Description

In the immediate aftermath of George Floyd’s death a few years ago, the conversation in the Church and America turned swiftly to race.  And as often is the case those national conversations make their way into (and in a few years) out of, our lives.  Today, I’d like to send that email again and you know,  bring it to the top of your inbox.  The discussion about race is an important one - not just for Americans at large, but for Catholics in the US, as well. 

The issue is personal for me. My family, as you know is multi-racial - my youngest son is African American -  and living in the Twin Cities through George Floyd, and the riots that followed - this question of racism and its effects has been top of mind since.  In fact, the overlap of racial justice and poverty has been the context for the works of mercy God has invited my family into since 2020.  

Along the way I started listening to Gloria Purvis’ podcast, who I am excited and honored to interview. Her podcast and writing has been a wonderful education on what it means to be black and Catholic in the US today.  I encourage you to check it out if you haven’t yet. 10/10 recommend!

Gloria Purvis is an author, commentator and the host and executive producer of The Gloria Purvis Podcast.  Through her media presence, she has been a strong Catholic voice for life issues, religious liberty, and racial justice. 

Link to Gloria Purvis’ talk at the National Eucharistic Congress 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWAxXDYNr38

Information about the process of Canonization for the first African American Saint.  There are currently seven, underway.  

https://www.usccb.org/committees/african-american-affairs/road-sainthood-leaders-african-descent

Book: Slavery by Another Name by Douglas Blackmon

https://www.amazon.com/Slavery-Another-Name-Re-Enslavement-Americans/dp/B002D1W8ZY

Watch: Eyes on the Prize (2 Seasons) on Prime. There is a paywall, but the series is available here: 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.26619625-5243-4ea9-8b09-850310b93c4d?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb

Book: When Affirmative Action was White by Ira Katznelson

https://www.amazon.com/When-Affirmative-Action-White-Twentieth-Century/dp/1324051086?adgrpid=180140477444&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=748008426879&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=776688375324422722&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019551&hvtargid=dsa-2414841786926&hydadcr=&mcid=&hvocijid=776688375324422722--&hvexpln=67&tag=googhydr-20&hvsb=Politics_d&hvcampaign=dsadesk

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list. 

Description

So in my opinion, AI, and this is probably your opinion too, AI is here to stay and preparing talks as one example, which we'll get into, get into today, will never be the same. And I'm a bit late to the game for sure on this one, as many of you have been asking me, Hey, what are your thoughts on AI and preaching and that sort of thing?

And, and I think this is a great question and I'm excited to kind of dig into it today. And, um, to do that, I wanna share three simple ways that I use AI for many of the talks that I develop. Nowadays, I'm wondering if you do the same thing. In fact, I've put together a poll question on Spotify for any of you Spotify listeners out there, the video is on there as well.

The video that I throw on YouTube. Um, asking this very thing, a poll question on Spotify, how do you use AI with talk or homily prep? Please check that out. I would love to hear your thoughts. In addition to the three ways that I use ai, I also share two cautions that I hold as well when it comes to the overlap of preaching and this technology stick around.

That's sort of at the end and a really fun part of the conversation. Joining me today and sharing. His insights as well from the perspective of songwriting is my trustee occasional co-host, the One and only Connor Flanagan. Please be sure to answer the poll question on Spotify and stop by and say hi on Instagram at Better Preach.Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list. 

Description

Father Luke Marquard is a Priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul Minneapolis and a member of the Companions of Christ. Ordained in 2013, he serves as the pastor of St. Joseph's here in West St. Paul, along with a Master of Divinity degree. He also holds a master's degree in Education from the University of Notre Dame.

Check out St Joseph’s Website: www.churchofstjoseph.org

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list.  

Description

Ryan shares about some exciting upcoming episodes and asks you to join him for a special prayer request!

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list. 

Description

After many years of praying with the scriptures on a daily basis, I, I read the daily readings and. Kind of go through a process of, of Lexio, Davina and meditation with the scriptures. Each day I've seen that more and more and more. There's this sort of merging and kind of overlapping of how I approach the scriptures.

In prayer and how that informs my preparation for preaching. And I thought, oh, you know, it'd be fun. It'd be fun to talk about that. And I'd love to hear how you see this overlap in your own life between your prayer life and how preaching and teaching unfolds, um, in your life. So today we're gonna dig into each of the four steps of Lectio Divina, and how there is a connection and an overlap as we prepare for preaching.

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list. 

Description

Is there an overlap between the art of preaching and the skill of acting?

This is something that I have wondered about for a long time.  Having spent time on only a few acting stages - not the lease of which earned me a college best actor award at my alma mater for playing a young man with elephant ears - but I digress?   

Is preaching performative? Yes, in some ways. Is preaching the same as acting? No, of course not, but the overlap and where that line is fascinating and what preachers can learn from great actors is super practical. 

In my conversation with Tanner Kalina today we dig in to these very questions and might even have discovered some answers!  Check it out!

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Tanner Kalina is a Catholic evangelist living with his wife, Alli, in northern Colorado. They enjoy camping, snowboarding, and living life on mission together.

Using his experience as a professional comedian and actor, Tanner travels all across the United States to share the Gospel. He relates to audiences through humor, high levels of energy, and an egregious amount of research.

His online videos have accumulated millions of views, and he’s had the opportunity to create additional video resources with Ascension Presents, Ascension Press, EWTN, FOCUS, Life Teen, YDisciple, and others.

Alongside two of his best friends, he is a Co-Founder of the Saints Alive Podcast on Hallow, which inspires hundreds of thousands of families all across the world to chase holiness. His debut book, Aching for Greatness, is out now wherever you get your books, and he’s in works on his second book.

Check out Tanner’s Website: www.tannerkalina.com

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list.  

Description

To celebrate 100 episodes I am featuring and discussing seven different messages from listeners of the Better Preach Podcast. Thanks to each of the following for their wonderful contribution!

Karl Hendrickson - Teacher, School Administrator and Community formation teacher

www.saintagnesschool.org

Megan Copeland - Podcaster and Catholic Speaker

https://www.hisbelovedcatholic.com

Sr. Nicole - Religious Sister with Salesian Sisters of St John Bosco

https://www.salesiansisters.org

Chris Hurtubise - Director of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship with the Diocese of Superior

https://catholicdos.org/people/chris-hurtubise

Nikki - Canadian Catholic Coach

https://www.instagram.com/canadiancatholiccoach/

Nick Longo - Youth Minister and founder of SENT Parish

https://sentparish.com

Colleen Vermeulen - Director of Mission with Catholic Biblical School Ministry

https://catholicbiblicalschool.org

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list. 

Description

I want to hear from you! Would you be willing to record a voice-text (90 sec or less) and send it to me? If so, here are the four questions I’d like you to answer!

1) Name
2) Ministry / Role (if applicable)
3) How has the podcast supported you as a teacher/preacher?
4) What was one of your favorite episodes and why? or Favorite takeaway from of the episodes?

If interested - go to this link:

www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

and send me an email through the CONTACT FORM on the middle of the page and use the subject line: VOICE TEXT.

I’ll send you the details from there!

Again, don’t forget I am shooting to have these by end of day, Friday June 6th, 2025. And while I can’t wait to hear your comments I will be selecting a handful to share on the show for episode 100!

Please reach out to with any questions!

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list. 

Description

  Are you Like me? I always watch TV shows and movies at home with captions on. It's one of the reasons I don't want to go to the movie theater. Because I can't do the captions. I don't know if I'm getting old or what it is, but it's just so much better with the captions .

I can follow every little thing that's said, and I feel like I'm understanding what's going on much better, because I can hear it and I can read it. That's kind of the idea that I'm tapping into today. There's this psychological theory called the “dual coding theory. It says that we store information in two ways, words and images.

And if you put them together, there's a much better likelihood that you'll remember the idea. Words connected to images.

Most people are running away from slides. I think you have an opportunity to make incredible slides that can really reinforce the big ideas. From your talk

It's really helped me to communicate ideas better using slides sparingly, but strategically. So I wanna share three principles that really help guide me in that during this episode:

1) Think Images not Text

2) Think Phrases not Paragraphs

3) Build it Last

Tools

For designing slides: canva.com

For finding great free images: unsplash.com

Caravaggio’s “The Call of Matthew” - https://www.caravaggio.org/the-calling-of-saint-matthew.jsp#google_vignette

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list. 

Description

 I don't know if you know this, but Father Mike Schmitz is a huge fan of Superman, but in my conversation today, you get the really strong impression that he's got a lot more in common with the everyday man, just you and me and the kinds of things that we struggle with. And he shared just humbly and honestly about some of his speaking missteps and struggles and the questions that he has around preaching.

It gives us this beautiful window into the man, the disciple that's, you know, behind the crazy number of views on YouTube and downloads on podcast apps. And by doing so, he gives us each permission to be real with each other and with the Lord, and to name those struggles in our spiritual life.

That we might normally, you know, keep under wraps, but when we share it, it really does shed light on our own lives and the lives that we're in community with. This was a fantastic conversation. I'm so excited for you to hear it.
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Father Mike Schmitz is the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Duluth, as well as the chaplain for the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He has preached to thousands locally and nationally, and is the host of the widely popular Podcasts Bible in a year, and the Catechism in a year, produced by Ascension. Father Mike also offers weekly homilies on iTunes, hallow, and bulldog catholic.org, and weekly videos viewed by millions on YouTube through Ascension presents.

Connect with Fr. Mike and learn more about his mission in campus ministry at University of Minnesota-Duluth here: www.bulldogcatholic.org

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list.