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© 2025 Living Catholic with Father Don Wolf
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Father Don Wolf, a priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, offers a Catholic perspective on the issues confronting each person today.
124 Episodes
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In this episode, Monsignor Wolf pushes past the noise around Halloween and returns to its heart: All Hallows’ Eve as preparation for All Saints. He explores the communion of saints, how their lives shape ours, and how holiness takes root in real times and places. • reclaiming Halloween as the vigil of All Saints • communion with the saints as living friendship • Stephen’s witness and Paul’s awakening in Acts • saints formed by history, office and duty • Miguel Pro, Thomas More and Oscar Rome...
In this episode, Monsignor Wolf explores why original sin remains a clear, useful lens for understanding human rivalry and broken freedom, and how grace in Christ offers a real path of rescue. Along the way, he tests rival answers, from detachment to law to social engineering, and find their limits. • asking better questions in faith as in science • defining original sin as foundational disorder • Genesis reframed through mimetic desire • the teddy bear image and rivalrous wanting • freedom’...
In this episode, we mourn two Oklahoma priests and reckon with what brotherhood, death, and the promise of resurrection demand of our vocation. We reflect on last rites, family grief, priestly identity, and the quiet discipline of presence at the edge of life. • priestly life lived near death and dying • last rites as reconciliation, anointing, commendation • stories of peaceful deaths and hard departures • families navigating acceptance, anger and fear • presence over performance in pastora...
A single question can bend the arc of a life: Will many be saved—or only a few? In this episode, Msgr. Wolf explores how generations shifted from “heaven is promised but not presumed” to “heaven is assumed if we’re decent,” and why both comfort and terror can miss the heart of grace. We unpack the old struggle over predestination and assurance, and how Sunday worship takes shape from those assumptions: is the goal a moving experience that signals chosenness, or the steady sacramental life tha...
In this episode Father Wolf reflects on Erica Kirk's public forgiveness of her husband's murderer and explores how this fundamental Christian teaching continues to surprise our culture despite being central to our faith. We examine why such a basic element of Christianity stunned observers and what it reveals about our disconnect between religious teaching and practice. • The memorial rally for Charlie Kirk drew 60,000 people and approximately 100 million streaming views • Erica Kirk's unexp...
In this episode Father Wolf examines recent high-profile killings and their spiritual implications, providing historical context and theological insight into how Christians should respond to cultural violence. He explores how ordinary people can be drawn to commit horrific acts and how faith offers protection against the pervasive evil of our time. • Recent school shootings and assassinations capture headlines because they capture our interests and fears • Historical perspective shows simila...
In this episode, Father Wolf takes us on a fascinating journey through the missionary work of Oklahoma priests in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, revealing profound lessons about faith, culture, and effective evangelization. The story begins with a penetrating question about how missionaries addressed the syncretistic blend of Catholic and Mayan beliefs among the Tzʼutujil people. This launches an exploration of Guatemala's complicated religious history, where post-independence anti-clerical po...
In this episode, Father Wolf explores Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" to uncover spiritual truths about life's meaning and the emptiness of immortality without God. Through this unexpected vacation read, he examines how even horror literature reveals our deepest spiritual hungers and the universal quest for salvation. • Reading Anne Rice's vampire novel after her conversion memoir "Called Out of Darkness" • Rice's brief return to Catholicism followed by her departure from the faith ...
What happens when magnificent churches become beautiful but empty shells? In this episode, Father Wolf takes us on a personal journey through Germany, weaving together family history, cultural observations, and spiritual reflections that resonate far beyond European borders. Father Wolf recently took a vacation to Germany and shares his thoughts and experiences in a changing country. The heart of Father Wolf's reflection emerges during his visit to St. Michael's Church, a stunning baro...
In this episode, Father Wolf continues his "Tales from the Rectory" series, offering rare insights into the unique living arrangements of Catholic priests. Drawing inspiration from Bishop Francis Clement Kelly's work, he shares personal stories revealing how priests navigate sharing their homes with colleagues they didn't choose. • Priest rectories in the US typically house multiple clergy who must learn to live together without any formal training • Unlike other professions, priests have no...
In this episode, Father Wolf takes listeners on a profound journey through the life and martyrdom of Blessed Stanley Rother as the 44th anniversary of his death approaches. The Oklahoma farm boy turned Guatemalan missionary exemplifies how ordinary faithfulness can lead to extraordinary holiness. When Father Ramon Carlin recruited Stanley Rother to join the Guatemala mission in 1968, he recognized something special in the young priest from Okarche. Stanley's mechanical aptitude—his ability t...
In this episode, Father Wolf shares memorable encounters from parish ministry, reflecting on how these experiences taught him valuable lessons about pastoral care. Following in the tradition of Bishop Francis Clement Kelly's "Tales from the Rectory," these stories reveal the complex nature of living Catholic faith in today's world. • A couple returning to the Church after 20 years abruptly leaves when Father Don explains that inability to attend Mass removes obligation • The husband's insist...
What does a pope actually do? Beyond the ceremonial trappings and media spotlight, how should we measure the effectiveness of the Church's supreme leader? In this episode, Father Wolf takes us on a thought-provoking journey into the heart of papal leadership, offering seven essential dimensions that define authentic spiritual governance. The pope must first be a genuine Christian whose life conforms to Christ's example. The demanding responsibilities of institutional leadership can easily ov...
In this episode, Father Wolf explores how the Catholic Church is both universal and completely present in each local parish community, challenging us to reclaim our missionary identity for spiritual renewal and growth. • The Church isn't just a compilation of individual churches functioning like organs in a body • Each local parish is the complete Church in itself while simultaneously being part of the whole • Our challenges in Oklahoma mirror those faced by the Church globally • The Cursill...
In this episode, Father Wolf explores the rich history and profound meaning behind the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, explaining how this spiritual practice emerged during the Scientific Revolution as a counterbalance to an increasingly mechanical view of God and the universe. • The Sacred Heart devotion originated in northern Europe during the mid-17th century when scientific advancement was beginning to change how people viewed God and creation • Throughout Christian history, belie...
Imagine going to confession, only to discover that what you whisper through that screen might be reported to the authorities. That's the reality Catholic priests and penitents now face in Washington State, which recently passed legislation requiring priests to report confessions of child abuse to police. In this episode, Father Wolf examines Washington State's recently passed bill requiring priests to report confessions of child abuse to authorities, explaining why this law threatens an esse...
In this episode, Father Wolf examines fatherhood from both theological and cultural perspectives. The title "Father" for God has become controversial in contemporary religious discourse. Yet when Jesus exclusively addressed God as Father, he wasn't attributing maleness to the divine but invoking a specific understanding of love that illuminates our relationship with God. The distinction between maternal and paternal love reveals something profound: a mother's connection to her child is visib...
The feast of Pentecost deserves our renewed attention. While most Catholics readily celebrate Christmas and Easter with appropriate fervor, Pentecost—one of Christianity's most ancient celebrations with direct scriptural roots—often passes with minimal recognition. Unlike many Christian observances that were established after the New Testament era, Pentecost existed as a significant Jewish festival (Shavuot) long before it became associated with the descent of the Holy Spirit. Original...
In this episode, Father Wolf unpacks resurrection narratives to reveal a fascinating pattern: those who knew Jesus best consistently failed to recognize him after his resurrection. Whether on the Emmaus road or in the locked upper room, his followers struggled to perceive who stood before them. What prevented recognition, and when did clarity finally arrive? The answer provides a profound insight into our own spiritual lives. The breaking of bread emerges as the crucial moment of recognition...
In this episode, we explore the forgotten meaning of Memorial Day and our collective responsibility to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice. What began as "Decoration Day" to honor Civil War dead has transformed into something far less meaningful for many Americans today. • Memorial Day originally honored those who died in the Civil War—America's deadliest conflict • Human societies throughout history have created monuments to honor their fallen warriors • We possess a remarkable capa...
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