Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell close out the week ahead of Labor Day weekend with Deacon Dan Rouse previewing Sunday's Gospel on fraternal correction and the hard work of real reconciliation. Eileen Denner of the Iowa Christian Generosity Council explains how 47 Christ-centered nonprofits gather without a single fundraising ask, and gives Iowa Catholic Radio listeners a shot at a seat at the Ignite Your Legacy dinner on September 14. Emma Lynch, the new music director at St. Thomas Aquinas in Indianola, makes the case that sacred music is not background noise but a treasure of inestimable value. Plus Friday news, Iowa Cubs and MLB scores, Dowling Catholic football, and a hot holiday-weekend forecast for central Iowa.
Bo Bonner and Deacon Mark Campbell open a quiet Friday morning in the Des Moines metro as central Iowa heads into Labor Day weekend, with Mass at 9 a.m. at Saint Mary Magdalene in Bloomfield (105.3 FM). Today's saint of the day is Moses the Prophet — lawgiver, leader, and the great figure of the Old Testament who met God on Mount Sinai.
Deacon Dan Rouse of Saint Patrick's Parish in Cedar Rapids (Archdiocese of Dubuque) returns for the Sunday Gospel reflection on Matthew 18:15-20, walking through the gradual process Jesus gives for restoring a broken relationship. Deacon Dan names the three ways we usually botch conflict — fight, flight, or quietly ignoring it — and points to prayer as the first move instead. Drawing on Saint Vincent de Paul, who struggled with harshness and sharp mood swings his whole life, he leaves listeners with a harder question than "who has wronged me?": have I wronged someone, and is there something in my own behavior that needs to change?
Eileen Denner, co-founder and chief servant officer of the Iowa Christian Generosity Council, joins Deacon Mark for her first appearance on the show. Eileen traces ICGC from a small prayer group of Christian business leaders to a network of more than 47 Christ-centered nonprofits that meet for quarterly luncheons and workshops — and never, at any event, ask for money. She previews Ignite Your Legacy, ICGC's annual thank-you dinner for nonprofit mission partners, on Monday, September 14 at the Ron Pearson Center in West Des Moines: a nonprofit fair and reception from 4 to 5:45 p.m., dinner and program from 6 to 8 p.m., roughly 475 to 500 guests expected, and this year's theme, Shine Your Light. Author and biblical stewardship advocate Chris McDaniel is the featured speaker. Iowa Catholic Radio has a listener table this year — the first five people to text ICGC to 515-223-1150 win a pair of tickets. More about the council at ICGC Iowa and event details here.
Jeanne Thill previews this weekend's Making It Personal with Bishop William M. Joensen, featuring a conversation with seminarian Connor Lynch before he headed back to Rome. Connor will be ordained to the diaconate on October 1, the Feast of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, and ordained a priest next year at the cathedral. Making It Personal airs Saturday at 8 a.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m.
Emma Lynch, the new music director at Saint Thomas Aquinas in Indianola and a former student of Bo's, closes the show with a look at what a parish music director actually does — and why music is ministry rather than a soundtrack. A 2026 graduate of the University of Mary with a bachelor's degree in sacred music, Emma explains why music is an incarnational, whole-body form of worship, why the spiritual formation of musicians matters as much as their musicianship, and how Vatican II's Sacrosanctum Concilium calls sacred music a treasure of inestimable value. Mass times at Saint Thomas Aquinas are Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 8 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. — mysta.org.
Also today: First Friday Mass at 11:30 a.m. in the Saint Gabriel the Archangel Chapel at the Iowa Catholic Radio studio — staff, family, and friends welcome.
Join us Monday at 7 a.m. Central for a special Labor Day edition. Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com.
#CatholicMorningShow #IowaCatholicRadio #SacredMusic #EmmaLynch #IgniteYourLegacy #BiblicalGenerosity #CatholicMusic #SundayGospel #DowlingCatholic #CatholicPodcast