He was a practicing satanist. A successful comedian. And totally lost.

Then one day, while sitting in the back of a Catholic church, comedian Shayne Smith had a vision of the Virgin Mary that changed his life forever.

In this 100th episode of The Chris Stefanick Show, Shayne opens up about his journey from abuse, violence, and satanism…to freedom, faith, and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. He shares how laughter became a way to heal, how radical forgiveness rewired his brain, and how the love of Christ transformed his woundedness into a life of joy—illuminating comedy as a pathway for sharing that joy with others.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro
2:00 How Shayne found comedy (and what makes people laugh)
10:28 The challenge and gifts of ADHD and creativity
18:39 From “the everything guy” to the “Jesus guy”
22:22 Comedy as a sacred calling
26:45 "Laughter is getting close to God."
28:10 Using comedy to uplift rather than tear down
36:00 How conversion redeemed his childhood trauma
43:27 Covering a satanic tattoo to reveal the Trinity
50:07 Shayne's conversion story
56:10 A vision of Mary that changed him instantly
1:06:36 Forgiving those who hurt him
1:11:05 How God redeemed his life experiences
1:15:53 Shayne’s prayer for healing and freedom

God can reach into the depths of darkness to remind us that we are his beloved children and redeem any story—no matter how bleak it might seem right now.

I hope Shayne's story is a source of hope and inspiration for you if you're still struggling to overcome your wounds or if you're seeking a way to use your talents for the glory of God.

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Sign up for the Daily Anchor for FREE and receive daily reflections, updates, and encouragement from Chris Stefanick to help you live with the joy you were made for: https://mailchi.mp/reallifecatholic/daily-anchor-landing-page-20

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Support the creation of this content by becoming a Missionary of Joy with a monthly gift to Real Life Catholic: https://moj.reallifecatholic.com/

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Join Chris Stefanick and Fr. Dave Pivonka on pilgrimage to Assisi: https://www.canterburypilgrimages.com/tour/1226/

We love to overcomplicate things—especially when we're trying to make a lasting change in our lives. But in reality, the road to healing and holiness is paved with a commitment to small, simple steps.

Want a better marriage? A deeper prayer life? Better health? Freedom from a bad habit? Don’t overthink it. What is the simplest step toward your goal? And why aren’t you taking it yet?

In this reflection, I outline four things holding you back from living the life God intended for you...and the small, incremental steps you can take to break free from stagnation in any area of your life.

1. Pride: “If it were that simple, I’d have done it already.”
2. Desire: Sometimes we don’t really want to change.
3. Distraction: We stay too busy to make room for change.
4. Fear: The simple step feels too hard, so we avoid it.

You probably already know what you have to do, and you just need to create and live out some simple rules for yourself to get there.

Stop looking at things from 30,000 feet. Ask God for help. And step out in faith today to take that first, simple step on the journey to transformation.

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Which of the four—pride, desire, distraction, or fear—do you struggle with most right now? What’s one small, concrete step you can take this week to defeat it?

2. Can you think of a time when a simple act of obedience or discipline led to real change in your life? What helped you take that first step?

3. Where are you overcomplicating your relationship with God? How might returning to something simple—like daily prayer, Scripture, or confession—help restore peace?

4. St. Benedict changed the world with a “simple rule of life.” What’s one simple rule or habit you could commit to that would draw you closer to holiness?

5. Naaman almost missed his miracle because he thought God’s command was too simple. Is there an area in your life where God might be calling you to trust and act, even if it seems too easy or small?

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✉️ Sign up for Chris’s Daily Anchor for free daily encouragement: https://mailchi.mp/reallifecatholic/daily-anchor-landing-page-20

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Come on Pilgrimage and Retreat with me in Assisi! https://canterburypilgrimages.com/1226

Unless you have been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of the Hallow prayer app. This wildly popular platform has grown exponentially over the past few years to help millions of people to pray—not to mention making a life of prayer more attractive and mainstream.

It’s a simple idea with profound results: use a smartphone app to guide people into a habit of daily prayer. Through monthly prayer challenges, reflections, videos, and music from some of the most recognizable and influential Catholics in the world (and I’m on there, too!), Hallow has recently crossed the incredible milestone of logging ONE BILLION prayers. Praise God!

In this episode of The Chris Stefanick Show, I am thrilled to welcome Hallow co-founder Alex Jones for an in-depth conversation that goes behind the scenes on the inspiration for the app, Alex’s personal faith journey, glory stories of how God is using this app to change lives, and lessons learned from being a Catholic entrepreneur in the secular world of startups.

Highlights:

0:00 Intro
2:50 Alex’s journey from atheism to prayer
7:16 Finding the Hallow app’s name through
Lectio Divina
11:50 Prayer as a gateway to relationship with Christ
30:00 The sacred surge happening in Catholicism
35:54 When the Super Bowl crashed the app
39:46 Mark Wahlberg, Kevin James, and other Catholic celebs
44:50 Working with Jonathan Roumie
49:49 “The Man Helping Silicon Valley Find God”
54:30 Using Smartphone Technology for Good
58:00 Having an Impact Beyond Metrics
1:06:35 Why Hallow Succeeds in Business
1:19:10 Alex’s Prayer Routine
1:27:48 How God Uses Success to Purify Your Soul
1:39:00 Join Chris and Alex in Silent Prayer

Prayer is a fundamental aspect of our faith. If you want to grow in relationship with someone, you have to spend time with them. Same goes for God! I’m so grateful to Alex and everyone at Hallow for creating an app that harnesses modern technology to actually bring us closer to the Lord.

If you haven't tried it yet, click below to get a free three-month trial of the Hallow app: https://bit.ly/4odnzEc

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✈️ Join Chris Stefanick and Fr. Dave Pivonka on pilgrimage to Assisi: https://www.canterburypilgrimages.com/tour/1226/

“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.”

But you can't have faith unless you know what it IS. And even a great mind like Jordan Peterson seems to be missing something in his definition. Faith can't be reduced to a moralistic view of obeying the rules and it demands that we let go of any skepticism about the existence of God.

Our relationship with God is not conditional and our faith can't be, either.

In this reflection, I want to set the record straight on what faith is, what faith isn't, and some practical steps we can take to grow in our faith.

At its core, faith is clinging to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, even when we don’t fully understand, even when we fall short, even when we can't prove it.

If you struggle with your faith, pray the powerful words of the man whose son was healed by Jesus: "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief."

Discussion Questions

1. Have you ever struggled with seeing faith as just “following rules”? How does thinking of faith as a relationship change things for you?

2. Jordan Peterson often says he “acts as if God exists” but avoids saying outright, “I believe.” Why do you think it’s hard for some people (maybe even us) to make that leap from thinking about God to trusting in God and his existence?

3. Chris compares faith to marriage—you can learn about someone, but at some point you have to say “I do.” Where do you see yourself on that threshold with God right now? What would it look like for you to take a step deeper in faith?

4. The fastest way to lose faith is to neglect your relationship with God. What distractions pull you away from God most easily? How can you give more time to your faith?

5. Chris outlined three ways to grow in faith: Ask for it, act as if you believe, and fill your life with holy things. Which of these do you most need to focus on right now?

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✉️ Sign up for Chris’s Daily Anchor for free daily encouragement: https://mailchi.mp/reallifecatholic/daily-anchor-landing-page-20

Help us transform hearts for Jesus! Join the mission as a monthly donor (a Missionary of Joy): https://moj.reallifecatholic.com/

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The world tells you that dependence is weakness, but it's actually what makes us human. The truth is, you can’t live without being dependent. From the moment we’re born to the moment we die, we’re relying on other people.

And that’s OK! In fact, it’s the way God intended.

In this episode of The Chris Stefanick Show, I sit down with Catholic writer Leah Libresco Sargeant, to discuss her new book "The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto." Leah challenges the lie of autonomy and makes a bold case that dependence isn’t weakness—it’s the key to a thriving society.

Together, we unpack why dependence is not a burden, why our world is literally built for men, what modern feminism gets both right and wrong, and how a Catholic vision of dignity shows us that men and women are equal in worth, but not interchangeable.

This is an important conversation that touches on so many fundamental aspects of human life. Leah is ultimately asking what it would take to build a more caring world where everyone—men, women, the unborn, the elderly, and the disabled—can flourish together.

God doesn’t want us to hide our need for help. He loves us in our weakness and created us to love each other in those weaknesses as well. That's what real love is all about—depending on one another and on God—not pretending we can do it all on our own. This is a Christian reality that secular society loves to ignore.

Living through the lens of interdependence can help us to be a little bit more compassionate and Christ-like in everything we do.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:53 Leah's Tolkien role-playing game

2:48 Why Leah wrote The Dignity of Dependence

3:32 How the world is literally built for men (and why that matters)

10:21 The lie of autonomy vs. the truth of dependence

16:42 Prioritizing interdependence in the workplace

22:18 What mainstream feminism gets right and wrong

30:10 How the cult of autonomy fuels euthanasia

34:39 Why we are obsessed with being independent

37:14 Why men struggle to admit need (and how it’s killing them)

44:06 Leah's hopes for her new book

Get Leah’s book The Dignity of Dependence here: https://amzn.to/4pLjF74

Explore her Tolkien-inspired game Back Again from the Broken Land: https://cloven-pine-games.itch.io/back-again-from-the-broken-land

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Sign up for the Daily Anchor for FREE and receive daily reflections, updates, and encouragement from Chris Stefanick to help you live with the joy you were made for: https://mailchi.mp/reallifecatholic/daily-anchor-landing-page-20

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Support the creation of this content by becoming a Missionary of Joy with a monthly gift to Real Life Catholic: https://moj.reallifecatholic.com/

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The Chris Stefanick Show will soon be premiering on EWTN+ Streaming! You can start watching more great content at: EWTN.com/ondemand/

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✈️ To learn more about Real Life Catholic Pilgrimages, visit: https://reallifecatholic.com/pilgrimages/

Can money actually buy happiness? Believe it or not—Jesus says yes.

In this reflection, Chris Stefanick unpacks Matthew 25 and Luke 16, where Jesus makes it clear: a big part of our final exam before God will be about whether or not we loved and served the poor.

The story of the rich man and Lazarus is a sobering reminder: if our hearts are closed to the suffering right in front of us, they’re not open enough to receive heaven.

But here’s the twist—modern research actually backs this up! Studies prove that spending money on others brings more joy than spending it on ourselves.

So your money CAN buy you happiness...if you give it away to help others.

What you'll discover:

Why serving the poor is essential preparation for eternal life
How generosity changes your happiness right now
The one thing God will never forget about you
Watch now and start investing in the only thing that lasts: love.

❓DISCUSSION QUESTIONS❓
1. Jesus tells us in Matthew 25 that the “final exam” is about how we serve the poor. How does that challenge or affirm the way you’ve been living your faith?

2. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16), the rich man isn’t condemned for being wealthy but for ignoring the suffering at his doorstep. Who are the “Lazaruses” God has placed at your doorstep?

3. God forgets every sin we repent of, but he never forgets a single act of love for the poor. How does that truth change the way you view generosity and service?

4. Research shows that giving money to others brings more joy than spending it on ourselves. Can you share a time when generosity—big or small—brought unexpected joy to your life?

5. What is one way you could “reorder your dreams” to align more closely with how Jesus calls us to use our resources?

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Living Joy by Chris Stefanick: https://real-life-catholic.myshopify.com/products/living-joy-hardcover

✉️ Sign up for Chris’s Daily Anchor for free daily encouragement: https://mailchi.mp/reallifecatholic/daily-anchor-landing-page-20

Help us transform hearts for Jesus! Join the mission as a monthly donor (a Missionary of Joy): https://moj.reallifecatholic.com/

Come on Pilgrimage and Retreat with me in Assisi! https://canterburypilgrimages.com/1226

Are TikTok and endless scrolling killing our ability to think, pray, and even enjoy life? The truth: yes. And it’s worse than you think. Entertainment isn’t entertaining anymore, it’s addicting. And it’s rewiring an entire generation.

What used to refresh us—stories, music, and conversation—has been replaced with noise that is designed to keep us hooked. The result? Shorter attention spans, weaker relationships, and a creeping emptiness that no amount of scrolling can fix.

In this episode of The Chris Stefanick Show, I sit down with Deacon Kyle Washut, president of Wyoming Catholic College (and a real-life cowboy ), to talk about what’s really happening to us and how to fight back with faith, beauty, and real human connection.

Deacon Kyle also talks about the unorthodox and refreshing ways that Wyoming Catholic College forces students to unplug from screens and plug back into the world around them.

We weren’t created to be slaves to our screens. We were made for freedom. And the good news is you don’t have to stay stuck in dopamine culture. With small, intentional choices, you can retrain your heart to savor and wonder at life again. So put the phone down, seek out something real, and be present with the people God has put in your life.

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Kauai Pilgrimage: https://www.canterburypilgrimages.com/tour/kauai/

Wyoming Catholic College: https://wyomingcatholic.edu/

Sign up for the Daily Anchor for FREE and receive daily reflections, updates, and encouragement from Chris Stefanick to help you live with the joy you were made for: https://mailchi.mp/reallifecatholic/daily-anchor-landing-page-20

Help us transform hearts for Jesus! Join the mission and become a monthly donor (A Missionary of JOY!): https://moj.reallifecatholic.com/

✈️ To learn more about all of Real Life Catholic Pilgrimages, visit: https://reallifecatholic.com/pilgrimages/

We live in a culture that wants everything fast—success, influence, recognition. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but that's not always how God works. He grows things slowly, starting small and hidden, so they’re strong enough to last.

In this Sunday reflection, I’m sharing why being faithful in the “small things” matters more than you'll ever know. We’ll talk about David’s hidden years as a shepherd, the power of a simple slingshot, and what bamboo plants can teach us about waiting (yes, really ).

What You’ll Discover:

Why God grows things slowly, starting small and hidden

How David’s years with sheep and a slingshot prepared him for Goliath

What the moso bamboo plant can teach you about waiting on God

Why no one, not even the people overlooking you, can block God’s plan

How your faithfulness in ordinary tasks sets the stage for extraordinary impact

So if you feel stuck or unseen, take heart. Be faithful with the little things God has put in front of you today. He does some of his best work in hidden seasons. It's not just waiting. It's formation for the greatness to come—in this life or the next.

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Sign up for the Daily Anchor for FREE and receive daily reflections, updates, and encouragement from Chris Stefanick to help you live with the joy you were made for: https://mailchi.mp/reallifecatholic/daily-anchor-landing-page-20

....

Help us transform hearts for Jesus! Join the mission and become a monthly donor (A Missionary of JOY!): https://moj.reallifecatholic.com/ 

What if God is so powerful that he can take your biggest mistakes and deepest wounds and turn them into your greatest strengths!? Good news: He really IS that powerful. 

That is what today’s story is all about. In this episode, I sit down with January Donovan, founder of The Women’s School, international life coach, and most importantly, mom. Her whole mission to bless women flows from her deepest wound: walking through the pain of abortion and letting God transform her life into a testimony of HOPE and FREEDOM!

January’s story is proof that God doesn’t waste a single wound. What should have been the most painful, destructive part of her life became the very place He poured out His mercy and power. And out of that healing, He didn’t just restore her, He gave her a mission. The brokenness that could have defined her became the catalyst for a new chapter in her story that is now lifting up thousands of women. 

Timestamps: 

00:00 What if your biggest wound became your greatest gift?

8:35 From poverty to living with a billionaire 

20:50 The day January’s abortion nearly crushed her life at 16

23:29 How your wound can become your greatest contribution 

26:36 From shame to mission: how God turned it all around

33:49 Why beautiful marriages save the world

37:58 Training in discipleship with Sister Elaina  

45:22 Letting your wounds become the compass to other courage  

52:10 Can you be a world-changer AND a mom?

56:18 The lie that keeps women stuck (and how to break it)

1:04:13 Why healed women change the world

1:11:03 Study the desires God puts on your heart and then pursue it

1:12:22 Be a student of your husband 

The Women's School: https://thewomanschool.com/januarydonovan 

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Franciscan University Steubenville: https://franciscan.edu/ 

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Sign up for the Daily Anchor for FREE and receive daily reflections, updates, and encouragement from Chris Stefanick to help you live with the joy you were made for: https://mailchi.mp/reallifecatholic/daily-anchor-landing-page-20      

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Help us transform hearts for Jesus! Join the mission and become a monthly donor (A Missionary of JOY!): https://moj.reallifecatholic.com/

........ 

The Chris Stefanick Show will soon be premiering on EWTN+ Streaming! You can start watching more great content at: EWTN.com/ondemand/ 

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✈️ To learn more about all of Real Life Catholic Pilgrimages, visit: https://reallifecatholic.com/pilgrimages/

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Where do we go from here?

Even in the darkest of times, Christ remains our hope and there is a path forward.

I offer my reflections on the assassination of Charlie Kirk and some suggestions for a Christian response to the violence and hatred that are engulfing our country.

Please continue to pray for all the victims and families affected by these recent tragedies. Lord have mercy.