Show Notes
What does Jesus mean when He says, "In my Father's house, there are many dwellings"? This week's Gospel (John 14) contains one of the most comforting — and surprisingly practical — promises Jesus ever made. And it has everything to do with how you live right now. In this Sunday Gospel reflection, Chris Stefanick unpacks the rich meaning behind Jesus' words — including the ancient Jewish wedding imagery that would have blown the minds of His first listeners — and shares three concrete ways you can start practicing heaven today. Plus: a viral prayer from comedian and podcaster Theo Von that captures something profound about radical honesty with God — and why it just might be the key to letting Him truly dwell with you. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Jesus describes heaven as a "dwelling with" rather than just a place. How does that image change the way you think about eternal life — and does it make it feel more or less intimidating? 2. Chris uses the image of a thimble versus an ocean to describe different capacities for God in heaven. Does that idea motivate you, challenge you, or concern you? Why? 3. Chris says our culture "celebrates busyness." Do you recognize that in your own life? What's one practical step you could take to practice simply being — with God, with yourself, or with the people you love? 4. Theo Von's prayer is marked by radical honesty — even admitting to God the ways he knows he's lying to Him. Is there a part of your heart or your life you tend to hide from God in prayer? What would it look like to invite Him into that part? 5. The Sabbath is described as a weekly rehearsal for heaven. How seriously do you take Sabbath rest? What would it mean for your family or your community to treat one day a week as a genuine practice of "just being"? ----- Sign up for the Daily Anchor for free daily reflections from Chris Stefanick in your inbox: https://bit.ly/4tQCXtP ----- Join the mission to spread the joy of the Gospel! Become a Missionary of Joy to support this free content: https://bit.ly/4nTHbN0 ----- Help support us as we seek to bring our transformative CORE Confirmation program to this next generation: https://reallifecatholic.com/confirma... ----- Join Chris Stefanick on pilgrimage: https://reallifecatholic.com/pilgrimages/
More from Chris Stefanick Catholic Show
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What do you say when someone asks, "Who are you to judge me?" Dr. Cary Dabney, a professor of theology at Walsh University, returns to the show to unpack the simple framework he uses to teach moral theology to students who are devout, on the fence, or completely unchurched. It's the same framework that can help you talk with your kids, your grandkids, or a friend about hard moral choices without sounding judgmental or getting shut down. In this episode: - The four kinds of students in his classroom - The one question he asks before mentioning a single theologian - The three fonts of choice - What Robin Hood can teach us about good intentions - What relativism does to our ability to talk to each other - Why Dr. Cary calls Jesus "the pattern of righteousness" Dr. Cary also shares three things to check before any decision, and why humility and the option of reconciliation are always on the table when we get it wrong. Highlights 04:44 – The question that opens every moral theology class 06:16 – The three fonts of choice 07:32 – Robin Hood and the problem with good intentions 12:10 – Circumstances: same act, different gravity 13:47 – The object of the act 17:55 – Starting with what everyone shares: reason 19:26 – Taking the emotion out of hard conversations 32:12 – Silos, echo chambers, and Benedict XVI on relativism 34:38 – Three things to check before any choice 36:44 – Humility and the door to reconciliation 37:37 – Jesus, "the pattern of righteousness" ....... Sign up for The Daily Anchor to get Chris Stefanick's bite-sized reflections every morning: https://bit.ly/4tQCXtP ........ Support the creation of this content by becoming a Missionary of Joy with a monthly gift to Real Life Catholic and get free access to 9 transformative courses: https://bit.ly/4nTHbN0
One of the coolest things about being Catholic? You don't have to feel it to know you're getting it. In this episode, Chris sits down with Fr. Chris Alar — author of Understanding the Sacraments: God's Grace Guaranteed — to unpack why the sacraments are so much more than symbols, and why so many Catholics never learned what they actually do. Fr. Chris explains why infant baptism isn't about "letting a kid choose later," why Confirmation is the underrated "activation code" for the Holy Spirit's gifts, what it really takes for a confession to be valid, and why the Eucharist is literally the body and blood of Christ — not a metaphor. Along the way, Chris and Fr. Chris talk about the difference between true contrition and mere remorse, why evangelization has to come before catechesis, and Fr. Chris's answer to "which sacrament is your favorite to administer?" Highlights [00:01:09] – Why Fr. Chris Alar wrote a book on the sacraments [00:02:27] – The "wait till 18 to get baptized" argument — debunked [00:10:00] – Confirmation: the "activation code" for the Holy Spirit [00:16:39] – Heaven as a wedding feast — and why you need an invitation [00:18:41] – The three conditions for a valid confession [00:23:36] – Contrition vs. remorse: the difference between Peter and Judas [00:47:26] – Fr. Chris Alar's favorite sacrament to administer ....... Sign up for The Daily Anchor to get Chris Stefanick's bite-sized reflections every morning and be entered for a chance to win a trip for two on our Pilgrimage to Beauty: https://bit.ly/4tQCXtP ........ Support the creation of this content by becoming a Missionary of Joy with a monthly gift to Real Life Catholic and get free access to 9 transformative courses: https://bit.ly/4nTHbN0 ........ Order Fr. Chris Alar's book, Understanding the Sacraments: God's Grace Guaranteed (https://shopmercy.org/explaining-the-faith-understanding-the-sacraments.html), Check out his work with the Marians of the Immaculate Conception / Divine Mercy here: https://www.thedivinemercy.org
Fr. Robert Spitzer has spent his life studying the two most well-documented sets of miracles and healings in Church history. Blind since his early thirties from a degenerative eye condition, he joins Chris Stefanick to lay out the evidence behind Fatima and Lourdes like you've never heard it. In this episode: how losing his sight deepened his prayer life, his theory that St. Paul himself may have been going blind, the eyewitness account of the Miracle of the Sun and the staggering odds against a natural explanation, the discovery of the healing spring at Lourdes, a man's leg instantly restored after being severed by a falling tree, and the Nobel Prize-winning doctor who went to disprove a miracle and left converted instead. Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J., is President of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith and President Emeritus of Gonzaga University. Learn more at magiscenter.com Highlights 4:01 – How Fr. Spitzer prays through blindness 5:41 – "How has blindness blessed you?" 8:00 – A theory on St. Paul's "thorn in the flesh" 13:10 – The story of Fatima: what Mary told three children 20:29 – The bloodless miracle behind the Cold War's end 24:12 – The Miracle of the Sun and its 40,000 witnesses 28:25 – The "supernatural lens" theory, explained 38:16 – Bernadette and the apparitions at Lourdes 48:00 – The instantly healed leg of Pierre de Rudder 54:43 – Why the real number of Lourdes miracles is far higher than reported 56:00 – The political battle over the Lourdes grotto 1:01:37 – The Nobel laureate who tried to disprove a miracle 1:09:30 – Why Fr. Spitzer believes he was never healed 1:16:40 – Gabriel Gargam: paralyzed, then instantly healed 1:22:00 – "35,000 miracles... something is going on" ....... Sign up for The Daily Anchor to get Chris Stefanick's bite-sized reflections every morning and be entered for a chance to win a trip for two on our Pilgrimage to Beauty: https://bit.ly/4tQCXtP ........ Support the creation of this content by becoming a Missionary of Joy with a monthly gift to Real Life Catholic and get free access to 9 transformative courses: https://bit.ly/4nTHbN0
He's about to be declared a saint, and Dr. Peter Howard has spent nearly 30 years tracing his every word. Founder of the Fulton Sheen Institute, Dr. Howard earned his Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, where he specialized in dogmatic theology and Mariology. Dr. Howard joins Chris Stefanick ahead of Archbishop Fulton Sheen's beatification to talk about the man who shaped his entire life. In this episode: the cassette tape that changed Peter's life at 22, the actual microphone Sheen used on that retreat now sitting in Peter's office, why Sheen called Mary a "spiritual Trojan horse," the one direct appeal Christ ever made of His followers, the falling out with a cardinal that got Sheen's show pulled off air overnight, and what Sheen predicted decades ago about identity, AI, and the "economic savior" the world is waiting for. Peter also opens up about his son Beckett, now 15, who started tagging along to daily Holy Hour... and hasn't stopped. Highlights: 04:42 – When Peter's heart caught fire for Fulton Sheen 08:36 – The retreat tape that became "the genesis of everything" 11:00 – The actual microphone Sheen used, now in Peter's office 22:03 – Mary as the "spiritual Trojan horse" 27:05 – Why Jesus asked for one hour in Gethsemane 34:08 – "You will win the war before the Blessed Sacrament" 38:14 – Peter's son Beckett and his own daily Holy Hour 50:31 – The falling out with Cardinal Spellman 52:54 – John Paul II's words Sheen waited a lifetime to hear 1:02:26 – What Sheen predicted about AI as a false savior ....... Sign up for The Daily Anchor to get Chris Stefanick's bite-sized reflections every morning and be entered for a chance to win a trip for two on our Pilgrimage to Beauty: https://bit.ly/4tQCXtP ........ Support the creation of this content by becoming a Missionary of Joy with a monthly gift to Real Life Catholic and get free access to 9 transformative courses: https://bit.ly/4nTHbN0 ........ Learn more from Dr. Peter Howard: FultonSheenInstitute.com and FultonSheenMovement.com