Jesuitical

Latest Episodes:

Gloria Purvis on the murder of George Floyd one year later May 25, 2021

Show notes

Today we're dropping the first episode of "The Gloria Purvis Podcast" from America Media! Gloria's show centers the voices of people who have been marginalized in the Catholic Church and in society. On this first episode, Gloria reflects on the murder of George Floyd one year later and speaks to a priest ministering in a historic Black Catholic community in Minnesota about the traumatic experience and how Catholics responded across the country.

Search and subscribe to "The Gloria Purvis Podcast" wherever you listen to Jesuitical!

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Catholics: You need to pay attention to what’s happening in Israel-Palestine May 21, 2021

Show notes

What’s going on in the Holy Land—and what’s at the root of the problem? Why should Catholics care? This week, Zac and Ashley have an urgent conversation with Father David Neuhaus—an Israeli Jesuit who brings a unique, on-the-ground perspective to the situation.

Our Guest: Father David Neuhaus, superior of the Jesuit community in Jerusalem

Related Links:

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He’s the top Jesuit in the world. Does that make him the pope’s boss? (Or ours?!) May 14, 2021

Show notes

This week, Ashley and Inside the Vatican’s Colleen Dulle chat with Arturo Sosa, S.J., the 31st Superior General of the Society of Jesus. In other words, he’s got St. Ignatius Loyola’s old job. In other words, he leads the world’s Jesuits.

Our Guest: Father Arturo Sosa, superior general of the Society of Jesus

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What’s on tap: The Cannonball (the official cocktail of the Ignatian Year)

Ingredients:

Mezcal, 2oz

Lime juice, 3/4oz

Blackberries, 6 (reserve one for garnish (this is the ‘cannonball’))

Jalapeno slices, 4

Agave nectar, 1/2oz

Soda water (optional)

In the bottom of a cocktail shaker, muddle together blackberries, jalapeno slices and lime juice. Add ice, mezcal, and agave nectar. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Strain into an old fashioned glass with ice. Drop one blackberry in from a height of 6 inches. Observe impact. Clean up. If desired, top with soda water or seltzer. Finally, await convalescence and conversion.

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What a Jewish editor brings to a Catholic podcast May 07, 2021

Show notes

This week, Zac and Ashley take you behind the scenes of Jesuitical in an exit interview with our amazing outgoing editor, Noah Levinson. Noah has been with the podcast since day one, and we could not be more grateful for everything he’s done for the show.

Our Guest: Noah Levinson, the outgoing audio editor extraordinaire of Jesuitical

Related Links:

Learn more about the Camphill Movement (Noah’s new gig!)

What’s on tap: Cherry kijafa of unknown provenance

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Dear Millennials: We have to talk about our commitment issues Apr 30, 2021

Show notes

This week, Zac and Ashley talk with Pete Davis about the case for putting down roots and committing—to a relationship, a job, a social cause—in a world that tells us to always keep our options open.

Our Guest: Pete Davis, author of Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an age of Infinite Browsing (out May 4) and co-founder of the Democracy Policy Network.

Sings of the Times:

Related Links:

DedicatedBook.org

What’s on tap: Advent Calendar Wine (long story)

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When protesting is a spiritual practice Apr 23, 2021

Show notes

This week, Zac and Ashley discuss the spiritual and liturgical elements of protest movements with Nathan Schneider. Nathan wrote a feature article for America marking the 10-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street and Arab Spring protests, entitled, “Our world is ripe for revolution. 10 years after Occupy and the Arab Spring, what have we learned?”

Our Guest: Nathan Schneider, a reporter and professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Sings of the Times:

Related Links:

What’s on tap: Absinthe

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Christian purity culture and racism left 8 people dead in Atlanta. How should the church respond? Apr 16, 2021

Show notes

This week, Ashley and Zac discuss the intersection of Christian purity culture and racism with Flora X. Tang. Flora wrote a piece for America in the aftermath of the Atlanta killings of eight people, including six women of asian descent, entitled “Purity culture, racism and the violence against Asian women in Atlanta”.

Our Guest: Flora X. Tang, doctoral student in Theology and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where she studies post-traumatic sacramental theology.

Sings of the Times:

Related Links:

Purity culture, racism and the violence against Asian women in Atlanta

What’s on tap: Live Free or Die, from Death & Co

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Two Christians get married—what happens when one spouse leaves the church? Apr 09, 2021

Show notes

Stina Kielsmeier-Cook had a plan. Or more accurately, she thought God had a plan: She would marry her college sweetheart, and their shared love for Jesus and radical Christian commitment to serving the poor would anchor their marriage in something real and eternal.

But a couple of years into their marriage, her husband, Josh, lost his faith, and now Stina is navigating an increasingly common reality: mixed-faith marriage.

We talk to Stina about her new book, Blessed Are the Nones: Mixed-Faith Marriage and My Search for Spiritual Community, in which she grapples with the challenges (and opportunities) of sustaining a marriage, raising kids and nourishing her own faith life in a new state of “spiritual singleness.” Along the way, she meets women saints, Catholic nuns and religious “nones” who point the way to a reimagined Christian community for an increasingly secular world.

In Signs of the Times, the influential (and controversial) Vatican II theologian Hans Küng has died at 93 and a look back at the Vatican’s Easter Triduum.

Links from the show:

Hans Küng, influential Vatican II theologian censured by John Paul II, dies at 93

Cardinal: Too many Catholics don’t understand that some church teachings can actually change

Don’t call Dorothy Day a saint. But a ferry? Sure.

Stina’s book: Blessed Are the Nones: Mixed-Faith Marriage and My Search for Spiritual Community

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What’s on tap?

Ginger Shrub cocktail

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Why does God allow suffering? And why are our attempts to figure it out inadequate? Apr 02, 2021

Show notes

Why does an all loving God allow evil and suffering in the world? The theodicy isn’t just a problem for popes and theologians—at some point in any believers life it’s a question that seizes and stops a prayer in the throat.

Yet we try to offer inadequate answers all the time: God only gives us what we can handle. This is a test. Everything happens for a reason. Push any of these responses a bit, and the unraveling begins.

Perhaps the only real answer is in asking the questions. In poetry. In prayer. Joe Hoover, S.J., America’s poetry editor, is out with a new book O Death, Where is Thy Sting?, which is a meditation on all of this and more. In this week’s show, Zac and Ashley sit down with Joe to talk about suffering—fitting for Good Friday.

Links from the show:

Joe’s book: O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?

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If St. Francis had a YouTube channel, it might look like this. Mar 26, 2021

Show notes

Father Casey Cole, a Franciscan priest and popular YouTuber, has pulled off what few before him have: garnered a massive Catholic following while remaining faithful, truthful and, above all, charitable on social media. We talk to Father Casey about how he deals with internet toxicity, generational differences among Catholics and whether St. Francis would be on Twitter if he were alive today.

In Signs of the Times, the Loyola Ramblers (and their 101-year-old chaplain Sister Jean) are back in the NCAA tournament and heading to the Sweet 16. Plus, Pope Francis has appointed Juan Carlos Cruz—a sex abuse survivor, advocate and gay man—to the Pontifical Council for the Protection of Minors.

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Links from the show:

Sister Jean, Loyola Chicago’s #1 fan, returns to March Madness fully vaccinated

Pope Francis names Juan Carlos Cruz, prominent abuse survivor and whistleblower, to Vatican panel

Juan Carlos Cruz: the survivor who changed the pope’s mind on sex abuse

Breaking in the Habit YouTube Channel

Breaking In The Habit | Reflections of a Friar in Training

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