Podcasts

A listener named Charles emails Father Dave with a question of faith.  and wrote: “This weekend at our vigil Mass, the priest wasn’t able to make it to Mass unexpectedly. What should we (the parishioners) have done? We have no deacon in our parish, and I was asked to lead a communion service. Was that proper?”

Olympic gold medal track star Sanya Richards-Ross joins Father Dave to discuss the role that her faith played in her running career, and her new book, “Chasing Grace: What the Quarter Mile Has Taught Me about God and Life.” (Original Air 06-06-17)

Father Dave welcomes back theologian, Catholic speaker and author, and friend of the show Dr. Edward Sri to discuss his new book “What Do You Seek?: Encountering The Heart Of The Gospel.” 

Dr. Sri explains how the book emphasizes the good news of the Gospel and is designed to help us think about the mysteries of God’s love for us so that we can deepen our relationship with Christ.  

Marie Miller is a folk/pop singer-songwriter and multi-faceted artist and speaker who weaves together music, humor, and storytelling to convey God’s love for us.  She stopped by the show to talk with Father Dave about her new EP, “The Way of Love.”  

A listener named Sara emails Father Dave a question of faith: “First of all, I have listened since 2006. I love you all. Now you may find this crazy but I have been thinking about becoming Catholic since then! I am concentrating on the Eucharist because I get completely overwhelmed by the rules. Is this a sin? I feel it keeps me from Jesus rather than closer. I am in RCIA (Rite of Catholic Initiation for Adults). I have a wonderful teacher. I probably would have come into the Church this past Easter but ran into an annulment problem.  So do you recommend me focusing on the Eucharist?”

Claire Dwyer, editor of spiritualdirection.com, discusses how to find a spiritual director.

A listener named Julianne writes to Father Dave with a question of faith.  “I’m a mom of two very active children who love playing and watching sports. Recently at a basketball game, my 11-year-old son turned to me and asked whether booing was a sin.

Friend of the show, Jesuit priest, author, and editor-at-large of America Media Father James Martin stopped by Father Dave’s radio studio to discuss his recent meeting with Pope Francis, what it was like being at the Vatican with a number of famous comedians, and more. 

Father Dave welcomes author John Stansifer to the show to talk about Father Emil Kapaun, the most decorated chaplain in U.S. military history. John has written over 20 screenplays, specializing in biopics and historical true stories. He spent six years in the Kansas Army National Guard as a mortar gunner and served alongside Vietnam War veterans, whose stories further developed his interest in military history. His latest book is called “No Bullet Got Me Yet: The Relentless Faith of Father Kapaun.” 

“No Bullet Got Me Yet” is a collection of letters written by, to and about Emil Kapaun, a Catholic priest and army chaplain in the Korean War. Archived by the Father Kapaun Guild, the letters comprise the record of Kapaun’s heroism in the 1st Cavalry Division in Korea in the summer of 1950, and the sacrificial service he provided fellow POWs after he was captured by Chinese troops in November. He died at POW Camp in 1951 and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama in 2013.

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Father Kapaun, John explains, had been a priest for about a year when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, and joined the Chaplains Corp in the aftermath. He served as an auxiliary chaplain at a military airbase in the United States for two years, and after D-Day, June 6, 1944, decided he wanted to serve overseas alongside American soldiers. He was sent to the China-Burma-India Theater of the war in 1945. 

Father Dave asks, “What do you think, having investigated his life, was so compelling for him about serving in the military as a chaplain? Why was he so attracted to that?”

“He felt like he needed to protect his boys in a spiritual way,” John responds. “And he was aware of martyrs and proto-martyrs, and he had been training for the Church since age 7, so it was obvious where his life was going to lead.”

After World War II, Father Kapaun obtained a master’s degree in education at Catholic University before rejoining the military as a chaplain in 1948. He was eventually sent to Korea in 1950. “It was the rise of communism that spurred him on,” John says, “He thought the Nazis were nothing. He thought that communism was going to be the bigger threat. Turns out he was correct.”

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John goes on to discuss Father Kapaun’s capture, heroics, and time in a Chinese POW camp in the winter of 1951 before his death. “The survivors that knew him,” Father Dave comments, “describe him as a joyful, faithful presence during those dark times.”  

“He never stopped.” John says. “He got up before dawn and scrounged for food — never for himself, it was only to share with other people.  He constantly offered prayers, helped other POWs with their wounds and sickness. He was tireless with it.”

Father Dave asks John about the title of the book, “No Bullet Got Me Yet.” 

“Father Kapaun was a frequent letter writer,” John says, “and in one of his last letters Father Kapaun actually wrote- ‘No bullet got me yet, although machine gunners sprayed us with bullets, but the prayers of our loved ones helped us escape.’ When I heard that phrase, ‘no bullet got me yet,’ I knew that was the title of the book — that represents to me a philosophy that you keep the faith until your enemy kills you, and you keep going until you achieve your goal.”

Popular Christian speaker and worship leader, Carlos Whittaker discusses his book “Enter Wild: Exchange a Mundane Faith Life for Life With an Uncontainable God” and shares how he is working to heal racial injustice in our country.