AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast

Fr. Brian Paulson, SJ, the president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, reflects on the legacy and witness of Pope Francis. Fr. Paulson and host Mike Jordan Laskey discussed the Holy Father's pastoral style, his Ignatian spirit, his approach to leadership, and some of the Pope's decisions that will likely affect the Catholic Church for years to come. Fr. Brian Paulson, SJ: https://www.jesuits.org/profile/brian-paulson-s-j/ AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. www.jesuits.org/ www.beajesuit.org/ twitter.com/jesuitnews facebook.com/Jesuits instagram.com/wearethejesuits youtube.com/societyofjesus www.jesuitmedialab.org/

On this episode of our limited series, "The Work of Lent," we talk to Mike Jordan Laskey, director of communications for the Jesuit Conference and Jesuit Media Lab, about Lent as a time of reconciliation.

In this final episode of "The Work of Lent," Fr. Eric Immel, SJ, accompanies us through Holy Week to Easter and challenges our assumptions about suffering.

The art of discernment is a hallmark feature of Ignatian spirituality. From the moment Ignatius began to differentiate between consolations and desolations during his eleven-month convalescence in Loyola to today, Jesuits and lay collaborators have been mining the depths of what it means to listen to and act on God’s invitation in our lives. Today, we get a crash course in discernment. Fr. Mark Thibodeaux—renown spiritual author, Jesuit priest and the pastor of Holy Name of Jesus Church in New Orleans—is back on the pod to talk about his newest book, “Discern: Listening for God’s Whispers.” Fr. Mark is a modern-day master of the Ignatian spiritual tradition. As you listen to this conversation, I invite to really bring his ideas into your own prayer. We’re all constantly tasked with making decision—big, small and otherwise. Ignatian discernment can be a big help, no matter where you are in your own vocational journey. Get your copy of "Discern" here: https://store.loyolapress.com/discern

I’m not much of a fan of horror films. But I do love speculative storytelling — of which horror is a sub-genre. Even more, I love using stories of pop culture to dive deeper into faith, spirituality and the nuances of scripture. Which is how we’ve arrived at today’s horror-themed episode. Fr. Ryan Duns — a Jesuit priest and professor at Marquette University — has a new book out from the University of Notre Dame Press called “Theology of Horror: The Hidden Depths of Popular Films.” Throughout the book, Fr. Duns invites us to reflect more deeply on what horror reveals about our real world, our spiritual selves and the God who is present in all of it. There was one particularly stirring moment in this conversation that I’ve come back to again and again. Fr. Duns is reflecting on the role of the monster in these stories. Whatever the tale, the monster interrupts the status quo, business as usual, whatever constitutes normal and consequently leaves characters scrambling to put the pieces back in place. These sort of horror films are about killing the monster, killing the thing that disrupts our accepted understanding of how the world works so as to continue living as we always have. Now here’s the kicker: Jesus is the monster. Right? In the story of scripture — and in our world today — the ideas that Jesus represents, the Good News he comes to bring of hope and healing and compassion and mercy disrupt the status quo. What do the characters in the story do? They kill the monster. And they try to pretend the whole thing never happened, that what Jesus said and pointed to and called us to take on was a lie. I’m struck by this, particularly as we prepare for Holy Week and Easter. Because we know that Jesus isn’t dead, the new world he pointed to is real, and nothing can ever be the same again. And so, what will we do as a result? What part do we play in this proverbial horror story? If that idea piques your interest, then buckle up. Get the book: https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268208554/theology-of-horror/

In this episode of our limited Lenten series, Sr. Erin McDonald, CSJ, digital youth minister for the Congregation of St. Joseph and co-host of the "Beyond the Habit" podcast challenges us to hope.

If you’ve ever eaten at a university dining hall or at an airport bar or in a corporate cafeteria, you have relied on the labor of thousands and thousands of people whose work often goes unseen. Our guest today spends his own working hours fighting to make sure those food service workers are paid fairly and have access to good benefits and safe working conditions. Chuck Hendricks is the food service lead director for UNITE HERE, a labor union in the US and Canada that has about 300,000 active members. Chuck is also the board president of a group called the Catholic Labor Network, which promotes the cause of workers and Catholic social teaching in labor unions, parishes and other organizations. It was really fun to welcome Chuck into our Washington, DC, studio to talk about his work, his history with organized labor, and how his spiritual journey led him to the Catholic Church. You may or may not be familiar with the Catholic tradition’s deep history of supporting worker’s rights and unionizing. Back in 1891, Pope Leo XIII published the first modern papal encyclical on social justice issues. It was called “Rerum Novarum” and it emphasized the rights of workers in the wake of the often-dehumanizing Industrial Revolution. In his service with the Catholic Labor Network, Chuck has found a holistic way to support workers by practicing his faith. We think you’ll really like getting to know him and learning about the contemporary labor movement. "I came to the Church because the Church came to the workers" by Chuck Hendricks: https://catholiclabor.org/i-came-to-the-church-because-the-church-came-to-the-workers/ The Catholic Labor Network: https://catholiclabor.org/ AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. www.jesuits.org/ www.beajesuit.org/ twitter.com/jesuitnews facebook.com/Jesuits instagram.com/wearethejesuits youtube.com/societyofjesus www.jesuitmedialab.org/

In this episode of our limited Lenten series, Emily Mentock, a digital media professional and co-founder of Digital Continent, invites us to reflect on how Lent is a journey of conversion.

Spring means baseball is back in my life, and if there’s anything that’s almost as good as baseball, it’s writing about baseball. There is so much good writing about baseball – music, poetry, literature, biography, essay, plays, movie scripts. Something about the combination sport’s long history, its leisurely pace, its connection to childhood, its outdoor setting in beautiful weather, its daily rhythm make it such a fruitful topic in American arts and letters. Our guest today, the writer John W. Miller, has entered the pantheon of great baseball writing with his new biography of Earl Weaver, manager of the Baltimore Orioles from 1968 to 1982 and one of the game’s most colorful figures ever. The book, which is titled “The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball” is so good that it shot up to number 7 on the New York Times bestseller list the week after it was released. And it’s not just for baseball fans, either – it’s a fascinating snapshot of American culture in the middle of the 20th century and a striking portrait of an almost Shakespearean-level character. John is not only a New York Times bestselling author. He’s also a contributing writer to America Magazine and one of the most devoted members of our Jesuit Media Lab community. (He even put the JML in the book’s acknowledgments section!) Host Mike Jordan Laskey asked John to tell us about Earl Weaver and to describe his reporting and writing process. They also talked about the spirituality of baseball and biography writing. Get a copy wherever books are sold, and have a great Opening Day. "The Last Manager": https://www.amazon.com/Last-Manager-Tormented-Reinvented-Baseball/dp/1668030926 "How I Found God in a Game of Catch": https://www.jesuits.org/stories/how-i-found-god-in-a-game-of-catch/ John W. Miller: https://www.johnwmiller.org/ John's writing for America Magazine: https://www.americamagazine.org/voices/john-w-miller AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. www.jesuits.org/ www.beajesuit.org/ twitter.com/jesuitnews facebook.com/Jesuits instagram.com/wearethejesuits youtube.com/societyofjesus www.jesuitmedialab.org/

In this episode of our limited Lenten series, Marissa Papula, director of campus ministry at Loyola Marymount University, challenges us to look clearly at temptation during Lent.