Ave Maria in the Afternoon

Last week Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that the execution of Nidal Hasan, who killed 14 people and injured 32 others in a 2009 terrorist attack, will be live streamed. While there is still a place in society for Capital Punishment, this is a bridge too far. Dr. T. Adam Van Wart joins us.

Guest Info

Dr. T. Adam Van Wart is Associate professor of theology at Ave Maria University.

Some are celebrating Canada’s government “indefinitely suspending” legalizing euthanasia for mental illness as a great victory for life – but Wes Smith thinks there are still reasons to be concerned. He explains why.

Further Reading

Canada Backs Off Euthanasia for Mental Illness, Targets Dementia Patients

Guest Info

Wes Smith is the Chair and Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism. He’s also the host of the Humanize Podcast. He’s the author of 13 books including “Culture of Death: The age of Do-Harm Medicine.” Follow him on Twitter @thewesleyjsmith and check out his articles at National Review, First Things and more.

On this day in 1945, President Truman presented the Medal of Honor to Desmond Thomas Doss for his extraordinary courage in World War II. As a Seventh-day Adventist, he was convinced that his Christian faith prohibited him from killing another human being. But he also saw it as his patriotic duty to service alongside his fellow Americans. During the Battle of Okinawa, he charged into enemy fire to save the lives of more than 70 soldiers. Marcus tells his story.

Last month the DDF published a note entitled A Journey of Hope: 60 Years of Interreligious Dialogue. Dr Lawrence Feingold, a convert from Judaism, examines the document and what it has to say about the Church’s relationship with the Jewish people.

Further Reading

A Journey of Hope: Sixty Years of Interreligious Dialogue and Fraternity in the Light of the Conciliar Declaration Nostra Aetate

Guest Info

Dr. Lawrence Feingold is professor of theology at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis. He earned his doctorate in theology from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. He is the author of Touched by Christ: The Sacramental Economy (Emmaus Academic, 2021); The Eucharist: Mystery of Presence, Sacrifice, and Communion (Emmaus Academic, 2018); Faith Comes from What Is Heard: An Introduction to Fundamental Theology (Emmaus Academic, 2016); The Natural Desire to See God According to St. Thomas Aquinas and His Interpreters (Sapientia Press, 2010); and a three-volume series entitled The Mystery of Israel and the Church (Miriam Press, 2010).

Many notable people are buried at the Catholic cemetery in South West London, including Sr James Marshall. Appointed Chief Justice of the Gold Coast, he was responsible for ending a particularly vicious form of slavery and liberating large numbers of men, women, and children. Joanna Bogle tells his story.

Further Reading

The Catholic Knight Who Stopped Slavery in West Africa

Guest Info

Joanna Bogle is the author of some 20 books, including several historical biographies and A Book of Feasts and Seasons with information on traditions and customs marking the Church year. Her most recent book is John Paul II: Man of Prayer with colleague Clare Anderson, exploring the spiritual life of St. John Paul the Great. She broadcasts regularly with EWTN and initiated popular “Catholic History Walks” around London.

In today’s First Reading, St Paul writes to the Galatians: “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” All of the mistakes we see in salvation history comes when man tries to play God. But we do not need to be slaves to our sin. Freedom simply means the capacity to choose the good. And so keep choosing the good by grace in Christ. Marcus has more.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, we hear the parable of the wedding feast. A king gave a feast for his son, but none of the invited guests would come. We unpack the readings with Rob Corzine.

Guest Info

Rob Corzine is vice president of programs for the St Paul Center for Biblical Theology

In a culture that talks constantly about love, while often reducing it to an emotion, feeling or personal preference, what, exactly, is love? We explore this essential question with Dr. Maria Fedoryka.

Guest Info

Maria Fedoryka is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Ave Maria University. She is teaching a new free course on love, which can be found at thepursuitofwisdom.org

We Americans have a thing about freedom. The deepest wellsprings of American freedom are not ours by virtue of being American but by virtue of our being human. And if there is a genius in our political traditions, it lies in a remarkable political system that we have not devised ourselves but only inherited. But for a people to be free, they must be willing and capable of living freely – and that begins with Truth. Stephen White joins us.

Further Reading

Freedom in the Ties That Bind

Guest Info

Stephen P. White is executive director of Saint John Paul II National Shrine and a fellow in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

The Catholic Foundation of Michigan invites you to join more than 300 community leaders, donors, clergy, and friends for one of their most inspiring evenings of the year. This year, the Igniting Our Future Gala comes to The Henry Ford Museum, where guests will gather among some of America’s most iconic stories of vision and innovation to celebrate the impact of Catholic generosity and create new opportunities for young people to grow in faith, purpose, and service. John Biskner has the details.

Learn More about the Gala

Guest Info

John Biskner is the President and CEO of the Catholic Foundation of Michigan