The Catholic Morning Show

Meet the guest. John Paul Brissette is director of communications for the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion near Green Bay, Wisconsin — the first and only Church-approved Marian apparition site in the United States, where Our Lady appeared to Servant of God Adele Brice in 1859. The event: Catholic Saints of America, July 1–9. A "hall of fame of holiness" honoring 76 saints, blesseds, venerab...

Fr. Reed Flood is chaplain at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines and assistant vocations director for the Diocese of Des Moines. What the Pope is asking. Pope Leo XIV's June prayer intention is "for the values of sports" — that sport may be an instrument of peace, encounter, and dialogue among cultures and nations, promoting respect, solidarity, and personal growth. Fr. Flood frames s...

Sam Halligan hosts his final Friday show alongside Alexia Baker and Brady Grimm before Bo Bonner returns Monday, delivering Catholic news, sports, weather, and three standout conversations. Sunday Gospel Reflection — Fr. Nick Stark Fr. Nick Stark breaks open this Sunday's Gospel, warning against the cultural default of "moralistic therapeutic deism" — a term coined in 2005 by sociologists Christia...

Dan DeMatte , founder and executive director of Damascus , joins guest host and former Damascus missionary Sam Halligan for a conversation on mission, discipleship, and revival in the Church. Key Highlights The origin of Damascus — from youth ministry done in community to a national movement built on encounter with Jesus Why Damascus says they're "not camp people who talk about Jesus, but Jesus pe...

Todd Clancy — board member at Martha's House of Hope — shares the story and mission of Biking for Babies and invites listeners to ride or volunteer. Event Details What: Biking for Babies Central Iowa Ride When: Saturday, June 27 (Mass and check-in begin the morning; the show referenced a 7 a.m. start) Where: St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church, 1102 NW Weigel Dr., Ankeny, IA 50023 Routes: 5-mi...

In this Friday Gospel reflection on Iowa Catholic Radio, Fr. Nick Stark offers a sharp, encouraging preview of Sunday's Gospel. Key Highlights Why "just be a good person" collapses without a common standard for what good actually means How Jesus ties goodness directly to Himself: whoever loves father or mother more than Him is not worthy of Him, and whoever receives a prophet receives a prophet's...

Listen Live The Catholic Morning Show airs weekdays at 7:00 AM Central on the Iowa Catholic Radio Network. Stream live at IowaCatholicRadio.com or on the Iowa Catholic Radio app. This week, Sam Halligan is guest hosting in place of Bo Bonner. Sunday Scripture Preview — Deacon Randy Kiel For the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), Deacon Randy Kiel opens the First Reading from Second Kings...

What Coveting Really Means Often dismissed as "just thinking about things," the Ninth and Tenth Commandments are anything but minor — Ed Van Buskirk calls them the key to living all the other commandments. He distinguishes ordinary desire (which is good and God-given) from coveting: a disordered emotional attachment we foster until it drives us to act against our own good or our neighbor's. His me...

What Are the Four Senses of Scripture? Monica Welsh describes the four senses as a lens for drawing out the deeper meaning of God's inspired Word, which always has more than one layer. They fall into two categories: the literal sense and the spiritual sense (which includes the allegorical , moral , and anagogical senses), together giving a "360-degree view" of any passage. Start with the Literal —...

This Sunday's Readings Deacon Randy Kiel previews the readings for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A — Sunday, June 28, 2026 : First Reading, 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a; Second Reading, Romans 6:3-4, 8-11. Read along at USCCB.org . A Woman of Influence — and Generosity The Shunammite woman is wealthy and influential, but she is known for her generosity, welcoming Elisha with an "upper roo...

On The Catholic Morning Show today Sam Halligan hosts this week while Bo Bonner is away (back next Monday). Two conversations anchor the morning — one on the interior life and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the other on community, culture, and what really brings people together. Living in the Sacred Heart of Jesus — Betty Bosarge Betty Bosarge, OSF — retired criminologist, Secular Franciscan, and Fr....

Soccer, hospitality, and a world brought together A self-described skeptic of the expanded 48-team format, Huynh admits the 2026 FIFA World Cup has won him over. What's captured his attention isn't only the matches but the atmosphere — Scotland's "Tartan Army" singing through the stands, Japanese fans sharing Texas barbecue, strangers meeting across cultures. Events like this, he says, remind us t...

About the book: The Pathway to the Sacred Heart of Jesus A new release from Angelico Press , this was the central project of Fr. Robert I. Bradley, S.J. — a Jesuit who, as a teenager at Gonzaga High School in Spokane, first wondered whether a soul could truly live inside the Heart of Jesus while still on earth. He entered the Jesuits in 1941 and spent a lifetime mapping that pathway. Betty Bosarge...

On this episode, guest host Sam Halligan — filling in for Bo Bonner — explores what real freedom looks like in the Christian life with the Fourth of July approaching. Two longtime friends join to share the missions God has placed on their hearts. Monica Welsh — The Catholic Bible Class with Mon Catholic Bible teacher Monica Welsh shares her casual, self-paced courses that take beginners through th...

Meet Nick Redd Nick is a co-founder and freedom coach with The Freedom Group, living in Kansas City with his wife, Theresa, and their growing family. After 15 years in full-time ministry, he launched The Freedom Group three years ago. His Story Raised in a strong faith background, Nick knew the rules but stayed trapped in a cycle of confession and relapse that grew into addiction. In 2009 he hit r...

Meet Monica Welsh A Benedictine College theology graduate, former missionary, and ninth-grade theology teacher, Monica is part of the Damascus missionary community in central Ohio. She joins the show from Summit Lake — Damascus' brand-new East Coast camp in Maryland, launching its first summer — where her husband serves as camp director. Why She Built It The courses were born out of Monica's own n...

Father's Day Monday on The Catholic Morning Show: Guest host Sam Halligan (filling in for Bo Bonner) leads a morning devoted to evangelization, masculinity, and Catholic fatherhood across three conversations. FOCUS & the Art of Friendship — John Michael Lucido: The Director of Recruitment and Retention for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students explains how FOCUS forms missionary disciples...

Featured Guest: John Michael Lucido, Director of Recruitment and Retention for FOCUS (the Fellowship of Catholic University Students), joining guest host Sam Halligan. Evangelization as Friendship: Lucido makes the case that sharing the faith isn't reserved for professional missionaries — it begins with ordinary friendship, hospitality, and asking deeper questions over time. Every baptized Catholi...

Featured Guest: Iowa Catholic Radio host Joe Stopulus, previewing his 9 AM program with guest host Sam Halligan. A Father's Day Reflection: One month after the death of his father, Joe shares how he's chosen gratitude over grief — thanking God for the example of a faithful father and grandfather rather than dwelling on lost time. Heroic Fatherhood: Joe introduces a special two-part episode, beginn...

Featured Guest: Pete Burak, vice president of Renewal Ministries (Ann Arbor, MI) and author of A Man on Purpose: 10 Rules of Life from a Faithful Father (Ave Maria Press), joining guest host Sam Halligan. The Radical Center: Burak describes Renewal Ministries' charism of living in the "radical center of the gospel" — laser-focused on the kerygma and the power of the Holy Spirit rather than the ext...

A faith-filled Father's Day broadcast from the Iowa Catholic Radio Network, hosted by Sam Halligan with co-host Deacon Mark Campbell. Gospel Reflection – 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 10:26–33) Sam Halligan and Deacon Mark Campbell unpack Jesus' charge to "fear no one" and the danger of living a duplicitous, compartmentalized life. The conversation moves from the duty-driven morality of th...

A Father's Day conversation between Deacon Mark Campbell and Father Nick Smith , pastor of Saint Patrick's in Perry and the familiar voice of Iowa Catholic Radio's daily Gospel reflection. Father Nick explains how spiritual fatherhood was a central theme throughout his eight years of seminary formation — learning to know God as Father and to model the fatherhood witnessed in his own family. He hon...

Hosts Sam Halligan and Deacon Mark Campbell welcome AJ Brown , a parishioner of Saint Pius X in Urbandale, to share the story behind the inaugural Pilgrimage for the Unborn benefiting InnerVisions HealthCare . The journey by the numbers: 67 miles on foot, 34 straight hours, 20 rosaries prayed, 19 parishes visited plus stops at the Iowa Catholic Radio Chapel and beyond, and more than $12,000 raised...

A Gospel reflection for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time , drawn from Matthew 10:26–33 . Sam Halligan and Deacon Mark Campbell wrestle with the modern temptation to keep faith in a "God box" — pulling it out on Sunday and putting it away for the rest of the week. The challenge of the Gospel is congruency: if a camera followed you all day, your life would look the same in every setting. The hosts t...

A full morning of Catholic teaching, Scripture, and conversation on The Catholic Morning Show. Sam Halligan fills in as guest host this week and next while Bo Bonner is away (Bo returns a week from Monday, and Alexia Baker is back next week). Gospel Reflection with Deacon Randy Kiel — Deacon and licensed mental health counselor Deacon Randy Kiel unpacks the readings for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordin...