What a village cemetery says about Catholicism in France
Faith Full Catholic Podcast
A cemetery in northern France tells us something about Catholicism in this country. I’ve been here many times over the last 15 years…a tiny slice of this village’s lifetime, stretching to the 12th century. In 2013, broken crucifixes and stones littered the grounds of St. Martin church. Flowers and vegetation reclaimed many plots, and at least to me the site felt forgotten. But something changed, bringing some well-needed love and attention to St. Martin...at a time when there are some glimpses of hope for the faith in France. Pope Leo XIV has called for a missionary renewal in France,...
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Remember Catholic martyrs of the French Revolution: the Carmelite Saints of Compiègne
Faith Full Catholic Podcast
You may not realize it, but the Catholic faith was one of the great targets of the French Revolution, birthing martyrs and saints from persecution and bloodshed. Sixteen Carmelite nuns were beheaded in 1794 for remaining true to their vows, and nothing more. During the so-called Reign of Terror which saw revolutionaries sniffing out real and imagined conspiracies, these nuns were expelled from their monastic life and offered a choice: renounce their faith, and submit to extreme secularism, or be deemed enemies of the state. The prioress Mother Teresa of St. Augustine proposed the sisters offer...
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Gratitude and (almost) house fires
Faith Full Catholic Podcast
My house almost caught fire, and I had no idea of the danger until it was over, pieced together by burn marks on a wall and other clues around an old boiler system. I called a specialist to look at it, and he said bluntly: he’s come to believe things happen for a reason, and our house is still standing for a reason. I always try to express gratitude to others and to God, but as we come into the holiday season I thought this story was especially worth bringing to you all. Faith Full is a Catholic podcast hosted by Tony Ganzer. In this short episode we hear from Fr. Robert Nixon, OSB,...
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The tomb of St. Kateri Tekakwitha and the faith of Mohawk Catholics
Faith Full Catholic Podcast
It’s been 12 years since St. Kateri Tekakwitha ("The Lily of the Mohawks") was declared a saint by the Catholic church, in October 2012. She was a Mohawk/Algonquin woman who lived in the late 17th century in present-day New York and Quebec, declaring herself a virgin for Christ. Her sainthood has sparked both pride and soul-searching within and beyond Canada’s First Nations. St. Kateri’s earthly remains are entombed at the National Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine, in St. Francis Xavier Mission Catholic Church in Kahnawake, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River near Montreal. The church...
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Compatible with life: the joy of John Paul Hauser
Faith Full Catholic Podcast
What does it mean for a baby to be “incompatible with life?” Even before a baby is born, doctors are doing tests, reviewing ultrasounds, and monitoring the mother closely for unexpected results or problems. If the unborn baby has too serious a condition, parents might be told by doctors that their baby is “incompatible with life.” That’s to say, it’s not expected to live long, if at all, and parents can face a choice of life or death for this person they’ve not yet met. After doctors identified Trisomy 13 in John Paul Hauser, his parents were coached to consider having an...
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A falling crucifix and a crisis of faith
Faith Full Catholic Podcast
To hear of a man crushed by a giant crucifix, it should rightly give us pause. Years ago I heard of a man who prayed before a statue of Christ on the cross every day, asking God’s mercy for the man’s wife who was battling cancer. His wife made it through, and after enduring the pain and emotional exhaustion of that fight, the man wanted to clean the statue in appreciation. Except, the statue fell on him, leading to his leg being amputated. The church raised money and donations for the man, but he ended up suing. /// Faith Full is a Catholic podcast hosted by Tony Ganzer. This episode...
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Mary and Montreal's Oldest Catholic Church, Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours (Our Lady of Good Help)
Faith Full Catholic Podcast
The chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours (Our Lady of Good Help) is Montreal’s oldest stone church, sitting for hundreds of years as a beacon of hope. It celebrates a special milestone this year, 250 years, having acted as a refuge for residents, pilgrims, sailors and travelers arriving by the St. Lawrence River and Seaway. Today we’ll explore together a fascinating chapter of Catholic history in North America, and learn that key to the story of this chapel, and the Catholic community of Nouvelle France, is St. Marguerite Bourgeoys. She was the first teacher of the colony of Ville Marie,...
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Pandhandling and Christian Duty, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul's approach to works of mercy
Faith Full Catholic Podcast
Christian duty and panhandlers. What’s the right thing to do? For a long time I’ve struggled when approached by panhandlers, people on the street asking for money. I want to help, but I don’t want to be taken advantage of, or feed an addiction, or endanger myself. As a Catholic, as a Christian, I know helping the less fortunate is central to my faith. In one of the most famous passages from Scripture, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says in a parable ‘whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ ‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and...
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Why Catholics should think about "aliens"
Faith Full Catholic Podcast
Just to mention aliens turns some people off, but to a Christian, to a Catholic, thinking about extraterrestrial life can hold tremendous value. If you replace the word “alien” with “the other” then we start down a familiar path. Does “the other” exist in the universe? Would “the other” mean us peace or harm? Should I will the good of “the other?” Faith Full is a Catholic podcast hosted by Tony Ganzer. This episode features Paul Thigpen. The book is published by TAN Books: Some of the greatest Catholic thinkers wrestled with this question of “the other.” Whether...
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St. Aloysius Gonzaga and the holy angels
Faith Full Catholic Podcast
Angels seem mysterious and familiar all at the same time. Angels are by definition different than you and I are—they’re spiritual beings, without bodies, but can be present in our world. St. Augustine says “angel” is the name of their office, or what they do: they are servants and messengers of God. In this episode we hear about what another saint, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, thought about angels in his newly translated Meditations on the Holy Angels. Faith Full is a Catholic podcast hosted by Tony Ganzer. This episode features Fr. Robert Nixon, OSB. The book is published by TAN Books: ...
info_outlineAngels seem mysterious and familiar all at the same time. Angels are by definition different than you and I are—they’re spiritual beings, without bodies, but can be present in our world. St. Augustine says “angel” is the name of their office, or what they do: they are servants and messengers of God.
In this episode we hear about what another saint, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, thought about angels in his newly translated Meditations on the Holy Angels. Faith Full is a Catholic podcast hosted by Tony Ganzer. This episode features Fr. Robert Nixon, OSB. The book is published by TAN Books: https://tanbooks.com/products/books/Meditations-on-the-Holy-Angels/
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In the Gospel of Matthew at one point Jesus tells us that angels that watch over us, the Guardian Angels, also “always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which explains what Catholics believe, says, “From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession.”
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When think you might die, you tend to lean more heavily on your deepest beliefs, and for me, a Catholic, that means prayer for God’s protection. For years I rode a motor scooter to work, similar to a Vespa. One day, in an instant I’m no longer on my scooter, and I put out my hands to try to catch myself from the fall that I can’t avoid. I roll onto the tree lawn just a short distance from parked cars that I narrowly missed. I didn’t know what was wrong, only that my body wasn’t working right. I had a separated shoulder, a fractured wrist, some road rash on my leg and other soft tissue damage in my arm. The adrenaline and maybe shock began to take over, but I knew that I was alive. I prayed as the EMTs got me into the ambulance, thanking God I was still alive, and had more time with my wife and children. And as I said Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and even portions of Hail Holy Queen, I began contemplating all that led me to that crash. How did it happen? And could it have been worse? Was my Guardian Angel helping me arrive at the point where I would make it out alive?
I spoke about this and many other issues of angels and faith with Fr. Robert Nixon, OSB, who translated St. Aloysius Gonzaga’s Meditations on the Holy Angels.