Ave Maria in the Afternoon Full Hours

Segment 1: The Living Bread that Comes Down from Heaven (2 segments) This Sunday we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus. Jesus declares that He is the living bread come down from Heaven, causing quarreling and confusion among the Jewish leaders. We unpack the readings with Rob Corzine. Segment 2: Understanding the Psalms (2 segments) The psalter is the true prayerbook and...

Segment 1: Baptism, Rebirth, Death, and Grief Today is the anniversary of two significant events in Marcus’ life: his baptism into the church, and the death of his unborn daughter Cora. He share some reflections on death, rebirth and grief. Segment 2: Blessed are those who “yearn?” We live in a culture that spent the past 60 years telling women marriage is slavery, motherhood is social death, home...

Segment 1: Archdiocese of Washington removes Msgr. Rossetti from Exorcist role (2 segments) Washington archbishop Cardinal Robert McElroy has removed Msgr. Stephen Rossetti from his role as the Archdiocese exorcist following comments Rossetti made linking alleged UFO sightings to demonic activity. Matthew Bunson has more on this and other Church news. Segment 2: The Rule of the Sacred Heart (2 seg...

Segment 1: 800 Languages, One Truth Wycliffe Bible Translators recently announced that they have translated the Bible into its 800th language, as translations increase at an exponential rate. In the last five years, more than half a billion people have gained access to the Scriptures in their native language. And no matter the language, God’s truth remains constant. Marcus has more. Segment 2: Sac...

Segment 1: Clinging To Gender Ideology Mandates Is A Losing Strategy In a May 20 settlement that should send shockwaves through every child welfare agency still clinging to gender ideology mandates, the state’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families agreed to a permanent injunction barring officials from denying or restricting foster care licenses based on applicants’ religious beliefs about...

Segment 1: Let’s Lift our Eyes to the Enthroned Lord In today’s First Reading, Paul writes to Timothy from the edge of death with the authority of an apostle. His life has already been placed upon the altar of Jesus Christ. Every line of his letter is the voice of a prisoner who knows what the Gospel demands of us. Marcus unpacks today’s readings. Segment 2: How Catholic colleges aim to navigate t...

Segment 1: What Parents have been trained to get wrong Most people think of parenting as a set of techniques that we use on kids make them behave. But St. John Bosco encourages us to instead approach parenting as a mentoring and discipleship relationship we have with our children. Dr. Greg Popcak has more. Segment 2: What is Morally Responsible Investing? As Catholics, we are called to use the res...

Segment 1: The Psalmist Confronts our Pride The proud man’s first temptation is not necessarily open rebellion against God. It is slower and more subtle, as man thinks his own will to manage his life is sufficient. The Psalms give us the anatomy of this temptation, and look at how pride poisons our entire world – and offer an antidote. Marcus has more. Segment 2: Smart Answers from AI Should Spark...

Segment 1: Justin Martyr’s Saintly Example Today is the Feast of St Justin Martyr, and his life poses a challenging question: are we ready for the same thing? In the first reading, St. Peter tells us that divine power has already given us everything we need for a life of devotion. We are already equipped to live the full Christian life. How will we respond? Marcus has more. Segment 2: How Abortion...

Segment 1: California universities dropped Standardized Testing - Now they say their students aren’t prepared Six years ago, the two largest university systems in the country announced they would no longer consider an applicant’s SAT or ACT scores. DEI advocates applauded the decision, claiming that the use of standardized testing was a “racist metric” and a method of “illegal wealth and race disc...

Segment 1: What the Trinity Reveals (2 segments) This Sunday we celebrate the Trinity, one of the great mysteries of our faith. We unpack the Sunday readings with Rob Corzine. Segment 2: Hey NYT: There is more to the Church than “Pelvic Theology” (2 segments) Following the publication of Pope Leo’s new encyclical, the New York Times claimed that the teaching on artificial intelligence was a shift...

Segment 1: Whose Approval Governs our Soul? Gregory the Great gives us an important exhortation in today’s Office of the Readings: Whose approval governs the soul when we are mocked? Do we do things for the love of God, or because we desire our own praise and adulation? If we aren’t careful, praise can very quickly become a drug to the soul and it can turn the soul away from the altar of God. Marc...

Segment 1: Society of St. Pius X names priests to be consecrated bishops (2 segments) The Society of St. Pius X has announced the names of four priests who will be consecrated as bishops on July 1 without the permission of Pope Leo XIV. We talk more about this and other Church news with Matthew Bunson. Segment 2: The Church learns something new from Newman (2 segments) St John Henry Newman taught...

Segment 1: No Longer Beggars Today’s readings are united by a covenantal theme - we are no longer beggars and now belong to the family of God through the sacrifice of Christ. Marcus has more. Segment 2: Life Lessons from Dante’s Inferno (2 segments) Despite its linguistic beauty and political intrigue, Dante’s “Divine Comedy” is a work of profound theological depth. It reflects the coherence and r...

Segment 1: Religious Expression in Public Life on the Rise Something is happening in the country that is being misread as politics. People of faith are reasserting their place in American public life, the law is increasingly vindicating them and the secular establishment has not figured out what to do about it. Andrea Picciotti-Bayer has more. Segment 2: Why the Pope should talk about AI Pope Leo’...

Segment 1: We have been Ransomed by Christ Today’s Mass readings are woven together by the theme of Redemption. We have been ransomed as a people, bought by Christ’s blood in order to live inside the peace of Zion through humble service to God. Marcus has more. Segment 2: The Virgin Mary’s Message to Nigeria Nigeria is among the worst countries in the world for the persecution of Christians, with...

Segment 1: Microsoft AI expert weighs in on new encyclical (2 segments) In his new encyclical, Pope Leo writes that AI has ‘Even Greater Consequences’ than the Industrial Revolution. Brendan Newell, a Catholic expert on the ethics of Al, weighs in. Segment 2: How to start praying with your spouse Prayer is an essential part of a Catholic marriage – and not just praying on your own, but praying tog...

Segment 1: Does our success seduce our souls? St. Peter begins today’s readings by taking us into the memory of Israel. The salvation announced in Jesus Christ arrived through God working through salvation history. The prophets searched the divine promises and discovered that the Spirit of Christ was already bearing witness within Israel’s sacred history. What does this mean for us? Have we, as Pe...

No Greater Love There is an irony to Memorial Day. Many Americans see it as a three-day weekend that “unofficially” kicks off summer and some stores seem to think it’s simply another cheap excuse to host sales on furniture and televisions. The phrase “Memorial Day” simply doesn’t do the day justice. Marcus has more. Segment 2: An American Hero: One Man’s Legacy of Fatherhood and Faith Jimmy Davis...

Segment 1: Himmler’s Hate and Höss’ Hope On May 23, 1945, Heinrich Himmler – the mastermind behind the Holocaust and one of the top men in Nazi Germany – swallowed a cyanide pill rather than face justice for his crimes against humanity. His life is a cautionary example of what happens when a man casts aside the divine and enthrones himself. Conversely, Auschwitz Commandant Rudolf Höss felt remorse...

Segment 1: “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (2 segments) There are different readings for the Pentecost Vigil and Sunday Masses this weekend, but they all come together to illuminate the Feast of Pentecost. We unpack the readings with Rob Corzine. Segment 2: The Spirit Elevates the Apostles (2 segments) Near the end of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus instructs His apostles to not leave Jerusalem “...

Segment 1: Is Pentecost the Birthday of the Church? It’s a commonly touted line that Pentecost is the Birthday of the Church. But there’s no real root for that sentiment in the Church documents or the Scriptures. So where does it come from? And when is the Church’s birthday? The answer lies is understanding the nature and purpose of the Church’s existence. Marcus has more. Segment 2: When the Spir...

Segment 1: US Bishops plan Sacred Heart consecration (2 segments) The USCCB will consecrate the country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in June, as America prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary. We talk more about this and other Church news with Matthew Bunson. Segment 2: Synod Report: The Abuse of Language leads to the Abuse of Power (2 segments) Reading the documents from the recent Synod on...

Segment 1: Living as one who has encountered Christ In today’s readings, Paul is dragged into the old courtroom of Israel, Jesus prays within the eternal communion of the Father, and in the psalms the voice of every covenant servant who has learned that God himself is our portion. The readings converge upon one urgent truth: the Church is born from the resurrection and sent into this public confli...

Segment 1: The Revival of the HHS Conscience Division is a win for religious freedom This week, the Trump administration took a decisive step to safeguard religious freedom by reviving the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division at HHS — a federal watchdog tasked with defending healthcare workers and patients whose faith is increasingly under siege in American medicine. Andrea Picciotti-Bayer te...