I know I’m still considered young-ish, but I’ve thought about death a lot lately, and how if I were to drop dead tomorrow, would my family be taken care of? Would I want to be kept alive on life support? What options are available to maintain any form of quality of life? What about our faith?

Dying doesn't have to be scary, and talking about it won't make it happen any faster. In fact, it will save our loved ones a lot of heartache later.

Today I’m joined Christina Ring, a nurse practitioner with Hospice of Central PA, as we talk about the differences between palliative care and hospice care, how we can compassionately care for our loved ones in line with church teachings, and some things we can do to prepare ourselves for the inevitable.

Today we're chatting with Deacon Armando Torres, our director of Culture and Outreach here at the Diocese, about all the different apostolates we have in our vibrant Diocese, as well as a brand-new conference for our Hispanic population.

Register for our first ever Hispanic/Latino Diocesan Conference:

Hispanic | Latino Diocesan Conference - Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg (hbgdiocese.org)

If we’re not carving the Madonna out of stone, painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or painstakingly piecing together stained glass, is our creativity honoring God and what He’s called us to? Today we’re chatting with Carolyn Astfalk, a local author and member of the Catholic Writers Guild about balancing your creativity and your vocations, bridging your art with faith, and tapping into divine inspiration.

What chance do we stand, as Catholic parents, in a world where our children’s energy and attention is so divided, especially as they get older?

Today we’re continuing our conversation with Irma Do, a wife, a mother, a former therapist and current RCIA and Youth Ministry instructor with years of parenting under her belt about that fascinating stage of parenting known as the teenage years.

Because parenting is hard and we sometimes need that extra encouragement for the different stages of parenting, we’ve broken this episode into two parts: This week is all about being in the trenches as a new parent and playing the long game of raising your kids in the faith. Next week will be all about raising teenagers, helping them come to their own conclusions and teaching them about Catholic social justice. I’m thrilled to welcome Irma Do to the program today. Irma is a wife, a mother, a former therapist and current RCIA and Youth Ministry instructor with years of parenting under her belt and some great advice for how we can reframe our parenting journey in the Catholic faith.

Last week, we sat down with Tom and Patty Strunck, marriage prep and natural family planning instructors for the Diocese, and really dove into the sacrament of marriage – why the church requires marriage prep, what marriage looks like after the wedding, and how to fight fair. Today we’re continuing that conversation with what it means to be submissive to your spouse, practicing forgiveness, resources for when marriage is hard and some ways we can model healthy relationships for our children.

This year, my husband and I will be celebrating thirteen years of marriage. We are not the same people we were when we got married, and that’s okay. But I’d be lying if I said it was easy. So today I’m sitting down with Tom and Patty Strunck, marriage prep and natural family planning instructors for the Diocese, to really dive into the sacrament of marriage – what it means, how it’s influenced by our lived experiences, and how it’s affected by different seasons of life.

Last week, we chatted about why quality friendships are important and why it may feel like it was easier to make friends as a kid versus now as an adult. Today we’re continuing our conversation with Zack Haney, our director of youth and young adult ministries, focusing primarily on the deep vulnerability required in meaningful relationships, the effects of social media and isolation, and some tactful ways we can maintain or pursue new friendships.

Lately I've been thinking about all the friends I’ve had over the years – the ones that didn’t stand the test of time, the ones who walked away when it got hard, the ones I walked away from, the friendships I outgrew and the friends I left behind when I changed jobs or moved to another city. It also got me thinking about how challenging it is to make friends anymore, especially as a busy adult, how committing to and fostering a new relationship takes time and effort we may not have or be willing to give. And what about those lifelong friends? How do we maintain them in different seasons of life?

Today I’m sitting down with Zack Haney, the director for Youth and Young Adult Ministry, to really dive into how we can cultivate and foster authentic friendships as busy adults.

Summer is primetime for picnics and festivals, and we have a lot of them happening in our Diocese this summer. We fling our church doors open and say, let’s take this outside. It’s a great way to reconnect with church friends or make some new ones, and it’s an even better way to invite someone to experience our Catholic Community.

Today, we’re sitting down with Makenzie Kelley and Georgiann Benkovic from Prince of Peace Parish in Steelton to talk about how they’re building community with their parish picnic and why you should consider attending one this summer.

**BONUS content in this episode - hear two previously un-aired episodes of Musings of a Catholic Evangelist with Sister Geralyn Schmidt, SCC

Parish Picnics and Festivals Near You

https://www.catholicwitness.org/festivals-picnics/

Prince of Peace Parish

https://popsteelton.org

Upcoming Events

https://www.hbgdiocese.org/events/category/featured-events/