Catholic Women Now

Catholic Women Now

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Catholic Women Now episodes

  • Your Cycle, Your Fiat: Hormone Health & Catholic Faith with Jamie Rathjen - 10/08/2026

    What if understanding your hormones could bring you closer to God? Julie Nelson and Chris Magruder welcome Jamie Rathjen, fertility care practitioner, certified Creighton Model instructor, and founder of the Fiat Institute, for a faith-filled conversation on women's health, fertility awareness, and the genius of how God designed the female body.

    In this episode:

    • Jamie's fiat moment: How her University of Northern Iowa master's research on fertility awareness-based methods became her calling, and how the word "fiat" (Mary's yes to the angel Gabriel) came to her in the middle of the night
    • Beyond NFP: Why cycle charting does more than help you achieve or avoid pregnancy. It also reveals hormone patterns through perimenopause, menopause, and every life stage
    • Low progesterone, explained: Three common root causes (thyroid issues, under-eating or low BMI, and chronic stress) and why addressing them matters for women facing miscarriage and infertility
    • Bio-evangelism: How a couple who came in for natural fertility care, and said up front they didn't believe in God, gave their lives to Christ by the end of their Creighton Model follow-ups
    • Truth that lights people up: After one UNI lecture on the cycle, several students changed their final research papers to the topic with three weeks left in the semester
    • The Fiat Institute: Jamie trains and certifies women as hormone coaches who partner with physicians. No nursing degree is required
    • Truth, Beauty & Goodness: Chris reflects on surrender and living in the present moment. Julie recommends the Eucharistic adoration docudrama Adore Him: He Is Here

    Become a certified hormone coach or find one near you at the Fiat Institute: fiatinstitute.com

    Keep learning with Jamie on The Hormone Genius Podcast: hormonegenius.com

    Listen to more Catholic Women Now at IowaCatholicRadio.com

    Hashtags

    #CatholicWomenNow #CatholicWomen #NFP #NaturalFamilyPlanning #CreightonModel #NaProTechnology #HormoneHealth #FertilityAwareness #WomensHealth #Fiat #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio

    Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations

    LINKS

    You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.

    If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here!

    More from Iowa Catholic Radio:

    • Sunday Dive with Katie Patrizio
    • Man Up! with Joe Stopulos
    • Catholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie Nelson
    • The Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud Marr
    • Be Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce Riebe
    • Be Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián Moncada
    • Making it Personal with Bishop William Joensen
    • Faith and Family Finance with Gregory Waddle
    • The Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos

    Liturgy & Devotions

    • The Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick Smith
    • The Daily Mass from St. Francis of Assisi
    • The Daily Mass from St. Pius X
    • The Daily Mass from St. Theresa
    • Sunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint John

    Want to support your favorite show? Click Here

    Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ


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    26 min
  • The Catholic Sobriety Coach on Shame, Neuroscience & Healing with Christie Walker – 09/24/2026

    A testimony that starts in high school
    Christie Walker opens up about believing "the lie as old as time" — that she needed alcohol to belong. What began at teenage parties escalated through her early twenties until a roommate and a boss told her plainly that she was going to lose her job and her home. She pursued outpatient treatment at 22, went back out drinking, and then made the decision that stuck. She has now been alcohol-free for more than 29 years, crediting Alcoholics Anonymous for the mindset shift and the Lord for the healing. Her faith journey and her sobriety journey, she says, run parallel — she couldn't have had one without the other.

    Called to coach, years before she knew it
    Christie was sober 25 years before the Holy Spirit prompted her toward coaching. After she began, she found an old journal entry from six years earlier in which she had prayed to help other Catholics who needed encouragement figuring out how to live life without alcohol.

    The four pillars: faith, neuroscience, inner healing, identity
    Christie explains why she doesn't start with the drinking behavior. Alcohol misuse, she says, is usually a symptom of something else. The Catholic faith brings the graces of the sacraments. Neuroscience explains what alcohol does to dopamine, serotonin, and the brain — which removes enormous shame when a woman finally understands why her friend can stop at one and she can't. Inner healing addresses the wounds and lies underneath the habit. Identity grounds it all in knowing you are a beloved daughter of God — which reframes God as a loving Father who wants your freedom even more than you do.

    "Wine chatter" and knowing when you've arrived
    One of the most practical segments: Christie describes the internal negotiating that starts around 3:00 in the afternoon — should I, shouldn't I — hours before anyone actually pours a drink. Julie compares it to "food noise" while dieting. Christie's marker for freedom isn't a number of days sober; it's whether you can take alcohol or leave it with peace. Some women need to stop completely. Others can reduce and the noise quiets down. The work is figuring out which one you are.

    Shame, the sacraments, and the return to the Eucharist
    Christie shares that many clients come to her having avoided confession and the Eucharist for years because of shame. Alcohol isn't evil, she says, but the enemy uses it as a tool. When women return to the sacrament of reconciliation and to Mass, she consistently sees their sobriety and awareness grow by leaps and bounds.

    Mommy wine culture
    Chris raises the cultural normalization of wine as the default outlet for overwhelmed young moms. Christie agrees it starts innocently as a buffer and can evolve into feeling trapped.

    Ways to work with Christie

    • Sacred Sobriety Lab — group coaching plus a self-paced course, available as a one-year or lifetime membership. Women only. Members gain access to all seasonal programs.
    • Seasonal resets (3x per year) — Sober(ish) Summer Reset, Sober(ish) Advent & New Year Reset, and Freedom 46, a journey through Lent.
    • One-on-one coaching — primarily with women, though Christie does coach some men.

    Find Christie
    Learn more at TheCatholicSobrietyCoach.com. She's on social media as @thecatholicsobrietycoach, and hosts The Catholic Sobriety Podcast.

    Catholic Women Now airs on Iowa Catholic Radio with hosts Julie Nelson and Chris Magruder. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.

    #CatholicSobriety #SoberCurious #CatholicWomen #AlcoholFreedom #CatholicPodcast #SobrietyJourney #CatholicFaith #DrinkLess #IowaCatholicRadio #CatholicWomenNow #SoberLiving #FaithAndHealing #InnerHealing #CatholicMoms #Sobriety

    Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations

    LINKS

    You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.

    If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here!

    More from Iowa Catholic Radio:

    • Sunday Dive with Katie Patrizio
    • Man Up! with Joe Stopulos
    • Catholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie Nelson
    • The Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud Marr
    • Be Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce Riebe
    • Be Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián Moncada
    • Making it Personal with Bishop William Joensen
    • Faith and Family Finance with Gregory Waddle
    • The Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos

    Liturgy & Devotions

    • The Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick Smith
    • The Daily Mass from St. Francis of Assisi
    • The Daily Mass from St. Pius X
    • The Daily Mass from St. Theresa
    • Sunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint John

    Want to support your favorite show? Click Here

    Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    26 min
  • Prayer, Work, Play and Rest: A Practical Guide to Temperance with Chris Magruder - 09/17/2026

    What temperance actually is
    Julie Nelson opens by admitting her first mental image of temperance was a fire-and-brimstone preacher dumping cigarettes and liquor into the river. Chris Magruder says that's exactly the misunderstanding worth correcting. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1809) describes temperance as the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures, provides balance in the use of created goods, and ensures the will's mastery over instincts. It is one of the four cardinal virtues alongside prudence, fortitude and justice. Chris points to a helpful image from the Catholic Diocese of Tyler: temperance works like a thermostat — too far one direction and it's too hot, too far the other and it's too cold. The goal is the right measure, not elimination.

    Temperance in Scripture
    The word itself doesn't appear the way listeners might expect. In the Old Testament, Chris notes, the language is about restraining appetites and avoiding base desires. In the New Testament, it shows up as moderation and sobriety. The virtue is there throughout, even when the vocabulary isn't.

    Saint Francis de Sales on moderation and identity
    Chris highlights Saint Francis de Sales, known for gentleness, wisdom and guiding souls toward a balanced spiritual life. His advice: do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly. Chris connects it to identity as a child of God — she was made perfectly to be Chris Magruder, not Julie Nelson — and says there is real freedom in that. For deeper reading, she recommends Part III of his classic work Introduction to the Devout Life.

    A temperance inventory: where is this showing up in your life?
    Chris originally gave this talk with a 17-question self-examination. She walks through several of them on air, asking listeners whether they've done these things, been on the receiving end of them, or both:

    • Blurting — speaking without thinking and embarrassing yourself or others
    • Disciplining children loudly in public
    • Disrespecting a spouse in front of other people
    • Arguing in front of others, which makes everyone in the room uncomfortable
    • Overeating, especially sugar
    • Overspending and over-shopping
    • Unchaste behavior inside or outside of marriage
    • Video games, technology and social media overuse
    • Over-napping as avoidance, over-exercising, over-drinking
    • Living for what other people think instead of what God thinks

    Her point: even good things can be overindulged, including relationships, ministry and rest. The question is always whether it is balanced.

    "He's been trying to teach me temperance for years"
    Chris shares personal stories with real candor. A sixth-grade contest at Camp Foster in Okoboji, Iowa, that she won by staying silent the longest — and how taming her tongue has been a lifelong lesson since. A recent conversation with a friend she hadn't seen in twenty years, where curiosity got ahead of charity and she blurted out a question about a divorce, then went back and apologized. A situation years ago where she approached two mothers directly about their fourth-grade sons and pornography, and it bore no fruit — versus a later situation where she prayed for two weeks first, and the Lord directed her to have her husband speak to the other father. That one worked beautifully. Her takeaway: pray first. Even a quick "Lord, bind my tongue" in the moment reorients the heart.

    When the good things become the imbalance
    Chris also describes a season of saying yes to everything at church — until the Lord told her to go home. Her body was home but her mind and phone were still at the parish. She wasn't greeting her husband at the door or listening to her kids. Balance, she says, applies even to holy work: it's all good, but what are you actually called to?

    Practical exercises to grow in temperance

    • Get your priorities in order. God first, then spouse, then children, then everyone and everything else. Ask at the end of the day: who am I trying to please?
    • Audit your calendar. Does your time reflect those priorities? Is there balance among prayer, work, play and rest? All four matter.
    • "Future with God" instead of catastrophizing. Rather than spiraling — if I lose my job, then we lose the house, then — pray forward with God: what doors could He open, who might you meet, how might your faith grow?
    • Sit in gratitude. Count your blessings instead of sheep. Remembering God's past faithfulness quiets fear about the future.
    • Pray the centering prayer. "Lord God, help me stay in the center of your will." He gently corrects when we drift.
    • Go to the sacraments. Chris calls Reconciliation and the Eucharist the two great gifts that restore balance — spiritually and physically.

    An emotional control exercise for children (and adults)
    For a child in the middle of a meltdown: pause and pray "Come, Holy Spirit." Get eye contact — "look at me." Name the emotion for them. Offer a stuffed animal to hug if they need to discharge energy. Breathe in for four seconds, out for four seconds. Once they're calm, think together about what to do next. Chris notes she has used a version of this with her adult and college-age children too, and shares how looking into the eyes of a Sacred Heart of Jesus image in her prayer corner calms her the same way.

    Temperance and technology
    Julie and Chris discuss how heavily social media is engineered to capture attention, and note that parents are now often on their devices more than their kids. Chris recommends Brick, a physical device that locks chosen apps on your phone until you walk back to it and tap again — friction that creates a pause between impulse and action. The deeper question stays spiritual: who am I trying to please, and what is this scrolling buffering me from?

    Catholic Women Now airs on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen live, stream past episodes and find the full programming schedule at IowaCatholicRadio.com.

    HASHTAGS

    #Temperance #CardinalVirtues #CatholicWomen #CatholicPodcast #CatholicFaith #Virtue #SelfControl #CatholicWomenNow #IowaCatholicRadio #Catechism #StFrancisDeSales #CatholicMom #FaithAndFamily #SpiritualGrowth #CatholicLiving #ScreenTime #PrayerLife #Balance

    Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations

    LINKS

    You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.

    If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here!

    More from Iowa Catholic Radio:

    • Sunday Dive with Katie Patrizio
    • Man Up! with Joe Stopulos
    • Catholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie Nelson
    • The Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud Marr
    • Be Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce Riebe
    • Be Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián Moncada
    • Making it Personal with Bishop William Joensen
    • Faith and Family Finance with Gregory Waddle
    • The Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos

    Liturgy & Devotions

    • The Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick Smith
    • The Daily Mass from St. Francis of Assisi
    • The Daily Mass from St. Pius X
    • The Daily Mass from St. Theresa
    • Sunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint John

    Want to support your favorite show? Click Here

    Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    26 min
  • Love Plays Offense: Lion Strength and Holiness with Fr. Luke Doyle - 09/10/2026

    Meeting God in the Everyday
    Fr. Luke Doyle joins Catholic Women Now to talk about his first book, Priest in the Wild: Stories of Meeting God in the Everyday, published by Ascension. Fr. Luke explains that he didn't write the book to tell readers how to be holy, but to invite them into the countless ways Jesus approaches us in ordinary moments. He names "self-made aloneness" as one of the great lies of the spiritual life — the assumption that we're on our own for most of the day — and reminds listeners that everyone who seeks will find. Holiness, he says, is simply living life with God: more about trusting, listening, and receiving than achieving.

    Childlike vs. Childish
    Ministering at a large secular university, Fr. Luke sees young people crushed by a culture that says everything is permitted and nothing is forgiven — where identity gets reduced to a GPA, a body, or a social media metric. His response has been to teach them how to play in the Kingdom. Drawing on life as an uncle in a family of eight kids, he distinguishes childlikeness — trust, wonder, freedom, willingness to risk and to share — from childishness, the posture of "no" and "mine" and "I'll do it myself." He shares how a moment of prayer, framed by an unforgettable scene from Elf, awakened his own desire to be introduced to God the Father.

    Why Love Plays Offense
    One of the most talked-about chapters in the book comes from Matthew 16. Worn out from constantly defending the Church in a progressive campus environment, Fr. Luke brought his frustration to prayer — and Jesus pointed him to a single word: gates. Gates are defensive weapons. If the gates of hell will not prevail, then hell is the one playing defense. Love, by its nature, moves toward others. The Church isn't built to hold a line; she's sent on mission.

    Mary, the GOAT — and the Serpent-Crusher
    Fr. Luke tells the story of calling Our Lady "the GOAT" in an Assumption homily and the parishioner who came at him ready for battle. His point: no one has trusted, listened to, and moved with God better than His own mother. He also shares his lifelong fear of snakes and the comfort of an image found in nearly every depiction of Mary — her heel on the serpent. His shorthand for handing her our fears: pray and squish.

    Spiritual Fatherhood and the Freedom of "Yes"
    With refreshing honesty, Fr. Luke describes discerning his vocation while begging the Lord not to call him to the priesthood, fearing celibacy would be a "no" to intimacy and fatherhood. In prayer, Jesus asked him a question that changed everything: Is marriage big enough for your heart? Five years ordained, he describes walking into a room and being father to every person in it — young or old — as the fulfillment his heart was actually made for.

    Lion Strength
    Fr. Luke closes with Narnia. Aslan — the lion who is the Christ figure of the series — calls the fearful forward and tells them to press into his mane, listen to his heartbeat, and receive his strength. That, Fr. Luke says, is exactly what the sacraments do. Christ the Lion of the tribe of Judah breathes on us in Holy Communion and Confession and sends us out as lions and lionesses to renew His Kingdom. His closing prayer and blessing are worth hearing to the end.

    Also in This Episode
    Julie opens the show with truth, beauty, and goodness from a recent trip to South Africa — vineyards, three oceans meeting, and elephants caring for their own — and how encountering God's creation half a world away reveals the same Father at work.

    Learn More

    • Get Priest in the Wild from Ascension
    • Learn more about Fr. Luke's ministry at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center
    • Listen to past episodes of Catholic Women Now at IowaCatholicRadio.com
    HASHTAGS

    #CatholicWomenNow #IowaCatholicRadio #FrLukeDoyle #PriestInTheWild #AscensionPress #CatholicPodcast #FindingGodInTheOrdinary #CatholicFaith #Holiness #SpiritualFatherhood #KUCatholic #StLawrenceCatholicCenter #Narnia #LionOfJudah #BlessedVirginMary #CatholicWomen #EverydayFaith #Discipleship #CatholicBooks #Prayer

    Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations

    LINKS

    You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.

    If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here!

    More from Iowa Catholic Radio:

    • Sunday Dive with Katie Patrizio
    • Man Up! with Joe Stopulos
    • Catholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie Nelson
    • The Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud Marr
    • Be Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce Riebe
    • Be Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián Moncada
    • Making it Personal with Bishop William Joensen
    • Faith and Family Finance with Gregory Waddle
    • The Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos

    Liturgy & Devotions

    • The Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick Smith
    • The Daily Mass from St. Francis of Assisi
    • The Daily Mass from St. Pius X
    • The Daily Mass from St. Theresa
    • Sunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint John

    Want to support your favorite show? Click Here

    Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    25 min
  • 20 Practical Ways to Love Your Husband (and Renew Your Marriage) – 09/02/2026

    Julie and Chris spend the full show unpacking Kim Schadt's list of more than 20 practical ways to love your husband and renew your marriage, encouraging listeners to pick just one or two habits a week rather than trying to do everything at once.

    Prayer and Spiritual Life

    The hosts start with the spiritual foundation: praying for your husband daily, offering the Eucharist on his behalf, protecting his own devotional life without pushing him to pray your way, and praying a decade of the Rosary together — specifically the second luminous mystery, where Jesus turns water into wine.

    Everyday Acts of Love and Affirmation

    Small, consistent gestures matter most — a hidden act of service, a daily word of affirmation, ten minutes of undivided attention, and fifteen minutes of quiet decompression time when he first gets home from work. Julie and Chris share how these habits have played out in their own marriages, including a nightly cup of chocolate milk and a decompression phone call on the drive home.

    Communication, Intimacy, and Forgiveness

    The hosts also cover harder topics with honesty: physical intimacy as a renewal of wedding vows, communicating through wounds or difficulty in that area, asking your husband directly about his needs instead of assuming, and the humility of asking "will you forgive me?" after a disagreement.

    Marriage-Strengthening Resource: Free Will

    Iowa Catholic Radio has partnered with My Catholic Will to offer listeners a free legal will, created in as little as fifteen minutes. Learn more at My Catholic Will.

    Read the Full Article

    This episode is based on Kim Schadt's article on Catholic-Link, "Over 20 Practical Ways to Love Your Husband and Renew Your Marriage."

    Learn more at IowaCatholicRadio.com.

    #CatholicMarriage #CatholicWomenNow #LoveYourHusband #CatholicWife #MarriageAdvice #CatholicFaith #IowaCatholicRadio #CatholicPodcast

    Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations

    LINKS

    You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.

    If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here!

    More from Iowa Catholic Radio:

    • Sunday Dive with Katie Patrizio
    • Man Up! with Joe Stopulos
    • Catholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie Nelson
    • The Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud Marr
    • Be Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce Riebe
    • Be Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián Moncada
    • Making it Personal with Bishop William Joensen
    • Faith and Family Finance with Gregory Waddle
    • The Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos

    Liturgy & Devotions

    • The Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick Smith
    • The Daily Mass from St. Francis of Assisi
    • The Daily Mass from St. Pius X
    • The Daily Mass from St. Theresa
    • Sunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint John

    Want to support your favorite show? Click Here

    Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    26 min
  • From Grief to New Life: Faith, Love, and Coming Home to the Church with Katlyn Godwin - 08/27/2026

    A Story Continued

    Katlyn first joined the show in February to share how she lost her husband, Riley, in a car accident at just 28 years old, leaving her to raise their 8-month-old daughter, Chloe, alone. Today's episode picks up from there — her remarriage, the birth of her son, and how it all led her into the Catholic Church.

    Falling in Love Again

    Katlyn talks candidly about the courage it took to date again after loss, meeting her husband Luke, and initially telling him it "wasn't going to work out" the moment she learned he was Catholic — before God had other plans.

    The Journey Into the Catholic Church

    From conversations with Luke's uncle, Father Mike Peters — a retired priest of the Diocese of Des Moines connected to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart Parish in Ankeny — to enrolling in OCIA, Katlyn shares how questions about Church authority, sacred tradition, and ultimately the Eucharist led her out of her Protestant upbringing and into full communion with the Church.

    Easter Vigil and New Life

    Katlyn was received into the Church at the Easter Vigil — just two days before giving birth to her son, Carson. She also shares the moving experience of having both Chloe and Carson baptized together by Father Mike.

    Under the Fig Tree

    Katlyn explains the story behind her book's title, drawn from the Gospel account of Nathanael meeting Jesus, and what it means to know that God sees us "under the fig tree" — even in our lowest moments. Her book, Under the Fig Tree: God's Faithfulness in Every Season, is available now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Follow Katlyn on Facebook for updates on upcoming book signings in the Des Moines metro.

    A Free Gift for Your Family

    Iowa Catholic Radio has partnered with My Catholic Will to offer listeners a free, legally binding will in as little as fifteen minutes — a meaningful way to protect your loved ones and put your faith into your legacy planning.

    #CatholicWomenNow #IowaCatholicRadio #CatholicConversion #UnderTheFigTree #OCIA #CatholicFaith #Eucharist #Remarriage #GriefAndHope #CatholicPodcast

    Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations

    LINKS

    You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.

    If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here!

    More from Iowa Catholic Radio:

    • Sunday Dive with Katie Patrizio
    • Man Up! with Joe Stopulos
    • Catholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie Nelson
    • The Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud Marr
    • Be Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce Riebe
    • Be Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián Moncada
    • Making it Personal with Bishop William Joensen
    • Faith and Family Finance with Gregory Waddle
    • The Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos

    Liturgy & Devotions

    • The Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick Smith
    • The Daily Mass from St. Francis of Assisi
    • The Daily Mass from St. Pius X
    • The Daily Mass from St. Theresa
    • Sunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint John

    Want to support your favorite show? Click Here

    Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    25 min
  • The Power of Prayer: Julie Nelson & Chris Magruder Share Their Favorite Novenas – 08/20/2026

    On this unplugged episode of Catholic Women Now, hosts Julie Nelson and Chris Magruder set aside their usual guest format for a coffee-chat-style conversation about the prayers and novenas that have carried them through hard seasons, and the miracles they've witnessed along the way.

    The Rosary Group That Keeps Growing

    Julie shares how her parish rosary group at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in West Des Moines, Iowa has met for nearly eight years, including a recent answered prayer when her three-month-old grandson's high fever dropped within minutes of the group's prayers. She and Chris also recall a moment when a stranger they had prayed for turned out to later become a guest on their own show.
    Learn more at St. Francis of Assisi Parish.

    Two Everyday Miracles

    Chris tells the story of an unexpected answered prayer while house-hunting in Kansas City, and Julie recalls how a "coincidental" TV turning on, followed by a confirming line in her daily devotional, let her know Jesus was near right when she'd asked to know Him better.

    The Seven Sorrows Rosary

    Chris explains how she first learned about the Seven Sorrows Rosary from Catholic author and speaker Immaculée Ilibagiza at the Christ Our Life conference in Des Moines, and shares how praying it for her son before a major exam led to an unexpected, life-changing outcome.
    Learn more at Christ Our Life Iowa, which returns to Casey's Center in Des Moines September 26–27, 2026.

    A Novena for Financial Miracles: Infant Jesus of Prague

    Julie shares how an emergency nine-hour novena to the Infant Jesus of Prague, prayed in front of a statue she encountered during a silent retreat, led to a surprising financial breakthrough ahead of a fundraising concert — and how she still leans on this devotion for her family's finances today.

    Undoer of Knots, Saint Therese, and a Thirty-Day Novena to Saint Joseph

    The two also cover the long-form Undoer of Knots novena that helped untangle a difficult family decision, the Saint Therese novena and its "sign of the rose," and Julie's thirty-day novena to Saint Joseph that led to a life-changing decision about where to raise her family.

    The Emergency Novena

    The hosts close with the nine-hour emergency novena attributed to Saint Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa), which Julie has turned to for more than one last-minute travel miracle.

    Learn more about Iowa Catholic Radio's full program lineup at IowaCatholicRadio.com.

     

    #CatholicWomenNow #IowaCatholicRadio #CatholicPodcast #Novena #Rosary #CatholicFaith #AnsweredPrayers #CatholicWomen #Prayer #SevenSorrowsRosary #InfantJesusOfPrague #SaintJoseph #UndoerOfKnots #CatholicMiracles #FaithJourney

    Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations

    LINKS

    You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.

    If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here!

    More from Iowa Catholic Radio:

    • Sunday Dive with Katie Patrizio
    • Man Up! with Joe Stopulos
    • Catholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie Nelson
    • The Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud Marr
    • Be Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce Riebe
    • Be Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián Moncada
    • Making it Personal with Bishop William Joensen
    • Faith and Family Finance with Gregory Waddle
    • The Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos

    Liturgy & Devotions

    • The Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick Smith
    • The Daily Mass from St. Francis of Assisi
    • The Daily Mass from St. Pius X
    • The Daily Mass from St. Theresa
    • Sunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint John

    Want to support your favorite show? Click Here

    Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    24 min
  • Behind "A Great Day": Miracles, Mercy & the Making of a Catholic Film with Alex Zuko – 08/13/2026

    Actor Alex Zuko pulls up a chair at the coffee table to share how a five-month trip to India turned into a full Catholic reversion, and how that journey eventually led him to play a grieving priest in the award-winning short film "A Great Day." Julie Nelson and Chris Magruder talk with Alex about forgiveness, the sacraments, and the surprising miracle that saved one of the film's most powerful scenes.

    From Munchkin to the Big Screen

    Alex's acting career started in elementary school, playing a Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz, and grew through high school theater into a degree from the University of Florida's School of Theatre and Dance, where he graduated with honors before building a career in commercials, student films, and independent features.

    A Reversion Story from India

    While extending a trip through China, Tibet, Nepal, and India by five months, Alex spent two weeks volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity — caring for handicapped children in the mornings and the destitute and dying in the afternoons. Daily Mass became part of his routine, and a visit to a former Catholic friend's Protestant service helped him realize what set the Catholic faith apart: the Real Presence in the Eucharist. That conviction sparked a ten-year journey back to the fullness of the faith, including a moment of profound healing from addiction during Eucharistic adoration.

    Playing Father Zachary in "A Great Day"

    In "A Great Day," Alex portrays a priest wrestling with grief and alcoholism who is called to anoint a dying man — the very man responsible for the death of his family. Inspired in part by a homily from Father Mike Schmitz recounting a story tied to St. Faustina, the film explores confession, the anointing of the sick, and the Eucharist as channels of God's mercy.

    Preparing for the Role Through Real Loss

    Alex shares how walking his aunt through her final days in a Philadelphia hospital — including her reception of confession, anointing of the sick, and Communion — became unexpected preparation for the role, deepening his understanding of a priest's ministry at the bedside.

    A Marian Miracle on Set

    One pivotal scene wasn't coming together, even after hours of on-set prayer. It wasn't until the production team added music derived from the star pattern on Our Lady of Guadalupe's tilma that the scene finally came alive — a detail Alex says still moves him every time he watches it.

    "Only God's Grace Can Bloom Thorns Into Roses"

    That closing line from the film sums up its message. Since release, "A Great Day" has been viewed more than a million times worldwide (including subtitled versions) and has prompted numerous priests to reach out to Alex about what it meant to them and their vocation.

    What's Next: The Silent Song

    Alex is currently filming The Silent Song with Mount Carmel Studios, portraying Father Luis Cancer, one of Florida's first Catholic martyrs, killed near Tampa Bay in 1549. The project was inspired by his bishop after a private screening of "A Great Day."

    Watch & Learn More

    Watch "A Great Day" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch

    Learn more, request a free screening, or find study guides at ourladyfilms.org: https://ourladyfilms.org/a-great-day/

    Learn more about Mount Carmel Studios and upcoming projects at mountcarmelstudios.com: https://mountcarmelstudios.com/

     

    #CatholicWomenNow #AGreatDayFilm #CatholicShortFilm #Forgiveness #CatholicFaith #FaithReversion #CatholicMovies #DivineMercy #AlexZuko #IowaCatholicRadio #CatholicPodcast #Sacraments

    Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations

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    More from Iowa Catholic Radio:

    • Sunday Dive with Katie Patrizio
    • Man Up! with Joe Stopulos
    • Catholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie Nelson
    • The Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud Marr
    • Be Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce Riebe
    • Be Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián Moncada
    • Making it Personal with Bishop William Joensen
    • Faith and Family Finance with Gregory Waddle
    • The Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos

    Liturgy & Devotions

    • The Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick Smith
    • The Daily Mass from St. Francis of Assisi
    • The Daily Mass from St. Pius X
    • The Daily Mass from St. Theresa
    • Sunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint John

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    25 min
  • God's Relentless Pursuit: Jeannine Peters on Reunion, Redemption & Radical Trust – 08/06/2026

    Meet Jeannine Peters

    Jeannine Peters is a certified spiritual director with an MA in Religion and Religious Education from Providence College and an MA in Theology from The Catholic University of America. She is certified in Theology of the Body through the Theology of the Body Institute, trained in Unbound Healing Prayer through Heart of the Father Ministries, and holds a certificate in Spiritual Direction from Divine Mercy University. Jeannine lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and their two daughters.

    A Story Shaped by "The Hound of Heaven"

    Jeannine opens up about how Francis Thompson's classic poem "The Hound of Heaven" became the lens through which she understands her own faith journey — a soul running from God, only to be relentlessly, patiently pursued by Him until she finally surrendered.

    Growing Up in Chaos, Finding God in Lourdes

    Jeannine shares candidly about growing up in an alcoholic, emotionally abusive household, and how a spontaneous, unplanned visit to Lourdes, France set the stage for one of the most significant turning points in her life — an unplanned pregnancy in her mid-to-late twenties that ultimately drew her back to God.

    Healing Through Theology of the Body and ACA

    Jeannine describes how studying Theology of the Body helped her understand her worth and dignity intellectually, while Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA) gave her the practical tools to actually live out that healing — teaching her how to be authentically herself with God, her husband, and her children.

    A Miraculous Reunion

    Thirty-one years after placing her birth daughter for adoption, Jeannine shares the incredible story of how her daughter reached out, and how God orchestrated an unplanned meeting in the same state at the same time — allowing Jeannine to hold her daughter for the first time since birth, on her daughter's birthday.

    Her Message of Hope

    Jeannine closes with an encouraging word for anyone struggling to trust God: He is faithful, He never gives up on us, and He meets us exactly where we are, even in our smallest steps of surrender.

    Learn more about Jeannine and her ministry at jeanninepeters.com

    #CatholicWomenNow #JeanninePeters #HoundOfHeaven #TheologyOfTheBody #CatholicAdoption #BirthMother #AdoptiveMother #SpiritualDirector #UnboundPrayer #CatholicFaithJourney #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio

    Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations

    LINKS

    You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.

    If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here!

    More from Iowa Catholic Radio:

    • Sunday Dive with Katie Patrizio
    • Man Up! with Joe Stopulos
    • Catholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie Nelson
    • The Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud Marr
    • Be Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce Riebe
    • Be Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián Moncada
    • Making it Personal with Bishop William Joensen
    • Faith and Family Finance with Gregory Waddle
    • The Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos

    Liturgy & Devotions

    • The Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick Smith
    • The Daily Mass from St. Francis of Assisi
    • The Daily Mass from St. Pius X
    • The Daily Mass from St. Theresa
    • Sunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint John

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    Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ


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    25 min
  • Seeking the Truth: From Judaism to the Catholic Church with Cindy Burdett - 07/30/2026

    In this inspiring conversation, Cindy discusses:

    • Growing up in a traditional Jewish family
    • The challenges of exploring Christianity
    • How God revealed Jesus as the promised Messiah
    • Baptism in the Holy Spirit and entering the Catholic Church
    • Family struggles, reconciliation, and God's providence
    • Her passion for defending life and serving the Church
    • Whether you're a lifelong Catholic, a convert, or simply curious about the Jewish roots of Christianity, Cindy's testimony is a powerful reminder that God faithfully pursues every heart.

      Learn more about Cindy's story in her book, From Kosher to Catholic.

      Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations

      LINKS

      You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.

      If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here!

      More from Iowa Catholic Radio:

      • Sunday Dive with Katie Patrizio
      • Man Up! with Joe Stopulos
      • Catholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie Nelson
      • The Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud Marr
      • Be Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce Riebe
      • Be Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián Moncada
      • Making it Personal with Bishop William Joensen
      • Faith and Family Finance with Gregory Waddle
      • The Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos

      Liturgy & Devotions

      • The Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick Smith
      • The Daily Mass from St. Francis of Assisi
      • The Daily Mass from St. Pius X
      • The Daily Mass from St. Theresa
      • Sunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint John

      Want to support your favorite show? Click Here

      Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ


      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

      26 min

    About Catholic Women Now

    From the publisher's feed

    In an easy going conversational style, hosts Julie Nelson and Chris Magruder speak to what is on the hearts and minds of women as if sharing coffee with friends in a coffee shop. We cover all…

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