AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast

Even though the French paleontologist and theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin died in 1955, it feels like his work is still being discussed and debated in theological circles all the time. There are numerous associations and publications dedicated solely to exploring Teilhard’s huge body of work. He made it back into the news this past fall when Pope Francis described him as “often misunderstood” during a Mass in Mongolia. Host Mike Jordan Laskey reached out to one of the foremost Teilhard experts in the United States, Sister Kathy Duffy, SSJ, to learn more about this fascinating Jesuits. Sr. Kathy is a Sister of St. Joseph of Philadelphia and the president of the of the American Teilhard Association. She’s also Professor Emerita of Physics at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, where she directs the Institute for Religion and Science. She has written two books on Teilhard, including, most recently, “Teilhard’s Struggle: Embracing the Work of Evolution” (Orbis). Sr. Kathy also guides retreats on topics related to Teilhard’s life and work. Mike asked Sr. Kathy to introduce him to Teilhard’s life and thought. Why does he continue to be so interesting to so many people today? And why is he controversial? Sr. Kathy talked about the relationship between faith and science, some key biographical moments in Teilhard’s life that shaped his theology, and where readers new to his work might want to start. American Teilhard Association: https://teilharddechardin.org/ Sr. Kathy Duffy, SSJ, Ph.D.: https://www.chc.edu/faculty/kathleen-duffy www.jesuits.org/ www.beajesuit.org/ twitter.com/jesuitnews facebook.com/Jesuits instagram.com/wearethejesuits youtube.com/societyofjesus jesuitmedialab.org/

This Saturday, January 22, Father Rutilio Grande, SJ – along with laymen Manuel Solórzano and Nelson Rutilio Lemus – will be beatified in San Salvador, El Salvador. All three men are martyrs, killed in 1977. Fr. Grande, though, was the first priest assassinated before the Salvadoran Civil War began. And, he was a close friend of Archbishop and saint, Óscar Romero. Fr. Arturo Sosa – the superior of the Society of Jesus – wrote about Fr. Grande and his upcoming beatification: “Father Grande, born in the small town of El Paisnal on 5 January 1928, was a Jesuit of unsuspected religious and human depth. In his weakness he found his greatness. He lived much of his life in the silence and humility of those who are becoming, step by step, companions of Jesus.” Fr. Sosa goes on to describe the circumstances in El Salvador during Grande’s time: “The growing awareness of the need to promote a transformation of the inhuman circumstances of life of the peasant majority, a situation caused by the unjust structures of Salvadoran society, sparked the social and political struggles of this convulsive period in the history of this Central American country. Many members of the ecclesial communities participated actively in the social and political struggle. For Father Rutilio, his team, and his close collaborators, who were committed because of their faith to the struggle for the justice of the Gospel, there was a clear distinction between pastoral work and partisan political militancy.” Finally, Fr. Sosa writes: “The Church, in recognizing the martyrdom of Rutilio, Manuel, and Nelson, judges that their lives were taken because of the faith that gave their lives meaning, the faith to which they gave witness by shedding their blood.” Today, to help commemorate the life and legacy of Fr. Rutilio Grande, author and poet and Jesuits.org columnist, Cameron Bellm, is back on the podcast. She’s just finished a new devotional entitled, “No Unlikely Saints: A Mental Health Pilgrimage with Sacred Company.” In it, she devotes a chapter to Fr. Grande and his struggles with mental health. She shares what she learned about him in preparing this book, as well as why it’s important to weave this part of his story into his lasting legacy. Find her book here: https://brickhouseinthecity.com/product/no-unlikely-saints-a-mental-health-pilgrimage-with-sacred-company/

Most of us probably don’t stop to reflect on our use of technology and how the devices and apps we use affect our lives and society as a whole. What is it doing to our brains and our souls that we reach for our smartphones mindlessly hundreds of times a day? What do we say on social media that I wouldn’t say in real life, and how does our behavior online make the world better – or, more likely, worse? Today’s guest, L.M. Sacasas, is an incredible thinker and writer who has devoted his career to asking big questions of our technology and what it’s doing to our communal life and individual lives. Sacasas has a great Substack newsletter called “The Convivial Society” that is host Mike Jordan Laskey’s favorite thing to read these days. Sacasas has this amazing ability to read and absorb scholars from the past like Marshall McLuhan, Neil Postman, Hannah Arendt and the Jesuit literary theorist Walter Ong and apply their arguments to our very different media environment today. In this conversation, Sacasas shares his thoughts on AI chat-bots like ChatGPT and Microsoft’s new Bing and Google Bard. He and Mike also talk about social media and smartphones and artificial light and time and what countercultural roles faith communities might play in offering venues for incarnational, authentic community. Subscribe to “The Convivial Society”: https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/ Read L.M. Sacasas on Fr. Walter Ong, SJ: https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-inescapable-town-square Listen to L.M. Sacasas’ interview on the Ezra Klein Show: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/podcasts/transcript-ezra-klein-interviews-lm-sacasas.html AMDG is a production 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

This week in the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s a holiday in which we’re invited to cultivate a disposition of gratitude. What are we thankful for? Who are we thankful for? How can we be gifts to others? Gratitude is a foundational disposition in Ignatian spirituality. Ignatius wanted us to know that our God is a giver of good gifts, a God who delights in us for the gift that we already are—and for the giftedness we have yet to share with the world. From that place, that spiritual sense of self, we go out to do God’s good work. Today’s guest is Jesuit priest Mark Thibodeaux. He’s the pastor of Holy Name of Jesus Parish in New Orleans and a prolific writer on all things Ignatian. He’s something of an expert on that foundational Ignatian prayer of gratitude: the examen. Fr. Thibodeaux has been praying the examen for a long time, and today we talk about how and why the examen is such a versatile prayer. There are examens to ferret out racism and examens to combat climate change and examens to help us better understand the mission of our Jesuit institutions. But at the end of the day, the examen is about gratitude. Without it, everything goes south. So, today, we talk about prayer, spirituality and gratitude. Check out our compilation of examen prayers: https://www.jesuits.org/spirituality/the-ignatian-examen/ Get a copy of Fr. Mark's book, "Reimagining the Ignatian Examen:" https://store.loyolapress.com/reimagining-the-ignatian-examen

At the end of October, about 1900 people arrived at a massive hotel in Washington, DC, for the 26th annual Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, which is sponsored by the Ignatian Solidarity Network. Most of the attendees were students from Jesuit high schools and colleges, gathered for three days of prayer, encounter, Catholic social teaching education and political action. Like always, the energy at this year’s teach-in was palpable. There were great keynote speakers and informative workshops on topics like the war in Israel and Gaza and the legacy of Jesuit slaveholding. One new element of the teach-in, though, was a temporary art gallery assembled right outside the main hall. Organized through a joint project of the organizations Catholic Artist Connection and Discerning Deacons, the exhibit showed off the work of dozens of artists who had participated in three-month process of prayer and dialogue in response to the ongoing Synod on Synodality. The artists created paintings and sculptures and wrote poems in response to their experience. As host Mike Jordan Laskey walked around the gallery, one enormous canvas caught his eye: It’s a brightly colorful painting of Jesus titled “But Who Do You Say That I Am?” Jesus looks out at the viewer, gesturing toward us, inviting us to answer the question ourselves. Surrounding him on the canvas are some of Christ’s ancient titles: Bread of Life, Good Shepherd. The painter of the work is a California-based artist named Jen Norton, and she’s one of today’s guests. Our other guest is Allison Beyer, who was the Art & Synodality program coordinator. Mike asked them both about the project and why they think art is such a powerful force for healing in our divided church and world. Check out the virtual Art & Synodality gallery: https://catholicartistconnection.com/artandsynodality-virtual See more of Jen Norton’s work: https://www.jennortonartstudio.com/ AMDG is a production 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