AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast

The Prophet Habakkuk writes: “For the vision is a witness for the appointed time, a testimony to the end; it will not disappoint. If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.” Perhaps more familiar to listeners, though, are the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Waiting — particularly during this time of Advent — is a frustrating, if familiar, aspect of faith. Waiting for justice, all the more so. But, as our Advent prayer likely reveals, we are called to be contemplative and active; we do not waiting passively. God invites us to have a hand in bringing about this reign of justice. This episode challenges listeners to reflect on the call to active waiting, to participation in the works of justice. Caitlin-Marie Ward, senior advisor on migration in the Jesuit Conference's Office of Justice and Ecology, talks with Almudena Bernabeu about the long, painstaking journey she has undergone to bring some semblance of justice to those killed during the bitter civil war in El Salvador. Bernabeu is a renowned international lawyer with a long career in the fields of Transitional Justice and International Criminal and Human Rights Law. She led the investigation and prosecution of the massacre of the six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter at the University of Central America in El Salvador by members of the Salvadoran army during that country's civil war. It’s a timely conversation, as November 2019 marked the 30th anniversary of their murders. Please remember to subscribe to AMDG wherever you listen to podcasts.

A few weeks ago, the Jesuit Dan Corrou went to Mass like any other Sunday. But the setting was far from ordinary. The Mass was being held in the Church of St. Vincent de Paul in Beirut, Lebanon, which was bombed out during Lebanon’s civil war about 40 years ago. Fr. Dan was so struck by the image of a community praying together in the largely destroyed church that he snapped a picture and posted it to Facebook, where it spread quickly. In the photo, the church is full, with a bishop presiding and a number of priests concelebrating. A choir of young people fills the corner of the sanctuary. The walls and ceiling of the church are blackened, the roof is pretty much gone, and twisted steel bars poke out of damaged concrete. Chunks of tile are missing from the walls. The church was never repaired, and has been largely unused for decades, but recently it has served as the setting for special prayers for peace and justice amid national unrest. The Mass Fr. Dan photographed was happening as peaceful protests for government reforms filled the streets just beyond the church walls. The picture is such a striking image of where the Jesuits are called to be: on the margins of society, preaching the Gospel and promoting social justice. Fr. Dan talks with Mike about how his vocation has taken him from New York to his ministry in Beiruit, where he works with Jesuit Refugee Services and with a community of Jesuits in studies.

Thanksgiving is the time each year when we, as a family, a community, a country, express, well, thankfulness—often, as a prerequisite to indulging in mashed potatoes, turkey and pie. But our guest today reminds us that gratitude isn’t something to confine to late November; it’s a powerful disposition that can transform our relationship—with ourselves, our neighbors, and even with God. Dr. Monica Bartlett is a gratitude expert. She’s an associate professor and chair of the psychology department at Gonzaga University. She received her PhD in social psychology from Northeastern University, and now runs the Positive Emotion and Social Behavior Lab at Gonzaga where she examines how specific emotions influence relationship building and personal well-being outcomes. Much of her work has focused on the emotion gratitude and its role in shaping our relationships with others. Dr. Bartlett teaches Social Psychology, Psychology of Poverty and Social Class, and Human Flourishing. Gratitude, empathy and kindness feel in short supply these days—but Dr. Bartlett has some easy, daily habits that we can cultivate to inject these virtues back into our everyday routines—and national discourse. Please remember to subscribe to AMDG wherever you listen to podcasts.

Twitter is a huge social media service with over 300 million active users, including one very active user with a high profile who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. President Trump’s controversial Twitter use is a constant reminder that Twitter impacts politics, economics, and social movements around the world. In addition to being the president’s preferred mode for communicating with the public, Twitter has been the main platform of choice for movements like Black Lives Matter and MeToo. There are also important questions about Twitter’s role in our discourse, as its openness as a platform can lead to harassment and bullying. And the constant stream of information it provides can keep us glued to our phones, even at the dinner table. Today’s guest is a great person to talk to about all of these issues. Colin Crowell is the head of Public Policy, Government, & Corporate Philanthropy for Twitter. After graduating from Boston College in the late 1980s, Colin spent three years in Peru as part of a Jesuit-run mission project, and these Jesuit roots pointed him on a career path of working to make sure all people have open access to telecom and technology services. Today’s interview is in two parts. Right after recording the interview, Twitter announced that it would be banning political advertisements on its platform, so Colin called back in to share some thoughts on this latest development. Be sure to stay tuned all the way to the end. Don’t forget to subscribe to AMDG wherever you listen to podcasts, and leave us a nice review on iTunes.

When the documentary filmmaker Ken Burns thinks you’ve made a movie about author Flannery O’Connor worthy of a $200,000 prize awarded in his name, you’re doing pretty well. And when that movie is the first film you have ever made in your life, you’re doing REALLY well. That’s the surprising story of guest Fr. Mark Bosco, SJ, who is the vice president for mission and ministry at Georgetown University, a scholar of British and American Catholic literature, and, as of this autumn, a prize-winning filmmaker. Years ago, Fr. Bosco was given a collection of archival video recordings which featured interviews of some of Flannery O’Connor’s friends, who is a truly original and indispensable voice in the canon of American literature. Fr. Bosco wanted to share the interviews with the world, but didn’t know the best way to do it. So he connected with Elizabeth Coffman, a documentary filmmaker and professor at Loyola University Chicago, and they partnered to bring the film to life. Fr. Bosco and host Mike Jordan Laskey talked about how the movie came into being, what the prize will help the filmmakers do, and why Flannery O’Connor is worth reading and studying today.

There are not many areas of the country that are discussed by more ill-informed talking heads than the US-Mexico border. But when guest Fr. Sean Carroll, SJ, talks about the region, everyone should listen. Fr. Carroll is a Jesuit priest and the executive director of the Kino Border Initiative (KBI), where he has worked for the past 11 years. KBI is a bi-national organization co-sponsored by the Jesuits and other Catholic collaborators that has facilities in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, two cities that share a name and a national boundary. KBI serves immediate needs of migrants who are passing between the two countries, they advocate for more just immigration laws and policies, and they welcome groups from all over the United States to learn about the realities people are facing on the border. During his trip to Washington to meet with the acting secretary of homeland security earlier this month, Fr. Carroll told host Mike Jordan Laskey about how things have changed at the border over the past decade and how his vocation as a Jesuit priest fits perfectly into the mission of welcoming and supporting migrants. Kino Border Initiative: https://www.kinoborderinitiative.org/ Jesuits call for increased advocacy on behalf of migrants: http://jesuitmigrantsolidarity.org/

You might think of this penultimate week in October as the time to buy Halloween candy before the good stuff is gone, but here at the Jesuit Conference we are celebrating the first-ever #ExamenWeek: We’re taking a few days to feature the daily examen prayer practice, a signature element of Ignatian spirituality that Jesuits have been praying since the days of St. Ignatius himself. The daily examen is a practical, contemplative prayer tradition that helps people find God amid their day-to-day experiences, and you don’t have to be a Jesuit to try it. Our guest is Fr. Jim Martin, the widely published Jesuit priest, social media evangelizer and the host of a daily examen podcast produced by America Media. He’s been a Jesuit for 30 years, which is almost 11,000 daily examens, so it’s safe to say he’s an expert on the topic. Fr. Jim also talked to host Mike Jordan Laskey about his recent visit to Rome, where Fr. Jim had a private audience with Pope Francis to discuss his ministry of welcome to LGBT people. Be sure to check out #ExamenWeek on social media for more great resources to help you incorporate the daily examen into your own life. The Examen with Fr. James Martin, SJ Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-examen-with-fr-james-martin-sj/id1346804716

Fr. Scott Santarosa, SJ, is the provincial superior of the Jesuits West Province of the United States. In English, that means he leads the Jesuits in the territory encompassing the ten westernmost states of the union. Even more importantly, at least for our purposes on this episode, Fr. Santarosa is a die-hard Los Angeles Dodgers fan and a borderline baseball obsessive. When Fr. Santarosa talked with host and Yankees fan Mike Jordan Laskey talked recently, both teams were still alive with a shot to reach the world series, but the Dodgers were eliminated by the Washington Nationals a couple days later, so our deepest apologies to Scott for jinxing his team. Fr. Santarosa and Mike chat about modern developments in the game and why the Jesuit thinks baseball is a road to God. Finally, Fr. Santarosa talked just a bit about, well, you know, his actual work and what he was doing with his fellow provincials in Washington, DC, recently. Please remember to subscribe to AMDG wherever you listen to podcasts, and don’t forget to leave us a nice review on iTunes.

The United States is sadly unique among developed Western countries in that we still regularly execute people. And capital punishment has been in the political headlines lately, if perhaps overshadowed by other hot-button topics. In July, the Trump Administration announced it would be reinstating federal executions, which have been on hold since 2003. Just a few months earlier, California governor Gavin Newsom went in the opposite direction, suspending the death penalty in his state, even dismantling the death chamber at San Quentin State Prison, the largest death row in the United States. Going back to the summer of 2018, Pope Francis made news when he announced the Catechism of the Catholic Church would be revised to no longer allow for the death penalty in any circumstance. Thursday, October 10 is the World Day Against the Death Penalty, and our two guests are some of the most dedicated leaders in the faith-based movement against capital punishment: Krisanne Vaillancourt-Murphy is the executive director of the Catholic Mobilizing Network, which is celebrating ten years of organizing Catholics to stand against the death penalty and to support restorative justice efforts. Fr. George Williams, SJ, is a Jesuit priest and the chaplain at San Quentin State Prison, where he provides spiritual support to death row inmates. Host Mike Jordan Laskey talks to them both about all the death penalty headlines and how people of faith can get involved in the work. Don’t forget to subscribe to AMDG wherever you listen to podcasts, and please leave us a nice review on iTunes. Catholic Mobilizing Network: https://catholicsmobilizing.org Fr. George Williams, SJ: https://jesuits.org/story?tn=project-2015021

Fr. John O’Malley joined the Jesuits in 1946, right after World War II and more than a decade before the second Vatican council was announced. You could say he’s seen a lot of change in his 92 years, but that would be a massive understatement. Fr. O’Malley looks at this era of upheaval with a historian’s eye, and he was quick to point out in his recent conversation with host Mike Jordan Laskey that no period in our church’s 2000 year history has been smooth sailing. Fr. O’Malley is the University Professor of Theology at Georgetown, where he specializes in church councils, among other topics. He has just released his 12th book, titled “When Bishops Meet.” In the book, he looks at big questions about church doctrine and structure and traces how they were handled at the Council of Trent, Vatican I and Vatican II. Fr. O'Malley and Mike talk about the book and a recent essay by Fr. O’Malley about his years in the Jesuit novitiate. As you’ll see, Fr. O’Malley is a delightful conversation partner. Please remember to subscribe to AMDG on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you listen, and leave us a nice review on iTunes. "When Bishops Meet": https://www.amazon.com/When-Bishops-Meet-Comparing-Vatican/dp/0674988418 Fr. O'Malley's essay on the novitiate (available as PDF): https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/jesuit/article/view/11557