AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast

Nobody in the history of swimming has been as good at freestyle as our guest today is. Katie Ledecky is the literal GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), as she is the world record holder in the women's 400-, 800-and 1500-meter freestyle. (If you're an American who prefers yards to meters, Katie also has the fastest-ever times in the women's 500-, 1000-, 1500- and 1650-yard freestyle events.) Katie is just back from her third Olympics, where she won two gold medals and two silvers. In addition to dominating in the pool, she also has some great Jesuit connections: Katie's godfather is a Jesuit priest named Fr. Jim Shea, SJ, and Katie has also lent her voice and platform to the urgent work of the Jesuit Refugee Service. She talked with host Mike Jordan Laskey about those Jesuit connections and her Catholic faith, plus some swimming stuff -- like what’s going through her head as she swims a grueling 1500-meter race. Learn more about the Jesuit Refugee Service here: https://www.jrsusa.org/ AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. Don't forget to subscribe wherever you get podcasts, and leave us a nice review on iTunes!

It was only a few weeks ago that Fr. Jean Denis Saint-Felix — the superior of the Jesuit community in Haiti – was our guest on this podcast. He shared with us his reflections on the assassination of the Haitian president. Tragically, a lot has happened in Haiti in just these few weeks. On August 14, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake devastated Southwestern Haiti — an earthquake even stronger than the one so many of us remember from 2010. Fr. Jean Denis encouraged us to hope — and trust in the Haitian people. And so today’s guest, Nate Radomski, the executive director of Magis Americas, is here to tell us what he’s heard from Jesuit partners across Haiti — and how the work of Magis Americas and its many partners is working with the Haitian people to rebuild. That’s at the heart of Magis Americas’ mission: to foster, support and accompany Jesuit partners in the Global South as they strive toward a more just, dignified and equitable society. If you want to learn more about — and support the work of — Magis Americas, visit magisamericas.org, give.magisamericas.org/supporthaiti and https://www.jesuits.org/stories/support-the-jesuits-relief-effort-in-haiti/.

It’s cliché to say but Ignatian Pilgrimage: There’s an app for that. It’s called “Journey with Ignatius” – and it’s a cool new project developed by the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies at Boston College. On today’s episode, Fr. Casey Beaumier, SJ, director of the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, shares the thinking and reflection that went in to developing this app. But the conversation doesn’t stop there. The app itself is meant to be a pilgrimage, an experience of Ignatian spirituality, a tool to deepen our lives of faith. The conversation spans those topics and more: How the pandemic has served as a catalyst for innovation where faith and spirituality is concerned; How the very idea of pilgrimage can still apply to us – even if we’re still stuck at home; How the life and legacy of St. Ignatius is relevant today as ever, particularly as we continue our own global pilgrimage through the Ignatian Year. If you want to learn more about the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies or want a direct link to where you can get the app, check out the links below: https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/centers/iajs.html https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/centers/iajs/about/news/app-release2.html

It’s not every day you crack open a copy of the New Yorker Magazine and find a long profile of an incredibly impressive, inspiring young Catholic woman. But that was the case in the February 8th issue, where you can find an article headlined “How a young activist is helping Pope Francis Battle Climate change. That young activist is Molly Burhans, and she’s today's guest. Molly is the founder and executive director of GoodLands, an organization created to enable the Catholic Church to use its extensive landholdings for good. She had the insight a few years ago that effective stewardship of Church-owned land could have an enormous positive impact on the environment given that the Church is one of the largest landholders in the world. Molly has made mapmaking her ministry. She talks about how she got her start, where her passion for this work comes from, and what keeps her charging ahead.

Jamie Kralovec’s work is deeply rooted in his faith and Ignatian spirituality, but he’s not a theologian or a youth minister. Jamie is an urban planner by trade, and he’s on the show today to convince you that caring about cities and urban parks and transit and zoning is a deeply Catholic endeavor. Jamie first saw the connections between urbanism and Catholicism while a high school student at St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago, and he has turned interest in that convergence into a career. In addition to teaching urban planning at Georgetown, he’s the associate director for mission integration at the university’s School for Continuing Studies. That word in his job title “integration” is such a perfect one to describe Jamie, who models how faith and justice go hand in hand. He’s one of the most Ignatian people you’ll ever meet and a bright, incisive guest. Read Jamie’s recent interview in US Catholic Magazine: https://uscatholic.org/articles/202104/urban-planning-is-an-inherently-catholic-practice/ AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

On July 31st, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits. And this year, the feast is extra special. Why? Because we’re in the midst of an Ignatian Year, a celebration of the 500th anniversary of the cannonball strike that shattered Ignatius’ legs and ultimately set him on the path to conversion. Today’s guest, Cameron Bellm, has been doing a lot of reflecting on the life and legacy of St. Ignatius—both in her own prayer life and in her professional work. She’s a columnist for us at Jesuits.org, a poet who each month writes a beautiful prayer poem. You can find them in the Spirit and Verse series on our site. Now, how she came to be a renowned prayer poet is a pretty cool story—and we talk about it in our conversation. But that’s not all. Cameron has also been working on a really exciting e-book initiative. It’s called Christ Plays in 10,000 Places—a call back to another poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ—and it’s a small volume we hope you’ll use to accompany you and your own faith community throughout the year. As Cameron shares, she worked with a number of really great voices from across the Ignatian family in the US and Canada. One last thing: Cameron has a PhD in Russian Literature. And she puts that on display in our conversation in the most compelling way, inviting us to consider how towering figures in the Russian literary tradition can help us unpack some well-known themes in Ignatian spirituality. If you want to get your hands on your own copy of our new e-book, visit Jesuits.org/ebook.

What are you willing to risk for what you believe? Fr. Steve Kelly, SJ, is a peace activist and a member of the Plowshares movement, a largely Catholic movement of pacifists that protests nuclear weapons by damaging weapons and military property. He has spent at least a decade of his life behind bars for his witness, and was just released recently for what was called the Kings Bay Plowshares action. On April 4, 2018, Fr. Kelly and six other Catholic activists cut a hole in a security fence at the Kings Bay Naval Base in Georgia, where several nuclear submarines are kept. They hung a banner, spray painted Love One Another on the pavement, poured their own blood on a seal of the base, and pounded the display of a tomahawk missile with a hammer. They were willingly arrested two hours after entry. Host Mike Jordan Laskey asked Fr. Kelly about why he chooses to participate in these actions despite the risks. They also talked about his vocation story to the Jesuits and his experience with the criminal justice system. Fr. Kelly is a gentle, warm person and this conversation will quietly challenge you to think and pray about how you live what you say you believe. AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

On July 7, one week ago today, in the early hours of the morning, the president of Haiti, Jovenal Moise, was assassinated in his home. The exact details of his death are still clouded in mystery, but the impact on the country is stark and tragic: Haiti, still recovering from the devastating 2010 earthquake, still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, plagued by violent gangs, economic insecurity and a widening gap between the haves and have-nots, now faces a future of uncertainty. But it’s far from a hopeless situation. As our guest today, Fr. Jean Denis Saint-Felix, the superior of the Jesuit community in Haiti, notes, there is reason to believe a better future is possible. Fr. Jean Denis issues a challenge for all of us on the outside looking in: To help usher in this new future, we have to be ready to listen to the needs, the pain and even the silence of the Haitian people.

Last month, Georgetown University professor of history Dr. Marcia Chatelain was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her book “Franchise: the Golden Arches in Black America." The book reveals the hidden history of how fast food became one of the greatest generators of Black wealth and power in American and the costs of this success story. Host Mike Jordan Laskey asked Professor Chatelain what it was like to hear she won the Pulitzer, and then they discussed the book and some of the most interesting things she learned during her years of research and writing. Professor Chatelain also shared what she has come to love about Jesuit spirituality since arriving at Georgetown 10 years ago. Lear more about Marcia Chatelain and "Franchise" here: http://www.marciachatelain.com./ AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

When Fr. Bill Barry, SJ, passed away late in 2020 at the age of 90 years old, he left behind a long and storied legacy as a spiritual director, author and Jesuit priest. Though he wrote many, many books, mentored generations of Jesuits and guided countless retreatants, there was one consistent theme that everyone who encountered Fr. Barry walked away with: God desires a friendship with each of us. His final book, “God’s Great Story and You” – published by Loyola Press earlier this year – returns to that theme and pulls together insights and experiences from Fr. Barry’s nine decades of life with God. On today’s episode, Fr. James Martin, SJ, editor-at-large for America Magazine, and Vinita Wright, managing editor at Loyola Press, share stories, memories and reflections on Fr. Barry – his life, his work and his legacy. You can purchase a copy of his final book here: https://store.loyolapress.com/gods-great-story-and-you.