The Catholic Morning Show

Emily Jaminet — author, speaker, and co-founder of Inspire the Faith — joins Deacon Mark Campbell to talk about something she's seeing firsthand in her role helping lead OCIA at her parish in the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio: programs there have nearly doubled, matching a broader trend of growing interest in the Catholic faith among young people documented by Vatican News. Her point to listeners is that there's still time this fall to invite a neighbor, a family member, or another school parent to take a closer look at the Church.Emily walks through the practical work of accompaniment. She stands in the vestibule before Mass to greet parents, including non-Catholic parents of Catholic school students, and gently sets expectations — offering a shelf for the coffee cup rather than letting someone feel out of place mid-Mass. Deacon Mark adds the parallel of a kindly-worded invitation to remove a hat. Emily also offers to walk interested friends through the church at a quiet hour before school pickup, pointing out the tabernacle, explaining why Catholics genuflect, why the nave is kept silent, and where conversation belongs — because the culture of a Catholic church is beautiful once it's explained, and intimidating when it isn't.She encourages listeners not to keep friendships so superficial that people never learn their faith background, sharing the story of a pilot who reached out to her after noticing the virtue of a Catholic coworker and being connected through a mutual friend. And she makes a direct ask: OCIA directors everywhere are looking for practicing Catholics willing to serve as sponsors and mentors through the whole conversion process. Deacon Mark echoes it, noting that Catholics who feel like beginners in their own faith often grow the most by walking alongside someone else.Emily closes with advice from her brother, a pastor, on patience: someone away from the Church for 30 years may take one year, two, or three to fully come home, or to work through an annulment — God is in control and works on his timing, while our prayers, our witness, and our joy make the difference. Learn more at EmilyJaminet.com, and reach out to your local pastor with any questions about OCIA.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#OCIA #RCIA #BecomingCatholic #EmilyJaminet #NewEvangelization #ConvertToCatholicism #CatholicParish #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Steve Ray — author, filmmaker, Catholic convert, and certified Holy Land guide — joins Deacon Mark Campbell just back from two September pilgrimages, one through the Catholic heritage of Ireland and another to Lourdes, Fatima, and sites across Portugal, Spain, and France. Steve shares that after 21 years of leading trips, including 100 groups through the Holy Land alone with the same Catholic Nazarene guide, recovery from jet lag now takes about a week instead of two days.Steve unpacks what a pilgrimage actually is: the word "pilgrim" means a sojourner or foreigner traveling in a strange land, and the practice predates Christianity — the Holy Family went up to Jerusalem annually for the festivals, and Psalms 120 through 134 were sung on the ascent. A vacation is for rest and enjoyment; a pilgrimage is a search for God, where you leave your comfort zone, set down the phone, and encounter Scripture as something that happened in real space and time. Steve describes reaching under the altar at Calvary to touch the rock where the cross stood, entering the tomb and finding it still empty, and telling pilgrims that when the priest emerges after consecrating the Eucharist inside the Holy Sepulchre, they'll watch Jesus come out of the tomb again.Asked which single pilgrimage matters most, Steve's answer is immediate: Rome, Poland, Fatima, and Lourdes are all sacred, but there is only one Holy Land, made holy because God himself came down and got his feet dirty. He describes praying every mystery of the Rosary at the place it happened, buying olive-wood rosaries in Bethlehem and touching them to each holy site to bring home to friends, and the Vatican permission that lets Franciscans use site-specific readings — so Mass at Capernaum ends with Jesus' Bread of Life discourse read within sight of the synagogue where he preached it. That moment, Steve says, is what turned one self-described "reluctant pilgrim," dragged along as payback for a fishing trip, into a man walking out of Mass with tears in his eyes.Upcoming trips include a sold-out Saint Paul Mediterranean cruise in October following ten biblical sites through Turkey and Greece, plus Jordan and Israel, a Rhine River cruise through four European countries, and a saints-and-shrines tour of Italy from Milan to Rome. Find every itinerary and brochure at CatholicConvert.com — click the "start a pilgrimage here" banner at the top of the page.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#SteveRay #HolyLandPilgrimage #Pilgrimage #CatholicConvert #Jerusalem #HolySepulchre #CatholicTravel #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Deacon Mark Campbell opens Wednesday alongside Ayden Pugh on the Memorial of Saints Cornelius and Cyprian, with Mass today at 9 a.m. at Saint Mary's in Albia (95.7 FM). Deacon Mark reflects on courageous, ordinary witnesses to the faith — from a 9/11 family member who closed her remembrance at the 25th anniversary memorial with the Saint Michael Prayer, to a young girl at a rec-league softball game whose sign of the cross changed how he prays in public ever since.Steve Ray joins the show fresh off back-to-back pilgrimages to Ireland and to Lourdes and Fatima. Steve explains what actually makes a pilgrimage different from a vacation — leaving your comfort zone to seek God rather than to rest — and traces the practice back to the Jewish festival pilgrimages to Jerusalem and the Psalms of Ascent. Asked which single pilgrimage a person should make in a lifetime, Steve doesn't hesitate: the Holy Land, because there's only one place God walked with his own feet. He describes Mass inside the empty tomb at the Holy Sepulchre, site-specific readings at Capernaum, and praying each mystery of the Rosary where it happened. Upcoming trips include a Saint Paul Mediterranean cruise in October, plus Jordan and Israel, a Rhine River cruise, and the saints and shrines of Italy next year. Find details and brochures at CatholicConvert.com — click "start a pilgrimage here" at the top of the page.Katie Patrizio of Sunday Dive previews this Sunday's Gospel, Matthew 20:1–16 — the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, one of the few parables unique to Matthew and the origin of the phrase "the eleventh hour." Katie teases a provocative answer to the question "is God fair?" and points out a detail hidden in the text: had the landowner paid the workers in the order he hired them, no one would have known the difference — he reveals his generosity on purpose. Hear the full episode Wednesdays at 8 a.m. or at SundayDive.com.Author and speaker Emily Jaminet returns to talk about the growing interest of young people in the Catholic faith and the near-doubling of OCIA numbers in her own Diocese of Columbus. Drawing on her work leading OCIA at her parish, Emily offers concrete ways to accompany inquirers: greet newcomers in the vestibule and gently explain the culture of the liturgy, walk a curious friend through an empty church outside of Mass to point out the tabernacle and explain why we genuflect, and don't keep friendships so surface-level that people never learn you're Catholic. She also issues a direct invitation to practicing Catholics to serve as OCIA sponsors, and passes along her brother's advice on patience — someone away from the faith for 30 years may need one, two, or three years to come home, and God works on his own timeline. More at EmilyJaminet.com.Coming up: Christ Our Life, September 26–27 at the Casey Center in Des Moines — ChristOurLifeIowa.com. Iowa Catholic Radio's fall fundraiser, "The Harvest Is Abundant," runs September 29 through October 2 — become a laborer and give at IowaCatholicRadio.com. Submit a prayer request any time through the prayer request tab at IowaCatholicRadio.com — the team prays over them together at the weekly staff meeting.Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #SteveRay #HolyLandPilgrimage #Pilgrimage #OCIA #EmilyJaminet #CatholicConvert #SundayDive #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mike Aquilina, author of more than fifty books on the Church Fathers and Catholic history, joins Bo Bonner to discuss The Power of Love, Fulton Sheen's short meditation on love, newly rereleased by Ignatius Press with a foreword by Mike. He explains the book's long absence from print: it opens by assuming the recency of John F. Kennedy's assassination, which made it look dated to publishers — but past that opening, Mike argues, it's one of Sheen's most profound and clearest treatments of what love actually is.Mike and Bo talk through Sheen's method: taking love from its roots in the Greek philosophers and its various forms through to the Christian idea of charity, then applying it to concrete life — how to love in a family, how to love a toddler, how to love a teenager, how to love through a midlife crisis. Mike points to the chapter on "little things" as the heart of the book, where Sheen tells the story of a man tipping his hat to Oscar Wilde at the lowest point of Wilde's life, and connects it to Mother Teresa's insistence on beginning with a smile — an act of love that changes the atmosphere of a home or a workplace, especially when you don't feel like it.Mike also shares his own history with Sheen: a confessor and spiritual director who assigned him one Sheen book after another in his twenties, starting with Life of Christ and Three to Get Married, and, decades later, discovering a room of twenty-something archdiocesan employees who watched Sheen's old television show over lunch every day for inspiration. That story, told to Ignatius Press's Tony Ryan, led to the foreword. Why this book now? Because Sheen, Mike says, is an American original delivering the teaching of the ages in an American idiom.Find The Power of Love at your local Catholic bookstore or from Ignatius Press. Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be beatified Thursday, September 24 at 2 p.m. Central at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle presiding as Pope Leo XIV's representative — details at CelebrateSheen.com.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#FultonSheen #ThePowerOfLove #MikeAquilina #IgnatiusPress #FultonSheenBeatification #CatholicBooks #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell open Tuesday on the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, with Mass today at 8 a.m. at Saint Patrick's in Melrose (105.3 FM). The hosts also send birthday wishes to Pope Leo XIV, who turned 71 on Monday and spent the day at the Vatican Apostolic Library — opening a new exhibit, ordering an expansion of the Vatican Apostolic Archive and Library, and speaking about libraries as places of relationship and exchange, not just books. Bo notes the personal connection: the Holy Father's mother was a librarian.Author Mike Aquilina joins the show to discuss Ignatius Press's rerelease of Archbishop Fulton Sheen's The Power of Love, for which he wrote the foreword. Mike explains why the book had fallen out of print, how Sheen traces love from the Greek philosophers to Christian charity and then applies it to family life, midlife, and every ordinary circumstance, and why Sheen's chapter on "little things" — including a story about Oscar Wilde and a tipped hat — captures the whole argument. He also shares how Sheen's books catechized him in his twenties, and how a room full of twenty-something archdiocesan employees watching old Sheen episodes over lunch led to the foreword assignment. Find The Power of Love at your local Catholic bookstore or from Ignatius Press. Archbishop Sheen will be beatified Thursday, September 24 at 2 p.m. Central at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle presiding — ticket and event details at CelebrateSheen.com.In the show's final segment, Bo and Deacon Mark ask a question Sheen's cause raises for everyone: what does it mean to have watched a saint on television? They talk through how causes for canonization actually work, why Mother Teresa and Pope Saint John Paul II were recognized differently in their lifetimes, whether Mother Angelica or Fr. Mike Schmitz might one day be canonized, and why celebrity culture and permanent public scrutiny make holiness harder, not easier. Bo closes with a curveball: Fred Rogers, a lifelong Presbyterian minister, received Catholic last rites from his close friend Archabbot Douglas Nowicki of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania — the abbey that houses the Fred Rogers archives.Also in this episode: Deacon Mark and Bo swap college football takes after Oklahoma State's upset of No. 6 Oregon and Iowa's 16-13 comeback over Iowa State, with a shoutout to producer Ayden Pugh for watching his first game; and a reminder that the Christ Our Life Catholic Conference brings Bishop Joseph Espaillat and Fr. Robert Spitzer to Des Moines September 26–27 at Casey's Center — details at ChristOurLifeIowa.com.Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #FultonSheen #MikeAquilina #ThePowerOfLove #PopeLeoXIV #OurLadyOfSorrows #IgnatiusPress #CatholicPodcast #CatholicFaith Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Gregory Kinser joins Deacon Mark Campbell as a full-time FOCUS parish missionary at St. John Paul II Parish in Carroll, Iowa — part of a new push by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students to take its campus model into parishes after 25 years of college ministry.Gregory's own introduction to FOCUS was atypical. He attended Iowa State from 2017 to 2021 without ever connecting with the missionary team there, and only encountered FOCUS later through his now-wife Chloe, who was a few years behind him. What struck him first wasn't a program — it was the missionaries' personal prayer lives and the divine intimacy he saw in them. He didn't think he fit the mold or was extroverted enough, but a FOCUS recruitment weekend changed his mind, and he applied like any other job: application, interview, call back, offer.He walks through the "win, build, send" model of spiritual multiplication rooted in 2 Timothy 2:2. You win people over by becoming a genuine friend and earning the right to be heard — not collecting names for a Bible study. You invite them into Bible study and then small-group discipleship, building them up in a prayer life and the habits of a disciple. Then you send them out to do exactly the same with people you'll never reach, and the process repeats.Gregory describes the reception in Carroll as one of excitement, with the parish priest championing the mission from the start. One recurring misconception: because there's a Catholic high school in town, some assume the missionaries are there for teenagers. In fact, they're there for parishioners in every season of life — young adults, young families, empty nesters, retired couples, older singles. Having started in August, Gregory says he and his wife have been tasked with one thing so far: making friends. No formal programs yet, just hearing people's stories, inviting them into their home, and being invited into theirs — and being surprised by whoever the Lord puts in front of them.Learn more about the mission at FOCUS and about the parish at St. John Paul II Parish, Carroll.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#FOCUS #FOCUSMissionaries #ParishMissionary #Evangelization #Discipleship #CatholicParish #CarrollIowa #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. John Sehorn, academic dean of the Graduate School of Theology at the Augustine Institute and an associate professor of theology there since 2015, sits down with Deacon Mark Campbell to talk about theological formation for a changing world. Dr. Sehorn begins where every baptized Christian begins — sharing in the Church's missionary mandate to bear witness to the Gospel — and explains why the need for deep formation is especially urgent now, given challenges Pope Leo has highlighted that are less about technology than about what it means to be human.He describes the stability and reliability of God's Word as the anchor amid so many cultural crosscurrents, and walks through the Institute's programs for serving the Church in parishes, Catholic schools, families, workplaces, and neighborhoods. The St. Louis campus is now in its third year and has been transformative for on-campus students who live, study, pray, and take meals together. Three of the Institute's four master's programs are fully available online with no residential requirement, and Dr. Sehorn explains that distance education is designed not just to push content out, but to invite remote students into the life of the campus community.Asked how classroom theology becomes real-world ministry, Dr. Sehorn answers simply: if God revealed it, it matters for our lives — and the first reason to study theology is to know God. Courses are built so students learn not only what they've been taught but how to teach it and hand it on faithfully. The Institute now counts just over 1,100 alumni and about 550 active students serving worldwide as catechists, DREs, K-12 Catholic teachers, Bible study leaders, and as husbands, wives, fathers, and mothers. His hope for graduates is captured in the title of Pope Francis's 2013 apostolic exhortation, which Pope Leo has pointed to as of continuing importance: the joy of the Gospel.Dr. Sehorn also shares his own story. Raised in a wonderful Christian family and taught to love God's Word, he faced questions and crises in young adulthood that sent him back to ground zero — studying the books of the Bible even as historical documents to find what he could be sure of. Reading the New Testament with new eyes and the Old Testament as sacred background, he came to recognize the Church as the bride of Christ, the body of Christ, and a mother to whom he could submit as teacher. He entered the Catholic Church in 2007.Learn more about the Graduate School of Theology and its degree programs at the Augustine Institute.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#AugustineInstitute #JohnSehorn #CatholicTheology #TheologyDegree #CatholicEducation #NewEvangelization #ConversionStory #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Deacon Mark Campbell opens Monday, September 14 — the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross — filling in for Bo Bonner alongside Ayden Pugh. After the Saint of the Day reflection on St. Helena's recovery of the Holy Cross and its return by Emperor Heraclius in 629, Deacon Mark and Ayden talk relics: how a splinter of the True Cross is authenticated, the old quip about there being enough fragments worldwide to rebuild Noah's Ark, and why sacramentals exist to lift our minds and hearts toward Christ's suffering, resurrection, and our salvation. Deacon Mark also connects the feast to Sunday's Gospel on forgiveness — that we can only extend forgiveness once we've truly accepted that no sin is too great for Christ to forgive.Dr. John Sehorn, academic dean of the Graduate School of Theology at the Augustine Institute, joins to talk about the driving need for rigorous theological formation today — challenges that, as Pope Leo has pointed out, are less about technology than about what it means to be human. Dr. Sehorn walks through the Institute's St. Louis campus, now in its third year, and its distance education program (three of four master's programs are fully online with no residential requirement), how courses train students not just to know the faith but to hand it on, and where its 1,100+ alumni and roughly 550 active students are serving as catechists, DREs, K-12 Catholic teachers, Bible study leaders, and parents. He also shares his own conversion story: entering the Church in 2007 after studying Scripture back to "ground zero" and coming to recognize the Church as mother and teacher. Learn more at Augustine Institute Graduate School of Theology.Gregory Kinser closes the show as one of the first full-time FOCUS parish missionaries in Iowa, serving at St. John Paul II Parish in Carroll. Gregory explains how FOCUS's "win, build, send" model of spiritual multiplication — rooted in 2 Timothy 2:2 — translates from college campuses to a parish serving young adults, young families, empty nesters, retired couples, and older singles. More at FOCUS and St. John Paul II Parish.Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #AugustineInstitute #ExaltationOfTheHolyCross #FOCUS #CatholicEducation #ClassicalEducation #Evangelization #CatholicPodcast #CatholicFaith Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Fr. PJ McManus, back on the air after a lengthy sabbatical and now serving at Saint Catherine of Siena in the Drake neighborhood of Des Moines, previews the readings for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Sirach 27:30–28:7 and Matthew 18:21–35. Following Peter's arc over recent weeks — from confessing Jesus as the Christ to misunderstanding that the Messiah must suffer — Fr. PJ unpacks Peter's question, "How often must I forgive?" and Jesus' answer: stop counting.Fr. PJ describes forgiveness not as a one-and-done event, but as a free, habitual act of the will that moves toward the good of the person who wronged us. Reflecting on Sirach's warning that the sinner "hugs" wrath and anger tight, he draws on the Church Fathers: the involuntary flash of anger is more symptom than disease, but the danger comes when we welcome it, rehearse it, and justify it until it becomes the lens through which we see another person. He points to Saint John Cassian's image of gold or lead plates laid over the eyes — whether our anger is over something big or small, the blindness is the same, compromising our judgment, our charity, and our relationship with God.Connecting this Sunday to last week's Gospel on fraternal correction, Fr. PJ explains that the "two or three witnesses" are there not to gang up on someone, but to help the injured party see reality and the other person's perspective. He closes with a moving personal story of seeing someone who had hurt him deeply as a teenager come forward in his own Communion line, and invites listeners to ask the Lord what hurts they're still holding, what anger they're still hugging, and what they need to let go of in order to love again.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#SundayGospel #Forgiveness #SeventyTimesSeven #Matthew18 #LettingGo #CatholicHomily #IowaCatholicRadio #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sister M. Karolyn Nunes, FSGM, vocations director for the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George — known as the Alton Franciscans — joins Bo Bonner to talk about discernment. Sister Karolyn explains that discernment is a consequence of relationship: the more we lean into friendship with Jesus, the more we learn what his voice sounds like, so that saying yes to the big decisions comes with ease.She shares practical habits anyone can start today: beginning each morning by asking, "Jesus, what are we going to do today?"; ending the day by praying through "where was it me, and where was it we?"; and a daily exercise she gives women visiting her community — noticing one thing seen, heard, and tasted or smelled in the last 24 hours that still has your attention. Pointing to the noise of modern life, and to young NET Ministries missionaries she recently watched thrive during two weeks without phones, she encourages listeners to build real silence into their days.Sister Karolyn also tells her own vocation story: the "explosion of joy" she felt walking into the convent for the first time, her time at Franciscan University of Steubenville, her advice to "walk through the doors that open and don't shake door handles that aren't opening," and entering the community 21 years ago this week "96.3 percent sure" — until the Lord closed the door behind her.Upcoming retreats:Veni Si Amas Discernment Retreat — September 25–27, 2026, the weekend right after Venerable Fulton Sheen's beatification in St. Louis. Hosted by the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George in Alton, Illinois, for single Catholic women ages 18–30. With a major renovation underway at the provincial house, retreatants will still visit the motherhouse but stay at an alternate location. Register at AltonFranciscans.org.Love's Reply — a November discernment weekend at Prairie Star Ranch in Williamsburg, Kansas, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. Built from the monthly discernment groups Sister Karolyn has led in St. Louis for nine years, it brings together sisters from ten religious communities to help women explore how God has shaped their hearts to love. It's not a recruitment weekend — it's tools for discernment.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#Discernment #ReligiousLife #Vocations #CatholicSisters #FranciscanSisters #CatholicWomen #DiscernmentRetreat #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, Deacon Robb Stark joins Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell with a Catholic perspective on one of the defining days in American history. Deacon Robb was sitting in a classroom of Army majors at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, when an instructor ran in to turn on the TV — just in time to watch the second plane strike the World Trade Center.He remembers the nearly 3,000 people who died, the passengers and crews of the four hijacked flights, the firefighters, police, and paramedics who ran toward danger, the Flight 93 passengers who acted knowing it would cost them their lives, and the chaplains who entered the chaos to comfort and pray. Drawing on Jesus' words at every Mass — "Do this in memory of me" — Deacon Robb explains that Catholic remembrance is more than looking backward: in the Eucharist, Christ's sacrifice becomes present, and it sends us out to recognize him in the grieving, the lonely, the wounded, and even those with whom we disagree.Recalling how churches filled and neighbors came together in the days after the attacks, Deacon Robb challenges a divided nation to choose courage over fear, service over selfishness, mercy over hatred, and unity over division — trusting that, as Good Friday gave way to Easter, evil never gets the final word. He closes with a prayer for those who died, their families, first responders, military personnel, and peace in our homes, communities, and world.Deacon Robb also reflects on how the moment came full circle for him: about a year after watching the attacks unfold, he took command of an aircraft maintenance organization supporting the nation's mission overseas — and never imagined he would one day reflect on that day as a Catholic deacon.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#September11 #NeverForget #911Anniversary #911Remembrance #Eucharist #CatholicDeacon #FirstResponders #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell close out the week on the Friday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time and the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, with Mass this morning at 8 a.m. at Saint Augustine in Des Moines (105.5 FM). Today's saints of the day are Saints Protus and Hyacinth, brothers martyred in Rome in the third century.Fr. PJ McManus, back on the air after a lengthy sabbatical and now serving at Saint Catherine of Siena in the Drake neighborhood of Des Moines, previews this Sunday's readings — Sirach 27–28 and Matthew 18:21–35, where Peter asks how often he must forgive and Jesus answers, "not seven times but seventy-seven times." Fr. PJ explains that Jesus is really telling us to quit counting, unpacks Saint John Cassian's image of anger as a covering over the eye of the soul, and shares a moving personal story of seeing someone who had deeply hurt him come forward in his own Communion line.Sister M. Karolyn Nunes, vocations director for the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George (the Alton Franciscans), explains why discernment is a way of life rooted in relationship with Jesus, not just a one-time big decision. She shares simple daily habits for learning to hear God's voice, why silence matters in a noisy world, and her own story of entering the community 21 years ago. Single Catholic women ages 18–30 are invited to the Veni Si Amas discernment retreat, September 25–27, 2026, hosted by the sisters in Alton, Illinois — details and registration at AltonFranciscans.org. Sister Karolyn also previews Love's Reply, a November discernment weekend for young women at Prairie Star Ranch in Williamsburg, Kansas, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, with sisters from ten religious communities.Deacon Robb Stark, a military veteran, offers a Catholic reflection on 9/11 twenty-five years later. He recalls watching the second plane strike the World Trade Center from a classroom at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and reflects on the first responders, passengers of Flight 93, and chaplains who gave of themselves that day. Drawing on Christ's words at every Mass — "Do this in memory of me" — Deacon Robb explains how Catholic remembrance is rooted in the Eucharist, calls listeners to choose courage over fear, mercy over hatred, and unity over division, and closes with a prayer for the victims, their families, first responders, and all who serve.Also in this episode: Bo, an Oklahoma native, and Deacon Mark, a Hawkeye fan, trade good-natured takes on the famously "Iowa nice" Cy-Hawk rivalry compared to Bedlam and Ohio State–Michigan, and the hosts remember Hawkeye Marching Band member Derek Phillips.Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #September11 #NeverForget #911Anniversary #Forgiveness #Discernment #ReligiousLife #CyHawk #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Gabe Gessler, co-founder of Cana, joins Bo Bonner to talk about the platform's new registry. Gabe describes Cana as the fastest-growing Catholic and Christian wedding platform in the U.S. He and his wife own a Catholic photography and videography company, and he saw firsthand how many brides wanted a more intentional, faith-centered engagement. That led to Cana, built to pair the practical work of wedding planning with the Church's rich teaching on the sacrament of marriage.Gabe walks through what couples get for free:A registry where curated Catholic companies' sacred art and home goods sit alongside everyday items, so gift-givers have one place to shop.A wedding website built around truth, beauty, and goodness, with details on the Mass, reception, and nearby hotels.A prayer intentions section where guests pray for the couple and the couple prays for their guests.Guest list and RSVP tools, including collecting allergies.Bo shares how the forks his family received as a wedding gift still remind them of the people who cared for them early in their marriage. Deacon Mark adds that his recently engaged son and his fiancée are planning their wedding on Cana.Sign up for free at Cana.wedding.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#CatholicWedding #WeddingRegistry #CatholicMarriage #WeddingPlanning #EngagedCouples #DomesticChurch #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell open Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time, with Saint Nicholas of Tolentino as the saint of the day. Today's Mass is at 8 a.m. at Sacred Heart in Rockwell (89.3 FM).Bo and Deacon Mark then recap Iowa Catholic Radio's 12th annual Men's Stag at Country Lane Lodge. Heavy rain soaked the western metro that morning, but no one was turned away. About 60 tables were sold, 60 to 70 volunteers helped, and Knights of Columbus councils from across the metro pitched in. Deacon Mark explains that the event nets roughly 10% of the station's annual operating budget, but that the community it builds matters even more. He also gives a first look at Iowa Catholic Radio's new women's conference, set for January 23 at Saint Boniface in Waukee. Full details will be at the Iowa Catholic Radio booth at Christ Our Life.Gabe Gessler, co-founder of Cana, joins to talk about the platform's new registry. Cana is free for couples and includes a registry, guest list, RSVPs, and a wedding website with a section for prayer intentions. The registry puts curated Catholic businesses' sacred art and home goods front and center, all with the goal of preparing couples "from engagement to eternity." Start planning at Cana.wedding.Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #CatholicWedding #WeddingRegistry #CatholicMarriage #MensStag #PopeLeoXIV #DowlingCatholic #CatholicPodcast #CatholicFaith Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Laura Ducote, FNP-C, a nurse practitioner with the Guiding Star Project, joins Deacon Mark Campbell to talk about the full arc of women's health — from a young girl learning to understand her cycle as a gift rather than a burden, through infertility and recurrent miscarriage, to the perimenopausal years many women say they'd never even heard named until recently.Laura describes what drew her to this work: a nurse practitioner school roommate charting her cycles for PCOS, and the realization that faith and science were not competing but complementary. She explains why so many of the women she sees are frustrated by a "bypassing" culture that sends them straight to IUI or IVF without ever investigating an underlying cause, and why restorative reproductive medicine starts instead with a real diagnosis and with restoring the design God gave the female body.She walks through the Guiding Star Project's four core services — natural fertility and family planning, pregnancy and birth services, breastfeeding and postpartum care, and motherhood and family life — including new virtual lactation consults from founder Leah Jacobson for mothers who need support without leaving home. Guiding Star's telehealth program is rolling out first in Minnesota, its founding state, with the goal of expanding to other states and complementing the strong network of restorative reproductive medicine providers already practicing in Iowa.For any woman carrying this cross, Laura's encouragement is simple: lean into the Lord, who walks alongside you and wants to bring healing, hope, and peace into that place. Learn more, book virtual care, or find a Guiding Star center at guidingstarproject.com and Find Care Near Me.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#GuidingStarProject #WomensHealth #Infertility #NaturalFamilyPlanning #RestorativeReproductiveMedicine #CatholicHealthcare #Perimenopause #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

John Gaffney, director of evangelization and mission for the Diocese of Des Moines, joins Deacon Mark Campbell for his monthly segment with a September challenge for Catholic families. As schedules reset around the school year — sports, dance, band practice, work, NFL season — John suggests a simple exercise: color-code the family calendar and see where faith actually lands. If it's out on the margins, that's the sign to move it. His answer is direct: schedule family prayer as priority one.John and Deacon Mark talk through the most common objection — "I don't have time to pray" — and why we make time for what we love. John shares his own habit of getting up a little early to start the day with Iowa Catholic Radio or a prayer app before the busyness begins, and why getting kids "hooked on prayer" changes the direction of a whole household.Asked who modeled that intentionality in his own life, John points to Joe and Evie Nemec, his and his wife's sponsor couple at the Basilica of Saint John — a couple in their nineties who taught him that hospitality means more than saying welcome. They kept checking in. That lesson still shapes how he looks around at Mass for the person sitting alone, the family that never comes to coffee and donuts, the neighbor who might just be waiting for an invitation.John closes with the question a mentor once turned back on him 30 years ago, and that he has carried ever since: as you go deeper in your faith, who is Jesus sending you to? Learn more about evangelization, catechesis, and adult faith formation at the Diocese of Des Moines.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#FamilyPrayer #CatholicFamily #Evangelization #HolyHabits #DioceseOfDesMoines #CatholicParenting #IowaCatholicRadio #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Deacon Mark Campbell fills in for Bo Bonner alongside Ayden Pugh on the Memorial of Saint Peter Claver — the Jesuit who met slave ships at Cartagena with food, water, and medicine, and baptized nearly 300,000 souls. Mass today is at noon at Saint Thomas Aquinas in Ames.Overnight storms hammered central Iowa. Walnut Creek is out of its banks and expected to crest near 14.9 feet, closing parts of the Valley Junction area, and roughly 4,000 customers remain without power, leaving traffic signals dark or flashing across the metro. Rain totals: 6.5 inches in West Des Moines, 5.89 inches at the Des Moines airport, 3.25 inches in Ankeny, about 2.5 inches near Guthrie Center, 1.25 inches in Osceola, and three quarters of an inch in Chariton. The storms knocked out the internet feed to 105.3 FM — listeners in that area can still tune in online at IowaCatholicRadio.com or through the Iowa Catholic Radio app while engineers work to restore the signal.John Gaffney, director of evangelization and mission for the Diocese of Des Moines, joins for his monthly segment with a September reset challenge: if you color-coded every activity on your family calendar, where would faith fall? John's answer is to schedule family prayer as priority one, start the day with prayer before the busyness begins, and pay attention to the ordinary witnesses — like his own sponsor couple at the Basilica — who model hospitality that goes beyond a handshake. He closes with the question that shaped 30 years of his ministry: who is Jesus sending you to? Learn more about diocesan evangelization and faith formation at the Diocese of Des Moines.Laura Ducote, FNP-C, a nurse practitioner with the Guiding Star Project, brings hope to a sensitive topic: fertility, miscarriage, and the isolation many women feel when their concerns get brushed aside. Laura explains the organization's four core services — natural fertility and family planning, pregnancy and birth services, breastfeeding and postpartum care, and motherhood and family life — and the new virtual wholistic women's healthcare program now rolling out, with Leah Jacobson adding virtual lactation consults. Iowa listeners can find local restorative reproductive medicine providers and Guiding Star centers at guidingstarproject.com, with center locations at Find Care Near Me.Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #FamilyPrayer #Evangelization #GuidingStarProject #WomensHealth #SaintPeterClaver #DowlingCatholic #CatholicPodcast #CatholicFaith Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Fr. David Esquiliano — rector of the Cathedral of the Epiphany, pastor of the Cathedral Parish in Sioux City, and chaplain to the Sioux City Police Department — joins Bo Bonner to explain what a Blue Mass is and why it matters. The tradition dates to 1934 in the United States and takes its name from the blue uniforms of police officers, though in the Diocese of Sioux City it's extended to firefighters, EMTs, and all first responders: the people who run toward danger when everyone else is running away.Fr. David walks through the connection to St. Michael the Archangel, patron saint of law enforcement, whose feast falls on September 29 alongside St. Gabriel and St. Raphael — which is why most dioceses schedule the Blue Mass either near Michaelmas or during National Police Week in May. He also talks about the historic bond between Catholic immigrant communities and first-responder professions, from the bagpipe traditions carried over by Irish and Scottish immigrants to the ministry he's carried out as a chaplain in both Sioux City and Storm Lake.He's clear that the Blue Mass isn't only for Catholics. The invitation extends to first responders of any faith or none, and to the wider community — especially families, who often carry a burden of their own when a spouse or parent comes home unable to talk about what they've seen.Details: The Diocese of Sioux City's fourth annual Blue Mass is Monday, September 28 at 5:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Epiphany, 10th and Douglas in downtown Sioux City, with Bishop John E. Keehner celebrating. A Knights of Columbus meal follows at 6:30 p.m., and a drive-through meal will be available for any first responder who can't stay — no need to attend the Mass to come by for a plate. More information at Cathedral of the Epiphany.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#BlueMass #FirstResponders #SaintMichaelTheArchangel #PoliceChaplain #DioceseOfSiouxCity #CatholicTradition #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Joe Condit — founder and CEO of the Catholic Speakers Organization, the world's largest Catholic speakers bureau — joins Bo Bonner to make the case for seeing The Passion of the Christ in a theater during its limited return, September 10 through 17. Lionsgate and Fathom Entertainment have remastered the 2004 film in 4K from the original camera negative, with a Dolby Atmos audio mix, and every screening includes an exclusive behind-the-scenes sneak peek at Mel Gibson's sequel, The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One, which opens May 6, 2027.Joe shares stories from the production that most viewers never hear: Jim Caviezel being struck by lightning during the crucifixion sequence, the separated shoulder and real blood in the first fall under the cross, and Caviezel's one prayer going into the role — that audiences would see Jesus rather than the actor. He also points out that Caviezel starred in the two most successful independently financed films in history, The Passion of the Christ and Sound of Freedom.Bo and Joe dig into how much of a gamble the film was in 2004. Every investor Gibson approached passed on it, so he financed it himself — more than $30 million of his own money — on the conviction that the world needed to see it. Joe argues that its success is why we now have The Chosen and a whole generation of faith-based filmmaking, and that the film has lost none of its force two decades on. He's also heard from a striking number of men who admit they were afraid to watch it the first time and are now planning to bring their families.Find showtimes and a theater near you at CatholicSpeakers.com, or check listings directly at Fathom Entertainment.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#PassionOfTheChrist #ResurrectionOfTheChrist #MelGibson #JimCaviezel #JoeCondit #CatholicSpeakers #FaithBasedFilms #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell open Tuesday on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with Mass today at noon at Saint Patrick's in Corning (90.9 FM).Fr. David Esquiliano, rector of the Cathedral of the Epiphany and pastor of the Cathedral Parish in Sioux City, joins the show to explain the Blue Mass — a Catholic tradition in the United States dating to 1934, named for the blue uniforms of police officers, and extended in the Diocese of Sioux City to firefighters, EMTs, and all first responders. Fr. David, who also serves as chaplain to the Sioux City Police Department, unpacks why the Mass is tied to St. Michael the Archangel, patron of law enforcement, and why it's open to everyone regardless of faith background. The Diocese of Sioux City's fourth annual Blue Mass is Monday, September 28 at 5:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Epiphany at 10th and Douglas in downtown Sioux City, followed by a Knights of Columbus meal at 6:30 p.m. — including a drive-through option for first responders who are on duty. Details at Cathedral of the Epiphany.Joe Condit, founder and CEO of the Catholic Speakers Organization, joins Bo to talk about the return of The Passion of the Christ to theaters nationwide September 10 through 17, newly remastered in 4K with Dolby Atmos sound from Lionsgate and Fathom Entertainment. Every ticket includes an exclusive behind-the-scenes sneak peek at Mel Gibson's sequel, The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One, which opens May 6, 2027. Joe shares behind-the-scenes stories from the 2004 production, makes the case that the film's success opened the door for everything from Sound of Freedom to The Chosen, and urges parents to bring a new generation to see it. Find showtimes and a theater near you at CatholicSpeakers.com or Fathom Entertainment.Also in this episode: Bo and Deacon Mark reflect on where they were on September 11, 2001, as the nation approaches the 25th anniversary this Friday — the pin-drop silence of a college campus, the drive home from work, and what it means that an entire generation now has no memory of that day. Plus a lighter turn on the Blessed Mother's birthday: a real job listing to spend three months traveling the world tasting ice cream for Snoop Dogg's Dr. Bombay brand, and whether either host has the palate for it.Coming up on Iowa Catholic Radio: the annual Men's Stag tomorrow night at Country Lane Lodge in Adel; the Christ Our Life Catholic Conference, September 26–27 at Casey's Center in Des Moines — ChristOurLifeIowa.com; and the station's fall fundraiser, September 29 through October 2.Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #PassionOfTheChrist #JoeCondit #BlueMass #FirstResponders #SaintMichael #NativityOfMary #September11 #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Deacon Dan Rouse of Saint Patrick's Parish in Cedar Rapids (Archdiocese of Dubuque) offers this week's Sunday Gospel reflection on Matthew 18:15-20 — the passage where Jesus gives a step-by-step process for confronting someone who has sinned against you.Deacon Dan begins with what the passage is not: it isn't a literal mandate to be applied identically to every situation regardless of the offense or the relationship, and it carries no permission to get even, no guidelines for revenge, and no license to shame or humiliate anyone. The whole process is meant to be carried out in love, with the focus on the behavior and the restoration of the relationship rather than on the person.He then walks through the three ways people typically respond to being wronged, and why each one fails. Fight: charging in with directness and anger makes things worse, because the target becomes the person instead of the behavior. Flight: avoiding someone who hurt you usually lets the situation deteriorate, and it keeps you from acting charitably toward a person whose good you're still called to will. Ignoring it: carrying on as though everything is fine while resentment quietly builds, until those buried feelings surface anyway — often as anger, which lands you right back at the first response.The first move, Deacon Dan says, should always be prayer. In his own experience, turning a difficult situation over to the Lord before the conversation means the conversation itself tends to go far better than the version he had already played out in his head.He closes with Saint Vincent de Paul — the French priest known for extraordinary works of mercy and service to the poor, who founded the Congregation of the Mission in 1625 and later the Daughters of Charity — and with the part of Vincent's story people tend to skip: he struggled badly with harshness and strong mood swings, and for a long stretch believed that was simply who he was and couldn't be changed. It took a period of intense prayer and throwing himself on God's mercy for him to recognize that only God's power could change what he couldn't change himself.Giving and receiving correction is one of the hardest things a person can do, and true reconciliation requires both: giving it charitably and receiving it humbly. Our motivation, Deacon Dan says, is that we share a common identity as the Body of Christ — and we don't reconcile ourselves by our own power. So the question for this Sunday isn't only who has wronged us. It's whether we've wronged someone, and whether there's something in our own behavior that needs to change.Read the full Sunday readings at USCCB.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#SundayGospel #Matthew18 #FraternalCorrection #Forgiveness #SaintVincentDePaul #CatholicReflection #DeaconDanRouse #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Emma Lynch, newly installed as music director at Saint Thomas Aquinas in Indianola — and a former student of Bo Bonner's — joins the show as part of what's looking more and more like a genuine revival of young Catholics caring about how the Church worships.Emma traces her own formation back to piano lessons at six and, from age ten to eighteen, singing in a Catholic youth choir at the Basilica of Saint John, which she credits as the crucial years that shaped her not just as a musician but as a sacred musician. She walks through what the job actually entails week to week: planning weekend liturgies, running rehearsals, scheduling cantors and instrumentalists, and preparing special liturgies like confirmation Masses that most people in the pews never realize took separate planning. The piece she considers most important, though, is the spiritual formation of her musicians — because they aren't performing songs, they're leading a congregation in worship, and they need to know their place in the liturgy to do it well.Asked why music holds a distinctly theological place in Catholic worship, Emma points first to a tradition that runs back through the Psalms to the very beginning, then to what makes music unusual among forms of prayer: it's physical. You sing with your voice, play with your hands, worship with the body God gave you — which is why "the one who sings prays twice" is more than a nice line. And because participating in the music means outwardly expressing what you believe, the act of singing strengthens the belief it expresses. She points to Vatican II's Sacrosanctum Concilium, which calls sacred music a treasure of inestimable value, as evidence this isn't just a musician's opinion.Emma graduated from the University of Mary in Bismarck with a bachelor's degree in sacred music — a degree type she notes is showing up at more and more colleges — where coursework spanned theology, Church documents, and practical work like planning hymnody for Advent and navigating disagreement about music choices. The formation she names as most transformative wasn't a class at all: singing a cappella in her college chapel choir taught her to pray through her music rather than simply perform it, and helping others reach that same place is now what she wants her ministry to do.On landing at a real parish for the first time, Emma is candid: classroom discussion of parish life is a different ball game from actually navigating it. Learning her specific musicians, their instruments, and the repertoire the congregation already knows — rather than swinging a complete 180 — has been most of the job, and she says being close to family in Des Moines has made it that much better.For listeners who want to go deeper on the Church's understanding of sacred music, Emma recommends the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (there's a Des Moines chapter, with a workshop on Lent coming in October), associations and online communities of church musicians, the Church Fathers, and the documents themselves: Sacrosanctum Concilium, Musicam Sacram, and the USCCB's Sing to the Lord.Hear Emma's choir at Saint Thomas Aquinas in Indianola: Mass is Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 8 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. — mysta.org.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#SacredMusic #CatholicMusic #EmmaLynch #MusicDirector #SacrosanctumConcilium #LiturgicalMusic #UniversityOfMary #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Eileen Denner, co-founder and chief servant officer of the Iowa Christian Generosity Council, sits down with Deacon Mark Campbell for her first appearance on the show. Eileen tells the origin story: a handful of Christian business leaders who spent two years praying about what God was calling them to do for their community, and who kept coming back to the nonprofits around them that declare Christ in their mission. What started as a few lunches has become a network of more than 47 Christ-centered nonprofits, plus individual members, meeting for quarterly luncheons and workshops on everything from donor relationships to AI.Eileen and Deacon Mark dig into what makes ICGC unusual: nobody asks for money at any ICGC event, ever. Eileen explains why she frames fundraising as a ministry of relationship rather than a transaction, and why generosity received as a calling — instead of a "have to" — opens a person up to being led where God actually wants them. Deacon Mark, speaking as a nonprofit leader himself, describes what the luncheons offer small staffs on tight budgets: rare space to collaborate, share best practices, and be spiritually nourished rather than pitched. And when people ask whether putting 47 nonprofits in one room breeds competition, Eileen's answer is simple — you can be competitive once all the needs are met.The conversation turns to Ignite Your Legacy, ICGC's signature annual gathering and a thank-you dinner for the mission partners and donors who support member ministries. This year's theme is Shine Your Light, and it moves to a larger venue to fit a growing crowd:Monday, September 14 at the Ron Pearson Center in West Des Moines4:00–5:45 p.m. — nonprofit fair and reception with charcuterie6:00–8:00 p.m. — dinner and programFeatured speaker: Chris McDaniel, author of Ignite Your Generosity and a national voice on biblical stewardship475 to 500 guests expected, volunteers from Saint Ambrose Cathedral serving, over a thousand candles, and a gift for every guestNo fundraising appeal of any kindIgnite Your Legacy is invitation only, but Iowa Catholic Radio has a listener table this year. The first five people to text ICGC to 515-223-1150 will each receive a pair of tickets.Learn more about the council and its membership at ICGC Iowa, see upcoming events at icgciowa.org/events, and read more from the speaker at Ignite Your Generosity.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#IgniteYourLegacy #BiblicalGenerosity #ChristianNonprofits #ICGC #Stewardship #DesMoines #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell open a quiet Friday morning in the Des Moines metro as central Iowa heads into Labor Day weekend, with Mass at 9 a.m. at Saint Mary Magdalene in Bloomfield (105.3 FM). Today's saint of the day is Moses the Prophet — lawgiver, leader, and the great figure of the Old Testament who met God on Mount Sinai.Deacon Dan Rouse of Saint Patrick's Parish in Cedar Rapids (Archdiocese of Dubuque) returns for the Sunday Gospel reflection on Matthew 18:15-20, walking through the gradual process Jesus gives for restoring a broken relationship. Deacon Dan names the three ways we usually botch conflict — fight, flight, or quietly ignoring it — and points to prayer as the first move instead. Drawing on Saint Vincent de Paul, who struggled with harshness and sharp mood swings his whole life, he leaves listeners with a harder question than "who has wronged me?": have I wronged someone, and is there something in my own behavior that needs to change?Eileen Denner, co-founder and chief servant officer of the Iowa Christian Generosity Council, joins Deacon Mark for her first appearance on the show. Eileen traces ICGC from a small prayer group of Christian business leaders to a network of more than 47 Christ-centered nonprofits that meet for quarterly luncheons and workshops — and never, at any event, ask for money. She previews Ignite Your Legacy, ICGC's annual thank-you dinner for nonprofit mission partners, on Monday, September 14 at the Ron Pearson Center in West Des Moines: a nonprofit fair and reception from 4 to 5:45 p.m., dinner and program from 6 to 8 p.m., roughly 475 to 500 guests expected, and this year's theme, Shine Your Light. Author and biblical stewardship advocate Chris McDaniel is the featured speaker. Iowa Catholic Radio has a listener table this year — the first five people to text ICGC to 515-223-1150 win a pair of tickets. More about the council at ICGC Iowa and event details here.Jeanne Thill previews this weekend's Making It Personal with Bishop William M. Joensen, featuring a conversation with seminarian Connor Lynch before he headed back to Rome. Connor will be ordained to the diaconate on October 1, the Feast of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, and ordained a priest next year at the cathedral. Making It Personal airs Saturday at 8 a.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m.Emma Lynch, the new music director at Saint Thomas Aquinas in Indianola and a former student of Bo's, closes the show with a look at what a parish music director actually does — and why music is ministry rather than a soundtrack. A 2026 graduate of the University of Mary with a bachelor's degree in sacred music, Emma explains why music is an incarnational, whole-body form of worship, why the spiritual formation of musicians matters as much as their musicianship, and how Vatican II's Sacrosanctum Concilium calls sacred music a treasure of inestimable value. Mass times at Saint Thomas Aquinas are Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 8 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. — mysta.org.Also today: First Friday Mass at 11:30 a.m. in the Saint Gabriel the Archangel Chapel at the Iowa Catholic Radio studio — staff, family, and friends welcome.Join us Monday at 7 a.m. Central for a special Labor Day edition. Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #SacredMusic #EmmaLynch #IgniteYourLegacy #BiblicalGenerosity #CatholicMusic #SundayGospel #DowlingCatholic #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Deacon Randy Kiel joins Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell, as he does every Thursday, to preview the upcoming Sunday's Mass readings — this week, the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (full readings at USCCB.org).Deacon Randy begins with Ezekiel 33:7–9, where the Lord appoints the prophet a "watchman for the house of Israel," charged with speaking hard truths on God's behalf regardless of the cost. He applies this call to modern evangelism, asking listeners whether they're willing to be a watchman for the Gospel of Christ — someone who names the truth in love rather than staying silent.Turning to the second reading, Romans 13:8–10, Deacon Randy and Bo discuss how Paul's teaching that "love is the fulfillment of the law" would have stunned first-century Romans, for whom law meant control, punishment, and the threat of persecution. Instead, God's law is fulfilled through love of neighbor.Bo closes with a reflection on the Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 95), noting that its opening line — "if today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts" — is better understood as "since," turning a conditional warning into a daily invitation to soften one's heart to God.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#SundayGospel #DeaconRandyKiel #CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #Ezekiel #BookOfRomans #SundayReadings #OrdinaryTime #CatholicPodcast #CatholicFaith Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ginger Lee Arnold, coordinator of a volunteer-led pilgrimage group now organizing its third trip, joins Bo Bonner to preview a three-day fall pilgrimage to Wisconsin, October 7–9. Pilgrims depart the Our Lady of Lourdes/Saint Joan of Arc campus in Bettendorf at 7 a.m. on October 7, traveling first to Holy Hill Basilica and National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians (holyhill.com) in Hubertus for lunch and a tour of the grounds, then on to Green Bay for the night.The following morning, pilgrims arrive at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion (championshrine.org) for Mass, confessions, and the rosary. October 8–9 mark the anniversary both of the Blessed Mother's 1859 apparition to Adele Brice and of the Peshtigo Fire — one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history, which broke out the same night as the Great Chicago Fire. Because the shrine and the school Adele Brice founded survived the flames, the anniversary is also marked with a candlelight rosary walk around the shrine grounds. Bishop Dennis Walsh of the Diocese of Davenport will celebrate the anniversary Mass on October 9 alongside Father William Kneemiller, a retired priest of the diocese.Ginger reflects on what draws so many people to pilgrimage — walking the ground where the saints and the Blessed Mother have walked, and the shared, sensory experience of prayer and community with fellow travelers. Registration is open but limited; details are still being finalized on the group's ticketing site. Check IowaCatholicRadio.com for updates on how to register.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#HolyHill #OurLadyOfChampion #AdeleBrice #BishopDennisWalsh #CatholicPilgrimage #Wisconsin #DioceseOfDavenport #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Michelle Miller, business manager and stewardship coordinator at Sacred Heart Parish in Newton, joins Bo Bonner to reflect on a difficult and grace-filled few years for the parish. Michelle shares how she and the Sacred Heart community walked alongside pastor Father Martin "Marty" Goetz through his battle with bone cancer, leaning on parish volunteers, the Diocese of Davenport, and constant prayer, until his passing. Retired priest Father William "Bill" Reynolds then came out of retirement to serve as parish administrator, helping guide Sacred Heart and its sister parish, Immaculate Conception in Colfax, through the transition.Father Louis Hammond joins the conversation as Sacred Heart and Immaculate Conception's newly installed pastor. Bishop Dennis Walsh installed Father Hammond on August 22, following his previous assignment as chaplain at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. Born in Ghana, Father Hammond was ordained to the priesthood in 1992 and spent thirty years in priestly ministry there before arriving in the Diocese of Davenport in 2022. He shares his call to parish life in Newton and Colfax after years of hospital chaplaincy, and reflects on being welcomed by parishioners as an answer to their prayers for a new shepherd.Michelle and Father Hammond both look ahead to growing the parish's young adult and religious education programs as Sacred Heart begins its next chapter as a "family church" in Newton and Colfax.Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#SacredHeartNewton #FatherLouisHammond #DioceseOfDavenport #NewPastor #CatholicParishLife #Ghana #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell open Thursday on the Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, with Mass today at 8:30 a.m. at Saint Patrick's Church in Massena (90.9 FM).Deacon Randy Kiel returns for his weekly look at the upcoming Sunday readings (the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time), walking through Ezekiel 33's charge to be a "watchman" who speaks the truth of Christ and Romans 13's teaching that love is the fulfillment of the law.Pilgrimage coordinator Ginger Lee Arnold joins the show to preview a three-day fall pilgrimage, October 7–9, to Holy Hill Basilica and National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians (holyhill.com) in Hubertus, Wisconsin, and the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion (championshrine.org) in Champion — the only Vatican-approved Marian apparition site in the United States, where the Blessed Mother appeared to Adele Brice in 1859. Bishop Dennis Walsh of the Diocese of Davenport will join the pilgrims, who depart from the Our Lady of Lourdes/Saint Joan of Arc campus in Bettendorf at 7 a.m. on October 7, stop at Holy Hill for lunch and touring, then overnight in Green Bay before Mass, a rosary walk, and anniversary events at the shrine on October 8–9 — the anniversary of both the 1859 apparition and the deadly Peshtigo Fire. Registration details are still being finalized on the pilgrimage's ticketing site; see flags below.Michelle Miller, business manager and stewardship coordinator at Sacred Heart Parish in Newton, and Father Louis Hammond, the parish's newly installed pastor, join the show to share how the Newton and Colfax faith community persevered through the illness and death of longtime pastor Father Martin "Marty" Goetz, leaned on retired priest Father William "Bill" Reynolds as administrator, and welcomed Father Hammond after his installation by Bishop Dennis Walsh on August 22. Father Hammond, ordained in Ghana in 1992 and a hospital chaplain at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City since arriving in the Diocese of Davenport in 2022, shares his call to parish ministry in Newton and Colfax and reflects on being welcomed as "the answer to a congregation's prayers."Also in this episode: a reminder to download the new Iowa Catholic Radio app, available for Android and iOS.Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com.#CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #HolyHill #OurLadyOfChampion #BishopDennisWalsh #SacredHeartNewton #DowlingCatholic #SaintGregoryTheGreat #CatholicPilgrimage #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. Matthew Muller, assistant professor of theology at Benedictine College and director of the Symposium on Transforming Culture, joins Bo Bonner to preview this year's conference: "The Church in an Algorithmic Age," Friday evening, September 4 through Saturday, September 5, on the Benedictine College campus in Atchison, Kansas. The theme takes up artificial intelligence and technology head-on — the opportunities and the challenges — with a deliberate mix of scholars and practitioners. Featured speakers include: Dr. Paul Scherz, professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, delivering Friday night's opening keynote on the role of technology in society Dr. Kristin Collier, MD, associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan, on how medicine can remain human and treat patients with dignity in a world governed by technocratic utilitarianism Matthew Sanders, CEO of Longbeard and the company behind Magisterium AI, the AI tool for questions about the Catholic faith that has generated no small amount of discussion in Catholic circles Dr. James Madden, professor of philosophy at Benedictine College, and Bo Bonner on a featured panel on technology and the sacred More than sixty breakout and colloquium presentations run Friday afternoon and all day Saturday, spanning education, philosophy, politics, and more — roughly thirty-six hours of programming, all on Benedictine's academic hill. Dr. Muller also traces the symposium's history: it began about twelve to fourteen years ago as a spring gathering of around fifty people, conceived as an intellectual retreat and Catholic think tank for people interested in evangelization and transforming culture. This year marks its first move to the fall — partly to catch people before the academic year wears them down, partly because Atchison is beautiful in September, and partly, he jokes, because the food is much better enjoyed outside of Lent. The event now draws attendees from across the country and occasionally overseas. Bo, who has spoken at the symposium in some form for about nine years — often alongside his Uncommon Good co-host Dr. Bud Marr — previews his own contribution: a portion of the thesis he worked on in Europe this summer, parsing what we actually mean by "algorithms." He'll take up optimization and probability as the mechanics underneath algorithmic thinking, and argue that the Church has long had its own vocabulary for these ideas — and a better account of the ethical and moral life than the one the algorithmic age would hand us. Registration and the full speaker lineup are at Benedictine College. A little space remains as of this recording. Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #CatholicAI #ArtificialIntelligence #BenedictineCollege #ChurchInAnAlgorithmicAge #CatholicEthics #FaithAndTechnology #MagisteriumAI #TransformingCulture #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Connor Lynch, a seminarian for the Diocese of Des Moines studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, sits down with Deacon Mark Campbell to talk about his summer assignment at the Basilica of Saint John in Des Moines and the final year of his formation. Connor describes what most inspired him this summer: the lay ministries taking root and flourishing at the Basilica under Fr. Trevor Chicoine — the Knights of Columbus "Sips and Saints" nights pairing craft beer with the lives of the saints, a movie night series alternating family and serious films, an upcoming Paint and Sip, a young adult ministry launching with socials and a well-attended spikeball night, and a homeschool network's Martha Women's Fellowship. Connor says he attended out of genuine interest, not obligation, because he wanted to learn "what makes the basilica breathe" — and points to a Vacation Bible School teen night with the School Sisters of Christ the King, water balloons included, as the kind of moment that sticks to the heart. On formation: Connor is entering fourth theology, now called fourth configuration, his last year of seminary. He will be ordained a transitional deacon on October 1, the feast of Saint Thérèse, then complete a normal school year in Rome before returning to Iowa to be ordained a priest in late June 2027. With the propaedeutic year, the full process now runs up to nine years — which is why Connor says he's not seeing light at the end of the tunnel so much as reaching the starting line. He also reflects on studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University alongside classmates from Africa, South America, Asia, and Europe, and discovering that the particularities differ but the Holy Spirit and the basic human experiences are shared. Asked when he knew, Connor recounts a mission trip to El Paso before college, a prayer for a sign, and the answer that came the next day at Mass — reinforced all week by people walking up to ask whether he'd considered the priesthood. He credits Fr. Chris Fontanini, who walked with his family through his brother Alex's cancer diagnosis, as the model of how a priest should care for his people. For anyone still waiting on their own sign, Connor's advice: no prayer earns that grace, but perseverance in prayer keeps you open to it — and a delayed answer may itself be the Lord teaching you what you'll need later. Bring it to a spiritual director or priest. Please keep Connor in your prayers ahead of October 1. Learn more about seminarians for the Diocese of Des Moines at dmdiocese.org, and about the Basilica of Saint John at BasilicaOfStJohn.org. Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #CatholicVocations #Seminarian #DioceseOfDesMoines #CalledToThePriesthood #NorthAmericanCollege #DiscerningYourVocation #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell open Wednesday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time, with Mass today at 12:15 p.m. at Saint Mary in Pella (95.7 FM). Today's Saint of the Day is Saint Agricola of Avignon (c. 625–700), who entered the monastery around age fourteen, was consecrated coadjutor bishop by his own father, Bishop Magnus, and later succeeded him as Bishop of Avignon. He was named patron of Avignon in 1647. Seminarian Connor Lynch Deacon Mark Campbell talks with Connor Lynch, a seminarian for the Diocese of Des Moines studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, about a summer assignment at the Basilica of Saint John in Des Moines and the year ahead. Connor will be ordained a transitional deacon on October 1 — the feast of Saint Thérèse — and ordained a priest in late June 2027. Learn more about diocesan vocations at dmdiocese.org and about the Basilica at BasilicaOfStJohn.org. Dr. Matthew Muller — The Church in an Algorithmic Age Dr. Matthew Muller, assistant professor of theology at Benedictine College and director of the Symposium on Transforming Culture, previews this weekend's conference in Atchison, Kansas — Friday evening, September 4 through Saturday, September 5. Keynotes come from Dr. Paul Scherz (theology, University of Notre Dame), Dr. Kristin Collier, MD (internal medicine, University of Michigan), and Matthew Sanders, CEO of Longbeard and Magisterium AI, with more than sixty breakout presentations and a featured panel on technology and the sacred with Dr. James Madden and Bo Bonner. Registration and the full lineup are at Benedictine College. Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #Seminarian #CatholicVocations #DioceseOfDesMoines #CatholicAI #BenedictineCollege #ChurchInAnAlgorithmicAge #SundayDive #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Deacon Mark Campbell and Bo Bonner sit down for an extended conversation about godparents — a role nearly every baptized Catholic has, and one that most people, in Bo's words, know mainly from a certain movie about the mob. Deacon Mark, who prepares couples for their children's baptisms alongside his wife, lays out the basics. The Church requires only one godparent to serve as witness to the baptism, and that person must be a practicing Catholic — someone who can pray for the child, model the faith, and encourage the parents in the promise they make to raise the child in the Church. He and Bo spend real time on what "practicing" means: not perfect, but making an honest attempt to live a Catholic witness. Deacon Mark shares that being asked to serve as a godparent early in his marriage — by a couple he and his wife deeply respected — was itself the doorway into taking his own faith more seriously. They also address one of the most persistent myths in Catholic family life: there is no legal or canonical arrangement making godparents the guardians of a child if the parents die. What the role actually asks for is presence and prayer, especially at sacramental milestones. Bo, a convert, describes how the calculus shifts when Catholicism isn't automatic in your family. With few Catholic relatives to draw from, he and his wife chose godparents deliberately — including Des Moines-based Newman scholar Dr. Ryan "Bud" Marr and his wife Rachel — asking not "who would raise our kids" but "who would make sure our kids stay Catholic?" That, the two suggest, may be the best rule of thumb for any parent: if you weren't there, who would you trust to check in along the way? The conversation closes with a word for godchildren whose godparents have drifted from the faith through divorce, distance, or circumstance: don't discount the relationship, and don't discount your own witness. Deacon Mark encourages inviting them back into the sacramental life of your family, because that bond remains one of the ways the Church, as Bo puts it, blessedly ropes people back in. Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #Godparents #CatholicBaptism #CatholicParenting #CatholicFaith #Baptism #CatholicFamily #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Marilyn Lane, who co-founded the Christ Our Life Catholic Conference with Ellen Miller after both women felt the same prompting in 2008, joins Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell to preview the 2026 conference — the ninth biennial edition of what began as a one-and-done idea. The details: Saturday and Sunday, September 26–27, 2026, at Casey's Center (formerly Wells Fargo Arena), 233 Center Street, Des Moines. Registration, the full schedule, speaker bios, and testimonials are at ChristOurLifeIowa.com. Tickets are available in-person and by livestream at the ticket page. The 2026 lineup: Bishop William M. Joensen of Des Moines, who preaches Saturday's homily; Bishop Joseph Espaillat of New York, the Bronx-born "rapper priest" bishop, preaching Sunday; Charbel Raish, coming from Australia to tell the story behind How Islam Led Me Back to Christ and the founding of Parousia Media; Sister Medhin Tesfay, who works with Mary's Meals in war-torn Tigray, Ethiopia; Fr. Robert Spitzer of the Magis Center and EWTN, presenting research drawn from more than 1,500 near-death experiences; Chris Stefanick of Real Life Catholic; Gabriel Castillo, host of the Children of Mary podcast and author of The Power of the Rosary; Crystalina Evert of Women Made New Ministries; Fr. David Michael Moses; music missionary Steve Angrisano; and Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder and CEO of Mary's Meals, who travels from Dalmally, Scotland every two years. Marilyn explains that booking speakers of this caliber takes at least two years — work on the 2028 conference is already underway — and stresses that every member of the steering committee and board of directors is an unpaid volunteer. Deacon Mark notes that some of the strongest endorsements come from the presenters themselves, speakers who work the conference circuit constantly and still single out Christ Our Life for how well it's run. Asked about the impact, Marilyn points to thousands of testimonials collected over sixteen years, many arriving a year or more after the fact. The one she holds closest describes children, seniors, religious, converts and cradle Catholics of every race and background worshiping together for two days. She also recalls Timothy Cardinal Dolan surveying the crowd from the stage in 2014 and telling them he didn't think they could pull this off in New York City. Bo adds his own: he and his wife met their children's godparents — friends they still travel hours to see — at the very first Christ Our Life conference. Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #ChristOurLife #CatholicConference #DesMoines #MarilynLane #ChrisStefanick #MarysMeals #BishopEspaillat #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio #CatholicIowa Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell open Tuesday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time on the Memorial of Saint Giles — the Athenian hermit who fled fame for the forests of France, was accidentally wounded by a king's huntsman, founded a monastery under the Rule of Saint Benedict, and is the only one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers who did not die a martyr. He's the patron saint of people with disabilities. Mass today at 8:30 a.m. from Sacred Heart in Osage (89.3 FM). Christ Our Life 2026 with Marilyn Lane. Conference co-founder and co-chair Marilyn Lane joins the show to preview the ninth biennial Christ Our Life Catholic Conference, Saturday and Sunday, September 26–27 at Casey's Center (formerly Wells Fargo Arena), 233 Center Street in downtown Des Moines. This year's lineup runs global: Bishop Joseph Espaillat of New York, Charbel Raish of Australia (How Islam Led Me Back to Christ), Sister Medhin Tesfay of Tigray, Ethiopia, Fr. Robert Spitzer on near-death experience research, Chris Stefanick, Gabriel Castillo, Crystalina Evert, Fr. David Michael Moses, music missionary Steve Angrisano, and Mary's Meals founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow of Dalmally, Scotland. Bishop William M. Joensen preaches Saturday's homily and Bishop Espaillat preaches Sunday's. Marilyn explains the two-year lead time it takes to build a lineup like this, why the entire steering committee and board are unpaid volunteers, and shares the testimonial she's never forgotten — children, seniors, religious, converts and cradle Catholics from every walk of life worshiping together for two days. Tickets, speaker bios, the full schedule, and more testimonials at ChristOurLifeIowa.com. Pope Leo XIV, best dressed. Bo and Deacon Mark dig into the news that Vanity Fair named Pope Leo XIV to its 2026 best-dressed list in the "Originals" category, citing his White Sox cap and white sneakers. The two talk through why a pope's clothing is prescribed rather than chosen, what the mozzetta actually is, how Leo's style compares to Pope Francis's and Benedict XVI's, and why vestments are worn for the sake of everyone else rather than the person wearing them. Top Gun: Maverick and Catholic fatherhood. The hosts look at an EWTN News story on a D.C.-based youth ministry that built a weekend-long father-son camp around the movie Top Gun: Maverick, drawing on the mentorship bond between Maverick and Rooster — and they connect it to a local opportunity for men: Forge's evening with former Navy SEAL officer Sam Blair, Monday, September 14 at Smash Park in West Des Moines. Doors at 7:30 p.m., talk at 8 p.m., tickets $25 — MyForge.org. Godparents. The show closes with an extended conversation on a role most Catholics have and few understand. Deacon Mark, who prepares couples for their children's baptisms, explains what the Church actually requires (one practicing Catholic sponsor as witness), what "practicing" really means, and why the widespread belief that godparents are legal guardians is a myth. Bo shares how, as a convert, choosing godparents meant asking someone to safeguard his children's Catholic faith. Both offer encouragement to godchildren whose godparents have drifted from the faith. #CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #ChristOurLife #PopeLeoXIV #Godparents #CatholicConference #DesMoines #SaintGiles #DowlingCatholic #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Maddie McLarty, Faith Formation Coordinator for the northeast region of the Diocese of Sioux City, joins Bo Bonner to preview the 2026 Women's Gathering — "I Will Give You Rest" — on Saturday, November 14 at Saint Edmond Catholic School in Fort Dodge. The day is open to women of all ages and states of life. Logistics: Check-in and registration open at 9 a.m., the program runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and registration is $30 per woman. Register at SCDiocese.org/gathering. The theme came directly from the women of the diocese. Maddie meets regularly with parish representatives from across the diocese, and when she asked what they needed most, the group independently landed on the same verse from Matthew's Gospel and the same idea: rest. As Maddie puts it, the question the day is built around is where we find Christ when we can't change the busy schedule of our lives. Missionary, storyteller, and author Meg Hunter-Kilmer — a campus minister at the University of Notre Dame who has spoken at women's conferences across the country — will offer three sessions unpacking the Scripture passage. Between sessions there's time for small-group discussion, an extended lunch with vendors from across the diocese and neighboring dioceses, confession over the lunch hour, a session of adoration, and a short closing session. This is the second year for the Women's Gathering, a rebrand and revival of the diocesan women's conference that paused during Covid. Maddie can also be reached through the Faith Formation office; contact information is on the diocesan website at SCDiocese.org. Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #WomensGathering #DioceseOfSiouxCity #MegHunterKilmer #CatholicWomen #IWillGiveYouRest #FortDodge #CatholicConference #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Drew Croegaert and Peyton Jamison, Serva Fidem coordinators at Dowling Catholic High School, sit down with Bo Bonner to talk about small-group discipleship as a new school year begins. Serva Fidem lets students form their own groups with peers they already know, then pairs each group with an adult faith mentor who meets with them weekly at Dowling, offers formation content, and teaches spiritual practices students can carry with them. As Peyton puts it, the goal is students making the faith truly their own rather than something they simply inherit through school or family. The ministry began at Dowling with a single small group in 2017. It has since grown to roughly 84 groups — a number Drew traces back to one group of students who said yes. Both coordinators come from education backgrounds, and this year they're applying the classroom idea of differentiation to ministry: how do you serve a student new to the faith, a student who's lukewarm, and a student ready for apostleship all at once? Part of the answer is better questions — pressing past the answers teenagers think adults want to hear, and asking why they believe what they believe. Mentors are the engine of the whole thing. Drew and Peyton meet with every mentor three times a year, and they say that at some point in nearly every meeting a mentor admits they're getting more out of it than the students are. There's no one-size-fits-all mentor profile — some groups thrive with someone who has decades of life experience, others with someone closer to their own age. If you're considering it, contact information for both coordinators is available under the "Meet the Team" menu at ServaFidem.org; the usual next step is a simple coffee conversation. Classes at Dowling started last Monday, and groups typically take shape through September and October, with the freshman retreat in September serving as a key entry point. Peyton is due with her first baby this Sunday and will be out roughly twelve weeks — so this fall will look a little different, and a lot busier come spring. Learn more about Serva Fidem at ServaFidem.org or about Dowling Catholic at DowlingCatholic.org. Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #ServaFidem #DowlingCatholic #CatholicSmallGroups #CatholicYouthMinistry #Discipleship #CatholicSchools #FaithMentor #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell open the week on the Monday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time, with Mass today at 8:30 a.m. at Saint Anthony on the south side of Des Moines (105.5 FM). Today's saints of the day are Saints Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus — two men of power and prestige who risked everything to follow Christ. New Iowa Catholic Radio App — Launching Today The completely rebuilt Iowa Catholic Radio app goes live later today, sometime after 11 a.m., following the local Mass. Producer Ayden Pugh estimates 500 to 600 hours of work over the last eighteen months went into it. Apple users should see the app update automatically; Android users will need to visit the Google Play Store and download the new version manually. If you open the app and things look different, that's the point. Serva Fidem at Dowling Catholic Drew Croegaert and Peyton Jamison, Serva Fidem coordinators at Dowling Catholic High School, join the show to talk about the small-group ministry that has grown from a single student group in 2017 to roughly 84 groups today. Students form their own groups with peers and are paired with an adult faith mentor who walks with them through weekly meetings, formation content, and spiritual practices. Peyton and Drew talk about "differentiation" in ministry — meeting freshmen who are still figuring things out and seniors ready for more — and why mentors so often say they get more out of it than the students do. Groups typically form in September and October, with the freshman retreat as a major entry point. If you're curious about becoming a mentor, contact information is under the "Meet the Team" menu at ServaFidem.org. 2026 Diocese of Sioux City Women's Gathering Maddie McLarty, Faith Formation Coordinator for the northeast region of the Diocese of Sioux City, previews the 2026 Women's Gathering: "I Will Give You Rest," Saturday, November 14 at Saint Edmond Catholic School in Fort Dodge. Check-in opens at 9 a.m., the day runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and registration is $30 per woman. Missionary, author, and University of Notre Dame campus minister Meg Hunter-Kilmer gives three sessions on Matthew 11:28, with small-group discussion, an extended lunch with vendors from across the diocese, confession, and adoration. The day is open to women of all ages and states of life. Register at SCDiocese.org/gathering. Coming Up Today on Iowa Catholic Radio Man Up with Joe Stopulos at 9 a.m., featuring part one of a two-part conversation with Dr. Bud Marr on living an authentic, manly life. Be Not Afraid at 9:30, the Rosary at 10, and local Mass at 10:30. Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #ServaFidem #DowlingCatholic #CatholicYouthMinistry #DioceseOfSiouxCity #CatholicWomen #BackToSchool #CatholicPodcast #CatholicFaith Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Deacon Kurt Heinrich — a permanent deacon of the Diocese of Des Moines and a theology teacher at Dowling Catholic High School — joins Bo Bonner on the feast of Saint Augustine to give listeners the short version of a very long life. Augustine was born in 354 into a mixed household: a non-believing father and a devout mother. Bright and restless, he pursued the things of the world — wealth, reputation, a teaching career that carried him from his hometown to Rome and then Milan. He entered the Church at thirty-three, baptized by the Bishop of Milan, Ambrose, and what followed was an explosion of work: more than two hundred books and over a thousand sermons and letters. Deacon Kurt's central point is that no one lives the faith in isolation. Augustine's conversion is unthinkable apart from Saint Monica, whose feast the Church kept just the day before — her prayer, her example, and her endurance through decades of watching her son chase everything else first. That communal reality, Deacon Kurt says, extends past this life to the communion of saints and the souls in purgatory, and it carries a practical word for parents today: pray for your kids, lift them up, and make small sacrifices for them regularly. Asked about Augustine's most famous line — that our hearts are restless until they rest in God — Deacon Kurt says anyone who has chased the world already knows it is true, because everything there eventually disappoints. He also offers a lesser-known line that has stayed with him, on no one crossing the sea of the world safely unless carried by the cross of Christ, and on that cross carrying us if we do not abandon it. For listeners intimidated by City of God or On the Trinity, Bo offers his own starting point: Augustine's Letter 130, written to Proba — a short catechism on prayer, built on the idea that God has set aside gifts our hearts are not yet large enough to receive, and that prayer is precisely what enlarges them. Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #SaintAugustine #SaintMonica #CatholicSaints #Confessions #CatholicConversion #CatholicPrayer #IowaCatholicRadio #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Shaun McAfee — Catholic author, apologist, and founder of EpicPew — joins Bo Bonner to discuss the Compendium of Eucharistic Miracles: An Encyclopedia of Miraculous Events Confirming the Real Presence (TAN Books), a hardcover volume collecting more than one hundred documented accounts alongside substantial Eucharistic theology. Shaun explains that Eucharistic miracles were instrumental in his own conversion, and that he has heard the same from dozens of converts over the years — which is why he wanted a book that tells the stories compellingly, arms Catholics with reasons to frequent adoration and receive the Eucharist reverently, and argues for the Real Presence along the way. Bo presses the important distinction: no Catholic is required to believe any particular miracle, since these are private revelation rather than divine revelation. Shaun agrees, and points to Mark 16 and Christ's promise that his power would be known through signs — blood pouring from hosts, luminous phenomena, levitating ciboria and monstrances — while insisting that the miracles always point back past themselves. What makes the consecrated host the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ is not a laboratory result or a thousand witnesses, but Christ's own words in the upper room. The two discuss why physical signs matter so much for creatures like us. Shaun draws the comparison to Saint Thomas Aquinas on the fitness of the Incarnation and the Passion: God did not need to save us this way, but chose what was most fitting and most expressive of his love. We are all, Shaun says, a little like Thomas in the upper room, needing to put our hands in the wounds — and God gives us these signs to recenter us. On the book itself: roughly the first ninety pages are devoted entirely to the Eucharist, working through the typology from the manna in the desert and the high priest Melchizedek of Salem into John chapter six and on into the Church Fathers, establishing that belief in the Real Presence is the original and sustained teaching of Christians, before moving into the heresies, the saints, and the feasts. Bo notes that TAN has produced it as a book meant to be kept and handed down — sacred words paired with sacred art on nearly every page, from crucifixion scenes to the Council of Trent. Get the book at TAN Books or wherever Catholic books are sold, and find more of Shaun's work at ShaunMcAfee.com. Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #EucharisticMiracles #ShaunMcAfee #RealPresence #TANBooks #Eucharist #CatholicApologetics #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell open Friday on the Memorial of Saint Augustine, one of the four great patriarchs of the Western Church and the saint whose name Pope Leo XIV invokes when he calls himself a son of Augustine. Mass today is at 8 a.m. at Saint Augustine in Milo (105.3 FM). Deacon Dan Rouse, a permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of Dubuque assigned to the Cedar Rapids Area Central Pastorate, prepares listeners for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Matthew 16:21–27. He offers three points on Jesus foretelling his passion: pride pulls our trust away from God and back onto ourselves; trials are a reality of a fallen world; and giving our lives away to others is how we grow in love. Deacon Dan traces how Peter goes from the rock of last Sunday's reading to a stumbling block just seven verses later, and invites listeners to bring Jesus into their sufferings rather than white-knuckling through them alone. The new Iowa Catholic Radio app launches Tuesday, September 1. Apple users will update automatically; Android users will need to download the new app. The rebuilt experience puts live listening one click away and makes shows, events, and station information easier to find — worth doing before Friday night football coverage kicks in. Details at IowaCatholicRadio.com. Author and apologist Shaun McAfee joins to discuss the Compendium of Eucharistic Miracles: An Encyclopedia of Miraculous Events Confirming the Real Presence (TAN Books). Shaun explains why Eucharistic miracles were instrumental in his own conversion, why the Church offers them as private revelation rather than required belief, and how the book pairs roughly ninety pages of Eucharistic theology — typology from the manna in the desert and Melchizedek through John 6 and the Church Fathers — with the miracle accounts themselves. Get the book at TAN Books and find more of Shaun's work at ShaunMcAfee.com. Deacon Kurt Heinrich, a permanent deacon of the Diocese of Des Moines who teaches theology at Dowling Catholic High School, gives listeners the short course on Saint Augustine: born in 354 to a non-believing father and a devout mother, a man of the world who chased wealth, fame, and career through Rome and Milan before his baptism at thirty-three by Saint Ambrose, followed by more than two hundred books and a thousand sermons and letters. Deacon Kurt's throughline is that no one lives the faith alone — Augustine is inseparable from Saint Monica's long-suffering prayer, and his closing word to parents is simply to pray and sacrifice for their kids. Bo adds his own recommendation for anyone wanting a short entry point into Augustine: Letter 130, to Proba, a compact catechism on prayer built around the idea that God has set aside gifts our hearts are not yet large enough to receive, and that prayer is what enlarges them. Jeanne Thill previews Making It Personal with Bishop William M. Joensen, airing Saturday at 8 a.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m. This week's guest is Fr. Ross Caniglia, a Council Bluffs native and Saint Albert alum, now a priest of the Diocese of Sioux City — a musician and former meteorologist who is the featured speaker at the Bishop's celebration of Catholic schools on Saturday night, an annual evening honoring teachers, principals, volunteers, and alumni. Coming up: Forge invites men to an evening with former Navy SEAL officer Sam Blair on identity rooted in being a son of the Father, Monday, September 14 at Smash Park in West Des Moines — doors 7:30 p.m., talk at 8 p.m., tickets $25, at MyForge.org. Iowa Catholic Radio's Eucharistic Miracles banner display is still available for parishes and schools to host (October is booking up; Ss. John and Paul in Altoona has claimed a spring slot), and the banners will be on full display at the Christ Our Life Conference, September 26–27 at Casey's Center in downtown Des Moines — ChristOurLifeIowa.com. Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #EucharisticMiracles #ShaunMcAfee #SaintAugustine #RealPresence #TANBooks #DowlingCatholic #CatholicPodcast #CatholicFaith Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Deacon Mark Campbell welcomes Janelle Menz, Iowa Catholic Radio's new Director of Mission Growth, for her first appearance on the Catholic Morning Show since joining the team a little over a month and a half ago. Janelle grew up in Dubuque in eastern Iowa, graduated from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and moved to central Iowa before a stint back near Benedictine — before most recently returning home to Iowa with her family. Janelle traces her connection to Iowa Catholic Radio back to her years as a listener, when Fr. John Riccardo's homilies helped carry her through difficult seasons, including job changes. She jumped straight into the deep end in her new role, helping lead the "Growing the Faith" tour featuring Catholic Answers apologist Karlo Broussard through Spencer, Creston, and Pella — an experience she says confirmed how much communities outside Des Moines want the station to show up in person, not just over the airwaves. As Director of Mission Growth, Janelle's focus is building relationships with parishes and communities throughout the state — from the Iowa Great Lakes region to Mason City to southern Iowa — bringing speakers, events, and a stronger local presence to places Iowa Catholic Radio hasn't been able to reach as consistently. She closes by reflecting on how becoming a wife and mother has deepened her understanding that a fruitful faith life starts with giving ourselves to God rather than simply asking what we get out of it. Listeners with an event or community interested in connecting with Iowa Catholic Radio can reach Janelle directly at [email protected]. Watch for her at the Christ Our Life Conference this September (ChristOurLifeIowa.com) and at her home parish, St. Pius X, in Des Moines. Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #JanelleMenz #IowaCatholicRadio #DirectorOfMissionGrowth #MeetTheTeam #CatholicRadio #CatholicEvangelization #GrowingTheFaith #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell open the show on the Memorial of Saint Monica, with Mass today at 8 a.m. at Saint Mary's in Oskaloosa (95.7 FM). As always on Thursday, Deacon Randy Kiel joins to preview this Sunday's Mass readings (22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time). This week's focus is the first reading, Jeremiah 20:7-9 — the prophet's raw, agonized complaint to God, "You duped me, O Lord" — which Deacon Randy unpacks as a picture of the consuming, purposeful fire of the Holy Spirit at work in a faithful life, even amid mockery and rejection. Full readings at USCCB. Janelle Menz, Iowa Catholic Radio's new Director of Mission Growth, joins for her first on-air appearance. Originally from Dubuque and a graduate of Benedictine College, Janelle shares how Fr. John Riccardo's homilies drew her to the station as a listener, how she landed the new role after moving back to central Iowa, and her vision for connecting Iowa Catholic Radio to communities beyond the Des Moines metro — from the Iowa Great Lakes region to Mason City to southern Iowa. She points to this summer's "Growing the Faith" tour with Catholic Answers apologist Karlo Broussard (stops in Spencer, Creston, and Pella) as a glimpse of what's possible, and invites listeners to reach out at [email protected]. Watch for Janelle at the Christ Our Life Conference in September (ChristOurLifeIowa.com) and at her home parish, St. Pius X, in Des Moines. The hosts also preview a relaunched Iowa Catholic Radio app arriving Monday, September 1 — iOS users will update automatically, while Android users will need to download the new version from the Android app store. The rebuilt app adds a full podcast library, an updated player, a live program schedule, the Sacred Music channel, and an easier-to-find Donate/Give button ahead of the station's fall fundraiser. To close the show, Bo and Deacon Mark discuss why the Church asks the saints to intercede for us rather than praying to God alone, then turn to Saint Monica's own story — 17 years of prayer and tears for her son Augustine's conversion, and the well-known account of the bishop of Milan, St. Ambrose, telling her that "the son of these tears" could not be lost. They reflect on a noticeable shift in the prayer requests Iowa Catholic Radio collected in its prayer box at the Iowa State Fair this year — fewer petitions for a child's return to the faith, and more stories of health struggles and of prayers already being answered — and encourage listeners still carrying that particular grief to remain steadfast in prayer. Prayer requests can be sent any time to [email protected] or by text to (515) 223-1150. Also in this episode: a first-time team member intro; the Iowa Catholic Radio booth's wrap-up notes from the fair; and tonight's Heartland for Kids benefit concert for Mary's Meals, 5:30–8:30 p.m. at Jasper Winery, 2400 George Flagg Parkway in Des Moines, featuring Nashville musicians Phoenix Mendoza, Josh Leo, and Kitty Steadman, with food from the Knights of Columbus and a free-will donation. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com. Forge's evening with former Navy SEAL officer Sam Blair is Monday, September 14 at Smash Park in West Des Moines (doors 7:30 p.m., talk at 8 p.m., tickets $25) — MyForge.org. Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #SaintMonica #SaintAugustine #IntercessionOfSaints #JanelleMenz #DowlingCatholic #LittleLeagueWorldSeries #CatholicPodcast #CatholicFaith Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. John Huynh, Director of Social Justice for the Diocese of Des Moines, joins Bo Bonner for his monthly segment to explore why Pope Leo XIV keeps returning to the theme of unity — from his inaugural Mass in St. Peter's Square to a recent address at the Communion and Liberation gathering. Dr. Huynh distinguishes unity from uniformity, explaining that the theological model for unity is the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as distinct persons who are perfectly one. Genuine communion, he argues, requires real difference — not sameness masquerading as peace. Dr. Huynh connects Pope Leo's teaching to Catholic social teaching on polarization, noting that division often reflects a wound in the human heart before it's a political problem: sin turns people inward, makes them quick to spot others' faults and blind to their own, and tempts believers to treat those who disagree with them as an "other" rather than a person made in God's image. He's careful to note this doesn't mean every position is equally true — but it does mean judging an idea is different from denying someone's dignity. Practically, Dr. Huynh recommends three habits for healing division at the personal level: recovering the art of face-to-face conversation instead of arguing online; deliberately maintaining friendships that cross political and social lines; and adopting a "hermeneutics of charity" — assuming the best in others — rather than a hermeneutics of suspicion. Learn more about the work of the Diocese of Des Moines' Office of Social Justice and find upcoming parish events at DMDiocese.org. Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #PopeLeoXIV #ChristianUnity #CatholicSocialTeaching #DioceseOfDesMoines #Polarization #Solidarity #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio #CatholicMorningShow #CatholicFaith Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Fr. Brian Hughes, a retired priest of the Diocese of Sioux City who studied sacred architecture, joins Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell to talk about the meaning behind church design. Fr. Hughes's own master's thesis in architectural history at the University of Virginia was titled "Sermons in Stone: The Ecclesiastical Design of William L. Steele," examining the Sioux City architect who designed a number of Catholic churches across northwest Iowa in the early 20th century. Fr. Hughes was drawn to the program at the request of then-Bishop Lawrence Soens, who wanted a priest equipped to guide the diocese's church construction and renovation projects. Fr. Hughes explains the sacramental logic behind church architecture: just as the Church uses water, bread, wine, oil, and gesture to express invisible spiritual realities, so too can stone, iron, glass, and mosaic be crafted to "express the invisible realities of heaven." He traces how mid-20th-century church architecture, especially after World War II, often lost that sense of transcendence, and reflects on his own path — a teenage interest in architecture that led, after ordination, to formal study and eventually to coordinating the major renovation of the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City. For listeners hoping to see this history firsthand, Fr. Hughes recommends a northwest Iowa church tour: the Gothic Revival Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City; smaller Gothic Revival churches in Remsen, Willey, and Roselle; William Steele's Sacred Heart Church in Fort Dodge, Holy Name Church in Marcus, and St. Joseph's Church in Milford; a Rambusch-designed church in Vail with windows depicting St. Anne; St. Mary's in Storm Lake, with stained glass and Stations of the Cross by Fr. Edward M. Catich, a Diocese of Davenport priest who founded the St. Ambrose University art department; and the contemporary 1960s-era St. Patrick's Church in Estherville. More on church architecture and design is available at LumenMedia.org. Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #SermonsInStone #ChurchArchitecture #FatherBrianHughes #WilliamSteele #DioceseOfSiouxCity #SacredArchitecture #CatholicArt #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio #CatholicMorningShow Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell open Wednesday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time, with Mass today at 5:30 p.m. at Saint Mary's in Greene (89.3 FM). It's also the feast of Our Lady of Częstochowa, the Black Madonna icon with deep roots in Polish Catholicism and a special devotion of Pope John Paul II, who visited the shrine four times during his pontificate. The hosts pay tribute to country music icon Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday in Nashville at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer. They reflect on her nearly 60-year marriage to Carl Dean, her eleven Grammy Awards and more than 100 million records sold, her role in bringing country music to a national audience, and her lifelong, unapologetic Christian faith — recommending listeners seek out her gospel music, especially her rendition of "Power in the Blood." Retired Diocese of Sioux City priest Fr. Brian Hughes joins to talk church architecture, explaining why buildings are sometimes called "sermons in stone" and how sacred architecture uses the things of the earth — stone, glass, iron, mosaic — to express the invisible realities of heaven. Fr. Hughes studied architectural history at the University of Virginia at the request of then-Bishop Lawrence Soens, focusing his research on Sioux City architect William L. Steele, and recommends a northwest Iowa church tour that includes the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City, Sacred Heart Church in Fort Dodge, Holy Name Church in Marcus, St. Joseph's Church in Milford, and the contemporary St. Patrick's Church in Estherville. Katie Patrizio previews this Sunday's Gospel, Matthew 16:21-27 — Jesus's first prediction of his passion and Peter's rebuke, "Get behind me, Satan" — unpacking the wordplay between Peter as "rock" (Petros) and "stumbling block" (skandalon) just one paragraph after his confession of faith. Catch the full episode of Sunday Dive at SundayDive.com or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Dr. John Huynh, Director of Social Justice for the Diocese of Des Moines, returns for his monthly segment to unpack Pope Leo XIV's repeated calls for Christian unity, rooted theologically in the Trinity rather than uniformity. Dr. Huynh discusses how polarization turns people inward, and offers practical steps — recovering real conversation, deliberately maintaining relationships across divides, and choosing a "hermeneutics of charity" over suspicion. Learn more about diocesan events at DMDiocese.org. Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #SermonsInStone #ChurchArchitecture #PopeLeoXIV #ChristianUnity #DollyParton #DioceseOfSiouxCity #CatholicPodcast #CatholicFaith Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell open Tuesday on the Feast of Saint Louis IX, with Mass today at 8:30 a.m. at Saint Anthony in Knoxville (95.7 FM). Deacon Mark Campbell, drawing on his own vow as a permanent deacon to pray Lauds and Vespers daily, walks through the history and structure of the Liturgy of the Hours — from its roots in the Temple in Jerusalem, through the Benedictine monastic tradition of praying eight times a day, to the streamlined 1970 reform still used today. He and Bo discuss Pope Leo XIV's recent call for families to bring the Liturgy of the Hours into their prayer life, and Bo shares how discovering the Psalms and the Church's ancient prayers helped shape his own conversion to Catholicism. For listeners who want to start praying the hours, the hosts recommend the Revised Grail Psalms commentary from the Benedictine Monks of Conception Abbey (translated by Abbot Gregory Polan), the free Universalis app, and physical prayer books available through Divine Treasures — with a new translation of the Liturgy of the Hours expected in 2027. Before that, Bo and Deacon Mark reflect on a record-setting 2026 Iowa State Fair, which drew more than 1.2 million fairgoers over eleven days — shattering the 2024 record by more than 36,000 visitors, with four individual single-day attendance records and a record grandstand crowd despite Rod Stewart's canceled concert. The hosts unpack why the fair's growth points to a deeper human hunger for community and tradition, and thank the volunteers who staffed the Iowa Catholic Radio booth throughout the eleven-day run. Summer intern Mary Stastny also joins the show before heading back to the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, to begin her sophomore year studying general communications. Mary reflects on two summers producing and editing for Iowa Catholic Radio, growing in her Marian devotion (including a recent pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, Wisconsin), and what she's learned about telling truth well through story. Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #LiturgyOfTheHours #PopeLeoXIV #IowaStateFair #CatholicPrayer #SaintLouisIX #DowlingCatholic #CatholicPodcast #CatholicRadio Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mary Stastny, Iowa Catholic Radio's summer intern for two years running, joins Bo Bonner before packing up for her sophomore year at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. Mary walks through her daily work behind the scenes — recording and editing the station's podcasts, editing the daily Masses from Saint Theresa, Saint Pius, and Saint Francis, and serving as assistant producer to Ayden Pugh — and describes how a summer spent recognizing patterns in audio waveforms has sharpened her editing instincts. A general communications major, Mary shares how her coursework (this year including photography, interpersonal communications, and Intro to Narrative) is shaping how she thinks about storytelling, truth, and communicating a good message well. She also reflects on how her time at the University of Mary has deepened her devotion to the Blessed Mother, including a recent pilgrimage — the university's "Charge of Champion" — to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, Wisconsin, the only Church-approved Marian apparition site in the United States. Mary will continue doing remote production work for Iowa Catholic Radio throughout the school year. Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #CatholicRadio #BehindTheScenes #UniversityOfMary #CatholicMediaInternship #OurLadyOfGoodHelp #CatholicPodcast #IowaCatholicRadio #FaithAndMedia Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell open a new week on the Feast of Saint Bartholomew, with Mass today at 7:15 a.m. at Saint Francis of Assisi in West Des Moines (105.5 FM). Catholic therapist Justin Derry joins the show to unpack the psychological benefits of confession — from grounding ourselves in the objective reality of God's mercy to using the sacrament as a model for reconciling our own relationships. Justin previews his talk at the second annual Mercy and Forgiveness men's retreat, open to any adult man, Saturday, September 19 at Saint Anthony Church in Hospers, beginning at 6:15 a.m. with the rosary, morning prayer, and Mass, followed by talks, adoration, confession, and lunch. More information and registration at Lumen Media. Alexia Baker recaps eleven days at the Iowa State Fair, where she tried a slice of the nearly 80 new foods and drinks on offer for her "Where's Alexia" series, sharing behind-the-scenes looks at vendors like The Depot's dirty sodas and Campbell's corn dogs. Her top three: the Cajun Cluck and Chaos sandwich, the affogato at the Biscuit Bar, and the peanut butter and jelly corn dog. Catch the full video series and follow along at @iacatholicradio on Instagram and TikTok, and Iowa Catholic Radio on Facebook. Also in this episode: a look back at Saturday's record-breaking single-day fair attendance of 30,654 people, with final 2026 totals expected to fall just short of 2024's all-time record of 1,182,682 fairgoers; first-day-of-school well-wishes for students across the Des Moines metro (Saint Luke the Evangelist in Ankeny starts Wednesday); and a lighthearted look at a San Diego man dressed as Darth Vader making the rounds at city council meetings to mock surveillance "flock camera" technology. Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #Confession #MercyAndForgiveness #CatholicTherapy #IowaStateFair #WheresAlexia #SaintBartholomew #CatholicPodcast #BackToSchool   Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Alexia Baker joins Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell to recap eleven days at the Iowa State Fair, where she launched a new social media series tasting her way through nearly 80 new foods and drinks for 2026. Alexia's top three picks: the Cajun Cluck and Chaos sandwich, the affogato at the Biscuit Bar, and a peanut butter and jelly corn dog. Along the way, she got behind-the-scenes looks at how vendors like The Depot (dirty sodas) and Campbell's (corn dogs) run their operations, and connected with fairgoers who followed the "Where's Alexia" series throughout the run. Alexia reflects on how the series grew into something bigger than food reviews — a chance to build community and meet people where they are, echoing this year's record-breaking fair: Saturday alone drew an all-time single-day record of 30,654 fairgoers, with 2026's final attendance expected to land just behind 2024's all-time record of 1,182,682 fairgoers. Catch the full "Where's Alexia" video series and follow Iowa Catholic Radio at @iacatholicradio on Instagram and TikTok, and Iowa Catholic Radio on Facebook. Find the Iowa Catholic Radio booth at the fair each year near the Bill Riley Stage. Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #IowaStateFair #WheresAlexia #IowaStateFair2026 #StateFairFood #CatholicRadio #IowaCatholicRadio #CatholicPodcast #DesMoines Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell wrap up a blessed week at the Iowa State Fair on the Memorial of Saint Pius X, patron of the Diocese of Des Moines, with Mass today at 8:30 a.m. at Visitation Parish in Stacyville (89.3 FM). Making his first appearance on the show, Deacon Dan Rouse of St. Patrick's Parish in Cedar Rapids (Archdiocese of Dubuque) previews this Sunday's Gospel, Matthew 16:13-20 — Peter's declaration that Jesus is the Christ. Drawing on a 2023 pilgrimage to the site of Caesarea Philippi (Banias) in the Holy Land, Deacon Dan unpacks why Jesus chose a former pagan "Gate of Hell" shrine to declare that Peter is the rock on which he'll build his Church, and asks listeners not just who they say Jesus is, but why. Dr. Ryan Allen, president of the FIRE Foundation of Northwest Iowa (Families for Inclusive Religious Education, also known as Ignite the Fire), shares how the birth of his daughter Sawyer, who has Down syndrome, sparked a mission to include students with disabilities in Catholic schools throughout the Diocese of Sioux City. Ryan explains the foundation's major grants (due each January, funding positions like interventionists and special-education resource teachers) and micro-grants (up to $1,500, available year-round for curriculum, technology, and staff training), and invites listeners to the 6th Annual Ignite the Fire fundraiser at a new venue — the Sioux City Distilling Company — on Wednesday, September 16 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets and more info at FIRE Foundation of NW Iowa. Legendary Iowa Catholic Radio voice Mark Amadeo joins to mark a double milestone: 50 years of Iowa Catholic Radio and his own 45th season calling Dowling Catholic football. Mark previews a Dowling defense and offensive line loaded with Division I talent, breaks down the season opener — the Battle of West Des Moines against Valley at Valley Stadium, Friday, August 28, pregame around 6:20 p.m. and kickoff at 7 p.m. — and looks back on how the broadcast has evolved from press-box phone jacks in 1981 to today's internet and cell connections. Sponsorship opportunities for the Dowling broadcasts are still available; reach out to Mike at IowaCatholicRadio.com to learn more. Also in this episode: a preview of Bishop Johnson's Making It Personal (airing Saturday at 8 a.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m.), featuring seminarians Duncan Kyle and Parker Corwin on their propaedeutic year of silent retreats, poverty immersion, and life without technology; and a lighthearted look ahead to The Uncommon Good's take on the rising belief in UFOs (UAPs) — including a new survey showing 54% of younger Americans are more inclined to believe in aliens after recent news coverage. Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com. #CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #IgniteTheFire #FireFoundation #DowlingCatholic #CatholicEducation #DownSyndrome #IowaStateFair #SaintPiusX #CatholicPodcast Credits: Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Ayden Pugh, Alexia Baker, and Brady Grimm. ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Catholic Morning Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode — and if this one was worth your time, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. It takes ten seconds and it's the single best way to help more people find the show. 🎧 LISTEN LIVE Catch The Catholic Morning Show live, weekday mornings on Iowa Catholic Radio. Listen Live · Program Schedule · Our Stations LINKSYou can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok! More on our website.If you would like to support Iowa Catholic Radio you can donate Here! More from Iowa Catholic Radio:Sunday Dive with Katie PatrizioMan Up! with Joe StopulosCatholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie NelsonThe Uncommon Good with Bo Bonner and Dr. Bud MarrBe Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce RiebeBe Not Afraid en Español con el P. Fabián MoncadaMaking it Personal with Bishop William JoensenFaith and Family Finance with Gregory WaddleThe Great Men of the Bible with Joe Stopulos Liturgy & DevotionsThe Daily Gospel Reflection with Fr. Nick SmithThe Daily Mass from St. Francis of AssisiThe Daily Mass from St. Pius XThe Daily Mass from St. TheresaSunday Mass from the Basilica of Saint JohnWant to support your favorite show? Click Here Iowa Catholic Radio - Connecting People to Christ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.