Outside the Walls

This week found me severely under the weather instead of enjoying SEEK 2024. Unable to record a new show, I opted to revisit my conversation from this time last year with Fr. Sean Hagerty, SJ. Fr. Hagerty is the vocation promoter for the USA East Province of the Society of Jesus. That means that Fr. Hagerty is responsible for accompanying men who are discerning a life in the Society of Jesus. He j...

Ann has been a catechist of the Good Shepherd since 1996. She is a member of the faculty at Aquinas Institute of Theology where she founded the MAPS-CGS program, a pastoral studies degree program with a concentration in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.  She now serves as spiritual formation director for the program.  Ann is a member of the formation committee of the U.S. national association of CG...

Katie McGrady is a speaker, author, podcast host, and host of The Katie McGrady Show on The Catholic Channel on Sirius XM 129 that talks about pop culture, current events, Catholic news, and how to live a life of abundant joy. She is a frequent guest on CNN whenever there is a big story on a Catholic topic. She joins me to help unpack the recent Vatican document from the DDF, Fiducia Supplicans. W...

Joe Heschmeyer is a Staff Apologist at Catholic Answers. When not on-air, he is writing exceptionally thorough apologetic treatises, books, or hosting the Shameless Popery Podcast. We reflected on the line from Silent Night, "All is Calm, All is Bright," as a means of focusing our Advent preparations.  In the Patreon segment, we talked about Elf on a Shelf, Santa, and Christmas Myth.

Dcn. Fritz C. Bauerschmidt Is professor of theology at Loyola University Maryland and a permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, assigned to the Cathedral of Mary our Queen. He is a prolific author with over a dozen books on multiple publishers. He joins me to talk about his 2020 book  The Love that is God: An Invitation to Christian Faith on Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing in light of the Inc...

Greg Metzger is the Associate Publisher at New City Press, part of Focalare Media, the communications arm of the Focolare movement. He's written for a variety of publications, including Christianity Today, Commonweal, and Christian Century. He lives with his wife in Pasadena, CA. He joins us to talk about the new book of Pope Francis's meditations on the Nativity entitled Christmas at the Nativity...

In this rerun from 2020, Deacon Charles Beard, from St. Pius X in Tulsa and the Blessed Stanley Rother Catholic Worker, joins us to talk about the Solemnity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. We often imagine this Cosmic Kingship with the implication of his rule over the nations; today we explore the implications of his rule on a personal level. In the Patreon segment, I discuss my r...

It seems like only yesterday that Outside the Walls launched on St. Michael radio in Broken Arrow, but here we are nine years in and still going strong. It seemed fitting to take this week and look back over the past nine years and reflect.  My wife Kristin joins me to talk about our experiences with the show, and to discuss the idea of looking back as a means to prepare for moving forward. This i...

Dr. Holly Taylor Coolman teaches theology at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island. Her areas of specialty include Christian accounts of Judaism, as well as the family, especially adoption. She and her husband are parents to five children, ages 25 to 15. We discuss her forthcoming book on Baker Academic Press, Parenting: The Complex and Beautiful Vocation of Raising Children.

My wife, Kristin, and I recently spent a week in Rome, Italy. We talk about our experiences and reflect on the Communion of Saints.

Father Jeffrey Kirby, STD, is a Papal Missionary of Mercy, the Pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Indian Land, South Carolina, and an Adjunct Professor of Theology at Belmont Abbey College. Father Kirby is a Senior Contributor to the Crux news site, the Host of the daily devotional,  The Morning Offering with Father  Kirby,  and the Host of the podcast,  Truth Be Bold. Father Kirby has authored...

I'm in Rome this week, so we're revising a conversation we had in June of 2022 with Fr. Josh Johnson. Be sure to visit patreon.com/outsidethewalls to see highlights from Rome! What picture pops into your head when you envision "the Church?" Whose faces are situated next to yours in the family portrait above God's mantle? The answer to this question has implications on how we live out our faith, pr...

I'm in Rome this week, so we're revisting a conversation from last April with Dr. Ann Garrido, an associate professor of homiletics at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri, where she previously directed the school’s Doctorate of Ministry in Preaching program. Dr. Garrido has served as the Marten Faculty Fellow in Homiletics at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of seve...

Pia de Solenni, S.Th. D., is a moral theologian, ethicist, and cultural analyst. She can be contacted through social media and at her website MoralTheologian.com. We discuss what to expect from a synod, what is different about this synod compared to others, and what would be an appropriate response toward the synod from Catholics at home. This past week she has written to salient and wise response...

Fr. Casey Cole, OFM graduated from Furman University in 2011 with a degree in Religious Studies and a minor in Poverty Studies. He entered the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) in August of 2011, made solemn profession in August of 2017, and was ordained to the priesthood in June of 2019. Fr. Casey has published three books, Called: What Happens After Saying Yes to God,   Let Go: Seven Stumbling...

Not every family is the perfect model of Catholic family life. Some of us approach parenting still wounded by childhood experiences that were less than ideal. When we start our own families, at best we feel a bit unprepared, and at worst we feel paralyzed with fear that we will repeat our parents dysfunctional, abusive behaviors. In  All Things New , Erin McCole Cupp draws on her own and others ex...

Dr. David Russell Mosley is an author and poet with a PhD in theology from the University of Nottingham who currently teaches literature, theology, and philosophy at a Catholic, classical high school in the Inland Northwest. David has authored books on theology, ( Liturgical Entalnglements , and Being Deified: Poetry and Fantasy on the Path to God ), fiction ( On the Edges of Elfland: A Fairy Tale...

Kelly Wahlquist is the founder of  WINE: Women In the New Evangelization , a women’s ministry that invigorates Catholic parishes through inspiring, supporting, and nurturing women in the faith and by equipping and mobilizing women as intentional disciples of Christ. She is the Director of the Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute, a popular school that serves Catholic adults in the Archdiocese o...

Randy Petrides retired after practicing law for 40 years. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Notre Dame Law School and has a Master’s in theology from Franciscan University in Steubenville. He is the author of How the Saints Shaped History , available on Our Sunday Visitor. We talk together about the influence sanctity has on the movement of cultures throughout history.

Dr. Marylynn Wesson Has served for over 20 years in roles related to Faith Formation and Evangelization. She received her Doctor of Ministry in Evangelization from the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. She is the author of Building a Firm Foundation: An Invitation to Parents of Children Preparing for Sacraments, an eight-week evangelization and formation program for parents and gua...

Fr. Daniel G. Dozier, Pastor of St. George Byzantine Catholic Church - Olympia , and Adjunct Professor of Sacred Scripture at Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Saints Cyril and Methodius, joins us to talk about the similarities and differences between the Church of the East and of the West. The plan was to talk about the Feast of the Assumption/Dormition, but we ended up spending the whole first segm...

The saints' abandonment to Divine providence, and deep desire to cling to the hope of Christ, even (and especially) in the midst of hardship, provides a path for us to emulate. Terry Polakavic focuses on the lives of the four "Women of Hope." These four saints and doctors of the Church are extraordinary exemplars of living out the Christian life in Hope.  Terry Polakovic is cofounder of Endow (Edu...

Father Jeffrey Kirby, STD, is a Papal Missionary of Mercy, the Pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Indian Land, South Carolina, and an Adjunct Professor of Theology at Belmont Abbey College. Father Kirby is a Senior Contributor to the Crux news site, the Host of the daily devotional,  The Morning Offering with Father  Kirby,  and the Host of the podcast,  Truth Be Bold. Father Kirby has authored...

Marcia Lane-McGee is the cohost of the Plaid Skirts and Basic Black podcast and co-author of Fat Luther, Slim Pickin's: a Black Catholic Celebration of Faith, Tradition, and Diversity on Ave Maria Press. She is a founding member, executive board member, and secretary of Catholics United for Black Lives. We talk about Black Catholics, Equity vs Equality, and the Lay Apostolate.

Today we revisit and expand on a 2018 conversation I had with Dr. Lawrence Feingold. There is approximately 15 minutes of extra, previously unbroadcast, content. Dr. Lawrence Feingold is an Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy and Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis. He is the author of   Faith Comes by What is Heard: An Introduction to Fundamental Theology, Touched by Christ: The Sacr...