Respect Life Radio

Ines Murzaku: How a singing sensation reveals a crisis in vocations

"Various religious orders in the Church are failing precisely because they have abandoned their constitutions, their charisms — and for what?" said Ines A. Murzaku, Ph.D., professor of religion and director of Catholic Studies Program at Seton Hall University. 

Murzaka wrote a commentary, "Like a Virgin?" for The Catholic Thing. She described what happened to Cristina Scuccia after winning "The Voice of Italy" in 2014. An Ursiline nun, Scuccia later left the religious order and "is now a waitress in Spain," according to the article, citing media reports.

See more from Prof. Murzaka at her webpage.

Debbie Cowden: Tired parents, here’s a prayer book just for you

"If you're feeling helpless in your vocation, if you're feeling like you're resenting parenthood or marriage, family life — we want you to be able to find hope; to be able to have some practical tools for getting yourself out of that rut and to be able to experience the joy of your vocation and the love of God — and experience God's peace in your home. We really hope that our book accomplishes that for fellow Catholic parents," said Debbie Cowden, co-author with her husband, David, of "The Prayer Book for Tired Parents: Practical Ways to Grow in Love of God and Get Your Family to Heaven" (Sophia Institute Press). 

Debbie Cowden is senior digital media specialist at EWTN. The Cowdens live in Ohio with their three young children. Learn more about the book at TiredCatholicParents.com.

James Papandrea: Reading the Bible through the Church Fathers

"We live in a world that is so focused on the self and individualism and each person making him- or herself their highest authority, that when you apply that sort of worldview and that sort of way of thinking to reading Scripture, then it very quickly becomes...all about me. And that's entirely the wrong way to read Scripture...Especially as our culture has been influenced by the Protestant Reformation and Protestant Christianity, I think that we have lost our way in terms of how we are supposed to read Scripture," said James L. Papandrea, Ph.D., a professor of Church History and Historical Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill.

Papandrea is the author of books, including "Reading Scripture Like the Early Church: Seven Insights from the Church Fathers to Help You Understand the Bible" (Sophia Institute Press). 

Learn more at his website and hear a previous Respect Life Radio interview with him: "Pondering the truths of the early Church? It’s Catholic."

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.