Bishop Parker was ordained to the priesthood in 2000 by Cardinal William H. Keeler. From 2001 to 2005, he served as associate pastor of three parishes in Allegany County and in 2005 was named pastor of Church of the Ascension in Halethorpe. In 2007, he was appointed priest-secretary to then-Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, and was named a monsignor by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011.

In 2012, Monsignor Parker was assigned to Rome, where he continued to assist the newly elevated Cardinal O’Brien, who had been appointed Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.

Upon his return to the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 2013, he served as vice chancellor for one year prior to being appointed vicar general and moderator of the curia by Archbishop William E. Lori.

In December 2016, Pope Francis appointed Monsignor Parker auxiliary bishop of Baltimore and he was ordained a bishop in January 2017.

George Matysek talks about the project with one of the hosts of the new podcast, Carmelite Father Michael-Joseph Paris of St. Thérèse.

Father Michael-Joseph is a native of the Archdiocese of Baltimore who grew up at St. John the Evangelist in Columbia. He was a seminarian at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg and was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Washington in 2011.

In 2016, Father Michael-Joseph entered initial formation with the Discalced Carmelites and made his first profession of vows in 2018. He studied Carmelite spirituality in both Ávila and Madrid and professed his final vows with the Carmelites last year.

Father Michael-Joseph currently serves as subprior and director of postulants in Wisconsin.

Blessed by Archbishop William E. Lori in April, the café is envisioned as a place where people from throughout the region can gather for fellowship over free coffee.
It is especially geared toward welcoming people experiencing homelessness who live on the streets and alleys surrounding the nation’s first cathedral in the heart of the city’s cultural district.

George Matysek talks about this new endeavor with Father Brendan Fitzgerald, rector of the Baltimore Basilica, and Maria Veres, director of mission advancement for the basilica.

The year before, he ordained eight to the priesthood, which was the biggest class of new priest in the Baltimore Archdiocese in more than four decades. And in 2022, there were five new priests.

George Matysek talks with Father Steven Roth about the increasing number of men stepping forward to discern a call to the priesthood and the impact that more priests is having on ministries throughout the archdiocese. Father Roth is
vocations director and Associate Vicar for Clergy for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty talks with Bill Droell, author, teacher and longtime editor for the National Center for the Laity about the origins of Labor Day, what popes have said about those who work and about just wages for families, as we prepare to mark Labor Day Sept. 3.

George Matysek talks about it with Benedictine Father Robert Nixon, a monk with the Abbey of the Most Holy Trinity in Western Australia. Father Nixon is the author of a new book by Tan Books called “The Cross and Medal of St. Benedict, a Mystical Sign of Divine Power.” The book is made up of text from authors including St. Gregory the Great and St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Father Nixon painstakingly translated the works from the original Latin.

Recently, the five-time winner of Maryland Sportscaster of the Year made the decision to step away from the camera to focus on family, community service and his Catholic faith. He officially retired as sports director of WJZ last month after 22 years at the station.

The parishioner of St. John the Evangelist in Severna Park, who has served as a Catholic Review columnist and blogger since October, spoke with George Matysek about his career and his decision to leave it behind.

A former Jesuit who now serves as a priest of the Diocese of Monterrey, Calif., Father Dear founded the online project, “The Beatitudes Center for the Nonviolent Jesus.”

Father Dear is the author of more than 30 books, including “The Gospel of Peace: A Commentary on Matthew, Mark and Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence.” He talks with George Matysek about his life’s work and ways we can live nonviolence in our everyday lives.

Under the plan, the number of parishes in those regions will be reduced from 61 to 23, and the number of worship sites will be reduced from 59 to 30.

Seek the City is now in its implementation stage as many parishes begin the process of coming together to form new faith communities in the coming months.

Auxiliary Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., who has spearheaded the Seek the City initiative over the last two years, has emphasized that every parish is being asked to evangelize the neighborhoods surrounding their communities.

Joining George Matysek Jr. to talk about how that will take place and how the Archdiocese of Baltimore will be supporting parishes in a new approach to evangelization is Julie St. Croix.

St. Croix was recently appointed the new director of Seek the City, taking over the position from her predecessor, Geri Byrd.

St. Croix is the director of the Office of Parish Renewal for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. She is a former pastoral associate for Bishop Denis J. Madden in the urban vicariate and a former coordinator of pastoral leadership formation. She also has six years experience as director of religious education at St. John the Evangelist in Frederick.

Focusing on training community members in conflict mediation, Safe Streets operates in some of the most troubled area of the city.

Catholic Charities of Baltimore runs four of the city’s 10 Safe Streets sites, overseeing Safe Streets offices in Penn-North, Brooklyn, Sandtown-Winchester and Cherry Hill.
According to Catholic Charities, its Cherry Hill location has twice gone more than year without a death by gunfire. And the area served by the program’s Penn-North location has marked more than 500 days without a death by gunfire.
George Matysek looks at Safe Streets with Kevin Keegan, who leads Catholic Charities’ Family Services Division, under which Safe Streets is housed.
Also joining the interview is Greg Marshburn, director of Catholic Charities’ four Safe Streets sites.

Tan Books has launched a new initiative called TAN Resurrection that is bringing back to life these great works.

Father Robert Nixon, a Benedictine monk with the Abbey of the Most Holy Trinity in Western Australia has been painstakingly translating these long-forgotten spiritual classics.

In this encore episode, we talk with Father Nixon about how he goes about translating these spiritual classics and we take a closer look at one of his recently completed translations, a book by Thomas A Kempis called “Meditations on Death: Preparing for Eternity.”

When the sisters exhumed Sister Wilhelmina’s remains this spring four years after her death, the body didn’t seem at all decayed and her religious habit was also still intact.

The news of what many consider to be a miracle made headlines around the world.

Sister Wilhelmina was a Black Catholic Sister who spent more than 50 years as a member of the Baltimore-based Oblate Sisters of Providence. She left that religious community to found the Benedictine Sister of Mary, Queen of Apostles.

Sister Wilhelmina’s Benedictine religious community wrote a book on the life of their foundress released by Tan Books. Joining us to talk about the amazing life of Sister Wilhelmina is one of the contributors to that book, Benedictine Sister Mary Josefa Holcomb. This is an encore episode of Catholic Review Radio.

Deacon Bauerschmidt, who goes by “Deacon Fritz,” is a professor of theology at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore and a deacon at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. He speaks with Catholic Review Managing Editor George Matysek about how God is love and what that means for Christian life.

Joining us to talk about the work of the Serra Club are Reesie O’Donnell, a parishioner of St. Mark in Catonsville and vice president of membership for the local Serra Club; and Paul Bell, a parishioner of Our Lady of the Fields in Millersville and president of the local Serra Club.

During World War II, Hitler made it forbidden and punishable by death for anyone who harbored those of Jewish descent. In southeastern Poland, a Catholic family – Josef, Wiktoria and their seven children of the Ulma family – were executed for hiding two Jewish families in their attic. Pope Francis beatified the whole family, including an unborn child, Sept. 10, 2023. Beginning in mid-January, the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., will have an inspiring display of the Ulma family’s story along with an opportunity to venerate the relics of St. John Paul II and relics of all nine members of the family for all those who make a pilgrimage to the shrine. Catholic Review Radio host, Father Brian Nolan, pastor of St. Ignatius in Ijamsville, Md., talks with Sofia Maurette, the director of Intercultural Ministry for the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, who worked intimately with the creation of the exhibit of the newly beatified Ulma family soon to be on display at this shrine.

Singleton is an entrepreneur, an alum of Mount St. Mary’s University and author of The Meaning of Mount St. Mary’s

When the sisters exhumed Sister Wilhelmina’s remains this spring four years after her death, the body didn’t seem at all decayed and her religious habit was also still intact.

The news of what many consider to be a miracle made headlines around the world.

Sister Wilhelmina was a Black Catholic Sister who spent more than 50 years as a member of the Baltimore-based Oblate Sisters of Providence. She left that religious community to found the Benedictine Sister of Mary, Queen of Apostles.

Sister Wilhelmina’s Benedictine religious community wrote a book on the life of their foundress released by Tan Books. Joining us to talk about the amazing life of Sister Wilhelmina is one of the contributors to that book, Benedictine Sister Mary Josefa Holcomb.

Hundreds of people gathered in the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen June 27 for a special prayerful celebration of the close of Seek The City’s listening phase. It also marked the launch of the vision phase of Seek the City.

George Matysek interviews Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, C.Ss.R, urban vicar for the Archdiocese of Baltimore; and Geri Byrd, director of Seek the City.

On this episode of Catholic Review Radio, Father Hicks speaks about prayer as growing in a relationship. He also discusses the need for vulnerability, silence, imperfect prayer times with God and practical ways of growing in your spiritual life.

Storck, a convert to the Catholic faith, has been writing on Catholic social teaching, Catholic culture and related topics since the early 1980s. He received his undergraduate education at Kenyon College in Ohio and has a master’s degree from St. John’s College in Santa Fe.

Father Ryan holds the Blessed Michael J. McGivney Chair in Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, where he teaches moral theology and gives spiritual direction. Father Ryan is also the chaplain of Courage Detroit. He previously served as executive director of the Secretariat of Doctrine and Canonical Affairs at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Tan Books has launched a new initiative called TAN Resurrection that is bringing back to life these great works.

Father Robert Nixon, a Benedictine monk with the Abbey of the Most Holy Trinity in Western Australia has been painstakingly translating these long-forgotten spiritual classics.

We talk with Father Nixon about how he goes about translating these spiritual classics and we take a closer look at one of his recently completed translations, a book by Thomas A Kempis called “Meditations on Death: Preparing for Eternity.”

Father Alar is provincial superior of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy Province of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception in the United States and Argentina.

Brady is a founding core team leader for “That Man is You” since its beginning at Our Lady of the Fields seven years ago. He is a husband and father of four children and owns a small CPA firm in Bowie.

Eric, who previously worked for Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services, is the author of “Cannonball Moments: Telling your Story, Deepening your Faith.” Drawing on the spiritual insights of St. Ignatius Loyola, the book encourages readers to develop a healthy sense of self-reflection as a means of drawing closer to Christ.

Dr. Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, a writer, poet and professor at Fordham University in New York and one of the world’s foremost authorities on Flannery O’Connor, shares her insights on understanding O’Connor.

O’Donnell is a former longtime professor at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore and a former parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi in Baltimore.

http://www.archbalt.org/year-of-the-eucharist

Listen Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on WMET 1160 AM and 103.1 FM. The show is also available Sundays on WSJF in Sykesville/Eldersburg at 11:45 a.m. and 4 p.m., and on WVTO 92.7 FM in Southwest Baltimore at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

www.catholicreview.org/cr-radio

Listen to Catholic Review Radio at 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on WMET 1160 AM and 103.1 FM. The show is also available Sundays on WSJF in Sykesville/Eldersburg at 11:45 a.m. and 4 p.m., and on WVTO 92.7 FM in Southwest Baltimore at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

www.catholicreview.org/cr-radio

Listen July 19 at 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on WMET 1160 AM and 103.1 FM. The show is also available Sundays on WSJF in Sykesville/Eldersburg at 11:45 a.m. and 4 p.m., and on WVTO 92.7 FM in Southwest Baltimore at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

www.catholicreview.org/cr-radio

Catholic Review Radio airs Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on WMET 1160 AM and 103.1 FM. The show is also available Sundays on WSJF in Sykesville/Eldersburg at 11:45 a.m. and 4 p.m., and on WVTO 92.7 FM in Southwest Baltimore at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Listen Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on WMET 1160 AM and 103.1 FM. The show is also available Sundays on WSJF in Sykesville/Eldersburg at 11:45 a.m. and 4 p.m., and on WVTO 92.7 FM in Southwest Baltimore at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

https://catholicreview.org/cr-radio/

Listen Sunday, July 5, at 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on WMET 1160 AM and 103.1 FM. The show is also available Sundays on WSJF 92.7 FM in Sykesville/Eldersburg at 11:45 a.m. and 4 p.m.

https://catholicreview.org/cr-radio/