Catholics in Ordinary Time

Season three of CIOT brought conversations shaped by real questions, real stories, and ordinary encounters with grace. In this final episode, Fr Jack reflects on the themes, voices, and moments that defined the season and what they revealed about faith lived in everyday life.

Valerie Stivers built her career in cultural journalism, beginning as an intern at a major fashion magazine and later working as a sex columnist for the Moscow based alternative paper The Exile, editing Time Out New York, and writing as a freelance journalist for numerous publications. Raised in an atheist family, she did not arrive at faith through argument or study. Instead, a personal experienc...

Troy never expected to become Catholic. A friendship opened the door. Hearing Bishop Barron teach on the Eucharist pushed it wide. That moment became a turning point in his discernment and led him into the Church. He and his husband later married outside the Church and continue living as Catholics. This episode looks at the steps that shaped his story.

Advent invites us into a kind of wilderness. Not dramatic, just honest. A place where waiting becomes its own teacher. In this bonus conversation, Fr Jack talks about how God meets us when the path feels quiet and unfinished.

Jesse Anderson joins Fr Jack to share his journey from being a lukewarm Lutheran to finding a deeper home in the Catholic Church. His story is honest and down-to-earth shaped by questions friendship and the slow awakening of a faith that finally felt alive. It’s a conversation about searching surrender and discovering a place where his heart could truly burn with conviction. I hope you like this c...

Dawn Eden Goldstein joins Fr Jack on  Catholics in Ordinary Time  to share her journey from the world of rock journalism to a deep and grounded Catholic faith. Her story moves through music, longing, and discovery as she finds her way home in the Church. It’s a conversation about listening, transformation, and the surprising paths that lead us into the light. I hope you like this conversation. I c...

MacLean Andrews joins Fr Jack to share the unexpected path that led him into the Catholic Church. What started as “pretending” to be Catholic at a Catholic school slowly became an honest search for truth. Over time the questions deepened the desire grew and what once felt like a disguise turned into a real journey of faith. From non denominational roots to discerning with the Jesuits MacLean’s sto...

Cameron Edman’s journey into the Catholic Church began with curiosity and conversation. What started through friendship grew into a search for truth that was met with patience, wisdom, and unexpected grace. In this episode of  Catholics in Ordinary Time , Cameron shares how questions became a bridge and how gentle guidance helped him find his way home. I hope you like this conversation I certainly...

Deacon Mac Chester joins Fr Jack on Catholics in Ordinary Time to share his story of returning to the Catholic Church after time away. His journey isn’t about conversion from something else but about rediscovering what was there all along, faith, community, and the quiet pull of grace. It’s a story about coming back home, seeing the Church with new eyes, and realizing that sometimes the road away...

Sara Bryan joins Fr Jack to share how she was moved by the beauty and love she found in the Catholic Church. Raised Protestant, Sara began seeking the Church out of curiosity but what she discovered was a sense of home she didn’t expect. This episode of  Catholics in Ordinary Time  is a story about grace, belonging, and the gentle pull of love that leads a heart toward faith. I hope you like this...

Fr Jack kicks off a new season of Catholics in Ordinary Time focused on converts, people who found their way into the Catholic Church from all kinds of places and stories. He shares what to expect this season and why these journeys matter for all of us. I hope you like this conversation I certainly did.

As Season 2 of  Catholics in Ordinary Time  comes to a close, Fr Jack looks back on the conversations that shaped this season; the courage, honesty, and hope shared by every guest who chose to stay in dialogue with the Church. He reflects on what he’s learned, what’s still stirring in his heart, and what’s coming next for  Catholics in Ordinary Time . It’s not goodbye... it’s see you soon!

Lindsey Horvath is a public servant and advocate rooted in faith. In this episode of Catholics in Ordinary Time, Lindsey shares with Fr. Jack how her Catholic upbringing shaped her, how her beliefs inform her work, and how she interprets her calling in a world full of questions. This is a conversation about integrity, hope, and what it looks like to live faith in the public sphere. I hope you like...

Eve Tushnet is an author, speaker, and thinker whose life and witness explore what it means to live with both desire and fidelity. In this conversation with Fr Jack on  Catholics in Ordinary Time , she shares how she navigates her attraction by embracing celibacy while also walking alongside a romantic partner. They talk about tension, identity, longing, and the grace of staying in relationship wi...

Kate Carter joins Fr Jack on  Catholics in Ordinary Time  to share her journey of faith and life in the Church. With honesty and warmth, she reflects on the experiences that have shaped her, the questions that continue to guide her, and the hope she holds for the future of the Church. It is a conversation about resilience, belonging, and the courage to remain rooted in faith even when the path is...

Ann Marie Pace is a writer and director based in Los Angeles—Mexican American and proud of it, shaped by a life spent exploring identity. From her thesis film shot in the Amazon to directing for Disney+, she tells stories that bridge worlds and make space for voices that don’t always see themselves reflected. In this episode of  Catholics in Ordinary Time , Ann Marie sits down with Fr Jack to talk...

Alyssa Duffner shares with Fr Jack her journey of holding faith and identity together and why she continues to find a home in the Catholic Church. It is a conversation about honesty, resilience, and the hope for a community where all know they belong. I hope you like this conversation I certainly did

Yunuen Trujillo is a Catholic lay minister attorney and author of  LGBT Catholics: A Guide to Inclusive Ministry  She brings her faith into action through her work with immigrant rights LGBTQ ministry and community building in Los Angeles In this episode of  Catholics in Ordinary Time  Yunuen sits down with Fr Jack to share her story of faith her life in the Church and the ways she works to create...

In the first episode of Season 2, Fr Jack opens the door to a new series of conversations. This season of  Catholics in Ordinary Time  is about queer women who have chosen to remain in the Catholic Church. Some have found ways to adjust their lives to Church teaching. Others stay while holding tension with it. Through these voices, the season will explore what it means to belong, to question, and...

In this season finale of  Catholics in Ordinary Time , Fr Jack looks back at the conversations he’s had with young adults over the past months. From the questions they carry to the hope they hold, he reflects on what he’s learned from listening to their stories. It’s part gratitude, part reflection, and part invitation to keep the conversation going into next season.

Grace Cotangco lives and works in Los Angeles where she actively serves as a lector musician and youth minister in the parish she chose as her own In this episode of  Catholics in Ordinary Time  she sits down with Fr Jack to talk about what it means to show up where you are called to be even when it’s not the parish you grew up in It’s a story about service music and finding your place in the Chur...

Vivi Jaramillo is a musician and songwriter living in Los Angeles, originally from Ecuador. Her music blends raw emotion, spiritual depth, and Latin roots—an offering of beauty, honesty, and belonging. In this episode of  Catholics in Ordinary Time , Vivi talks with Fr Jack about how she came into the Catholic faith, through doubts, through questions, and through moments of deep beauty. This conve...

Alex Street is a musician and youth minister now serving at a non Catholic church in Boise Idaho. He once worked for a Catholic parish but over time his path led him somewhere new. Still centered on Christ still rooted in service but shaped by unexpected turns In this episode of  Catholics in Ordinary Time  Alex talks with Fr Jack about ministry music leaving and longing and what it means to keep...

Keaton was raised Catholic but found himself drawn into a different kind of church community as a young adult, a non denominational church in Colorado that felt like home In this episode of  Catholics in Ordinary Time  he talks with Fr Jack about growing up in the faith what pulled him away and what keeps him connected to something deeper even as the path looks different It’s a conversation about...

Maggie Miller grew up in Brooklyn and now lives in France where she’s studying art history and navigating life far from everything familiar. In this episode of  Catholics in Ordinary Time  she joins Fr Jack for an honest conversation about faith beauty and what it means to keep searching especially when belief doesn’t come easy They talk about doubt distance and the quiet ways art and culture invi...