Deliver Us From Evil

Fr. Dave was somewhere in Maryland and I was somewhere in Virginia when we recorded this podcast, so the audio quality isn’t the best, and the video is me with a picture of Fr. Dave. But I think it came out pretty good all things considering!

I have a feeling that Fr. Dave isn’t rooting for the Colorado Avalanche as much as rooting against my Tampa Bay Lightning. Rough game on Saturday (they lost 0-7) but thankfully they won the next game, so I am still “they that hoping” they could pull off the three-peat.

I’m in Virginia playing music and giving talks to teenagers attending the Diocese of Arlington WorkCamp. During the day, these teenagers help people in need by fixing houses, building handicapped ramps, etc., and then in the evening gather for fun, fellowship and prayer. I think I first helped with WorkCamp back in… 96? I’ve not been able to be a part of it since 2015 when I took over leading worship for all of the adult and summer conferences. But now that I’m just leading worship for the adult conferences (still speaking at some youth conferences), I had the dates available and I’m THRILLED to be back.

In this episode, Fr. Dave and I finish the last petition of the Our Father, “deliver us from evil.” I’m grateful for all the positive feedback on the past few episodes! We think we will keep pulling out longer themes like this and we are happy for ideas on what you might like us to talk about. Shoot an email to hope@franciscan.edu.

Fr. Dave is heading to India for the next couple of weeks and I’m out and about doing other summer conferences, so we aren’t exactly sure if we will be able to release any new episodes next week or early July, but we will try our best!

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

I’m in the middle of the Priests, Deacons, Seminarians retreat here on campus, so you’ll just get the episode description:

Dcn. Bob can’t stop talking about the moped he just got! He and Fr. Dave also talk about sports, last weekend’s Steubenville Youth Conference, and what it means to pray, “lead us not into temptation.”

Enjoy!

As We Forgive (Live with Heather Khym)

I am really excited to share this podcast with you!

A few months ago, Fr. Dave and I discussed whether or not we would record the podcast live at the Power and Purpose conference, like we did last year. When we realized that Heather Khym (from the podcast, Abiding Together) was speaking at that weekend, it was an obvious choice! She was happy to join us on the show, and in doing so became our first guest ever!

She and Fr. Dave go way back, so it never felt like an “interview,” she was able to be a part of the conversation. Apparently, Fr. Dave was the one who presided at her wedding, and told a funny story about a dead body that was at the rehearsal. He also started telling funny stories from previous conferences, which gave me an odd sense of deja vu. When I looked back at previous episodes, we told some of the stories from the last year’s live recording! Oh, well. Perhaps we will make it an annual tradition.

But the best thing about this podcast is when we get to an “astonishing” petition of the Our Father: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Wow. We spend some time with that one, and I feel so blessed that Heather was with us in that conversation, as she shared some beautiful insights.

I think this was one of my favorite episodes we’ve ever done! Hope you are blessed by it.

Top Gun: Maverick

I was in Hershey, PA this weekend at my son’s soccer tournament when Fr. Dave called me. “I’ve got a great idea,” he said… and I knew I was in trouble. “What if we recorded half the podcast, then go to see the new Top Gun movie, then come back and record the rest of it?”

Okay, that was actually a pretty fun idea. So that is what we did!

Since we recorded this episode on Memorial Day, it was a great day to do it. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a 10 AM movie before! Give this episode a listen to hear a mostly spoiler-free review of the film (because Fr. Dave clearly misunderstood what that meant).

We didn’t talk about one of the petitions of the Our Father, but we will get back to that next week!

Our “Super-Essential” Bread

I had a great time with my family at Universal Studios in Florida last weekend!

One very special moment for me is when I took them to SAK Comedy Lab in Orlando, Florida, where I used to work in the early 90s. After watching the first show with my family, they asked if I wanted to take the stage one more time for the next show. Never thought I’d have the chance to do that again, and I felt very blessed!

But, man, I miss my hair! It is growing back. Slowly…

I guess while I was gone something happened with Archbishop Cordileone and Speaker Pelosi? So in this episode (after we cover sports, of course), Fr. Dave explains what happened and his take on it. And we do the next petition of the Our Father prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Did you know that the word “daily” is actually “super-essential”? Cool stuff.

Thy Will Be Done

I’m starting to believe there is a “They That Hope” curse when it comes to sports teams. All the teams that either Fr. Dave or I were rooting for, such as the Phoenix Suns, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Pittsburgh Penguins (me) and the Washington Capitals (Dave) all lost this weekend and are out of the playoffs! That only leaves the Tampa Bay Lightning, which I probably just cursed by mentioning.

It was graduation weekend at Franciscan and Fr. Dave and I share some wonderful stories about what happened. We conclude with examining “thy will be done.” Enjoy!

Thy Kingdom Come

Okay, I should first explain why I shaved my head 🙂

It comes with a prayer request. My 22 year old niece was diagnosed with cancer last month, and on Tuesday I shaved my head because she had to due to the effects of the chemotherapy she started. Would you say a brief prayer right now for her?

Admittedly, my new hair cut messed up my cosplay for opening night of the new Doctor Strange movie, but I still think I pulled it off okay…

My spoiler-free review of the movie starts the episode. We go on to discuss the leaked majority opinion in Dobbs and explain what it means to pray, “thy kingdom come.” Enjoy!

Hallowed Be Thy Name

Happy Star Wars Day! It must be spring because Fr. Dave and I break into song a lot this episode. Fr. Dave seems unaware that sports other than baseball are being played. Hello, NBA playoffs? Stanley Cup? We discuss an op-ed Fr. Dave wrote about transgendered athletes and close the episode by reflecting on the petition of “hallowed be thy name.”

Our Father Who Art in Heaven

You know, I knew that once we had given our “stamp of approval” for an NBA team it would be the kiss of death for them. With the Cavs out of the playoffs, last episode we decided to root for the Phoenix Suns. The next day, Devon Booker pulled his hamstring. Oh, well. Hopefully they can bounce back!

I was the one out of town this week, finishing up a Steubenville Parish Mission in Springfield, MO. Hello to everyone who was there! It was a great event to be a part of. Fr. Dave reminisced about the many parish missions he has done over the years.

He brought up what was happening in Disney World, which is a bit of a sore subject for me since Disney owns so many franchises I’m passionate about (Star Wars, Marvel) and I’ve also got seven kids who have grown up with the movies. We discuss the challenge of being “in the world, not of the world,” and how we should respond when corporations go in directions that oppose our consciences.

Finally, we start a new series of unpacking the “Our Father” prayer. Hope you are blessed by it!

Happy Easter 2022!

He is risen! He is risen indeed! Sorry the podcast was up a little late today. The extended Easter break and some tech issues made it a bit trickier than usual.

So thrilled to be in the octave of Easter and to talk about it with my good friend, Fr. Dave. We commiserate on how our sports teams are losing (so, the usual) and discuss how the Tridiuum went. This was my first Holy Week as a deacon, and it was very cool—and busy! We also take a few moments to reflect on the virtues we discussed over Lent, and announce a new theme for the coming weeks, the seven petitions of the Our Father.

God bless you!