December 23, 2008

Guest: Jennifer Settle, Certification Course Manger for the Theology of the Body Institute
Featured Saint of the Day: St. John of Kanty

Today Deacon Rick spoke with Jennifer Settle, the Certification Course Manager of the Theology of the Body Institute and co-host of Theology of the Body on KWKY. Jennifer shared with us a refresher on Theology of the Body. It was developed by Pope John Paul II during his Wednesday Audiences from 1979-1984 through 129 different audiences. It focuses on living God's plan for the body and our sexuality. It is good to look into TOB, especially during Christmas, when Divine Life took on human flesh. By Christ becoming man, it elevates our humanity.

For Jenifer the discovery of how Thology of the Body relates to all areas of life and the Church stirred a great love of the theology within her. A beautiful concept she spoke of that touched her was the very unrepeatablity of the human person. So that when you fall in love or share a friendship with someone, that which is unrepeatable is what truly attracts.

For more information you can go to the Thology of the Body Intitute website:
www.tobinstitute.org

December 18, 2008

Guest: Bishop Joseph Charron
Buffalo Road Roundup: Miranda Taiber
Featured Saint of the Day: Bl. Anthony Grassi

Today Deacon Rick and Jenny spoke with Bishop Joseph Charron who returned in early November from a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Bishop Charron spoke of how each day of the pilgrimage was surrounded by prayer and scriptures. He celebrated mass at a different Holy Land sites each day. For him and many of those who journeyed with him on this pilgrimage, entering into the scriptures associated with each place had the most powerful impact on them.

Bishop Charron spoke about how on some of the different sites the traditions attached to them go straight back to the time of Christ, others have been destroyed several times through the strife of that part of the world, and others are general areas where it is believed important moments occurred. Bishop Charron and his companions began their pilgrimage at the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is above the wall of Jerusalem and the mount affords a great view of the entire city. Bishop Charron was able to celebrate Mass on the traditional rock where Jesus prayed in his agony. Afterwards they were afforded a time ot sit quietly and pray, putting themselves with the suffering connected with that place and with the Eucharist.

Bishop Charron spoke of the unique gift of allowing people to be in the places of the Holy Land and ot place themselves in scripture. They also went to Bethlehem and celebrated mass in Shepherd's Field. In Bethlehem they visited the Church of the Nativity where a golden star on the floor marks the place where Christ was born.

Bishop Charron closed by speaking of his experience on the Sea of Galilee. They wen out on a boat into the sea and stopped the engines. From there, Bishop Charron read the scriptures of Christ calming the Sea. An Evangelical group who had joined their boat ride approached the Bishop afterwards and told him how much his reading the scriptures had touched them. They then celebrated mass on the Mount of Beatitudes. The Bishop was facing the people with the Sea of Galilee behind him as the sun was setting. After communion he left his people with these words "You know, my friends, we've spent all day walking where Jesus walked, but it only takes a moment to let him enter our hearts."

Buffalo Road Roundup:

-The Speech Debate 2008 Paradigm went very well for Dowling Catholic and there were people from eleven different states in attendence.

-The Dowling performing arts Magical Dinnners of 2009 will be held January 9-10 at 6:30pm at St. Francis. The Dinners are first come-first serve admitance and will be catered by Christiani's. Call Denise with questions at 222-9047.

-At the November 23 open house there were 403 perspective students on the grounds of Dowling.

-This year's Christmas baskets project speareheaded by the Senior Class was very successful this year. They reached out to many families with the necessary food for a Christmas Dinner, toys, clothes, and Christmas trees with decorations.

-The next We Believe Capital Campaign evenings will be January 12 and January 28 at 5pm. To RSVP or take part you can call 222-1044.

December 17, 2008

Guest: Mike Coughlin, Managing Partner of the Sacred Mint
Featured Saint of the Day: Lazarus

Today Deacon Rick and Jenny spoke with Mike Coughlin, Managing Partner of the Sacred Mint. The Sacred Mint is an on-line resource for Christian Gifts. They were recently very generous with KWKY Catholic Radio and provided many of the stunning gifts we were able to use as incentives for our Mini-Pledge Drive.

Sacredmint.com is a new endeavor and was launched this year. Planning for the website began in January of 2008 and products were introduced to the website in August of this year. The partners of the Sacred Mint, including Mike, wanted to help further a revival of hope in our society. With all the negativity in our culture and media, they wanted a way of reaching out to those in need of hope. Sacredmint.com is a business and a ministry a unique place where you can see images and find gifts that have meaning in your life.

On sacredmint.com you'll find a variety of different offerings. They have beautiful crosses, reliefs, statues, and jewelry as well as gifts for special occassions like Baptisms. They are hoping ot expand their offerings to include special gifts for other Sacraments. In 2009, they hope to begin feeding the soul as well as providing material gifts. They're brain-storming ways they can reach the community and offer them something spiritually uplifting.

The Sacred Mint is a source for unique Christian Gifts. In this season of Christmas Mike encouraged our listeners to take hope in the celebration of Christ's birth.

To check out some of the Sacred Mint's beautiful and unique offerings you can go to:
www.sacredmint.com

December 16, 2008

Guest: Fr. Jim Kubicki, President of the Apostleship of Prayer
Featured Saint of the Day: Bl. Honoratus Kozminski

Today, Deacon Rick and Jenny spoke with Fr. Jim Kubicki, the President of the Apostleship of Prayer about our Holy Father's Prayer intentions for the month of December.

DECEMBER

• Culture of Life. That, faced with the growing expansion of the culture of violence and death, the Church may courageously promote the culture of life through all her apostolic and missionary activities.
• Fraternal Witness. That, especially in mission countries, Christians may show through gestures of kindness that the Child born in Bethlehem is the Hope of the world.

Fr. Jim spoke of the importance of examining ourselves in these weeks of Advent on how our choices foster a Culture of Life. To look at our priorities and ask if they truly promote life. To promote life we must be careful not to dehumanize anyone. It can be hard, Fr. Jim shared with us, when we are faced with people that we do not like or who annoy us. It is easier in our thoughts of those people to see them as more of a problem and less as a person. Fr. Jim asked us all to look at those relationships in our lives and reevaluate how we approach them.

When speaking of the Holy Father's Mission Intention, Fr. Jim spoke about Hope. Hope is how God came to save the world, through a tiny child, our beacon of Hope, Christ. Something to ask ourselves, is do we believe that? Do not let the fear of death hold us back from experiencing the hope of Christ. We must see past this life into our eternal destiny. Jesus' birth in Bethlehem points us toward the eternal, it is a promise of new life, and the well of hope that comes with his birth gives us the strength we need to stand against this culture of death in our daily lives.

For more resources from the Apostleship of Prayer you can go to their website:
www.apostleshipofprayer.org

December 15, 2008

Guest: John Putbrese, President of KWKY Catholic Radio
Featured Saint of the Day: Bl. Mary Frances Schervier

Today John Putbrese, President of KWKY Catholic Radio, joined Deacon Rick and Jenny for Rise and Shine. He wanted to thank all of the faithful listeners of KWKY Catholic Radio for supporting us during our Mini-Pledge Drive last week. It was very successful and we met our overall goal for the drive thanks to all of your help. It was beautiful because with four hours of the drive left we were $10,000.00 short of our goal and within those last four hours due to the generosity of many of our listeners we were able to meet our goal.

There are a lot of exciting things going on at KWKY including the announcement of a new studio on the ground floor of the Diocesan Offices on 6th and Grand in downtown Des Moines. We are beginning to plan our Faith Matters Conference for next year as well as anticipating Bishop Pates doing a show with us. The studio in Des Moines will need some work before it is ready, so keep the endeavors of KWKY in your prayers.

The Staff and Board of KWKY feel very blessed to be serving the community of Iowa and we thank all of our listeners for making what we do worth-while.

December 5, 2008

Guests: Sharon Banstra, a Catholic Charities Counselor and Wendy Solawetz with Catholic Charities' A New Beginning Adoption Agency
Featured Saint of the Day: St. Sabas

Today Deacon Rick and Jenny spoke with Sharon Banstra, a Catholic Charities Counselor and Wendy Solawetz with Charities' A New Beginning Adoption Agency. Wendy shared with us the two facets of A New Beginning. There is the pregnancy counselling side, where they work with women who are deciding whether to parent their child themselves, or if it might be best to put the child up for adoption. Once the decision is made for adoption Catholic Charities encourages the mother to make an open adoption plan.

Wendy gave us some of the details of what an open adoption plan entails. An open adoption enables the mother and her family to hand-select the couple who will be caring for the child. It ensures that the mother and her family will still have contact with the child once it has been placed. The Adopted family retains authority once the adoption has been made, but welcomes visits with the birth family. Having an open relationship between the birth and adopted families allows the child to grow up with a full sense of self, knowing where he came from as well as where he's going. Together, they all love the baby.

Deacon Rick and Jenny also spoke with Sharon Bandstra a Catholic Charities Counselor. Sharon and the counseling staff keep very busy. Sharon spoke of the need for counseling. She said that when people get anxious or stressed, they sometimes can get tunnel vision. With a counselor, they are afforded the perspective necessary to start looking toward the source of their anxiety. Counselors can offer an objective look on life's problems. From there, Sharon helps people discover methods of calming down or broadening their thoughts to see the whole picture when they encounter stress in their daily lives.

For those who maybe have a negative reaction to the idea of counselling, Sharon said that anytime we're struggling it is hard to talk about it. The question becomes, how do we think and process things? Sharon tries to look at the steps that led to where you are, and then discover how to work at it differently. She focuses a lot on finding your strengths and using them to help you deal with some of the things that life throws. Sharon has been working with Catholic Charities for thirty years and has done so because Catholic Charities makes its services available to everyone. It meets them in their need and finds a way to enable them to partake in the counseling services.

December 4, 2008

Guests: Nancy Galesi, Executive Director of Catholic Charities, and Sam Chambers the Co-Chair of the No Room at the Inn Events
Featured Saint of the Day: St. John Damascene

Today Deacon Rick and Jenny spoke with Nancy Galesi, Executive Director of Catholic Charities and Sam Chambers, the Co-Chair of the No Room at the Inn Events. Sam was very eager to share all of the exciting events that are planned for this weekend.

Friday Night the Pastoral Center will be transformed to house the music, food, fellowship, nativities and the silent auction during their Gala Event. To get tickets you can call 237-5078. The tickets are $38 a person or $76 for a couple.

Sunday will be the family friendly event where all that you need to get into the door is a free-will donation of money or personal care items. There will be cookies from the Highland Bakery as well as Nativity Scenes on display from around the world. There will also be choirs and ensembles who will play and sing throughout the day. A special appearance will be made by Bishop Pates who will be reading the Christmas Story at 1:30pm.

In 2007, there were 15,000 people at the event on Sunday as well as over 250 people at the event on Friday. Between the two, the weekend raised $60,000 for St. Joseph's Emergency Family Shelter. Friday is sponsored this year by St. Jude Health Care and Sunday is sponsored by Mercy Medical Center.

Nancy updated us on how things are going at some of Catholic Charities' other outreaches. Their immigration program is in full swing with educational presentations. Everyone is keeping an eye on the situation in Postville as well, where St. Bridgette's is providing food as well as coming up with money to help people with their rent. There will be a Social Justice Consortium forming to help integrate all the different issues that are prevelant in our society.

For More Information you can Visit Catholic Charities on line.

December 3, 2008

Guests: Joe Hrdlicka, Chair of the Marketing Committee for Catholic Charities
Arvid Huisman, Salvation Army Development Director
Featured Saint of the Day: St. Francis Xavior




Today Deacon Rick and Jenny first spoke with Joe Hrdlicka, the Chair of the Marketing Committee for Catholic Charities. Joe spoke of the great that St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter serves in the Des Moines Community. St. Joseph's Emergency Family Shelter helps approximately 60 families every year, touching the lives of over 500 people.

Joe encouraged everyone to partake of the "No Room at the Inn" Catholic Charities events this weekend. For those who are looking to contribute to Catholic Charities, these events are a fun and easy way to do it.

There is an gala-type event on Friday, December 5 that requires some level of financial contribution to get in the door. The event is from 5pm-8pm. To buy a ticket, call Trish Radke at 237-5078.

On Sunday, the "No Room at the Inn" even runs from 1pm-5pm. Bishop Pates will be there, so if you haven't gotten a chance to meet him, this would be a nice opportunity. Also there will be many different choral groups performing: St. Pius X's Celebration Singers, Dowling Choirs, St. Francis Choirs, Ankeny Community Chorus, as well as John Hannah. Admission is a free-will donation of money or personal care items.

For more information on any of this, you can call Catholic Charities: 237-5078



Also featured this morning on Rise and Shine was Arvid Huisman, the Development Director for the Salvation Army in Des Moines. The Salvation Army raises half of their operating budget from November 1st to January 15th each year. What they need right now are volunteers to ring bells for the red-kettle campaign.

To give of your time to help ring the bells you can go to: www.ringbells.org
Or you can call 282-3599

December 2, 2008

Guest: Tom Ludwig, who works with the St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter
Featured Saint of the Day: Bl. Rafal Chylinski

Today Deacon Rick and Jenny spoke with Tom Ludwig, who has been working with the St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter since 1990 when it opened. This weekend's No Room at the Inn 2008, a fund raising reception and open house Friday, December 5 and Sunday, December 7, will benefit St. Joseph's Emergency Family Shelter.

Tom described the St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter as a place where they are able to provide a safe and caring place for people who are homeless to get back on their feet, particularly those with children. The St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter is unique because it it accepts mothers and fathers with their children, as well as fathers with children and mothers with children. Most family shelters only accept women and their children.

The St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter is a house in the middle of a residential area, it's homey in that it has a living room, dining room and kitchen. The families who benefit from the St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter have a maximum stay of 30 days, but extensions are made for those who are on the cusp of finding a new place. Families are admitted on a first-come-first-serve basis.

The St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter is always looking for donations, particularly of diapers and usable furniture, as well as phone cards, personal care items, and bus tokens.

Be sure to attend the Catholic Charities, No Room at the Inn this weekend to help support the St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter. You can go to find the Catholic Charities Website here.

December 1, 2008

Guest: Rachel Mabrey, Volunteer and PR Coordinator of the Phoenix House
Featured Saint of the Day: Bl. John of Vercelli

Today Deacon Rick and Jenny spoke with Rachel Mabrey, the Volunteer and PR Coordinator of the Phoenix House, a Catholic Charities outreach in Council Bluffs, IA. The Phoenix House is a woman's shelter geared toward those who have experienced domestic abuse. The Phoenix House holds eight women and their children at a time and serves the Council Bluffs area as well as some overflow from Nebraska. There are seven full-time staff at the Phoenix House as well as many volunteers who help them man their 24-hour crisis hotline.

When a woman comes to the Phoenix House, she is shown to her room and a basic assesment of the situation is taken, as far as what their immediate needs are. Generally, the woman will then sleep for 24 hours, now that they are in a safe environment. Once a woman has rested, she will work with Catholic Charities to form a plan, setting goals each week of her stay. The women attend classes during the week on parenting and personal economics as well as attending a support group along with the other women at the Phoenix House. Stays are started at thirty days, but are taken on a case-by-case basis. On average the women remain at the Phoenix House for three months.

The Phoenix House's business line is: 712-256-2059
To Volunteer call: 712-256-2059
Their Crisis Hotline is: 888-612-0266