Holy Apostles College Appoints Dr. Popcak Concentration Chair in Master of Pastoral Studies Program

Posted on June 29, 2016 by GREG

Holy Apostles College Seal

Holy Apostles College and Seminary announced today that their hiring committee has unanimously approved Dr. Greg Popcak to serve as the Chair of the Marriage and Family Concentration in their Master of Pastoral Studies (MAPS) program.

The MAPS program is a fully accredited, online masters degree program intended to prepare individuals who wish to serve the faithful as pastoral counselors, marriage and family life ministers, spiritual directors, and other ministry professionals. In addition to teaching courses in the program, Dr. Popcak will be working with the Interim Program Director, Dr. Daniel Van Slyke, to develop new courses and programs to help prepare priests, religious, and lay students to more effectively serve the souls in their care.

Dr. Popcak is the author of over 20 books and programs integrating contemporary insights from counseling psychology with the timeless wisdom of the Catholic faith. He directs the Pastoral Solutions Institute, an internationally-recognized, pastoral tele-counseling practice that provides faith-integrated marriage, family, and personal counseling services to Catholics around the world. Together with his wife, Lisa, he hosts More2Life Radio a call-in advice program heard across the US on the Ave Maria Radio Network. A Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work and a Fellow of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, he has held several academic appointments, serving as adjunct faculty in both the undergraduate psychology and graduate theology departments at Franciscan University and the doctoral program in Counseling Studies at Capella University. His books have been translated into 7 languages.

For more information on the Holy Apostles College Master of Pastoral Studies program, including its concentrations in General Pastoral Studies, Marriage and Family Studies, and Spiritual Direction, please visit the Holy Apostles College and Seminary MAPS Program website.

What IS A Catholic’s “Job” When It Comes to Voting, Anyway?

Posted on June 28, 2016 by GREG

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This is not a political blog, nor is it about to become one, but I have seen so many comments lately about what Catholics “must” do in this next election and it seems to me that every single one of these posts is missing an obvious point.

Once Upon A Time…

I once had a conversation with a prominent bishop in which I expressed my frustration that he and his brother bishops were not more strenuously and publicly opposing Catholic politicians who proclaimed themselves to be “good Catholics” while advocating positions that were virulently contrary to the gospel.

He explained to me, in a tone one usually reserves for a small child, that any time the bishops did this, the public reacted poorly to church leaders “meddling” in politics and their comments ended up getting the person elected.

I responded, “That may be. But I thought it was our job to proclaim the gospel, not win elections. People can certainly reject the gospel if they want to. We have no control over that. But they shouldn’t be allowed to say that the Church never proclaimed it in the first place.”

Needless to say, my comment was not well-received.

The Same Story

Be that as it may, I still don’t think Jesus came, suffered, died, and rose again so that we could win elections. It is not our job to hold our collective nose and vote for the candidate who is most likely to win no matter how execrable his or her policies or personalities are. It is not our concern to worry about “throwing away our vote” because we cast a ballot for some obscure candidate who actually does hold verifiably socially just and life-affirming views but has absolutely no chance of winning. It IS our job to preach the gospel with our vote. To proclaim Jesus Christ to the world in the way we engage the political process every step of the way.

All Catholics are certainly free to vote as their well-formed consciences dictate. But let me respectfully propose that if you are casting a vote for any other reason than that “this is the best and loudest way possible I can proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a hurting world” then you may be a Democrat, or you may be a Republican, but you are not a Christian.

People might be inclined, as the bishop I began this article with, to think of this view as naive, pie-in-the-sky, too idealistic, or not reflective of reality. To those who would argue this I can only say that, to my way of thinking, there is nothing more real that the cross. Nothing more pie-in-the-sky than the hope of Heaven. Nothing more idealistic than proclaiming the gospel in a world that is, literally, hell-bent on rejecting it. If my desire to not simply win elections, but actually proclaim Christ with my vote makes me naive, I guess I can live with that.

Foolish?

In this election cycle, especially, when every popular candidate is more foolish than the other, I would suggest that the question is not “how can Christians avoid looking like fools?” Rather, it seems to me that the real question is,” who will Christians be fools for?”

To my mind, it is better a fool for Christ than a fool for the latest, two-faced demagogue who promises salvation with one hand while stealing it with the other.

And now we return to our regularly scheduled blogging….

Pontifical Council for the Family Members, Dr. John & Claire Grabowski, to Join More2Life Radio Line-Up

Posted on June 27, 2016 by GREG

Beginning Monday, July, 11, 2016, Dr. John and Mrs. Claire Grabowski, members of the Pontifical Council for the Family, will join More2Life Radio with Dr. Greg and Lisa Popcak as regular guest contributors.

More2Life Radio

More2Life, a call-in program that applies St. John Paul the Great’s dynamic Theology of the Body to challenges of everyday life, is hosted by Dr. Greg and Lisa Popcak, authors of over 20 popular books and the directors of The Pastoral Solutions Institute, an internationally-recognized Catholic counseling practice. More2Life airs M-F at Noon (Eastern) on over 50 stations across the US.

Dr. John and Claire Grabowski’s Bios

Dr. John Grabovski serves at Catholic University of America as Associate Professor of Moral Theology with continuous tenure and the Director of the Moral Theology/ Ethics area. He and his wife were appointed to the Pontifical Council for the Family by Pope Benedict XVI in the fall of 2009 where they continue to serve as a member couple. Together they are the authors of The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World: Anniversary Edition, a popular commentary on Pope John Paul’s encyclical, Familiars Consortio.

M2L Contributors

Dr. John and Claire Grabovski will appear every other Monday beginning July 11th, 2016. They’ll be joining our current line-up of contributing TOB experts including…

Fr. John Riccardo— (Beginning Aug 3rd, 2016) Host: Christ is the Answer, popular theology of the body expert and speaker.
Dr. Andy Lichtenwalner–Executive Director of the USCCB Secretariat for Laity, Marriage, Family and Youth.
Bethany Meola–Assistant Director of the USCCB Secretariat for Laity, Marriage, Family and Youth and Editor of ForYourMarriage.org.
Damon Owens–-popular theology of the body expert and speaker, former Executive Director of the Theology of the Body Institute.
Bill Donaghy—Curriculum Specialist for the Theology of the Body Institute
Fr.Thomas Loya–-Director of the Tabor Life Institute
Emily Stimpson–popular theology of the body speaker. Author These Beautiful Bones: An Everyday Theology of the Body
Dr. Joseph White–Family Psychologist and National Catechetical Consultant to OSV Publishing. Author: Catholic Parents’ Toolbox.
Rachel Watkins–Developer of the Little Flowers Girls Club and mom of 11.

We’re excited to have Dr. John and Claire joining the More2Life Radio family and we hope you’ll enjoy their terrific insights on how to live a more joyful and abundant marriage, family, and personal life through the gift of St. John Paul II’s awesome Theology of the Body!

Fr. John Riccardo to Join More2Life Radio Line-Up

Posted on June 27, 2016 by GREG

Beginning Wednesday, August 3rd, 2016, Theology of the Body expert and host of the popular program Christ is the Answer, Fr. John Riccardo, will join More2Life Radio with Dr. Greg and Lisa Popcak as a regular guest contributor.

More2Life Radio

Image. AveMaria Radio. Used with permission

Fr. Riccardo’s Bio

Fr. John Riccardo studied philosophy at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, theology at the Gregorian University in Rome, and received a Sacred License in Theology (S.T.L.) from The Pope John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family. Following his appointment as the Director of the Cardinal Maida Institute, Fr. John became the pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Plymouth, Michigan. An expert on John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, he is a tremendously popular speaker and teacher at pro life and church events.

M2L Contributors

Fr. Riccardo will be on More2Life every other Wed at 12:20 beginning August 3rd, 2016. He’ll be joining our current line-up of contributing TOB experts including…

Dr. Andy Lichtenwalner–Executive Director of the USCCB Secretariat for Laity, Marriage, Family and Youth.
Bethany Meola–Assistant Director of the USCCB Secretariat for Laity, Marriage, Family and Youth and Editor of ForYourMarriage.org.
Damon Owens–-popular theology of the body expert and speaker, former Executive Director of the Theology of the Body Institute.
Bill Donaghy—Curriculum Specialist for the Theology of the Body Institute
Fr.Thomas Loya–-Director of the Tabor Life Institute
Emily Stimpson–popular theology of the body speaker. Author These Beautiful Bones: An Everyday Theology of the Body
Dr. Joseph White–Family Psychologist and National Catechetical Consultant to OSV Publishing. Author: Catholic Parents’ Toolbox.
Rachel Watkins–Developer of the Little Flowers Girls Club and mom of 11.

We’re excited to have Fr. Riccardo joining the More2Life Radio family and we hope you’ll enjoy his terrific insights on how to live a more joyful and abundant marriage, family, and personal life through the gift of St. John Paul II’s awesome Theology of the Body!

Hey Parents, Do THIS to Get Teens to Listen!

Posted on June 23, 2016 by GREG

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Getting teens to listen can be a challenge, and when they don’t, parents often tend to rely on criticism and negative consequences to “teach” their teens to make better choices in the future. A new study suggests this might be counterproductive.

The study, conducted by University College–London, looked at the differences between the motivational styles of adults versus adolescents. Researchers report, “Unlike adults, adolescents are not so good at learning to modify their choices to avoid punishment. This suggests that incentive systems based on reward rather than punishment may be more effective for this age group. Additionally, we found that adolescents did not learn from being shown what would have happened if they made alternative choices.”

This might explain why so many parents are mystified by the fact that no matter how many consequences they pile on, their kids (in general) and teens (in particular) tend to keep repeating the same undesirable behaviors. It turns out that negative consequences may not only cause teens to avoid undesirable behavior, it may even reinforce it.

What’s a parent to do? Two things: Teach/support the “positive opposite”, and reward good choices.

Teaching and supporting the “positive opposite” means that instead of telling your teen what not to do and then punishing them if they do it, parents should tell the teen exactly what they DO want to see and then create a structure that supports their success. For instance, instead of punishing your teen if they come home too late from a friend’s house, telling them ahead of time, “I need you to be home by 11 tonight.” and then texting him at 10:30 to say, “Hey son, I hope you’ve had a good night. Start wrapping up because I need you home by 11.” Such an approach establishes a clear expectation at the outset and then creates a structure that supports success instead of simply standing back and waiting for the teen to fail and then pouncing.

Rewarding good choices means catching your teens being good, acknowledging when they have followed the rules or fulfilled your expectations, especially when you know it was hard for them. That doesn’t mean you have to have a parade and a medal ceremony every time your kid comes home on time, but taking the time to say, “Hey, I really appreciated you texting me at 10:30 to let me know you were heading home instead of waiting for me to remind you to head out. That was really thoughtful” can make all the difference.

St Francis de Sales is credited with the saying that we can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. It turns out that’s not just good advice for evangelism. It’s good advice for parenting! For more ways to make your parenting life easier and more effective, check out Parenting with Grace: The Catholic Parents’ Guide to Raising (almost) Perfect Kids (2nd Ed. Revised and Expanded).

Dr. Popcak Named Fellow of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors

Posted on June 22, 2016 by GREG

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I am honored to be able to announce that I have been welcomed as a Fellow of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors.

The AAPC fellowship process involves a lengthy review, by an interfaith committee of established AAPC Fellows, of the applicant’s curriculum vitae, spiritual autobiography, clinical/theological integration paper, and a recommendation by an AAPC supervising Fellow. Once this process is completed, applicants must defend their application to a committee of fellows charged with evaluating their ability to articulate their own faith tradition in a clinical context, demonstrate their ability to work effectively with people of different faiths and no faith, show their capacity to make an effective contribution to the field of pastoral counseling, articulate a thoughtful plan for continued spiritual and professional development, and other professional criteria.

I am truly humbled and honored for my work to have been recognized by a group of pastoral counselors who represent a variety of faiths and spiritual traditions. I am grateful for their affirmation and I hope that this process will enable me to both serve my clients and associate counselors more effectively and contribute more substantively to the development of the pastoral counseling profession.