The Best of the Week

A viral Minnesota daycare fraud investigation became a springboard for a much deeper conversation on Trending with Timmerie. Timmerie welcomed journalist Joy Pullman, who laid out what she said federal prosecutors have uncovered so far: a state daycare program funded with federal and state dollars allegedly paid out huge sums to providers who were not enrolling any children, but were billing taxpayers anyway. Pullman argued this isn’t just a money story, it’s a family story. Even as fraud investigations continue, she said the scandal exposes how much modern culture depends on institutional daycare as a default solution. But the bigger question, she insisted, is whether that default is truly good for children. Drawing from early childhood research she has followed for years, Pullman claimed that extended time in non-parental care, especially for children in the baby, toddler, and preschool years, can be linked to long-term struggles. Separation from parents in the earliest years can be associated with a number of developmental and cognitive issues, including anxiety and behavioral challenges. Timmerie acknowledged how sensitive the topic is, especially for parents doing their best in difficult circumstances. But she pushed back on the cultural script that says babies can be placed in care from six weeks on with no adverse effects. She pointed to the child’s stress regulation and early bonding, noting that this season of life can change the entire trajectory of their life. Pullman shared that being raised in a broken family made motherhood hard, but also healing. Building secure attachment, she said, can become a “second chance” God gives through marriage and children, a path that forms virtue, repairs what was fractured, and teaches self-giving love. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

David from northern Rhode Island called in to The Patrick Madrid Show with a question that hits many of us when we read passages like Acts 4, where the early Church acknowledges that Jesus’ enemies “brought about the very things” God had planned. David wondered: If God had a plan, does that mean God also planned who would do the evil? And how is that different from predestination? Patrick began with an important clarification: Catholics do believe in predestination. What the Church rejects is double predestination, the idea that God predestines some people to Heaven and others to Hell. That would make God the author of evil, and God is all good. To illustrate, Patrick pointed to Judas. Judas’ betrayal was foretold, but that doesn’t mean Judas was programmed or forced. Prophecy and God’s foreknowledge don’t erase human freedom. Judas acted freely, and he was responsible for his actions. So what does it mean that God “planned” things from long ago? Patrick explained this as God’s providence. God is never surprised by human sin, but He can bring genuine good out of it. The Crucifixion itself was a terrible sin, yet God turned it into the victory of the Resurrection and our salvation. David admitted it still feels mysterious and Patrick agreed, offering a helpful definition: a mystery isn’t something we can know nothing about; it’s something we can’t know everything about, at least not until Heaven. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Drew opened a segment of The Drew Mariani Show with a quick story: a man steps out of his car at a dog park, and an off-leash pit bull races toward him. Startled, he pushes the dog back, and suddenly the owner was angry. “Yo, don’t put your hands on my dog!” Words flew, tempers flared, and a petty moment almost turned into a fight. Drew Mariani’s takeaway is simple: what’s “friendly” to you might feel threatening to someone else. “Not everybody loves dogs the way you do.” Some people carry fear from past bites, allergies, or trauma. And even a sweet dog at home can look terrifying when it’s charging a stranger. One caller, Jacinta, admitted that after being attacked, “the fear is there,” and she believes dogs can sense it. Another caller, Debbie, added a key reminder: you should always ask permission before petting someone’s dog, and never get in a dog’s face. Drew frames it as more than rules. “Good etiquette isn’t about rules… it’s really about respect.” Responsible owners keep dogs under control, usually on a leash, not because they love their dog less, but because they love their neighbor more. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Nicholas just became a new dad and he’s already feeling what so many couples discover fast: the baby gets your best hours, and your spiritual life gets what’s left. On Marriage Unhindered, Doug Hinderer and Dr. Mario Sacasa offer a grace-filled plan for staying close to God (and each other) in the exhausting newborn season. Nicholas works long, physical days. By the time he gets home, showers, helps with dinner, bath time, and cleanup, he and his wife are spent. He asks how they can make space for personal prayer and prayer together without fostering resentment. Dr. Mario starts with reassurance: this season is intense, and the Lord knows that. Fatherhood changes your schedule, and “your time is not your own right now.” Instead of trying to force an old routine, he urges Nicholas and his wife to have an honest conversation about exhaustion, shared responsibilities, and what prayer can realistically look like now. That might mean praying on the drive to work, turning off the radio for a Rosary or a simple meditation, or ending the night with one small prayer together, even just a Hail Mary. Doug adds that it’s normal for marital satisfaction to dip after a first baby because of fatigue, stress, and less couple time. His remedy is a “1% daily investment”, about 15 minutes (or 10, or 5), to connect, talk, and show affection. He also suggests weaving prayer into daily life: while mom nurses or bathes the baby, dad can pray the Rosary nearby. And when possible, get a babysitter so the couple can come up for air. Nicholas shares they’re also entering the Church and preparing for Confirmation and First Communion. The takeaway: don't give up, have an honest conversation about adjusting, and lead with grace. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Patrick Conley noticed a troubling pattern: “Couples, for whatever reason, aren't choosing to get married anymore… at alarming rates.” He invited Fr. Peter Armenio onto The Inner Life to discuss what he’s seeing and why so many people don’t want to make the commitment. Fr. Peter pointed first to “a lot of doctrinal ignorance,” explaining that facts don't change people's minds when cohabitation has been normalized. He said that in 90% of the marriages done in the Catholic Church, the couple was cohabitating beforehand, and that many couples who are cohabitating have no intention of getting married in the near future. In many families, he added, parents even approve: "'Times have changed. They're mature.'" He also described “a crisis of commitment,” especially among men, and a culture where marriage is no longer seen as necessary for a lasting bond. “Marriage is not the price tag for those kinds of bonds,” he said, because people can get away with relationships with “no strings attached, no commitment.” Fr. Peter didn’t shy away from the fallout. “My shoulders are metaphorically stained with women's tears,” he said, describing women who feel rejected and “thrown in the garbage.” He also cited a “birth control mentality,” cultural change, “a pandemic of pornography,” and social media pressures as major symptoms in this anti-marriage generation. Still, he ended with hope: “The good news is the young people are coming back.” And when people return to the Faith, they often embrace the teachings of the Church wholeheartedly. His bottom line was clear: “Discipleship is key for a successful marriage on both parts.” The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Some prayer intentions come with fear and uncertainty, especially when a loved one is facing cancer. On Family Rosary Across America, Roger from Sumter, South Carolina, called Fr. Rocky and Maggie with a heartfelt prayer request for his sister-in-law, Heidi. Roger and his family had asked for prayers before when she had cancer, and now she needed surgery again, though they didn’t yet know when it would happen. Roger asked for healing prayers, hoping she didn’t end up needing the surgery. Fr. Rocky responded with faith and compassion: “Wouldn’t that be great?” Then Roger shared something he wanted everyone listening to remember, especially anyone praying for a loved one who has fallen away. “Just so everybody out there knows… people praying for their family to come back to the church, it works,” he said. Roger wasn’t speaking in generalities. “I’m one of those that was away for over 30 years before I came back to the church.” Fr. Rocky affirmed the power of intercession: “Yes, they do. Thanks be to God.” And he added a prayerful hope for every family: He prayed that "all of our families, they all come back.” The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Barbara called in to Father Simon Says after she and her family left Mass shaken. A visiting priest had preached a “fire and brimstone” homily and told the congregation, “everyone in here is going to purgatory.” Barbara said her 13-year-old grandson was especially upset. Fr. Simon agreed the family had reason to be bothered. “I believe in purgatory,” he said, “and I think purgatory is one of the most beautiful ideas in the Catholic faith.” The problem wasn’t the doctrine. The problem was with the way the priest had explained it. Fr. Simon reframed purgatory as God’s mercy finishing His work in us. When we die, he explained, we stand before “the light and the love of God,” and “everything in me that isn’t light and love is going to be burned away by the love of God.” That “fire” isn’t meant to terrify: “Love is truly a fire… a fire of beauty and a fire of light and a fire even of joy.” He emphasized that purgatory is a place of growth. Growth is painful and involves suffering, but in purgatory there is hope, joy, and love because the soul is being drawn into God. And he was clear about the visiting priest’s certainty, stating that he didn’t think he had the right to say everyone is going to Purgatory. We don’t know the path of each person's soul. Still, Fr. Simon urged Catholics to take purgatory seriously by praying for the dead, something that is often neglected today. Fr. Simon closed with this image: Purgatory isn’t “hell’s back porch”. It’s “heaven’s front porch.” The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

After a violent weekend in the Twin Cities, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis is urging Catholics to respond with prayer, peace, and a serious push for comprehensive immigration reform. Speaking with John Morales on Morning Air, the archbishop acknowledged how raw the moment feels. Families are grieving, communities are anxious, and tensions are rising around immigration enforcement. Yet he believes the Church can help steady the conversation by keeping the human person at the center. That begins, he said, with prayer for those who are fearful and undocumented, for the federal agents and law enforcement officers tasked with difficult work, and for the peaceful protesters making their voices heard across the Twin Cities. He expressed gratitude that so many have chosen to march peacefully. Still, he emphasized that Christians must never let fear or frustration strip others of their dignity. Even when people are disappointed, angry, or alarmed, he said, their witness should remain “peaceful” and “Christ-centered,” remembering that agents and officers are also spouses and parents trying to live rightly. But Archbishop Hebda also insisted that prayer and peace must lead to practical action. In his view, the cycle of turmoil will not truly change without a long-term solution, one that is both lawful and humane. He pointed to the people he meets as a pastor: men and women who have lived in the community for years, even decades, raising children, working, and paying taxes, only to find their lives suddenly destabilized by immigration problems from long ago. Comprehensive reform, he said, “does call for our best minds to really put their heads to this,” seeking creative solutions that protect borders and uphold the rule of law while also showing compassion to those who have made genuine contributions. The archbishop was careful to distinguish between criminals and the many law-abiding neighbors Catholics already know personally: “They sit next to us in our pews, they’re our lectors, they’re our eucharistic ministers.” In fact, he shared that he recently spoke with members of the local Polish community who have lived in the United States for 40 or 50 years—people he knew were immigrants, but never realized were undocumented until he saw the fear and anxiety they now carry. In a polarized moment, Archbishop Hebda’s plea is simple and demanding: pray for everyone touched by this issue, and urge leaders to pursue legislative reform guided by truth, charity, and the common good. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

A video of a protest disrupting a church service left one caller from Minnesota wondering what a Catholic should do if it happened at Mass, especially with kids in the pew. On The Patrick Madrid Show, Patrick Madrid didn’t pretend it’s an easy scenario. He called the protesters what they are: “They’re bullies.” And while Christians are called to peace, peace doesn’t mean passivity when a sacred liturgy is being interrupted or families feel threatened. Patrick pointed first to preparation: trained ushers, parish security, and clear instructions from the pastor so that, if something erupts, the response is immediate and orderly. The disruptors should be removed and the issue should be taken outside. At the same time, Patrick acknowledged a father’s instinct to protect. “We want peace. We don’t want altercation. We’re there for the Lord. We’re there to worship.” But if the situation turns dangerous, the duty to safeguard your wife and children is real, and prudence matters in the moment. His bottom line was simple: lawful protest belongs outside, not inside the Mass. “You can protest all you want. Do it legally, though. And don’t put other people in situations of jeopardy where… things escalate.” The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Timmerie shared a note from a young man who was struggling with an "LGBTQ  identity". He wrote that he had attended several talks that tackled the issue he was dealing with, but before hearing Timmerie, he felt like the speakers espoused hatred for people like him, as if no one understood “the struggle that persists every day.” But when he later heard Timmerie speak on the same topic, he said he “genuinely felt love emitted from the message,” and it renewed his courage to keep pursuing the truth. That contrast matters. When someone is wrestling with identity, shame, or temptation, a Catholic response can’t be either soft-pedaling or scorched earth. Timmerie put it plainly: “We tell the truth with love.” She explained that people are not projects, debate trophies, or political wins. "We’re about winning people, not an argument." She even recalled a campus debate where she “dropped the arguments” and asked a hardened opponent a human question: “Can you tell me about your daughter?” In that moment, the temperature changed, and so did the conversation. The same posture is needed when someone says, “I’m just not happy being a girl.” Sometimes the first move is listening, then gently pointing them toward real help, real relationships, and the healing Christ offers, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Marriage and fatherhood don’t come with an instruction manual, but they do come with a mission: lead your family closer to Our Lord Jesus Christ. On Morning Air, John Morales welcomed Catholic apologist Cameron Riecker to talk about the “real spiritual pressure” on families, and what men can do to stay steady. After reviewing nearly a thousand surveys from young men, Riecker said one struggle dwarfs the rest: “About 85% of those surveys, men say their number one issue is lust.” He warned that so-called private sins don’t stay private. “This is the battle for masculinity,” he said, and for husbands and fathers, “it’s got to start with chastity.” Riecker also pointed to the spiritual weight of a father’s witness, noting that he had seen research suggesting a father’s faithfulness strongly shapes whether children remain faithful. His takeaway was blunt: “The father determines the creed of the family.” But he didn’t leave listeners discouraged. He insisted this fight is winnable, especially when men are willing to show up, seek help, and build accountability. And when life gets exhausting and distractions multiply, he urged men to reframe the struggle as a place where God strengthens virtue. His practical counsel was clear: make room for mental prayer, pray the Rosary, and stay especially close to St. Joseph. Joseph is the quiet protector who acts promptly, obeys God, and teaches sacrificial love. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

At every Mass we hear St. John the Baptist’s words: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Fr. Richard Simon says that line reaches back to one of Scripture’s most mysterious scenes: Abraham leading Isaac up Mount Moriah. Isaac asks the haunting question: “Father, we have fire and we have wood, but where is the lamb of sacrifice?” Abraham answers with a promise that echoes through salvation history: “God will provide, my son.” Isaac is bound, laid upon the wood, and Abraham lifts the knife—until an angel stops his hand. A ram appears, and the immediate sacrifice is offered. But, as Fr. Simon notes, a ram is not a lamb. Centuries later, John the Baptist points to Jesus and announces, “God has provided the lamb.” The “binding of Isaac” was not canceled, Fr. Simon says. It was postponed. On the Cross, the Father gives His only-begotten Son, and Mary, who had but one child, stands at the foot of the Cross and consents in sorrow, never replacing Christ’s saving work, but cooperating in the way God willed for her. So the next time you hear, “Behold the Lamb of God,” remember Abraham’s promise fulfilled, and thank God for the Lamb. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

It used to mean something to get dressed. On The Drew Mariani Show, Drew recalls when people wouldn’t dream of running errands in pajamas, and when a night out called for real effort — “gowns and jackets and ties.” Now, he says, restaurants quietly drop dress codes, and virtually everywhere, hoodies, sneakers, and athletic wear feel normal. Drew isn’t arguing for “uppity” formality. He’s asking a sharper question: “What did we trade away to get to this point?” Because clothing doesn’t just cover us — it can shape us. He points to what psychologists have observed for years: clothing affects confidence, performance, and self-perception. When you dress with intention, you can think with more focus and act with more self-discipline. When you dress casually, your mind suddenly gives itself permission to relax, and that can spill into our social and even moral habits. Drew's producer Gavin backed him up. Looking at his professors, “dressed to the nines every day”, he realized it wasn’t vanity. It was respect. “I’m paying a lot of money to be in this chair across from them,” Gavin said, “and I’m dressed like a slob.” Maybe “dress for success” isn’t just a slogan. Maybe it’s a signal: this moment matters, and so do the people in front of you. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

On The Inner Life on Relevant Radio, a listener named Cynthia called in to share her method for doing ministry to the homeless in Austin and San Antonio. She often encounters people in desperate and hopeless situations. In an effort to brighten their day, she asks, “Do you believe that Jesus is king?” When they say yes, she smiles: If Jesus is King, “that would make you a prince or a princess, right?” That moment of laughter and levity opens a door to a deeper truth: every person is a beloved child of God. Cynthia lamented the unwarranted stigma against our homeless brothers and sisters in Christ, and encouraged people to minister to these people who need community and relationship more than most. Fr. Marcel Taillon agreed, offering a simple suggestion. Give alms, yes, but go further. Ask them, “What’s your name?” and “Can I say a prayer for you today?” God knows their name, and hearing it spoken with respect can begin to restore dignity. He challenged listeners who keep their distance: “We got to get out.” Visit a shelter. Volunteer with your kids. Meet someone face-to-face. “The poor always bless us,” he said, reminding us that Jesus promises He will give us 100 times back that which we freely give to the least of His brothers and sisters. “We should meet Jesus in two places,” he said: “in the tabernacle in the Eucharist, and then the poor.” Ask the Lord for the eyes of faith in both, so that you can recognize Christ, and let that recognition change how you love. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Lying can feel like a quick fix for fear—until it becomes a habit that steals peace. On Marriage Unhindered, Doug took a call from Junior in Green Bay, who made a difficult admission. “I grew up lying because it was an easy thing. And not going to confession, well, that made it that much easier.” Junior explained that he often felt judged and just wanted to be accepted. So he slipped into a pattern of telling people what they wanted to hear, whether it was to avoid trouble or to fit in. Then he had a turning point. He started going back to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and saw, with new clarity, that he wasn’t helping anyone, least of all himself. The relief surprised him: the truth didn’t push people away; it let them meet the real him. Doug highlighted the practical side too: “Lying takes a lot of energy because you've got to remember the lie.” One lie needs another like a house of cards, and sooner or later the whole thing collapses. Junior’s story is a reminder that honesty is a return to who God made you to be, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a powerful place to start over. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

During the Family Rosary Across America, Jasmine called from Montclair, New Jersey, and said, “I have a praise report and a prayer intention.” She shared that her breast cancer is cleared and told Fr. Rocky, “I’m in remission.” Then she added a request for what comes next: “The prayer petition is for my next surgery coming up on February 15th.” Fr. Rocky assured her, “We’ll pray for that,” and thanked God for the grace that strengthens everyone listening: “That gives all of us a great deal of hope. Thank you, Jesus.” The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Timmerie has heard for years that osteoporosis impacts many, and that about half of adults over 50 have some sort of bone mass loss. But now she’s hearing from young millennials who have been told the same thing. Why is it happening earlier and earlier? Personal trainer and author of The Resistance Training Revolution, Sal Di Stefano points first to something simple: muscle weakness. “Barring severe nutrient deficiencies … what you have is essentially weakness, weak bodies,” he says. If you don’t challenge your muscles, your bones will become weak too. “Strong muscles, strong bones, weak muscles, weak bones.” That’s why he says strength training matters. “Nothing is more effective than strength training for strengthening bone,” Sal explains, because “whatever strengthens muscle will strengthen bone.” But he also warns that some “fitness fanatics” still develop osteopenia. The reason isn’t that they exercise too little. It’s that they essentially starve themselves by under-eating while following a lifting regimen. “You need to do both. You need to strength train and don’t starve yourself.” And the bar for strength training is lower than many think. Sal says once a week is plenty—“about 30 minutes”—and he notes that preventing the muscle and bone loss after age 35 can take as little as once every two weeks. He ties this to another trend: “Grip strength … is the proxy for overall body strength,” and he says many college-aged males today have the grip strength of a 60-year-old in 1984. Sal ended on a hopeful note: healthy bone density isn’t inevitable with age. It’s trainable. Stick to a workout regimen that emphasizes strength training, and don't starve yourself! The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

When Hannah from Rio Rancho, New Mexico, called in to The Patrick Madrid Show, she brought a tattoo artist’s dilemma to light: How do you honor God in a profession that marks the body? Hannah said that going professional forced her to “lay down a lot of boundaries” and to be very strict about what she tattoos, what she does not. Her goal is simple: “it’s very important to me that I keep God first, above everything, including above the business.” Still, she worried aloud: “Am I putting that onto people?” and admitted, “I suffer from scrupulosity a lot.” Patrick affirmed her humility and offered an analogy. People get haircuts and go to salons, he said, because “it’s a good thing to be presentable.” Motives can go wrong, but not every effort to look put together is vanity. At the same time, he invited Hannah to take her unease seriously: “the sense of unease that you feel could be your conscience bothering you,” and he encouraged her to ask the Lord to enlighten her mind.” Patrick also noted that some Catholic exorcists warn tattoos can be spiritually dangerous, especially when they involve occult symbols. Hannah shared that she steers away from anything in the realm of astrology or occultism. When she asked about Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Patrick reminded her that Hildegard is a canonized saint and a doctor of the Church, and he distinguished astrology from cosmology, the study of the created universe. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

One of this week’s Best of the Week moments on The Inner Life began with a simple invitation: Where do you find wonder? Guest Father Spencer Howe pointed listeners to G.K. Chesterton’s novel Man Alive as a wake-up call to stop trying to escape our lives and start trying to live them again. Father Spencer described it as “rediscovering the gift” of our own circumstances: our state in life, our family, our work, and the daily routines that can feel repetitive. And then he named the hope at the heart of it: “the life we have is good, even with the challenges, even with the things that might seem to be gray and dull.” Caller Colby, a former Calvinist now in OCIA, shared how Catholic teaching has changed the way he sees himself and the Christian life. He said, “We all have the ability to become saints,” and added that he finds wonder in “the Church itself, the mysteries, the Bible and its completion.” He said he can’t begin to say how it made him feel like a child again, like he was entering his father's house again in the purest form of wonderment. Father Spencer affirmed the Church’s hopeful vision of the human person. To him, it's “not one of total depravity, but of a wounded nature that can be healed by grace.” He added, “It elevates our nature so that our faculties of intellect and will and even our passions and appetites can be directed to the good.” The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Drew Mariani welcomed fasting coach Beth Bubik onto The Drew Mariani Show on Relevant Radio to talk about why we start with the body every January, and how to bring our souls into the process. Bubik noted that we often chase a “new year, new me” set of very lofty goals, and try to accomplish them solely with willpower. But she pointed out that “we’re [a] body, soul, composite,” and we have to “bring in the soul and the graces from the sacraments as Catholics” so we don’t quit after a setback. Her advice: start small and stay consistent. In 2024, she chose one clear practice: No drinking on Fridays. As she reminded listeners, “All Fridays in the Catholic Church are penitential.” She offered it for all priests and said, “I think I fell four times in the entire year.” That kind of fasting isn’t only about weight loss. Bubik said it helped her “maintain detachment” and realize she didn’t need food or alcohol to soothe herself or comfort herself. Drew agreed: Once we're able to master the body through fasting, it helps free us from certain attachments, and we gain “spiritual muscles.” Bubki urged listeners not to waste discipline without a spiritual purpose: Offer it up for someone, for something, and invite the Holy Spirit into everything you do. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

During the Family Rosary Across America hosted live at the SEEK conference, Fr. Rocky welcomed a young woman wearing a veil she’d received from her aunt for Christmas. Then he asked the question that opens so many holy moments: “What’s your prayer intention?” She didn’t offer something vague. She offered people. With names on her lips and gratitude in her voice, she prayed for her “secular friends” to encounter Jesus: “...that they might come to experience the love and peace of Christ like I have, choose to believe in him and love him as well.” Then she added a simple, heartfelt thank-you for the friends who stayed close in her lowest moments and finished with, “I love you guys.” Fr. Rocky immediately noticed something important: this prayer had history. “So this isn’t the first time you prayed for those friends?” he asked. When she said no, he smiled: “Because it just came right off, rapid fire.” Then he made it practical for everyone praying the rosary. He shared how he prays for his own family by name and summed it up with a warm, unmistakably Catholic instinct: “That’s how we pray like Catholics.” Bring the names. Keep bringing them. And trust that the Lord can use your faithfulness, one Rosary, one intention, one “rapid-fire” list at a time. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

It’s one thing to work hard for your family. It’s another to feel dismissed while you’re doing it. Maria from Chicago called in to Marriage Unhindered after a holiday where she tried her best to cook for her family and extended family, only to feel irritated by her spouse and misunderstood by others. “I just need peace and respect,” she said, describing the sting of feeling like she was “just making up my pain” when she was only trying to contribute what she could. Host Doug Hinderer didn’t minimize her experience. “That's real suffering,” he told her. He named it for what it is: a heavy cross to carry when you offer your best effort with a pure heart and receive no gratitude in return. Doug reminded Maria that Jesus understands this kind of loneliness. He encouraged her to ask Our Lord for the grace to endure and to keep doing good, even when it isn’t appreciated, and even when it feels rejected. Then he offered a hard but hope-filled perspective: “Realize that when you do these good things for your husband and your family, you're actually doing them for Jesus.” Doug added, “And even though your husband may not appreciate it, Jesus does. And even though your husband may not thank you for it, Jesus will.” Before they hung up, Doug promised, “I'll say a prayer for you on my way home tonight.” He also encouraged listeners to pray a Memorare for Maria. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

On Fr. Simon Says, Fr. Simon introduced St. John Henry Newman, the missionary priest who came to America to serve German Catholics who had no priests, and eventually became bishop of Philadelphia. Newman’s heart shows in what he said after baptizing his first baby: “It’s worth a million times more if this baby dies in the grace of the sacrament.” For him, a lifetime of struggles was worth it if even one soul reached Heaven. Fr. Simon contrasts that clarity with the temptation to reduce Church life to endless meetings. “The meetings are the servant of the mission. The mission is to bring people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.” Administration matters, but it must serve evangelization and, most powerfully, the sacramental life. Why the sacraments? Because Catholic faith is incarnational. “I’m not just a soul trapped in a body. My body is me.” God uses water, oil, bread, and wine to preach the Gospel to the whole person, even our flesh because “the Word became flesh.” St. John Newman never lost that priestly focus. As Fr. Simon says, “he was a priest from the day he was ordained to the day he died.” The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

On Morning Air, John Morales spoke with Curtis Martin, founder of Focus, the Fellowship of Catholic University students. Martin shared that “God shows up every year,” and described thousands encountering Christ through Eucharistic Adoration, confession, and fellowship—“almost 17,000 last night” alone. After nearly 30 years as CEO, Martin is stepping down while continuing to serve, still driven by one mission: “We want everybody to go to heaven.” Our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV delivered a special video blessing to all the SEEK 26 attendees in Columbus, Denver, and Fort Worth—and he led with a question straight from the Gospel of John. During the Christmas season, he reflected on the first chapter of John, when the first disciples begin following Jesus after John the Baptist calls Him “the Lamb of God.” Then Jesus turns and asks, “What do you seek?” The Pope said the Lord asks this because He knows their hearts; hearts that are “restless in a good way,” longing for meaning and refusing to settle for a routine life without God. Pope Leo XIV directed that same question to the conference: “Dear young people, what do you seek? Why are you here at this conference?” His answer was simple and profound: “The answer is found in a person. The Lord Jesus alone brings us true peace and joy and fulfills every one of our deepest desires.” The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

During the Family Rosary Across America on Relevant Radio, Fr. Rocky and Maggie received a call from Ann from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, who brought prayer intentions that carried both heavy suffering and quiet wonder. Ann asked for prayers for “our beloved Lonnie, a married mother of three, diagnosed with a bleeding brain tumor.” Anne shared that Lonnie is losing function on the right side of her brain, and said that she is set to undergo brain surgery soon. Ann also asked for prayers for her parents, faithful devotees of the Blessed Mother and the Holy Rosary, who have been married for 76 years. Ann added, “My mom just turned 100 and my father is 99.” “Holy smokes! 76 years.” said Fr. Rocky. “God bless them. We will pray for all of that.” In the middle of suffering and gratitude, the answer is the same: prayer. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

6-year-old Wyatt from Buena Park, California called into The Patrick Madrid Show with one of the biggest questions a child can ask: “Why did God sacrifice himself for us?” Patrick answered by starting from the beginning: Adam and Eve. When they disobeyed God, Patrick explained, they lost the ability to have a perfect relationship with God, and that break carried down to all of us. Like a child separated from the warmth of home, humanity couldn’t simply walk back into the Garden on its own. Their separation from God had done damage that we could not repair on our own. That’s why God came to us. “We don't have the ability to fix that problem, but God has the ability to fix it,” Patrick said. God “became one of us in Jesus,” and Jesus’ teaching, miracles, and mercy were meant to help people recognize who He is. Then came the Passion, the Cross, and the Resurrection. When Jesus “died on the cross and then rose again from the dead,” Patrick said, He showed that He “fixed the problem that Adam and Eve created,” opening the way back into friendship with God. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

In a culture that hands us identity labels like name tags, walking away from an errant and immoral lifestyle can feel impossible. On Trending with Timmerie, Timmerie sits down with Taylor Fogarty, who grew up in a nonreligious home and once identified as a “self-proclaimed atheist and lesbian.” Through the grace of God, Taylor later graduated from Columbia University, became a mother, entered the Catholic Church, and left her life of substance abuse behind. Timmerie points to how label culture traps people — especially young adults — by convincing them they have to stay where they once planted their flag. Taylor agrees that pride plays a big role. “People don't want to admit that they could have been wrong about something.” And when someone starts believing a label is “integral to their identity,” leaving it can feel like abandoning their “true self,” along with the community that came with it. Taylor’s message to the twenty-something who feels stuck is simple and strong: “You are so much bigger than these things that you're identifying yourself with.” Even after wounds and mistakes, “there is truly nobody on this earth that is too far for redemption and for grace.” That hope, she says, is bigger than the self, and it’s found with God, in the mercy she’s discovered through the sacraments. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

On Father Simon Says, Kathy called Father Simon with a Christmas dilemma: her stepson and his girlfriend live together, and the couple has invited the family over for Christmas Eve. Kathy says that she feels like she should take a stand and not attend, but she also doesn't want to cause a rift in the family. Father Simon didn’t recommend pretending. “A lie is not good either,” he said, addressing Kathy's explanation that her husband planned to cover for her by saying she was sick. He also reminds her that staying home won't change the situation: “You’re not going to change the situation whether you go or don’t go.” Father emphasized that she would not be “causing them to live in sin or encouraging them to do it” by attending the party. So his advice was simple and bold: go, stay in relationship, and offer a clear sign of hope through a gift. Since Kathy’s stepson was baptized Catholic but no longer practices, Father Simon suggested giving him Father Rocky’s book Marriage Insurance for Christmas. Then, instead of scolding, he encouraged her to discuss her concerns with positivity and warmth: “I just think she’s a wonderful girl and I hope that someday you’ll be married.” In Father Simon's eyes, it’s a way to stay honest, keep the door open, and let kindness and faith do their quiet work. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

On Morning Air, John Morales highlighted a ministry that brings the light of Christ into a place many would rather forget: abortion clinics. For the last five years, pro-life leader Abby Johnson says religious sisters have been hand-writing Christmas cards and sending them directly to abortion clinic workers. Before she was Catholic, Johnson remembered the day a Franciscan nun, Sister Marie Bernadette, stood in 100-degree weather outside the clinic where Johnson worked. She watched as an abortion patient drove away, and she saw the sister fell to her knees and began weeping. That witness, she explained, revealed a kind of sorrow she didn’t recognize in herself. It stayed with her as she would later write about the encounter in her book Unplanned. Always looking for ways to do more in the pro-life movement, convents have begun writing Christmas cards, placing them before the Blessed Sacrament, and praying over them before they are mailed. Johnson said Christmas is often when abortion workers start reconsidering their jobs. When a card arrives from a sister, it can feel like “that St. Paul moment,” a sign from God that He has something else in store. Each card features the Holy Family, a reminder that every person is valuable, and that Christ is the answer. Johnson’s closing promise was simple: “Healing is always available.” She pointed anybody looking for more information to AbortionWorker.com. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

A young adult woman wrote to Doug Hinderer on the Marriage Unhindered show with a painful tension: she has begun discerning the consecrated life—specifically, becoming a consecrated virgin living in the world—while still living at home. Her Catholic mom reacted poorly, kept pushing marriage, and even told her she was “stupid” for mentioning the vocation so early. Doug’s first counsel was simple and brave: ask her mother to explain herself. He suggested she begin, “'Help me understand why you are opposed to this.'” If she can name the real fear, confusion, worry, or even the desire for grandchildren, the young woman could respond to her mother with clarity instead of frustration. Then Doug pointed to the deeper reason discernment matters. After visiting the tombs of St. Francis, St. Clare, St. Benedict, and St. Scholastica on the Relevant Radio pilgrimage to Rome, he asked the Lord why these saints became “big, audacious saints.” The answer that came back was short: “They said yes.” That, Doug said, is the secret of sanctity: learn what God is asking, then say yes. Doug encouraged the young woman to tell her mom that she's not rushing. She's just trying to understand God’s will, whether that leads to marriage or to consecrated life. He also encouraged patience. Parents can struggle to “get out of the way,” and even misguided opposition often comes from love. Keep working at the relationship, and keep loving her. Still, Doug offered a sober note to parents: “Do not be too quick to oppose that or you might find yourself opposing God himself.” The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Standardized testing might sound like a dry topic to most, but Classic Learning Test (CLT) founder Jeremy Tate joined Drew Mariani to discuss the newest developments that aim to cultivate much more than students' future job skills. Standardized testing matters because it shapes what students learn. “Teachers inevitably teach towards the test,” he said, and that’s why he helped launch the (CLT) in 2015 as a third option to the SAT and ACT. Tate argued education shouldn’t be reduced to “what’s useful” for a job. He believes high school learning should recover “cultural transmission … and also moral formation, the cultivation of virtue,” rooted in the Western intellectual tradition. Drew warned that when schools strip away moral clarity and intellectual richness, kids are the ones who lose. “We need to go back and form the soul … by their grasp of truth and beauty and goodness,” he said, adding, “I don’t know, there’s something profoundly Catholic about that, if you ask me.” Tate pushed back on critics who call the CLT merely “conservative,” saying it’s rooted in the tradition students inherit. He claimed the CLT is “objectively the most rigorous right now,” and for families wondering about time, he noted the CLT has “always been 120 questions, 120 minutes”— slightly shorter than the new SAT. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

NOTE: This article features some sensitive topics that may not be suitable for younger readers. Please use discretion. Rosa called in to Patrick Conley and guest Father John Paul Erickson on The Inner Life with a fear no grandparent wants: she had discovered her granddaughter had been cutting herself. A nurse for 20 years, Rosa knew the marks weren’t “cat scratches,” and she worried what might happen if her granddaughter went deeper. Father John Paul didn’t brush past the pain. He acknowledged how real the ache is when we talk about peace, then insisted, “prayer is massively important.” Never stop praying, for ourselves, for our loved ones, and for those who need it most. But he also urged Rosa to make love tangible. Beyond prayer, what's most important is to “make sure that your granddaughter knows that she is loved by you." He encouraged Rosa to show her granddaughter as much physical affection as possible, remind her that she matters and she is beautiful, and that her life matters immensely. Rosa explained that her daughter is extremely hard on her granddaughter and she fears that that hardship is a factor in her granddaughter's actions. Father John Paul encouraged her to pray that her daughter receive the grace to meet her child where she is. Pray that she be the parent that her daughter needs her to be. Rosa admitted she “freaked out” when she first saw the cuts, but tried not to overreact. Still, she knew she couldn’t stop at small talk: “When people tell you they’re fine, sometimes we gotta dig a little deeper.” The Fr. John Paul encouraged her to point her granddaughter toward safe support, including a trusted teacher at school. Another caller, Sedalia, echoed the same theme: support and loving attention rooted in faith. Having gone through something similar, Sedalia said she brought her loved one to church just to sit and talk, then helped her pray the Rosary so she would remember, “God loves her. She’s here for a purpose in this world.” The hour ended with a sober warning and a steady hope: “There are forces out there that are intent on robbing, robbing us, including our children, of peace.” Patrick Conley reminded Rosa that thousands of listeners are praying with her, and he pointed families to the Relevant Radio App as one way to seek Christ’s peace. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Inside an NFL stadium late last month, the Church marked a new kind of digital encounter. Pope Leo joined the National Catholic Youth Conference at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis by live video, speaking to young Americans in their own Midwestern accent. Filmmaker Rob Kaczmark of Spirit Juice Studios, whose team was on-site capturing the moment, said it felt special even then, and he believes that in 10 or 20 years we’ll understand just how extraordinary it really was. Rather than scolding technology, he spoke like a father who understands the tools his children are using. “AI can process information quickly, but it cannot replace human intelligence,” he told them. Using AI responsibly, he said, means using it only in ways that help you grow in dignity and holiness – and, very practically, “don’t ask it to do your homework for you.” He warned that “it cannot offer real wisdom” and that AI “will not judge between what is truly right and wrong.” No algorithm can stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation or form real friendships. Spiritually, he reminded the young adults that these years are for “deepening your friendship with God and becoming more like Him,” and for learning to think clearly, examine reality, and search for truth, beauty, and goodness with God’s grace. Behind the scenes, Rob and his team were simply praying everything would work; the teens just assumed it would. After an hour of jokes, questions, and real-time interaction with the Holy Father, the day culminated in Eucharistic Adoration in the same space. Long lines for confession throughout the weekend showed how deeply the Holy Spirit was moving those young hearts. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

On Marriage Unhindered, Doug Hinderer sits down with clinical psychologist Dr. Johann D'Souza to explore “optimal work,” a practical approach he learned from his mentor, Harvard psychiatrist Kevin Majors. Optimal Work, he explains, is about working at your best so you can live at your best – using modern neuroscience to bring your highest ideals into each hour of the day, especially when anxiety is high around the holidays and family demands. At the heart of the method is the “Golden Hour”: one protected hour when you pour maximum intensity and meaning into a single task by focusing on how you work, not just what you get done. You begin with a few minutes of silence, reconnecting with why you’re doing this work for your loved ones and for God, then lay out clear steps – each no longer than 15 minutes. You set a timer, start, and stretch yourself. That one focused hour builds momentum, clears your mind, and turns work into an engine for personal holiness instead of just a to‑do list.  Dr. D’Souza contrasts this with “activism,” the urge to just dive in and stay busy – even if you’re racing down rabbit holes in the wrong direction. The Golden Hour trains prudence as directed by St. Thomas Aquinas: through deliberation, judgement, then commanding yourself to act. It also fosters contemplation, the true purpose of life and life in Heaven, where we live in God’s presence like the saints who made each person feel like the only one in the world. Practically, he advises guarding your “perimeter”: clear your desk, close extra tabs, put your phone in another room, and find a quiet space. A few slow breaths can become a simple Jesus prayer – “Jesus” on the inhale, “I love you” on the exhale – bringing peace to your body and heart before you begin. Used daily, especially in the holiday rush of planning, shopping, and family gatherings, the Golden Hour can turn even ordinary tasks into a school of trust, discipline, and love. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

On Trending with Timmerie, host Timmerie looks at a surprising Gen Z shift: women saying no to casual sex and stepping away from hookup culture. A 2025 national study on modern love and dating, conducted with datingadvice.com and the Kinsey Institute, points to a quiet revolution: fewer one-night stands, fewer no-commitment relationships, and a growing share of Gen Z calling themselves “celibate” or abstinent. Casual intimacy often leaves women anxious and distressed, because their bodies and souls are wired for real commitment. Women carry babies, release more oxytocin during intimacy, and bond more deeply after sex. That design is a gift when intimacy is lived as a conjugal union within marriage – ordered to the good of spouses, children, and our sanctification. But knowing you don’t want hookup culture is one thing; knowing how to say no is another. Drawing on Sarah Hernholm’s work at Evie Magazine, Timmerie walks through scenarios with concrete phrases: “I’m not feeling like having this tonight.” “I’m not comfortable continuing.” “I’m not doing casual anymore. If you want to keep seeing me, let’s date.” Clear, calm words that leave no room for negotiation. She even addresses unsafe situations, urging women to leave quickly and without apology – your safety comes first. After years in crisis-pregnancy work and sidewalk counseling, Timmerie has seen how a firm “no” can protect your life and future. And when we fall, Christ never leaves us stuck: we keep practicing chastity, get back up, and run again to the healing Sacrament of Reconciliation. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

On The Patrick Madrid Show, a caller named Tom from San Diego phoned back with an update that had Patrick – and listeners – breathing a sigh of relief. Two weeks earlier, he had admitted on air that he was too ashamed to go to the priest with what he’d done. Lying awake one night, Tom replayed Patrick’s words and finally asked himself, “what would I rather do? Confess and get it off my shoulder or be embarrassed to go to Christ?” That simple, honest question cut through his fear and put eternity back in focus. He chose Christ. Tom went to confession. Walking into church was still hard, he admitted, but God met him in the details: two priests were hearing confessions and he was able to go behind the screen, known yet unseen. “It was like Jesus said, you, I know you're embarrassed, but go ahead and I'm going to cover you and go ahead and do your, do your confession.” The grace was unmistakable. “The weight that is off of your shoulders when you're walking out of that confessional and walking into the parking lot, getting in your car is like a breath of fresh air,” he said. Patrick summed it up: why cling to unconfessed mortal sin when a few moments of embarrassment can open the door to mercy? “Jesus died on the cross to save us from that,” Patrick reminded him, rejoicing that Tom had chosen forgiveness over fear. Their conversation is a gentle nudge to anyone hesitating outside the confessional: don’t stay away. Christ is waiting, ready to cover you too. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

On The Drew Mariani Show, Drew Mariani and Dr. Susan Hanssen step into a remarkable 50–year window of American history, from 1776 to 1826, when the men we call the Founding Fathers were also the nation’s presidents. George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe—and “honorary founder” John Quincy Adams—did not just shape documents; they governed a fragile new republic. Dr. Hanssen notes that for a full half–century, every president was directly involved in the Revolution. They signed the Declaration of Independence, attended the Constitutional Convention, and serving in the war itself. Even young John Quincy Adams was sent overseas as a teenager, traveling all the way to the court of the czar in Russia to seek a loan for the War of Independence alongside his father. Drew and Dr. Hanssen’s conversation turns to an extraordinary day: July 4, 1826. Exactly 50 years after the Declaration was promulgated, both Thomas Jefferson, a slave-holding Virginian from the South, and John Adams, a Puritan New Englander descended from abolitionists, died on the same day. After a “very controversial and bitter election,” they had stopped speaking, until Abigail Adams helped restore their friendship and a rich correspondence. They held competing visions of this new nation: John Adams saw the Revolution as a conservative defense of existing English rights and liberties, while Jefferson compared it to the French Revolution, a more radical break from their past. As Adams lay dying in Quincy, Massachusetts, one of his final words was, “Jefferson still lives,” unaware that Jefferson had already died that morning at Monticello in Virginia. Dr. Hanssen explains how this founding generation became the “fathers” Abraham Lincoln would later consult, especially on the question of slavery. Our very habit of asking about the “original intent” of the Founders—on religious liberty, slavery, or even what marriage meant in common law—is traced back to John Adams’s “midnight appointments,” especially his choice of John Marshall as chief justice of the Supreme Court. Over decades, Marshall’s decisions defined an independent judiciary and the Court’s power of judicial review, embedding the question, “Is that law constitutional?” deep into the American mind. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Zoe from Jacksonville, Florida, called to thank Fr. Rocky and Maggie for displaying a picture of Venerable Augustus Tolton during the Family Rosary Across America. Her father, who passed away earlier this year, began praying with his parish to Tolton last July for her husband to become Catholic; now, her husband is preparing to enter the Church.  Fr. Rocky marveled at how quickly those prayers seemed to bear fruit, and he mentioned the desire of Most Rev. Joseph N. Perry, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Chicago, to promote Tolton further since a miracle is still needed for canonization.  Then Zoe shared her prayer intention: her friend Katie is just 22 weeks pregnant, recently underwent emergency surgery, and the baby is likely to be born very prematurely. Katie’s son was born at 28 weeks last year, which was “an absolute miracle,” and now they are beseeching heaven for the same mercy for little Zellie, named after St. Zélie Martin.  In just a few moments, Zoe’s call connected Venerable Augustus Tolton, a grieving daughter, a husband moving toward the Catholic Church, and a fragile baby in danger. As Fr. Rocky assured her, “We’re going to pray for that,” trusting that every prayer is heard and that God loves Zellie and her family even more than we do. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

On the show Father Simon Says, a listener named Jordan asked whether Galatians 4:7 supports infant Baptism: “You are no longer a slave but a child of God… and an heir.” Fr. Richard Simon unpacked the Greek word doulos, meaning “slave,” and St. Paul’s insistence that in Christ we are not just servants but heirs. That opened the deeper question: why baptize someone who cannot yet speak for himself? Some Christians argue you must first “profess your faith” for baptism to be valid. But, Fr. Simon said, “baptism is not our choice for Christ, it’s Christ’s choice for us.” Grace comes first; trust grows over time. He reminded listeners that sacraments actually do something serve a real purpose. “They aren’t just rituals that talk about our joining a club or making a decision. They are actual actions that bless body, mind and spirit with grace.” That’s why the Sacrament of Baptism is more than a symbol; it really marks us as God’s own. Still, he gently discouraged grandparents from secretly baptizing grandchildren whose parents refuse the Faith, since that places a child in a covenant he or she may never be taught to live. Instead, he urged them to trust God’s mercy, pray – even the Surrender Novena – and remember that “the baptism of children is not only valid, it’s important.” The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

On The Inner Life, Patrick Conley introduced a call from Mark, a catechist walking with a mother and her almost‑13‑year‑old son in OCIA. The boy has begun using explicit material online in a compulsive way and, with no real religious background, is asking a blunt question: “What’s wrong with it?” Mark wants to answer in a way that is truthful, gentle, and age‑appropriate. Father Ryan Brady said a conversation like this calls for prudence and delicacy. In a culture that treats visual sexual content as harmless or even positive, he urged Mark to present a different picture: every person is meant to be received as a gift, not viewed as an object on a screen. “Living more simply” means removing media and habits that distract us from God and that can erode both our own dignity and that of others. To answer the deeper “why,” Father Ryan turned to St. Augustine’s insight that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. We often try to fill that restlessness with food, entertainment, or repeated viewing of explicit content, like forcing the wrong‑shaped piece into a puzzle. Only the love of the Lord truly fits the “God sized hole” in the human heart. Patrick finally pointed Mark and the boy’s mother toward a previous Inner Lifeepisode on chastity with Father Allen Hoffa and toward Integrity Restored, a ministry that offers practical and spiritual help for those affected. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

A caller who has struggled with scrupulosity for 20 years—and now sees the same patterns in her daughter—asked Father Simon what true holiness looks like. She fears that her obsessive perfectionism has harmed her family and wonders how to “be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” without becoming perfectionist. Father Simon turned to the Greek word for “perfect,” teleios, which means reaching the goal or going the full distance—not being flawless. God’s perfection is not meticulous rule-keeping but love itself: to will the good of another. Jesus commands us to love as He loves and to forgive as He forgives, to the same degree and in the same way. God forgets sins completely; He is not fixated on performance. Real holiness focuses on the Father’s goal—sacrificial love—rather than flawless execution or never making mistakes. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

An 8-year-old boy named Joey called into Relevant Radio from San Jose, California during a Best of the Week segment. Fr. Rocky warmly greeted him, and Joey shared that he wanted to pray for his sister Rose, his brother, and someone named Howe. He also wanted to sing “Happy Birthday” for Maggie and for his mom, whose birthday had passed on November 7th. Joey said he had tried calling earlier but couldn’t get through. Fr. Rocky invited him to sing, and Joey asked him to sing along. Together, they joyfully sang “Happy Birthday” to Joey’s mom and Maggie. Fr. Rocky praised Joey, calling him “the best.” The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Fear crawls in quietly. A sudden headache spirals into thoughts of a brain bleed. A chest flutter becomes a heart-attack alarm. A strange noise in traffic, and suddenly you imagine catastrophic endings. Lauren’s email captured what so many Catholics carry silently: How do I live without being consumed by fear of death, tragedy, or suffering? Father Matthew didn’t dismiss these fears. Instead, he named them. Some fears are natural. Others swell beyond reason and need the healing perspective of a counselor or spiritual guide. But at the heart of the struggle lies something deeper: the unknown. He reminded listeners that followers of Jesus will suffer. Not because God delights in it, but because suffering—when united to Christ—becomes strangely meaningful. He described moments in his own life, unexpected crosses that later revealed mercy, sympathy, and a softened heart. Suffering, he said, can train the soul to let go of the illusion that life must always be free of pain. And the way to endure it? Calmly. Slowly. One moment at a time. Patrick Conley added the striking image that hovered over their whole conversation: Christ in Gethsemane. He did not shrug off suffering. He sweat blood in agony. He asked the Father to let the cup pass. But His anchor was trust: “Not my will, but yours be done.” A “happy death,” Father Matthew noted, emerges from that same surrender. Not from pretending we are fearless, but from offering even our uncertainty to Jesus. Even the dread. Even the anguish. And there, in the quiet surrender, Christ stays with us. That’s where fear loses its sting—and where peace finally begins. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

The week’s brightest news for the Church came from Baltimore before anything dark showed up. Bishop Thomas Paprocki joined Morning Air with a hopeful report from the USCCB’s Fall Assembly: a new president and vice president elected, a revised set of ethical directives for Catholic healthcare, a national consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 2026, and approval for a new Eucharistic Congress in 2029. Even better—an uptick in adult conversions across dioceses nationwide. His own diocese saw its largest group in 15 years. Grace is moving. Then came the shadow. In Illinois, legislators quietly approved an assisted-suicide bill at 2:54 a.m. on Halloween, hiding it inside a Sanitary Food Preparation Act. Bishop Paprocki didn’t mince words: the tactic was “diabolical.” Euphemisms like “End of Life Options” conceal what it really is—physician-assisted suicide. The devil, he noted, “loves deceit” and “darkness.” He warned of a familiar slope: first “compassion,” then pressure on the disabled, then doctors suggesting death, and eventually insurers nudging the elderly away from costly treatment. It’s already happening in Canada. The Church’s teaching remains clear. Suicide violates the Fifth Commandment. Life belongs to God alone. Suffering—never sought, always treated with palliative care—can be united with Christ’s own Passion, echoing the wisdom of St. John Paul II’s Gospel of Life. The Bishop stressed: the answer is never to kill, but to accompany. Even the Chicago Tribune urged the governor to reject the bill, a rare moment of agreement in a polarized culture. Grace is rising. Darkness is real. And the Church refuses to look away. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

The question was straightforward: why do Catholics say “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof” before Communion? Patrick Madrid explained that the line comes directly from the Gospel story of the Roman centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant. Though a pagan, the centurion recognized Christ’s authority and declared that Jesus didn’t need to enter his home—He could heal with a word. His humility and faith form the basis of the phrase we speak at every Mass. Madrid noted that this moment in the liturgy expresses more than personal modesty. It is a communal admission of our own weakness, sinfulness, and dependence on God. As the priest stands at the altar in persona Christi, he acknowledges both his unworthiness and that of the people, offering the sacrifice Christ instituted at the Last Supper and fulfilled on the Cross. The physical healings in Scripture—including the centurion’s servant and the lepers—symbolize a deeper reality: God’s willingness to heal the soul from the disease of sin. Madrid emphasized that while bodily ailments are serious, the spiritual wound of sin is far worse. So when Catholics repeat the centurion’s words before Communion, they are invoking his faith, their own need for mercy, and the healing Christ offers through the Eucharist. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

On The Drew Mariani Show, listeners explored the rapid rise of AI-generated creativity and the deeper questions it raises. Drew opened with news that an AI song, “Walk My Walk,” topped the charts, sparking concern among artists worried about copyright, jobs, and the future of human-made music. Elon Musk’s prediction of up to 20 billion humanoid robots added urgency to the discussion. Caller Arlene shared how her son used AI to craft a healing song for his daughter—his own lyrics and emotional story, supported by AI-generated instrumentation. Dr. Eugene Gan affirmed the value of human experience guiding the tool. Another caller, Maritza, emphasized humanity’s need for the “human touch” that AI can’t imitate. Nick warned against personifying AI, while Dr. Gan urged Catholics to be “pro human.” Peter, an AI professional, clarified that AI doesn’t understand anything; it simply predicts text and must remain a tool. Dr. Gan concluded: only God gives true life. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

On this week’s Marriage Unhindered on Relevant Radio, Doug Hinderer sat down with Dr. Christine Bacon to confront a hard reality many Catholics face: marriages that look shattered beyond repair. Their conversation didn’t float in abstractions. It was gritty, concrete, and rooted in the painful stories of spouses abandoned, betrayed, and tempted to give up. Dr. Bacon explained how her ministry began with just four people in her living room in 2016—four spouses whose partners were divorcing them, annulling them, or leaving for someone else. Instead of walking away, these men and women chose to stand on their vows. “God does His best work in the 12th hour,” she said, and she has seen it. After shifting to Zoom during COVID, that small gathering has grown to more than 500 participants across every state and ten countries. More than 40 marriages have already reconciled. Doug pressed into why this happens. The world tells wounded spouses, “Move on. Find your soulmate. You have a right to be happy.” Dr. Bacon pushes back with the Gospel’s straight line: deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Christ. That includes denying the desire to abandon a difficult marriage or chase a fantasy of perfection. Doug added that while bodies can separate, souls cannot. “What God has joined together, you can’t pull apart.” He reminded listeners that even when a spouse announces, “I’m done,” time often softens hardened hearts. He’s seen people return after one year—or twenty. Their discussion touched on Lila Miller’s Impossible Marriages Redeemed, where Dr. Bacon herself is named. The stories echo the same pattern: fidelity, suffering, and surprising grace. The clearest takeaway came from Doug: “There’s no problem in a marriage for which there is not a solution.” For spouses living in the wreckage, this isn’t sentimental—it’s a call to hope, one cross at a time. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

Ruth was a Harvard graduate, wife, and mother of six who lived the Gospel with astonishing simplicity. Before dying at 41, she responded fully to Vatican II’s call to holiness in ordinary life — sanctifying her home, her marriage, and her suffering. Her husband, Michael, shared on Marriage Unhindered that they often struggled financially, even qualifying for food stamps. Yet Ruth was tireless in her pro-life work, giving talks several nights a week — even while battling cancer. Two weeks before her death, she climbed Mount Washington with a metal rod in her leg, determined to “accomplish the most good” with the time she had left. Her sanctity wasn’t loud; it was disciplined. She insisted on scheduling every hour, telling her husband, “If you do not schedule, you cannot use your time well to accomplish the most good.” She lived every day as an offering to God. When their infant son died suddenly, Ruth gathered her family to pray the Rosary around his body. “The pain never goes away,” she told a grieving friend, “but it heals like a wound.” Now the Vatican is examining her life — not for her achievements, but for the quiet, steady holiness that turned suffering into love. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

In a heartfelt call on Relevant Radio’s Best of the Week, Yasmin, a wife and mother, shared her deep struggles—an unsacramental marriage, her son’s behavior challenges, bipolar disorder, and a painful sense of unworthiness in her parish. “I feel like I don’t belong,” she admitted. Fr. Rob Kroll, S.J., offered gentle truth: “Remember who you are before God — a beloved daughter of your heavenly Father.” He reminded her that God’s love never wavers and urged her to see Confession as healing, not humiliation. “That voice saying you’re not worthy,” he said, “is the enemy’s whisper.” He encouraged Yasmin to seek faith-filled friendships and support, and to anchor her heart in Scripture — especially verses of hope like Psalm 23. Host Patrick Conley pointed her to the Relevant Radio app for spiritual tools. Yasmin’s quiet “thank you” reflected the deeper truth: holiness is found not in perfection, but in returning again and again to God’s mercy. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.

A reflection on The Best of the Week on Relevant Radio revealed why the devil envies humanity. Drawing from the Book of Wisdom — “God formed man to be imperishable... but by the envy of the devil, death entered the world” — Father explained that Satan despises what God gave us: the power to share in His creativity. Unlike angels, humans can bring forth new life through love and union, participating in God’s act of creation itself. Because the devil cannot create, he corrupts: twisting marriage, love, and beauty through abortion, contraception, and distortions of art and sexuality. “The devil hates children, marriage, and beauty,” Father said. Yet, Wisdom reminds us that “the souls of the just are in the hand of God.” Like gold refined by fire, our suffering becomes God’s way of shaping us until He sees His reflection within — transforming envy’s destruction into redemptive love. The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.