Phil Rosenthal’s PBS Food Show to Feature Ministry Started by Priest to Help At-Risk Youth

Last updated on: October 30, 2015 at 9:21 am By Tony Rossi

While checking my Twitter feed this morning, I saw that “Everybody Loves Raymond” creator Phil Rosenthal mentioned that Jesuit priest Father Greg Boyle would be appearing on his PBS food show “I’ll Have What Phil’s Having” this coming Monday, November 2nd. In case Father Boyle’s name doesn’t ring a bell, he created the Los Angeles-based Homeboy Industries. Their website gives some history: Homeboy Industries traces its roots back to 1988 when in an effort to address the escalating problems and... Read more

On Hoarding, Cruelty, Faith & Finding Love in the Messiness of Life

Last updated on: October 28, 2015 at 8:15 am By Tony Rossi

As an Emmy Award-winning producer for CNN and “Good Morning America,” Mary Pflum Peterson has covered her share of interesting, drama-filled stories. But the most dramatic, perhaps, is the story about her own family that she shares in her new book “White Dresses: A Memoir of Love and Secrets, Mothers and Daughters.” One of those secrets had to do with her mother Anne’s past. When she was a teenager, Mary discovered her mother had once been a nun, but that... Read more

Maureen O’Hara Said Secret to Her Longevity was Saying a ‘Hail Mary’ Every Night

Last updated on: October 25, 2015 at 9:29 am By Tony Rossi

After seeing “Miracle on 34th Street” and “The Quiet Man” umpteen times in my life, it was an honor meeting Maureen O’Hara twice in the last 20 years. This picture is from a charity event for a Catholic hospital in the late 1990s – and she also appeared as a guest on “Christopher Closeup” during our TV days when Msgr. Jim Lisante was hosting the show and I was producing. I was a little nervous having a screen legend come... Read more

‘A House Divided Against Itself Makes the Devil Smile His Great Grinchy Grin’

Last updated on: October 23, 2015 at 10:12 am By Tony Rossi

Singer-songwriter and frequent “Christopher Closeup” guest Sarah Hart got a bit perturbed at the incessant negativity she’s been reading online lately – and she teed off on the negativity on her Facebook page in a post titled: All That’s Wrong With “All That’s Wrong With” Blogs. Her comments get to the heart of our complaining culture that often prefers to tear down instead of build up. Since we at The Christophers are all about lighting a candle instead of cursing... Read more

Why Patricia Heaton Traveled to Africa to Make Soy Milk and Build Bicycles

Last updated on: October 21, 2015 at 8:34 am By Tony Rossi

When Emmy Award-winning actress Patricia Heaton got time off from filming her hit sitcom “The Middle” last month, she traveled to Africa, built bicycles, and made soy milk. In fact, this is a picture of her grinding soybeans on a contraption that looks like an exercise bike. Granted, that’s not all she did there, but these were some of the non-Hollywood activities she engaged in while getting to know the people of Zambia and helping promote the work of World... Read more

Writer/Director Randall Wallace on Living a Braveheart Life, Faithful Suffering, & Loving God

Last updated on: October 15, 2015 at 8:40 am By Tony Rossi

“I felt that God was right in my face.” That was one girl’s reaction after a pre-release screening of the movie “Heaven Is For Real” a few years ago – and the film’s writer/director Randall Wallace was so moved by her statement that he mentioned her in the dedication of his new book “Living the Braveheart Life: Finding the Courage to Follow Your Heart.” A Christopher Award winner for directing the 2010 film “Secretariat,” Wallace gained fame when he was... Read more

Instead of Breeding an Anti-TV Culture, Christians Should See It as a Mission Field

Last updated on: October 14, 2015 at 1:23 pm By Tony Rossi

The website Aleteia ran an anti-television article by David Mills today titled “Turn it Off, Tune Out, Save Your Soul: Guard against exposure to bad ideas –they’re everywhere.” The article begins: Except for the occasional football or baseball game, I don’t miss having a television and think other people should get rid of theirs the way we did ours. I know that people who talk about their giving up television affect most people the way joggers and early risers affect... Read more

VIDEO: Father Jonathan Morris on Being a Light in the Darkness

Last updated on: October 14, 2015 at 8:07 am By Tony Rossi

When Father Jonathan Morris started doing some work on behalf of The Christophers, he noted that he was a longtime fan of our message and mission encouraging individuals to light a candle rather than curse the darkness. That mission, of course, was started by Father James Keller, M.M. in 1945. Father Keller wrote a lot of stories to emphasize the power of his approach, stories that still resonate today and encourage others to do the same. That’s the reason Father... Read more

An Ideal Book for the Overly Busy, Those with Spiritual ADD, and Everyone Else, Too

Last updated on: October 13, 2015 at 8:58 am By Tony Rossi

Three minutes a day. That’s the minimum amount of time that The Christophers’ founder, Maryknoll Father James Keller, encouraged people to spend on their spiritual lives. No matter how busy you are, he thought, you’ve got to be able to squeeze in three minutes, right? And to help people along, Father Keller created a book titled, appropriately enough, “Three Minutes a Day.” It consisted of a daily story or reflection, along with a Scripture verse and short prayer. The book... Read more

Phil Rosenthal Finds Beauty & Friendship on Food/Travel Show “I’ll Have What Phil’s Having”

Last updated on: October 12, 2015 at 9:20 am By Tony Rossi

Can a taste of homemade gelato in Tuscany produce a transcendent moment of beauty? It did for Phil Rosenthal, the comedy writer and creator of “Everybody Love’s Raymond,” in his new PBS food/travel series “I’ll Have What Phil’s Having.” While Phil admits that he’s not a religious man, he actually tears up a little because of how good this gelato tastes. He kisses the woman who made it on the cheek and refers to her talent as a gift from... Read more