Is there intelligent extraterrestrial life elsewhere in the universe? And if there is, what do the Catholic Church, Scripture and theology have to say about it?

Joseph W. Pfeifer’s book, “Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir of 9/11” (Penguin Random House), published last year, won a Christopher Award in June. The awards, first presented in 1949 by the Christophers organization, founded in 1945 by Maryknoll Father James Keller, are presented annually for works that embody “the highest values of humanity.”

In “Subversive Habits: Black Catholic Nuns in the Long African American Freedom Struggle,” Dr. Shannen Dee Williams provides the first full history of Black Catholic nuns in the United States. We speak with Dr. Williams about what inspired her to write this history and what she learned in her extensive research, which included a look at the Baltimore-based Oblate Sisters of Providence.

Given the rubbish about Ukraine spewed out by Russian propaganda trolls and regurgitated by foolish or ideologically besotted Americans, this year’s annual Summer Reading List will focus on serious books that explain the background, including the religious dimension, of a conflict that will shape Europe’s future – and ours.

In honor of Mother’s Day, Kelly Ann Guest shares some insights about Catholic saints who were also moms. Kelly is a former Dominican Sister of St. Cecilia in Nashville who is now the mother of nine children. She is the youth minister at St. Bartholomew in Manchester and the author of a new book, “Saintly Moms: 25 Stories of Holiness.”

A footnote led to the rediscovery of a retreat for artists led by then-Bishop Karol Wojtyla, the future pope and saint, and to the Theology of the Body Institute’s first book produced by its new publishing arm.

Sister Cathy Wright, a Little Sister of Jesus and author of “St. Charles de Foucauld: His Life and Spirituality,” joins us to talk about the amazing life of a man who was a cavalry officer in the French Army, an explorer, a reformed sinner, a hermit and a priest who showed the importance of what Pope Francis has called a “culture of encounter.”

Eric Clayton, who previously worked for Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services, is the author of “Cannonball Moments: Telling your Story, Deepening your Faith.” Drawing on the spiritual insights of St. Ignatius Loyola, the book encourages readers to develop a healthy sense of self-reflection as a means of drawing closer to Christ.

Dan Burke breaks down St. Teresa Avila’s timeless classic, “The Interior Castle,” that explains the seven levels of progress in the spiritual life from a doctor of the church.

Danielle Whren Johnson, a Loyola-Notre Dame librarian, said books that were checked out 51 years ago were recently returned in a bin at a public library and then forwarded to Loyola-Notre Dame Library.