A Message from Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J. on the 4 Year Anniversary of The Catholic Current
The Gift of Not-Prophecy
I have the spiritual gift of Not-Prophecy—that is, I’m not very good at predicting what God is likely to do in my life. “Surely God knows that I don’t have what it takes to be a missionary.” Got that one wrong. “Surely God knows that I would never be asked to be a spiritual director.” Got that one wrong too. “Surely God knows that the best thing for me to do as a Jesuit is to teach metaphysics in a small classroom at a remote college and then just stay there till the end.” Really got that one wrong! “Surely God knows that I could never be a writer—I’m just not good at it!”
Three books and 400 published articles later, it seems I got that wrong too. Now here’s the big one: “Growing up as a really shy kid with a speech impediment, God knows that I shouldn’t be required to do any public speaking!” Having since taught preaching and rhetoric, having lectured and preached for over 25 years, now, in a fit of Not-Prophecy, I am marking four years as the host of The Catholic Current.
Who Knew? God Did
We’re well on our way to 1000 episodes of the best of Catholic talk radio! Who knew? Well, God did, apparently, and He decided not to let me in on the secret till the last minute. And the confirmation that The Catholic Current is doing what needs to be done in our here and now is confirmed by you, the faithful listeners. In the past two years, episodes of The Catholic Current have been downloaded over 1,000,000 times, on just about every platform, in over 90 countries.
People want to hear intelligent conversation to bring the light of faith and reason to both the emerging and the perennial issues. Culture, politics, conflict, war, morality, humor, family, marriage, love, hate, hope, joy, art, beauty, worship—all these and more make up the daily substance of your daily dose of The Catholic Current.
A Short Recap
In the past year, we’ve met great churchmen such as Cardinal Joseph Zen and Bishop Athanasius Schneider; great scholars like Dr. Peter Kreeft and Dr. Anthony Esolen; and heroic and fascinating people from around the world who deserve to be better known.
It’s my privilege to bring these conversations to you every day. And it’s my delight to know that you take these conversations to your family and friends and say, “Let’s listen to this together.” I want the conversations of The Catholic Current to start conversations around the world.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead: I want to do another week of special episodes on the suffering Church in China. I plan to put together a roster of guests to talk about the great Catholic resistance movements in history. As the American election cycle picks up again this Fall, The Catholic Current will help you to evaluate what you hear in the light of faith, and will help you to form your conscience.
Going forward, The Catholic Current will keep the elements that you most appreciate, especially the Friday episodes featuring “Let’s Talk about This” and “Weekend Readiness.” If you’ve not listened to The Catholic Current yet, be sure to go to our archives and grab the Friday episodes. You and your friends will have lots to talk about if you do!
Thank you!
Finally, a word of thanks: To Jim Wright, president of The Station of the Cross, who invited me to host The Catholic Current. To my colleagues and dear friends, Matt Maloney and Ryan Caesar, who use their technical wizardry to bring the great audio of The Catholic Current to you every day.
To the faithful listeners of The Catholic Current—we do this for you, and we cannot do it without your support. Thank you for your generosity! And above all, I give thanks to God almighty, Who in His Providence, has blessed me with the gift of Not-Prophecy, and allows me to do this good work of The Catholic Current.
Christus mundo, mundus Christo
Bringing Christ to the World and the World to Christ
Listen to The Catholic Current with Fr. McTeigue weekdays at 5PM EST for illumination on today’s issues with the love of Christ and the authority of His Church. Don’t forget to visit The Station of the Cross for more authentic Catholic media content.
