About the show

Inspired by Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati’s mantra, “to the heights,” this podcast uses the charism of Frassati's care for the poor and vulnerable to highlight people who are reaching to the heights in their own lives. Host Olivia R. Colombo takes her background in environmental activism and social justice to introduce listeners to people who are making positive change in the world–– activists, religious, journalists, youth ministers, artists, social workers, and everyone in between.

To the Heights on social media

Episodes

  • 28: In the Rubble of the Earth | Carly Anderson, BC's 4Boston Campus Minister

    June 29th, 2020  |  Season 3  |  1 hr 8 mins
    4boston, boston college, catholic social teaching, service, social justice

    Welcome to Season 3, Hope in Humanity! I am overjoyed to be taking a much-needed look at social justice, Catholic Social Teaching, and activism this season. First up, we have Carly Anderson–– Boston College Campus Minister in charge of 4Boston, a 700-student volunteer organization.

  • Season 3 Teaser: "Hope In Humanity"

    June 22nd, 2020  |  10 mins 42 secs

    Hello, friends! Wondering what season 3 is going to be about? Olivia's here with a quick teaser about all that's in store for Season 3, "Hope In Humanity."
    See you next week for the first episode! Until then, keep on reaching #totheheights.

  • 26: How To Start Praise & Worship Adoration 101 | Worship Leading, Liturgy Logistics, & Music Selection Tips

    April 13th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 51 mins
    adoration, praise and worship

    This is the podcast that I wish I had when I wanted to start a praise & worship Holy Hour of Adoration at BC. Faith Payson, Lizzy Roehm, Delia Delorie, Mickayla Hagar, and yours truly share our tips on organizing a holy hour, spreading the word, hosting with/without a priest, creating a set list, working sound systems, and more. This is a nuts & bolts discussion of what we learned through trial and error starting adoration at both a parish and a college.

  • 25: How To Not Lose Your Soul in Quarantine | Twitter Q&A with @TheHappyPriest

    April 6th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 17 mins
    catholic media, catholic twitter, the happy priest

    Your favorite dynamic #VanLife #goats duo is back, this time through Zoom. Olivia and Fr. Cassidy catch up on what they've been up to since SLS, how quarantine is treating them, and the real struggles and joys of the Church right now. We talk over-saturation of Catholic media, goats, a priest missing his parishioners, creative ways to survive right now, and how 99% of us are just not built to be hermits.

  • 24: An Activist Within Us All | Founder of Life Dress, Angelique Clark

    March 30th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  52 mins 27 secs
    life dress, pro-life, students for life of america

    We have an episode in store recorded pre-quarantine, so if you need to get your mind off of things, here's your chance. We chatted with Angelique Clark, the face behind Life Dress and a graphic designer for Students for Life of America. Angelique is a super cool human being–– she is the president of her college's Rebels for Life group, she thrifts and hand-paints clothes with pro-life messages, and she even sued her high school for not allowing her to form a pro-life club... and spoiler alert, she won.

  • 23: "We Bought a Lotta Goats" | A Man of Many Jobs... BC Music Minister Meyer Chambers

    March 23rd, 2020  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 13 mins
    boston college, liturgical choir, liturgy arts group

    Oh this one's something!! Meyer Chambers is a campus minister and the liturgical music minister at Boston College, where our host Olivia is a member of his liturgical choir. Meyer is one of those Catholic guys–– he knows seemingly everyone in the Archdiocese, has worked and volunteered and given his heart to so many organizations, and he radiates the light of Christ through his open office door, big smile, and iconic Meyer laugh. He's one of my favorite human beings, and I hope you can see why.

  • 22: Nuts & Bolts of Discipleship Week | Mike Drahos, Archdiocese of Boston

    March 16th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 10 mins
    discipleship week

    Many, many times before on this podcast Olivia has mentioned Discipleship Week, the Archdiocese of Boston teen leadership and evangelization retreat that started in the summer of 2016. Olivia sits down with Mike Drahos, one of the organizers of the retreat who is an Evangelizing Consultant for the Archdiocese of Boston. Mike shares the story of Discipleship Week, concrete and practical tips that contributed to its success, as well as his story of straying from the faith and coming back to it through logic and wrestling in college.

  • 21: A Wonky Coiled Pot & Ripening Fruit | Sr. Christina Miriam, FSP

    March 9th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 3 mins
    daughters of saint paul, discernment, religious life

    We're back from our mini-break with another Daughter of St. Paul–– aren't they just the coolest?! Today we have Sr. Christina Miriam on for a discussion about her vocation story, the importance of sharing our own stories, the line between authenticity and oversharing, self-worth in discerning, and her tips for discerning.

  • 20: "We Won!" - Youth Ministry Tips from College Students | Faith Payson

    February 17th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 1 min
    boston college, life teen, youth ministry

    Following last week's chat on sainthood and youth ministry with Mickayla Hagar, Olivia and her Boston College friend Faith Payson circle back to their high school experiences and roles in youth ministry to give practical advice about what worked and what didn't from the perspective of recent high school graduates–– what made a difference for them, what could have been better, and how youth ministry prepared them to keep their faith strong in college.

  • 19: A Half-Decent Tree: Thoughts on Sainthood | Mickayla Hagar

    February 10th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 2 mins
    sainthood, the camino

    If you like chit-chat podcasts, this is the one for you! Youth minister Mickayla Hagar was our first ever TTH guest, and now she's back with us to talk about sainthood–– a topic that connects all of our guests and was on her heart while hiking the Camino since we last saw her. Listen in as Olivia and Mickayla share their real and unfiltered thoughts on a burning desire for sainthood, authencity, and joy.

  • 18: Our Church Needs Artists | John Folley

    February 3rd, 2020  |  Season 2  |  57 mins 58 secs
    art, catholic art

    Following up on our conversation about beauty last week, this week's episode has to do with our world and our Church's desperate need for beauty.
    This week we have John Folley, a fine artist based out of his studio in Massachusetts. He studied philisophy and studio art at Notre Dame, then taught at The Heights School outside of D.C. He moved up to Massachuetts to study under a master artist.

  • 17: Beauty is Not a Stop Sign | Nell O'Leary, Blessed Is She

    January 27th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  58 mins 3 secs
    blessed is she, catholic, catholic podcast, nell o'leary, sisterhood, to the heights

    We are so excited to share this beautiful guest with all of you this week: Nell O'Leary, the managing editor of Blessed Is She. Olivia met Nell at a young Catholic innovators event at Boston College's C21 Center (of which the president, Karen Kiefer, has been on the podcast before! Link below!).

  • 16: Behind the Scenes of The Saints Project | Kristyn Brown

    January 20th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  47 mins 4 secs
    photography, saints, the saints project

    Today we're chatting with Kristyn Brown, the creator of The Saints Project. Through photography, she creates stunning modern portrayals of our beloved saints. Olivia and Kristyn dive right in to talk about the saint-photography process, from picking models and saints to post-production.

  • 15: In A Saint-Striving Manner | College Seminarian Jeffrey Lindholm

    January 13th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  44 mins 20 secs
    life teen, seminary life

    This week, following #SLS20 and the launch of Grexly (CatholicTV’s new podcasting division!), we are back in the studio with a wonderful, sincere, and uplifting guest: Jeffrey Lindholm. Jeff and I chatted about life at seminary vs. college, his path, finding time for prayer in a busy world, his experience as a Life Teen summer missionary, and lots of other fun things. We also took the time to answer questions that listeners posed in response to “if you could ask a seminarian anything, what would you ask?”

  • 14: Live from #SLS20! - "A Loud Catholic Media Enthusiast" | @TheHappyPriest, Fr. Cassidy Stinson

    January 6th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 14 mins
    catholic twitter, father cassidy stinson, live audience

    It's here!!! Olivia had the amazing opportunity to record an episode live at this year's FOCUS conference in Phoenix, #SLS20. Fr. Cassidy Stinson (@TheHappyPriest) and Olivia sat down to chat in the Media Feed–– a turquoise Volkswagen van hollowed out into a podcast studio. They asked on social media for your questions about consuming media as a Catholic and how to evangelize using media.

  • 13: What's Grexly? & Being a Young Adult Catholic in a Secular World | CatholicTV's Kelsey Cronin

    January 1st, 2020  |  Season 2  |  43 mins 15 secs

    Welcome back & happy New Year, To the Heights friends! Season 2 is here, and we're kicking it off with CatholicTV's own Director of Social Media and Marketing, Kelsey Cronin.