Outside the Walls

In this rerun from 2020, Deacon Charles Beard, from St. Pius X in Tulsa and the Blessed Stanley Rother Catholic Worker, joins us to talk about the Solemnity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. We often imagine this Cosmic Kingship with the implication of his rule over the nations; today we explore the implications of his rule on a personal level.

It seems like only yesterday that Outside the Walls launched on St. Michael radio in Broken Arrow, but here we are nine years in and still going strong. It seemed fitting to take this week and look back over the past nine years and reflect. 

Dr. Holly Taylor Coolman teaches theology at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island. Her areas of specialty include Christian accounts of Judaism, as well as the family, especially adoption. She and her husband are parents to five children, ages 25 to 15.

We discuss her forthcoming book on Baker Academic Press, Parenting: The Complex and Beautiful Vocation of Raising Children.

My wife, Kristin, and I recently spent a week in Rome, Italy. We talk about our experiences and reflect on the Communion of Saints.

Father Jeffrey Kirby, STD, is a Papal Missionary of Mercy, the Pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Indian Land, South Carolina, and an Adjunct Professor of Theology at Belmont Abbey College. Father Kirby is a Senior Contributor to the Crux news site, the Host of the daily devotional, The Morning Offering with Father Kirby, and the Host of the podcast, Truth Be Bold.

Father Kirby has authored several books, including Understanding the Bible: A Catholic Guide to Applying God's Word to Your Life Today on OSV.

More information on Father Kirby can be found at frkirby.com. He can be followed on X @fatherkirby

I'm in Rome this week, so we're revising a conversation we had in June of 2022 with Fr. Josh Johnson.

Fr. Josh Johnson joins us to discuss his new book, On Earth as It Is in Heaven: Restoring God’s Vision for Race and Discipleship.

This book follows Fr. Josh’s journey of serving as the only Black priest in the diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Fr. Josh draws from the riches of Scripture, personal experience as a Catholic of color, his priestly ministry, and the wisdom of the Church to encourage Catholics to understand more deeply the call of Christ to make disciples of “all peoples and nations (Matt. 28:19).”

I'm in Rome this week, so we're revisting a conversation from last April with Dr. Ann Garrido, an associate professor of homiletics at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri, where she previously directed the school’s Doctorate of Ministry in Preaching program.

Pia de Solenni, S.Th.D., is a moral theologian, ethicist, and cultural analyst. She can be contacted through social media and at her website MoralTheologian.com.

Fr. Casey Cole, OFM graduated from Furman University in 2011 with a degree in Religious Studies and a minor in Poverty Studies. He entered the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) in August of 2011, made solemn profession in August of 2017, and was ordained to the priesthood in June of 2019. Fr. Casey has published three books, Called: What Happens After Saying Yes to God, Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship, and The Way of Beatitude: Living with Radical Home in a World of Division and Despair. He is the creator of two YouTube channels, and regularly gives talks throughout the country on evangelization and vocations. He currently lives in Macon, GA, where he serves as chaplain to Mount de Sales Academy, St. Peter Claver School, and Mercer University. 

We talked today about a recent video he produced: They're Not Coming Back (but we can do something).

Not every family is the perfect model of Catholic family life. Some of us approach parenting still wounded by childhood experiences that were less than ideal. When we start our own families, at best we feel a bit unprepared, and at worst we feel paralyzed with fear that we will repeat our parents dysfunctional, abusive behaviors.

In All Things New, Erin McCole Cupp draws on her own and others experiences to discuss how to develop a joyful family life when our own experience of being parented was damaging. Erin wrote this book for moms and dads who want to parent better than they themselves were parented.

Drawing on the Holy Family as the model of family life, and distilling practical lessons from the Two Greatest Commandments and the Beatitudes, All Things New shows readers that, while change isn't easy, God has given us all the ingredients we need to create a holy, joyful family.