The Family Room

Guests: Sarah Weikert, Executive Director, and Andre White, Fatherhood Program and Facilities Manager  Sarah Weikert and Andre White from Pregnancy Aid Clinic (PAC) share the incredible work they are doing to provide help and hope to mothers and fathers. Operating from the Catholic belief in the sanctity of life, PAC compassionately delivers services and programs created to lift up women, men...

Guest: George Glezmann, Taliban prisoner Few people know America recently secured the release of a Delta Airlines mechanic who was held captive by the Taliban for over two years. How could that be? Born in Mexico and a former member of Mexico’s Air Force, George Glezmann also held a degree in anthropology. Working for a major international airline allowed him to explore more than 130 countries as...

Those outside Catholicism, and even some within her fold, misunderstand the role of the Pope. Thinking him either a dictator or super-human, they question why he’s needed. As former Protestant pastor Dr. Bergsma said in a recent Family Room podcast, it was Sola Scriptura’s lack of hierarchical authority which rattled him. Everyone could interpret the Bible as they saw fit, resulting in chaos. &nbs...

Guest: Dr. John Bergsma, theology professor, VP at St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, author Jubilee means “joy” – a lasting joy.  A Year of Jubilee is a year set aside to re-establish a right relationship with God and neighbor, focusing on forgiveness, healing and restoration. John Bergsma was raised a staunch Calvinist who’d never heard of a Jubilee Year. As a young father, he studied t...

Guest: Mary Beth Bracy, consecrated virgin, writer, and researcher It’s rare to have parents spiritually schooled by their child and even rarer they’d live to see that child declared a saint. Yet, this is the legacy Carlo Acutis bestowed on his parents, Antonia Salzano and Andrea Acutis. Nominally Catholic, Antonia had only been to Mass three times in her life before Carlo drew her back. Both pare...

Guest: Dr. Gilbert R. Lavoie, medical doctor, author Dr. Gilbert Lavoie was a pre-med student at Boston College when he stumbled upon an old book, A Doctor at Calvary by Pierre Barbet.  Thinking it was simply about Jesus’ crucifixion, he became fascinated by the story of the burial cloth that surrounded Jesus in the tomb. A Catholic from birth, he never doubted the death and resurrection of J...

Guest: Patrick O’Hearn, author, literary consultant, speaker, freelance editor The past few years have caused many people to question the meaning of life, seriously taking stock of their past and questioning their legacy. Decades of poor catechesis gave the impression Hell was a crutch for the weak. Without a belief in Hell, we can focus on pleasing ourselves. Yet, death brings about a sobering gu...

Guest: Dr. Matthew Petrusek, author and professor of Catholic ethics Dr. Matthew Petrusek considered himself an intellectual problem solver even in his teen years. Growing up in a small Catholic community in LeGrande, Oregon, surrounded by Mormons, he never considered any other religion but saw religion as an intellectual puzzle to be solved. Both his Masters and PhD were in religious ethics, and...

Guest: Gregg McDonald, corporate recruiter, entrepreneur, visionary When Gregg McDonald’s father walked out on his young family, the toddler son had no way of knowing the legacy this would begin - not a legacy of abandonment but of empowerment. What could have shattered many mothers became an anchor which would solidify Gregg’s unwavering faith in God and the importance of Godly women who hold the...

Guests: Paul and Ashlyn McNeil, Life Teen Missionaries When text messages replaced face-to-face meetings, it created a vortex few saw coming. Was this new way of communicating an exciting prelude to the future or an ominous sign we were losing authentic relationships? As millennials, Paul and Ashlyn McNeil carried cell phones everywhere. It was part of who they were, and yet there was an invisible...

Lorraine Murray, author and columnist Lorraine Murray, a regular columnist for the Atlanta archdiocesan newspaper, The Georgia Bulletin , shares her incredible faith journey. Born into a nominally Catholic family, Lorraine would describe herself as a “cafeteria” Catholic, picking and choosing what to believe. During college she fully embraced the feminist movement and rejected God.  Eventuall...

Fr. Mitch Pacwa, Scripture scholar, author,  TV and radio host Nobody likes crosses and yet we are asked to take up our cross daily in order to follow Jesus. Father Mitch Pacwa has uncovered a deeper meaning behind carrying that cross and shares it with us in his book, St. Paul on the Power of the Cross . In this interactive study guide, Fr. Pacwa breaks down the importance of suffering as se...

Dr. Peter Howard, author, speaker, and founder of Fulton Sheen Institute Having been saturated in the culture of relativism for decades, there is a growing hunger in the world for truth. Young people clamor for it and are flocking to our churches for answers. At the advent of television, a fiery prelate known for his pithy quotes took advantage of that new technology to get people excited about Go...

Sonja Corbitt, author, speaker, podcaster You’ve heard all your life that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Sonja Corbitt, also known as the Bible Evangelista, will help you understand how this concept can heal you from within. Her book, Love Heals , uses her extensive knowledge of Scripture to draw out the causes of our common weakness...

Sarah Weikert, Executive Director, and Andre White, Fatherhood Program and Facilities Manager  Sarah Weikert and Andre White from Pregnancy Aid Clinic (PAC) share the incredible work they are doing to provide help and hope to mothers and fathers. Operating from the Catholic belief in the sanctity of life, PAC compassionately delivers services and programs created to lift up women, men, and fa...

Dr. Will Boegel, podiatrist and founder of Opal House Guatemala Throughout the Gospels, Jesus says those who leave everything behind to follow and serve Him will reap innumerable rewards in the present age and eternal life in the age to come. Most know this Scripture promise, but few live it out.  Dr. William Boegel and his wife, Diane, found that God had a plan for their lives only after the...

Kathleen Conklin, educator, innovator, and mom Kathleen Conklin always had an apostolic heart and felt called to mission when she was still a young mom. With a degree in Education, she searched for an organization where she could use her skills as an educator as well as find support for her young family. She started a preschool as well as a business, but felt something was missing. After hearing o...

Jack Beers, speaker, founder of The Catholic Mentor As a previous guest, Jack Beers' insight into the importance of relational mentorship left us wanting to know more. Everyone agrees 2020 was such a watershed moment that conversations pivoted dramatically, often making relationships more difficult. People started to be controlled by their feelings, unable to cope with the hard decisions life thre...

Dr. Quentin Van Meter, pediatric endocrinologist Few topics cause more confusion than transgenderism. The internet opened doorways to ideologies unheard of when today’s parents were teens, and they feel totally unprepared. Dr. Quentin van Meter helps clear the confusion. As a colleague of Dr. John Money, the psychologist who first attempted to transform an infant boy into a girl after a botched ci...

 Allison Dalloul and Josh Harris, hosts of The Morning Quest Atlanta has a vibrant Catholic community, but until recently there was no outlet to pull them together with exciting radio programming that speaks to their Catholic identity in a way that invigorates their faith and encourages them to find kindred spirits. Such a venue, The Morning Quest, was created last September by Atlanta’s loca...

Leisa Marie Carzon, PhD, educational leader, author It’s not every day you meet a modern-day Joan of Arc, but when Dr. Leisa Marie Caron heard the story of Sister Deirdre Byrne, M.D., there was no going back. She wanted to know more about this woman who was a religious sister, an Army colonel, and a double-board-certified surgeon and physician. That was in 2020, and Dr. Leisa Marie Caron, a self-p...

Jack Beers, speaker, founder of The Catholic Mentor Every child dreams of becoming a successful adult with good, healthy relationships. Then life collides with dreams and they struggle, often stuck or aimlessly wandering without a rudder. As a young man, Jack Beers saw the incredible difference it made when a priest accompanied him on his spiritual journey. His direct accompaniment, even to the po...

Gerry & Mel Martins, lay Catholic missionaries There are many ways to be counter-cultural, and the Martins are perfect examples. Both Gerry and Mel were raised Catholic in Bombay, India, where Catholics represent less than 2% of the population. The typical birthrate is one or two children, and the Martins just welcomed their seventh child. They met in college where Mel admits she literally sta...

Dave and Nina Hancharik, parents and grandparents Dave Hancharik was our guest in August 2024 for the episode titled “The Gift of Autism,” where he shared the experience of raising a non-verbal child and how a program called “Spellers” helped give his son, Seth, a voice. In this episode we also have Dave’s wife, Nina, who shares his enthusiasm, pointing out that "Spellers" changed their family’s l...

Carrie Gress, author, philosopher, and mom When you look at a culture, the way women behave will dictate how the men and children respond. That’s a harsh statement, but Dr. Carrie Gress stresses this realization helped form her decision to win back the hearts of women. Betty Friedan’s 1963 book, The Feminine Mystique , promised women equality with men and liberation from their comfortable concentr...