Candid Catholic Convos

It’s hard to have faith that things will get better or truly believe that this suffering is there for a reason. Instead of drawing closer to God, it often feels like we’ve been abandoned.

Pope Francis wrote, "God does not abandon us and often amazes us by granting us a strength that we never expected and would never have found on our own." He likened the journey of the ill to that of the disciples on the road to Emmaus who recognized Jesus travelling with them only after sharing their anxieties and disappointments with him.

So how can we keep the faith during times of illness and uncertainty? How can we reinvigorate our hope and draw closer to God instead of feeling abandoned?

Today we're chatting with Doctor Greg Burke, a physician and president of the local Catholic Medical Association, to talk about the intersection of faith and medicine, how we can maintain our faith in sickness and in health, and how faith informs our choices.

We're always looking for ways to honor and improve our relationships with our spouses, our kids or our friends, but when was the last time we worked on our relationship with God? Sure you say your prayers and go to church, but when was the last time you actually put any effort into THAT relationship?

God doesn’t want to be acquaintances with us. He wants ALL of us. So how can we deepen our relationship with Him during this season of love?

Today we're excited to welcome back Chris Wood, youth minister and spiritual director for the Diocese, to give us some tangible tips about creating an intimate relationship with God.

Book Chris recommends: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Silence-Against-Dictatorship-Noise/dp/1621641910

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nN38zsunuoc

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Bishop Senior recently announced that schools in the Diocese of Harrisburg would be incorporating age-appropriate teachings of Theology of the Body into their curriculum starting with the 2025 school year. Today, we're joined by Mr. Courtney Brown, father of eight and executive director of Rua Woods Institute. Rua Woods is one of the many curriculum choices our schools and parents alike have to educate our children in Christian Anthropology and what that means for us as humans.

Rua Woods: https://www.ruahwoodsinstitute.org/

Watch on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/YfeHTyrCqP8

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Father Ben Dunkelberger, pastor at Our Lady of the Visitation and campus minister at Shippensburg University joins us today to walk through all the vibrant opportunities to available in our Diocese for Youth and Young Adults and hopefully, you’ll learn about one that interests you!

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Deacon Scott Root, Senior Theology Teacher at Trinity High School, joins us for the start of our new series, Back to Basics. This week, we begin our deep dive into the Catholic faith, starting with the Church itself - its origins, its mission, its structure, and what we mean when we say, "a mystery of faith."

If you have any questions you'd like to ask Deacon Root, drop a comment below and we'll do our best to ask him in upcoming episodes!

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In the spirit of the new year, let’s make a resolution together to get back to basics on all things Catholic. Deacon Scott Root, senior theology teacher at Trinity High School, will be sitting down with us today and throughout 2025 to dive deep into the foundations of Catholicism, helping us get back to basics and revitalize our commitment to our faith, starting with an introduction to Catholicism, how it’s different from other Christian denominations, and how why someone should consider becoming Catholic or coming back to the faith after stepping away.

Michael Parks of WHP 580 joins Bishop Senior for our annual Christmas episode to discuss all the recent happenings in the Diocese as well as looking into what we can expect in the new year.

Today is the third Sunday of Advent, next week is Christmas already. Society tells us “its the most wonderful time of year,” that we’re just expected to be happy and smiling and joyful because its Christmas. But for many people, this is a very hard time of year. So how can we experience true joy, not just temporary holiday happiness?

Father Stephen Logue, campus minister at Millersville University and Franklin & Marshall College, and Chaplain at Lancaster Catholic high school, joins us today to define what joy really is and how we can tap into it throughout the year.

We tend to place a lot of pressure on ourselves this time of year to do all the things in the name of preparing for Christmas. And by its definition, Advent is a season of preparation, but are we preparing the right way or are we being distracted? Making the cookies and sending the cards and putting the tree up in November isn’t really helping us prepare for Jesus’ first or second coming. It’s just stressing us out, and Jesus didn’t come to stress us out. He came to bring peace to the whole world.

So how do we find that peace, practically speaking? How can we reframe our Advent so the rest of the season is filled with this peace He promised us?

Today we're chatting with Father Key from St. Joan of Arc Parish in Hershey to unpack the meaning of peace, how to embrace it throughout the rest of Advent and we can hold on to it into the new year.

Advent is a season of waiting, and God does some of His best work in our waiting seasons, but we have to have hope, and we have to trust in Him that the wait is worth it. To kick off this season of joyful anticipation, we're excited to welcome Father Bill Forrey, pastor at Holy Name of Jesus Parish, to dive deeper into the meanings of Hope and the first week of Advent.