Easter has come, and we’re singing “Alleluia” once again. We’re also welcoming new members into our Church. American Catholic Radio will help your listeners celebrate Easter with features to help you get in touch with the meaning of Christ’s resurrection. A recent addition to the Easter season is the celebration of “Divine Mercy Sunday.” This devotion comes from the personal experiences of St. Faustina Kowalska, canonized in 2000 by Pope John Paul II. It was St. Faustina who designated the Second Sunday of Easter as a way to connect our faith in the mercy of God with the celebration of Easter. Our good friend Father Al McBride, O.Praem, has written a Catholic Update article on the Divine Mercy devotion, and he’ll share his insights with us. Happy Easter to you and to all those who listen to us on the radio and through the Web!

Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.

Use the links below to preview the shows or download them in MP3 format for broadcast.

Highlights from this episode include:

Continuing our series on saints who have given us classic spiritual writings, we feature St. Peter Canisius, a 16th-century Jesuit teacher and a doctor of the Church. Born in the Netherlands, Peter was known for his scholarly and popular writings—including three famous catechisms. He was an effective missionary as well, laboring in Germany.

Jennifer Zinn, a speech and debate teacher at a high school in Hereford, Texas, found the Catholic Church through a gradual process of inquiring and searching for a place to call her spiritual home.

Franciscan Father Dan Kroger responds to questions:

What does the title Our Lady of Seven Dolors mean?

Why did people formerly strike their breasts during Mass? Why don’t we do it anymore?

Did Jesus really descend into hell?

It’s the season of resurrection! Our “Bible Break” feature during this time will help us appreciate how the New Testament captures the faith of the first followers in the Risen Lord. St. Paul gives us the earliest biblical testimony to the Resurrection. And throughout his letters, he bases his teaching on that central truth of our faith. Pauline scholar Father Ronald Witherup, S.S., tells us what Paul has to say about resurrection.

As we listen to the gospel stories of the Resurrection, some of the key characters are the women who come to the tomb, seeking to honor the body of Jesus, only to find it empty. Among them, Mary Magdalene stands out as a witness to the Resurrection, as the Risen Lord meets her, and sends her to tell the rest of the disciples the amazing Good News. Producer John Feister talks with author Joanne Turpin in the second part of her discussion about women in the gospel accounts of the passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus.

Highlights from this episode include:

We continue our series of saints who wrote great spiritual classics. St. John of the Cross was a great mystic and Church reformer who also suffered greatly. Out of his profoundly moving spiritual journey comes one of the best-known explorations of what he called “the dark night of the soul.”

Cathy Adamkiewiez wrote a book called Broken and Blessed about her baby who died at four months. She expresses the great blessing and gift that her child’s short life was to her and to all those around her.

Franciscan Father Don Miller answers questions:

Does God punish us here on earth or only after death?

What does the Church teach about owning or carrying weapons?

May a child of unmarried parents be baptized in the Church?

We continue to explore the meaning of the biblical stories of the Resurrection. Kimberly Hahn tells us one of the most dramatic and colorful resurrection stories—the one about two disciples of Jesus and their encounter with him on the road to Emmaus.

Norbertine Father Alfred McBride, author of many books, including a six-book series on the Bible, four books on the Catechism of the Catholic Church and—most recently—A Short History of the Mass, published by St. Anthony Messenger Press. Father McBride speaks about Divine Mercy Sunday with producer John Feister.