Modern Catholic Family

Episodes

• 
  Finding God in the Ordinary Moments of Home 27.10.2026 48m

  Send us Fan Mail Changing diapers, fielding the third snack request of the morning, and wrangling little ones at Mass can feel a world away from the sunsets and mountain peaks where God seems so near. Jim and Meghan sit down with Stephen Schneider to explore how families can encounter God’s beauty in the ordinary moments of home. Drawing from his Minnesota upbringing, his marriage to his wife, Hannah, and life with four young children, Stephen shares how they brought faith, family, and work t...
• 
  “Serve the Lord with Laughter” - Padre Pio 06.10.2026 52m

  Send us Fan Mail What if laughter is one of the truest ways to bring people back to Christ? Jim and Meghan sit down with Ashley Strand, founder of Holy Smoke Comedy, to talk about building a ministry that uses improv and comedy to evangelize without losing reverence. Ashley shares her own winding path through grief, new age wandering, and a return to the Catholic faith, along with what it looks like to create art that is edgy, virtuous, and honest about both suffering and joy. It is a convers...
• 
  Our Family's Experience with Grief 29.09.2026 47m

  Send us Fan Mail Sometimes faith is tested most in the moments we least expect. Jim and Meghan open up about the sudden, recent loss of Jim's father, sharing an honest look at what it means to grieve as a Catholic family. From last rites at his bedside to the outpouring of support from their parish, they walk through how their faith carried them through this loss. This episode is a tender reminder that faith shows up most powerfully in our lowest moments. What’s in this episode: Why grief can...
• 
  How Your "Internal Family" Reflects Your External Family 22.09.2026 1h 3m

  Send us Fan Mail What if 90% of the intensity we feel in a marital argument has almost nothing to do with what just happened? Jim and Meghan sit down with Dr. Peter Malinoski, clinical psychologist and co-founder of Souls and Hearts, for something completely different: a live, guided exercise into the unconscious patterns that shape how we react to the people we love most. Using Internal Family Systems therapy, Dr. Peter walks Jim and Meghan through a real conflict from their own week, uncove...
• 
  Fulfillment Only Comes From Living for God 15.09.2026 59m

  Send us Fan Mail "Fulfillment only comes from living for God." This week on Modern Catholic Family, Jim and Meghan sit down with Father Avery Daniel, a priest of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and pastor at St. Benedict in Johns Creek, to hear his journey from a Naval Academy hopeful to a joyful shepherd of souls. Father Avery shares how a shocking military disqualification became the turning point that led him to discover God's calling, and offers hard won wisdom for young men discerning the pri...
• 
  The Intimacy We All Crave 08.09.2026 47m

  Send us Fan Mail What if the deepest ache in the human heart, the craving to be seen, heard, and truly known, can only be satisfied by God? Jim and Meghan sit down with Daniel, who now leads marriage and family ministry with Family Honor, to explore why every human heart longs to be seen, heard, and known, and how that longing ultimately points back to God. Drawing on nearly two decades in ministry and his own conversion story at Georgia Tech, Daniel unpacks the counterfeits our culture offer...
• 
  Taking Jesus and Young People Seriously 01.09.2026 42m

  Send us Fan Mail What would it look like if we actually took young people's faith as seriously as they're capable of living it? Jim and Meghan sit down with Eric Gallagher, husband, father of five, and executive director of Lolek Ministries, to talk about his own teenage conversion and the two decades he's spent helping young people build a real, lasting relationship with Jesus. From silent retreats to one-on-one spiritual mentorship, Eric shares why he believes "spiritual health" is a more u...
• 
  Surviving the Sandwich Generation (Still Trying!) 25.08.2026 42m

  Send us Fan Mail Noelle Garcia knows what it means to be squeezed from every side. As a homeschool mom of six and full-time caregiver to her mother-in-law, she joins Jim and Meghan to share her family's journey through the sandwich generation, caring for aging parents while still raising children at home. From her father-in-law's cancer battle and unexpected deathbed conversion to the daily challenges of dementia care, Noelle speaks with honesty about grief, exhaustion, and grace. She o...
• 
  You Were Made for This: The Family on Mission 11.08.2026 57m

  Send us Fan Mail "Your family has a mission." That's what Julie Liotta's priest told her in confession one ordinary Wednesday morning, and the words changed everything. Jim and Meghan sit down with Julie, a former Marine Corps company commander now serving as coordinator for adult faith formation and evangelization at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, to talk about what it means to live as a family on mission. Drawing from her years in the Marine Corps, her work walking converts throu...
• 
  Why Our Family Escapes Every Summer and What We Find There 04.08.2026 44m

  Send us Fan Mail Why does one family return to the same small island every summer, and what do they find there? Jim and Meghan step away from their usual guest format to reflect together on nearly two decades of summers in Jamestown, Rhode Island, the place where Meghan grew up and where their family has built a second, deeply rooted community. From an unexpected turn on the altar to conversations that stretch late into the night in a favorite corner of the house they call the cupola, they ex...
• 
  Regaining the Peace of the Interior Gaze 28.07.2026 49m

  Send us Fan Mail Pope Saint John Paul II once described how Adam and Eve, before the fall, could look at one another with total peace, free of shame or doubt. Jim and Meghan sit down with Catholic evangelist, author, and speaker Tanner Kalina to talk about what it means to reclaim that same peace today. A former actor and comedian who left Hollywood behind, Tanner shares how baseball, acting, and finally Christ became the true search of his heart. With honesty and humor, he opens up about sur...
• 
  The Power of the Family Board Meeting 21.07.2026 57m

  Send us Fan Mail What if the secret to raising a thriving Catholic family looked a lot like running a well-led company? Jim and Meghan sit down with Mike and Alicia Hernon, co-founders of The Messy Family Project, to unpack the Family Board Meeting, a structured practice of stepping back from the daily grind of parenting to intentionally lead as a couple. Drawing on business principles like EOS and Traction, along with decades of raising ten children, Mike and Alicia share how this yearly pra...
• 
  The Road to Hope: The Church's Response to the Crisis of Addiction 14.07.2026 50m

  Send us Fan Mail Addiction is messy, addiction is sometimes bloody, and it's a place holy people haven't always gone, until now. Jim and Meghan sit down with Keaton Douglas to explore how the Catholic Church can become a true resource for those struggling with addiction and the families who love them. Drawing from her own story of loss, healing, and an unexpected call to ministry, Keaton shares how her book The Road to Hope and new series Unshackled are helping families find their way back to...
• 
  Surrendering to God's Sense of Humor 07.07.2026 48m

  Send us Fan Mail From a place of deep darkness and silence, one woman's journey through abortion, sterilization, conversion, and healing became a witness that proclaims the mercy and humor of God. Jim sits down with Brice Griffin, Catholic mother of five, pro-life activist, and pilgrimage leader, to walk through a story of radical surrender and the grace that waited on the other side of it. With candor, warmth, and a healthy dose of laughter, Brice shares how God used confession, community, a...
• 
  Raising Neurodivergent Kids with Faith and Joy 30.06.2026 44m

  Send us Fan Mail Raising a neurodivergent child in the Catholic faith can feel isolating, but Ginny Kochis is here to remind parents they are not alone. Jim and Meghan sit down with Ginny, founder of Quirky Catholic Kids and author of over a dozen books, to explore what it truly means to embrace neurodivergence with faith and joy. Drawing from 20 years of lived experience as a neurodivergent mom raising neurodivergent children, Ginny offers honest, practical wisdom for families navigating thi...
• 
  How to Not Just Survive But Thrive in Suffering 23.06.2026 1h

  Send us Fan Mail Suffering is not a detour from God's plan for your family. It is the path. Jim and Meghan sit down with Megan Hjelmstad, Army veteran, author, speaker, and women's mentor, to explore the theology and practice of redemptive suffering. Drawing from years of chronic illness, surgeries, and pregnancy loss, Megan shares how suffering united to Christ becomes a doorway to freedom, joy, and deep purpose. Her book, Offer It Up: Discovering the Power and Purpose of Redemptive Sufferin...
• 
  Leaning on Faith, Family, and Friends Through Adversity 16.06.2026 43m

  Send us Fan Mail Grief has a way of revealing what we are truly made of, and for Maura McGee, it became the unlikely path to peace. Jim and Meghan sit down with Maura, a mother of six and author of It Is What It Is, to hear how her family navigated miscarriage, the murder of a beloved priest uncle, her husband Dave's rare cancer diagnosis, and the loss of her mother all within a few years of one another. With honesty and quiet strength, Maura shares how leaning on faith, family, and friends c...
• 
  Catholic Finishing School: Forming Young Ladies for Heaven and Earth 02.06.2026 42m

  Send us Fan Mail The teenage years are a critical window for forming young women in virtue, confidence, and a deep Catholic identity. Jim and Meghan sit down with Chantal Howard, Catholic entrepreneur, coach, and mother of seven, to explore how a faith-centered program called Catholic Finishing School is equipping daughters to navigate girlhood with grace and courage. Drawing from over a decade of coaching women and raising five daughters of her own, Chantal shares how this work was born stra...
• 
  Ordering Love 26.05.2026 57m

  Send us Fan Mail What would change in your family if every relationship were ordered toward God first? Jim and Meghan welcome Sarah McKenzie, a registered therapeutic counselor and mother of eight from British Columbia, Canada, to explore the Augustinian concept of "ordering love" and its surprising power for modern families. Drawing from St. Thomas Aquinas and her own clinical practice, Sarah offers a grace-filled look at how disordered relationships quietly undermine our homes and how faith...
• 
  Keeping Your Kids Catholic 19.05.2026 1h

  Send us Fan Mail What if the key to keeping your kids Catholic isn't found in a better curriculum, but in the quality of the soil? Stacy Halbach, Catholic author, speaker, and mother of six, joins Jim and Meghan with a hope-filled recipe for raising children who hold fast to Christ. Drawing from the Parable of the Sower, years of personal research, and her own family's beautiful struggles, Stacy reveals what parents can do right now to cultivate a home where faith takes deep root and lasts a ...