The Good Catholic Life

Today’s topics: Fr. Bryan Parrish on 25 years of ordinations, the Bruins, and Going to the Holy Land Summary of today’s show: What’s it like for a priest to celebrate 25 years of ordination? Is it anything like the silver anniversary of marriage? Scot Landry catches up with Fr. Bryan Parrish, who serves as the Assistant Vicar for Administration of the Archdiocese of Boston, and they discuss Father’s celebration of his silver jubilee, as well as his beloved Boston Bruins and their recent Stanley Cup loss and his recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Cardinal Seán and more than 20 of his fellows priests of the archdiocese. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Fr. Bryan Parrish Links from today’s show: The Holy Land pilgrimage chronicled on TheGoodCatholicLife.com George Martell’s photos from the Holy Land Program #0202 for Friday, December 16, 2011: Fr. Bryan Parrish

Today’s topics: The Influence of G.K. Chesterton Summary of today’s show: One of the most prolific and influential Christian writers and thinkerss in the first half of the 20th century, G.K. Chesterton, became virtually unknown in the second half, but has seen a surging revival of interest in his work. Dale Ahlquist, president of the American Chesterton Society, joins Scot Landry and Dom Bettinelli to reveal who Chesterton was; his impact upon fields as diverse as philosophy, theology, journalism, politics, economics, and literature; and how he came to be a Catholic convert from Anglicanism near the end of his life. Dale also discusses the Chesterton Academy, a Catholic high school in Minneapolis built around the integration that Chesterton showed in his writing to help students become complete thinkers, as well as the American Chesterton Society’s annual conference that is coming to Worcester the first weekend in August with a stellar list of speakers, including Dr. Peter Kreeft and Joseph Pearce. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Dale Ahlquist, president of the American Chesterton Society Links from today’s show: American Chesterton Society The Annual Conference G.K. Chesterton Reading Plan G. K. Chesterton: Apostle of Common Sense The Complete Thinker: The Marvelous Mind of G.K. Chesterton

Today’s topics: Ugandan Catholics in Boston and Uganda Summary of today’s show: The community of native Ugandans living in the Boston area is said to be the third largest after Uganda and London and most of them are living in and around Waltham. Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell welcome Fr. Michael Nolan, Pastor of St. Mary Parish in Waltham and Bishop Charles Wamika of Jinja, Uganda, to talk about the Catholic faith in Uganda, which grew from the martyrdom of St. Charles Lwanga and companions; and the life of faith of Ugandans at St. Mary’s. Bishop Wamika came to Waltham to celebrate the feast of St. Charles Lwanga and companions with the community on June 3. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell Today’s guest(s): Bishop Charles Wamika of Jinja, Uganda, and Fr. Michael Nolan, pastor of St. Mary Parish, Waltham Links from today’s show: St. Mary Parish, Waltham Wikipedia page on Diocese of Jinja “The Uganda Martyrs Celebration 2013-Boston edition”, Ugandan Diaspora News “Lessons of Missionaries Live on in Boston”, Propagation of the Faith Boston, 6/13/13 The Story of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions WYD Rio/Boston Facebook page Gospel for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 30, 2013 (Luke 9:51-62): When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village. As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” To him Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Today’s topics: News headlines for Week of June 24 Summary of today’s show: Our Thursday panel of Scot Landry, Gregory Tracy, and Susan Abbott, minus Fr. Roger Landry who is leading a retreat for the Missionaries of Charity, considered the news headlines of the week, including the biggest news concerning the Supreme Court’s rulings on same-sex marriage and judicial activism in general; World Youth Day comes to Waltham for those who can’t make it to Rio next month; a new movie to spark women’s religious vocations needs your help; and Susan announces a few big changes for herself. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): Gregory Tracy, managing editor of the Pilot Links from today’s show: “Court overturns DOMA, sends Proposition 8 back to lower court”, Catholic News Service, 6/27/13 “U.S. bishops view Supreme Court’s rulings as ‘tragic day for marriage’”, Catholic News Service, 6/26/13 “Supreme Court rulings set up ‘worrisome’ future, says U.S. archbishop”, Catholic News Service, 6/27/13 Massachusetts Catholic Conference statement in response to DOMA ruling Cardinal Seán’s Fortnight for Freedom homily Fortnight4Freedom.org Facebook.com/WYD.Boston Office Archdiocese of Boston World Youth Day Rio website Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults Official WYD Rio website “Movie aims to spark religious discernment for women”, Catholic News Agency, 6/22/13 Lightoflovefilm.com

Today’s topics: Religious Liberty and the Fortnight for Freedom Summary of today’s show: Cardinal Seán O’Malley marked the 2013 Fortnight for Freedom today with a special Mass at the Bethany Chapel of the Pastoral Center in Braintree. Scot Landry, Michael Lavigne, and Dom Bettinelli analyze and expand on the Cardinal’s homily in which he noted that there is a difference between religious freedom and “freedom of worship”, that Catholics need to be able to have their voices heard on matters that affect society; and the Church at times must be the prophetic voice of the child who points out that the Emperor has no clothes. Then Scot and Michael discuss today’s Supreme Court decisions that struck down key provisions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and returned California’s Proposition 8 to lower courts, handing a defeat to those defending the traditional definition of marriage. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Michael Lavigne Links from today’s show: Video of Cardinal Seán’s homily at the Mass for the Fortnight on Jun 26, 13 US Bishops’ Fortnight for Freedom webpage FortNight For Freedom - Cardinal Seán O’Malley homily, June 26, 2013 from Archdiocese of Boston on Vimeo. Cardinal Seán’s homily Good afternoon, everyone. It’s wonderful to be with you today as we join with our brothers and sisters in the faith, Catholics throughout the country, who at this time are observing the Fortnight for Freedom, which was called for by the US Catholic Bishops Conference. Our rights, as President Kennedy said in his inaugural address, do not come to us from the government, but come to us “from the hand of God.” That is our very clear conviction. Last year, the Bishops Conference established this Fortnight for Freedom, a period that begins with the vigil of the feast of the martyrs St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More on June 21 and extends two weeks, to the 4th of July, which of course is the anniversary of our American Revolution and the birth of our country. Last year, we had many wonderful programs for the Fortnight, including the Forum on CatholicTV to discuss various aspects of religious freedom in our country. As Catholics, we love our country and see no conflict between being good Catholics and good citizens. The United States was founded on principles of religious freedom. The Pilgrims migrated to New England seeking freedom for their faith. Catholics went to Maryland. Quakers traveled to Pennsylvania. All came here because of religious persecution in Europe. The 1st Amendment protects this precious right of the freedom of religion. In today’s world, there are many threats against religious freedom. Thousands of Catholics in the last year have lost their lives, others have been displaced from their homeland, and still others have been imprisoned and tortured. We want to keep them present in our prayers and express solidarity with them throughout the world. Obviously, our challenges in the US are on a different scale but at the same time, these challenges can truly hinder our ability to practice our faith. In our secular climate, it is worrisome that there is tendency to try to reduce religious freedom to “freedom of worship.” Freedom of Religion means so much more than just the ability to keep our churches open. It means freedom to be able to live a way of life, to have religious institutions that allow us to be Catholic and to be a religious people. For those religious institutions to exist, they need a certain amount of space. In the past, there were strong conscience rights that most everyone took for granted. We are a pluralistic society. What allowed people of so many different faiths, or of no faith, to work well together was the very profound respect that our country has always had for conscience rights. It is something that has been eroded and is of great concern to us. The government wants to define what organizations are religious and which merit protections and exemptions. The Church has a problem with that, because we see Catholic institutions as not just churches, but also schools, hospitals, clinics, charities and so many other institutions that are there not just to serve Catholics but to serve anyone regardless of their religious background, even those with no religious affiliation at all. In the face of the challenges to religious freedom, Catholics need to make their voices heard. In the present controversy over the HHS Mandate for the new Affordable Care Act health care law, the Church is seeking relief from the particular regulations that we believe violate the tenets of religious freedom. The government, a few months ago, asked for comments from the public on the Mandate. It was very consoling that almost a half million people wrote in. The government has never had that kind of response to proposed regulations. We are hoping that those recommendations and the Church’s urging, and the urging of other Churches will receive a hearing from the government. We need Catholics and other people of faith to stand together so as to be able to defend our religious freedom. A very important part of advancing religious freedom is to know our own faith well. We are in this Year of Faith. From the beginning, I’ve said that there are two aspects of this Year of Faith. One of them is the need for Catholics to understand the teachings of the Church. Second, we want to be able to understand them in such a way that we can share how the different Catholic doctrines are very reasonable and they all are interrelated and part of a whole. I remember when Pope John Paul II, on his very first missionary trip as our Holy Father, went to Mexico. I was privileged to be at the Mass he celebrated at Puebla. There he challenged all of us in the Church to be teachers of the faith. He said we have to teach the faith about who Christ is, to teach the faith about what the Church is (as the Body of Christ), and to teach the faith about what the human person is. Historically, the Church’s teachings on the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, the Eucharist, the sacredness of Holy Orders, the sacraments were what caused people to attack the Church. In today’s world, we are attacked less for those issues. Most of the attacks today are due to our teachings on the dignity of the human person, who has their origin and destiny in God, who is made in the image and likeness of God, and whose life is precious – all of our teachings of the Gospel of Life and the sacredness of Marriage. It’s very important for us to understand the Church’s teachings, which can often be parodied in the secular media sometimes and treated unsympathetically. We need to trust in God. Today’s 1st reading today is the story of Abraham, who is called our father in faith. God promised Abraham would be the father of a great nation and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. Abraham and his wife Sarah were very old and they had no children. Abraham obviously was wondering how this was going to happen. God challenged Abraham to have faith and Abraham had faith. Isaac, the son of the promise was born, and of course Abraham and Sarah were so pleased. God then tests Abraham’s faith some more, and tells him to go and sacrifice that son - the son of the promise, the one who was going to be the father of this nation. But Abraham trusted in God, and his faith was rewarded. Our faith must lead us to trust in the Lord, to have an understanding of what the Gospel demands of discipleship are, to embrace them in our lives, and then to be witnesses to them. Part of our task as Jesus’ followers is to make the Kingdom more present and to invite people to a life of discipleship. We do that, certainly, by the example of our life. Pope Francis has touched such a chord with so many people throughout the world by stressing the social gospel of the Church, and the Church’s devotion to the poor and our strong commitment to social justice. Those lived teachings are a very important part of our witness about the dignity of the human person. Those teachings on human dignity must be witnessed in the way we show our concern for the poor, for the sick, for the disenfranchised, and for the persecuted. Part of the Mission of the Church is to be prophetic and to announce the challenging truths of the Gospel. All of us know the wonderful story we heard as children about the King’s new clothes. The story is about a King who would go through his capital city annually and the people would praise him for his sartorial splendor and for his fantastic clothes. But one day, a wicked tailor went to the King and told him he would make for him a magical suit of clothes and that it would cost an enormous amount of money. The King was excited, so he put on this magical suit of clothes and begins to walk through the streets to receive the homage and veneration of his people. Everyone is shouting and applauding the beautiful garment that the King is wearing. However, one little child says “but, Mommy, the King has no clothes!” Sometimes, the Church’s role must be like that. Everyone else will be shouting that the King’s clothes are very beautiful but the Church needs to have that prophetic voice, which sometimes will cause people to become upset with us. We must believe that the Truth will make us free. Unfortunately, many people in today’s world see the Truth as somehow evil, something that imposes on us, so they deny that there can be any Truth. But Jesus says, “come.” He is the “Way, the Truth and the Life.” He teaches us that the Truth does make us free. As Catholics we must seek that Truth and search for ways to share it with all those in our lives, even those that disagree with us. Our attitude as Catholics is one of gratitude for the liberty and the freedom that we enjoy in America – at the same time we want to be vigilant in protecting religious freedom that allows us to lead lives of faithful discipleship.Also, let us work with others throughout the world to make this planet to be safer for believers, particularly in those places in the world where our brothers and sisters are suffering egregiously for their fidelity to the Gospel.

Today’s topics: StrangeNotions.com and Dialogue with Atheists Summary of today’s show: Taking up the work of the New Evangelization, the new website StrangeNotions.com aims to be a place where Catholics and atheists can come together in charity to have a rational discussion about the great questions of life. Scot Landry and Fr. Chip Hines welcome Brandon Vogt, the founder of the website, to discuss where he got the idea for the project, how he gathered his all-star cast of contributors, and the phenomenal response they’ve received so far. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chip Hines Today’s guest(s): Brandon Vogt Links from today’s show: StrangeNotions.com “20 Arguments for God’s Existence”, Dr. Peter Kreeft

Today’s topics: Knights of Malta and the annual Lourdes pilgrimage Summary of today’s show: Each year, the international order of the Knights of Malta make an annual pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Lourdes, France, bringing with them thousands of people of all ages suffering from a variety of ailments, seeking spiritual and physical healing. Scot Landry welcomes Craig Gibson and Ed Delaney of the local chapter of the Knights as well as Susan O’Leary and her husband, Denny, who has suffered from Parkinson’s disease for the past 20 years to discuss the experience of the most recent pilgrimage this past May. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Susan and Denny O’Leary, Craig Gibson, Ed Delaney Links from today’s show: Knights of Malta, International Knights of Malta, Boston The Annual Lourdes Pilgrimage Photos of the 2013 Pilgrimage Craig Gibson’s photo slideshow of the 2013 pilgrimage Program #0298 for Monday, May 14, 2012: Lourdes and the Order of Malta

Today’s topics: Beginning of Fortnight for Freedom Summary of today’s show: The 2nd Annual Fortnight for Freedom begins this evening and runs until Independence Day, July 4. During that time Catholics around the country will stand together in support of religious liberty, our first freedom. The Church hopes to draw attention to growing intrusions on religious liberty like the government mandate that forces Catholic organizations to violate deeply held beliefs or face stiff fines. The Bishops are asking everyone to pray for the protention of religious liberty, educate yourselves and family/friends, support national events like the Mass of Cardinal Sean on 6/26 at 12:05 at BostonCatholicLive.com, and encourage legislators to defend religious liberty. At the end of the show, Scot, Fr. Mark and Janet reflect on the upcoming Sunday readings. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell Today’s guest(s): Janet Benestad Links from today’s show: Fortnight for Freedom Fortnight for Freedom at CatholicTV Mass Readings for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s topics: News Headlines for Week of June 17 Summary of today’s show: Our regular Thursday panel including Scot Landry, Susan Abbott, Fr. Roger Landry and Gregory Tracy, discuss the news headlines of the week, including the Fortnight for Freedom, the US Senate special election in Massachusetts, the Apostolic Nuncio’s remarks at the Redemptoris Mater seminary gala, and the new US ambassador to the Vatican who has roots in West Roxbury. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): Gregory Tracy, managing editor of the Pilot, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston, and Fr. Roger Landry, pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Fall River Links from today’s show: The Anchor The Pilot Some of the stories discussed on this show will be available on The Pilot’s and The Anchor’s websites on Friday morning. Please check those sites for the latest links.

Today’s topics: Christian Appalachian Project for Boston-area Catholics Summary of today’s show: The Christian Appalachian Project was founded by Fr. Ralph Beiting, a priest of the Diocese of Lexington, KY. It has worked for decades to serve people in need in Appalachia by providing physical, spiritual and emotional support through a wide variety of programs and services. Fr. Ed Riley, currently the Dean of Men at St. John’s Seminary, served as part of this ministry for 3 years full-time and he leads service week trips there each year, including this upcoming office. Christine Dufresne, from New Bedford and now St. Mary’s Parish in Waltham, originally joined the mission trip in August of 2009 and then moved there to serve for 14 months as the aide to Msgr. Beiting. Both Fr. Ed and Christine share moving stories of their experiences on today’s show. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Chris Kelley Today’s guest(s): Fr. Ed Riley and Christine Dufresne Links from today’s show: Christian Appalachian Project Father Beiting Appalachian Mission Center Service Week: “Serve the Poor the in Kentucky (August 10-17)” At Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults website Video of Fr. Beiting In Memory of Fr. Ralph Beiting from David Harl on Vimeo.