Today’s Office of the Readings includes an excerpt from Thomas à Kempis’ Imitation of Christ. He warns us of a very dangerous spiritual illusion – the assumption that just because we were faithful yesterday, we will automatically be faithful tomorrow. The Christian life depends on waking up every day and seeking the grace of God to sustain us in fidelity. Marcus has more.

On December 16, 2002, Ken Craycraft made an impulsive decision that changed the course of his life. He gathered the liquor bottles from around his house and poured them down the sink – and he has not taken a drink since. Ken and Marcus speak about their experiences as alcoholics, bearing the cross of addiction, and what they want the loved ones of alcoholics to understand.

Further Reading

Staying Sober One Story at a Time

Follow Ken on X

Kenneth Craycraft, an attorney and theologian, holds the James J. Gardner Family Chair in Moral Theology at Mount St. Mary's Seminary and School of Theology, the seminary for the Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He hosts Driving Home the Faith on Sacred Heart Radio and holds the J.D. from Duke University School of Law and the Ph.D. in theology from Boston College. He is the author of The American Myth of Religious Freedom (Spence, 1999) and Citizens Yet Strangers: Living Authentically Catholic in a Divided America (Our Sunday Visitor, 2024). He is a columnist for Catholic World Report, The Catholic Herald, OSV News, and The Catholic Telegraph, for which he has won multiple Catholic Media Association awards, including first place for general commentary.

This is the beginning of a longer interview which can be found for free on the Ave Maria Radio YouTube Channel or at the link below.

What does it mean to say that the Lord our God is a jealous God? And how does that relate to the doctrine of the Eucharist? Jared Staudt joins us.

Guest Info

Jared Staudt is Assistant Director of the institute of Catholic Culture. He is author of Words Made Flesh: The Sacramental Mission of Catholic Education (CUA Press, 2024), How the Eucharist Can Save Civilization (TAN), Restoring Humanity: Essays on the Evangelization of Culture (Divine Providence Press) and The Beer Option (Angelico Press), as well as editor of Renewing Catholic Schools: How to Regain a Catholic Vision in a Secular Age (Catholic Education Press). He and his wife Anne have six children and he is a Benedictine oblate.

In summer 2021, Ave Maria Radio hosted a celebration of our 25th anniversary. Much has happened since then, most notably the death of Al Kresta in 2024. This year, Dr. Marcus Peter assumed the role of our new President, and Dr. Billy Kangas took over the role of CEO from the retiring Mike Jones. We will celebrate this fall with the SENT Gala and would love to have you join us! Marcus and Billy have the details.

Learn more about the SENT Gala

Guest Info

Billy Kangas is the CEO of Ave Maria Radio.

Dolly Parton holds a unique spot in American culture as one of only a handful of artists whose appeal crossed political, religious, and generational lines. What role did her faith play in her life? How did she deal with her massive stardom? We look at her life with east Tennessee native Terry Mattingly.

Further Reading

Crossroads: Was Dolly a none of the above believer?

Guest Info

Terry Mattingly is the former editor of Get Religion. He is a journalist and professor who writes at the Rational Sheep blog and has written the nationally-syndicated On Religion column since 1988. Follow him on X @tweetmattingly.

Dr. Steve Rouhana grew up praying the Rosary, but often found his mind wandering despite his best efforts to focus on the prayers. He has discovered a new method of praying the contemplative Rosary, which places a special focus on the events in Jesus’ life we are commemorating. He joins us.

Further Reading

A Rosary for Religious and Restless Minds: The Structured Contemplative Rosary

Guest Info

Dr Steve Rouhana is the author of A Rosary for Religious and Restless Minds. He’s a husband, father and grandfather who now serves in several parish ministries and is on the faculty of the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan.

In his Confessions, St Augustine reflects on three losses that transformed his life – the death of a friend, the death of his mother, and the death of his son. In reading his account of these deaths, we see a change in his understandings of what death is and how he should respond to it. We look at what Augustine wrote about grief with Abigail Jorgensen.

Further Reading

St. Augustine’s Grief Journey: Shifting Coping Mechanisms

A Catholic Guide to Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Loss: Compassionate Answers to Difficult Questions

Abby’s website

Abby’s blog

Guest Info

Dr. Abigail Jorgensen is an assistant professor of sociology with an appointment in health care ethics at Saint Louis University and a birth and bereavement doula. She is the author of the recently published A Catholic Guide to Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Loss: Compassionate Answers to Difficult Questions.

Facing the English justice system and knowing his life was on the line, St. Thomas More refused to back down, insisting he could not set his private judgement against “the general council of Christendom.” He would not sever himself from the living body of the Church in history. Nearly five centuries later, society has forgotten that lesson. The West has not simply drifted from Christianity. It has, in a profound way, orphaned itself. We talk about it with Brendan Towell.

Further Reading

The Cut Flowers of a Fatherless West

Guest Info

Brendan Towell is the Director of Spirituality and Mission for Secondary Schools and Schools of Special Education in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, where he lives with his family. His interests include Augustinian Studies, Ressourcement Theology and the theological legacy of Pope Benedict XVI. His website is BrendanTowell.com.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Peter tells Jesus he will not let Him be killed. In response, Jesus says “Get behind me, Satan!” He then lays out the cost of discipleship – we must deny ourselves and take up the Cross. We unpack the readings with Rob Corzine.

George Orwell’s classic Animal Farm, published just over 80 years ago, has been adapted into an animated film starring a bevy of Hollywood stars. Perhaps not surprisingly, it falls short of the novel and the points Orwell was trying to make. As the Rotten Tomatoes consensus notes, “All Animal Farm adaptations are equal, but some Animal Farm adaptations are more watchable than others.” We talk about it with John Rodden.

Further Reading

Some Artists Are More Equal than Others: Updating Orwell and Downgrading Art

Animal Farm at 80

Becoming George Orwell: Life and Letters, Legend and Legacy

Guest Info

John Rodden has taught at the University of Virginia and the University of Texas at Austin. His books include The Cambridge Introduction to George Orwell, The Politics of Literary Reputation: The Making and Claiming of “St. George” Orwell, and Becoming George Orwell.