While all saints are worthy of imitation, some of them were a little more daring than others. Maria Morena Johnson shares some of her favorites in our latest podcast episode.

Also, check out my podcast recommendations for other great Catholic podcasts.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Show Links

* My Badass Book of Saints

* Catholic Weekend Podcast

* Adventures in Imperfect Living with Greg and Jennifer Podcast

* Catholic Stuff You Should Know Podcast

* Subscribe on iTunes

It's almost Advent so I want to introduce you to Advent Adventures from the creators of the Glory Story saints. The Advent Adventures are perfect daily activities for your children to keep them involved in the Advent season and get them ready for Christmas.

I also offer five recommendations for Advent activities for your family.

And save 20% off all Glory Story CDs through Christmas! These CDs are the perfect stocking stuffer for your kids.

 

Show Links

* Glory Story Sale

* Advent Adventures

* All Souls Sale

* Subscribe on iTunes

It's something we all dread as parents – having one of our children leave the Church. Brandon Vogt is a convert TO the Catholic Faith who is an author and speaker. When he talks at a church he is regularly asked for advice on how to bring back children who have left.

The Return Project is a book and other tools to help parents bring their children back to the Catholic Church. Listen as Brandon and I talk about this exciting new program.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Show links

* The Return Gameplan

* Brandon Vogt's website

* Saints-in-training Photo Contest

* All Souls Sale

* Subscribe on iTunes

During the recent Synod on the Family, we heard a lot about the symptoms of the marriage sickness our society is suffering from but not as much about the nature of marriage and ways to help strengthen existing marriages.

In Eleven Cardinals Speak on Marriage and the Family, a new book from Ignatius Press, 11 Cardinals from all over the world offer their perspectives on what marriage really is and how to help families today.

Listen as I interview Carl Olson about this critical resource for marriage discussions today.

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Show links

11 Cardinals Speak on Marriage and the Family

Theology of All Souls

Five things to do for the Holy Souls

All Souls Sale

Catholic World Report

* Subscribe on iTunes

 

Homosexual behavior has surprisingly becoming the defining issue of the decade when only a few years ago the whole idea of homosexual marriage was rejected by the vast majority of Americans.

Now, anyone who doesn't applaud homosexual behavior is labeled a bigot and hater. How should the Church respond and help those struggling with these temptations to find peace and salvation without turning them away or sacrificing the Truth?

Listen as Dr. Janet Smith discusses how to show mercy and at the same time share the Truth in Living the Truth in Love.

This book is a must-have for parishes and individuals who minister to those with homosexual inclinations.

 

Enter to win a free copy.

[wpdevart_countdown text_for_day=”Days” text_for_hour=”Hours” text_for_minut=”Minutes” text_for_second=”Seconds” start_time=”1445367531″ end_time=”6,11,1″ action_end_time=”hide” content_position=”center” top_ditance=”10″ bottom_distance=”10″ ][/wpdevart_countdown]

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Episode Links

* Living the Truth in Love

* Dr. Janet Smith's books

* Ignatius 20% off sale

* The Extraordinary Parents of St. Therese of Lisieux – save 20% this week

* Desire of the Everlasting Hills

* Coup at Catholic University Podcast episode

* Word By Word

* Our Lady Undoer of Knots – a Pilgrimage

* Pray With Me

* Chime Travelers for kids

* Subverted

* Test Everything

* Subscribe on iTunes

While there are many books written about specific aspects of spirituality for Catholic Men and the Protestants have been writing about it for a long time in books such as Wild at Heart, there isn't much material that tries to present a full vision of Catholic male spirituality. Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers means to correct that with his new book, Behold the Man – A Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality.

 

Listen as Deacon Harold talks about men's place in the covenant, fatherhood, marriage and work. This book belongs in every parish and should be used as the basis for men's groups.

 

Enter to win a free copy.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Episode Links

* Order Behold the Man

* Behold the Man Website (soon will have parish resources)

* Deacon Harold's website

* Subscribe on iTunes

* Bishop Olmsted's new challenge to men, Into the Breach

Psychology and religion are regularly at odds but Dr. Christopher Kaczor shows how the study of positive psychology actually validates that the practice of the Catholic Faith empirically makes people happier!

Listen in as Dr. Kaczor and I discuss The Gospel of Happiness: psychology, the true meaning of happiness and ways that your Catholic Faith (when you actually practice it) can make you happier.

 

Find out what the eight things are in the podcast.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dr. Kaczor gives a brief introduction to his book in the video below:

Podcast Links

* The Gospel of Happiness

* US Bishops' Papal Visit Website

* Aletia repository of Pope Francis' speeches and homilies

* St. Michael gift sale – save 20%

* Subscribe on iTunes

This week, let's kick back on the front porch swing, spend some time gazing across the rolling hills of Ohio and talk with Marcus Grodi about how living a simpler life can bring you closer to God.

In Life From Our Land, Marcus talks about moving to the country and how life there has proven to be both simpler and more complex but has led his family closer to God in ways they never expected.

He also offers concrete tips for YOU to use to simplify your life, wherever you happen to be.

Also, I talk about our experience living in the country and the Pope's visit to the United States.

Be sure to enter our drawing for a free copy of Marcus' book and also get our pre-order price of 20% off on Life From Our Land until October fourth, 2015.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Podcast Links

Life From Our Land

US Bishops' Papal Visit Website

Facebook posts about the Pope's US visit

The Coming Home Network

The Journey Home on EWTN

* Our Lady of Sorrows Chaplet

* Subscribe on iTunes

* Magnificat kids' book Junipero Serra

* Unintended Reformation – recommended by Marcus Grodi

 

When Pope Francis traveled to the Holy Land in 2014, Marge Fenelon had the privilege of being part of the press corp traveling with him.

She turned the trip into a healing meditation on Our Lady, Undoer of Knots.

Listen to her experience.

You can pre-order Our Lady, Undoer of Knots for 20% off through 9/18.

Don't forget to enter our giveaway for a free copy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Show links:

* Our Lady, Undoer of Knots – A Living Novena

* Marge Fenelon's website

* Crucifix sale

* Our Lady of Sorrows Chaplet

* The Shoenstatt Website

These are my show notes for the episode. Please don't pay attention to grammar and punctuation.

World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia September 22-25

* Happens every three years since 1994

* Started by Pope John Paul II

* Theme this year chosen by Pope Francis: Love Is Our Mission: the Family Fully Alive.

Archbishop Chaput explained the theme in the welcome letter for the congress: Our theme, “Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive” was inspired by the early Church Father, St. Irenaeus, who wrote “the Glory of God is man fully alive.” The glory of men and women is their capacity to love as God loves – and no better means exists to teach the meaning of love than the family. His Holiness, Pope Francis also inspired the theme. He embodies the message of mercy, joy and love at the heart of the Gospel.

Pope Francis will NOT be there for the congress but will be attending events the two following days, including a papal Mass. Tickets for the Mass were gone in 30 seconds.

The speaker line-up looks very solid. Here are a few and I'm sorry I can't list them all but there are dozens.

* Janet Smith

* Scott Hahn

* Helen Alvare

* Cardinal Sarah

* Bishop Baron

* Christian and Christine Meert

* Daniel Bean

* Cardinal O'Malley

* Archbishop Gomez

A bunch of non-Catholic speakers as well

* Rev. Terrence D. Griffith – pastor of the oldest African American church in PA

* Elder D. Todd Christofferson – Mormon

* Rick Warren

* Rabbi Abraham Skorka

* Suzy Ismail – Muslim

I wish I could attend the congress, both for the speakers I know and for some of these non-Catholic speakers. I am interested about how they view the current state of the family and what they see as solutions for repairing the destruction we see all around us.

The teen speakers are also a great selection.

Since most of you aren't going to the World Meeting of Families and won't get to hear all of the great speakers, I want to spend the rest of the show talking about some of the great books and DVDs in our Aquinas and More Marriage Toolbox. We hand-picked all of these products because they will help you and your children to better understand marriage and family and also help you to be evangelists.

Basics – sex and marriage – If you truly want to be able to understand and defend a position, you need to get a clear grasp on the foundational reasons behind it. There is very little actual debate about anything these days because it has all been reduced to Internet memes and name calling.  Unfortunately, the truth is always harder to explain than lies are to spread. The purpose of this first group of books is to build a foundation showing what sex and marriage are for so that other things, like opposition contraception and the importance of family can be understood and explained later.

On the Meaning of Sex

What is Marriage

Seven Big Myths About Marriage

These books take a natural law and philosophical approa...