following the leak of the draft decision from Supreme Court, the question on everyone’s minds is, “Now what?” If the final decision is left intact and Roe v Wade gets overturned, what does that mean for abortion access in the US? How will states respond? How will the federal government respond? What are the next … Continue reading "098 – Ben Clapper on What’s Next for the Pro-Life Movement in a Po...

Let’s be honest and state that we are all on our devices and social media a lot these days. Scrolling. Watching. Commenting. Playing. But what impact do these devices have on our mental and spiritual health? How do they help or hurt us? Joining me on the show today to talk about that is Dr. … Continue reading "097 – Dr. Michael Horne on How Technology Impacts our Psychology"

Have you ever wondered if doing your taxes and changing diapers can make you a saint? Have you ever looked at the circumstances of your life and said, “God how does this make me a better person”? If so, how do we find holiness in the mundane tasks of ordinary life?  Joining me on the … Continue reading "096 – Dr. Tony Marco on Finding Holiness in the Secular World"

How do you know if you are growing in the spiritual life? How do you know if your prayers are doing anything? What are the markers of spiritual growth? Joining me on the show today is Dr. Brant Pitre, Research Professor of Scripture at the Augustine Institute, Graduate School of Theology, to talk about his … Continue reading "095 – Dr. Brant Pitre on The Introduction to the Spiritual Life"

What is a Catholic Psychotherapy? How does it influence practice and research? Joining me on the show today to answer those questions are Dr. Matthew Breuninger, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Director of Teaching Excellence at Franciscan University of Steubenville, and Mr. Larry Freeney, Lead Parish Counselor and Associate Director of Education and Assessments at … Continue reading "094 –...

Just in time for Lent, let’s talk about how to break those bad habits in life! Joining me on the show is Br Sam Gunn, BH, who was my campus minister when I was in college, to talk about his new book “Clean Break.” We start the show by talking about how we came to … Continue reading "093 – Br. Sam Gunn on Breaking Bad Habits"

After years of development and months of talking about it on the podcast, I’m happy to announce that Dating Well is finally out! That’s my online course that guides young adults through the whole dating journey. In honor of its release, I’m changing things up today and for the first time on Always Hope, I … Continue reading "092 – Dating Well"

Joining me on the show today is Deacon Ed Shoener, a deacon of the Diocese of Scranton, PA and the president of the Catholic Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers to discuss mental illness and suicide. Deacon Ed beautifully shares about his daughter’s struggles with mental illness and death by suicide in 2016. We discuss … Continue reading "091 – Deacon Ed Shoener on Mental Health and Su...

What if you were unconscious for 6 weeks due to a severe battle with Covid? How would that experience shape your faith, knowing that prayers and a miracle saved your life? How would that change your relationship with your family, God, and life itself? What if you also happened to be the president of a … Continue reading "090 – Jason Shanks on Innovation, Creativity, and Suffering"

Exodus 90 is a program aimed at helping men grow in their spiritual and ascetical practices. It is built around small groups, regular prayer exercises, and giving up a long list of creature comforts. It has grown tremendously over the last few years. And while, I hear many people talk about its positives, I do … Continue reading "089 – Nathaniel Binversie on Exodus 90"

Recently, Christianity Today released a podcast called “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” that chronicles the events of megachurch in Seattle, WA. That podcast is a 12-part series that gets into the weeds of how Mars Hill rose to prominence built around the personality of a fiery pastor and how things fell apart rather … Continue reading "088 – Austin Ashcraft on Mars Hill, Celebrity, and Spiritual...

Scott Weeman joins me on the show to talk about Catholic in Recovery, a ministry he started to help addicts recover in a Catholic environment. Scott openly shares about his addiction and recovery journey and how both AA and a vibrant young adult ministry at his parish were key instruments on his road to sobriety. … Continue reading "087 – Scott Weeman on Catholic in Recovery"

Have you ever wondered why people react differently to the same thing? Why is it that some folks are quick to get angry about the slightest thing, but others are more patient? Why does your wife prefer to stay home when all you want to do is be around people? Maybe it’s because we all … Continue reading "086 – Art Bennett on the Temperament that God Gave You"

Well, we talk about vocations and discernment often in this show and today I want to take a systemic approach to the questions and ask what parishes and schools can do better to increase awareness about vocations. And since it is national vocations week, I thought it’d be a great time to share this discussion.  … Continue reading "085 – Rhonda Gruenewald on increasing vocations in the Church"

I’ve covered discernment many times in previous episodes on what to look for and best practices when making decisions. But today, I’ve taken a spotlight to errors I continuously hear from young adults about making decisions. Joining me on the show again is Dr. Tom Neal, expert on the spiritual life and discernment, to banter … Continue reading "084 – Dr. Tom Neal on How to Not Discern"

Joining me on the show today is Samantha Povlock, founder of the website FemCatholic to discuss how their content meets the needs and questions of Catholic women. She shares why she started the website and the excitement from being one of the winners of the OSV Challenge. We also talk about broader issues including the … Continue reading "083 – Samantha Povlock on FemCatholic and the dignity of wo...

Why should Catholics care about the teachings of Margaret Sanger? (After all, she is the foundress of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading provider of abortion and hormonal contraception.) Because understanding her life and thoughts provides insight into the current debates over women’s rights.  Joining me on the show today is Sarah Denny, who is writing … Continue reading "082 – Margaret...

In today’s episode I welcome one of my closest friends, Dr. Carlos Gomez, a psychologist in Miami, Florida. Join us as we discuss what the psychological research has to say about happiness. SPOILER: it doesn’t come from success, how much money you have, or how many trips you take to Disney World. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drmariosacasa/ Instagram: … Continue reading "081 – Dr. Carlos Gome...

This is it, the conclusion of Hope Leads the Way lecture series. This talk is called the Power of Hope. It builds on the first two talks and like the end of a good trilogy brings the whole thing together. We share some of the reasons why we worry, how to approach fear and anxiety … Continue reading "080 – Hope Leads the Way, Lecture 3 of 3: The Power of Hope"

Here we go, Part 2 of 3 of Hope Leads the Way! In the first presentation we focused on the psychology of hope and today we are taking the next step on our journey and examine hope as a theological virtue. What does it mean to think of hope an acquired habit? Or a firm … Continue reading "079 – Hope Leads the Way, Lecture 2 of 3: Hope as a Theological Virtue"

Alright, I’m pumped because I have something special for you today. Over the next three episodes of the podcast, I’m going to do something different. Instead of having a guest and doing a typical interview, I want to share with you my lecture series on hope. These are deeply personal lectures, where I dive into … Continue reading "078 – Hope Leads the Way, Lecture 1 of 3: Hope as a Psychological T...

Why do we pray to the saints? Is it important? How do they help us on the spiritual journey towards heaven? Joining me on the podcast to help answer these questions is Fr. Brice Higginbotham, priest of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, and author of the book “Daily Lessons from the Saints: 52 Weeks of Inspiration … Continue reading "077 – Fr. Brice Higginbotham on how to pray to the saints"

I welcome Dr. Donald Songy to discuss the ways attachment needs impact dating. We start by giving a brief recap of attachment theory (hint: relationships are key to our mental health) and we dive into its application to dating, online dating, and the process of allowing a serious relationship to meet our needs for “felt … Continue reading "076 – Dr. Donald Songy on Attachment Theory and Dating"

What can the dying teach us about living a good life? How does awareness of our mortality benefit discernment? Is a peaceful death a grace, something you earn, or both? This is the focus of today’s episode with Paul Malley, President of Aging with Dignity, a non-profit dedicated to safeguarding the rights of the elderly, … Continue reading "075 – Paul Malley on Five Wishes and Life Lessons from th...

We often hear how technology and social media are ruining our society. While that is probably true, what if we could use the good from those platforms to improve evangelization and communication within the Church? What can modern marketing tools teach us about effectively promoting the gospel? That’s the focus of today’s episode and joining … Continue reading "074 – Jason Jensen on using modern ma...