Benjamin O’Brien, author of the new memoir, “The Proving Grounds: A Catholic on Ladder 17,” calls in to talk about it. It’s a riveting story about Benjamin’s struggle to navigate the difficulties of his dangerous job as a firefighter while standing firm in his Catholic faith. Benjamin tells Gus that it wasn’t just running into burning buildings that challenged it, but the mental health aspect, bullying, self-control, courage, maturity and conflict resolution. The book is available from Ignatius Press. Afterwards, Gus invites listeners who are first responders or have one or more in their lives they’d like to recognize to call in and share.
Also, Gus talks about how it used to be commonplace for Catholic families to have one or more priests or religious in them somewhere. It’s since become a rarity and Gus invites listeners who have priests and/or religious in their family bloodline to call in and talk about them.
And today is the Feast of Junipero Serra, priest and Franciscan missionary. About 10 years ago, as his canonization date was approaching, the saint was the subject of a left wing smear campaign who painted him as a proselytizing maniac who mistreated Native Americans. Nothing could be further from the truth and many history scholars came to his defense and debunked those revisionist theories. Gus talks about St. Junipero's life and legacy and encourages his listeners to read actual history before looking at revisionist history.
St. Junipero Serra, pray for us!
0 comments