AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast

June is high school graduation season, and today's guest is one of the most impressive grads from the Jesuit Schools Network: Carlos Smith, who just finished his time at Loyola High School in Detroit. Loyola is an all-male Jesuit high school known for its rigorous academic standards and strong commitment to faith, and it serves about 150 predominantly Black young men. For the past 11 years, Loyola has achieved 100 percent college acceptance among its graduates. Carlos won two incredibly impressive honors during his senior year: First, he won a $25,000 Black History Month scholarship from the Detroit Pistons basketball team for a poem he wrote on the theme of powering humanity. Second, he was named the top high school debater in the entire state of Michigan. Carlos clearly has a way with words, and the energy and intelligence that made him a champion debater were on full display during his conversation with host Mike Jordan Laskey. In the episode, Carlos reads the winning poem, discusses its themes and talks about his experience at Loyola. Carlos is heading to the University of Arizona in the fall, and he hopes to one day be a Supreme Court justice. One quick announcement: We at AMDG were thrilled a couple weeks ago to hear that our show had won two first-place awards from the Catholic Media Association. We were named the best overall podcast in our division, and our collection of episodes on the pandemic won best podcast series. So now when you recommend this podcast to your friends and family, you can invite them to subscribe to the award-winning AMDG wherever they get podcasts. AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

In the year 1838, the Jesuits of the Maryland Province sold at least 272 enslaved men, women and children to a plantation owner in Louisiana, in part to provide financial support to Georgetown University, which was struggling at the time. The Jesuits have long been aware of this shameful history, but living Descendants of the 272 enslaved persons have only learned about their ancestors over the past five years thanks to meticulous genealogical research. More than 10,000 living Descendants have been identified since 2016. Two of those Descendants are today's guests: Joe Stewart and Cheryllyn Branche. After learning of their family histories, Joe and Cheryllyn worked together with other Descendants to found the GU 272 Association. The association approached the Jesuits in 2017, looking to dialogue with the Society of Jesus in pursuit of creating a billion-dollar foundation to support racial justice work and educational opportunities for Descendants. Our third guest today is one of the Jesuits who participated in this dialogue process, Fr. Timothy P. Kesicki, SJ, the president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. These three along with other Descendant leaders and representatives from the Jesuits and Georgetown University went through a years-long dialogue process and arrived at a memorandum of understanding: The Jesuits of the US would contribute $15 million to start the foundation and pledge to fundraise an additional $85 million. The result is the Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation, which was announced this past March. The foundation marks the first time in history the Descendants of those enslaved have collaborated like this with successors of the enslavers. You can learn more about the history and the foundation at their website, which is www.descendants.org. Joe, Cheryllyn and Fr. Tim talked to host Mike Jordan Laskey about the dialogue process and their vision for the foundation. They hope this unique pathway forward might inspire similar efforts throughout the country. Learn more about the GU 272 Descendants Association: https://gu272.net/ Learn more about the Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation: https://www.descendants.org/ AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

As more and more of us are going back to Mass for the first time in over a year, today's episode is a celebration of our faith. Today's guest is the renowned theologian and teacher Dr. Thomas Groome, who serves as a professor of theology and religious education at Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry. He has an incredible ability to make difficult concepts clear and engaging, often using his fabulous Irish storytelling skills in his work. In his conversation with host Mike Jordan Laskey, Dr. Groome goes deep into five things he loves about being Catholic. It's the spiritual boost we need as a new normal starts to unfold. Learn more about Dr. Groome here: https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/stm/faculty/faculty-directory/thomas-h-groome.html His book "What Makes Us Catholic" is a must-read and accessible to anyone, no matter your level of theological training: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/what-makes-us-catholic-thomas-h-groome?variant=32128767623202 AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. Subscribe to AMDG wherever you get podcasts.

Today’s episode is a challenging one. We take a deep dive into the tragic events gripping the people of India, and we reflect on the tremendous loss of life that has resulted from the second wave of COVID-19. According to Vatican News, as of May 29, there have been 27.7 million reported cases of COVID-19—second only to the US – and 322,512 deaths, placing India at the third highest death count after the US and Brazil. And these are just the cases that have been reported. In India, at least 400 of those dead due to COVID-19 are nuns and priests. As today’s guest, Jesuit priest Fr. Siji Chacko will explain, this is in large part due to the work these faith leaders do at the forefront of the nation’s suffering, accompanying the vulnerable, excluded and forgotten. Fr. Siji wears a lot of hats in the Jesuit Conference of India, but as you’ll hear, no matter what his role, his vocation is to constantly serve God’s people in whatever way is possible. The conversation spans his own calling to the Jesuits to his work advocating for human rights to his reflections on the life of Fr. Stan Swamy, the 84-year-old Jesuit priest who has been imprisoned by the Indian authorities for his human rights advocacy. Learn how you can help provide COVID-19 relief in India by visiting https://www.jesuits.org/stories/covid-19-emergency-response-in-india-ways-you-can-help/. Learn how you can advocate for Fr. Stan Swamy’s release from prison by visiting https://www.jesuits.org/our-work/justice-and-ecology/take-action-2/release-fr-stan/. And learn more of Fr. Stan’s story by visiting Jesuits.org/stories/jesuits-demand-immediate-release-of-fr-stan-swamy-sj/

Finding time to go on retreat is a challenge — even when there's not a global pandemic to contend with. But what if there was a way to go on retreat without having to book a room, set aside a weekend or travel out of state? What if you could just...go? In your own town, city or neighborhood? In this episode, co-host Eric Clayton talks with both retreatants and retreat leaders who have gone on what's called a Retreat in the Street in Toronto or Montreal, Canada. Each tells a life-changing story, an encounter with God that only required a bit of courage and some time to wander. What's more, this model of retreat is perfect for the ongoing Ignatian Year, a way to see all things new in Christ. These retreats help us find our way to God. They appeal in a particular way to young people, people who may have fallen away from faith – or who have never known faith. These retreats challenges us to walk with one another, to accompany the vulnerable and become vulnerable ourselves. And, as we journey through our own city, our own landscape, we see where God’s creation is flourishing – and where it needs our care. By the end of this episode, maybe you'll want to head out for a retreat on the streets.

For Maka Black Elk, being a member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe on Pine Ridge Reservation confers a great responsibility. And it forms the bedrock of Black Elk’s work — first as a teacher at Red Cloud Indian School and now as the school’s Executive Director for Truth and Healing. Red Cloud is a Jesuit-run school on the reservation. It was founded in 1877 and its history spans many turbulent and painful periods on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Maka Black Elk is helping Red Cloud face this past. On this episode of AMDG, host MegAnne Liebsch talks to Black Elk about what truth and healing means for the Red Cloud and Pine Ridge Communities. They have a powerful — and challenging — conversation about the school’s involvement in the Indian Boarding School Policy and how it impacts the Pine Ridge community today. They also talked about identity and culture, and how Black Elk’s faith runs through both. To learn more about Red Cloud’s Truth and Healing Committee go to: www.jesuits.org/https://www.jesuits.org/stories/new-truth-telling-initiative-confronts-red-cloud-indian-schools-past/ Stay up-to-date with the process: https://www.redcloudschool.org/pages/truth-and-healing#updates

Listen to today’s show, and you’ll learn at least one incontrovertible fact: Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, is an absolute dynamo. She has spent close to four decades accompanying prisoners on death row and almost as long advocating for the end of the death penalty—work that first came to worldwide renown with the 1993 publication of her book “Dead Man Walking.” (The book inspired an Academy Award-winning movie, an opera and a stage play, and it transformed the national dialogue on capital punishment.) And if her recent conversation with hosts Mike Jordan Laskey and MegAnne Liebsch is any indication, she shows no signs of slowing down. Their conversation covers the current state of the work against the death penalty nationwide, what truths about America the pandemic has revealed, the importance of storytelling to Sr. Helen’s mission, an inside look at how Sr. Helen became an activist, the role of women in the Catholic Church and much more. Read Sr. Helen’s 2019 memoir, “River of Fire”: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/133675/river-of-fire-by-sister-helen-prejean/ Learn more about how the Jesuits are working to abolish the death penalty: www.jesuits.org/amdg. AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. Subscribe to AMDG wherever you listen to podcasts.

The arrival of more-normal life feels close now, at least here in the US. A lot of us might feel tempted to dive back in, to schedule gatherings and buy concert tickets and try to make up for lost time. Today's guest, Dr. Debra Mooney, suggests a more slow-paced return to normal. Any change is stressful, she told host Mike Jordan Laskey when they talked recently, even positive change. Dr. Mooney has a doctorate in psychology and serves as the Vice President for Mission and Identity at Xavier University in Cincinnati. She just wrote an article for America Magazine headlined “Anxious about returning to regular life? 6 Jesuit discernment tips for the post-Covid world.” Dr. Mooney combines her psychological training with deep Ignatian knowledge in a fascinating way. St. Ignatius had an astute psychological mind after all, ahead of his time in how well he understood our emotional life. In the episode, Dr. Mooney goes deeper into all six of her points from the article. You'll hopefully leave the conversation feeling better equipped for the next stage of our shared life. Dr. Mooney's essay: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/04/11/jesuit-ignatian-examen-retreat-post-pandemic-wellness-240415 AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

A fun fact about the Society of Jesus is that there are more than 30 craters on the moon named for Jesuits, which is a great reminder that faith and science are not the adversaries so many people make them out to be. Since the beginning of the Society of Jesus almost 500 years ago, Jesuits have looked to the heavens to learn more about the wonders of our universe. (That's how so many got their names on the moon.) Jesuits continue this work today, perhaps most notably by running and staffing the Vatican Observatory in Rome. The director of the observatory is an American Jesuit named Brother Guy Consolmagno, today's guest. He chatted recently with host Mike Jordan Laskey on the occasion of the launch of the brand-new Vatican Observatory website and podcast. They also talked about Br. Guy’s vocation story, why science and faith aren’t enemies, why he’s still amazed by the universe after decades of work and study, why it’s important to keep exploring space, and more. Visit the Vatican Observatory's new website: https://www.vaticanobservatory.org/ Subscribe to AMDG wherever you listen to podcasts. AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

Our guest this week is Mary J. Novak. She's the new executive director of NETWORK Lobby, a DC-based social justice advocacy organization formed by a coalition of Catholic nuns. While not a nun herself, Novak embodies a faith that does justice—the kind of roll-your-sleeves up and get to work attitude that Ignatian spirituality encourages. Novak’s career has traversed the intersections of spirituality and justice. As a lawyer she worked on environmental rights litigation and a death penalty appeal case. She was the founding board chair of Catholic Mobilizing Network, which is working to abolish the death penalty at the state and federal level. And most recently, she served as the associate director of Ignatian Formation at Georgetown’s Law School. Novak is animated by her faith. You can tell that her optimism and rugged determination spring from her belief in a God of justice. She talked with guest host MegAnne Liebsch about how her spirituality keeps her firmly grounded when it feels like our social and political landscape is tugging us in conflicting directions. And she offered some advice for how Catholics can get involved—and stay involved—with Catholic social justice movements. Learn about NETWORK's Build Anew Agenda: https://networklobby.org/buildanew/ Support the For the People Act (H.R. 1): https://networklobby.org/forthepeopleact Watch NETWORK's Immigration Policy Webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETJlM0zZ_QU