Deacon Mark Campbell and Ayden Pugh mark the Memorial of Saints Cornelius and Cyprian with veteran Holy Land guide Steve Ray, who explains what separates a pilgrimage from a vacation and names the one destination he'd send every Catholic to first. Emily Jaminet joins to talk about the surge in OCIA enrollment and the simple, practical ways parishioners can welcome inquirers, accompany converts, and serve as sponsors. Katie Patrizio previews Sunday's Gospel — the parable of the laborers in the vineyard — and asks whether God is actually fair, plus Wednesday news, Iowa Cubs and MLB sports, and a rain-soaked central Iowa forecast.
Deacon Mark Campbell opens Wednesday alongside Ayden Pugh on the Memorial of Saints Cornelius and Cyprian, with Mass today at 9 a.m. at Saint Mary's in Albia (95.7 FM). Deacon Mark reflects on courageous, ordinary witnesses to the faith — from a 9/11 family member who closed her remembrance at the 25th anniversary memorial with the Saint Michael Prayer, to a young girl at a rec-league softball game whose sign of the cross changed how he prays in public ever since.
Steve Ray joins the show fresh off back-to-back pilgrimages to Ireland and to Lourdes and Fatima. Steve explains what actually makes a pilgrimage different from a vacation — leaving your comfort zone to seek God rather than to rest — and traces the practice back to the Jewish festival pilgrimages to Jerusalem and the Psalms of Ascent. Asked which single pilgrimage a person should make in a lifetime, Steve doesn't hesitate: the Holy Land, because there's only one place God walked with his own feet. He describes Mass inside the empty tomb at the Holy Sepulchre, site-specific readings at Capernaum, and praying each mystery of the Rosary where it happened. Upcoming trips include a Saint Paul Mediterranean cruise in October, plus Jordan and Israel, a Rhine River cruise, and the saints and shrines of Italy next year. Find details and brochures at CatholicConvert.com — click "start a pilgrimage here" at the top of the page.
Katie Patrizio of Sunday Dive previews this Sunday's Gospel, Matthew 20:1–16 — the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, one of the few parables unique to Matthew and the origin of the phrase "the eleventh hour." Katie teases a provocative answer to the question "is God fair?" and points out a detail hidden in the text: had the landowner paid the workers in the order he hired them, no one would have known the difference — he reveals his generosity on purpose. Hear the full episode Wednesdays at 8 a.m. or at SundayDive.com.
Author and speaker Emily Jaminet returns to talk about the growing interest of young people in the Catholic faith and the near-doubling of OCIA numbers in her own Diocese of Columbus. Drawing on her work leading OCIA at her parish, Emily offers concrete ways to accompany inquirers: greet newcomers in the vestibule and gently explain the culture of the liturgy, walk a curious friend through an empty church outside of Mass to point out the tabernacle and explain why we genuflect, and don't keep friendships so surface-level that people never learn you're Catholic. She also issues a direct invitation to practicing Catholics to serve as OCIA sponsors, and passes along her brother's advice on patience — someone away from the faith for 30 years may need one, two, or three years to come home, and God works on his own timeline. More at EmilyJaminet.com.
Coming up: Christ Our Life, September 26–27 at the Casey Center in Des Moines — ChristOurLifeIowa.com. Iowa Catholic Radio's fall fundraiser, "The Harvest Is Abundant," runs September 29 through October 2 — become a laborer and give at IowaCatholicRadio.com. Submit a prayer request any time through the prayer request tab at IowaCatholicRadio.com — the team prays over them together at the weekly staff meeting.
Listen live weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio, or catch up anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com.
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