Tony Ganzer, Author at Faith Full Catholic Podcast with Tony Ganzer

October 17, 2021October 27, 2021

Wisconsin Wonder: Blessed Virgin Mary appears in Champion

A painting of a woman with flowing hair dressed in white, a ring of stars around her head. This is the description of the apparition of Mary from Adele Brise.

There’s a crisp hint of Autumn in the air when a young Adele Brise first catches sight of the mysterious figure she would soon know to be the Blessed Mother Mary. It’s October 1859.

Adele carries her bag of wheat toward the grist mill, in a wooded patch of Northern Wisconsin, when she freezes, frightened.

There, between a hemlock and maple tree stands a beautiful woman clothed in dazzling white, wearing a yellow sash and crown of stars atop her flowing golden hair, until…she’s gone.

The vision of the woman fades, and Adele all alone, continues on her way. A second encounter with the mystery woman a few days later is just as startling, compounded by the fact this figure doesn’t say a word.

On counsel from a priest, Adele is prepared for her next encounter and says to the figure: ‘In God’s name who are you and what do you want from me?’

‘I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners,’ the woman says, ‘and I wish you to do the same.’

The Queen of Heaven—the Blessed Virgin Mary—proceeds to explain to Adele what she’s being called to do: teach the children of this wild country what they should know for their salvation, while also encouraging Adele, that she’s not going to have to do it alone:

We continue our series on the only Catholic Church-approved Marian Apparition site in the United States, and we hear how the words given to Adele can help us all. That’s to come, on Faith Full.

September 6, 2021September 10, 2021

Wisconsin Wonder: A pilgrim seeks a guide

When you strip away distractions, you might come closer to the part of yourself calling out for more. Not more stuff. Not more flashing lights. But more substance of the purest kind; the kind only God can provide.

It’s goodness. It’s hope. It’s love.

Catholics believe were are continually journeying through our lives, as Pope Francis said, until the final and marvelous goal…reaching Heaven.

But sometimes that spiritual journey, also becomes a literal journey…a pilgrimage.

Today we begin a series of episodes about a visit to the only place in the U.S. where the church has approved a Marian apparition…in Wisconsin.

April 22, 2021July 18, 2021

11: Spiritual Poverty and Helping Hands

Switzerland is one of the world’s wealthiest countries, and poverty doesn’t manifest itself in the same way as in other places. The numbers of people needing food and shelter are exponentially less, even when considering Switzerland’s size.

But there can be another kind of poverty, a spiritual poverty.

In this short episode of the Faith Full Podcast we talk a little about the poor in spirit, and the need for a bit more compassion in our approach to each other.

November 10, 2020July 18, 2021

10: Praying At A Lego House For God

How do you pray? Is there a wrong way to pray? U.S. Catholic Bishops put it this way: “Prayer is our response to God who is already speaking or, better yet, revealing Himself to us.” It’s like a phone is always ringing and God is just waiting for us to pick it up and spend time with Him. But how do you do it? It can be through recitation, through meditation, or maybe through the work we do.

In this episode we meet John Kraemer, a man who over two decades has offered as prayer his efforts to build a church each year out of tens of thousands of Lego pieces.

Continue reading “10: Praying At A Lego House For God”

August 28, 2020June 20, 2022

9: Fr. Jamie Dennis, a Blind Priest Guiding the Faithful

Father Jamie Dennis stands at the altar during the St. Lucy Mass

On the way out of Jericho a blind man named Bartimaeus sat begging on the roadside. The Gospel of Mark tells us Jesus is passing by, and Bartimaeus cries out for Him to have pity. Jesus stops and asks him what he wants Jesus to do for him.

“Master, I want to see,” he says.

Jesus replies, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” And he received his sight, and then followed Jesus. You can see with your eyes, yes, but you can also see with your mind, heart, and spirit. In this episode of Faith Full we meet Fr. Jamie Dennis, a Catholic priest who is blind, whose journey to helping others see the way to God has not always been easy.

“Here is sort of the blunt truth and I’m not trying to put the Church in a negative light, I’m just stating a fact: the Church hasn’t always been good at dealing with people who are, quote unquote different. It’s difficult.”

You can skip to a section from this episode:

Growing up while losing vision
On his path to the priesthood
On why the Latin Mass and Byzantine Liturgy are more accessible

Continue reading “9: Fr. Jamie Dennis, a Blind Priest Guiding the Faithful”

August 15, 2020July 26, 2021

8: Blind Catholics Keeping the Faith in a Pandemic

For some Catholics who are blind, the experience of the Mass can be very different than for sighted people. In normal times, it can be a tactile experience.

But not during the pandemic.

In Scripture, Jesus is recorded as saying where two or three are gathered together in His name, there He is in the midst of them. And that goes for times when the two or three need to be two or three meters apart for social distancing. As with many Catholics, those who are blind have found technology as a way to continue to express their faith even when so much of life is disrupted. Many are also helped by an organization in New York, the Xavier Society for the Blind, which for 120 years has kept coming Catholic and inspirational materials in Braille and audio formats.

We’ll learn more on this episode of Faith Full.

(In this episode we hear from four people: Skip to Donna Slivoski, Roger Erpelding, Fr. Jamie Dennis, or Malachy Fallon)

Continue reading “8: Blind Catholics Keeping the Faith in a Pandemic”

July 19, 2020July 9, 2022

7: Blessings on a German Breeze

The world remains gripped by a pandemic; an unseen, but very present coronavirus has caused us to rethink a lot of things: how we work, how we spend time, how we show respect and communicate. I’ve been sitting on a fun anecdote (from a German news site) for a while, and thought these dark days are as good a time as any to share. So coming up: the story of a giant Jesus Christ balloon and the two German monks, in this short episode of Faith Full.

January 21, 2019July 18, 2021

6: Penance, Prayers, and an Incorrupt Heart

A golden reliquary with the darkened incorrupt heart of St. Jean Vianney

In times of struggle for the institution of the Catholic Church, some look for inspiration and intercession from the Saints. St. Jean Vianney is said to have faced regular attacks by Satan, yet his ministry in the face of those has positioned him as the Patron Saint of Parish Priests, having walked the Earth during a time of great difficulty for the Catholic church in France. The incorrupt heart of St. Jean Vianney is touring the U.S. during another time of trial in the Church. More on that, and the young man traveling with the relic in this episode of Faith Full.

In this episode we have two interviews. (Skip to Fr. Stephen Dominic Hayes talking more about St. Jean Vianney)

Continue reading “6: Penance, Prayers, and an Incorrupt Heart”

December 20, 2018July 18, 2021

5: Zealot’s Axe | The Conversion of Joerg Jenatsch

We live in a moment when our faith traditions can lead some people to stereotypes right away. If you identify yourself as anything, a whole host of political or social positions may be thrown at you, or attributed to you, without nuance. This isn’t just a modern trend, of course, and today we’ll hear an extreme example of a lack of religious nuance from Switzerland’s past. The Catholic-Protestant relationship, and the murder of Joerg Jenatsch..in this episode of Faith Full.

Continue reading “5: Zealot’s Axe | The Conversion of Joerg Jenatsch”

September 5, 2018July 18, 2021

4: Of Relics, Saints, and Solace

If a loved one dies, it’s natural to want to hang on to something to remind you of them—maybe a ring, maybe a favorite book or picture. That’s the same idea, in a very basic way, behind the relics of the saints held in high esteem by many faith traditions. And in Pittsburgh, oddly enough, there is said to be the largest Catholic collection of relics outside of Rome. Join us for a visit to Saint Anthony Chapel in this episode of Faith Full.

Continue reading “4: Of Relics, Saints, and Solace”