On the 25th anniversary of September 11, Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell welcome military veteran Deacon Robb Stark for a Catholic reflection on 9/11 remembrance, sacrifice, and the hope found in the Eucharist. Sister M. Karolyn Nunes of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George explains how to discern a religious vocation and previews upcoming discernment retreats for young women, while Fr. PJ McManus returns with a Sunday Gospel reflection on forgiveness and letting go of anger. Plus Friday news, a Cy-Hawk rivalry preview, Dowling Catholic football, the Iowa Cubs, and central Iowa weather.
Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell close out the week on the Friday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time and the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, with Mass this morning at 8 a.m. at Saint Augustine in Des Moines (105.5 FM). Today's saints of the day are Saints Protus and Hyacinth, brothers martyred in Rome in the third century.
Fr. PJ McManus, back on the air after a lengthy sabbatical and now serving at Saint Catherine of Siena in the Drake neighborhood of Des Moines, previews this Sunday's readings — Sirach 27–28 and Matthew 18:21–35, where Peter asks how often he must forgive and Jesus answers, "not seven times but seventy-seven times." Fr. PJ explains that Jesus is really telling us to quit counting, unpacks Saint John Cassian's image of anger as a covering over the eye of the soul, and shares a moving personal story of seeing someone who had deeply hurt him come forward in his own Communion line.
Sister M. Karolyn Nunes, vocations director for the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George (the Alton Franciscans), explains why discernment is a way of life rooted in relationship with Jesus, not just a one-time big decision. She shares simple daily habits for learning to hear God's voice, why silence matters in a noisy world, and her own story of entering the community 21 years ago. Single Catholic women ages 18–30 are invited to the Veni Si Amas discernment retreat, September 25–27, 2026, hosted by the sisters in Alton, Illinois — details and registration at AltonFranciscans.org. Sister Karolyn also previews Love's Reply, a November discernment weekend for young women at Prairie Star Ranch in Williamsburg, Kansas, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, with sisters from ten religious communities.
Deacon Robb Stark, a military veteran, offers a Catholic reflection on 9/11 twenty-five years later. He recalls watching the second plane strike the World Trade Center from a classroom at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and reflects on the first responders, passengers of Flight 93, and chaplains who gave of themselves that day. Drawing on Christ's words at every Mass — "Do this in memory of me" — Deacon Robb explains how Catholic remembrance is rooted in the Eucharist, calls listeners to choose courage over fear, mercy over hatred, and unity over division, and closes with a prayer for the victims, their families, first responders, and all who serve.
Also in this episode: Bo, an Oklahoma native, and Deacon Mark, a Hawkeye fan, trade good-natured takes on the famously "Iowa nice" Cy-Hawk rivalry compared to Bedlam and Ohio State–Michigan, and the hosts remember Hawkeye Marching Band member Derek Phillips.
Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com.
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