Now on 105.9 FM and streaming worldwide on the WMAL app, O'Connor & Company. WMAL It is Good Friday and those who don't practice the Christian faith or understand much about it might be saying why is it so good? This is the day Jesus was crucified. Oh, it actually should be called Great Friday. If you're confused, we'll explain and even better at 735 we'll have a priest explain Father Paul Scalia will be joining us He's one of the most famous and favorite priests in town Certainly in the Arlington archdiocese. He'll be joining us Father Paul Scalia 735 in 805 Al Corby of the Safe which is a company that makes doomsday bunkers and more we want to get his insight on what we're learning now about this massive bunker that is being built under the New ballroom at the White House and then at 835 the curator of the Apollo collection at the National Air and Space Museum and Alex Sawyer will also be talking at 705 to Dr. Ryan Hanning of Catholics come home about this story that's on our radar right now And it's not just our radar. It's getting coverage all over the place about the resurgence of Young people going back to the Catholic Church Alex Sawyer Washington Times. Good morning. Thanks for joining us. Yeah, thanks for having me and I'm Catholic You're a cat. There we go. We all be able to just you know, like a two two Catholics sitting here on Good Friday Michael Sheldon our board operator Catholic Heather Hunter our executive producer Catholic. We're supposed to have a day off today Well, I guess we we're pretty representative of our faith expanding even further, right? I guess they I've been reading some of the numbers and it's been steadily increasing. They say oh, yeah, Catholics on the March I know I guess I guess it's been going upward. Yeah big time. There's a lot of speculation as to what it's all about Was it because of COVID-19? Is it because of social media? You know, I I would attribute and only because you know Narcissistically it fits in with my career, but I think podcast I I am a big aficionado of Catholic podcasts Apologetic style podcast prayer podcasts various things and I think that they have made a huge difference in sort of breaking down some of the misconceptions and Misunderstands you but misunderstandings about Catholicism And I think they've also been able to engage in direct responses to some of the false perceptions and lies that have been said about the Catholic Church over the centuries Yeah, and and a lot of people the New York Times article credits the online world and Catholic podcasts and Catholic YouTube as a big part of getting younger people now interested in In converting to Catholicism, I wonder to on that same point, you know the hollow up That you see like the prayer like I wonder if like things like that don't also attract younger people The hollow app is just popular across the board. Yeah, I agree and So let me give you a little taste of the headlines that we're talking about Washington Post Sunday night Catholic Mass at St. Joseph's in New York is Magnet for young people the pendulum is swinging one Catholic content creator wrote in a caption Gen Z is turning back to God And let me give you this other sub headline. It was my favorite from the Washington Post article Young men in their 20s and 30s are increasingly drawn to the Catholic Church as they seek truth beauty and girlfriends Hey, you know what that is a much better place in New York to go meet somebody then did you see the There was a recent article I think it was the New York Post had that there's like now running clubs in New York City that go out and pick up trash because of how God People are doing it for dates and I was like I I mean I love a good run But one I've never thought let me pick up some trash. This will make it a more enjoyable I never thought I would want to like, you know, somebody asked me go for a date and go run and pick up trash I'd probably say yeah I am In my profession now, I'm fortunate enough either here at WMAL But also more importantly my work at town hall where I'm kind of the elder statesman now I'm sort of the dad in the room and because people who come to work at town hall and websites and Podcasts and such often are in their 20s and early 30s. And so I've got a lot of young men Who I work with who are Catholic that? In a strange way, I've become sort of a professional mentor and and you know what happens when you start talking about your faith and same thing So I've got a lot of young men who fit perfectly into this category and I I asked them about especially about that Young men are looking for truth beauty and girlfriends and they all replied and said yep, that's it That's exactly perfectly fact-checked true Washington Post got this one right Here's how Evie magazine described this phenomenon because this is it's like this Explosion of articles about this same phenomenon because the trends and the numbers have been inexplicable About the rising number of young people in their 20s early 30s who are converting to the Catholic Church becoming much more active in their Catholic Church A lot of them are Christians of other denominations who have done more research into the origins of Christianity and the church fathers And they've decided that they are going to convert to Catholicism. Here's Evie magazine New York City's hottest new club is Catholic Mass There's a new hotspot taking over and there's no cover charge or VIP section in sight Welcome to any traditional adjacent Catholic Church this Easter from old St. Patrick's Cathedral to St. Joseph's Church in Greenwich Village and the scene might surprise you packed pews standing remotely 20 and 30 somethings in their prettiest spring dresses and young men in pressed collared shirts and button downs lingering long after the service ends to talk laugh and swap Instagram handles It's an energy that's warm and intoxicating even without the bottomless mimosas. Let me tell you Alex I think a big part of this is the natural Reaction to social media if you ask young people in their 20s or 30s, where do you go to meet people to interact with them to date? to whatever they've got apps all they've got is snapchat or Instagram or or Excerpt they don't use Facebook and that's all they've got and this is their ability And the AI companions like that stuff that's emerging. That's so weird. Maybe it's not real None of it is real. Well, I think that's a good theory the other thing if I was looking at the the EV post and it talks about Gen Z coming back to the church fueled by their fire for the church's framework of femininity and masculinity Interesting it makes you wonder if this whole like the how we've been yeah, you know if like embracing Being a woman embracing mas being a man mat and masculine traits if that's not the narrative that you're getting I guess in our culture in our society They're not rejecting that as well like the push from the left if that's not and I was saying earlier just chatting with Heather I wonder if the whole turning point USA the popularity there and With youth and like turning towards, you know getting married family church if that's not also helping drive people back To their fate all good all good theories and as usual probably All of the above I think is probably and let's not forget the backlash and reaction to what we put this generation Through with COVID-19 and the pandemic and all of the insanity from that You look for grounding you look for a place and you also look for truth Truth was in short order during the pandemic and you didn't know who to trust And your foundation gets rocked at times like that So when you start searching for the truth and you start searching for foundations that you can put your faith in It's no wonder you end up going back to Jesus Christ That you go back to the church that he established Yeah, well I've got mixed feelings about that actually all right Holds you thought we'll get back there's more on this and also sadly the boomers who put us into this mess in the first place Who raised us as a godless generation and we're skeptical of Religion well the boomers are added again just wait till you hear what King Charles the head of the English church is Doing this Easter. I'll tell you it's really what he's not doing 615 Hey there, I'm Paula Pan. I help people make the smartest money decisions possible Do not ever worry about your salary you need enough to make sure that you aren't in a bad financial position Once you have that your salary becomes moot what matters from that point forward upside gains any type of ownership stake or ownership Potential that's the money remember you can afford anything just not everything afford anything Follow and listen on your favorite platform The articles are everywhere New York Times Washington Post local Media covering it as well. This is a article from KCRG Cedar Rapids, Iowa as Holy Week unfolds Catholic churches across the country are preparing to welcome a new wave of members in some cases numbers not seen in years according to the New York Times the diocese of Des Moines has seen a 51% increase in converts compared to last year The experts say the rights isn't just about church leadership Oh, that that by the way that was after speculation that maybe it's because we have an American pope now and by the way I don't think that's not Insignificant I think the fact that there's an American now named as a head of the church I bet that got a lot of people and also what's this all about and if you keep reading in the article one of the things it Talks about is technology and like how the church is kind of pushed back against technology And I think that that was kind of what you were alluding to earlier too with the whole with the apps and like people just looking for face-to-face and you know What's real looking for something deeper and personal and something and again the truth It's like if you actually go on the journey for truth Again, I'm biased. I'm Christian. I'm Catholic. I Jesus Christ is my savior if you're searching for truth. I Think most often than not it's gonna lead you back to Jesus There's a bit as you said yeah father Aaron Jung of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Cedar Rapids says there's a draw to community One of Pope Leo's large themes has been warning against the dangers of technology particularly in the way that it might isolate us And now we're seeing this as a direct reflection of that But you can't talk about how generations now are returning to the church without first examining The generation that left the church and that brings us back to our favorite the boomers and I know there are a lot of boomers Who are listening we don't mean to pay with a broad brush, but I'll be honest with you as somebody who was raised by boomers Yeah, I had some issues there In the 70s and 80s there was there was a little bit of a lack of a compass sometimes and it's perfectly exemplified by I think right now the most prominent example of that generation Who who was given everything and all the opportunities and basically just sort of made a mess of things King Charles The King Charles is the perfect example of that generation. I think and now true to form The Buckingham Palace has announced that King Charles will not be issuing an Easter message this year Just gonna forego it. No need He's the head of the English Church It's terrible and isn't that like I mean isn't the family all about tradition Of course What's the point of having a bararchy and but but here's what's really galling and raising eyebrows and freaking people out In the same year that King Charles has decided that he's not going to give a message To the people of the Empire or the Commonwealth or the United Kingdom on the holiest day of the Christian calendar King Charles just a month ago delivered this message to a different group of believers in United Kingdom Salamu alaykum Ramadan Mubarak Ladies and gentlemen as Muslims across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth begin preparations To celebrate Eid Okay, yeah, you see the problem here Alex Sawyer see it just do they see it. I don't think they see it Well, a good handful of people there in the United Kingdom see it and They're trying to speak out. They're trying to push back on it But that's disconcerting to say the least. Well, yeah, it kind of also reminds me I think I joined you like around St. Patrick's Day wasn't there like the the president of Ireland or somebody was kept talking about Patrick Wouldn't call him St. Patrick and talked about really the story of Patrick is a story of migration Exactly, I think they're just and welcoming migrants. We need to send all of them to mass to meet to meet the young folks Yeah, and again, I just don't get me wrong if the King of England Feels that it's important because of the new influx of visitors in his country that he wants to Welcome them and be ecumenical and deliver a Ramadan message to them. Fine Don't do it instead of the Easter message. Yeah, or do all of it. I mean, that's the problem. The problem is Replacing one with the other. It's terrible I and I you know one of the things that we all look to for with the royal family is like I said Like you can expect certain things and like an Easter message and is one of them Yeah, and even going I mean, are they going to be going to church? Are we going to be seeing like anything like that? I mean We'll see we'll keep an eye. I think they are getting some pushback on this So we shall see at least if they'll make a public display of at least going to Westminster Abbey and attending services and mass Up the bottom line here is If you've been away from the church, come on home Uh, go make a visit. This is a great weekend for it. Today is phenomenal. Good Friday mass. Uh, it's not really technically a mass It's all one big mass starting Thursday night going all the way to Easter. Um, but go See what touches you just sit just watch you don't have to participate just listen Just think to yourself just hear that voice inside your head And just come on home. It's going to be amazing and you're going to be Really impressed with all those 20-somethings leading the way. It's 6 23 Now on 105.9 fm and streaming worldwide on the wm al app O'Connor and company Good morning at 6 36 and a good Friday to you. Thanks for joining us. It's O'Connor and company Getting you launched into your Easter weekend and we're proud to do so coming up later in the program coming up at 705 we're going to speak with dr. Ryan Henning Follow up on that conversation We just had about all of these stats and all these reports about the growth in the catholic church 735 will stay catholic with father paul scolia As he reflects on these holy days that are upon us. 805 brings us el corby founder of safe making doomstay bunkers He might have some specific insight into what we're learning about this gigantic bunker being built under the new Ballroom facility at the white house and then at 835 the curator of the national air and space museums Apollo collection give some reflections on the artemist tube mission now on day three It's very o'connor with alex for you alex. Would you would you go on a mission to the moon? No You know plant and I we're talking about this last night on the the right squad and we on commercial break He said he would go to the moon in a heartbeat. I don't I would never I don't I just am not tempted at all You reach chris plants age, you know, so there's not a whole lot left on your bucket list We gave him a hard time on the show about being a boomer last night too Exactly There was like I well you should it's funny because there's like a couple younger people I think like I'm in my late 30s and they're like there's always like a 20-something on the show And they were like you're like there's like 33 percent of boomers are cool and you're one of them plant There's like you and donald trump I you know what he'll take it i'm sure It was a good conversation, but no I I also read that these astronauts they're like sleeping in four-hour increments Yes, that's a lot like doing a morning radio show, but I I couldn't do that I went to bed last night at a good time. I like I think I got seven hours Well, you know you are you are recovering from covid so that's gonna happen. That is true But I am a sleeper. I can't do like a four hour and then up and then four hours Yesterday jade vance made his first major announcement as the new head of the president's task force on eliminating fraud in the federal government This of course stemming from the expose from independent journalist nick surely in minneapolis and then his follow-up in california Here's what the vice president said yesterday cut six When the american taxpayer sends money to a program It goes to somebody in their community who has the legal right to be here Who knows the legal right to actually benefit from these programs? If you don't do that the whole thing falls apart our sense of social trust our sense of belonging our sense that we help each other out But we help out the people in our community not the fraudsters who are getting rich off of our generosity that whole thing falls apart Unless we take fraud seriously and that's what collin is going to do One of the things that collin has talked to me about and that i've been kind of shocked by even though we've been sort of living this Anti-fraud mission because i want to fill in everybody for some empty spaces. I didn't fill in This is at the swearing-in ceremony of assistant attorney general collin mcdonnell. This is a brand new This is a brand new position created specifically a u.s. Attorney that would be just focusing on fraud and that's so when he's talking about collin That's who he's talking about all right pick it up there Even though we've been sort of living this anti fraud mission for the past couple of months is that when you have Fraud being committed in this country the department of justice has largely turned a blind eye towards it if it's under a certain dollar amount One of the things collin is going to do is make sure that no fraud no matter how big or how small it is No fraud is small enough or big enough to look away from and i think that's going to reimpose deterrence It's going to make fraudsters know that they're going to suffer some consequences And it's going to make the american people know that these programs are being protected for the people who need them because There are a lot of them out there. We want to help them, but we've got to get rid of the fraud in order to Yeah, alex, it's amazing to hear that but i have no doubt that it's true that The doj and other agencies basically sort of shrugged and said yeah, you know listen We know that there's going to be fraud if it's under a certain amount. We'll just look the other way That's basically legalizing fraud. Maybe this is part of the frustration that You know we talked about bondy earlier Maybe that was some of the frustration that president trump has had we talked about not seeing indictments The question about what's gone on with minnesota one of the things i think that when we talk about gavin newson and his leadership of california Versus what the fraud that's going to be uncovered there versus what we All the months of the coverage that we've kind of dealt with with minnesota is Did he know about it because that was really what tim wall's issue was right like there was these whistleblowers for years um, and that's and they bullied and intimidated them right and threatened them and I think there's a lot of people that wonder if there's going to be any sort of um Legal action against those in charge and that's kind of one of the those Issues where we're waiting to see what the doj does and are they going to do anything If you look at the numbers over the last handful of years there has been an explosion in new medicaid funding and operations in states like california just absolute insanity the numbers the way that they doubled triple quadrupled And specifically in la county this huge influx of hospice centers that have now been opened up and Based on preliminary investigations by cbs news fox news and nick surley again You go to the address where they're making millions of dollars and there's no one there. It's an empty office It's got a desk and a chair. Dr. Oz yesterday made an announcement Uh, he said that they have taken out 221 of these hospices already Uh, they've arrested eight individuals yesterday who allegedly schemed into fraud taxpayers out of more than 50 million dollars dr. Oz who runs the um Medicare services division out of the department of health and human services that oversees this said half of the 200 hospices should not be in business now We're giving you all these details because Unless you're listening here this morning Or if you happen to be watching cbs news last night for 30 seconds You would not know about this These arrests yesterday in california and the fbi raid to the tune of 50 million dollars in fraud in gavin disson's california Was ignored by the media across the board. Here's the cbs news report the one report And thank you to our friends at news busters media research center for finding this for us CBS news is first to report the arrest today of a married couple in southern california accused of ripping off medicare for nearly Seven and a half million dollars through a series of fraudulent hospice claims Over 700 hospices in los angeles county alone have read flags for fraud according to our investigative team In this particular case the flags included a five-year survival rate of 97 percent High for what is supposed to be end of life care the fbi says additional arrests are expected It's the perfect crime if you think about it alexuari you get all this federal money There's hardly any oversight and the people that you're supposed to care for well if it's hospice i mean God bless them There is it's end of life care. Yeah, so The people that are supposed to be receiving the care we already know are on their final days in on this planet and i so it's very hard to go back after the fact and investigate when you literally oh who got that care Oh, well, he's dead. He's he's buried. He's gone. You know, I mean it's easy to defraud this system You would think yeah, you and I were talking and think about this earlier when we last time I was on I think it was when nix really dropped some of these clips of him going to these hospice centers And you could see nothing but the luxury vehicles Whenever he would go in and try to ask about like how to open one up that was just Interesting and one of the points that you and I kept mentioning was these these fraud schemes They do they take from our most vulnerable the people who are dying And then you and I talked previously about minnesota. I mean like that was a lot of children where the targets the day care centers the autism um Yeah, and you know it's in the the meals the feeding our futures program that was also geared towards Like feeding school-aged children It's just terrible. Well, that's how they get the money for these things They always whenever you question these programs say wait a minute. Why are we spending all this money on this and that and that? It's like, why do you hate children? Why do you want to starve children? I love children I don't want to starve children I I don't want to make illegal immigrants from somalia multimillionaires Because you think you've got a big heart by creating a program that is so easy to steal from and that's what this is all about I mean, I wonder if dr. Oz thought when he took this job that this would be The large aspect of what he's doing is I don't know but he seems he seems to be relishing it actually and and owning it And it's really that we got to keep the pressure on to make sure this comes up All right, speaking of keeping the pressure on We started the day with a judge saying that the the east wing design in the ballroom can't go forward And now well, we've got a different word on that It was a good day for trump with regard to the ballroom Which appears to be like the biggest objection that any democrat has to this president If you look at it, uh, we'll give you more details on the ballroom and the bunker next first though It's 645. Hi, i'm joce all see how I hosted the stacking benjamin's podcast Most economists agree small amount of inflation is actually good 2 is what you're going for But why is everybody freaking out? Oh because it's the fallout people don't track their budget You have this slow slipping that happens every month to all of a sudden you go man I don't have any money the reason is now two people go to a restaurant Onto the bill is 60 bucks for two two guys walking to a restaurant. They start screaming. Isn't that hilarious? $60 Stacking benjamin's following listen on your favorite platform Gentlemen, if you're looking for the perfect woman, I may have just found her with alex swire. I mean she's she's gorgeous. She's smart. She's funny Uh, and I only drink black coffee That's that's what that's what was the real selling boy We were just because I happened to be drinking dunk and donuts coffee this morning for some inexplicable reason She told me about how she actually likes to I like starbucks as well But the key thing is what is your order from starbucks and alex? What do you order from starbucks? Black coffee dark roast. She is the perfect woman. She is i'm sorry Even meredith doesn't rise to that level Well, I you know, I think Meredith does great things. I'm sure she just went out and got you your dunk and donut She is perfect in every other way. She is perfect in every other way I Like i'm going to starbucks next time most most women your age Give a completely different answer, you know a half calf half decaf espresso latte frappe with a you know Mix of oat milk and coconut milk and blah blah blah blah and I believe you've lost me Yeah, you're not no, i'm not fancy like that injected into my veins. Yeah, I love it. I have to keep going get that caffeine Uh, the planning commission has approved the bunker I'm sorry the ballroom. Did I say bunker out loud? Why is everyone like yes, it's a ballroom We need a ballroom But this entire project is it doesn't everyone realize at this point that this was really about Reinforcing and building a larger bunker for the safety of the president and the administration should we have a devastating attack on this country For why do we keep pretending? So you get with going forward trump knew that it had to be done. He said well, listen while we're doing it Let's build the ballroom and I was like, oh you can't have a ballroom So the national capital planning commission just gave the final full approval. Uh, they voted eight to one Um, so they're going full steam ahead with the project the judge It is anticipated that the judge judge leon who put a stop on the st Congress has to have a say that's probably not going to stand up And so they're moving forward. They're not stopping it go. They're not collecting 200 dollars They're going directly to finish this up the planning commission The national planning commission voted and gave that green light yesterday So, uh, but but in the course of this and through all of these discussions More and more is being revealed about what's really going on under there And this thing is impressive what we know about the my if everything about the bunker that they're building under there is is I'm guessing just the tip of the iceberg and there's a ton more that they're never going to tell us This is going to be quite the network and operation underneath the white house For contingencies and that's nothing new alex There's been a bunker under the white house for various things. Um, they began under f dr And they've been expanding it under eisenhower under treatment and now well, it's it's getting a huge huge upgrade Yeah, and not only that I mean when we're talking about I wonder what how big the bunker was that they have now because think about how much our Government has expanded over the years how many more people work there like the president How many more people would need to be with him? I think it makes sense. Um, the other thing is is I think the I went through I can't wait to see what the actual We're talking about the bunker, but I know the ballroom itself I want to see what it looks like because I got a tour when he was building the Former now, I guess what is it the the wall door the world? Now but the former post office. Yeah, when it was the trump which was an incredible I mean they did such an incredible job on the trump hotel. I miss those days Me too. I wish the first term the trump hotel was like a secret club. It was the place to be They still do trump tuesdays. I've heard I haven't really gone, but um, who goes out drinking on a tuesday Who are these well it is dc larry, you know, everybody they drink every day here um Well, one of the things I want to see is when I in 2016 He gave us a tour of that the post office when he was building it and like it was so cool to see at that time What it looked like versus what it became It'd be really cool if he did the same thing here just kind of like bring people inside The whole transformation. I wonder how many gold columns and chandeliers will have I was in his ballroom in mara lago And I counted 19 chandeliers. It kind of it gives you very much like the the Versailles Five Well, you know, it's a hole right now and the treasury department of course is right next to the it's like the side yard Right of the treasury department And apparently there are a lot of employees that have office windows there and stuff and they've been instructed To not take any pictures because they're super secret stuff being built there. That's that's true. I guess you don't want to take the buffer They should erect something because that would what it is. We're on the trust system the honor system Acosta will get on top of it. Wasn't he like From some weird vantage point doing some stand-up video Um, yeah, he'll have to he'll try to get inside there. I'm sure Well, it's a lot of the things that are going on under there have to do with you know drone warfare and some of the um Issues of new military Conducting concerns that the president now has to worry about. Um, there's going to be a drone what they call drone related operations Under there and basically what trump said the other day when speaking to reporters is That the ballroom is basically just the shed Over the real operation this giant military bunker now listen We want to know more about it and whether you can have your own version in your backyard So coming up at 805 al corby president founder of safe the company that makes doomsday bunkers He'll be joining us then to talk about it. It's 655 Hey there, I'm paula pan. I help people make the smartest money decisions possible Do not ever worry about your salary You need enough to make sure that you aren't in a bad financial position once you have that your salary Becomes moot what matters from that point forward upside gains any type of ownership stake or ownership potential That's the money. Remember you can afford anything just not everything afford anything Follow and listen on your favorite platform
