Good morning! On today’s show, Matt Swaim and Anna Mitchell welcome pastoral counselor Kevin Prendergast to reflect on monastic spirituality and emotional well being in light of this week’s feast of St. Benedict. Other guests include Elisabeth Sullivan to discuss next week’s conference of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education, and Rita Heikenfeld to discuss cucumbers on Bible Foods. Plus news, weather, sports and more…

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Prayer for priests

O Jesus, I pray Thee for Thy faithful and fervent priests; for Thy unfaithful and tepid priests; for Thy priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Thy tempted priests; for Thy lonely priests; for Thy dying priests; for the souls of Thy priests in purgatory. But above all I commend to Thee the priests dearest to me; the priest who baptized me; the priests who absolved me from my sins; the priests at whose Masses I assisted, and who gave me Thy Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me, or helped and encouraged me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way, particularly N. O Jesus, keep them all close to Thy Heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.

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FROM RITA’S KITCHEN: COURTNEY’S CUCUMBER AVOCADO SALAD

I had this at daughter-in-law Courtney’s home and loved it. “The recipe is from my friend Libby”, she said. Courtney gave it her own touch. When my girlfriends came over for a dinner from the garden, we made this salad. The recipe below is a double recipe and we really went “to taste” on the ingredients. It was an immediate hit!

About 2 pounds cucumber, washed and chopped into small chunks (Can use 2 nice sized English cucumbers)


1 small bunch scallions, about 5 or so, white and green part both, sliced thin


2 large avocados or 4 medium size, pitted and diced


1/4 cup real mayonnaise

Lime juice – start with about 2 tablespoons and go from there – I usually add more


Salt and hot sauce (we used Sriracha) to taste
 – a good amount of hot sauce!

Chopped cilantro or flat-leaf parsley to taste

Chopped greens (handful or so – optional)

Combine cucumber, scallions and avocado in a bowl. Mix in greens if using. Whisk together mayo, lime and seasonings, adjusting levels to taste. Pour over salad and mix well, adding cilantro at the end.

Tip from Rita’s kitchen: We also added some leftover boiled corn – go to taste – really good

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Elisabeth Sullivan is online at catholicliberaleducation.org.

Colin MacIver is online at ascensionpress.com.

Full list of guests