Catholic Living

Tom Hoopes and Ex Corde have launched a new podcast about the life of Jesus Christ.  Thank you again to our Catholic Living listeners. Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-extraordinary-story-with-tom-hoopes/id1625174406 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/5rRADHMlVnl7HWc8573OKz?si=a6fbac0e8d3648f4 ExCorde.org https://excorde.org/2022/the-extraordinary-story-s1ep1-out-of-the-maze  

In the next few weeks, Tom Hoopes and Ex Corde are starting a brand new podcast.  And so this will be the final episode of Catholic Living.  Thank you to all of our listeners.  We hope you will join us on this new journey!  God bless.

Tom Hoopes says thank you to priests.  He shares powerful stories about several priests who have made a great impact on his life.

Tom Hoopes offers his ultimate advice for a happy marriage.   "It is astounding how much marriage improves your life, and so to work at it is extremely important, not just for your spouse, but for you as well.”

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, Tom Hoopes outlines several mistakes we make about mercy.  He begins by recounting two confessions where he made his own mercy mistakes.     Photo Credit: Emilio Labrador Modified: Cropped https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode    

At Easter we don't celebrate a myth or a great psychological symbol. We celebrate the historical event that is the foundation of all of our hope and joy and happiness. He is truly risen. Our faith is not in vain.

Nones are the non-religious, and their growing numbers have haunted the Church for years.  Why have so many people abandoned their faith?  This week on Catholic Living, Tom Hoopes asks if we ever gave them a choice.

Tom Hoopes reflects on how Catholic nostalgia for Lenten Friday has shaped his life, and the lives of every Catholic generation.  "What nostalgia does," he explains, "is it strips away all the dross from memories and it leaves just the shiny core of the memory."  Nostalgia points to Jesus Christ, "...because Jesus Christ is eternal truth, and when you strip any memory of its dross what you're left with is the truth, which is ultimately Him."

In part one of The Mistakes Movies Make, Tom Hoopes outlined what movies get wrong about the human person.  Today he shows us what movies get wrong about God, belief, and believers. Tom begins with an urban legend about the original stage production of Peter Pan, and remembers the titanic effect of seeing Star Wars in 1977, when he was only eight years old. 

"Who am I?"  School psychologists say Gen Z is asking this question now more than ever.  Their answers are making headlines as they “self-identify” as members of one group or another — political, cultural, or sexual. If you're inclined to dismiss this phenomenon as a joke, think again: Our culture has made it very difficult for this generation to know who they are, and they desperately want to know.

Tom Hoopes begins with the true story of his tour through Universal Studios alongside famed Albanian priest, Fr. Simon Jubani.  He reflects on the power of movies, and the mistakes they make about the human person.  Tom then invites his movie-mad producer, Michael Coy, to share some parting thoughts on storytelling in film.  

We've washed the ashes from our foreheads.  The fun part is over, and it's a long ways off until Easter.  Faced with a Lenten season, and a Lenten promise, it's easy to feel discouraged.  But this week, on Catholic Living, Tom Hoopes is here to show us the bright side of Lent.

Loving the unborn—fighting for the right to life—has the power to transform your soul, and the soul of our nation.

Adoration, Blessings, Contrition, and Supplication. These are The ABCs of Prayer. This week, Tom Hoopes takes us step by step through this guide to daily prayer, which expresses how a real relationship with God should look. You can find these prayer resources by following the links below. ABCs of Prayer: https://excorde.org/2021/the-abcs-of-prayer-from-the-masters-of-meditation Ex Corde Prayer Resources: https://excorde.org/prayer-resources

Community, Faith, and Scholarship are the virtues employed by the Order of St. Benedict.  They transformed Europe, and they are transforming culture in America, through the efforts of Benedictine College and Ex Corde.  This week, Tom Hoopes elaborates on how these virtues can transform your life.  These are New Year's resolutions you will want to keep.  

On this last day of Advent, Tom Hoopes reflects on the astonishing acts of love and sacrifice made by Jesus, Mary, and Joseph — for each other and for the whole world.  Whether you are blessed to spend this Christmas with your family, or if circumstances have kept you apart, remember always to invite the Holy Family into your heart and home. 

Five days out from Christmas, and Tom Hoopes is getting a little impatient.  Chances are, you know how he feels.  All this build up and we're still waiting?  Why wait?  Why not just pour the wine, open our presents, but Baby Jesus in the manger, and be done with it?  Resist the urge.  Instead, listen to this podcast by Tom Hoopes about waiting for Christmas, and the art of waiting well.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" — Philippians 4:4 A few weeks ago, Tom Hoopes set out to give us ten signs of hope for Christianity in the modern world.  And wouldn't you know it, he ran out of time, leaving five signs of hope for a future episode.  So in light of Gaudete Sunday, your host is back with the rest of the story.

This week on Catholic Living, Tom Hoopes finds the Christian virtues of secular Christmas.

It's hard to enter into Advent in America, where Christmas is blaring from every speaker. But Advent can be a time to remember the Christ-haunted time before Jesus came — and the lack of Jesus in our lives. Tom Hoopes discusses the background of this idea, and how to help your family appreciate it.

Thanksgiving is only a few days away, so this week, on Catholic Living, Tom Hoopes is counting his blessings.  First on the long list of things to be thankful for: Thanksgiving itself.

Every so often, newspapers and magazines boast a headline with some variation of, "Are we seeing the death of Christianity?"  The authors will answer their own question with a rhetorical yes.  But the answer, of course, is no.  This week on Catholic Living, Tom Hoopes highlights several ways that Christianity is on the rise.  He provides encouraging statistical trends, and contextualizes the present moment within the greater history of Christianity.

We often become distracted at Mass, and sometimes we even seek distraction.  This week, on Catholic Living, Tom Hoopes offers tips on how to stay engaged in this sacred ceremony, which the Catechism calls, "The source and summit," of Catholic life.

This week, on Catholic Living, Tom Hoopes reflects on Heaven, Hell, death, and judgment.  What are commonly called, "The Four Last Things."

As All Hallow's Eve approaches, Tom Hoopes takes us on a tour of nightmares, hauntings, and ghosts — both real and imagined.  These tales and reflections include the founding story of Benedictine College, reenacted in Ex Corde's short film, Lemke: A Founder's Miracle.    WATCH: https://vimeo.com/349694377 https://fb.watch/8P6y4MiPPJ/  

This week on Catholic Living, Tom Hoopes gives us 10 ways to engage with the mysteries of the Rosary.

You've heard of "The Five People You Meet in Heaven?"  Well, there are five Christs we see in life.  The one who's real, and the four we invent.  A relationship with the real Jesus is your path to Heaven.  The other four get you nowhere fast.

From Taylor Swift to Lionel Ritchie, pop songs have reflected our innate desire for an exclusive and unbreakable love.  What some of these artists don't know—and what many of their fans don't know— is that the Catholic Church is there to cheer them on! This week Tom Hoopes gives us a survey of pop music that reflect those three cardinal virtues of marriage— indissolubility, exclusivity, and openness to children. Tom Hoopes is writer-in-residence at Benedictine College.  He is an author for ExCorde.org and Aleteia.org

Twenty years ago, St. John Paul II published his apostolic letter, "Novo millennio ineunte."  In this letter he outlined a simple and ingenious plan for opening our hearts to Christ, and sharing His love with the world. This week on the Catholic Living Podcast, Tom Hoopes revisits the words of JPII, which are as vital today as they were then.  We still have time to take up his challenge, and to accept the love of Christ. Tom Hoopes is writer-in-residence at Benedictine College.  You can read his columns at Excorde.org and at Aleteia.org.

What has the Church lost and gained in the pandemic?  What weaknesses have been exposed?  What strengths have been uncovered?  And how, then, should we live?     Tom Hoopes is writer-in-residence at Benedictine College.  He is an author at excorde.org and Aleteia.org.

In the first episode of Catholic Living, Tom Hoopes, former editor of the National Catholic Register, recounts the powerful stories of faith and heroism that were captured by his team in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.   Tom Hoopes is a writer-in-residence at Benedictine College and author at Aleteia.org.