#MikeAquilina joins me today to discuss the #churchfathers and the role that #friendship had in evangelizing. Mike is a leading expert on the Church Fathers and we go through many examples to show how important friendship was to the spread of the Gospel. We also discuss how we can use this method in our own time. Mike wrote a great book about this topic titled "Friendship and the Fathers: How The Early Church Evangelized". Check out the book at https://stpaulcenter.com/product/friendship-and-the-fathers-how-the-early-church-evangelized/ Learn more about Mike by visiting his website at https://fathersofthechurch.com/ About Mike Aquilina (from his website): Mike Aquilina is author or editor of more than fifty books, including The Fathers of the Church, The Mass of the Early Christians, and Angels of God. He has co-authored books with Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dion DiMucci, theologian Scott Hahn, and singer-songwriter John Michael Talbot, among others. His works have been translated into many languages, from Hungarian and Portuguese to German and Braille. The Grail Code has appeared in ten languages since its publication in 2006. Mike has co-hosted eleven thirteen-week series that air on the Eternal Word Television Network. He is solo host of two feature-length documentaries. He appears weekly on radio’s “Sonrise Morning Show” and is a frequent guest on other TV and radio shows. For many years he was a panelist on “The Weekly Roman Observer,” a news-commentary program on Catholic Familyland Network. In 2011 Mike was a featured presenter of the U.S. Bishops’ Leadership Institute. He wrote the USCCB’s theological reflection for Catechetical Sunday in 2011. Since 2002 he has collaborated closely with the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, which he has served as an executive and trustee. He is a contributing editor to Angelus News, and he podcasts twice monthly for CatholicCulture.org. He is past editor of New Covenant: A Magazine of Catholic Spirituality (1996-2002) and The Pittsburgh Catholic newspaper (1993-1996). He has published hundreds of articles, essays, and reviews in journals such as First Things, Touchstone, Crisis, Our Sunday Visitor, National Catholic Register, The Priest, Columbia, and Catholic Heritage. He contributed work on early Christianity to the Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought. He has received honors from the Catholic Press Association, including “Best Magazine” for New Covenant during his editorship. Mike has led pilgrimages to Italy, Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land and is a popular speaker on Catholic history, doctrine, and devotion. He has keynoted events and lectured in prestigious venues, including the U.S. Capitol, Aquinas College (Nashville), Franciscan University, Little Portion Monastery, Penn State University, St. John Fisher Seminary, State University of New York, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt University, and Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo). He is also a poet whose works have appeared in U.S. literary journals (and elsewhere in translation). He shares songwriting credits with Grammy Award-winner Dion on the critically acclaimed albums Tank Full of Blues (2012) and New York Is My Home (2015). His songs with Dion have also been recorded by Paul Simon and Christy Altomare. Mike is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Penn State University, where he finished with honors and high distinction. He received the University’s Oswald Award for Achievement in Journalism and Mass Media. He has, for years, served as a consultant and collaborator to scholars, artists, and Church leaders, helping them to produce books, speeches, and essays. He and his wife, Terri, have been married since 1985. Their six children are the subject of his book Love in the Little Things. Their growing number of grandchildren are much loved.
