Episodes

Airdate 02/12/22 Host Jack Socha & Relevant Radio’s Paul Sadek discuss music & movies to break the boredom.

Airdate 02/05/22 Bishop Callahan “unpacks” the words of St. Peter.

Airdate: 1/29/22 Fr James Kurzynski discusses the recent almost SciFi-like accomplishments in space and more.

Airdate 01/22/22 Find out what modern adoption, including “Open Adoption” and grandparents who adopt, is all about.

Airdate 2/15/22 Bishop Callhan talks about John The Baptist, the Church seasons and more.

Airdate 01/08/22 Professor Tom Thibodeau gives examples of faith in action.

Airdate 01/01/22 Bishop Callahan discusses main themes found in many shows and more.

Airdate 12/25/21 We present a unique radio version of one of Bishop Callahan’s favorite movies.

On the fourth Sunday of Advent, host Jack Socha and Bishop William Patrick Callahan reflect on preparing for Christmas amid ongoing COVID concerns, thanking priests, volunteers, and behind-the-scenes workers who make the season possible, and noting the 12 days of Christmas run from Christmas Day to Epiphany. The episode highlights heroism during a tornado at Monette Manor Nursing Home, generosity to Afghan refugees at Fort McCoy and Salvation Army red kettles, and a story of Jimmy Finch feeding ...

Host Jack Socha welcomes viewers to the second week of Advent in the Diocese of La Crosse, featuring Salvation Army Band music and highlighting collaboration with Catholic Charities to assist people in need, including 13,000 Afghan refugees at Fort McCoy. Socha and Bishop William Patrick Callahan discuss ongoing COVID concerns, vaccination and boosters, and the importance of staying cautious while not missing the season. Bishop Callahan explains Advent as the start of the liturgical year, the st...

Host Jack Socha reflects on Thanksgiving, the start of Advent, and stories of charity and hope, including food and coat drives in La Crosse and a Florida woman awakening from a COVID coma after prayer. He encourages eligible listeners to seek COVID booster shots and explains their purpose amid variants. Soscia interviews Catholic Charities Director Roberto Partaru about warming centers operating since Nov. 1 at capacity in La Crosse, Eau Claire, and Wausau, providing meals, showers, laundry, cou...

Host Jack Socha presents a pre-Thanksgiving “Connecting the Diocese” episode built from past shows, contrasting 2019 with two COVID-era Thanksgivings and noting both ongoing loss and the joy of some military members returning home, as well as Afghan newcomers at Fort McCoy. Bishop William Patrick Callahan reflects on celebrating Thanksgiving in Rome at the North American College, including classes continuing in Italy, traditions like turkey, pies, and Wisconsin care packages for seminarians, and...

Host Jack Socha interviews Bishop William Patrick Callahan of the Diocese of La Crosse as he recovers from a vaccinated COVID-19 breakthrough case, thanking listeners for prayers and urging common-sense precautions, vaccination, and boosters amid variants and waning efficacy. Callahan shares the heartbreak of missing his goddaughter’s wedding due to isolation and notes supportive, orderly travel experiences during a recent Rome trip with Father Woody Pace. The episode highlights rising costs and...

Host Jack Socha speaks by phone with Viterbo Universityservant leadership professor Tom Thibodeau about serving the common good by seeking “higher ground” and focusing on what unites people. Thibodeau shares a recent work trip to Long Beach as a reflection on travel reducing prejudice andon pandemic-era cooperation, noting how masked travelers followed rules for a greater good. The conversation highlights gratitude for those who serve—veterans, farmers, healthcare workers, first responders, serv...

Host Jack Socha welcomes Bishop William Patrick Callahan todiscuss World Mission Sunday amid news of 17 missionaries taken hostage in Haiti, addressing misconceptions about missionary work and emphasizing Christ’s mandate to love through actions. They highlight examples of missionary service connected to the Diocese of La Crosse, including Fr. Joe Walijewski, Msgr. Joe Hirsh and Casa Hogar in Peru, efforts in Uganda, and everyday acts of charity such as disaster relief, finding meaningful keepsa...

Host Jack Socha opens the episode with a lighthearted October update about late-ripening Roma tomatoes before turning to concerns about COVID-19 as people move indoors, urging listeners to follow precautions like masking, handwashing, and avoiding crowded, poorly ventilated spaces. He then talks with Chris Rogers, Director of the Diocese of La Crosse Office for Family Life, about Adventure Camp in Mason, Wisconsin, its faith-centered activities, and the importance of long-term “faith experience ...

Host Jack Socha explains a temporary schedule change for Relevant Radio and introduces new listeners to Connecting the Diocese, the Diocese of La Crosse’s weekly radio program available online and as a podcast. He describes how the diocese communicates through multiple media and why radio remains accessible, then shares excerpts featuring Bishop William Patrick Callahan on developing a prayer life, a short prayer, vocations, priestly formation, ordination reflections, and the universal call to h...

Host Jack Socha talks with Ann Lankford, Director of Catechesis and Evangelization for the Diocese of La Crosse, about Franciscan at Home Online Learning from the Catechetical Institute at Franciscan University of Steubenville. They explain the workshop format (short video segments with practical tasks), the range of formation tracks (including parenting, Catholic schools, RCIA, catechists, Scripture, and the four pillars of the Catechism), and that free access is available to anyone in the Dioc...

Host Jack Socha opens with reflections on the start of fall and recent events, including concerns about Washington, DC demonstrations and a fully automatic civilian spaceflight that safely returned to Earth, plus a visit suggestion to the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory’s Mir space station replica. He then replays and comments on extended excerpts from Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti on fraternity and social friendship, addressing the pandemic’s exposure of failed global cooperation, rising n...

In this special edition of Connecting the Diocese, host Jack Socha features Bishop William Patrick Callahan, a Franciscan friar, discussing the life of St. Francis of Assisi and Franciscan spirituality. Callahan recounts Francis’ background as the wealthy son of cloth merchant Pietro Bernardone and Lady Pica, his capture and imprisonment after fighting Perugia, and the turning point of embracing a leper. He describes Francis’ call at San Damiano to “rebuild my church,” his break with his father,...

Host Jack Socha introduces “Connecting the Diocese” from the Diocese of La Crosse and reflects on the song “Coming to America,” using it to frame a respectful welcome for Afghan refugees. Bishop William Patrick Callahan urges love of neighbor, condemns racism, and calls listeners to acts of kindness. Jack interviews Chris Ruff, Director of the Office for Ministries and Social Concerns, about coordinated Catholic relief efforts for Haiti’s earthquake and storm, including parish collections for th...

Host Jack Socha speaks with Bishop William Patrick Callahan about praying for Cardinal Burke, the Diocese of La Crosse’s three new seminarians and newly ordained priests and the mentoring support they receive, and the Church’s charitable work through Catholic Charities and other agencies. They discuss Afghan interpreters and families expected to be housed at Fort McCoy, the cultural and chaplaincy challenges involved, and the need for prayer and community support. The program urges COVID-19 prec...

Host Jack Socha explains the mission of Connecting the Diocese and speaks with Karen Becker of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of La Crosse about urgent needs in the community. They discuss record flooding in the area, disaster recovery help (including guidance with insurance, potential FEMA resources, and funds for needs not covered), and support for people experiencing homelessness, such as laundry, showers, food pantries, clothing closets, and help finding housing. The conversation focuses...

Host Jack Socha speaks by phone with servant leadership professor Tom Thibodeau about servant leadership as a chosen way of serving others, modeled by Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, and about virtue as habitual moral character revealed under pressure during COVID. They discuss compassion amid loss, the importance of contemplation versus reaction, and Aquinas’ four “wounds” of vice: turning from truth to create misunderstanding, cruelty, cowardice, and distorted passion. They connect these th...