On the Mark

About On the Mark

In our discussions we aim to help all the faithful to be Christians in word and deed in the middle of the world.

Publisher

Peter Buckley & Mark O'Donnell

Category

religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

1 Nov 2023

Latest episode

23 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

40 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   23 Sept 2026

   AI, Work, Prayer and the Cross

   Peter Buckley and Mark O'Donnell open this episode of On the Mark on AI doomsday talk and the more immediate threat it poses to work, prayer, and attention, pointing listeners to Pope Leo XIV's document on artificial intelligence, released on the 135th anniversary of Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum. They then take a ubiquitous gambling advertisement, Robert George's warning about pornification, and the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross as a path back to recollection: the rosary after dinner, daily Gospel reading at dailygospel.org, chastity as the engine of apostolic love, and the Cross as the means that actually works.

2. 

   7 Sept 2026

   The Urgency of Prayer

   Peter Buckley and Mark O'Donnell step off their papal-document series to take up three live headlines: the Lindsay Clancy trial in Plymouth, the arrest of the San Francisco 49ers' owner, and the death of Dolly Parton on the feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta. Mark reads Matthew 7 as the Catholic reply — do not judge, ask in prayer, enter the narrow gate — and holds up Mother Teresa as proof that public credibility comes from a life of prayer and work among the poorest, not from camouflaging what you believe.

3. 

   29 Aug 2026

   Evangelization Is Your Fulfillment

   Peter Buckley and Mark O'Donnell continue their series on Pope Francis's Joy of the Gospel, taking up the claim that the Church's call to evangelize is the source of authentic personal fulfillment rather than an extra religious duty. Mark contrasts the 10,000-hour gospel of work, sport, and retirement planning with the parables of the wedding feast and the rich fool, arguing that joy — and therefore evangelization — comes only after we stop idolizing the work of our hands, put on the wedding garment of obedience, and follow a concrete plan of prayer, the sacraments, and holiness, with St. John the Baptist as intercessor.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

11 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Contact On the Mark

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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