#wcatradio

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In this episode of The Open Door (December 13th), panelists Jim Hanink and Mario Ramos-Reyes discuss the progress of the American Solidarity Party and the current presidential and vice presidential campaign of Peter Sonski and Lauren Onak. Our special and welcome guest is Marcos Lopez, the Chair of the American Solidarity Party. A first generation Cuban-American, he is a husband and a father of two and lives in Tampa, Florida. Lopez holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of South Florida. He works in marketing and spends most of his free time with his family. He’s also involved with the music ministry at his parish.

Is it true that the fastest growing political party in the United States is the American Solidarity Party? If so, what accounts for its growth?

What initially brought you to the American Solidarity Party?

Conventional opinion says that votes for third party candidates are wasted votes. What’s your answer to this charge?

How did you come to be the Chair of the Party?

What sort of week to week challenges does the Party’s National Committee currently face?

Can you tell us about Peter Sonski and Lauren Onak, the Party’s candidates for president and vice president of the United States?

What is the process for getting on the ballot? How is the Party faring in doing so?

Is there a way to use marketing skills to expand and develop political debate?

Can the Party attract nationally known figures like Dan Lipinski or Robert George? Can it attract six figure donations?

When will you be running for office in Florida?

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In this episode of The Catholic Bookworm, Kiki Latimer interviews Michael Pakaluk on his book The Appalling Strangeness of the Mercy of God (October 16, 2023) This book is the powerful story of an amazing woman, Ruth Pakaluk, who converted to Catholicism at Harvard, married her college sweetheart and joyfully welcomed seven children. She became a renowned pro-life leader and brilliant debater, who was struck with breast cancer and died at the young age of forty-one. Ruth's inspiring story is told primarily through her humorous, sparkling and insightful letters in which her realistic cheerfulness shines. A biographical overview by her husband fills in important details about her life, and a collection of her talks on abortion, faith and being a Catholic wife and mother conclude the volume. Ruth Pakaluk exemplified the powerful integrity of someone who lived what she believed. She was steadfastly committed to Christ and to the culture of life, and this commitment was manifested in her consistent affirmation of life in her family, in society and even in the face of her own death. Peter Kreeft, well known Professor of Philosophy and author, described Ruth as the best, most effective and inspiring pro-life speaker he had ever heard. She was such a compelling, articulate pro-life debater that eventually Planned Parenthood spokeswomen refused to spar with her in public. All Ruth's virtues revealed in this book offer inspiration and encouragement to anyone striving to put Christian faith into action. The Appalling Strangeness of the Mercy of God (ignatius.com)

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In this episode of The Open Door , without special fuss, and certainly without making a scene, we’ll explore the life and times of the man behind the scenes. Our welcome guest is our producer and, indeed, the producer of the full range of WCAT Radio & Television programs. The President of En Route Books and Media, the peripatetic Sebastian Mahfood, OP, Ph.D., will join us! Though his heart is in East Texas, St. Louis is the launching pad of his projects and peregrinations. He lives there with his wife, Dr. Stephanie Mahfood, and their children, Alexander and Eva Ruth. Among the questions we’ll be asking are the following.

Dr. Mahfood, Sebastian, could you tell us about your roots and introduce us to your family?

How did you become a lay Dominican and what does it mean for you?

Back in the day, and our audience should hear it directly, you wrestled professionally. Were you, even then, a voice from the periphery?

Turning away from the distractions of youth, you left the ring for the groves of academe. Your tenure at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary and Holy Apostles College & Seminary was rich: teacher, administrator, and pioneer developer of on-line academic programs. Could you share with us the highlights of your career?

You’ve authored half a dozen books of special interest. To name a few: Catholic Realism, The Narrative Spirituality of Dante’s Divine Comedy and Missionary Priests in the Homeland: Our Call to Receive. Could you explain their themes to our audience?

The Open Door, we understand, is your longest running WCAT Radio program. How did it start? What is its future?

You are not one to let the grass grow under your feet. Could you tell us about your travels, especially in Africa and Europe?

Before your retirement, what was the nature of your work as a professor of interdisciplinary and intercultural studies?

How does the Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology feature in your professional life?

What's next for your publishing house and radio station?

Some links: https://www.enroutebooksandmedia.com https://www.wcatradio.com https://www.faithscience.org

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On this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer discuss “the prosperity Gospel” as the tip of an unholy alliance between individualism in theology and philosophy and capitalism in economics. This alliance reaches into the larger culture, including education, science, and the arts. We have a welcome and returning guest, Thomas Storck, to help us. He’s the author of several books, most recently The Prosperity Gospel: How Greed and Bad Philosophy Distorted Christ's Teachings (TAN, 2023). Arouca Press published a revised edition of his Foundations of a Catholic Political Order last year. In addition, he recently translated and wrote a new forward for Louis Cardinal Billot’s Liberalism: A Critique of Its Basic Principles and Various Forms (Arouca Press, 2019). Storck is a prolific contributor to the New Oxford Review. And, to top it off, he’s associated with the American Solidarity Party. We’ll be asking the following questions. Please feel free to suggest your own!

Just what is “the prosperity Gospel,” and who are some of its current proponents

You note that some central elements in our culture give rise to the prosperity Gospel. Just how do you define “culture”?

What is a bourgeois culture? A consumerist culture?

You draw on the work of Max Weber. Why is Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism of special significance?

What happens to a culture that loses sight of teleology?6

Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his opinion in the 1992 case of Planned Parenthood vs. Casey: “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” What does this declaration imply?

Why do you claim that technology is not neutral?

Fewer and fewer students major in the humanities. What are the social consequences of this steep decline?

Is there room in art for expressive individualism?

What’s your next book?

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In this webinar delivered on Saturday, June 3, 2023, Jeannie Ewing engages a live audience on her book Waiting With Purpose: Persevering When God Says ‘Not Yet’ (En Route Books and Media, 2017). All of life involves waiting. We wait at stoplights. We are caught in traffic jams. We agonize over medical test results. We hang on to a much-anticipated getaway. Sometimes, we wait to finish a project, welcome a new relationship, or open our hearts to the work God has begun in us. Regardless of how often we wait or upon what, Jeannie Ewing explains with clarity and encouragement how we can use the moments of waiting in our lives to grow spiritually. Waiting with Purpose will show you why God asks you to wait and how He is speaking to you in the times when nothing seems to be happening. https://enroutebooksandmedia.com/waitingwithpurpose/

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In this episode of Heart to Heart, Dr. Kristina Olsen speaks with Dr. MaryRuth Hackett on her book Daughter by Design: Discovering Your Identity as God’s Beloved Daughter (January 21, 2023) What is my purpose in life? Who am I, really? These are questions that every woman will find herself asking in a culture swirling with increasing confusion around meaning and identity. Struggle, failure real or perceived, loss, grief, suffering–these are the things that tend to bring us face-to-face with ourselves, stripping us of the illusion that our identity and calling has anything to do with what we do or accomplish in life–or what we want to become or think we must be, for that matter. A woman’s deepest identity, however, is founded on something far more lasting and real. Her discovery of God’s original design for her life, to be in a relationship of love as His daughter forever, is a truth that will set her radically free to live the fullest life possible, a life of integrity, authenticity, fulfillment, hope, trust, and joy. In Daughter by Design, MaryRuth Hackett offers every woman:

The key to growth and good discernment: becoming aware of our God-given strengths and natural weaknesses.

The means to prioritize our spiritual life and develop a healthy habit of daily prayer–the foundation of our Father/daughter relationship.

The opportunity to identify and claim her own version of the feminine genius.

The invitation to surrender as the only true cure for perfectionism.

And much more.

Daughter by Design is a must-read for every woman seeking to stake her life on the eternal truth of her existence: that she is a daughter forever. https://maryruthhackett.com/shop/

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ITEST Webinar with Dr. Craig Turczynski and Dr. Mary Anne Urlakis on In Vitro Fertilization & the Sanctity of Human Life (November 19, 2022)

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Catholic Novelists Webinar (November 5, 2022)

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Dr. Kristina Olsen interviews Fr. Paul Pearson concerning his Dante Trilogy (September 5, 2022)

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An ITEST Webinar - Food, Logic, & Creation: Does STEM Help Form Better Catholics? (July 23, 2022)

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FOLD ScreenReaders: What Everyone Should Know by Ben Watson (May 3, 2019)

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WCAT Radio Walking the Parables of Jesus (April 25, 2019)

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Fire Away 22, Carlos drives through St. Louis and hosts the show with Sebastian Mahfood on location at Trattoria Marcella in South City