The Good Catholic Life

Summary of today’s show: On a day with so much tension in the City of Boston and environs, Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell briefly discussed the state of emergency surrounding the Marathon bombing suspects on the loose, but then decided to offer listeners a respite from the news by returning to the Holy Land […]

Summary of today’s show: Live from Jerusalem! Fr. Mark O’Connell joined the show by phone from the Holy Land where he’s on pilgrimage with Cardinal Seán and brother priests to give a taste of the amazing experience, including renewing baptismal vows in the Jordan and celebrating Mass in the Lord’s Empty Tomb as well as […]

Fr. Mark O’Connell is the Judicial Vicar of the Archdiocese of Boston. He is one of 29 priests joining Cardinal Seán O’Malley for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land between April 8 and April 15. We’ve asked him to share his experiences on their third full day in the Holy Land. My name is Fr. […]

Summary of today’s show: Sister Patricia Boyle has been a Sister of St. Joseph for nearly 50 years and Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell talk with Sr. Pat about how she became a religious sister, and served in a number of positions including parochial school teacher for many years, a pastoral associate at St. […]

Summary of today’s show: Cardinal Seán O’Malley started Holy Week with Palm Sunday Mass in which he declared we are all “Ashes and Palms Catholics”. Scot Landry, Fr. Mark O’Connell, and Michael Lavigne reflect on Cardinal Seán’s homily and what it means to live the ashes of sacrifice and the palms of victory from Ash […]

Summary of today’s show: The Regina Cleri residence in Boston is a home for 53 of our 268 senior priests to live in community when their parish ministry is done. Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell welcome Stephen Gust, executive director; Laurine Kohler, nurse; and Fr. Joseph Fagan, a resident priest, to the show to […]

Summary of today’s show: The Catholic Appeal is to the Archdiocese as the weekly offertory is to the parish and this weekend is the launch of the annual Appeal. Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell talk with Fr. John Mulvehill and Chris Kierce of St. Anthony Parish, Cohassett, and Susan Abbott of the Office of […]

Summary of today’s show: Fasting is one of the three pillars of Lent and of the whole Christian life, including prayer and almsgiving. Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell talk with Andy LaVallee of LiveTheFast.com and Msgr. Charles Murphy, author of the book “The Spirituality of Fasting”, about rediscovering the practice, the spiritual fruits it […]

Summary of today’s show: American canon lawyers, unlike civil lawyers, are somewhat rare, and that’s why our co-host Fr. Mark O’Connell had to find the new judge for the Archdiocese’s Metropolitan Tribunal in Turin, Italy. Fr. Mark and Scot Landry introduce Andrea Ponzone to our listeners and find out from him why there are so […]

Summary of today’s show: For his annual message on communications, Pope Benedict took up the topic of social networks as “spaces for evangelization.” Domenico Bettinelli joins Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell to discuss the Holy Father’s message as well as the potential pitfalls and promise of social media for Christians. Fr. Mark in particular […]