Ave Explores

A Twitter Romance & a Covid-19 Wedding with Nick & Riley Sciarappa

August 21st, 2020  |  Season 6  |  54 mins 7 secs

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Newlyweds Nick and Riley Sciarappa talk with host Katie Prejean McGrady about meeting online and about their lives while dating and discerning marriage and what they’ve learned and how they’ve grown in trust throughout their engagement. The Sciarappas also share what it was like to plan a wedding in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

Making Marriage Abundantly Joyful with Jackie Francois Angel & Bobby Angel

August 19th, 2020  |  Season 6  |  59 mins 14 secs

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Jackie Francois Angel and Bobby Angel, authors, speakers, and parents of four, explain to host Katie Prejean McGrady that marriage must be rooted in friendship, attentiveness to the other’s needs, communication, and a dedication to prayer. The Angels say that marriage is meant to be abundantly joyful, established in a love of Christ that flows into family life.

Regroup and Let it Go with Jeannie Gaffigan

August 14th, 2020  |  Season 6  |  56 mins 25 secs

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Jeannie Gaffigan, author of the bestselling When Life Gives You Pears, wife to comedian Jim Gaffigan, and mother of five, talks candidly with host Katie Prejean McGrady about balancing family life, her Catholic faith, and maintaining a sense of sanity and fun in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic in New York City. Gaffigan shares practical tips on how Catholic family life can thrive by lowering your expectations and letting stressful things go so you can focus on your family’s health, happiness, and holiness.

Finding Ways to be Generous with Beth and Dr. Edward Sri

August 12th, 2020  |  Season 6  |  54 mins 27 secs

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Theologian Edward Sri and his wife Beth talk with host Katie Prejean McGrady about how marriage and parenting is meant to be centered in love of God and a couple’s call to mission— to generously love, serve, teach, and proclaim the Gospel. With stories of raising their eight kids (ranging in age from nineteen to four years old), the realities of balancing work, home, and travel, and how to find healing from past wounds, the Sris explain how generosity is the key to thriving within Catholic family life.

Introducing Ave Explores: Catholic Family Life

August 7th, 2020  |  Season 6  |  2 mins 1 sec

Katie Prejean McGrady's parents, Marie & Garland Prejean, introduce the upcoming Ave Explores series on Catholic Family Life

Restoring Justice with F. DeKarlos Blackmon

July 3rd, 2020  |  Season 5  |  44 mins 17 secs

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F. DeKarlos Blackmon, director of the Secretariat for Life, Justice, and Charity in the Diocese of Austin, Texas, explains why people of faith should be concerned with advocating for justice, especially in prison systems and in the ongoing fight against racial inequality.

A Personal Mission Field with Fr. Michael Thomas, C.S.C.

July 1st, 2020  |  Season 5  |  47 mins 19 secs

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Fr. Michael Thomas, C.S.C., a teacher and campus minister at St. George’s College in Santiago, Chile—a K-12 school apostolate of the U.S. Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross— explains what led him to mission work in Chile. Thomas says that much of our mission work will occur within our own families, workplaces, and parishes.

Using Our Gifts to Help Those in Need with Steve Camilleri

June 26th, 2020  |  Season 5  |  39 mins 49 secs

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Steve Camilleri, executive director of the Center for the Homeless in South Bend, Indiana, explains how each of us are called to use our gifts to help those who need food, shelter, clothing, and financial assistance, not only tangibly, but also by loving and engaging them.

Defending Life with Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei, S.V.

June 24th, 2020  |  Season 5  |  43 mins 20 secs

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Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei., S.V., joined the Sisters of Life thirteen years ago, choosing the order because of its charism to protect and defend life. She shares how advocating life is not so much being “against” something, but being “for” the goodness of life.

Bringing Hope to At-Risk Youth with Kris Frank

June 17th, 2020  |  Season 5  |  45 mins 53 secs

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Kris Frank, vice president of Vagabond Missions, shares how the Steubenville, Ohio, ministry expanded across the country by focusing on sharing the Gospel with at-risk, inner-city youth, helping them break the cycle of abandonment and hopelessness.

Ending Racism in America with Fr. Joshua Johnson and Sr. Josephine Garrett, C.S.F.N.

June 12th, 2020  |  Season 5  |  1 hr 10 mins

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Fr. Joshua Johnson and Sr. Josephine Garrett, C.S.F.N., share their experiences as black Catholics, discuss why racism is sinful, and explore how Catholics are called to advocate for change.

Advocating for the Common Good with Fr. Kevin Sandberg, C.S.C.

June 10th, 2020  |  Season 5  |  45 mins 29 secs

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Fr. Kevin Sandberg, C.S.C, former executive director of and current professor of Theology at the Center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame, shares how advocating for the common good helps to end social isolation and oppression.

Hope, the Resurrection, and the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy with Scott Hahn

June 1st, 2020  |  Season 5  |  42 mins 59 secs

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Scott Hahn, a theologian and founder of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, explains how the virtue of hope can help us understand the glory of Christ’s Resurrection, and encourage us to love the poor, serve the marginalized, and preach the Gospel. In Hahn’s new book, Hope to Die, he explores how pain and suffering unite us with the Cross of Christ and help us to live out the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

The New Renaissance with Anthony D'Ambrosio

May 6th, 2020  |  Season 4  |  35 mins 32 secs

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Art and creativity are the driving forces behind Anthony D’Ambrosio’s writing and his consulting business. The poet and designer is the cofounder of Catholic Creatives, an international community of artists who want to bring about a new renaissance of beauty within the Church. D’Ambrosio believes even if they don’t realize it, all people are creative and pursue creative work.

Faith in the Magic Kingdom with Fabiola Garza

April 29th, 2020  |  Season 4  |  22 mins 23 secs

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Fabiola Garza, author of The Boy Who Would be Pope and an artist for Disney, shares how her Catholic faith influences her work. Garza shares how her identity as a Catholic gives life to all she does, both professionally and personally.

The Soul of the Artist with Christine Valters Paintner

April 24th, 2020  |  Season 4  |  27 mins 42 secs

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Christine Valters Paintner is a Catholic author and online abbess at the Abbey for the Arts, a virtual monastery offering classes and resources on contemplative practice and creative expression. She explains how we are called to see ourselves as artists in the world, not because we have marketable talents, but because the Lord is inviting us to create. Paintner explores how God surprises us with art in every form.