With the holidays fast approaching, most children are focused on the joys associated with Christmas. But, for some who have lost a close family member, the holidays can be very hard. In Anthony DeStafano's newest children's book, Christmas in Heaven, children find comfort in the theological virtue of hope - a hope that will assist them throughout t…

"For too many of us, life is harder than it needs to be. We have forgotten the ancient system of “super habits” — a specific set of habits for making decisions, managing our emotions and dealing with other people that fosters lives of greater ease, happiness and power," writes Dr. Andrew Abela in his new book Superhabits: The Universal System for a…

"The Ten Commandments are all about relationships. The first three commandments pertain to our relationship with God...and the next seven pertain to our relationships with one another," explains Ed Van Buskirk, Founder and President of If U Love Me. Established in 2018 by Ed, If U Love Me is a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring the truth…

"Reducing babies to one among various competing goods—a child, a yacht or a house—reinforces our society’s disinclination to value them as ends," writes Emma Waters in her new article called "Pro-Natalism is Not Enough" on the First Things website. "Civilization depends on individuals recognizing that building a family and nurturing children is an …

"Our Lady faced so many more trials and sorrows than we will ever face in our lives," Ruth Berghorst shares, drawing from her personal devotion and insights from her latest book, Contemplating the Seven Sorrows of Mary, co-authored with Dr. Joseph Hollcraft. Ruth explains how devotion to Mary’s sorrows reveals a path to overcoming temptations and t…

"The teaching that best describes St. Ignatius of Antioch....is that the only way to find yourself is if you're prepared to lose yourself and to give everything over to God," explains Dr. Regis Martin. Drawing from his latest book, March to Martyrdom: Seven Letters on Sanctity from St. Ignatius of Antioch, Dr. Martin highlights three key themes fro…

"God doesn't ask us to do anything we can't do. But that doesn't mean He won't give us some challenges along the way," says Phil Lawler, editor of Catholic World News (CWN). Phil is also the author and editor of 12 books on political and religious topics, with his essays, book reviews, and editorial columns featured in over 100 newspapers across th…

"They act like we're the evil ones, the subversive ones," says Anne Hendershott, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH. "They call us the bad people, the evil people when they are the ones promoting evil." Dr. Hendershott is the author of The Politics of Envy…

"We are unapologetically Catholic and we bring our faith with us to every interaction with patients, their families and neighbors," said Vicki Owens, MS, BSN, RN is a nurse and has provided exceptional health care in the Denver area for over 42 years. Vicki is currently the Chief Executive and Nursing Officer for Emmaus Catholic Hospice in Denver, …

Jim Valois holds a B.A. in Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville. His articles and book reviews have been featured in The Wanderer Newspaper, Soul Magazine (World Apostolate of Fatima, USA), and Catholic Life Magazine. He is the author of Our Lady's Prophecies and reverted to the Catholic faith from Evangelicalism while studying at Fr…

"Early primers for learning how to read included the 10 Commandments... but in 1980, someone had a problem with it and raised it to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the 10 Commandments should not be part of the public space. Now there's something really critically missing now," said Ed Van Buskirk, the Founder and President of If U Love Me, a Ca…

"If you don't know what you're talking about, you won't be able to convince anyone to take you seriously, no matter how pious you seem or how good your works are. If people can see that you lack understanding, they won't listen," asserts David Paul Deavel, an Associate Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas-Houston. Prof. Deavel is a…

“It's like the more we worship ourselves, and we certainly see this on social media, the less we worship God,” says Patrick O'Hearn, a devout Catholic, husband and father. "Most of the time I'm just telling Jesus what I think, even complaining to him. How often do I say to the Lord "What do you want from me? What do you need from me?" In his new ne…

“Then finally I started to realize that the Catholics that I interact with are dying to know more about the faith. We have so many Catholics in America that if we simply get them on fire for the truth, we’d win the whole rest of the world because we really have a gold mine just with the people who are Catholic in in in sitting in the pews,” said Le…

"The Lord put it on my heart to write this article after He showed it to me and revealed it to my heart that this was a fault that I have and that it's something that's keeping me from being closer to Him and doing His will in my life," said Suellen Brewster, author of the new article "Does People Pleasing Lead to Holiness at catholicexchange.com. …

"I think if more and more people could argue these issues from a child's perspective, we might be able to change some hearts," said Doug Mainwaring, author of a new article at LifeSiteNews.com about Scholastic's new "pride" guide calling on children as young as kindergarten to become involved in the LGBTQA+ effort. "Timeless truths are being discar…

"Society is lost and confused about God, morality, and eternity," said Bishop Schneider in his new book Flee from Heresy. "Catholics face persecution, from outside and inside the Church, for living their Faith. In his newest book, Bishop Athanasius Schneider — raised among persecuted Catholics in the Soviet Union — offers a systematic treatment of …

"If you're worried about everyone liking you so you don't say anything, then it's yourself you are worried about and caring about. It takes courage to speak up," says Patti (Maguire) Armstrong in this week's podcast. "Leave it to God and pray to the Holy Spirit. I don't know where to begin. I don't know who I'm supposed to sit next to but God does.…

"There is no political, cultural or economic solution to the crisis we're facing because the crisis is not political, cultural or economic because it's spiritual. We're losing a spiritual battle. We're losing a war for the soul of the West. Everything else flows from that," says Michael Warren Davis, author of the upcoming book After Christendom. "…

"As you get older, if you believe in a God who has promised us a life everlasting, it changes everything. It changes your anxiety level," said Robert Trussel, author of the new book The Logic that God Exists, a handbook on belief in God through simple reason to bring you peace. "If you believe that you're on a path toward eternal bliss and everlast…

"The Catholic Church talks about the complementarity of men and women, the extent to which men and women compliment each other. Neither one is better than the other but they're different," says Bill Donohue, president and CEO of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization. "But we live…

"Every child is a gift from God, no matter how they're here," said Sarah Stula, an attorney in Kansas City. "The point is where do we go from here to protect unborn life?" Stula recently authored an article in First Things called "Evangelical America and IVF" in response to the February decision by the Alabama Supreme Court that ruled that human em…

"When you ask people who knew him to describe him, the first word out of their mouth is 'brilliant.' We throw that word around a lot but he was literally brilliant. The thing that made him so incredible was that scholars could talk to him about ancient languages but someone like me could talk to him about bass fishing and Nascar," said Karen Hall a…

"Mother Cabrini was incredibly politically savvy, more so than you would typically expect from a nun," said Kristen Van Uden Theriault, the author of The Mother Cabrini Companion, A Spiritual Journey with a Courageous Woman of God. "Her life of service is a testament that she wasn't doing this for herself, but for the glory of God." Theriault has d…

One night, I was out on the road with a band and I had an encounter with Jesus and it changed me," said John Michael Talbot, GRAMMY / DOVE Award winning Christian Music pioneer who has just released his first autobiography titled Late Have I Loved You. "I started reading the early Church Fathers and I saw the primitive expressions of what we now ca…

"G.K. Chesterton wrote about everything. He defended God against a godless society, defended Christianity specifically against other religions and then ended up defending the Catholic faith against, well, everything else," said Dale Ahlquist, author of six books, editor of 16 more, public speaker, Evangelical convert to Catholicism and Catholic apo…

"There is so much good scientific evidence for God, the soul and transcendence that I wanted to include in this book. There's so much to include that wasn't available to previous generations," said Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., the founder and president of the Spitzer Center. A scholar, teacher, author and seasoned leader, Fr. Spitzer is a pre-e…

“I discovered the Catholic Church and found a certain stability there that was just unlike anything I'd ever known,” says Dom David Watters, author of the new daily devotional Just for Today. “There's something really powerful in this institution and something truly, really real.” The son of Protestant missionaries, Dom David grew up in Kathmandu, …

“Men seem to have a delayed grief relative to women,” says Bryan Feger, co-author of The Grief of Dads: Support and Hope for Catholic Fathers Navigating Child Loss from Ave Maria Press. “And usually that's because they're focused on providing care and support for their wife, and so they delay their grief.” A member of the Knights of Columbus, Bryan…

“There are countless different obstacles, all layered on top of each other,” says Rachel Hoover Canto of the journey to finding one’s spouse in today’s world. “It’s a very complicated situation, and I tried to address all the different obstacles I was hearing about and then provide at least a starting point, some tips for starting to overcome each …

“To be honest, I was in a very dark place,” says Jason Jones, author of the new book The Great Campaign: Against the Great Reset. "I wanted to give people hope--I wanted to give myself hope, and I looked to the church." Jason is also an activist, film producer, podcast host and the president of the Human Rights Education Organization (H.E.R.O.). He…

"We are constantly being tempted by demons throughout the day. It's not a big deal if you ignore it. That's just normal temptation. But there are billions, trillions of demons who are working to destroy everyone on the planet, whoever is on the planet at the time," said Charles D. Fraune, author of the new book "The Occult Among Us. "One of them is…

“Christ indicated in the revelations that it’s the greatest devotion to make reparation for the greatest crime,” says Mary Jane Zuzolo, author of the new book Unveiling the Sixth Station of the Cross. The crime she speaks of is blasphemy, which she defines as any affront to God’s rights as outlined in the first three commandments. The devotion is p…

"We know that 93% of what is communicated in a conversation is non-verbal. That's a combination of our body language - Are we leaning in? Have we established eye contact? Have we put down our phone to signal to the other person that we're attentive? - so we have to be mindful of that as we prepare for sacred conversation," says Dr. Christopher Reed…

"It's a beautiful life that we could be living in each moment, but what many of us decide to do is to drown ourselves in false electronic contentment," said Michael Toscano, executive director of the Institute for Family Studies. In his new First Things article "Recovering our Memory" Michael writes, "It became quickly apparent to me that smartphon…

"You have to tune your antenna for what God wants you to do," said Anthony DeStefano, author of the new book "The Story of the First Easter Bunny," on how he decides what topics to write. Anthony is an American author, television host and activist. He has written five bestselling Christian books for adults, including: A Travel Guide to Heaven and T…

"His audience was 60% non-Catholic and so he prepared his message in such a way that people didn't know he was referring to St. Thomas Aquinas or (other Catholic documents.) He simply wanted to start with something that was common to everybody and, from there, lead them to divine truths," said Dr. Peter Howard of the Venerable Fulton J. Sheen. Dr. …

When Servant of God Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres received her famous apparitions from Our Lady — known as the Quito apparitions — she was so appalled that she died. A doctor confirmed her shocking death. But thankfully, when her sisters prayed, she was raised to life again. This remarkable story is part of James Valois' new book "Our Lady's Proph…

"Lent is an ideal time to make resolutions and go further. As scripture says - now is the beginning, now is the day of salvation," said Matthew Plese, author of Restoring Lost Customs of Christendom. In this informative book, Matthew Plese, who has devoted himself to studying and living the traditional calendar, takes us step by step through some o…

"She's able to see our pain," said Patrick O'Hearn of Our Lady. Patrick is a devout Catholic, husband and father. He is an author, literary consultant, speaker and a freelance editor. He spent close to three years in a Benedictine Monastery before discerning the call to marriage. He graduated with a master's in education from Franciscan University …

"A lot of people don't want to accept that there's a lack of clarity within the Church today," said Anthony Stine, a Catholic convert from agnosticism whose conversion was influenced by G.K. Chesterton, Fulton Sheen, Hilaire Belloc, and St. Philomena. Anthony received a Ph.D. in Public Affairs and Policy in December 2020 and is Political Scientist …

"To grow stronger in your faith, it first starts with prayer, the most Holy Rosary, goes into meditation and a deep intimacy with Mary and Jesus. The love of knowing God more, of knowing Mary more, will propel you to learn more about the faith, to spread the faith," said Claire Aalerud, a youth minister in Sugarland, Texas. She has her own YouTube …

"The culture assaults good parents and essentially says you're out of touch. Your kid needs to think this way," said Dr. Ray Guarendi, author of the new book "Standing Strong - Good Discipline Makes Great Teens. "The kids look around them and see what their peers are allowed to do and they see all the opportunities they want that mom and dad won't …

"Marriage is really a decision to love the other, in the sense of putting the other first," said R. Jared Staudt, Catholic father, teacher, writer, speaker and Benedictine oblate dedicated to helping others to experience and embrace the vibrant tradition of Catholic life. "And when you do that, it's fruitful. Marriage is meant to be fruitful and br…

“The stakes are very high and the choices we have are simple and stark. You’ve got to choose. You can’t maneuver your way in. It’s God or the devil. Light or darkness,” said Regis Martin, Professor of Theology and Faculty Associate with the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. He earned a licentiate…

"Holy men and women will often have a clearer vision than the rest of us about our ultimate goal and of the fundamental moral principles that should guide our lives," writes Randall B. Smith, a Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas in his recent article called "Holiness and Prudence" in The Catholic Thing. "These g…

"We want quick fixes and The Surrender Novena encourages us to let Jesus take care of it,"said Maria Palma Smith, a certified Catholic life coach and Italian translator who recently finished the transition of Father Don Dolindo, the author of the Surrender Novena, which will be published next year. "We need to surrender our will to God and that's t…

"The whole point of love is to lead people to heaven," says Constance T. Hull, wife, mother, homeschooler, and a graduate with an M.A. in Theology with an emphasis in philosophy. "The way I look at it is that love is expressed most perfectly on the cross. Love is crucified so that means we draw people into that reality and we love them enough to lo…

"Much of American culture, especially that in the coastal regions, is no longer set up to accommodate families. In areas with such a high cost of living, there is even greater emphasis on the assumed need to have two incomes," writes Anna Kaladish Reynolds in her recent article in Crisis Magazine, Why Are Americans Having Fewer Children Than They W…

"We're going through a tough time in the church, in academics and the entire world right now," said Father Ed Broom, OMV, is Associate Pastor of St. Peter Chanel Church in Hawaiian Gardens, California. He is a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary and was ordained by Blessed John Paul II on May 25, 1986. Fr Ed's teaches Catholic Ignatian Marian …