EPISODE · Apr 11, 2026 · 8 MIN
My father-in-law was just baptized at 85!
from Chris Stefanick Catholic Show · host Chris Stefanick | Real Life Catholic
My father-in-law was just baptized. At 85 years old. Watch this week's reflection to hear the whole story—and why it matters for you right now. To watch a lifetime of questions, of searching, and of sin washed away in an instant? That is how powerful the love and mercy of God is. And that's what Divine Mercy Sunday is all about. Jesus told Saint Faustina that his mercy is like an ocean — and our trust is the bucket. The bigger the bucket, the more mercy we can receive. The only thing that limits God's mercy isn't the size of your sin. It's the size of your trust. I'm recording this from Hawaii, where my family is on a pilgrimage to beauty. My kids got to visit Kalaupapa — the remote peninsula on Molokai where people with leprosy were exiled in the 1800s. It was a place of total anarchy and misery. And guess who walked into the middle of it? The Catholic Church. Father Damien came from halfway around the world, and he didn't leave. He stayed. He held people's hands while they died. He built churches. He cut holes in the floor so the sick could stay at Mass without having to leave. He crawled under the building himself to clean it all out. And eventually, he contracted leprosy too. That's what divine mercy looks like when it has hands and feet. We're not just supposed to receive mercy. We're supposed to give it away. People are messy. Life is messy. But mercy says, "I see the mess, and I'm not running from it. I'm stepping right into it—for you." Jesus, we trust in you. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS1. Chris's father-in-law was baptized at 85 after a lifetime of searching. Is there someone in your life you've been praying for who seems "too far gone"? How does this story challenge that assumption? 2. Jesus told Saint Faustina that his mercy is like an ocean and our trust is the bucket. What makes it hard for you to trust in God's mercy—and what would it look like to "bring a bigger bucket"? 3. Father Damien didn't just serve the lepers from a distance—he lived among them and eventually became one of them. Where is God asking you to step into someone else's mess instead of keeping a comfortable distance? 4. Joseph Dutton was a broken man—a Civil War veteran, an alcoholic, divorced—and he gave his brokenness to God on Molokai. Have you ever felt disqualified from serving God because of your own failures? How does Dutton's story speak to that? 5. Chris says we're not just supposed to receive mercy but imitate it. What is one concrete way you can be an instrument of God's mercy to someone in your life this week? Interested in a pilgrimage to Kalaupapa in Molokai, Hawaii? Fill out this form: https://bit.ly/4ck9zEj-----Watch the episode on Divine Mercy with Fr. Chris Alar: https://youtu.be/81-skhKl0-w-----Sign up for the Daily Anchor for free daily reflections from Chris Stefanick in your inbox:https://bit.ly/4tQCXtP-----Join the mission to spread the joy of the Gospel! Become a Missionary of Joy to support this free content: https://bit.ly/4nTHbN0-----Join Chris Stefanick on pilgrimage: https://www.reallifecatholic.com/pilgrimages Chapters (00:00:00) - Pilgrimage to Beauty(00:01:46) - The Most Beautiful Place in the World(00:08:04) - Mercy in the Gospel
What this episode covers
My father-in-law was just baptized. At 85 years old. Watch this week's reflection to hear the whole story—and why it matters for you right now. To watch a lifetime of questions, of searching, and of sin washed away in an instant? That is how powerful the love and mercy of God is. And that's what Divine Mercy Sunday is all about. Jesus told Saint Faustina that his mercy is like an ocean — and our trust is the bucket. The bigger the bucket, the more mercy we can receive. The only thing that limits God's mercy isn't the size of your sin. It's the size of your trust. I'm recording this from Hawaii, where my family is on a pilgrimage to beauty. My kids got to visit Kalaupapa — the remote peninsula on Molokai where people with leprosy were exiled in the 1800s. It was a place of total anarchy and misery. And guess who walked into the middle of it? The Catholic Church. Father Damien came from halfway around the world, and he didn't leave. He stayed. He held people's hands while they died. He built churches. He cut holes in the floor so the sick could stay at Mass without having to leave. He crawled under the building himself to clean it all out. And eventually, he contracted leprosy too. That's what divine mercy looks like when it has hands and feet. We're not just supposed to receive mercy. We're supposed to give it away. People are messy. Life is messy. But mercy says, "I see the mess, and I'm not running from it. I'm stepping right into it—for you." Jesus, we trust in you. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS1. Chris's father-in-law was baptized at 85 after a lifetime of searching. Is there someone in your life you've been praying for who seems "too far gone"? How does this story challenge that assumption? 2. Jesus told Saint Faustina that his mercy is like an ocean and our trust is the bucket. What makes it hard for you to trust in God's mercy—and what would it look like to "bring a bigger bucket"? 3. Father Damien didn't just serve the lepers from a distance—he lived among them and eventually became one of them. Where is God asking you to step into someone else's mess instead of keeping a comfortable distance? 4. Joseph Dutton was a broken man—a Civil War veteran, an alcoholic, divorced—and he gave his brokenness to God on Molokai. Have you ever felt disqualified from serving God because of your own failures? How does Dutton's story speak to that? 5. Chris says we're not just supposed to receive mercy but imitate it. What is one concrete way you can be an instrument of God's mercy to someone in your life this week? Interested in a pilgrimage to Kalaupapa in Molokai, Hawaii? Fill out this form: https://bit.ly/4ck9zEj-----Watch the episode on Divine Mercy with Fr. Chris Alar: https://youtu.be/81-skhKl0-w-----Sign up for the Daily Anchor for free daily reflections from Chris Stefanick in your inbox:https://bit.ly/4tQCXtP-----Join the mission to spread the joy of the Gospel! Become a Missionary of Joy to support this free content: https://bit.ly/4nTHbN0-----Join Chris Stefanick on pilgrimage: https://www.reallifecatholic.com/pilgrimages
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My father-in-law was just baptized at 85!
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