Storytelling is intensely human, and is the matter of our own humanity. We shape through story-telling. In this CTS episode, Ave Maria University alumnus, filmmaker, Director of Dramatic Arts & Fellow in Catholic Studies at the University of Mary (Bismarck, ND), and founder of Canticle Productions, Daniel Bielinski, shares his faith, everything that goes into making film and the art of storytelling. Dr. Dauphinais engages with Bielinski on the logistics of creating and writing film productions, the theology of movies, what stories can do for us, and how stories allow us to understand that we are a part of God's story. Daniel discusses his recent film Hazel’s Heart, based on a young girl’s sacrificial love during a North Dakota blizzard, and his upcoming project Medora, which examines marriage and sacrifice on the historical frontier. He walks through the filmmaking process—from discovering a story to writing, producing, and distributing—while stressing the need to uncover the deeper “heart” in real events.

Related Catholic Theology Show Episodes:

Defending the Faith Today with C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity w/Dr. Andrew Swafford | Ep. 169

Tolkien's Liturgical Imagination in The Lord of the Rings w/Dr. Ben Reinhard | Ep. 171

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, host Dr. Michael Dauphinais welcomes back Joseph Pearce—acclaimed author, literary scholar, and Visiting Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University (currently teaching an intensive course on G.K. Chesterton)—for a rigorous examination of the place of pre-Christian ("pagan") Greco-Roman literature in the formation of the Catholic mind.

The discussion engages longstanding theological questions: Should Christians read Homer, Virgil, and Sophocles? Drawing on patristic sources such as St. Basil the Great's Address to Young Men on the Right Use of Greek Literature, the episode addresses early tensions (e.g., Jerome's dream challenging devotion to Cicero, Tertullian's query "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?") while affirming the providential role of Hellenic culture in preparatio evangelica—preparing the intellectual and imaginative soil for the Gospel, as articulated in Pope Benedict XVI's Regensburg Address.

Pearce elucidates how these classics illuminate perennial truths: the destructive consequences of pride and wrath (Achilles in the Iliad, Odysseus' men), the redemptive embrace of humility and innocent suffering (Priam, Oedipus in Oedipus at Colonus), sacrificial loyalty and family duty (Hector, Penelope, Telemachus, Antigone), and the groping toward monotheism and providence amid polytheistic cosmology (Zeus' overarching will). These insights harmonize with Christian doctrine on virtue, sin, natural law, and the mystery of iniquity, serving as moral exempla and narrative silhouettes of virtue (per St. Basil) that complement scriptural precepts.Integrating reflections from C.S. Lewis (pre-Christian pagans as "virgins awaiting the bridegroom"; myths as divine "pictures" for those who "forgot how to read") and G.K. Chesterton ("Tradition is the democracy of the dead"), the conversation underscores the living transmission of Western Christian patrimony—countering cultural amnesia and equipping each generation to pass on the "fire" of civilization.

Relevant for educators in classical Catholic curricula, university students, and those committed to the renewal of Catholic intellectual life.

Resources:

https://ignatius.com/literaturelwckp

https://ignatius.com/classic-literature-made-simple-clmsp

https://ignatius.com/authors/joseph-pearce

Catholic Mass Times App | Find Catholic Churches Near Me:

The most popular app worldwide for finding Catholic Mass times near me. Confession times. Adoration. 110,000+ churches. Updated in 2025:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...

https://catholicmasstimes.com/

▶ Help support Ave Maria University and this podcast by joining the Annunciation Circle: https://hubs.li/Q03312J80

▶ Learn more about Ave Maria University: https://hubs.li/Q032PhpS0

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

FIND ANSWERS ON SOCIAL:

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE: https://youtube.com/@AveMariaUniversityFL

▶ WEBSITE: https://www.avemaria.edu

▶ INSTA: https://www.instagram.com/avemariauniv/

▶ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/avemariauniv/

Ave Maria University is committed to providing a liberal arts curriculum based on Catholic principles and thought. We strive to enlighten students intellectually and spiritually, to prepare them for a life well lived.

Whether you are starting your career, a CEO, or a college student, this episode is for you.

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, host Michael Dauphinais welcomes Jeff Schiefelbein, Managing Partner of Undivided Life, to explore the Catholic theology of work as a true vocation. Drawing on the Pontifical document The Vocation of the Business Leader (“the bane of man’s existence is the divided life”), Vatican II’s Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens, and St. Josemaría Escrivá’s call to sanctify ordinary labor, they present work as co-creation with God—neither ruthless nor monastic, but permeated with Christian generosity. Key themes include: subsidiarity as the path to agency, mastery, and human formation (in business and family); pitfalls like fear-driven centralization, judgmental language, passive conformity (“going along to get along”), and inadequate miscarriage bereavement policies; remedies through neutral outcome-focused feedback, bold faith witness, and explicit recognition of every child lost to miscarriage as a profound grief deserving mercy and support. A highlight is Howdy Homemade Ice Cream, a thriving pro-life enterprise providing dignified, challenging employment to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities—demonstrating that businesses can do both good and well. Resources: https://www.amazon.com/Ruthless-Elimination-Hurry-Emotional-Spiritually/dp/0525653090 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/schiefelbein_storytelling-leadership-keynotespeaker-activity-7135620927144300544-Cy5t?utm_source=chatgpt.comhttps://www.undivided.life/ Catholic Mass Times App | Find Catholic Churches Near Me:The most popular app worldwide for finding Catholic Mass times near me. Confession times. Adoration. 110,000+ churches. Updated in 2025:https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...https://catholicmasstimes.com/

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais speaks with Dr. Carrie Gress, author of The End of Woman: How Smashing the Patriarchy Has Destroyed Us. The conversation explores the historical, philosophical, and theological roots of modern feminism and its cultural impact.

Dr. Gress reflects on her academic journey in philosophy and explains how her research led her to examine the intellectual foundations of feminist thought. The discussion traces early feminist figures such as Mary Wollstonecraft and her work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, highlighting key themes related to the redefinition of womanhood. The conversation then turns to second-wave feminism, including the influence of Betty Friedan and The Feminine Mystique, as well as Simone de Beauvoir and The Second Sex.

Dr. Gress discusses how certain feminist movements intersected with broader political ideologies and how these developments shaped contemporary understandings of sex, family, and social roles.

Throughout the episode, Dr. Dauphinais and Dr. Gress examine questions of patriarchy, vulnerability, motherhood, and the cultural transformation of the home. They consider the theological vision of complementarity between men and women and reflect on how Christian tradition understands authority, family life, and human flourishing. The conversation also addresses practical concerns, including the challenges faced by women today, the role of fear and autonomy in modern culture, and the call to fruitfulness in different states of life.

The episode concludes with personal reflections from Dr. Gress on her recent reading, spiritual practices, and insights about God’s love, offering listeners both intellectual analysis and spiritual encouragement.

Resources:Dr. Carrie Gress Books:The End of Woman: How Smashing the Patriarchy Has Destroyed Us — available on the Theology of Home store: https://theologyofhome.com/products/the-end-of-woman?utm_source=chatgpt.com

The Anti-Mary Exposed: Rescuing the Culture from Toxic Femininity — available on the Theology of Home store: https://theologyofhome.com/products/the-anti-mary-exposed-rescuing-the-culture-from-toxic-femininity?utm_source=chatgpt.com

The Marian Option: God’s Solution to a Civilization in Crisis — available from TAN Books: https://tanbooks.com/products/books/the-marian-option/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Website:

https://www.carriegress.com/books/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Catholic Mass Times App | Find Catholic Churches Near Me:

The most popular app worldwide for finding Catholic Mass times near me. Confession times. Adoration. 110,000+ churches. Updated in 2025:https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...https://catholicmasstimes.com/

▶ Help support Ave Maria University and this podcast by joining the Annunciation Circle: https://hubs.li/Q03312J80▶ Learn more about Ave Maria University: https://hubs.li/Q032PhpS0▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ FIND ANSWERS ON SOCIAL:▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE: https://youtube.com/@AveMariaUniversityFL▶ WEBSITE: https://www.avemaria.edu▶ INSTA: https://www.instagram.com/avemariauniv/▶ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/avemariauniv/Ave Maria University is committed to providing a liberal arts curriculum based on Catholic principles and thought. We strive to enlighten students intellectually and spiritually, to prepare them for a life well lived.

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, host Michael Dauphinais is joined by Dr. Christopher Kaczor, Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University, Honorary Professor of the Renewal of Catholic Life at the Word on Fire Institute, and President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, on his recent publication Is Belief Believable? Reasoning About God from Plato and Aquinas to C.S. Lewis and Jordan Peterson (Ave Maria Press, 2025).

The discussion explores Aquinas' preambles of faith, including per se causality (illustrated through atmospheric pressure and ongoing creation), and the mysteries of revelation as God's self-disclosure, enabling intimate communion beyond rational limits.Central to the dialogue is Christianity's soteriological essence: not mere ethical guidance or societal cohesion, but salvation from sin through Christ's passion, death, and resurrection. Kaczor critiques reductions of the Gospel to moralism, emphasizing grace's role in transforming deceitful desires.

Kaczor elucidates the harmony between faith and reason, challenging the pervasive assumption—prevalent among diverse ideological perspectives—that the two are inherently opposed. Drawing from his pedagogical experience, he addresses obstacles to belief such as scientism and materialism, demonstrating how scientific inquiry presupposes immaterial realities like mathematics, which point to an infinite divine mind. Dr. Christopher Kaczor's Book from Word on Fire:

https://bookstore.wordonfire.org/pages/chris-kaczor?srsltid=AfmBOordE8M9jGBUoM0yX_3Z2p4YQQ2f5N03jx7ZJKWGsWcTR7FrZurY

▶ Help support Ave Maria University and this podcast by joining the Annunciation Circle: https://hubs.li/Q03312J80▶ Learn more about Ave Maria University: https://hubs.li/Q032PhpS0▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ FIND ANSWERS ON SOCIAL:▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▶ WEBSITE: https://www.avemaria.edu▶ INSTA: https://www.instagram.com/avemariauniv/▶ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/avemariauniv/Ave Maria University is committed to providing a liberal arts curriculum based on Catholic principles and thought. We strive to enlighten students intellectually and spiritually, to prepare them for a life well lived.

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, host Michael Dauphinais engages Dr. Chad Pecknold, Associate Professor of Theology at The Catholic University of America and Theologian in Residence at the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria, Virginia, on his recent work Fire on the Altar: Setting Our Souls Ablaze through Augustine's Confessions.

Pecknold offers a rigorously Catholic interpretation of Augustine's Confessions, countering experiential-expressivist and individualistic readings prevalent in modern scholarship. He demonstrates that the text constitutes an objective moral and liturgical reckoning of reality, structured around the motif of sacrifice. Central to this reading is the pivotal phrase in Book V—“accept the sacrifice of my confessions”—which Pecknold interprets as Augustine's offering of his life story united to Christ's Eucharistic sacrifice on the Church's altar. This liturgical anthropology culminates in the Eucharist as the fire of divine charity that purifies the inner altar of the soul, integrates the person, and orients both soul and civilization toward God.

The conversation traces Augustine's rejection of false religions (Manichaeism and pagan altars) as disordered offerings that disintegrate the self, contrasted with the true sacrifice that unifies. Pecknold applies this framework to contemporary phenomena, identifying functional religions in ideologies of identity, sexuality, and collectivism as modern analogs to bad religion. He further elucidates Augustine's doctrine of grace—epitomized in the plea “give what you command”—as the divine initiative that enables adherence to God beyond Platonic ascent, realized sacramentally through baptism and the Eucharist.

Pecknold reflects on his own intellectual and spiritual journey from existentialism to Augustinian theology, underscoring the Confessions' enduring relevance amid crises in Western civilization. The discussion closes with reflections on uniting personal suffering to Christ's sacrificial fire for purification and integration.

Resources:

Links to Dr. Chad Pecknold's books

https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/transforming-postliberal-theology-9780567288219/utm_source=chatgpt.comhttps://trs.catholic.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty-profiles/pecknold-chad/index.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Catholic Mass Times App | Find Catholic Churches Near Me:

The most popular app worldwide for finding Catholic Mass times near me.

Confession times. Adoration. 110,000+ churches. Updated in 2025:https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...https://catholicmasstimes.com/

▶ Help support Ave Maria University and this podcast by joining the Annunciation Circle: https://hubs.li/Q03312J80▶ Learn more about Ave Maria University: https://hubs.li/Q032PhpS0▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ FIND ANSWERS ON SOCIAL:▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE: https://youtube.com/@AveMariaUniversityFL▶ WEBSITE: https://www.avemaria.edu▶ INSTA: https://www.instagram.com/avemariauniv/▶ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/avemariauniv/Ave Maria University is committed to providing a liberal arts curriculum based on Catholic principles and thought. We strive to enlighten students intellectually and spiritually, to prepare them for a life well lived....

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais speaks with Mark Brumley, president of Ignatius Press and longtime contributor to the Catholic apologetics movement. Together, they reflect on the rise of Catholic apologetics in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s, a time marked by doctrinal confusion, limited catechetical resources, and strong evangelical critiques of the Catholic faith.

Brumley shares his personal journey from unaffiliated theism to evangelical Christianity and ultimately to Catholicism, highlighting how historical research, Scripture, and engagement with early Church writings led him to embrace the Catholic Church. The conversation explores the challenges Catholics faced before the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the impact of Catholic Answers, and the importance of clear, reasoned explanations of the faith.

The discussion then turns to contemporary apologetics, including the influence of digital media, responses to the New Atheism, the renewed interest in Christianity among young people, and the importance of presenting both rational arguments and the broader narrative of salvation. Brumley and Dauphinais emphasize that apologetics serves evangelization by removing intellectual obstacles and inviting people into a transformative encounter with Jesus Christ.

The episode concludes with reflections on faith and reason, the renewal of biblical literacy among Catholics, current cultural challenges, and the enduring mission of the Church to proclaim the Gospel with clarity, confidence, and charity.

Resources:

Links to Mark Brumley's books

How not to Share Your Faith: https://a.co/d/04lPO6My

The Seven deadly Sins of Apologetics: https://shop.catholic.com/the-seven-deadly-sins-of-apologetics-digital/

Websites:

https://ignatius.com/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22959487649&gbraid=0AAAAAD_ZLxiTtemBbEjN2GDeUyZQM44VP

https://www.catholic.com/profile/mark-brumley

Catholic Mass Times App | Find Catholic Churches Near Me:

The most popular app worldwide for finding Catholic Mass times near me. Confession times. Adoration. 110,000+ churches. Updated in 2025:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...https://catholicmasstimes.com/

▶ Help support Ave Maria University and this podcast by joining the Annunciation Circle: https://hubs.li/Q03312J80

▶ Learn more about Ave Maria University: https://hubs.li/Q032PhpS0

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

FIND ANSWERS ON SOCIAL:

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE:

https://youtube.com/@AveMariaUniversityFL

▶ WEBSITE: https://www.avemaria.edu

▶ INSTA: https://www.instagram.com/avemariauniv/

▶ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/avemariauniv/

Ave Maria University is committed to providing a liberal arts curriculum based on Catholic principles and thought. We strive to enlighten students intellectually and spiritually, to prepare them for a life well lived.

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais is joined by Dr. Paul Gondreau, professor of theology at Providence College, for an in-depth conversation on the full humanity of Jesus Christ and its implications for Christian anthropology, masculinity, femininity, and moral life. Drawing on St. Thomas Aquinas, Scripture, and the Catholic tradition, Dr. Gondreau explains how affirming Christ as fully human—and fully male—counters ancient and modern forms of docetism and defends the goodness of creation, embodiment, and sexual difference.The discussion explores Christ’s human emotions, passions, and affectivity, the scandal of particularity in the Incarnation, and why Jesus’ maleness matters without marginalizing women. Together, they examine how Jesus radically reorients relationships between men and women, elevates women as disciples, and calls men to moral self-governance, chastity, and rightly ordered aggression. The conversation also addresses contemporary cultural confusion around sexuality, masculinity, and femininity, showing how Christ reveals authentic human flourishing through virtue and grace.

Dr. Gondreau shares personal insights from his work in Catholic moral theology, his experiences as an extra on The Chosen, and his teaching on marriage and sexual ethics. The episode concludes with reflections on the beauty of the Church’s vision of marriage, the role of virtue in healing disordered desires, and how Christ fully reveals the human person by perfecting, not negating, our humanity.

Resources:

Links to Paul Gondreau's Books

https://a.co/d/01MM7FGg

https://a.co/d/08XpAmlC

Catholic Mass Times App | Find Catholic Churches Near Me:

The most popular app worldwide for finding Catholic Mass times near me. Confession times. Adoration. 110,000+ churches. Updated in 2025:https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...https://catholicmasstimes.com/

▶ Help support Ave Maria University and this podcast by joining the Annunciation Circle: https://hubs.li/Q03312J80▶ Learn more about Ave Maria University: https://hubs.li/Q032PhpS0

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

FIND ANSWERS ON SOCIAL:

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE: https://youtube.com/@AveMariaUniversityFL

▶ WEBSITE: https://www.avemaria.edu

▶ INSTA: https://www.instagram.com/avemariauniv/

▶ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/avemariauniv/

Ave Maria University is committed to providing a liberal arts curriculum based on Catholic principles and thought. We strive to enlighten students intellectually and spiritually, to prepare them for a life well lived.