On this week's episode, we're listening to a Facebook Live interview featuring Brother Dominic Michael Heart of the Franciscan Brothers of Peace in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Franciscan Brothers of Peach are a community of Franciscan Brothers consecrated freely to Christ by the vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience. They live an active life of prayer, brotherhood, and service, rebuilding the Dignity of Human Life through the works of mercy. They are a public association of the faithful, following the TOR Franciscan Rule and their Community Statutes, under the gracious care of their Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Brother Dominic Michael’s topic today is “The Holy Spirit's Role in Evangelization” and he is interviewed by IRL Board member, Jesse Weiler. Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy! 

Started in 1986, the Pro Fidelitate et Virtue Award is conferred each year at the Institute on Religious Life’s National Meeting to someone who has been outstanding in the support and promotion of authentic religious life. Today's episode is honoring our 2008 Pro Fidelitate et Virtute Award recipients, Mr. Jerome and Mrs. Gwen Coniker. Desiring to live the message of Our Lady of Fatima, Jerry and Gwen Coniker consecrated themselves to Jesus, through Mary, in truth and grace. Closely collaborating with others—bishops, priests, religious and laity, the Conikers gradually developed a library of informative and inspiring multimedia resources, designed effective apostolic techniques and training, and launched innovative programs and publications of evangelization and catechesis. The Conikers, with the prayerful and material support of countless apostles, have developed a wide variety of support ministries to accomplish the AFC’s purpose and mission. These ministries include week-long family fests, weekend conferences, various retreats and a 950-acre evangelization and catechetical training institute, all dedicated to the Holy Family and aimed at producing lasting spiritual fruits. Today, we will be listening to by Jerome Coniker from our 2008 National Meeting titled, "Being Instruments of God's Mercy". Thank you for listening and we hope you enjoy!  

On today’s episode, we will be featuring a talk from our 2013 National Meeting by Mr. Mike Sullivan.  Mike Sullivan is the president of Catholics United for the Faith and publisher of Lay Witness and Emmaus Road Publishing. He contributed to the most recent volume of the best-selling Catholic for a Reason series: The Mystery of Marriage and Family Life. He has also written for Our Sunday Visitor, This Rock, and National Catholic Register. Sullivan has appeared as a commentator on current issues in the Catholic Church on several television and radio programs. Sullivan has written and given talks on such topics as Christian marriage and family life, the teachings of Vatican II, Pope John Paul II’s “theology of the body,” the role of the laity in the Church, and devotion to Mary. Sullivan resides in Toronto, Ohio, with his wife, Gwen, and their eight children. Mike Sullivan’s talk today is titled, "Catholic for a Reason: Having Your Answers Ready". Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy! 

On this week's episode, we're listening to a Facebook Live interview on “The Seasons of the Glorious Birth of Our Lord” with IRL board member, Jesse Weiler, and Mother Marla Marie Lucas, MSCL, who is the Superior of the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light. The Maronite Servants of Christ the Light are a congregation of consecrated religious serving the Church in the parish as spiritual mothers in imitation of Mary, radiating the Light of Christ in their life of contemplative prayer, asceticism, and apostolic mission to children, youth, young adults, families, the sick, dying, and grieving… They also serve alongside the priest in pastoral ministry reaching out with a maternal touch to the many needs of the parish family. Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy! 

Started in 1986, the Pro Fidelitate et Virtue Award is conferred each year at the Institute on Religious Life’s National Meeting to someone who has been outstanding in the support and promotion of authentic religious life. Today's episode is honoring our 2011 Pro Fidelitate et Virtute Award recipient, Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J. Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J., is editor emeritus of the Homiletic & Pastoral Review, having served as editor from 1971 to 2010.  He graduated from Gonzaga University, studied Theology at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and translated Karl Rahner’s Primacy and Episcopate into English.  After teaching for two years at Gonzaga University, he published his translation of Rahner’s Spiritual Exercises and received his Ph.D. from Marquette University.  Returning to Gonzaga he became head of the Department of Theology in 1968, leading it faithfully through the turmoil surrounding Humanae Vitae.  He then served as president of Seattle University.  Fr. Baker has built and run three community television stations and was president of Catholic Views Broadcasting, Inc., which produced a weekly 15-minute radio program airing on 50 stations across the U.S.  He is the author of a three-volume explanation of the Faith called Fundamentals of Catholicism. Today, we will be listening to Fr. Kenneth Baker's award acceptance speech at the 2011 National Meeting. Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy! 

On today’s episode, we will be featuring a talk from our 2024 National Meeting by Sr. Regina Marie Gorman, OCD of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles.   Sister Regina Marie Gorman, O.C.D. was raised in Los Angeles where she entered Carmel in 1972.  She holds a Masters in Theology and Christian Ministry from Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH. Sister Regina Marie is known for her tireless commitment to bring Jesus Christ to those with whom she works and serves. She has done this as Vicar General, Superior General, Directress of Novices, Junior High teacher, public speaker, and above all, as a friend and companion. Through the gift of the Carmelite charism, Sister Regina Marie continues to invite countless people into the presence of the living God. Sr. Regina Marie’s talk we will be listening to is titled, "The Pledge of Future Glory The Power is Within”. Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy! 

On this week's episode, we're listening to a Facebook Live interview on “Digital Evangelization” with IRL board member, Jesse Weiler, and Fr. Patrick Mary Briscoe, O.P. of the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph. A native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Father Patrick joined the Order of Preachers in 2010. Following his ordination to the priesthood, he was assigned in Providence, Rhode Island. Father Patrick served as a chaplain and instructor of theology at Providence College and as a parish priest at St. Pius V Church. Currently, he is the editor of Our Sunday Visitor, a host of the podcast Godsplaining, and a preacher of the USCCB’s Eucharistic Revival. Fr. Patrick is the co-author of Saint Dominic’s Way of Life: A Path to Knowing and Loving God and author of the devotional series My Daily Visitor, published by OSV. Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy! 

Started in 1986, the Pro Fidelitate et Virtue Award is conferred each year at the Institute on Religious Life’s National Meeting to someone who has been outstanding in the support and promotion of authentic religious life. Today's episode is honoring our 2009 Pro Fidelitate et Virtute Award recipient, Fr. Michael Scanlan, T.O.R. Fr. Michael Scanlan, T.O.R. was a priest of the Franciscan Third Order Regular Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Father Scanlan served as president of Franciscan University from 1974-2000, chancellor from 2000-2011, and became president emeritus in 2011. Father Scanlan became president of the College of Steubenville in 1974 in the midst of turbulent times for Catholic higher education. Over the next 26 years, he transformed the College into Franciscan University of Steubenville and gained for it a worldwide reputation for both excellence in academics and its passionate Catholic faith environment. His success helped spark a restoration of authentic Catholic education in the United States and beyond, with many colleges and universities renewing their Catholic identity and new schools imitating his emphasis on Catholic Church teaching. Fr. Michael passed into eternal life on January 7, 2017, after an extended illness. Today, we will be listening to Fr. Michael Scanlan's award acceptance speech at the 2009 National Meeting. Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy! 

On today’s episode, we will be featuring a talk from our 2025 National Meeting by Sr. Miriam James Heidland, S.O.L.T. of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. Sr. Miriam James Heidland is a former Division I athlete who had a radical conversion and joined the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT) in 1998. Her story has been featured on EWTN’s The Journey Home, SEEK Conferences, Steubenville Conferences and other outlets. She holds a master’s degree in theology from the Augustine Institute and speaks extensively on the topics of conversion, authentic love, forgiveness and healing. She is also affiliated with Friends of the Bridegroom and the John Paul II Healing Center in leading healing retreats for priests and religious sisters across the nation. Sr. Miriam’s talk is titled, " The Power of a Healing Heart in the Jubilee Year of Hope”. Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy! 

On this week's episode, we're listening to a Facebook Live interview on “Surrendering to God’s Will” with IRL board member, Jesse Weiler, and Sr. Teresa Paul, OSF of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in East Peoria, Illinois.  Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy!   

Started in 1986, the Pro Fidelitate et Virtue Award is conferred each year at the Institute on Religious Life’s National Meeting to someone who has been outstanding in the support and promotion of authentic religious life. Father Edmund McCaffrey was born on January 9, 1933. He was the former Abbot Ordinary of the Benedictine monastery, Belmont Abbey in Charlotte, N.C. Fr. Edmund was well known as a Political Scientist, a Scholar, Writer, Lecturer, Retreat Master, Educator, Defender of the Faith, Promoter of Devotion to the Angels, a strong exponent of Marian devotion and extraordinary defender of the sacredness of human life. Possessing the gift of a remarkably strong and vibrant voice, and a matching personality, Father Edmund would immediately cause an audience to sit up and take notice when he begins to speak. But his booming presentation was matched and exceeded by his eloquence in teaching the faith. His love for his heavenly Mother was beautiful and eye opening to the great gift that she is to us from God. His devotion to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist enlightens all to a deeper love and devotion to the Real, True, Eucharistic Presence of Jesus Christ; Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Fr. Edmund passed into eternal life on November 13, 2016. Today, we will be listening to a homily Fr Edmund gave at the 2009 National Meeting. Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy! 

On today's episode, we're listening to an interview with Carolyn Stegmann from the Apostolate for Family Consecration's Women's Catholic Corps in Bloomingdale, Ohio.  While living a ‘consecration of life’ through private vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, the Catholic Corps was constituted within the lay apostolate of the Apostolate for Family Consecration and exists to help fulfill its mission of sanctifying and strengthening families by way of consecration to the Holy Family and in the Truths of the Catholic Faith. The Catholic Corps has at the heart of its vocation the spiritual renewal of the Church and society through the renewal of the family. They serve the ministry of the Apostolate for Family Consecration which immerses families in the richness of the Catholic Faith through events, retreats, and catechetical and formation tools and programs, as they support families in their journey of growth in holiness. Please make sure to also check out the Apostolate for Family Consecration's Men's Catholic Corps. Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy!

On today’s episode, we will be featuring part one of a talk from our 2012 National Meeting by Francis Cardinal George.  The son of a janitor, Chicago-born Francis Eugene George contracted polio at the age of 13, and, due to a developed limp, was rejected by Chicago's archdiocesan seminary, leading him to join the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1957. Making his solemn profession the following year, he underwent studies at St. Henry's Preparatory Seminary in Belleville, Illinois; Pine Hills Scholasticate in Ottawa, Canada; the University of Ottawa; the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.; Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana; and the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. Ordained a priest in 1963, in Chicago, he was appointed to the lecturing staff of Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska; serving as Chairman of the Philosophy Department between 1970 and 1973. He was appointed Bishop of Yakima, Washington, by Pope John Paul II in 1990, and then to that of Chicago in 1997, following Cardinal Joseph Bernardin's death, he became the first Chicagoan to occupy the see of his native city and head of the archdiocese that once turned him away.  Francis Cardinal George’s talk is titled, " The Liturgical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI”. Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy! 

On this week's episode, we're listening to a Facebook Live interview on “Religious Life and Liturgical Renewal” with IRL board member, Jesse Weiler, and Fr. David Yallaly, SJC of The Canons Regular of St. John Cantius in Chicago, Illinois.  Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy!   

Started in 1986, the Pro Fidelitate et Virtue Award is conferred each year at the Institute on Religious Life’s National Meeting to someone who has been outstanding in the support and promotion of authentic religious life. Today's episode is honoring our 2024 award recipient, Francis Cardinal Arinze. Francis Cardinal Arinze was born on November 1, 1932 in Eziowelle, Onitsha, Nigeria. His vocation was greatly influenced by Blessed Michael Iwene Tansi, then a parish priest, later a Cistercian monk, who baptized Cardinal Arinze in 1941, heard his first confession and from his hands gave him his first communion. At the age of fifteen, Cardinal Arinze began his secondary studies at the junior seminary and was ordained in 1958 at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome where he eventually earned a Bachelors Degree in Theology, a masters degree and a doctorate degree, Summa Cum Laude. In 1965, he was consecrated a bishop and later named Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Onitsha. He was the youngest bishop to attend the second Vatican Council. During the Nigeria/Biafra War (1967-1970), he administered, with the clergy and religious missionaries, the efficient distribution of relief materials. He was elected president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria in 1979, a post which he held until 1984, when John Paul II appointed him as pro-president of the Secretariat for Non-Christians. He was proclaimed Cardinal by St. John Paul II in 1985 and was President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue from 1985 to 2002. Through it all, he remained himself— simple, hardworking, prayerful, humorous, methodical and precise. For the Year of Consecrated Life in 2005, he wrote a book on the consecrated life called Radical Discipleship: Consecrated Life and the Call to Holiness., in which he said: “People in the consecrated state are called to be like leaven in society, to fulfill the prophetic role in radically calling the attention of society to the importance of following Christ…The consecrated life announces without words that nothing is too precious to offer to God.” Today, we will be listening to a talk from Francis Cardinal Arinze for the 2024 National Meeting. He is introduced by Fr. Cassian Folsom, O.S.B. Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy! 

On today’s episode, we will be featuring part two of a talk from our 2009 National Meeting by Bishop Robert Barron. Bishop Barron was ordained a priest in 1986 in the Archdiocese of Chicago and appointed to the theological faculty of Mundelein Seminary in 1992. He served as the Rector/President of Mundelein Seminary from 2012 until 2015. In 2015, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Barron to be Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. In 2022, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Robert Barron as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota. Bishop Robert Barron is an acclaimed author, speaker, and theologian. He is also the founder of the global media ministry Word on Fire, which reaches millions of people by utilizing the tools of new media to draw people into or back to the Catholic Faith. Francis Cardinal George has described him as “one of the Church’s best messengers.” Bishop Barron and his Word on Fire team have released dozens of films, books, and study programs. Bishop Barron has produced over 400 online video commentaries. The ministry strives to consistently produce high-quality productions, including brief and lively theological reviews of contemporary culture in movies, books, music, current events, and more. Bishop Barron’s talk we will be listening to is titled, "Evangelization". Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy! 

On today’s episode, we will be featuring part one of a talk from our 2009 National Meeting by Bishop Robert Barron. Bishop Barron was ordained a priest in 1986 in the Archdiocese of Chicago and appointed to the theological faculty of Mundelein Seminary in 1992. He served as the Rector/President of Mundelein Seminary from 2012 until 2015. In 2015, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Barron to be Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. In 2022, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Robert Barron as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota. Bishop Robert Barron is an acclaimed author, speaker, and theologian. He is also the founder of the global media ministry Word on Fire, which reaches millions of people by utilizing the tools of new media to draw people into or back to the Catholic Faith. Francis Cardinal George has described him as “one of the Church’s best messengers.” Bishop Barron and his Word on Fire team have released dozens of films, books, and study programs. Bishop Barron has produced over 400 online video commentaries. The ministry strives to consistently produce high-quality productions, including brief and lively theological reviews of contemporary culture in movies, books, music, current events, and more. Bishop Barron’s talk we will be listening to is titled, "Evangelization". Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy! 

On this week's episode, we're listening to a Facebook Live interview on “Praising God with the Archangels” with IRL board member, Jesse Weiler, and Fr. Michael Donovan, O. de M. of The Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, Mercedarian Friars in Cleveland, Ohio.  Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy!   

Started in 1986, the Pro Fidelitate et Virtue Award is conferred each year at the Institute on Religious Life’s National Meeting to someone who has been outstanding in the support and promotion of authentic religious life. Today's episode is honoring our 2019 award recipient, The Little Sisters of the Poor. Continuing the work of their foundress, Saint Jeanne Jugan, The Little Sisters’ mission is to offer the neediest elderly of every race and religion a home where they will be welcomed as Christ, cared for as family and accompanied with dignity until God calls them to himself. The Little Sisters of the Poor take a fourth vow of hospitality, to consecrate themselves totally to the service of the elderly poor. The Little Sisters have elderly homes all across the country including their Baltimore/Brooklyn Province and their Chicago Province, and are also located in 30 countries around the world! We will be listening to the banquet address of Sr. Constance Carolyn, L.S.P., accepting the award on the Little Sisters’ behalf. Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy! 

On today's episode, we're listening to an interview with Mother Cecilia Marie, I.H.M. who is the General Superior of The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Wichita Kansas.  The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary’s primary service to the Church is the contemplation of the Word and the spreading of His message of salvation through various works of education and spiritual retreats. In union with Mary, they pray for the Church, especially for the conversion of sinners and for the sanctification of priests. Their spirituality is Eucharistic and Marian. Devotion to the Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart of Mary leads them to her Eucharistic Son and she nurtures within them a deep and abiding love of the Church. The heart of the Sisters’ life and the source of their unity is Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Thank you for listening! May God bless you and enjoy!