In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus meets two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And the other readings this week are equally rich. We unpack the readings with Rob Corzine.

Guest Info

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

One of the great falsehoods that is ingrained in our culture is that faith and reason are incompatible, when just the opposite is true – they are intertwined by their very nature. We do not have to choose between a spiritual or an intellectual life – we can live a life of reasonable faith and faithful reason. Dr. Christopher Kaczor has more.

Further Reading

Is Belief Believable? Reasoning About God from Plato and Aquinas to C. S. Lewis and Jordan Peterson

Guest Info

Dr. Christopher Kaczor is President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association and Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University. A Fulbright scholar, his eighteen books include Is Belief Believable?: Reasoning About God from Plato and Aquinas to C. S. Lewis and Jordan Peterson. Kaczor was appointed a von Humbolt Fellow, a Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, a visiting fellow at the University of Notre Dame, and William E. Simon Visiting Fellow at Princeton University. He can be found on X at @Prof_Kaczor.

As Christians, we can be serious and faithful citizens of the United States or any other nation- but we can never be political idolaters. We can vote with good discernment and speak the truth, but we must remember that Caesar will die and Christ is the king that remains eternal. To forget this runs the risk of moving from patriotism to overt nationalism. Marcus has more.

Further Reading

Two Cities, Two Birthdays

Today is Pope Emeritus Benedict’s 99th birthday, and Catholics around the world are planning a centenary celebration for next year. Marcus shares his own thoughts on what Benedict means to him.

The two biggest Church news stories of this week have been the clash between President Trump and Pope Leo, and the papal trip to Africa. Matthew Bunson has the latest on these and other stories.

Further Reading

Vance says Trump was ‘posting a joke’ with now-deleted Jesus-like image

Donald Trump on tensions with Pope Leo XIV: ‘I have nothing against the pope’

Bishops reaffirm just war limits amid Vance’s pushback on pope’s peace stance

Border czar Tom Homan calls for Church leaders to ‘stay out of politics’

Pope Leo XIV in Cameroon Says ‘the Time Has Come’ to Rebuild Peace

Thomas Jefferson called the Declaration of Independence “an expression of the American mind.” Not merely a document, the Declaration is the common creed of our civic life, and it inspires the shared poetry of our political soul. Matthew Spalding joins us.

Further Reading

Book: The Making of the American Mind: The Story of our Declaration of Independence

Guest Info

Matthew Spalding is the Kirby Professor in Constitutional Government and Dean of the Van Andel Graduate School of Government at Hillsdale College and oversees the Allan P. Kirby Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship at Hillsdale’s Washington, D.C. campus. He is the author of several books including The Making of the American Mind: The Story of the Declaration of Independence

If there were ever a week that summed up the state of our public discourse, it’s this one. Following the backlash over the image President Trump posted a few days ago, talk show host Joy Beher claimed that Jesus never actually claimed to be the Messiah – her determination to portray Trump as a narcissist was so strong she ignored basic historical fact. And Tucker Carlson tweeted that “the people in charge” don’t want you to know that the Muslim faith actually has great love and respect for Jesus – apparently forgetting the plight of Christians in Muslim-majority countries around the world. All it all, it’s been a very silly week – Marcus tries to inject some sanity.

Since the beginning of time they have attended the Holy Trinity with unending praise, and at the Bible’s pivotal moments they were present. They convey God’s saving messages and assist in his continual ordering of the cosmos. Some are hell-bent on our damnation; others intercede tirelessly for our salvation. They are the Angels – and Fr Mike Driscoll joins us to talk about them.

Further Reading

Angelic Answers- Everything You Need to Know About God’s Heavenly Messengers, Guardians, and Guides

Guest Info

Fr Mike Driscoll is the author of several books, including Angelic Answers- Everything You Need to Know About God’s Heavenly Messengers, Guardians, and Guides.

Since President Trump’s explosive social media attack on Pope Leo earlier this week, politicians including Vice President Vance and Tom Homan have claimed the pope should stay in his lane and stay out of politics. But the Vicar of Christ doesn’t suddenly lose his voice when the subject turns from liturgy to law and legislation or from doctrine to politics. Marcus has more.

At a moment when trust in institutions is at historic lows and the public square rewards noise over substance, one question keeps pressing itself forward: What actually produces people of genuine character? The Catholic Church in America has been working on that question in earnest — and the results are becoming visible. Andrea Picciotti-Bayer has more.

Further Reading

Our Catholic Moment

Guest Info

Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is a legal analyst for EWTN News, and director of the Conscience Project.