Chris Stefanick Catholic Show

How to Make a Moral Decision | Dr. Cary Dabney

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 classr

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Grace Guaranteed: The Sacraments Explained | Fr. Chris Alar

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 g

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A Blind Priest's Case for Miracles | Fr. Robert Spitzer

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

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Fulton Sheen Predicted This 70 Years Ago | Dr. Peter Howard

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 c

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The Hidden Identity Crisis in Women's Sports | Sam Kelley

Is female athletics hiding an identity crisis nobody names out loud? Sam Kelley, founder and president of FIERCE Athlete and a former Division I soccer player at UConn, joins Chris Stefanick to unpack it. A nine-time state champion in high school before a career-ending knee injury forced her to rebuild her sense of self, Sam now leads a national ministry mentoring female athletes toward their identity as daughters of God. In this episode: the toxic pressures nobody talks about in women's sports,

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5 Simple Ways to Actually Change Your Life | Fr. Jonathan Meyer

Do you know exactly who you want to be, but can't seem to actually become that person? Fr. Jonathan Meyer joins Chris to share five simple, doable things you can do today to make real, lasting change in your life. In this conversation, Fr. Jonathan breaks down his acronym MESS — Move, Eat, Sleep, Silence, Socialize — and explains why so many of the spiritual struggles we bring to God are really unaddressed physical and psychological ones. He shares the direct, practical advice he gives in confes

Gym Bro Secrets + Theology of the Body (This Combo Works)

Fitness and faith aren't as separate as you think. In this episode, professional bodybuilder and personal trainer Dakota Lane joins Chris to talk about the real connection between physical health and spiritual growth — and why "getting spiritually buff" starts with how we treat our bodies. Dakota pulls back the curtain on the extremes of competitive bodybuilding (6,000-calorie bulks, 60-lb cuts, near-total dehydration before stepping on stage) and explains why that world is closer to an extreme

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Christopher West Answers YOUR Questions About Sex, Dating & Gender

Is the Church's teaching on sex just a list of rules — or an invitation to something better? Christopher West, the world's foremost teacher of St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body, joins Chris Stefanick for a speed-round Q&A built entirely from questions submitted by Daily Anchor subscribers. Three minutes on the clock, no script, no easy questions. In this episode: the difference between Thomistic and phenomenological approaches to morality (and why JP2 brought them together), real advice fo

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The Tricky Temptation Nobody Talks About (It's Not What You Think)

Chris Stefanick reflects on this Sunday's Gospel from a Benedictine cemetery at a Steubenville youth conference, where the monks buried there remind us that leaving the world behind isn't about the world being bad — it's about discovering something better. Drawing on Jesus' parable of the seed choked out by "the anxieties of this life," Chris breaks down the three classic sources of temptation — the world, the flesh, and the devil — and focuses on the trickiest one: the world, which we're actual

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He Had 800 Million Views… Then Got Banned for Talking About Jesus

David Latting built a TikTok ministry with over 800 million views — then got permanently banned for inviting Muslims to follow Jesus. In this raw, deeply personal conversation, David shares the mystical experiences behind his conversion that he's never talked about publicly, his harrowing two-year crisis of faith starting at age 13, the night The Passion of the Christ broke him wide open, his evangelism among Muslims in Iran, Afghanistan, and at a flea market, navigating the algorithm as an infl

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One of the Most Brilliant Minds in History Said THIS Before He Died

Chris is on pilgrimage in Toulouse, France, taking you straight to the tomb of St. Thomas Aquinas — one of the most brilliant minds in the history of the Church (and the world). Known as "the Dumb Ox" by classmates who mistook his quiet nature for dullness, Aquinas went on to write the 1.8-million-word Summa Theologica, showing that faith and reason aren't enemies but, as John Paul II said, "two wings of a bird that lift up the soul." But the real story isn't his brilliance — it's what he asked

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Feminism Robbed Women of This — Here's How to Get It Back

What does it really mean to be a woman—and why has no one taught us? In this episode of the Chris Stefanick Show, Chris sits down with January Donovan, founder of Catholic Feminine Formation, for a wide-ranging and deeply practical conversation about what's been lost—and what's possible when women are truly formed. January brings nearly 30 years of experience helping women live out their God-given genius, and she pulls no punches. She unpacks how feminism—despite some early goods it sought—ultim

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A 7-Year-Old's Heroism Will Convict You

What does it really mean to love Jesus more than your own life — and why does it actually make life better? In this Sunday Gospel reflection filmed at Fatima, Portugal, Chris Stefanick unpacks Jesus' provocative words: "If you love your father or mother or even your life more than me..." Far from being the words of a narcissist, this is either a claim to divinity — or the greatest red flag in history. There's no middle ground. Chris also tells the extraordinary story of St. Jacinta Marto, the se

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What Escaping a Cult Taught Me About God | Interview with Ex-Jehovah's Witness Dr. Cary

He was raised as a third-generation Jehovah's Witness, with his entire family inside the organization. His stepfather was an elder. Leaving meant losing everything — and he knew it from age 12. Today, Dr. Cary is a theology professor at Walsh University, and a devoted Catholic. And in this episode, he pulls back the curtain on everything. What do Jehovah's Witnesses actually believe about Jesus, the Holy Spirit, heaven, and hell? Why is it a cult — and how can you tell? What happens when you lea

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A Few Breaths: What Baby Margaret's Death Taught Me About Fear and Eternity

What if you've been afraid of the wrong things your whole life? This week's Gospel has Jesus telling his disciples — who would go on to die gruesome deaths for their faith — "Do not be afraid." But he also tells them there is one thing worth fearing: the one who can throw both body and soul into Gehenna. Chris reflects on this Gospel from a deeply personal place, sharing the story of little Margaret — a baby whose skull didn't form fully in the womb, who lived only a few breaths, and whose brief

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The Miracle. The Process. And the 75,000 Person Event behind the Beatification of Fulton Sheen

Fulton Sheen is about to be beatified — and this episode is your inside look at everything. I sat down with Bishop Tylka, Bishop of Peoria and the man behind the beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, to dive into what this historic moment will look like, how we got here, and why it matters for the whole Church. We talk about the miracle that made it all possible — a baby born with no pulse who came back to life after 61 minutes, with no medical explanation. We walk through the entire beat

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Why the Church Celebrates a Heart (Not a Brain) | Sacred Heart Sunday Reflection

Every June, the Church celebrates the Sacred Heart of Jesus — and this Sunday's Gospel shows us Jesus moved with compassion for the crowds, like sheep without a shepherd. But why the heart? Why not the Sacred Intellect or the Sacred Will? In this Sunday reflection, Chris unpacks why the Church's devotion to the Sacred Heart isn't sentimentalism — it's a profound invitation to be fully human and fully alive. Drawing on C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man, the witness of the saints, and the emotiona

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The 14 Stations of the Eucharist | Fr. Jonathan Meyer

What if everything you knew about Mass was only part of the story? Fr. Jonathan Meyer — priest, pastor, and author of 14 Stations of the Eucharist — joins Chris Stefanick for one of the most profound conversations about the Eucharist you'll ever hear. This isn't a dry theology lecture. This is the kind of conversation that changes how you walk into church on Sunday. Fr. Meyer breaks open the three dimensions of the Eucharist — communion, presence, and sacrifice — and explains why the third one,

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Lonely-Proofing Yourself and the World

"God so loved the world." That's not just a feel-good phrase — it's the perfect summary of who God is. And understanding it might be the key to fighting the loneliness epidemic tearing our culture apart. The Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — is a communion of persons. Three persons, one God. And because we are made in the image of that God, we are made for community. Loneliness isn't just emotionally painful. It's spiritually wrong. It goes against the grain of who and what we are. In thi

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Stop Protecting Your Kids From Everything — With Outdoor Adventurer Tom Zimmer

Safety first? Not so fast. In this episode, Chris sits down with Tom Zimmer — outdoor adventurer, professor at Wyoming Catholic College, and founder of CORE Expeditions — to explore why calculated risk isn't just healthy, it's necessary for raising saints. Tom leads seminarians, college students, and everyday people on grueling 21-day backpacking trips through the Wyoming wilderness — not to make them mountaineers, but to build grit, resilience, and the kind of boldness it takes to live the Cath

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