Outside the Walls

Fr. Joe Laramie SJ is the national director of the Pope's Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer) -- a 175-year-old ministry uniting hearts to the Sacred Heart. He lives in Milwaukee and travels widely for his ministry. He was ordained in 2011. He is also a National Eucharistic Preacher for the Eucharistic Revival. He taught at two all-boys high schools and served as a college campus minister. He also served at Mayan villages in Belize. He has been featured on the Hallow app, EWTN, Busted Halo, and America magazine.

Today we talked about his book Love Him Ever More: a 9-Day Personal Retreat with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, based on the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius Loyola published by Ave Maria Press.

Mike Aquilina, Executive Vice President of The St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, is a widely recognized Catholic author and lecturer, and popular Church Historian. He hosts The Way of the Fathers Podcast. 

Our conversation today was prompted by his book Africa and the Early Church: The Almost-Forgotten Roots of Catholic Christianity, released by Emmaus Road Publishing. We spoke about how understanding the diversity in our history can give us a broader understanding of our place in the Kingdom of God, and our deep connection, appreciation, and need for those who don't look like us.

Paul Fahey is a retreat leader and writer. He is a co-founder of Where Peter Is, wherepeteris.com, the founder and co-host of the Pope Francis Generation podcast, popefrancisgeneration.com, and a co-founder of Practical Kerygma, practicalkerygma.com.

For the past eight years, he has worked as a professional catechist and is currently working toward a Masters Degree in Mental Health Counseling. His long-term goal is to provide pastoral counseling for Catholics who have been spiritually abused.

You can join him in mid-April for an upcoming workshop on Desiderio Desideravi.

The workshop will help you understand and participate in the Mass as a life-giving encounter with God's relentless desire for you.

By prayerfully reading and discussing what the Church actually teaches about the Mass, you will not only grow in your own love for the Eucharist but you will be more prepared to share that devotion with others. Along with myself and a small community of learners, you will come to see the Mass as the privileged place to encounter Jesus, experience his healing love, and be divinized, that is, as St. Augustine said, “become Christ himself.” 

This workshop is for anyone who wants to deepen their faith, including catechists, ministers, and clergy who want to enhance their ministry and connect with a supportive community of learners. Whether you're looking to renew your love for Jesus, find a deeper sense of belonging, or grow in your relationship with God, the Desiderio Desideravi workshop is the perfect opportunity for you. In this workshop, you will have:

• the freedom to participate as you want  

These workshops are open to everyone, but members of Father's Heart Academy will have access to them for half the price! In addition to studying Desiderio Desideravi in April, there will also be workshops on Pope Francis' life changing teaching about holiness, Gaudete et Exsultate this summer and the Church’s newest social encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, this fall.

Fr. Sebastian Walshe is a Norbertine Canon of the Abbey of St. Michael in the Diocese of Orange, California, where he is a professor of philosophy for the seminary program. 

Santonio Hill was working in ministry in Philadelphia. As that was coming to an end he began applying and preparing for nursing school during quarantine.

He is the assistant director of recruitment for Vagabond Missions, which has 13 missions across eight states. Vagabond Missions understands that inner-city teens confront a cycle of neglect, violence, and broken family life. Vagabond Missions introduces them to Jesus and a loving community by mobilizing missionaries. Through outreach, every inner-city teen can be known, loved, and experience hope for their lives.

Learn more at vagabondmissions.com 

Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD, Emmanuel Mary of the Cross, is a Secular Discalced Carmelite, Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, and founder of myinteriorcastle.com a website featuring online mini-courses about Catholic theology, philosophy, and spirituality that you can take from home at your own pace!

Wallenfang specializes in Catholic theology and philosophy, Carmelite spirituality, phenomenology and metaphysics. He teaches courses in philosophy, theology, lay ecclesial ministry, evangelization, and Catholic spirituality.

We talk about the importance of diverse formation in the life of a disciple; forming not only the intellect, but the spiritual life as well.

Ryan O'Hara is the host of Better Preach, a podcast for anyone who gives talks (Youth Ministers, Catechists, Priests and Deacons, Volunteers for Religious Ed, Missionaries on College Campuses) to Catholic audiences and wants to communicate more effectively. He also servers as the Marketing Strategist for Saint Paul’s Outreach an organization dedicated to building Catholic missional community, transforming a generation, on college campuses and beyond.

We talk about communication, evangelization, and best practices.

Timothy P. O’Malley is the Director of Education at the McGrath Institute for Church Life, where he also serves as Academic Director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy. He teaches and researches at Notre Dame in the areas of liturgical-sacramental theology, catechesis, and aesthetics.

He is a member of the executive planning team for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Eucharistic Revival.

His new book, ‘Becoming Eucharistic People: The Hope and Promise of Parish Life’, is published by Ave Maria Press as part of the Engaging Catholicism series from the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University Notre Dame. 

Simone Rizkallah is currently the Director of Program Growth for Endow Groups. She is also an Institute of Catholic Theology Fellow, a Witherspoon/John Jay Institute Fellow and an Acton Institute Fellow. She has led local chapters of the ecclesial movement of Communion and Liberation in Virginia and Arizona and the Washington, D.C. based non-profit organization In Defense of Christians. She is also a member of Women Speak For Themselves. As the daughter of immigrants from the Armenian Diaspora in Cairo, Egypt, she has a particular interest in matters of religious freedom and culture. In her free time she enjoys teaching RCIA, speaking and writing. She has been published in ChurchPOP, Aleteia, Verily, CatholicU, and Ethika Politika and was featured as a Guest Contributor in the book Road Signs for Catholic Teens published by Our Sunday Visitor. She blogs at www.culturalgypsy.com.

Jordan Daniel Wood is a Catholic theologian and stay-at-home dad of four young daughters. He holds a PhD in Historical Theology from Boston College. His first book was published in 2022, The Whole Mystery of Christ: Creation as Incarnation in Maximus Confessor (University of Notre Dame Press).

He is currently translating Maximus’s Letters for Catholic University of America Press, and is co-translating F. W. J. Schelling’s Original Lectures on the Philosophy of Revelation, a project that recently received an NEH grant. He’s also at work on a book for Wipf and Stock’s Cascade imprint entitled A Shadow of Things to Come: Christian Life with St. Maximus Confessor. He has taught in university, seminary, and high school settings.