Connecting the Diocese

Host Jack Socha welcomes Viterbo University servant-leadership professor Tom Thibodeau for the first show of 2021, reflecting on timeless principles amid the pandemic. Thibodeau describes Viterbo’s safety adaptations, the frontline sacrifices of nursing students working as CNAs, and the broader “collective transition” or “life quake” described in Bruce Feiler’s Life in Transition. He shares three lessons: technology’s benefits, the irreplaceable value of face-to-face trust, and cultural vulnerabilities around comfort and self-discipline, while emphasizing grief, economic hardship, and the need for compassion. Socha adds a COVID update about a more easily spreading UK mutation in Colorado and urges precautions. Thibodeau highlights essential workers, local generosity, and faith-driven service, and introduces his community radio show with Larry Long, A Conspiracy of Goodness, celebrating ordinary people’s kindness through stories and songs.

00:00 Welcome to 2021

01:59 Viterbo Adapts

04:13 Nursing Students Frontline

08:22 Life Quakes Explained

12:49 Three Pandemic Lessons

16:27 Hardship and Grief

20:41 Emmanuel in the Mess

22:03 The COVID Report

24:00 Compassion in Action

26:25 Essential Workers Heroes

30:02 Local Generosity Spotlight

30:43 Faith In Action

31:08 Supply Chains And Hunger

32:36 Vaccines And Essential Workers

33:00 Restaurants In Crisis

34:23 Resilience And Simplicity

37:04 Reflection Over Reaction

37:50 Stories Rituals Creativity

40:07 Break And Diocesan Support

42:07 Conspiracy Of Goodness

46:19 Community Radio Revival

50:30 Evangelization As Good News

52:57 Servant Leadership Hope

55:41 New Year Sign Off

Jack Socha and Bishop William Patrick Callahan share Christmas greetings on Connecting the Diocese (Dec. 26–27) and reflect on the season as the beginning of Christmas, thanking delivery workers and local merchants for help during the pandemic. The bishop explains key days in the Christmas Octave and beyond, including St. Stephen, the Holy Family, the Holy Innocents, St. Sylvester, and Jan. 1 as the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (a holy day of obligation), emphasizing that Jesus is God and the value of Catholic signs and traditions such as blessed candles. Jack urges listeners to follow COVID safety rules, encourages charitable giving to help those struggling, and shares inspiring Christmas stories, including the 1914 Christmas Truce, the background of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” and a personal memory of Christmas Eve 1966 in the Pentagon.

00:00 Christmas Weekend Welcome

02:25 Holiday Lights and Gratitude

03:43 Keeping Christmas Going

04:53 Feasts After Christmas

06:12 Mary Mother of God

08:47 Epiphany and Candlemas Traditions

10:58 Faith Signs and Resources

12:45 Retail Season Whiplash

16:57 Hope Beyond 2020

17:52 Christmas Blessing

20:17 Bob Zina Music Tribute

21:09 Call to Charity Giving

22:22 Christmas Stories and 1914 Truce

26:41 All Is Calm Excerpt

41:12 Longfellow Bells Story

48:15 Pandemic Safety Reminder

50:43 Pentagon Christmas Eve Memory

56:13 Peace on Earth Reflection

57:51 Year End Sign Off

In this Fourth Sunday of Advent episode of Connecting the Diocese, host Jack Socha speaks with Bishop William Patrick Callahan of the Diocese of La Crosse about checking parish and cathedral Christmas Mass times as schedules are moved up. The bishop describes a quieter Christmas Day, a scaled-back dinner with savings donated to the Hunger Task Force, and encourages support for food pantries as pandemic hardship grows. They discuss screen fatigue and share nostalgic seasonal media, including Advent radio dramas and classic recordings. Bishop Callahan reflects on the Fourth Sunday’s focus on Mary, Joseph, and the Holy Family, emphasizing St. Joseph’s importance and the value of parents’ time with children. The program includes a radio presentation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and closes with COVID-19 safety guidance and warnings against misinformation.

00:00 Advent Welcome

00:22 Christmas Mass Times

01:00 Quiet Christmas Plans

01:47 Giving To The Hungry

02:33 Radio Drama Classics

03:22 Nostalgic Holiday Media

07:05 Ornaments And Memories

08:04 Fourth Advent Focus

08:11 Holy Family And Joseph

11:44 Time With Family Matters

12:43 Christmas Wishes Signoff

13:12 Dickens And Modern Need

14:32 Donate This Christmas

15:16 Radio Carol Begins

16:10 Scrooge In Counting House

18:20 Fred And Christmas Spirit

21:37 Charity Collectors Rebuffed

24:22 Closing For Christmas Day

26:20 Marley Ghost Appears

29:54 Three Spirits Warning

31:03 Ghost Of Christmas Past

32:04 Ghost Takes Scrooge Away

32:39 Lonely Schoolboy Memory

34:11 Fezziwig Christmas Party

36:26 Belle Breaks Engagement

38:02 A Life That Might Be

39:06 Ghost Of Christmas Present

41:22 Cratchits Christmas Dinner

43:29 Tiny Tim's Fate Revealed

45:28 Present Spirit's Farewell

46:56 Ghost Of Christmas Future

48:11 Tiny Tim's Death

49:49 Scrooge Sees His Grave

51:57 Christmas Morning Redemption

54:03 Making Amends To All

55:00 A Raise For Cratchit

56:48 Keeping Christmas Well

57:34 Christmas COVID Safety Notes