RESOURCE :: Advance Medical Directive for Arizona

It’s a situation we never hope to find ourselves in, and can never be fully prepared to face. A loved one is in an accident or becomes terminally ill, and you are the one God places in the position of having to choose whether or not to end life-support measures. This can fill a person (or a family) with incredibly conflicted thoughts and emotions. You want the best for your loved one. And you don’t want them to experience undue suffering. But, “pull the plug?” You know that your “yes” to that question means that your loved will pass away and come face-to-face with Jesus and their judgment. If you’ve had to make this gut-wrenching decision, call Thursday for part two of this impactful discussion and share your experience.

It’s a situation we never hope to find ourselves in, and can never be fully prepared to face. A loved one is in an accident or becomes terminally ill, and you are the one God places in the position of having to choose whether or not to end life-support measures. This can fill a person (or a family) with incredibly conflicted thoughts and emotions. You want the best for your loved one. And you don’t want them to experience undue suffering. But, “pull the plug?” You know that your “yes” to that question means that your loved will pass away and come face-to-face with Jesus and their judgment. If you’ve had to make this gut-wrenching decision, call Wednesday and share your experience.

Here is a helpful guide to end-of-life decisions published by the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

For a very long time, and even to a certain extent today, to be in counseling or therapy was viewed by many people as a sign of weakness, or that a person had major problems adjusting to life. This is surely the case in some instances. But seeking out the help of a mental health professional has lost much of that stigma, and more and more people are benefiting and living better lives because of it. If you are, or have been, in some form of counseling or therapy, how has it improved your life? Many people are hesitant to take this step, so what you share could catapult one or more people into a life far greater than they ever imagined possible. Share your take on this topic on Monday’s show.

We’re told in Scripture that Jesus came so that we might have life in abundance. That means, of course, a robust relationship with Him. It should also mean being passionate about things in the world around us. These can include a favorite sports team, a hobby, working hard so that you can afford a nice vacation, and so on. There may be nothing inherently wrong with countless things we pursue. But, over time, as we grow older and mature in our walk with the Lord, our interests, passions and priorities can change. Where once we may have been fanatical about this or that sports team, we come to realize that whether they win or lose their next game is really not that big a deal. The same can be said of many other things. They can become obstacles to our growing in holiness if they take on idol-like status in our lives. Is there something in your life that used to take up a lot of your time and attention, that you now may still have an interest in, but not at the level you did before? Share your take on this as we broadcast again live from the 19th annual EWTN Catholic Radio Conference!

We all pray for many things every day. Sometimes, we see God answering our prayers, but upon reflection we notice that He answered them in ways different than we had intended. For example, we may ask God to help us love Him more. He may take us through a season of intense suffering or purification in order to achieve that end, when we were thinking that maybe He would just will that our hearts loved Him more. If we experience this often enough in life, can it lead us to feel that we need to be extremely specific or precise when we pray for something? Remember, the Bible tells us that for God one day is like a thousand years. So, if we pray for something “tomorrow,” should we add the month, day and year to our prayer to make sure God knows what we’re asking for? This could make for an interesting conversation.

On Friday, call with those special and beautiful prayer intentions that are on your heart. Yours could be a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s blessings in your life. Perhaps you know someone who is away from the faith. You may be asking the Lord for a healing, a new job, for a deeper prayer life, you name it. We’ll gather all of your prayer intentions – those that get on the air, and those that don’t – and will offer them all to our loving and gracious God at the end of the program and beyond. Be sure to call early, because this is one of our most popular shows!

Obviously, we don’t canonize living people. Sometimes we will say that so-and-so is a “real saint.” But our goal in this life is indeed to become saints in the next life. Who do you know that exhibits a manner of living that shows a true attempt to grow in virtue and holiness – the very things that make certain people canonizable at their deaths? Again, this is not an exercise in canonizing anyone while they’re still living. Just a conversation where you get to share who it is in your life that models heroic virtue in a very real way. Join us and let’s talk about this on Thursday!

Wednesday is Halloween to the world, and All Hollows Eve for the Church. To the former, it’s a time of revelry, giving candy and often engaging in spiritual activities that can be quite dangerous. To the latter, it is the evening before we commemorate the lives and examples of all the great saints who have gone before us. This time of year brings out the best and the worst in many of us. Of course, it’s not the only time of the year when spiritual dangers present themselves to us. They are always working to throw us off our walk with Jesus. Adam Blai, a religious demonologist will join Jerry and Debbie and field your questions about the spiritual realm and what we can do to avoid dangers and fortify ourselves for battle.

A friend goes to all that trouble to make you a gift. The only problem is that you may not have room for it, or you really don’t like it. You can’t really re-gift such a present. So, now what? The guilt may set in because it may appear that you are ungrateful. Homemade gifts are the giver’s way of showing just how much they care. But it is not always received the same way. Let’s talk about this on Wednesday’s show.

On Monday, Jerry and Debbie invite you to call and share your experience of being born and raised as a twin, a triplet, a quadruplet or more in your family. Such a scenario brings with it both amazing blessings and unique challenges for those who have lived through it. We hope you will join us for what promises to be another enlightening episode of the program!