Thanksgiving and the season of Advent are upon us. As we’ve been hearing about Christmas for days now, it can often seem the Church’s liturgical season to prepare for the celebration of Christ’s coming should start earlier—to match our society’s commercial and advertising mania. But the quiet, reflective placement of Advent is as it should be. Even though I’m distracted by what’s going on in the world, I can allow the Scriptures in the liturgy and the slower pacing of prayer to help me open up to the Christmas mystery.

We’ll try to do the same on our ACR programs between now and Christmas. Today, we bring you a lineup of interviews and meditations to help focus a bit, especially an intro to our Franciscan Radio series “Advent Radio Retreats,” which is available to Catholic radio stations and here on our Web site.

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 Thanksgiving Week episode include:

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
Our Thanksgiving feast recalls the first grateful meal shared by Native Americans and pilgrims centuries ago. And in keeping with that observance, “Saint of the Day” focuses on a young woman beatified on June 22, 1980, by Pope John Paul II, the first Native American to receive that honor.

Alice Jankowski wrote the book, In The Name of the Father, about God’s miracles in her ordinary life. Her stories are as common as breathing and as miraculous as the wonder of God.

Scripture scholar Father Hilarion Kistner responds to questions: What is the significance of the woman described in Revelation chapter 12? What does the beatitude “Blessed are the poor in spirit” mean? Does the Bible restrict our food and clothing choices? What does Jesus mean when he tells Peter to “feed my sheep”?

Paul’s First Missionary Journey
In observance of the Vatican’s Year of St. Paul, we bring you another “Portrait of Paul” from Father Norman Langenbrunner. One of the amazing features of Paul’s life is his travel. As the apostle to the Gentiles, he logged thousands of miles evangelizing and establishing local churches. Father Norm tells us of the first of these journeys.

Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk has served the Archdiocese of Cincinnati since 1982. He’s been active on a number of committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, serving as its president from 1989 to 1992. He is also a prolific author for St. Anthony Messenger Press. In the past two years, Archbishop Pilarczyk has written and spoken on the theme of Catholics as “grateful believers.”

Highlights from this episode include:

St. Elizabeth of Hungary
She lived to be not quite 24 years old. But Elizabeth of Hungary demonstrated a deep love for the poor. She was the daughter of a king who became a true sister to those in need—and she is part of ACR’s lineup of December saints.

Ray McKenna is founder of “Catholics United for Christ,” which serves Catholic athletes in the practice of their faith and shares the gospel in and through sports. It was formed in response to Pope John Paul II's call to evangelize the world of sports and his establishment of the Vatican’s Office of Sports.

ACR host Father Greg Friedman answers questions: What does the name Emmanuel mean? Should Catholic children believe in Santa Claus? When does Advent begin?

What Happened on Cyprus
In observance of the Vatican’s Year of St. Paul, we bring you another “Portrait of Paul” from Father Norman Langenbrunner. Paul’s missionary journeys were full of amazing adventures, as told by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles. On the first of his travels, on the island of Cyprus, Paul encounters a Jewish magician in the employ of a Roman official!

Franciscan James Van Vurst has ministered as a friar for more than 40 years in education, administration and pastoral ministry in health-care settings. He’s also been a part of our evangelization team at St. Anthony Messenger Press for the past several years. Father Jim currently is involved in retreats and recollection days and spiritual direction, so he’s well qualified to host a new series of “Advent Radio Retreats,” produced by Franciscan Radio. Father Jim speaks with producer John Feister about the meaning of the Advent season.