Malta Minute with the Catechism

Peggy Stanton

Peggy Stanton is a news correspondent, author, illustrator and painter, who served ABC-TV as the first woman news correspondent in Washington, DC. She has produced numerous video documentaries and has been published in The Washington Post, The Washington Star, The Saturday Evening Post, The News Leader, The Islander and Medjugorje magazine. Her book, The Daniel Dilemma, featured nine public figures, including Gerald Ford and Coach Don Shula, and examined how their faith impacted their decisions in public life. Peggy also writes and broadcasts The Order of Malta Minute for The Order of Malta on Ave Maria Radio.

Peggy’s paintings have been featured in one woman exhibits in Washington, D.C. and the Marian Museum at the University of Dayton, the largest Marian Library in the world. In 1990, inspired by a visit to Medjugorje, she created a 501(c)3 organization, The Mary Anne Foundation, named after the Mother and Grandmother of the Prince of Peace. The Foundation’s mission is to foster world peace through spiritual means.

Peggy has also assisted in rehabbing houses in New Orleans and has been a frequent pilgrim to Lourdes as a Dame of Malta, caring for malades who are taken to the Shrine annually by the Order of Malta. She has also produced several videos on Lourdes and has served on the Boards of the National First Ladies’ Library, the Ivy Foundation and the Order of Malta.

Program Details:

Her concise, one minute summaries are written in easy to understand language all can absorb and remember and are reviewed by Canon lawyer, Msgr. Douglas Mathers, for accuracy. Topics covered include everything from Adam to atheism.

Peggy Stanton's Latest Posts

  • Malta Minute with the Catechism: Elijah, Father of Prophets

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    • Program #: 256
    • Description: In the ends of the prayer, why is Elijah such an important figure. Elijah is the father of the prophets, the Catholic Catechism tells us. The mission of the prophets was to educate the people of God so that they might experience conversion of the heart, than rather merely participating in the ritual practices of religion. St. James in referring to Elijah says, "The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. This is affirmed when Elijah asks God to restore the life of the son of a widow and the Lord hears and answers Elijah's prayer. On Mount Carmel, Elijah challenges 450 prophets of Baal to a prayer dual before all the Israelites. Baal proves to be a false God, giving no answer to pleas from his prophet. While the God of Israel proves to be the true God, by producing in response to Elijah's intercessory prayer, a mighty fire to consume the holocaust. This is Peggy Stanton and this has been the Order of Malta's Minute With the Catechism.

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  • Malta Minute with the Catechism: The Beauty of Truth

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    • Program #: 255
    • Description: What qualities are embodied in truth and goodness? The catholic catechism asserts that the practice of goodness is accompanied by the joy and splendor of spiritual beauty. Truth, says the catechism, is beautiful in and of itself because man is endowed with an intellect, truth in the rational expression of the created and un-created reality is necessary. But when truth is beyond words, the depths of the human heart, the exaltation of the soul, the mystery of God, other forms of complimentary human expression are needed. Before God revealed himself in words, he revealed himself in the universal language of creation, the order and harmony of the cosmos which both child and scientist can discern. This is Peggy Stanton and this has been the Order of Malta's Minute With the Catechism.

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  • Malta Minute with the Catechism: Deliver Us From Evil

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    • Program #: 254
    • Description: When we ask God our Father to deliver us from evil, are we referring to an idea or a person? We are not referring to an abstraction, says the Catholic Catechism. We are referring to a person; the evil one, Satan, the fallen angel who throws himself across God’s plan of salvation accomplished in Christ. Jesus labeled Satan a murderer, a liar and the father of lies. We do not pray alone. We pray in communion with the Church for the whole human family. Our interdependence in the drama of sin and death is turned into solidarity in the Body of Christ, the Communion of Saints. If one entrusts himself to God, one does not dread the devil. Victory over Satan the prince of the world was attained once and for all when Jesus freely gave Himself over to death in order to give us His life. future. This is Peggy Stanton and this has been the Order of Malta’s Minute with the Catechism.

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  • Malta Minute with the Catechism: Lead Us Not Into Temptation

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    • Program #: 253
    • Description: What do we mean when we ask Our heavenly Father not to lead us into temptation? Is it possible for God to tempt us? it is not, asserts the Catholic Catechism. “God cannot be tempted by evil and He, Himself, tempts no one.” Translating from the Greek verb to a single English verb is the difficulty. The Greek verb means we are asking God not to allow us to take the way that leads us to sin. This petition addresses the battle between flesh and the spirit imploring the Spirit of discernment and truth. With the Holy Spirit, we can discern between trials which are necessary for our growth and temptations which lead to sin and death. Discernment also entails distinguishing between being tempted and consenting to temptation. It unmasks the lie of temptation which makes the object look desirable, when in fact, its fruit is death. God will never allow us to be tempted beyond our strength, says St. Paul. The battle, however, can only be won by prayer. This is Peggy Stanton and this has been the Order of Malta’s Minute with the Catechism.

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  • Malta Minute with the Catechism: Forgive Us Our Tresspasses

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    • Program #: 252
    • Description: What is the most daunting petition in the Lord’s Prayer? The Catholic Catechism says it is when we ask God our Father to forgive our sins as we forgive others, meaning if we do not forgive those who have sinned against us, we don’t expect the Father to forgive us. God’s outpouring of mercy cannot penetrate our hearts as long as we have not forgiven those who have trespassed against us. This is sobering. The Catechism says there has to be a vital participation, coming from the depths of the heart, in the holiness and the mercy and the love of God. Only the Holy Spirit can make our mind the same as the mind of Jesus Christ who could forgive even those who crucified Him. The heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit can turn injury into compassion, purifying the memory so as to transform the hurt into intercession. Forgiveness bears witness to the world that love is stronger than hate. This is Peggy Stanton and this has been the Order of Malta’s Minute with the Catechism.

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  • Malta Minute with the Catechism: Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

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    • Program #: 251
    • Description: When we ask Our Father to give us this day our daily bread, are we merely asking for daily nourishment? We are, says the Catholic Catechism, indeed asking the Father who gives us life for the material and spiritual nourishment which life requires, but we are asking for much more. Those who seek the kingdom of God and its righteousness, God has promised to give all else besides. Since everything belongs to God, he who possesses God, possesses everything, if he himself, is not found wanting before God. The drama of hunger in the world, therefore, calls upon all Christians to exercise responsibility toward their needy brethren both in their behavior and in their solidarity with the human family. This petition also applies to another hunger from which people are perishing....thirst for the Word of the Lord and for Catholics, receiving his Body in the Eucharist which is our daily Bread. This is Peggy Stanton and this has been the Order of Malta’s Minute with the Catechism.

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  • Malta Minute with the Catechism: Thy Will Be Done

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    • Program #: 250
    • Description: When we say, “Thy will be done as it is in heaven,” what are we asking of Our Father? The Catholic Catechism explains that God desires for all men be saved and come to know the truth. He does not wish anyone to perish. In his Son, Jesus Christ and through his human will, the will of the Father has been perfectly fulfilled once for all. The Lord made this clear on entering public ministry. “I have come to do your will, O God.” Only Jesus can say, “I always do what is pleasing to Him....”even unto death as He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, “Not my will, but yours be done.” Thus we ask Our Father to unite our will to his Son’s in order to fulfill the Father’s will. By prayer, we can discern God’s will and receive the endurance to carry it out. Jesus taught that one enters the Kingdom of God not by speaking only words but by doing the will of His Father in heaven. I’m Peggy Stanton and this has been the Order of Malta’s Minute with the Catechism.

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  • Malta Minute with the Catechism: Thy Kingdom Come

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    • Program #: 249
    • Description: What are we asking God the Father when in the Lord’s prayer, we plead, “thy Kingdom come”? The Catholic Catechism states , “The Kingdom of God lies ahead of us. It is brought near in the Word Incarnate. (Jesus Christ)It is proclaimed throughout the whole Gospel. In Christ’s death and Resurrection, it has come....In the Eucharist. It is actually in our midst. When Christ hands it over to the Father, the kingdom will come in glory. St. Cyprian speculates the Kingdom of God may even mean Christ Himself coming into our lives. In the context of the Lord’s prayer, “thy kingdom come,” is referring primarily to the final coming of the reign of God through Christ’s return. Since Pentecost the coming of God’s reign is the work of the Holy Spirit....The Kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The end times in which we are living is the age of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is Peggy Stanton and this has been the Order of Malta’s Minute with the Catechism.

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  • Malta Minute with the Catechism: Hallowed Be Thy Name

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    • Program #: 248
    • Description: What do we mean when we say to the Father, “Hallowed be thy name”? We are recognizing the holiness of God. The Catechism tells us that the holiness of God is the inaccessible center of his eternal mystery. What is revealed of his holiness in history and nature is called by scripture, “glory”. When God made man in his image and likeness, he crowned man with glory and honor, but when man sinned, he fell short of the glory of God. From that time on, God manifested his holiness by revealing and giving his name, beginning with Moses, in order to restore man to the image of his Creator. Finally, in the person of Jesus, God’s holy name is given to us in the flesh as “Savior”. He reveals this through his Word and through His sacrifice. At the end of the Jesus’Passion, the Father gives to the Son the name that is above all names. Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of the Father.” This is Peggy Stanton and this has been the Order of Malta’s Minute with the Catechism.

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  • Malta Minute with the Catechism: Who Art in Heaven

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    • Program #: 247
    • Description: When we refer to Our Father who art in heaven, are we talking to a God who is far removed from us? On the contrary, says the Catholic Catechism, we are talking to a Father who is close to humble and contrite hearts. We assert that God is in the hearts of the just, as he is in his holy temple. He is in heaven, his dwelling place; the Father’s house is our homeland. Sin has exiled us....but conversion of heart enables us to return to the Father, to.... heaven. Christians are in the flesh, but they do not live according to the flesh. They spend their lives on earth, but are citizens of heaven. This is Peggy Stanton and this has been the Order of Malta’s Minute with the Catechism.

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