POPULARITY
3 episodes with spring fund drive
4 episodes with spring fund drive
2 episodes with spring fund drive
3 episodes with spring fund drive
2 episodes with spring fund drive
3 episodes with spring fund drive
2 episodes with spring fund drive
4 episodes with spring fund drive
2 episodes with spring fund drive
Today's episode of Project Censored is preempted by special programming for KPFA's 2025 Spring Fund Drive. Nora Barrows-Friedman speaks with renown historian and author Rashid Khalidi about his work documenting the history of Palestine and his recent book The Hundred Years' War on Palestine. Rashid Khalidi is the author of numerous books about the Middle East, among them the award-winning Palestinian Identity, Brokers of Deceit, and The Iron Cage. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and many other publications. He is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University and coeditor of the Journal of Palestine Studies. Nora Barrows-Friedman is a longtime broadcaster and journalist who has focused on Palestine and Palestinian rights issues for nearly 20 years. She was the co-host and senior producer of Flashpoints on KPFA from 2003-2010, and has since been an associate editor and reporter for The Electronic Intifada. Nora is the author of In Our Power: U.S. Students Organize for Justice in Palestine. To support our mission and receive Rashid Khalidi's book The Hundred Years' War on Palestine as a thank-you gift, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732 (800-HEY-KPFA). The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming: Rashid Khalidi and The Hundred Years' War on Palestine appeared first on KPFA.
Today's episodes of Making Contact and Pushing Limits are preempted by special programming for KPFA's 2025 Spring Fund Drive. Christopher Bache, a professor emeritus of philosophy and religious studies, speaks with C.S. Soong about his twenty-year psychedelic journey, which is described and interpreted in his book LSD and the Mind of the Universe: Diamonds from Heaven. To support our mission and receive Christopher Bache's book as a thank-you gift, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732 (800-HEY-KPFA). The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming: Christopher Bache on the Psychedelic Journey appeared first on KPFA.
Today's episode of APEX Express is preempted by special programming for KPFA's 2025 Spring Fund Drive. Liam O'Donoghue speaks with renown geographer and author Richard Walker about his view of cities as living organisms and the role industry plays in development and ongoing health of cities. This live event which took place in Berkeley, California on March 27, 2025. To support our mission and receive Richard Walker's book Pictures of a Gone City: Tech and the Dark Side of Prosperity in the San Francisco Bay Area as a thank-you gift, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732 (800-HEY-KPFA). The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming: Richard Walker on the Role of Industry in Building Cities appeared first on KPFA.
Today's episode of Bay Native Circle is preempted by special programming for KPFA's 2025 Spring Fund Drive. Christopher Bache, a professor emeritus of philosophy and religious studies, discusses his twenty-year psychedelic journey, which is described and interpreted in his book LSD and the Mind of the Universe: Diamonds from Heaven. To support our mission and receive Christopher Bache's book as a thank-you gift, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732 (800-HEY-KPFA). The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming: Christopher Bache on the Psychedelic Journey appeared first on KPFA.
May 1 - May 2 were Public Media Giving Days and the start of NPR Illinois' Spring Fund Drive. There has been talk about the uncertainty of public media funding, which has left many listeners and donors questioning why. NPR Illinois General Manager Randy Eccles and NPR Illinois Director of Development Kate McKenzie spoke with Bea Bonner about the spring fund drive, station funding, and insight into the uncertainty of defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
At BirdNote, we believe that the more that people learn about birds, the more likely they are to take steps to protect them. Listeners like you have supported BirdNote for 20 years. Support our Spring Fund Drive with a donation of any amount to help us create informative, inspiring stories for years to come.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.
We are showcasing some of our favorite moments of the year today so that we can make optimal time for messages about our Spring Fund Drive. :)Marshall Ramsey, a nationally recognized, Emmy award winning editorial cartoonist, shares his cartoons and travels the state as Mississippi Today's Editor-At-Large. He's also host of a "Now You're Talking" on MPB Think Radio and "Conversations" on MPB TV, and is the author of several books. Marshall is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and a 2019 recipient of the University of Tennessee Alumni Professional Achievement Award. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today's Project Censored is preempted by special spring fund drive programming. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
Today's Making Contact is preempted by special spring fund drive programming. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
Today's broadcast of Talk-It-Out Radio is preempted by special spring fund drive programming. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
Today's Pushing Limits is preempted by special spring fund drive programming. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
This week's episode of Terre Verde is preempted by part 2 of a special edition of Professor Richard Wolff's Economic Update. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
Today's APEX Express is preempted by special fund drive programming. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
Today's Bookwaves/Artwaves is preempted by special fund drive programming. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
Join us for a celebration of roots! Emiliano Lemus covers some of their most-loved herbs in the form of roots and ways to work with this medicine. Part three of our three-part series. Join us for our Spring Fund Drive. Help this 75-year-old listener-sponsored independent media public radio station thrive! The Herbal Highway has had our home on this radio station since 1997. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @theherbalhighway. Photo by Jasmine Waheed on Unsplash. The post Well-Loved Roots – May 21, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.
Women's Magazine is preempted today for a special spring fund drive broadcast. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
About Health is preempted today for a special spring fund drive broadcast. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
Today's Making Contact is preempted by the following: C.S. Soong interviews Nate Powell about his graphic adaptation of James W. Loewen's book Lies My Teacher Told Me. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming: Nate Powell on his adaptation of Lies My Teacher Told Me appeared first on KPFA.
Today's Making Contact is preempted by the final part of C.S. Soong's interview of Nate Powell about his graphic adaptation of James W. Loewen's book Lies My Teacher Told Me. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming: Nate Powell on his adaptation of Lies My Teacher Told Me appeared first on KPFA.
This week's episode of Terre Verde is preempted by part 2 of a special edition of Professor Richard Wolff's Economic Update. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
Today's APEX Express is preempted by special fund drive programming. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
Today's Bookwaves/Artwaves is preempted by special fund drive programming. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
Join us for a celebration of flowers! Renée Camila covers some of her most-loved herbs in the form of flowers and ways to work with this medicine. Part two of our three part series. Join us for our Spring Fund Drive. Help this 75 year old listener sponsored independent media public radio station thrive! The Herbal Highway has had our home on this radio station since 1997. The post Well-Loved Flowers – May 14, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.
This week's episode is preempted by part 2 of Professor Richard Wolff's Economic Update. Click here for part 1. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
Today's Bookwaves/Artwaves is preempted by special fund drive programming. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
Today's show is preempted by special Spring 2024 fund drive programming. The post Special Spring Fund Drive Programming appeared first on KPFA.
This is the WFHB Local News for Thursday, April 25th, 2024. Later in the program, WFHB Correspondents Kate Chmielewski and Annika Harshbarger will be live in the studio discussing how you can support the station during our Spring Fund Drive. More in the bottom half of our program. Also coming up in the next half …
This is the WFHB Local News for Wednesday, April 24th, 2024. Later in the program, Limestone Post Reporter Becky Hill and Photographer Benedict Jones will be live in the studio during WFHB's Spring Fund Drive. More in today's feature report. Also coming up in the next half hour, we will revisit an episode of Deep …
This is the WFHB Local News for Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024. Later in the program, WFHB Correspondents Kelsey Pease and Elyse Perry will be live in the studio during our Spring Fund Drive. More throughout today's newscast. In today's feature report, WFHB Correspondent Kelsey Pease went to the Adult Winter Recess and spoke with attendees. …
WYCE's Community Connection (*conversations concerning issues of importance in West Michigan)
On this week's episode, host Allison Donahue welcomes WYCE Station Manager Phil Tower for a conversation on why community radio is unique and the importance of listener donations during WYCE's spring on-air fund drive. As the region's only volunteer-run, listener-supported community radio station, fundraising is a critically important part of keeping the station on the air to support its mission of enhancing and enriching the local music scene and supporting underserved and overlooked nonprofit organizations in the West Michigan area. Online: WYCE Radio
Part 1 Our annual spring drive! Our wonderful Associates are taking calls for donations! Park 2 Christopher Allen (Lyric Opera of KC director of Romeo and Juliet.) Talks about his […] The post Arts Magazine Show: Spring Fund Drive & Lyric Opera of KC appeared first on KKFI.
Accordion Noir Radio - Ruthlessly pursuing the belief that the accordion is just another instrument.
Introducing the ECO-rdéon, “the first vegan accordion on the planet! … this accordion does not contain any animal products, was assembled using eco-friendly glue without off-gasses and finished with an eco-friendly varnish.” Here it is, last night’s new episode of CFRO Co-Op Radio’s weekly Accordion Noir broadcast, where we play accordion music in all styles from all […]
Wednesday on Political Rewind: We're updating you on major cases on Political Rewind. First, Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis offered immunity to some of Georgia's false electors during the special investigation of the 2020 election. Then, Dominion Voting reaches an 11th-hour settlement in its $1.6 billion lawsuit with Fox News. The panel: Emma Hurt, reporter, Axios Atlanta, @Emma_Hurt Greg Bluestein, political reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, @bluestein Maya King, politics reporter, The New York Times, @mayaaking Timestamps 0:00 - Introductions 3:00 - Fani Willis offers immunity to some false electors 15:00 - Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems reach an 11th-hour settlement 23:00 - Abortions down by half in Georgia since House Bill 481 42:00 - Gov. Brian Kemp ask GOP to distance themselves from Trump Georgia Public Broadcasting is in the middle of our Spring Fund Drive, please consider pledging your support at gpb.org/donate.
Tuesday on Political Rewind: A new bill proposed by U.S. House Republicans would restrict access to asylum and detain families — and children. President Biden has reinstated Trump-era border policies. The Dominion defamation suit against Fox News is underway. And Justice Clarence Thomas is under fire. The panel Chuck Kuck, immigration attorney, @ckuck Tamar Hallerman, senior reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, @TamarHallerman The timestamps 0:00 - Introduction 4:00 - U.S. House Republicans propose a strict, punitive immigration bill. 20:00 - The Biden administration is looking to reinstate Trump-era immigration policies. 26:00 - Positive immigration stories to watch for. 32:00 - Dominion's defamation suit against Fox News might lead to evidence Fulton DA Fani Willis can use. 43:00 - The Gateway Pundit, a far-right publication, faces a defamation suit related to election lies in St. Louis. 47:00 - ProPublica follows up on Clarence Thomas' financial disclosures. GPB is in the middle of their Spring Fund Drive, please consider pledging your support. www.gpb.org/donate
Community News and Interviews for the Catskills & Northeast Pennsylvania
Y'all!!! TWO extremely exciting things happening this week on Radio Active Kids! First of all, it's the Asheville FM Spring #FunDrive week! Help keep Radio Active Kids & all the other AFM shows on the air by donating at https://www.flipcause.com/secure/fundraiser/MTc4NDcz/84672!Secondly, legendary Chicago kindie musician Laura Doherty stopped by earlier this week to record an in-studio performance with us! I can't wait for y'all to hear it! Also, brand-new songs by Farmer Jason, Andy Z, Banda Tapir, The Wise Channel, #ThePocketJoys, Em and Me Music, #FrisbiJones & more!!! Here's the playlist.
This is the WFHB Local News for Monday, March 27th, 2023. Later in the program, it's WFHB's Spring Fund Drive. WFHB News Anchors Deke Hager, Benedict Jones and Grace Romine will be cutting in throughout the program to ask for your support. More coming up in today's show. That’s Bloomington animal welfare advocate Cathi Eagan, …
WFHB Music Director Christine Brackenhoff takes a break from the Spring Fund Drive to talk about Weather Report, Torres, Angelique Kidjo, Talking Heads and Animal Collective. You can make the Spring Fund Drive a smashing success by pledging at www.wfhb.org
This week on Radio Active Kids, interviews return!
Our show today selects segments from four recent programs that highlight Colonial Mentality…and of course I’m stealing that phrase from the great Fela Kuti – whose song of the same name opens this show. Our music throughout the show comes from each of the original programs. We’ll begin with our show on the revolutionary life …
Jazz Northwest features a variety of regional jazz talent every Sunday afternoon at 2, including classics like the Kellys Heroes band that developed at Red Kelly's bar in Tacoma in the 90s. Milt Kleeb and Bill Ramsay were old hands at arranging by that time and their skills are on display in the opening of this week's show. Also featured on today’s show, more recent additions to our jazz scene include Johnaye Kendrick and Jared Hall plus standbys like Portland's Dan Balmer, and Seattle singer Greta Matassa. It's also our Spring Fund Drive edition, so listen and make a pledge to support this show and other jazz programming on Sundays. Just click on the green button! Jazz Northwest is recorded and produced by host Jim Wilke and airs Sundays at 2 p.m. Listeners may also subscribe to the podcast at KNKX, NPR, Apple, or Google.
It's the 2021 Asheville FM #SpringFundDrive this week on Radio Active Kids! Please, if you can, consider donating to help keep us on the air and spinning great kindie! http://www.ashevillefm.org/donate In addition, we've got new tunes by Pointed Man Band, All Around This World, Mr. Nick Davio, Rock-a-Baby RI & MA, Muckemacher, Rissi Palmer, Totally Knuts, Professor Jefferson Band, Emily Who, Nutshell Playhouse, & #DebMoore! Playlist: https://spinitron.com/WSFM/pl/12898840/Radio-Active-Kids
Tales of a Red Clay Rambler: A pottery and ceramic art podcast
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Andrei Taraschuk. Using computer skills from his day job as a software engineer, Taraschuk creates and manages a fleet of art bots that post images of art across Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. In our interview we talk about the structure of an art bot, which social media platforms have responded best to bots, and why we need art in our daily lives. To find out more about Andrei visit www.offtheeasel.com, where you can create your own art bot to share the art you love. On today’s AMACO Community Corkboard we have the History of Ceramics Instagram feed. If you need a break from politics and the pandemic you can fill your feed with photographs of ceramic vessels and sculptures from global history. Images are tagged with links to the Metropolitan Museum, Sotheby’s, or other institutions to help you research your favorite genres of historical pottery and sculpture. To join in follow @historyofceramics on Instagram. Hey Red Clay Rambler fans, we have embarked on our ninth season of the show and to celebrate we are having a spring fund drive. Since the quarantine started, I’ve gotten emails of support about how the podcast helps listeners feel connected to the friends they can’t physically be around. The podcast continues to be a great way to connect with other artists from the comfort and safety of your own home studio. You can support the show with a donation through the Pay Pal donation portal at www.talesofaredclayrambler.com/donate or by making a monthly pledge at patreon.com/redclayrambler. If you join Patreon today you can access perks like t-shirts, water bottles and other podcast swag, as well as having access to the Patreon exclusive Tales from the Vault podcast, which features remastered episodes that are no longer available on major podcast apps. Your donation or pledge will help me reach the goal of raising $3000 for this fund drive. Thanks for listening and stay safe out there.
Tales of a Red Clay Rambler: A pottery and ceramic art podcast
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Tim Kowalczyk. His trompe l’oeil ceramic vessels mimic cardboard, Styrofoam, and other normally disposable industrial materials. In our interview we talk about the building process for making trompe l’oeil objects, the symbiotic benefits of being loyal to a gallery, and his web series “Critiquing with Kids.” To find out more about Tim visit www.timsceramics.com. On today’s AMACO Community Corkboard we have the History of Ceramics Instagram feed. If you need a break from politics and the pandemic you can fill your feed with photographs of ceramic vessels and sculptures from global history. Images are tagged with links to the Metropolitan Museum, Sotheby’s, or other institutions to help you research your favorite genres of historical pottery and sculpture. To join in follow @historyofceramics on Instagram. Hey Red Clay Rambler fans, we have embarked on our ninth season of the show and to celebrate we are having a spring fund drive. Since the quarantine started, I’ve gotten emails of support about how the podcast helps listeners feel connected to the friends they can’t physically be around. The podcast continues to be a great way to connect with other artists from the comfort and safety of your own home studio. You can support the show with a donation through the Pay Pal donation portal at www.talesofaredclayrambler.com/donate or by making a monthly pledge at patreon.com/redclayrambler. If you join Patreon today you can access perks like t-shirts, water bottles and other podcast swag, as well as having access to the Patreon exclusive Tales from the Vault podcast, which features remastered episodes that are no longer available on major podcast apps. Your donation or pledge will help me reach the goal of raising $3000 for this fund drive. Thanks for listening and stay safe out there.
Tales of a Red Clay Rambler: A pottery and ceramic art podcast
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Carrie Cleveland. She works in disaster-preparedness education and outreach for the Craft Emergency Relief Fund. CERF+ was started by artists for artists in the craft community in 1985 and has since emerged as the leading nonprofit organization that uniquely focuses on safeguarding artists’ livelihoods. In our interview we talk about the Cares Act legislation and resources available to artists to help with the financial impact of the COVID pandemic. To find out more about emergency relief, career protection tools, and other resources visit www.cerfplus.org. On today’s AMACO Community Corkboard we have the 28th Annual Saint Croix Valley Pottery Tour, May 8-10. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak the tour will be held online with shops going live on May 8th at 10 am CDT. For more information visit www.minnesotapotters.com or follow @stcroixvalleypotterytour on Instagram for previews and updates. I’d like to thank Amaco/Brent for sponsoring the community corkboard. Brent Equipment is celebrating their 50th Anniversary this year and have created a Limited Edition Black CXC wheel. For more information visit www.amaco.com. Hey Red Clay Rambler fans, we are embarking on our ninth season of the show starting this May. To support the new season, we are having a spring fund drive. Throughout the year I receive emails from fans who talk about how this podcast helps them connect with other artists around the world. One recent listener said, “I appreciate all the voices you give a platform to, especially amazing women like Naomi Clement.” Giving voice to the many generations of ceramics artists that are working today is my mission, and I need your help to accomplish it. Our goal for the month of May is to raise $3,000 to support our production costs. You can get involved by making a donation through the Pay Pal donation portal at http://www.talesofaredclayrambler.com/donate or by making a monthly pledge at patreon.com/redclayrambler.
Kenan Rainwater, along with Barry Elkins, are live in the studio this month. They talk about The Stream from Rainwater Studios, as well as the band Split Rail opening for Travis Tritt. It is Spring Fund Drive for WFHB, so you will hear more about that along with our usual cast of characters. We are […]
Renaissance English History Podcast: A Show About the Tudors
This is the spring fund drive where I ask you for money, and give you minicasts in return - you can support the show at patreon.com/englandcast. And thank you! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Renaissance English History Podcast: A Show About the Tudors
This is the Spring Fund Drive where each day I'm releasing a minicast and a reminder that you can support this show by going to Patreon.com/englandcast. Thank you so much for your support! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
The kickoff to WYCE's Spring Fund Drive featured a lively chat with folk-rock's The Crane Wives, plus local song debuts and regional music from Cameron Blake, Oh Brother Big Sister, Tail from the Crypt and, yes, Jack White. Listen to this week's podcast at Local Spins.
The third episode of Public Media Daily for you to listen to get your day started. Highlights for Tuesday, April 17th include...1) NPR wins three Gracie awards for coverage of the #MeToo movement.2) 102.3 KHNS in Haines, Alaska has become the first station to add "The Daily" from NYT and APM since the program's public radio debut.3) Hawaii Public Radio unexpectedly expanded their Spring Fund Drive by a day. It reached its goal and then some.4) Technical problems involving one TV/FM combo from NET Nebraska and an HPR-2 translator in Kailua-Kona.5) A tribute to Carl Kasell, the longtime "Morning Edition" newscaster and "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" scorekeeper, who passed away at the age of 84 after a battle with Alzheimer's disease.Subscribe to this podcast on Messy Bun, Apple Podcasts, Player FM or wherever you prefer to listen. We're on your podcast feeds every weekday morning.Follow us on @PubMediaFans for more news and content.R.I.P. Carl Kasell (April 2nd, 1934 - April 17th, 2018)
Today we show our support for women as we ask you to show your support for Interchange. We’ll hear clips that highlight the fight for women’s rights in the country where 77% percent of women polled will not identify as feminist but believe men and women should be equal socially, politically and economically. Those are …
This is The Spring Fund Drive for WFHB, and the live broadcast of this show includes our team live on the air asking for your support of the radio station. We are Volunteer Powered Community Radio, and you can support us with your donation at WFHB.org Our guests this month include: We are honored to […]
March 27 is our Spring Fund Drive show! We’ll ask you to show your support for Interchange and WFHB while we show our support for women. We’ll hear clips that highlight the fight for women’s rights in the country where 77% percent of women polled will not identify as feminist but believe men and women …
On this special Fall Fund Drive edition, we present a roundup of choice excerpts of Profiles programs that aired since our Spring Fund Drive.
Our show today, “Entertainment Inaction,” is in two parts and is a special for our Spring Fund Drive. Cast a glance up and to the right of the page (right next to Phil’s head)…see that big red “Donate” button? You know what to to. PART ONE: Listen, Liberal Assistant Producer Rob Schoon sat down in …
For this episode of "Good Brews", host Adam Boyd is live on the air waves with a special KYRS Spring Fund Drive edition of the show. But he's not alone! He is joined by friend of the show, and representative from Spokes Mobile Canning, Isaac Joslin. On the show they discuss Isaac's travels in Montana for Spokes, and the breweries and beer scene there, all while trying to raise money for KYRS. More info at: www.kyrs.org/show/good-brews[Music: “TRAVEL LIGHT” by Jason Shaw (http://www.audionautix.com) // www.bensound.com] Play the episode: Your browser does not support this audio
On this episode of "Good Brews", host Adam Boyd broadcasts live from the KYRS studio during the station's annual On-Air Spring Fund Drive. Joining Boyd in the studio is Iron Goat Brewing Trivia Host Isaac Jensen, Co-Owner of The Malted Mutt Dog Treat Company Peter Franz, and Past-Owner of Brews on Washington and Trivia Master Brett Anderson. The group plays a round of challenging beer related trivia while raising money for KYRS. More info at: www.kyrs.org/show/good-brews[Theme Music: “TRAVEL LIGHT” by Jason Shaw (http://www.audionautix.com) // Style Profile Music: www.bensound.com] Play the episode: Your browser does not support this audio
On today's show, Host Andrew Sclafani and guests Michael Ragosta and Robert Ragosta take some calls, discuss Marvel and DC television series', Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" video, their distaste for Sondheim musicals and more! Promotional consideration by the film House Arrest. Michael covers Sara Bareilles' "I Choose You" http://www.thisgoodrobotmerch.com Twitter.com/thisgoodpodcast twitter.com/thisgoodrobot
On this weeks show: It's the KPFA 2013 Spring Fund Drive, so for the hour consider contributing to truly independent media by calling 1-800-439-5732 or 510-848-5732, or online at kpfa.org. As a thank you gift for becoming a member of KPFA (amount TBD), you'll be receiving Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country: Kids' Letters to President Obama. Winner of Asian Pacific Fund's writing contest, “Growing Up Asian in America.” (L to R, back row: Divya Prakash, Nikhita Gopisetty, Joshua Ko, Kavya Padmanbhan, Alex Yang, Jasjit Mundh. L to R, front row: Amelia Ny, Emily Yang, Elisabeth Kam.) This week we hear some amazing youth voices and from youth educators. We'll be sharing with you some of the winning essays from the Asian Pacific Fund's Growing Up Asian in America essay contest. Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP) at ISEED (Institute for Sustainable Economic, Educational, and Environmental Design) Rod Daus-Magbual, Ph.D., Associate Director of Curriculum at PEP In the studio, Rod Daus-Magbual, Associate Director of Curriculum at Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP) in the studio with us, and for the hour, we'll be discussing youth and education: From the work that PEP does to inspire their students, and be inspired by them, to more ethnic studies courses in high schools, to building the next generation of teachers–the terrain is vast and there's a lot to cover. Hosted by No-No Girl and RJ. The post APEX Express – May 9, 2013 appeared first on KPFA.
Today's host(s): Scot Landry Today's guest(s): Fr. Dan Hennessey, Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Boston Today's topics: Vocations Summary of today's show: Scot Landry and Fr. Dan Hennessey discuss the discernment of lifelong vocations as well as God's will in the small moments of every day. Meanwhile, WQOM is having an emergency fund drive to meet operating expenses and Scot spent those breaks talking with Rick Paolini from the Station of the Cross network in Buffalo. 1st segment: WQOM is having an emergency fund drive to raise $105,000 to meet operating expenses for the next three months. During the show on Wednesday and Thursday, our regular segments will be interspersed with fundraising appeals from the Station of the Cross network headquarters in Buffalo. Every gift matters. If you want to donate go to or call 888-711-6279. Scot said WQOM is having an emergency fund drive to cover costs until the Spring Fund Drive in May. Fr. Dan is covering for Fr. Matt Williams who's down with the flu. Scot asked Fr. Dan how vocations is going. He said between Christmas and Easter is a time when a lot of men want to meet with him about being open to the possibility of the priesthood. They then discussed the number of men studying for the archdiocese, increasing from 30 a few years ago to 70 now. Fr. Dan said it's the result of people praying for priestly vocations. All young men and women should be asking them what life God desires for me. Every person's meaning of life is to figure out what God desires of us to get to heaven. Scot the question just doesn't lead people to becoming priests or religious, but integrates into their daily lives to figure out what God wants us to do each day or at this moment. Fr. Dan said we shouldn't equate vocation with career. What we should ask is what mode of life is God calling us to lay down our life for him? Priesthood, married life, single life, religious life? 2nd segment: Scot said he knows some seminarians at St. John's Seminary who listen to the The Good Catholic and they hear many priests talking about their own lives as priests. Fr. Dan said the witness of good priests is invaluable and hearing from the priests how they came to hear the call from God to the priesthood is a beautiful part of The Good Catholic Life. Fr. Dan said a culture of vocations is a Catholic culture and having the Catholic faith on the radio builds that up. Scot said the Vocations office is planning discernment retreats from men under 40 and men over 40. He aid this weekend are two retreats. The first one is for men age 18-40 at Connors Family Retreat Center and St. John Seminary. It's in two locations because they didn't have enough space in the seminary. The cardinal gives three conferences on Saturday, there's a seminarian witness, small-group discussions, Mass, and Rosary. For men over 40, there's a retreat this weekend as well at Blessed John XXIII National Seminary. Go to for more information and to contact Fr. Dan.
**Today's host(s):** Scot Landry, Fr. Matt Williams, and Fr. Mark O'Connell **Today's guest(s):** Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ, president and founder of Ignatius Press * [Ignatius Press](http://www.ignatius.com) * [YouCat](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1586175165/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=pilo0e-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217153&creative=399701&creativeASIN=1586175165) * On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week, WQOM and the Station of the Cross network are holding their [2011 Spring Fund Drive](https://www.thestationofthecross.com/wqom-spring-fund-drive-2011.html). All donors over $30 will receive a Station of the Cross "Benefactor Card" and are eligible to win great daily and hourly prizes. Consequently, the recorded shows for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday as heard on this site and downloaded through iTunes will not include the Spring Fund Drive segments as heard live as they aired. **Today's topics:** The new Catholic catechism called YouCat; the Mass readings for Sunday **A summary of today's show:** Fr. Joseph Fessio tells Scot and Fr. Matt about the origin of the new YouCat youth catechism, which is not a replacement for the universal Catechism, but a formulation addressing the particular concerns of the young in new ways. They also discuss Pope Benedict's very direct and surprising appeal to young people in the foreword to the YouCat. Finally, Scot and Fr. Mark discuss this Sunday's Mass readings. **1st segment:** Scot welcomes Fr. Mark back to the show. Scot said this is the 62nd broadcast of The Good Catholic Life. He said it's been fun to learn more about his faith, to meet a lot of new people, and to get to know his co-hosts better than he had. Fr. Mark said it's a blessing in his life as well. More and more people come up to him to say they've heard him on the radio. The other week a priest said to him, "I stole something from you that you said on the radio when you were on with Msgr. Connie McCrae." Fr. Mark thinks it's great. Scot thanks WQOM and all its benefactors for allowing him to broadcast The Good Catholic Life every day to the Boston area. Fr. Mark encouraged everyone to spread the good news of The Good Catholic Life, which is unique to Boston and it's always current. Fr. Mark said his parents gather on Fridays to listen faithfully and comment to him about the show. He said his mom corrected him when he referred to something his pastor, Fr. Sepe, cooked for him as slimy. She told him that everything Fr. Sepe cooks is good and he should apologize. Scot's mom also had a strong reaction to the show with Fr. Sepe. He grew up in St. Michael's Parish in Lowell, the same parish Scot grew up in, and Scot had expressed surprise at this because he hadn't known. Scot's mom called him to say, "How could you not Kevin Sepe from St. Michael's? We knew him growing up." **2nd segment:** Scot welcomes Fr. Matt Williams and Fr. Joseph Fessio to the show. Scot said the YouCat is a new initiative for youth, a catechism designed to be youth-friendly. He asked Fr. Fessio how it's different from other catechisms that are out there in the Church. Fr. Fessio said when the universal [Catechism of the Catholic Church](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385508190/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=pilo0e-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217153&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0385508190) came out, the Holy Father, Bl. John Paul II, in his preface said that this was for the whole Church, but that there would have to be adaptations for different groups and different cultures and so on. This youth catechism is not only done for younger people, but also by younger people, collaborating in the effort. He was in Rome in April for the presentation to the Holy Father of the YouCat in 13 languages so far, and there was a reception that evening put on the Knights of Malta at their world headquarters. Cardinal Schönborn gave a description of how the catechism came about. One of the editors, a mother of six who's a well-known writer in Germany, and one of the young people who was involved were there with Cardinal Schönborn. The cardinal was appointed by Cardinal Ratzinger back in 1987 to help oversee the preparation of the universal Catechism, which came out in the early 90s. But there was felt a need to have something a little shorter with a question and answer format and so they produced later, the [Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1574557203/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=pilo0e-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217153&creative=399349&creativeASIN=1574557203) and that was presented in Europe in 2005. Cardinal Schönborn was present for that release of the Compendium. At the press conference, a German publisher was there. A woman stood up in the audience and said to the cardinal that the Compendium is wonderful, but she wouldn't buy it for her young children because they can't understand it and she said they should create a catechism for young people. Cardinal Schönborn took that to heart and the German publisher, who was involved with a summer Catholic youth camp, asked if he could take the idea as a subject for the youth camp that summer. They brought in 50 young people--mainly high school and college age--and spent the whole week going over the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Compendium, asking their questions and discussing things they needed to hear about. Then a team of writers--two theologians and two educators--got together for the draft of the new catechism. The next summer they had the same 50 kids back for another week, they went over the draft, took pictures, added elements to the sidebars, and that was what led to the YouCat. So back to what makes it different. While many catechisms are question-and-answer format, it has commentary--all based on the universal catechism--and sidebars with sayings of the saints, lots of graphics, a glossary of terms, and other supplementary materials. Plus the whole graphic layout is very attractive to young people. The only problem they've found is that it's hard to get it into young people's hands, because the old people get it and start looking at it, they get excited about it, and they won't give it to their kids and are reading it themselves. Scot said that he found the quotes in the sidebars to be great. He's never seen a better reference yet. Mother Teresa, St. John Vianney, and various recent Popes. That in itself is tremendous to take into holy hours and pray one of the 527 questions as well as the sidebars and explanations. He asked how the language used is different from the universal catechism to make it more appealing to youth. Fr. Fessio wouldn't say it's dumbed down. After all, it's mainly a group of German kids working on this and they are pretty academically oriented, but it's simplified. It's readable, while challenging. In the preface, the Holy Father said it isn't going to be easy, that there are hard sayings here and complicated things to learn, but it is adapted as much as possible for younger people. Scot said one of the neat parts he found were stick figures at the bottom and as you flip through the pages, they're animated like in a flipbook. The stick figure is in a journey and at the end he's walking with Jesus. Fr. Fessio said that's exactly it and on the last page he jumps out of the book. He's saying, now that we've learned our catechism let's go out and live it. Scot said that aspect alone will be appreciated by some of the youth and hopefully that it encourages them to flip through the pages far more frequently and just stick on a question, stay and read it, and then think about it. **3rd segment:** Young people were very involved in the production of this book. How specifically did they influence what the final product turned out to be? Fr. Fessio said it's based on the four pillars of the Catechism: What we believe, how we worship, how we live, and how we pray. That was a parameter that was given by the nature of the Catechism. But they recognized certain areas--especially sexual morality--that they were particularly interested in and needed to know more about the Church's teaching. They took all the pictures and illustrated it. They picked out all the quotes, which they thought would speak to themselves and other about whatever topics were treated on those pages. That was their main contribution. They also told those writing the catechism when they didn't understand something and needed clarification. Fr. Matt said that it takes into consideration the concerns of today's youth and young adults in a relevant way. He asked Fr. Fessio how he sees that playing itself out in YouCat, especially considering all the different cultures around the world it seeks to address. Fr. Fessio said that was part of the idea of this catechism. The central part, the Church's teachings, would be the same for all countries, but the sidebar quotes and graphics would be done by the young people of those countries and there was a lot of leeway. Interestingly enough, what people found was that in no country--22 so far--did they want to make any substantial changes to the sidebar quotes and commentary. He thinks the Internet has changed our culture in such a way that there is a youth culture that is pretty common around the globe for kids who are pretty well-educated. From that point of view, it doesn't need too much of the adaptation that was planned for it, although it's always possible to do that. In India, they are very excited about it. When Fr. Fessio suggested they get some native Indian youths to participate in inculturating the catechism, they said it wasn't necessary, that they're using to seeing these things. They didn't want to change. Secondly, it's not a book to read from cover to cover. It's more of a reference book and a guide. In fact, Ignatius even did a binding so it looks like a guidebook. They are in the process now of working with [Ascension Press](http://www.ascensionpress.com/shop/Scripts/default.asp) to prepare a confirmation program that would use this YouCat as the central reference for it. He's told that's one area of catechesis that's weak in this country, that is the standard preparation for confirmation. As for young adults, they heard youth ministers say they wanted to prepare a guidebook for their use so that when they meet with young people, they can use YouCat with them. But then Midwest Theological Forum has received requests to prepare a marriage preparation course based on YouCat because a lot of the couples who come in to get married are fairly uncatechized. This can draw them into greater interest in the Church's teaching. Fr. Matt said it does feel like a guide, tremendous resources being able to direct you the saints and other sources. He said he's heard how Ignatius Press is looking to using social media to make this more available to young people. The average young people is engaged in some form of media about eight hours a day. What plans are there to use this in social media? Fr. Fessio said the Italians have put together apps for iPhone and Android--available very soon--that will give one question per day and the answer. They're also going to create Facebook page and other social networking sites where young people can talk about their faith. They're also planning to help train young people to catechize their peers using YouCat. Fr. Fessio thinks this will be a major focal point of catechetics for the next decade or so. **4th segment:** Scot wanted Fr. Fessio's perspective on the Holy Father's powerful foreword to the YouCat. It's one of the more direct pieces that the Holy Father has written in recent years. One of his quotes: >You need to know what you believe. You need to know your faith with that same precision with which an IT specialist knows the inner workings of a computer. You need to understand it like a good musician knows the piece he is playing. Yes, you need to be more deeply rooted in the faith than the generation of your parents so that you can engage the challenges and temptations of this time with strength and determination. Two very powerful analogies, but Scot was struck by his directness about knowing their faith better than their parents. He asked if Fr. Fessio was surprised by this directness? Fr. Fessio said he's never surprised by the Holy Father because he knows he's going to be surprising. He wants to make a slight correction: The Holy Father is very careful. Scot summarized by saying that kids should know more than their parents, but what the Holy Father says they need to be more deeply rooted in their faith than *the generation* of their parents. He's not saying that their parents aren't catechized but gently saying the generation isn't catechized. It's typical of him to have a delicacy or courtesy in the way he expresses these things. He gets the point across but the "iron fist has a velvet glove." Scot said it seems like tougher talk than most poeple expect from the Holy Father, directly challenging the young people to study their faith, in this foreword. Scot hoped that the bold challenge from their father in faith, the Holy Father, will motivate young people to want to pick this up. They probably have not heard this Holy Father challenge them that directly. Fr. Fessio said he was almost shocked too when he read this preface. Another quote: >Study this Catechism with passion and perseverance. Make a sacrifice of your time for it! Study it in the quiet of your room; read it with a friend; form study groups and networks; share with each other on the Internet. By all means continue to talk with each other about your faith. That's very direct! Why did he do that? Fr. Fessio said it's the kind of person he is. Years ago, Fr. Fessio was a student along with then-Fr. Schönborn of then-Fr. Ratzinger at Regensburg, Germany, and that's where Ratzinger met Schönborn and recognized Schönborn's talent and what led to Schönborn becoming a bishop and then being appointed by Ratzinger to be in charge of the catechism itself. They've had a close relationship. Cardinal Schönborn said when he went to the Holy Father with this idea that the woman had proposed , the Holy Father was almost ecstatic and that it was exactly what was needed. He got behind it right from the beginning and put his whole weight behind it. Scot said another quote that stood out to him was: >This Catechism was not written to please you. It will not make life easy for you, because it demands of you a new life. It places before you the Gospel message as the “pearl of great value” (Mt 13:46) for which you must give everything. So I beg you: Study this Catechism with passion and perseverance. It's not written to please the young people. It's a gift to them, that gives them the teachings of the Church and through that come to understand what our destiny is in God's love. Fr. Fessio said we've had two great Holy Fathers in a row and both of them have not been afraid to challenge people. We're blessed to when we see the difficulties and evils in the Church in our time to have two leaders like this, both great intellects that are able to touch people's hearts and able to engage people of all different ages and cultures. Fr. Matt said as one working in youth and young adult ministry in a diocese, you see their passion and love for young people and how they see them as the protagonists of the new evangelization and they express such great hope in them. Quoting Pope Benedict again: >Many people say to me: The youth of today are not interested in this. I disagree, and I am certain that I am right. The youth of today are not as superficial as some think. They want to know what life is really all about. A detective story is exciting because it draws us into the destiny of other men, a destiny that could be ours. This book is exciting because it speaks of our own destiny and so deeply engages every one of us. So I invite you: Study this Catechism! Even at the end where he talks about the prophet Jeremiah and encourages them to see and understand their place in the Church and not to say that they're too young, but they have an important role in the life of the Church now; not to underestimate themselves. Fr. Fessio said both of these popes have had great gifts of intellect and expression. When he speaks you want to listen and you want to go and do what he tells you to do. Scot said the lead-up to the publication of the YouCat was much more understated than the release of the Catechism in the early 90s and even the Compendium after that. Is the word just getting out? Did we want to tie the launch of this to World Youth Day and that's one of the reasons we maty not have heard as much about it as we will? Fr. Fessio said it's a good question and he doesn't know the answer to it. He knows that when Ignatius was asked to be the English-language publisher, he was interested but they thought it was just going to be another catechism for young people. But when they got the German original, with all the graphics and layout, they all got excited about it. The word has come out only because people have gotten to know what it really is and as they see, it's not just another book and another catechism, but something amazing. People are getting excited about it. Ignatius was cautious about it. They only printed 15,000 copies in the first printing, and sold them out in the first week. They did another printing of 10,000 and sold those out. They're printing 20,000 more now. It's catching on. Scot asked Fr. Fessio if there's anything else about the YouCat that listeners should know. He said go to [Ignatius.com](http://www.Ignatius.com) to get it online. **5th segment:** Scot returns with Fr. Mark to discuss the Gospel reading for this coming Sunday. The readings for this week are for the 7th Sunday of Easter. Some parishes in the listening audience will be celebrating the Feast of the Ascension, which was moved from last Thursday in some dioceses. * [First Reading for June 5, Seventh Sunday of Easter (Acts 1:12-14)](http://www.usccb.org/nab/060511c.shtml#reading1) >After Jesus had been taken up to heaven the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away. > >When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. * [Gospel for June 5, Seventh Sunday of Easter (John 17:1-11a)](http://www.usccb.org/nab/060511c.shtml#gospel) >Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. > >“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.” Scot said a unifying aspect of these readings is that they're about prayers. When the Apostles return to the upper room, they pray, surrounding the Blessed Mother. Then we read in the Gospel that Jesus Himself prays for each of us. If Jesus prays and the Blessed Mother prays and the Apostles pray together, then it makes Scot want to evaluate how often he prays. He tries to pray every day, but does he make it a central part of his day. It should always be a central part of his day. Fr. Mark said this is a particularly important moment in the Church year. The time between the Ascension and Pentecost. That's when we pray specifically for the coming of the Holy Spirit in a new way in our life. The Apostles and Mary were in that room. They were still troubled--even though they'd seen the Risen Lord and had seen the Ascension. Soon Pentecost comes and the Holy Spirit comes and it relieves that trouble. God begins to work new things in their lives and that happens to us too. Scot said the Gospel readings call us to a deep sense of prayer, not just where we go by a church and sit by the Blessed Sacrament or kneel beside our bed and just ask God for things. The kind of prayer talked about here can involve that, but it involves a really deep relationship, a deep friendship, a deep communion with Jesus. As we saw the Apostles, those who were his friends, they surrounded the Blessed Mother and through her intercession and maternal care, their prayers were deepened because the Blessed Mother helps us know her son. Fr. Mark said it's also a deep discerning prayer. We discern with the Blessed Mother helping us, she intercedes for us. We can go to her for help in discerning where God is calling us. Where are we being asked to go with our life in the Holy Spirit. Scot said the Church universal should be praying that we all receive--collectively and individually--gifts of the Holy Spirit to be more effective at what God calls us to be. We're called to similar things: to share our faith with others, to live our faith the best we can every day. We're also called in a particular to be the best we can be with the blessings and talents God has given to us. Sometimes we're not fully aware how our talents can serve the Church more effectively, our families, our friends, our communities. Praying for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to understand how to utilize our gifts and if we're called to a specific ministry to be gifted even more to carry out that ministry. That's what we should be praying for as we come to Pentecost next Sunday. Fr. Mark said this Gospel gives us what it's all about too. That prayer, that hard work of doing Jesus' will, is about being glorified as Jesus was glorified. There's a beautiful reflection that Jesus gives us about being glorified by the Father. C.S. Lewis wrote a very good essay called ["The Weight of Glory"](http://www.verber.com/mark/xian/weight-of-glory.pdf) in which he tells us the end result is to be child-like in front of God, basking in God's praise. That is the result in that we can meet God face to face in heaven and God is pleased with us because of our good work. He says, "Come in my good and faithful servant." That's what glory is all about. That's why we work and why we pray: to be glorified as Jesus was glorified by the Father. Scot has heard some priests relate that people say, "Father, I'd really like to pray more. I just don't have time." And the priests then ask them how TV they watch, how much of the newspaper do they read. We can always make a decision to spend more time with God. 99.9% of us can find more time for prayer. Through the wisdom in prayer and the communion with our Lord, whatever problems we face, he'll help carry the burdens with us. We focus everyone listening to the show to focus more on prayer this week. Fr. Mark added that you don't start off as a mystic when you want to pray. You start off as a person who struggles with 10 minutes. So give God 10 minutes.
**Today's host(s):** Scot Landry **Today's guest(s):** Michael Coren, columnist, television host, and Catholic author * [Michael Coren's website](http://michaelcoren.com/) * "Why Catholics Are Right" * On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week, WQOM and the Station of the Cross network are holding their [2011 Spring Fund Drive](https://www.thestationofthecross.com/wqom-spring-fund-drive-2011.html). All donors over $30 will receive a Station of the Cross "Benefactor Card" and are eligible to win great daily and hourly prizes. Consequently, the recorded shows for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday as heard on this site and downloaded through iTunes will not include the Spring Fund Drive segments as heard live as they aired. **Today's topics:** Canadian author Michael Coren and his new book "Why Catholics Are Right" **A summary of today's show:** Michael Coren talks with Scot about the unique claims of the Catholic Church and why the Church is right about every major topic of morality facing our culture today, including contraception, marriage, abortion. Also, why much of what is said about the clergy sex abuse crisis goes beyond what really happened to advance an anti-Catholic agenda. **1st segment:** Scot welcomes Michael Coren to the show. He is the host of the "Michael Coren Show" on CTS in Canada and a syndicated columnist in many newspapers and bestselling author of 12 books, including his latest book, "Why Catholics Are Right". Michael said Random House is the publisher, it's available in most good bookstores, a few bad ones, and on Amazon.com. Scot said it's a provocative book, in which Michael takes on almost every attack that's leveled against the Church. Why did he decided to write it? Michael said he could have written the book years ago, because the Church has been the main target for public criticism for some years. He has four children and has seen what they've had to put up with and what he's had to put up with, the things said about the Church that would never be said about other denominations, other organizations. It's fine to criticize the Church for what it does. It's when people know nothing about Catholicism, what we believe and teach, and yet go after us on a daily basis. This ranges from what we hear on the street to alleged educated and informed civilized media, from comedy shows to PBS in-depth news shows. It's unfair. Rather than just running away and pretending, he decided to give it the title and give substance and explain for ordinary people--he's not a theologian--what the Church believes and respond to the attacks, which are always the same attacks over and over again. Intellectual and metaphorical information to attack back with. Scot quoted from the introduction: "I've seldom met someone who dislikes me because of my views on the saints and the papacy, but I've lost jobs in media because of my Catholic belief that, for example, life begins at conception and that marriage can only be between one man and one woman." Does that indicate that Catholic defense on those issues, particularly marriage, artificial contraception, abortion, and the life issues, is really what Catholics need to know to defend in the public square and at the dinner table and at the ball game. Michael said he think so, although one doesn't have to become boring about this. If you're watching a baseball game and suddenly bring up abortion, you're going to lose a lot of friends. What he's saying is that when it does come up, he doesn't people to just feel uncomfortable and change the subject. We do need to come back with a ready defense. What he meant in that passage is that because there are those who have no religious belief that think because we believe in the sanctity of unborn life and that marriage is one man and one woman it makes us fascists and unacceptable, so we need to know some of the arguments, which incidentally aren't really religious. The Catholic Church is the vehicle that represents natural law and logic and rational thought. Arguing for the unborn and that life begins at conception are scientific arguments. We just need to articulate them. Scot notes that Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver has an endorsement of the book on the cover. Why did Michael choose the title, "Why Catholics Are Right"? Is that tied to his adult conversion to Catholicism or because it's more provocative? He could have given it a softer title, but we've passed that now. It's not called "Why Catholics Are Right and Everyone Else Should Be Beaten Up." Michael's parents were not Catholic and most of his best friends are not Catholic, but if he believes something to be exclusively true, then obviously other alternatives must be wrong. Some of the kindest words said about the book have been from Jewish and Protestant readers. He had an email from someone who said, "I don't like you and the title of this book is absolutely wrong." Michael responded, "Yes, exactly. You think I'm wrong. I think I'm right. But why is it you think you're entitled to say this and I'm not." What he says in the book is that believes the Church was founded by Christ 2,000 years ago and is the most guaranteed way of us finding salvation and spending eternity with God. If he doesn't share that, it's like a man who's found a cure for cancer, but keeps it to himself. It is indeed a provocative title and it will grab people's attention, but we need to grab people's attention. We need people to realize that we're not this dark force that's always been on the wrong side throughout history. Scot responded that we certainly shouldn't be shy about the truth. We just launched the Catholics Come Home campaign in the Archdiocese of Boston and they have a tremendous commercial called "Epic", which talks about the Catholic Church's contributions to the world over its 2,000 years. Some folks criticized us for being too proud for showing all the things we've done and it's just conveying the facts. **2nd segment:** Scot asked Michael why he chose to have his first chapter address the clergy abuse crisis. Michael said because it's the elephant in the room. If he'd written chapters on history of the Church and other issues, he believes readers would have been waiting the whole time to get to that chapter and while they may have been influenced by other chapters, they could be turned back by this one. So he wanted to get it out of the way right off the bat. He took it head on. He didn't sugar coat it. Michael is the father of four children and non-Catholics think that as Catholics we're trying to hide things. It appalls him and rips away at his very being. But he's showing what *actually* happened, not what people like to think happened. He's not saying that because other people do it that it excuses this, but 2 percent of clergy at most were involved; the average victim was a 14-year-old boy so it's not really pedophilia (the vast majority of victims were boys from 12 to 16); the Church responded generally by saying we're going to move the priest, give him counseling and tell him he mustn't do it again. That seems severely inadequate, but this is what school boards were told at the time, what sports teams were told, what other churches were told. They're not criticized, but the Church is today. The Church is now the safest place for a young person to be today. The numbers now show there are 7 or 8 new cases per year across millions of people. Just look at school boards, just look at the New York City schools just last year. And often because of union influence, these teachers are keeping their jobs. It was horrible, but it says nothing about the Church. It says everything about human nature and why we need a Church. It has nothing to do with celibacy. A normal man who is deprived of a sexual relationship with a woman does not suddenly lust after a 14-year-old boy, he lusts after a grown woman. That is common sense and logic. If it was about celibacy in the priesthood, why would the numbers be higher in the Episcopalian church or in education. The family is still the most dangerous place for sexual abuse of children. Discuss it, criticize, condemn, but at the same time don't pretend the Church is this oasis. Anywhere there is a power dynamic between an adult and a young person, tragically, abuse will occur. Scot said we were touched by the abuse crisis particularly in the Archdiocese of Boston and the chapter helped him to understand what the abuse scandal is *not* about. Michael has already talked about the fact that it is not about pedophilia. It isn't about celibacy. It's also not about the all-male priesthood. Michael said that if a man feels he can no longer be celibate, it's not very difficult for him to dress in street clothes and go find the services of woman and pay for it. Michael said he's not trying to rude or crass, but that's what people do. For a priest to deny everything he ever believed and swore to stand for and abuse a young boy means he already has that perversion in his mind. Nor is he obviously a priest of any sort of standing because even if a man has that perversion as a temptation, to in no way try to resist it. As a married man, Michael is married to a very attractive woman, but it doesn't mean he doesn't notice other attractive women. But he's faithful to his wife because he's taken a vow to be faithful to one woman for the rest of his life. A priest swears to be celibate. It's a difference one or none. You don't have to be a priest, but if you are this is what's required of you. Those churches who have married clergy or ordain women have higher abuse rates. What happened here is that anti-Catholics and very liberal Catholics who were using this to try to change Church teaching. They seemed almost more interested in hurting the Church than in helping the victims. Michael met a victim of abuse who almost brought him to tears. He said to Michael: "If I leave the Church over this, I'm allowing this man to abuse me again. I would be leaving the Church because this evil man acted contrary to all that it teaches. I'm not going to let him do that." He thought it was a beautiful statement. Scot said he also debunks another myth related to the sex abuse crisis, that saying it's just because some homosexual men became priests is also a sweeping generalization. He says, "We should appreciate that sexuality and crime have no rigid connection. Those who abuse, lie, and exploit do so because of their immorality and not because of their sexual preference." Michael said they have gay marriage in Canada and he has taken a lot of shots because marriage is one man and one woman, but he said the vast majority of gay men are appalled at the idea of someone abusing a young boy. We've all probably met priests who are gay, but they are celibate. While the abusers were homosexual, they were homosexual criminals and perverts. It wasn't just homosexuality. We shouldn't alienate people unnecessarily. He wants to state the truth, but wants to make sure that we do it carefully because it's a nuanced position. **3rd segment:** Scot said Michael's book has a quote from former New York Mayor Ed Koch, in which he says the Left is using the abuse crisis to hammer the Church. Michael said fair-minded people outside the Church say the same, particularly in the Jewish community because many Jewish commentators have seen this directed against them. It's liberal Catholics often who are trying to us this to change Church teaching. Many attacks were against Pope Jon Paul. They weren't really about what's going on in the Church, but about bashing the Church and advancing their agenda like ordaining women. The Church can't ordain women; we're here to follow Scripture. In answer to those who say if there were women clergy there would be no abuse, Michael says look at the Episcopalians, look at school, look at the family. It has nothing to do with whether there are women around or not. These horrible abusers looked for the children they were going to abuse, vulnerable kids, unstable families. What Scot liked about the Koch quote was he said: "The reason, I believe, there are constant assaults is that there are many in the media--some Catholics as well as many in the public who object to and are incensed by positions the Church holds," including abortion, marriage, retention of celibacy rules, exclusion of women from the clergy, opposition to birth control measures, and opposition to civil divorce. Michael said we are the one institution standing up to these attacks of decadence and materialism. We're like a mirror held up for them to see their own reflection and they don't like so we have to be smashed. They don't attack some liberal, Protestant denomination. They attack the Roman Catholic Church because we're the people who don't change with the times. Why should we? Truth is truth and not mutable. We say some things are wrong and saying things are wrong in contemporary North America is abhorrent to people. Scot said Michael dedicated an entire chapter to Catholics and life and to the attacks against the Church on abortion. He debunks the myths that outlawing abortion would result in back-alley abortions and the notion that only women can comment on this issue. Michael said Planned Parenthood was founded by a racists who believed in eugenics and social engineering and racial superiority. He speaks on pro-life issues in Canada very often and he has the same arguments constantly. People say, "I wouldn't have an abortion myself but I'm not going to stop someone else." When you push them to answer why they wouldn't, eventually they say it's because it's a life. So then you say, so you won't kill an unborn child, but you won't stop someone else from doing it. Then they just scream and walk away. It's not a religious argument, it's a moral and scientific one. Life begins at conception with unique DNA. There's no other viable alternative to when life begins. A child cannot survive outside the womb, but even a fully born child would be dead if left to himself. Someone hit by a car would die if someone didn't help. An unborn child doesn't look completely like an adult, but a 5-year-old doesn't look like a 30-year-old. It's an irrelevant argument. It's a separate life. A woman has a right to choose all sorts of things, but she doesn't have the right to take an innocent life. Scot said the book takes the word "choice" and says that when there's a choice it's supposed to be a choice between two positive outcomes. In this case, there's really only one. When a rape occurs, we don't say he "chose" to rape. It's not a choice issue, it's a crime. We confuse a crime with a choice. To take a life is wrong. It also assumes there's just the woman involved. There are also three people: the woman, the father, and the unborn child. To choose to kill a child is not a choice at all. It's not the semantics that worry Michael so much, but the notion that choice is involved--and choice is everything in North America--is loaded political language. **4th segment:** In his chapter on Catholics and life, Michael talks about a lot of the practical decisions that are happening when women and the fathers of these babies choose to abort these children that through the ultrasound and other testing seem to have disabilities. As a Church and proponents of life, we need to stand for those babies and Scot knows of 5 friends of his who were encouraged to abort their kids because of the supposed disabilities that they could identify in the womb, and when the babies were born, they were fine. Michael said that even if they're not fine, if they don't live up to the standards of 21st-century expectations, they have a right to live. We live in a society where if you don't a hit album by the time you're 14 you're a failure and your movie career is finished by the time you're 16. We have to change the culture, not kill people. The man who discovered the likely gene for Down Syndrome--because we generally find Down Syndrome during pregnancy-- was someone who believed in life, who thought this was a good thing to prepare the way for them. Now it's used to abort Down Syndrome babies. We could have a world in which we could never see a Down Syndrome person ever again. Imagine how that makes people feel who are Down Syndrome people, their parents. A lot of children are aborted because of gender, race, and disability--black and brown, female, and handicapped. Those people who call themselves left-wing and progressive are obsessed with giving people the ability to kill the handicapped, the black, the brown, the female. That doesn't sound very progressive to Michael. Scot said Michael also takes issue with some of the points of view on population control, particularly in places like Africa for similar reasons. Michael said you often hear people say the world is overpopulated, but it's actually true that entire world's population could fit into Texas with room to spare. Africa is underpopulated, he said. He added that he lives in Canada where there are 30 million people in a vast country which could hold many more. The reason Africa has a problem of food and so on is because we maintain vicious dictators, we sell them arms, we engineer wars there. Communism has destroyed so much when it has a conquered in Africa. Asia has a large population, but if we look at India, it's economic growth rate is 12%. If only North America could have that rate. They have produced the largest middle class in the history of humanity and can feed their population several times over. That isn't an issue. In addition, most European countries are underpopulated. This is not a valid argument. It's a way to give moral substance to abortion. We're greedy in the West. We over-consume. We could easily feed the world's population. It amazes Michael that people who will weep over a puppy or kitten, will blithely support the killing of unborn babies. Scot said he liked how he indicated how the marriage of one man and one woman was deconstructed. Michael said that the four core qualifications for marriage have been: 1. Number (between two people) 2. Gender (between a man and a woman) 3. Age of consent 4. Not too close in terms of bloodlines That's been completely blurred in recent years. Michael says in the chapter, "Anyone who speaks of uncles, aunts, communities and villages raising children have no real understanding of family life. Single-parent families exist and sometimes it is excellent and obvious that the case that not every mother/father family is a success, but to consciously create unbalanced families in which children never enjoy the profound difference between man and woman, mother and father is dangerous social engineering." The social engineering is now underway in Canada and in many places in the United States, including Massachusetts. Michael said that in Canada, if you want to adopt a child and you're a Christian, your chances are very limited because one of the questions asked of you, generally is what would you teach your children about homosexuality. And if you say, to love everyone equally, but also to be aware of sin, there's no way you'll get a child. Michael said there are couples who adopt a child as a fashion statement. He's heard this from gay friends who condemn it because they know some of the people are adopting as a fashion statement. Meanwhile wonderful Christian people are being told they can't have a child because their beliefs are hateful. Catholic adoption agencies in Britain have closed down because they refuse to give children to gay couples. In Canada there are prosecutions under human rights legislation of people who speak out about this. It may not be the former Soviet Union, but it can be very delicate. Last week, they had a commentator on a major sports network in Canada who was fired because he opposed a hockey player who supported same-sex marriage. The company said it wasn't because of that, but all the evidence says that he was fired because he dared to say he disagreed with an athlete. It's not just same-sex marriage, it's the consequences. Now they say, We're not going to let you oppose it. We're going to punish you if you speak out. Scot said one of the major challenges to Catholics and non-Catholics who believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman is we're attacked with the label that we're homophobic and that the Church itself is homophobic. Michael said the term is meaningless because it literally means "disliking someone because they're like yourself." Anyone who hates another person because of their race or gender or sexuality is speaking against Catholic teaching. We do not believe that. There are gay Catholics who are heroes of the Church because they realized that this is not God's teaching. Though they may have this inclination but they accept that they will have to be celibate. He's not downplaying this. He's met those who have left that lifestyle and they can do it. He believes we can be more subtle than the Evangelical approach which is that you can change. Sometimes people can't change, but they can stop acting in a certain way. The Church is complex on this issue. It says that your loved and made in the image of God, but you're more than just your sexuality. For someone to have a relationship based on lust and against the natural law is wrong. It goes against the status quo. It's not about gay people so much. We're told whatever you want to do, its okay. You're fulfilled if you have fun. Go to any university and you'll find most of the perversity doesn't involved gay people. It's hypersexualized kids who because of the use of contraceptives and modern pressures society have turned young women into 19-year-old boys. **5th segment:** Contraception was the life issue where the avalanche of all these other life issues really started. Michael talks about that in his chapter on Catholics and life. He wrote: "It's hardly a surprise that subjects such as contraception and abortion lead to such anger and frustration because they are directly personal and they involve the most intimate and immediate forms of gratification and pleasure. ... The sexual fanatics are those who obsess about sex and believe it to be morally neutral and have no inherent value. The Catholic Church believes that sex is so wonderful that it contains values as well as virtues." Michael said what we call "The Pill" (which is a misnomer because pills make you better; the contraceptive pill alters the body chemistry with unknown consequences for women who starting taking it at 14 and 15 for their entire lives) has links to cancer and depression. Taking something that will stop the body from behaving naturally and normally, how can that be good for anyone? Until 1930 every major Protestant church disagreed with contraception as well and when these churches allowed this to happen it really signaled their decline. We do not believe as Catholics that every act of sex has to lead to a child. We believe that to aggressively prevent the possibility of life occurring is anti-Godly. The Catholic Church teaches a form of family planning that is extremely successful and that empowers the woman. Some women talk about women's liberation, but artificial contraception is really about guys who want something and can use contraception to get it more easily. Since we've had the complete availability of the Pill and the condom, if the argument is that people are happier now, it still wouldn't be right. But look at the statistics: Every year since the Pill and condoms have been easily available we've had increased numbers of STDs, so-called unwanted pregnancies, abortion, sex-linked depression and worse and worse. It was meant to be the dawn of a great new age, a new heaven, but it's become a new hell. Near the end of his book, Scot said Michael saved some of his concluding remarks for hypocrites. He wrote: "To give hypocrites their most descriptive titles--politicians, powerful people, and even ordinary men and women who claim to be Roman Catholic, but behave as if they weren't--being Catholic does have a culture context and while many people struggle and evolve in their Catholic faith, the mere fact of being born of Catholic parents in a Catholic country is not enough. Being Catholic is not the same as being Jewish, for example, in that Judaism has a secular aspect and there are Jewish people who describe themselves as atheists who are still to a large degree accepted within the Jewish community." It's very important to distinguish between Catholics who live their faith from those who claim they're Catholic but they're willing to run from Catholic values and beliefs when it's convenient for them. Michael joked that in Boston we've never had any politicians who've been hypocrites or anything. Michael said you don't have to be a Catholic, but if you're a Catholic, you have to be Catholic. These politicians who claim they are Catholic, but when it comes to politics they have to represent everyone, well they don't apply that to all sorts of issues. They speak from their own opinion over and over again. They're being dishonest. They think that if they're pro-life or speak up in favor of marriage, they careers won't advance. It's so often about sex. They don't say, "I can't represent Catholic teaching on the poor," but when it comes to sexuality they feel they can't offend people. Particularly on the abortion issue, they sellout. It's politicians, but it's other people as well. It's even more true in Canada than in the United States. Most of their prime ministers since the Second World War have been Roman Catholic and yet they have such an anti-Catholic political culture in that country. But in the US, when President Obama was asked about abortion, he said it's above my pay grade and he wasn't pushed on that. What he said was horrible. What he was really saying was that he didn't want to address the issue because it might lose him some votes. When Catholic politicians contradict Catholic teaching on fundamental Catholic issues should be denied the Eucharist, not as a punishment, but because their souls are in danger. If they are receiving the sacraments and they're not in full standing with the Church, if they're denying Catholic teaching, they're in real trouble. There are consequences to this. Any good pastor--a bishop or priest--would say, "I can't do this. You're welcome at Mass but it's something we need to talk about." But people are frightened, particularly in places with a large Catholic population, like Boston. "If I do that, he's a very popular figure, and I could be in trouble." The Roman Catholic hierarchy has some wonderful men in positions of influence, but for some time we've had those who want to be comfortable. Catholics haven't always been accepted in the US, but they want to be comfortable within the American culture. Well, Catholic truth is far more important than being accepted for a while in any culture. Scot said it seems like one of the purposes of the book was to start the conversation on a lot of these issues. Michael ends the book: "Catholicism is as important now as it every was and perhaps even more necessary in a world that appears to prefer confusion to clarity, and to long for feelings instead of facts. All sorts of people have interesting and valuable ideas and deserve to be heard. Catholics particularly so, because Catholics are right." Scot said he thinks that the Catholic perspective in the public square does need to be heard. Michael said there's so little alternative. We face enormous threats outside North America with jihadist Islam and inside with decadence. There is no other institution, no other ideology to save us. Secular humanism won't save us. Liberal ideology won't save us. The Roman Catholic Church has always had the answers, but we do need to articulate them in a way that people can understand and appreciate. He hopes he's done that in this book.
**Today's host(s):** Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O'Connor **Today's guest(s):** George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and biographer of Pope John Paul II * [Ethics and Public Policy Center](Ethics and Public Policy Center) * [Archive of George Weigel's syndicated columns](http://www.archden.org/index.cfm/ID/342) * On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week, WQOM and the Station of the Cross network are holding their [2011 Spring Fund Drive](https://www.thestationofthecross.com/wqom-spring-fund-drive-2011.html). All donors over $30 will receive a Station of the Cross "Benefactor Card" and are eligible to win great daily and hourly prizes. Consequently, the recorded shows for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday as heard on this site and downloaded through iTunes will not include the Spring Fund Drive segments as heard live as they aired. **Today's topics:** Pope Blessed John Paul II from the "inside" **A summary of today's show:** George Weigel discusses with Scot and Fr. Chris the interior life of Bl. John Paul II, his courage, his Christian discipleship, and devotion to both the Divine Mercy and the Blessed Mother, as well as three surprising things that George learned when writing about the Pope. **1st segment:** Scot welcomes Fr. Chris to the show. Fr. Chris has known George a long time, dating back to when he was studying philosophy at Catholic University of America. He was one of Fr. Chris' parishioners. George is an incredible supporter of the priesthood and how the Church is a gift to the whole world. Scot is excited to get his insights on last month's beatification. Fr. Chris said he has written the definitive biography of John Paul II, showing how the Pope was a son, a factory worker, a priest, a skier, and the full gamut of the man. Scot said this is the 60th broadcast of The Good Catholic Life, and he reflects on the gift that 24/7 Catholic is in the Archdiocese of Boston. Fr. Chris hears about it from parishioners, seminarians, and his fellow faculty at St. John's. He also hears from the men at Norfolk prison where he ministers that it is a great gift to them as well. Scot said since his early days at the Archdiocese in 2006, Cardinal Seán has always talked about evangelization, but in particular on the radio in many languages, including English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Scot thanked WQOM and the Station of the Cross to make English-language Catholic radio possible in Boston. Fr. Chris said the Church has a wonderful message to proclaim and we have to find new ways to reach people constantly, including those who might not be going to church now. Some of Scot's favorite segments are those where he talks to priests and seminarians and he's looking forward to next week's shows where he will talk with the newly ordained priests who were just ordained for the Archdiocese of Boston. The day after the beatification, the radio studio was dedicated to Blessed John Paul II and so he's happy to learn more about Pope John Paul from George Weigel. **2nd segment:** Scot and Fr. Chris welcome George Weigel to the show. He is the definitive biographer of Blessed Pope John Paul II. John Paul's beatification has been a prime topic of conversation on The Good Catholic Life. One of the statements John Paul made to George was that people often know him only from the "outside". He could truly only be understood from the inside. Scot asked George what are the central aspects of his interior life that defined him as a heroic Christian disciple? George said you saw some of them displayed on the tapestry that was unveiled on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica during the beatification Mass. It was that twinkle in his eye, a wonderfully natural and warm human being, with a great natural capacity for love, which was amplified by supernatural charity. He had made himself into a kind of channel by which grace poured into the world. Literally millions if not tens of millions who saw and met him felt themselves ennobled by that. Another facet revealed in the tapestry is the white zuchetto (skullcap), which was slightly askew. He was a man of great humility who cared nothing for ecclesiastical finery, who was every bit as much at home in kayaking gear as in papal vestments, and yet who understood he was called to public role which led him to develop a great public voice. George has often said that John Paul II was not a man for whom raising his voice came naturally, but faced by Communist oppression he learned to raise his voice in a distinctive was as a Christian pastor. That's how he empowered people to take back control of their own lives from an oppressive regime under which they were living in Communist Poland. In terms of other human qualities, John Paul II was the most relentlessly curious man George has ever met. He was in no sense interested in looking in the rear-view mirror. He was always interested in looking forward to discern what the Holy Spirit was doing in the Church and the world. He had great pastoral instincts and remembered people and their problems over years and decades. His remarkable energy came out of his intense prayer life. On great public occasions, he would almost withdraw into himself to charge his spiritual batteries, by the power of his own distinctive dialogue with the Lord. The work of the grace of God was palpable in him, and that's why 1.5 million people came to Rome on May 1, to touch that again. Fr. Chris said speaking of those 1.5 million people, George has spent many a summer in Poland doing research for his book, educating the young of America and Europe, about John Paul II and Catholic social teaching. What was the sense from the Polish people who were present for this great event? George said this was in some sense a great validation of the Polish experience in the 20th century, which was very difficult, and in many Poles' minds was redeemed by having raised up this great son of Poland who became such an extraordinary figure in the Church and the world. The challenge for the Church in Poland today is to start looking forward. George published a piece in a Polish magazine the week after the beatification in which he suggested it is now time to internalize the teaching of John Paul II and to move forward and look forward, rather than look backward over their shoulders at this great figure. That's a good message for the Church in the US as well. There are many people who take daily inspiration from John Paul. What he would want us to do is to not look back, but ahead. **3rd segment:** Scot said one of Pope John Paul's virtues was that of courage and his first words as Pope were "Be not afraid." Where did his courage come from? Was it the way his father raised him? The circumstances he dealt with early in life? His deep prayer life? George said it's all of the above. One learns the virtues by imitating virtuous people and he was surrounded by men and women of courage. He had to manifest that courage during the Nazi occupation of Poland. But the courage he exhibited as Pope--and not just the courage to come back from an assassination attempt or to face the drumbeat of dissension and misapprehension, including from inside the Church--the courage to take the Gospel into the world. It took enormous courage to launch the World Youth Days. When he was elected Pope in 1978, 90% of bishops in the developed world were convinced that there was no sense speaking to young people. They lived on a different planet. John Paul believed you could take the Gospel to them. It took courage to take the Gospel to Central and South American in the 1980s, when it was riven by all sorts of false gospels, including liberation theology and national-security states. It took great courage to announce and see through the Great Jubilee of 2000, which most of the Church's leadership was no interested in 1994. He had the insight and courage to see this as absolutely necessary. That's the courage that comes on the far side of Calvary, comes after Good Friday when the answer is given on Easter. It comes through the long pilgrimage of Christian conversion, through the experience of the Cross. It allows one to live not simply without fear, but beyond fear. Fr. Chris said part of the secular media when John Paul was ailing toward the end kept saying that he should retire. Instead he stayed on and taught us a great deal about suffering and death. What would be the central messages from his remaining on as Pope? George said he wouldn't limit that to the secular media. Those at Commonweal, the National Catholic Reporter, and the Tablet were the echo chamber for the ambient culture and were eager to get rid of this guy that they didn't much like themselves. He had a wiser view, that this was an office of paternity and as long as he could exercise that in a distinctive way that's what he was called to do. What he did over the last two months is what George called in his book "The End and the Beginning" the last encyclical. It was his last great teaching moment. He led the world in the great experience of the mystery of the suffering and death of Christ. He showed how suffering can be ennobled by its conformity to the Cross. That was his last great priestly effort and teaching moment. The Church and the world are all the richer for it. There was a sense in Rome on May 1 of people saying thank you for many things, but one of them was that period. Thank you for lifting up the inalienable dignity of the human person. Thank you for confronting the notion that suffering has no meaning. It was a remarkable last pouring out of a priest's self and doing what priests do. **4th segment:** In his syndicated column, George said we can lose the sense that saints are people like us, who by the grace of God lived lives of heroic virtue, a truth of the faith which John Paul II never ceased to remind us. Then he hoped that the Catholic community would remember two things about him: First, that he was a radically converted Christian and disciple, and second, how fond he was of the Divine Mercy devotion. George said it's important to remember that while this man was someone richly given a wide range of natural gifts and while he was also given genuine mystical gifts, none of this would have been received had he not as a young adult made the fundamental decision to pour out his life in service to the truth that Jesus Christ is the answer to the question that is every human life. He was so seized by the truth of God in Christ as a young man, that he decided to pour out his life in that and everything he did from then on as a young priest, as a young scholar, university chaplain, philosopher, literary man, a bishop, father of the Second Vatican Council, statesman, and a Pope was done as a consequence of that discipleship. That's what made all that possible. And while most of the rest of us are not going to be as gifted naturally and even supernaturally, at least in the mystical sense of that, we have all been baptized in the possibility of radical discipleship. That's the point of connection between his life and ours. As far as Divine Mercy goes, John Paul II had a powerful existential sense of the terrible tears that had been torn in the moral fabric of humanity during the 20th century by grotesque and murderous ideologies, by World wars, by failure to understand the sanctity of the human person. All of it was like shredding a great tapestry. That's why he thought that spreading the devotion to Divine Mercy was not a gift for Poland in the mid-1930s alone. It was a gift *through* Poland to the rest of the world. This was the face of God that a guilt-ridden world most needed to see. It needed to see and experience the possibility of repentance, confession, and forgiveness. And that's why he was right to do so. Fr. Chris said both of the biographies are wonderful books. He asked how it is that he came to write them. George said the simple answer is that he decided to do it. In the spring of 1995, he proposed the possibility of a full-scale biography of the Pope to various people in the Holy See. John Paul II indicated in December that he thought it would be a good idea. George was following his own vocational sense, that it needed to be done, that he had a distinctive preparation for it, both in terms of experience and academic training. And it was a great ride for 15 years. He's very grateful for being given the opportunity to do this. Scot asked if he was surprised that the Holy Father wanted a definitive biography written about him and by an American versus by a Pole. George said he didn't think anyone thought it would be definitive until he delivered it. Other people had made attempts and there was a lot of frustration with them, that they just didn't get John Paul. A criticism of Tad Szulc's biography was that it was like someone writing a biography of Michael Jordan who didn't like basketball. You'll get something, but not going to get most of it. George thinks John Paul was interested in having the story told right and he was happy to be able to do it. Fr. Chris asked what surprised him the most in doing the research and writing the books that he never knew before. George said in the newer book, "The End and the Beginning", there was a treasure trove of materials from the Communist secret police that had not been available when researching the first book "Witness to Hope." Those files tell a remarkable story of the Communist war against John Paul II going back 40 years. That's all new material in English. In the broader scheme, the three things he really had no idea of going into the project in 1995 were (1) the importance of his father in his life, (2) the importance of this network of young lay friends that began to form around him in the late 1940s in the evolution of his priesthood and bishopric, people remained friends with him until the end of his life, and (3) the recognition of the absolute centrality of his experience in the Second World War in his life. That was the vocational and human crucible out of which this remarkable personality was formed. You can't get at Wojtyla unless you get at the Polish experience during the Second World War. **5th segment:** Scot recalled the virtues imparted to Karol Wojtyla by his father that stayed with him throughout his life. He asked George about some of Karol's father's virtues and whether he believed there might be a cause for canonization open for him someday. George said he thinks it would be difficult to find records for that now and there's been no cult that he's aware. We don't have beatify or canonize people to say that they are great souls. He thinks John Paul's father was manifestly a great-souled man. The most important thing that young Karol learned from elder Karol is that prayerfulness and manliness go together. They are not antinomies and not opposites. You're not wimpish when you get on your knees to pray or confess. You grow in humanity and your manliness. That and the integrity of the man in raising him. Fr. Chris noted that John Paul's mother died at a young age and that he had a great love for the Blessed Mother. He has been impressed by the great devotion to her by John Paul and the whole Polish people themselves. George said in John Paul's case, while deeply appreciating simple Marian piety, he had a very sophisticated Marian piety. Attempts by various people to read this psychoanalytically, as if his Marian devotion was some sort of substitute for his mother are ridiculous. To try to read his Marian piety as if it's the same as peasants coming to Czestochowa is equally ridiculous. He had a very theologically sophisticated view of Mary's role in the economy of salvation. He learned some of this from the 17th-century French theologian St. Louis de Montfort and a lot of it from Hans Urs von Balthazar, the 20th century Swiss theologian, about Mary's discipleship being the paradigm of all Christian discipleship. That's what John Paul as Pope proposed to the world. That's why he wanted to give us the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, to anchor Marian piety ever more securely in the biblical tradition of the Church and in Christology. Mary's role in the Church is to point us to her Son and in pointing us to her Son, she points us to the Trinity. She's always pointing beyond herself: "Do whatever He tells you" are perhaps not accidentally the last recorded words of our Lady in the New Testament. Fr. Chris said George is working on a new book, "The Station-Churches of Rome." He asked how it's coming and when expects it come out. George said he has just come back from two months in Rome making the entire station-church pilgrimage with his son Stephen and a colleague, Elizabeth Lev, daughter of Mary Ann Glendon, a familiar figure in New England. The book will be out in time for Lent 2013. It will include some marvelous photographs of the station-churches in Rome taken by Stephen; an introduction to the art and architecture of each of these churches, many of which are largely unknown and some of which are simply fabulous; and a commentary on the liturgical texts of the day, both Mass and the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours. The book will be a way to make the Roman station-church pilgrimage of Lent and Easter Octave in the comfort of your home. Scot said that it's a devotion that the North American College seminarians and priests like to get up for at a very cold 5:30am to get to the station-churches and it's a wonderful way to pray through the season of Lent. Scot thanked George for being on the show. Scot then said to Fr. Chris that it was wonderful to hear about Bl. John Paul II from someone who knows him so well. New today we are starting a new email list that will send a daily email with shownotes and a link to the show to subscribers. Go to the TheGoodCatholicLife.com and click on the link to subscribe or email us at LIVE@thegoodcatholiclife.com. The email will go out about 5:15 or 5:30pm each day.
May 6 is a popcorn-eating day at Pushing Limits with two films by people with disabilities. “When I am Not Alone” is an award-winning movie about the trials and triumphs of Sam Durbin, a transgendered man. Sam lives with a developmental disability, a seizure disorder, traumatic brain injury and mental illness. He is a public speaker on behalf of a disability center and the author of “You're Not the Boss of Me.” Tomorrow, at 2:30 pm on 94.1 fm or www.kpfa.org we'll preview this remarkable film about a remarkable guy, which was produced by up and coming director Rhianon Gutierrez. Gutierrez, herself, lives with severe to profound hearing loss. In addition, we'll hear about Joe Stutts, a guy who worked a shovel in a coalmine and wanted to drive the heavy equipment. He only had one problem. He couldn't read. The struggle Joe Stutts waged to improve his own life has opened the doors for tens of thousands of people with dyslexia. Learn more as we listen to excerpts from the film “Headstrong. Tomorrow's program is part of KPFA's Spring Fund Drive and we'll be asking you to contribute as much as you can to help keep KPFA– and Pushing Limits– moving forward. (800) 439-5732 or (510) 848-5732 Talk to the phone volunteers about receiving your own copies of these two films as a thank you gift. Raphaella Bennin and Adrienne Lauby host. Podcast & archives of this program: http://www.kpfa.org/archive/show/33 http://www.pushinglimits.i941.net/ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pushing-Limits-Radio-KPFA/149449458429401 Live Streaming: www.kpfa.org Pushing Limits is produced collectively and open to new members. Contact us. Tell us what you think about what you hear: (510) 848-6767 ext. 636 pushinglimits@kpfa.org Headstrong http://www.headstrongnation.org/ When I Am Not Alone http://www.whenimnotalonefilm.com/ The post two new disability movies – May 6, 2011 appeared first on KPFA.
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