Respect Life Radio

Sister Maris Stella: The Eucharist as the source of our life — and of the gospel of life

"Today I would like to speak to you about how the Eucharist is the source of our life and it enables us to live the gospel of life," said Sr. Maris Stella, SV, of the Sisters of Life. "As the basis of my reflection, I'll use the Gospel of John and I'll speak about three things: the dignity of the human person, transforming the culture and abiding in Jesus' Eucharistic heart."

St. Maris Stella spoke as part of the Gospel of Life Presentation 2022, sponsored by Respect Life Denver and held Oct. 22 at St. Thomas More Catholic Parish in Centennial, Colorado. 

This episode of Respect Life Radio presents extended excerpts of her remarks. Video of her full remarks is at https://vimeo.com/765124079 and video of the full Gospel of Life event is at https://vimeo.com/764216851.

Sister Maris Stella was the first guest on Respect Life Radio in July 2018. You can listen to that episode at this link.  

For more on the Sisters of Life, go to sistersoflife.org. For more on Respect Life Denver, go to respectlifedenver.org.

Joy Stockbauer: Rebuilding a culture of life by studying the fall of communism

"What's really so parallel between communism and the culture of death in the United States is this common quality of failing to respect humanity, failing to respect the dignity of the human person. So we see that within communism — and then, of course, we see that within the abortion culture that has been built in the United States since 1973," said Joy Stockbauer, policy analyst for the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council. 

"What Communism Can Teach Us About Rebuilding a Culture of Life" is the title of Stockbauer's recent commentary in The Washington Stand.
Follow her @joystockbauer on Twitter.

Phil Lawler: No need to apologize for hard truths

Everybody knows "the Catholic position on abortion...on contraception and divorce and homosexual acts...so when Catholic priests or bishops or any kind of spokesman for the Church seems to shy away from saying what everybody knows the Church believes, it makes it look as if we're ashamed of our beliefs or we're hypocritical about our beliefs. It makes the witness of the Church — well, just wimpy. No one is attracted to an institution whose representatives won't be forthright in defending what we know the institution believes and preaches," said Phil Lawler, editor of Catholic World News and book author.

Lawler's commentary, "Apologizing for hard truths," described a homily on sin given in Ireland by Fr. Sean Sheehy, resulting in an apology from Bishop Ray Browne, Bishop of Kerry.

Follow Lawler @PhilLawler on Twitter and listen to a previous Respect Life Radio interview with him, "Denying Communion to Speaker Pelosi a teaching moment for us all."

 

Fr. Peter Stravinskas: How to really pursue a Eucharistic Revival

Jesus Christ is present "body, blood, soul and divinity" in the Eucharist, "so why the lack of belief in that truth? And I suggest that it's because of the way we regard and handle — and manhandle — the Eucharist, so that the signs and symbols of the liturgy are not reinforcing the doctrine," said Fr. Peter M.J. Stravinskas, Ph.D., who wrote an article for The Catholic Thing, titled "What's Really Needed for a 'Eucharistic Revival.'"

In his article, Fr. Stravinskas cited a number of reasons for that lack of belief in the Real Presence, including the "Loss of Latin" and "Removal of the altar rails" and "Communion in the hand."

"In all of this talk about the Eucharistic Revival coming from the Bishops' Conference, none of these issues — not one of them — is addressed," said Fr. Stravinskas in the Respect Life Radio interview.

Fr. Stravinskas is a founder of the Priestly Society of Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman and president of the Catholic Education Foundation.

Greg Baylor: How a proposed marriage law targets religious liberty

The Respect for Marriage Act "poses a pretty significant risk to religious Americans, both individuals and organizations. Like the Equality Act, it hopes to cement into federal law the idea that marriage is not the institution, defined by God, consisting of the union of one man and one woman. It goes, obviously, far beyond that...The first thing it does is to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act that was passed by huge bipartisan majorities and signed by Pres. Clinton in the 1990s. It also imposes an obligation on many — including, potentially, religious organizations — to recognize same-sex marriage. And that's the piece that creates a lot of the religious liberty problems. And then the last thing it does is to define marriage for federal government purpose," said Greg Baylor, director of Center for Religious Schools and Senior Counsel for Government Affairs at Alliance Defending Freedom. 

Follow @GregBaylor on Twitter and listen to previous Respect Life Radio interviews with him: "Fairness for All Act a bad compromise on religious liberty" in 2020 and "Equality Act an assault on religious freedom" in 2019.

Dr. Kevin Vost: Taking care of your body for health and holiness

Citing the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, "It is a call to properly care for our bodies," said Dr. Kevin Vost, Psy.D., a professor and author whose many books include, "You Are That Temple! A Catholic Guide to Health and Holiness" (Sophia Institute Press). "We're not talking about just the capacity that you can run miles or lift some huge weight, but just that we're properly maintaining our bodies, trying to minimize the chances of getting any diseases that are going to slow us down. So that we're hopefully going to feel good and have energy and be able to use our bodies to serve our families and to serve other people."

Learn more at his website, drvost.com.

 

Maggie Green: Praying for your kids to return to the faith

"No one wants to be a member of this club. You just wake up and find out that you've got a card. But what I have found is there's a tremendous fellowship. I know of a couple of parishes where they've formed, quite literally, a St. Monica Club, and they started with reading the book and then they meet...to pray for their families and to have fellowship and to help each other bear the burden," said Maggie Green, the pen name of the author of "The Saint Monica Club: How to Hope, Wait, and Pray for Your Fallen-Away Loved Ones" (Sophia Institute Press).

"The number one thing you can do for whoever it is that you long to have united with Christ — is bring that person in your prayers, to the Blessed Mother," said Green later in the interview. "She knows exactly how you feel. She has heard that cry over and over again. Think of all the rosaries that have been said to her, on behalf of someone who loves someone else who does not know her son."

She recently published an article, "I Still Have Hope That Christ Will Bring My Kids Back to the Faith," on Catholic Exchange.

David Closson: Biblical principles to engage an arrogant culture

"The idea of us trying to impose our sense of right and wrong — especially on something that's so clear [as pro-life] and to tell God we know better — my goodness that is the height of arrogance. But we do live in an arrogant culture that thinks we know better than God," said David Closson, director of the Center for Biblical Worldview at Family Research Council. "In the dialogue and conversations around this particular issue, you see that coming out, unfortunately."

Download a booklet, "Biblical principles for pro-life engagement," from the FRC website. Hear a previous Respect Life Radio interview with Closson, "Amid all the confusion, what is your worldview?" Follow him @DavidClosson on Twitter.

Fr. Jeffrey Kirby: How the Brown Scapular can deepen your life in Jesus Christ

"The scapular literally sitting on our body reminds us that we are consecrated to Jesus Christ, through Our Lady; that we follow a different path; we carry His yoke, the scapular almost even looks like a symbolic yoke that we wear on our shoulders," said Fr. Jeffrey Kirby, STD, a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, S.C., and the author of books, including "A Journey to Mount Carmel: A Nine-Day Preparation for Investiture in the Brown Scapular of Our Lady" (Sophia Institute Press). "So every day, that scapular is a reminder that I'm going to talk about Jesus Christ. I'm going to follow His way and remain faithful to Him. I'm going to love Him and speak about Him and speak about moral truth and talk about prayer. I will not let myself be silenced."

Learn more about Fr. Kirby at his website, frkirby.com, and follow him @FatherKirby on Twitter.

Charles Nemeth: Understanding the rules of true happiness

For Aristotle and Aquinas, happiness is "a state of contentment, an ability not to get into the highs or the lows but to be right in the mean of the highs and the lows — which means that you're balanced about these things, so your balance of your own intellect and your own will and you're capable of not getting distressed or too depressed or too happy about any particular thing," said Charles P. Nemeth, Ph.D., author of "Finding Happiness in a Complex World: Rules from Aristotle and Aquinas" (Sophia Institute Press). Nemeth is a professor and program director of criminal justice at Franciscan University and the director of its Center for Criminal Justice, Law and Ethics.