Catholic-Link Podcast

This indefinite podcast pause comes with sadness and great joy. For ten years the Catholic Link podcast has engaged Catholics with faith filled content and enabled them to grow deeper in their faith. It is sad to see the podcast end, but we must not be too sorrowful knowing what good the Lord has done with the podcast. We thank all the listeners, the guests, and donors who made the podcast what it...

Is Halloween a pagan holiday? Should Catholics Participate in Halloween? In this episode of the Catholic Link podcast. Fr. Rob and Fr. George discuss a Christians relationship to modern day celebrations of Halloween. Halloween originally, and still is, a day of observation of All Saints Day, originally known as All Hallow's Eve. In modern observations of Halloween, debates of the morality of the c...

In this episode of the Catholic Link podcast. Fr. Rob and Fr. George discuss some of their thoughts about homilies at Mass and how we are to respond to them. They first offer advice to priests and deacons. When writing a homily, a priest or deacon should keep in mind what they want to say. What is the big take away the congregation should have? The next advice for preachers is to be oneself. Authe...

In this episode of the Catholic Link podcast. Fr. Rob and Fr. George discuss short visits to the Eucharist in our routine. Some people may struggle to do a Holy Hour. This sometimes feels daunting and unattainable. However, Fr. Rob and Fr. George encourage us to make short and simple visits to the Blessed Sacrament on a regular basis. These visits can be five minutes or less and include simple mem...

In this episode of the Catholic Link podcast. Fr. Rob and Fr. George discuss what our proper attitude towards tradition and traditional liturgies should be. The Traditional Latin Mass and other traditional liturgies are strikingly beautiful. However, there is a danger to inordinately focus on the externals. Virtue is, again, finding the medium between two extremes. At any Mass we go to, we must un...

The world's most famous exorcist: Fr. Gabriele Amorth by popular consensus, recounts God's victory over Satan with his book God Most Powerful . Michael Lichens joins the podcast today with Fr. George Elliott to discuss the remarkable life of Fr. Gabriele Amorth. Exorcist in the Diocese of Rome. Fr. Amorth lived from 1925-2016 and received the Sacrament of Holy Orders in 1954 after service in World...

In this episode of the Catholic Link podcast. Fr. Rob and Fr. George discuss how and why some of the Psalms ask God to enact God's justice on his enemies. They explain how the Psalms are prayers. In some of these Psalms, the Psalmist asks God to enact his justice on those who offend God and hurt the people of Israel. This reminds us today that the Church, the new Israel, has enemies too. Jesus sai...

Be a great husband because your wife needs you. A man often lists his priorities as: God, family, then work. How much time do they dedicate to each of those items? So often work and sleep get the most time and our families, and in particular our wives, get the time that's left. Devin Schadt, of Fathers of St. Joseph , joins the podcast to provide practical tips for fostering the primordial relatio...

Matins is one of the hours/offices of the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office. Second to the Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours is the official prayer of the Church. That prays the psalms at set times of the day to sanctify time. In this way, we fulfill Christ's command to 'pray without ceasing.' Specifically, Matins is the night/early morning office that comprises of many psalms and...

Transhumanism is the belief that humans are in control of their own progress and evolution as a species. It advocates for the augmentation of the human body and bodily functions with technology. This line of thought can lead to a disincarnating of the human soul from the body with sci-fi like technology. Today, a lot of the proposed technologies are not feesible. However, the underlying philosophy...

IVF violates the dignity and the rights of a child to be conceived within the loving context of the marital embrace and commodifies a child into a thing to be bought and sold. To artificially conceive a child in a laboratory introduces disunity of the marital act from the procreative act as well as introduces many ethical paradoxes. Stacy Trasancos, author of IVF is Not the Way: The False Promises...

Liturgy is God's gift of his presence to humanity and reverence is part of our receptivity of that gift. We pray the Mass, we don't just say the Mass. God calls us to encounter him on a deep level that goes beyond the simple recitation of the prayers. In this experience, God reaches out to us so that we can come to know him. God gives us the Church to form our interior/spiritual dispositions. To l...

Our Lady of Mount Carmel is celebrated on July 16th. In this episode of the Catholic Link podcast. Fr. Rob discusses the devotion of the Brown Scapular. Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock and gave him the brown scapular. She promised that no one who wore it would suffer eternal fire. Fr. Rob discusses how one can live a life similar to a Carmelite and wear the brown scapular. As a child, Fr. Rob...

In this episode of the Catholic Link podcast. Fr. Rob, Fr. George, and Fr. Michael Niemczak discusses Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati. They emphasize how Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati lived a seemingly ordinary life, but did everything God put in his life and made it holy. Frassati had great devotion to the Holy Eucharist and cared for the poor. His family had wealth and unbeknownst to them, he gave away hi...

Non-exclusive dating is the first stage each Catholic should start relationships in. This stage does not suggest having multiple committed romantic relationships at the same time. Rather, non-exclusive dating is simply getting to know others. And discerning if that person would make a good boyfriend or girlfriend. This period should last no more than three months, should involve little to no physi...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) poses possible infringes on the dignity of the human person and Pope Leo understands this. Dr. Matthew Bunson, author of EWTN's book Leo XIV: Portrait of the First American Pope , joins the podcast to discuss in what ways AI proposes challenges to human dignity and what ways Pope Leo XIV can address those. Leo XIV explicitly chose the name Leo as an homage to Pope Leo...

Pentecost is the only Jewish celebration found in Leviticus that Christians still observe in the Catholic Liturgical Calendar. This festival originally celebrated the harvest fifty days after the Passover. Fr. Rob dives into the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis. The builders of the tower tried to build through their own means apart from God and God confused their language. Now with Pentecost...

Chastity is an essential virtue in the Christian life through which we see and treat other people as the children of God that they are. For one to commit sins against the virtue of chastity is to not respect the dignity they have. Fr. Thomas G. Morrow, author of Marriage for God's Sake: A Guide for Catholics . He shares some practical tips for battling sins of the flesh and growing in the virtue o...

Anger is an emotion, but without proper understanding and clarity it can become a sin. To have an emotion is alright, but to allow those emotions to take control of our decisions and actions, that is where we enter problematic territory. Join Abbot Austin Murphy, OSB, author of the book Emotional Holiness: Discovering the Divine Plan for Your Human Emotions . To learn more about what role proper e...

Sports and athletics mirror the Christian life closely. For someone to grow in a sport, they must acquire discipline, fortitude, courage, among other virtues. Similar traits characterize the Christian life to exhibit and become saints. Kevin Wells , award-winning journalist, best-selling author, and renowned Catholic speaker, joins Fr. George to discuss his career as a sports journalist and how th...

Anxiety can be a way that the devil attacks our identity as beloved children of God. People experience anxiety in a variety of forms, but at its root, we begin to doubt that we are loved in and of ourselves: that we don't need to prove our worth through success or our worthiness to be loved. Rather, simply because we exist, we are loved. Nothing we do or not do can limit how much God loves us. Cat...

To love is to evangelize and is the call of every baptized Christian. We are to go into our workplaces, our families, our communities with abundant love. Then the message of Christ will penetrate the relationships and draw everyone closer to himself. Chris Bartlett of Ablaze Ministries joins Fr. George Elliott to discuss our call to love and to spread the Heavenly Father's love for all his childre...

Papal elections is the process where the cardinals of the Church gather to select the new pope. With the recent death of Pope Francis, the cardinals gather on May 7, 2025 to prayerfully discern the next pope. John and Ashley Noronha of the Truth and Beauty Project share what happens immediately after a new pope is chosen at the papal election. The new pope enters the 'room of tears' to put on his...

Conclaves are the process by which the Catholic cardinals prayerfully discern and elect the next Roman Pontiff, the Pope. Modern papal elections have standard practices and traditions. But that was not always the case in the Church's history. Fr. Conrad Murphy, author of Why Christians Can Wear Pants : Spiritual Lessons from Strange Stories in Papal History , shares the history of papal elections...

Virtuous fatherhood is the goal all fathers should strive for. It is a life of self-sacrifice and devotion for one's family and larger community. Chris Vander Woude joins Fr. George to discuss his father's virtuous life. Chris' father, Thom Vander Woude, lived a joyful life, consistently sacrificing for his family. His life was extremely ordinary, culminating in a heroic act of sacrifice. Now his...