Church Life Today
Hosted by Dr. Leonard DeLorenzo, of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame (http://mcgrath.nd.edu), Church Life Today features conversations with pastoral leaders and scholars from around the country and covers issues that matter most to Church life today. Church Life Today is an OSV Podcasts partner.
Episodes
268 episodes
John Cavadini on Marian Processions and the May Crowning
Leonard DeLorenzo is joined today by Dr. John Cavadini, Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life and professor of theology at Notre Dame. He's here to talk with us about the tradition of Marian Processions and May Crownings, because he...
Obianuju Ekeocha on a Culture of Life in Africa
Our guest today is Obianuju Ekeocha: founder and president of Culture of Life Africa, an initiative dedicated to the promotion and defense of the African values of the sanctity of life, beauty of marriage, blessings of motherhood and the dignit...
Rev. Dr. Michael Ward on C. S. Lewis and 'Planet Narnia'
As I mentioned several weeks ago on this show, each year, the McGrath Institute for Church Life hosts a lecture series that runs through Lent and Easter, which invites people everywhere to join in a communal reading of a spiritual work for the ...
Kim Daniels on the Sexual Abuse and Leadership Crisis in the Church
In late February, Pope Francis called the heads of the national conference of bishops from around the world to the Vatican to address the sexual abuse and leadership crisis wracking the church and the faithful. From this side of news reports, i...
Sarah Shutrop on Ministering to Teens in Catholic High Schools
We welcome Sarah Shutrop, Director of Campus Ministry at Immaculate Heart Academy in Bergen County, New Jersey. Sarah is a graduate of Rutgers University, where she studies English and Political Science, and she holds a masters degree in Theolo...
Eric Mabry on Hope and Friendship in Times of Crisis
Can a time of crisis become a time of hope? Can we cultivate joy, not just after, but even in the midst of scandal? Can friendship teach us how to be authentically Christian, authentically human? Beginning from a place that we may not expect - ...
David Fagerberg on C. S. Lewis and 'The Chronicles of Narnia'
Each year the McGrath Institute for Church Life hosts a lecture series that runs through Lent and Easter. Which invites people from everywhere to join in a communal reading of a spiritual work for the liturgical season. Two years ago, we focuse...
John Carr on Lessons for Moving Forward from the Sexual Abuse Crisis
We welcome John Carr, Director of the initiative on Catholic Social thought and public life at Georgetown University. He also serves as the Washington correspondent for America Magazine, and as an adjunct professor in Georgetown's Theology Depa...
Samantha Povlock on FemCatholic
Samantha Povlock doesn't believe you have to choose between being Catholic and being a feminist. She's even got a popular blog to prove it. After earning degrees in In Theology and Business and now as a full-time working mom, Samantha launched ...
Joy Clarkson on Seeing, Creating, and Pursuing Beauty
It was Fyodor Dostoevsky who famously said "Beauty will save the world", but do we take time to notice beauty? Will we create beauty? Will we seek it? Our guest is deeply invested in seeing, creating and pursuing beauty. Joy Clarkson is a docto...
Chris White on the Developing Stories in Catholic News
We welcome Chris White, national correspondent for Crux and The Tablet. In addition to his regular writing for those publications, Chris' work has also appeared in places like the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, First Things and Forbe...
Gloria Purvis on Revamping 'Morning Glory' (with a Social Justice Coda)
"Morning Glory" is getting revamped so that it can be focused on more serious topics and less on the news. Then Lenny and Gloria chat about social justice in the church. Today’s guest, Gloria Purvis, has been working in the arena of social just...
Fr. Michael Sweeney on Forming Lay Catholics for Mission
What is the mission of the laity in the Church and the world? How ought lay Catholics to be formed for that mission?These are questions for the whole church. Today’s guest, Fr. Michael Sweeney, has been working for decades to push these questio...
Elise Italiano on Activating the Gifts of Young Women for the Church
We need more leaders in the church. In fact we need the best leadership for The Church, but where will these leaders be found? And how will we prepare them for giving a creditable witness to the Gospel? These kind of questions are not foreign t...
Fr. Robert Imbelli on Rekindling the Christic Imagination
Does Jesus know us? Do we know Him? That is the provocative and somewhat disturbing title of a short book by the 20th Century swish theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar. We won't talk about that book today, nor will we talk about that theologian. ...
Fr. Richard Schenk on Joseph Ratzinger, Vatican II, and 'Introduction to Christianity'
Shortly after the close of the second Vatican council, a young theologian, who had been influential at the council, was invited to give a series of lectures at the University of Tubigidan, partially as a way to begin to interpret and receive th...
John Cavadini on Dorothy Day and Devotion to the Saints
Dorothy Day was a lot of things, but is she a Saint? By her own words, we should save her from the honor. She once bluntly said, 'don't call me a Saint!'. Maybe to spite her own wishes, Dr. John Cavadini, Director of the McGrath Institute for C...
Chris Baglow and the Initiative on Science and Religion
Dr. Chris Baglow, directs the science and religion initative in our Institute, and he also teaches in our department of theology. He is the author of a textbook on science and religion, entitled “Faith Science and Reason: Theology on the cuttin...
Malcolm Harris on 'Kids These Days'
Especially with the Synod of Bishops focusing on young people, the faith, and vocational discernment, there is an increasing focus on what is going on in the lives of young people today, personally and culturally. If the church is asking about ...
Bill Schmitt on Catholic Journalism
In his 2018 World Communications address, Pope Francis spoke to the importance and dignity of journalism, and the now widespread much talked about the problem of fake news. Against that backdrop, the Holy Father recalled the promise of Jesus th...
Audrey Assad on Faith, Doubt, and Longing for God
To write music about God, or to God, how much do you have to believe in God? Can you doubt? Can you struggle? And it is music that comes from that spiritual restlessness, perhaps the most authentic of all? These questions are questions that ver...
Geoffrey Keating on Beauty and Carpentry in the Catholic Life
How important is beauty to Catholic life? What about the physical spaces where we worship? Engage in the liturgy and encounter the sacrificial love of God? On today’s show we talk with someone who has not only given a lot of thought, but also a...
Eric Buell on the Catholic Identity of Catholic Schools
Eric Buell, a Catholic educator from the Diocese of San Jose. Eric is a theology teacher at an all-girls Catholic High School, Where he recently completed a term as Department Chair of Theology and continues to serve as the Director of the scho...
Luis Vera on Technology and Augmented Reality
Technology certainly never stands still, the moment we get comfortable with one thing it seems like the next thing is coming along. How do we prepare ourselves, especially as Catholics, to engage with technology as it develops? Today we will be...
Susan Reynolds on Ethnic, Social, and Culture Shifts in the US Catholic Church
Dr. Susan Reynolds is an Assistant Professor of Catholic Studies at Emory University. An experienced teacher and parish minister, Dr. Reynolds is now closely following transformations in the US Catholic Church, in terms of ethnic makeup, geogra...