Jeremy Rivera was an evangelical pastor who was convinced Catholics didn't really know Jesus.

Then he became one.

In this new episode, Jeremy shares how honest conversations about authority, Mary, and the Eucharist led him back to the Catholic Church—and why true renewal begins with a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.

His journey to the Catholic Church didn't start with theology—it started in the shower on Christmas Eve, 1985, when a 10-year-old boy cried out to God in the middle of his parents' divorce and felt the Holy Spirit show up. His mom, sensing something had happened, pulled a handmade Italian crucifix from under the bed—a Christmas gift she wasn't going to give until morning—and handed it to him on the spot.

That crucifix is still in his kitchen today.

But the road from that moment to the Catholic Church was anything but straight. We unpack Jeremy's winding journey: losing his faith in college, a crisis pregnancy and abortion that brought him to his knees, and the theological questions that nearly kept him from ever becoming Catholic.

We also discuss what the Church gets wrong about evangelization, why most Catholics have never been "ambushed by Jesus," and how an unexpected encounter with the scent of roses in a FOCUS chapel broke through his deepest resistance—Mary.

Whether you're a cradle Catholic, a skeptic, or somewhere in between, this conversation will challenge and encourage you.

HIGHLIGHTS:

0:00:00 — Intro

8:00 A powerful encounter with God at age 10

13:00 Abortion, Romans 5:8, and radical conversion

17:30 Surf ministry, seminary, and church planting

23:40 The restlessness that wouldn’t go away

28:00 Meeting Archbishop Chaput

31:50 “I want to ask your forgiveness.”

37:00 Mary: the greatest hurdle

40:00 The fragrance of roses

47:30 Tradition vs. traditionalism

55:00 Do you actually know Jesus?

1:09:00 A prayer of surrender

Learn more about Jeremy Rivera: https://thelittlej.com

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• (00:00:00) - Chris Stefanik
• (00:01:08) - Jeremy Rivera on Non-Catholic Confessions
• (00:02:43) - Does God Think Catholics Are Going to Hell?
• (00:03:53) - Religion and the Apology
• (00:07:15) - What brought you to the Catholic Church?
• (00:09:55) - Mission: Mission of Joy
• (00:15:43) - Reveal: The Prodigal Son
• (00:20:02) - What's it like on the inside when you're an evangelical pastor
• (00:23:05) - The Restlessness of the Pastor
• (00:26:14) - 7 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Become Catholic
• (00:30:20) - The Crux of the Abuse
• (00:33:39) - Paul on Pathways Church
• (00:37:24) - The Lord Who Expects Your Whole Life
• (00:42:10) - Pilgrims pray the Hail Mary
• (00:43:55) - The Catholic Church's Community
• (00:48:25) - Catholic Traditionalism: The Preservation of Fire
• (00:52:27) - Entering the Mystery of Salvation
• (00:56:35) - How Do You Know That You Know God?
• (01:00:30) - Evangelization Without Community
• (01:04:46) - 5 points of renewal in the Catholic Church
• (01:07:24) - Jesus Prays For Real Life Catholics

You are not too much for God.

In this Gospel reflection, we dive into one of the most powerful encounters in all of Scripture: Jesus and the woman at the well. At first glance, it looks like a simple conversation about water—but it’s actually a moment that reveals something shocking about God’s heart.

Jesus meets a woman who is hiding in shame, avoiding people, and trying to bury her past. She comes to the well at midday, the hottest part of the day, just so she won’t have to face anyone. But that’s exactly where Jesus meets her.

And when he reveals that he knows everything about her life—her mistakes, her relationships, her mess—something unexpected happens.

She doesn’t run.

Why? Because for the first time, someone sees her completely…and doesn’t flinch.

And it wrecked her in the best possible way. She went right back to that village she'd been hiding from and started telling everyone.

This Gospel shows us something incredible:

God isn’t shocked by your past. He isn’t overwhelmed by your struggles. He already knows everything—and he still chooses to sit with you, love you, and invite you deeper.

Even more powerful: the thing she was most ashamed of becomes the very thing that turns into her testimony. If you’ve ever felt like your life is too messy for God, this reflection is for you.

Go to Him. With all of it. Watch Him not run.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. The woman at the well avoided the crowd out of shame. Is there an area of your life you've been keeping hidden — even from God? What would it look like to bring it to him?

2. Chris reflects on the Catechism's line that prayer is "an encounter of God's thirst with ours" — that God thirsts for us to thirst for him. How does that reframe the way you think about prayer?

3. Every nudge to pray, every impulse to go to church — Chris says that's God thinking of you first. Has there been a moment in your life where that rings true? What happened when you responded (or didn't)?

4. Jesus named the woman's sin openly, and the conversation didn't end — it deepened. What does that tell us about how God sees us? How does it challenge the way we see ourselves?

5. The woman's greatest shame became her testimony — she ran back to the village and told everyone. Is there something in your own story of failure or struggle that God might want to use for his glory?

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• (00:00:00) - WHY ARE REDWOODS SO COOL?
• (00:00:41) - The Woman at the Well
• (00:07:47) - The Woman at the Well

80% of deaths by suicide in the U.S. are men. Men account for over 90% of the prison population, and 149 of the last 155 mass shootings were carried out by men alone. But men are nearly half as likely as women to seek mental health treatment. So what's going on?

There's a male mental health collapse happening right now. What can we actually do about it?

In this important episode of the Chris Stefanick Show, I sit down with Dr. Alexandria Coursol, a psychologist who wrote her doctoral dissertation on masculinity, to unpack the roots of this crisis—and more importantly, a way forward.

We discuss the concept of "feminine privilege" (it's not what you think), why the patriarchy actually harmed men, how society trained men to suppress emotion and externalize their pain, and why Jesus might be the greatest model of healthy masculinity who ever lived.

Whether you're raising sons, loving a husband, or sitting in the struggle yourself, don't miss this conversation.

HIGHLIGHTS:

00:00 – The stat that should stop everyone cold: 80% of suicides are men

03:28 – Meet Dr. Alexandria Coursol + her own journey of letting go and trusting God in relationships

11:22 – How bad is the male mental health crisis? The data is worse than you think

27:32 – "Feminine privilege": the unearned advantage that reveals what men are missing

44:00 – Why the feminist movement left men with an identity crisis

48:42 – Healthy masculinity: what it is, what it isn't, and how to teach it

01:00:01 – Practical steps for parents, clinicians, and men ready to do the work

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Sign up for The Daily Anchor to get Chris Stefanick's bite-sized reflections every morning: https://bit.ly/48Xfhfk

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Support the creation of this content by becoming a Missionary of Joy with a monthly gift to Real Life Catholic and get free access to the new Living Peace study series: https://bit.ly/4nTHbN0

........

Join Chris Stefanick on pilgrimage: https://www.reallifecatholic.com/pilgrimages

• (00:00:00) - 6 ways to help men who are struggling with mental health
• (00:00:31) - Chris Stefanik
• (00:01:34) - Alexandria Corsol on Male Privilege
• (00:03:24) - How I Learned To Love My Best Friend
• (00:06:15) - I Learned To Trust The Lord With My Love Life
• (00:10:58) - When You Can't Keep Your Head Straight
• (00:11:21) - Mental health disparities for men
• (00:15:04) - No One Care About Testosterone
• (00:16:19) - Missionaries of Joy
• (00:22:44) - "We Need to Talk About Men's Issues"
• (00:24:21) - What Got Me to Read 'The Right Stuff'
• (00:27:43) - Feminine Privilegence
• (00:30:26) - Privilege vs. Women's Emotions
• (00:37:17) - On Men's Confessions
• (00:40:44) - Tom Brokaw on the state of men's suicide
• (00:45:56) - "I don't think women are threatened by these comments"
• (00:46:16) - The Beautiful Masculinity
• (00:52:56) - Teaching Men the Value of Masculinity
• (00:55:00) - How To Help Guys Over Same-Sex Att
• (01:00:42) - "Don't Judge a Man's Anger"
• (01:04:23) - The Art of Emotional Therapy

Have you ever looked at your life and thought, “Lord…this is not what I signed up for”?

The apostles did.

When Jesus told them He would suffer and die, Peter literally rebuked Him. That wasn’t the plan. They thought they were following a conquering king—not a suffering servant.

And yet… just days later, Jesus takes them up a mountain and reveals His glory in the Transfiguration.

But here’s the wild part: The Transfiguration wasn’t a preview of the future.

It was a revelation of what was already there, hidden beneath the ordinary.

In this Sunday Reflection, I talk about:
• Why your vocation will exhaust you
• How marriage exposes (and heals) your wounds
• Why parenting demolishes your ideals
• The glory hidden in suffering
• And why the cross you didn’t choose may be better than the life you would have designed

If you’re in a season that feels harder than you expected, this one’s for you. Jesus didn’t promise a pain-free life. He promised resurrection.

Push through the hard times and you'll find God's glory...in both the struggle and the outcome.

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https://bit.ly/4tQCXtP

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Join the mission to spread the joy of the Gospel! Become a Missionary of Joy to support this free content: https://bit.ly/4nTHbN0-----
Join Chris Stefanick on pilgrimage: https://www.reallifecatholic.com/pilgrimages

• (00:00:00) - What I Didn't Sign Up For
• (00:06:22) - The Transfiguration
• (00:10:41) - Lent: Thank You for the Trials of Your Life

Grief can destroy everything—your marriage, your faith, your identity. But what if God can use the worst thing that ever happened to you to build something beautiful?

In this powerful episode, Chris sits down with Mark Tripodi, who lost his 3-year-old son Bobby to bacterial meningitis 25 years ago. Mark shares the raw, real story of how that tragedy shattered his life—and how an encounter with God at his son's grave at midnight changed everything.

Mark and his wife Christy went from "checking the box" Catholics to founding Cornerstone of Hope, a grief support ministry that has served over 60,000 people. In this conversation, Mark shares the roadmap through grief, why the sacraments sustained him, and what God whispered to him in his darkest moment.

If you're walking through grief, loving someone who is, or wondering how God could allow suffering—this conversation is for you.

Check out Mark's ministry Cornerstone of Hope: www.cornerstoneofhope.org

Highlights:
0:00 Intro
2:47 The sudden loss of their 3-year-old son
8:59 Walking out of the hospital empty-handed
12:30 When everything shattered
16:45 The night at the cemetery
23:10 “My Son died too.”
25:40 Do not waste this pain
28:00 Starting Cornerstone of Hope
33:20 Why faith is essential in grief
36:30 Feeling his son’s presence at Mass
39:00 God is not safe. God is trust.
44:30 A message to anyone grieving

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Sign up for The Daily Anchor to get Chris Stefanick's bite-sized reflections every morning: https://bit.ly/48Xfhfk

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Support the creation of this content by becoming a Missionary of Joy with a monthly gift to Real Life Catholic and get free access to the RISE study series that features Mark Tripodi's story: https://bit.ly/4nTHbN0

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Join Chris Stefanick on pilgrimage: https://www.reallifecatholic.com/pilgrimages

• (00:00:00) - How to Cope With Grief
• (00:00:41) - Chris Stefanik
• (00:01:38) - Unplanned Interviewing Mark
• (00:02:35) - The tragedy that profoundly transformed my life
• (00:04:28) - The Loss of a Child Shatters Everything
• (00:10:33) - Grief and the Christian ministry
• (00:14:05) - Paul on the Road to Family Consecration
• (00:18:08) - How I Learned to Repent From Anger
• (00:22:12) - Grieving Father's Prayer on the Cross
• (00:24:07) - The Cornerstone of Hope: A Grieving Ministry
• (00:30:34) - How the Sacraments sustain us after a child's death
• (00:35:32) - Father's prayer for their children
• (00:38:16) - Grief
• (00:42:11) - Grief and the Real Priority
• (00:43:44) - Real Life Catholics

Who told you who you are?

Because if it’s not God…you’ve been listening to the wrong voice.

The devil has a very thin playbook.

His first move? Attack your identity.

He did it in Genesis. He tried it on Jesus in the desert—every single temptation starting with the words, "If you are the Son of God..."

He was trying to shake Jesus' sense of who he was. Because here's the thing: as we see ourselves, so we feel. So we act. So our entire life pans out.

If he gets your identity, he gets everything.

And he tries it with you. Through your worst sins — making you think you are the thing you did. Through the voices of people who were supposed to love you better than they did. Through tragedies that leave you convinced the joys of life just aren't for you.

Here's my question for you this Lent: Who —or what—have you given permission to name you?

Your bank account? Your worst mistake? What someone said about you years ago?

Take that permission back. Give it to Almighty God. Do what Jesus did in the desert: talk back. Preach the truth of who you are. You are a beloved child of Almighty God.

And from the cross, he looks at you and says: You are worth dying for.

Claim that. Live from it.

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https://bit.ly/48Xfhfk

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Join the mission to spread the joy of the Gospel! Become a Missionary of Joy to support this free content: https://bit.ly/4nTHbN0

Get the "I AM ___" course for free with a monthly gift of $15 or more: https://coaching.reallifecatholic.com/i-am/

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Join Chris Stefanick on pilgrimage: https://www.reallifecatholic.com/pilgrimages

• (00:00:00) - The Devil's First Line of Attack
• (00:03:43) - Give the Lie Back to Your Own Self
• (00:08:00) - Lent: Root Your Identity in Jesus Christ

From hardcore atheist to Catholic convert—author Leah Libresco Sargeant's journey is a story of intellectual rigor leading to faith.

In this powerful conversation, Leah explains how a math nerd intentionally raised as an atheist by her university professor parents discovered that moral truth points to God, why her atheism couldn't withstand philosophical scrutiny, and how to build authentic Catholic culture in your own home.

Leah shares how she believed in objective morality the same way she believed in mathematics—as something real, transcendent, and independent of human opinion. She explains how her rigorous pursuit of truth created cracks in her atheist worldview at Yale, and why following the philosophical evidence led her to become Catholic.

In the second half, she offers practical wisdom on how to actually build Catholic community in your own life...without being performative or Instagram-ready. She talks about hosting "liturgical season poetry parties," why small talk is the enemy of real friendship, and how your home doesn't need to look perfect to be a place where God shows up.

If you're trying to defend your faith intellectually, wondering how reason can lead to God, or know someone who's intellectually opposed to the Church, this conversation will bring you hope!

Highlights:
00:00 - Intro
02:01 - Raised as an intentional atheist by university professors
03:05 - "I want to know what's true"
05:14 - Moral truth is like math
10:18 - Peak new atheism: trying to liberate Christians from "lies"
13:23 - Joining the Yale Political Union debate group
20:16 - Discovering virtue ethics and Alasdair MacIntyre
24:00 - Virtue ethics and the crack in atheism
27:19 - "I should toast the Nicene Creed and become a Christian"
29:47 - "Morality just loves me or something"
40:12 - Building Catholic culture without Instagram perfection
44:50 - Liturgical season poetry parties and feast day gatherings
47:23 - "God made this person for love"

Get "Building the Benedict Option" by Leah Libresco Sargeant: https://www.amazon.com/Building-Benedict-Option-Gathering-Together/dp/1621642178

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Sign up for The Daily Anchor to get Chris Stefanick's bite-sized reflections every morning: https://bit.ly/48Xfhfk
........

Support the creation of this content by becoming a Missionary of Joy with a monthly gift to Real Life Catholic and get free access to the new Living Peace study series: https://bit.ly/4nTHbN0

........

Join Chris Stefanick on pilgrimage: https://www.reallifecatholic.com/pilgrimages

• (00:00:00) - Meet Leah's Story
• (00:01:32) - What Does An Atheist Have to Do to Win?
• (00:06:47) - Mission of Joy
• (00:12:21) - At Yale, I Met a Christian
• (00:18:30) - The Intellectual Preparation for Conversion
• (00:24:02) - The Problem of the Good
• (00:25:13) - Should I Become A Christian?
• (00:28:55) - How Do You Have Knowledge of the Good?
• (00:34:33) - Conversations with Christians after I Became Christian
• (00:38:51) - The Case for Beautiful Christian Community
• (00:40:31) - Community in the Benedict Option
• (00:44:44) - How to Start a Connection With a Non-Catholic Friend
• (00:47:14) - A message about the importance of prayer

A lot of people think Jesus was anti-rules. He hated the Pharisees, dined with sinners—so He must be cool with whatever we want to do, right?

In this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus says something that should stop us in our tracks: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets." And then He doesn't just uphold the moral law—He raises the bar.

In this reflection, I dive into the difference between legalism and the moral law, why God's rules aren't arbitrary (they're more like the laws of gravity), and what Jesus actually wants from us: not behavior modification, but a complete transformation of the heart.

The gift of love is free—you can't earn it. But love costs you literally everything. And as any lover knows, it's totally worth the price.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Do you ever catch yourself treating your faith more like a checklist than a relationship? What does that look like in your life?
2. What is the difference between legalism and following God's moral laws out of love? How can you tell which one is driving your obedience?
3. Chris says God's moral laws are like the laws of gravity—"you don't break them, they break you." How have you experienced this to be true?
4. Is there an area of your life where you’ve assumed, “God’s cool with it”?
5. What is one concrete step you can take this week to give Jesus not just your behavior—but your heart?

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Sign up for the Daily Anchor for free daily reflections from Chris Stefanick in your inbox:
https://bit.ly/48Xfhfk

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Join the mission to spread the joy of the Gospel! Become a Missionary of Joy to support this free content: https://bit.ly/4nTHbN0

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Join Chris Stefanick on pilgrimage: https://www.reallifecatholic.com/pilgrimages

• (00:00:00) - Preaching the Gospel in the Cayman Islands
• (00:03:05) - The Moral Requirements of Obeying the Law
• (00:08:27) - The Law of Love in the New Testament