Kolbecast

271 Building a Literary Foundation

AMDG. Are you looking for the perfect book to take your child’s reading to the next level? Look no further than Kolbe’s newly updated Literature & Catholic National Reader program for elementary students!  
Originally published in 1895, the Catholic National Readers became a staple in many Catholic homes. “We started with the idea of just redoing them, making the font size appropriate and following standards,” Senior Curriculum Developer Maggie Hayden explains. But the project quickly developed into something more. 
Under the artful guidance of Curriculum Developer Mara Matteoli, the classic texts blossomed into a fully-fledged reading and literature course, integrating comprehension with hands-on activities and a workbook of unique exercises.  
With beautiful pages, engaging and uplifting stories, and an individualized reading pace, this course meets young readers where they are and guides them to the next level. "The children aren't even going to know they are working!" Maggie promises. 
Related Kolbecast episodes: 
249 Stories Crafted with Care featuring Carol Gilpin of Kolbe Academy’s publishing department
267 Time Traveling through History
247 Lightbulb Moments for Young Readers 
Links mentioned & relevant: 
Kolbe Academy recommended reading list 
Catholic National Readers and related materials in the Kolbe Academy bookstore 
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

270 Dr. Peter Kreeft on Joy, Suffering, Conversion, and Truth

AMDG. “It’s almost as if I pity God because he has to choose between giving us more sufferings and making us sorrowful but wiser or giving us less sufferings and making us happier but more foolish.”  
Professor of Philosophy at Boston College and author of over 100 books Dr. Peter Kreeft shares his reflection on today’s academic culture, emphasizing the importance of the Socratic method and a sturdy foundation in Thomistic philosophy. Dr. Kreeft dives deep into the themes of faith, happiness, and truth as he shares his conversion story, retold in his book From Calvinist to Catholic.  
Relevant links: 
A few of Dr. Kreeft’s books:
From Calvinist to Catholic
The Mystery of Joy
Jesus Shock
Socratic Logic textbook in the Kolbe Academy bookstore
Dr. Kreeft on the Being Human Podcast with Dr. Greg Bottaro 
Related Kolbecast episodes: 
144 The Word Made Known with Mark Brumley of Ignatius Press
93 Good Thinking
166 Dr. John Cuddeback on Dwelling Together Richly 
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

269 Resources & Road Maps - Student Support Services

AMDG. “Catholic schools should help all students— we should serve you and help you.”  
How can Kolbe Academy help a child who has learning disabilities? Student Services Director Karen Allgood and special education teachers Karen Painter and Emmanuelle Wilhelm share their experiences as parents, teachers, and mentors of students with learning differences. The trio provides a step-by-step guide for parents hoping to utilize Kolbe's services, from interpreting assessment results to individualized course planning and tutoring services. Whatever level of support you need, Kolbe has options. See the link below to learn more. 
Links mentioned & relevant: 
Kolbe Academy's Student Support Services
Webinar: Setting Up for Success: A Guide for Homeschooling Special Needs Students 
Related Kolbecast episodes 
137 Remember Your Whys
197 Tools in a Toolbox: Kolbe Academy’s Student Support Services
247 Lightbulb Moments for Young Readers
190 The School of Patience 
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

268 Pilgrimage & Jubilee with Our Lady of Champion

AMDG. Have you ever wanted to see a Marian apparition site? You don't even have to leave the country to do so-- Champion, WI, is home to the only approved Marian apparition site in the U.S.  
Fr. Nathan Mudd, chaplain at Our Lady of Champion Shrine, shares the story of Our Lady of Champion and Adele Brise, a woman Fr. Mudd hopes to see canonized soon. Fr. Mudd discusses his life as travelling missionary and how his background as a Kolbe graduate influences him today. As a member of the Fathers of Mercy, Fr. Mudd has devoted his life to bringing souls back to God and inviting people to experience a spiritual resurrection. In his missionary work, Fr. Mudd lives out Mary’s calling at Champion: “Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation.” 
Learn more about the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion: 
Website: championshrine.org
Shrine Newsroom for images, history timeline and more
On social media 
Instagram: @championshrine
Facebook: @ChampionShrine
X: @ChampionShrine
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChampionShrine  
Related Kolbecast episodes: 
119 The Hope Throughout with Tom and Noelle Crowe of The American Catholic History Podcast
235 The Disposition of Pilgrimage with Joan Watson 
Links mentioned & relevant: 
Fathers of Mercy
Kolbe Academy Recommended Reading List
Episode of the American Catholic History about Our Lady of Champion 
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

267 Time Travel through History - Bringing the Past to Life for Young Learners

AMDG. How do you teach history to elementary school students? Kolbe’s new elementary history program has everything you need and more!  
The developers and editors of the elementary history course, Stephanie Foley and Heather Griffin, want the stories of history to come alive in your living room, creating a spark of lasting wonder in every young reader. 
An integrative and interactive course, Kolbe’s elementary history helps students contextualize major historical events using familiar Bible stories and encourages students to draw connections between historical characters and their own lives.  
The history texts cater to a variety of topics and interests, including art, architecture, culture, and geography, with immersive activities to engage young students. 
Check out the reading materials for elementary grades in the Kolbe Academy bookstore. 
Related Kolbecast episodes: 
249 Stories Crafted with Care from Kolbe Academy Press and 259 Seeing the Story: Classical Reflections on Art with Stephanie Foley 
259 Seeing the Story: Classical Reflections on Art 
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

266 Viriditas - Leila Lawler on St. Hildegard's Garden

AMDG. What did people know in the Middle Ages that we are only now rediscovering?  
Blogger of “Like Mother, Like Daughter” Substack contributor, author, and podcaster Leila Lawler joins the Kolbecast to discuss the new book, “St. Hildegard’s Garden: Recipes and Remedies for Healing Body and Soul.” Prompted by pharmaceutical shortages, Leila asked herself: “What did people do before ibuprofen?” Leila began researching and creating her own homeopathic remedies, drawing inspiration from St. Hildegard’s work. Leila shares some of the most efficacious remedies she has tried, the flaws in the modern medical system, and what St. Hildegard can teach us about a healthy and whole-person approach to medicine and mental health.  
Links mentioned & relevant: 
St. Hildegard’s Garden: Recipes and Remedies for Healing Body and Soul by Paul Ferris with an introduction by Leila Marie Lawler 
God’s Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage by Victoria Sweet 
Blog post on Like Mother, Like Daugher about curing UTIs 
More from and about Leila Lawler: 
Like Mother, Like Daughter 
on Substack  
Happy Despite Them 
The School for Housewives 
The Home Front podcast with husband Phil Lawler 
Mrs. Lawler’s books: 
The Little Oratory and Summa Domestica 
God Has No Grandchildren 
Related Kolbecast episodes: 
112 Cura Personalis: The Intro 
136 Cura Personalis: The Sequel 
117 Figureoutable with Dr. Andrew Mullally 
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

265 Chosen to Be a Saint - Commencement 2025

AMDG. The Kolbe Academy Class of 2025 has graduated, and it’s time to celebrate! Kolbe Chaplain Fr. Charlie Archer, Executive Director Mary Rowles, Kolbe teacher Brendan Murphy, President of Walsh University Dr. Tim Collins, and three accomplished Kolbe graduates take the stage to share their reflections on Kolbe’s education and their rousing exhortations for the Class of 2025.  
Related Kolbecast episodes: 
100 In the Beginning with Kolbe Academy co-founder Mrs. Dianne Muth 
132 Monday Morning Assembly and 242 Finish Line in Sight featuring student speakers Dhilan Matthews & Colin Lengyel 
Episodes with Brendan Murphy: 169 No Made-Up Answers and 218 The Questions behind the Questions 
Episodes with Elizabeth Hoxie: 89 The Master Blueprint, 112 Cura Personalis: The Intro, 136 Cura Personalis: The Sequel, 213 This Is a Beginning, and 21 To Live Fully Alive 
159 Now We See in Part 
Other relevant links: 
Watch the entire 2025 commencement ceremony here.  
More about Dr. Tim Collins, president of Walsh University 
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

264 Spiritual Friendship featuring Fr. Wayne Sattler

AMDG. “Sister, is God a person for you, or an idea?”  
Diocesan priest, author, and former hermit Fr. Wayne Sattler joins the Kolbecast to share his life-story from high school teacher to almost-married to hermit; his two books, which originated in his notes from years leading spiritual retreats; spiritual direction, or as he prefers to call it, “spiritual friendship”; relating to God as a person, not as an idea, which is the theme of one of his books; and so much more. Fr. Sattler’s humor, hope, and humility shine through every story he tells, and his words reflect the wisdom he has gained from his years of experience counseling others.  
Links mentioned & relevant: 
Books & articles by Fr. Wayne Sattler:  
Remain in Me and I in You – Relating to God as a Person, Not an Idea 
And You Will Find Rest: What God Does in Prayer 
Wasting Time with God, an article on Catholic Exchange 
Other books: 
The Four Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance by Josef Pieper 
Seeking Spiritual Direction by Rev. Thomas Dubay S.M.  
Related Kolbecast episodes: 
183 Gratuitous Gifts: Sherry Weddell on Charisms 
123 A Change of the Ages, 213 This Is a Beginning, and 224 Forming Apostolic Hearts with Msgr. James P. Shea 
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast!