AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast

• The Work of Lent: Prayer Forms the Foundation

  In this episode of our limited Lenten series, Danielle Harrison, manager of the St. Charles Lwanga Center in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, invites us to consider our Lenten practice of prayer.

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• How Foreign Aid Cuts Are Hurting Catholic Relief Services with Bill O'Keefe

  As you have probably heard in the news over the past month or so, the Trump administration has frozen foreign aid programs and essentially dismantled USAID, which is the federal government’s overseas humanitarian relief agency. These decisions have had an enormous impact on the work of both faith-based and secular nonprofit organizations doing humanitarian work, including Catholic ones. Our guest today, Bill O’Keefe, is one of the top executives at Catholic Relief Services, which is the official overseas humanitarian agency of the American Catholic community. Since their founding over 80 years ago, CRS has grown to serve communities in poverty in more 100 countries around the world. Bill has served at CRS for 38 years, and today he is the agency’s Executive Vice President for Mission, Mobilization and Advocacy. In addition to advocating on in Washington, DC, for robust U.S. foreign aid funding, Bill mobilizes CRS' supporters across the country in a shared mission to support the world's most vulnerable people. There is probably no single person in the country who knows as much as Bill does about how the gutting of the US government’s foreign aid programs will affect the US Church’s ability to help people across the globe. Host Mike Jordan Laskey found it so informative and helpful to talk to Bill. But it was also incredibly upsetting. People will die because of these decisions. The US Catholic Church’s immense humanitarian network is being hollowed out. It’s hard to know what we US Catholics can do in response. Bill hasn’t given up hope, though, and he and his team are working hard to figure out how to keep doing their essential, life-saving work around the world. He also shared some practical ways we can all pitch in to help support the mission. Bill O'Keefe: https://www.crs.org/about/leadership/bill-o%E2%80%99keefe Tell Congress to urge the administration to reverse terminations of life-saving aid, disperse funding: https://support.crs.org/act/foreign-aid-operations?ms=mamcrs0225app00fea00 CRS Rice Bowl: https://www.crsricebowl.org/ AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project 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 www.jesuitmedialab.org/

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• The Work of Lent: Why We Depend on God

  In this episode of our limited Lenten series, spiritual writer and campus minister John Dougherty invites us to reflect on how why Lent is a time to learn how to better rely on God.

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• Why Churches Overflow on Ash Wednesday with Paul Jarzembowski

  Ash Wednesday is fascinating: We get these reminders of death and decay smeared on our foreheads and just walk around like that the whole day after. Not the most cheerful message. Yet folks can’t seem to get enough of it. Some parish priests say it’s right up there neck and neck with Christmas and Easter on the list of busiest church days of the year. We’re sure there are a bunch of reasons for that, but we wanted to mark this Ash Wednesday and welcome the beginning of Lent by digging into its popularity. Our guest is Paul Jarzembowski, who serves the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in their work with the laity. He’s also the author of the 2022 book “Hope from the Ashes: Insights and Resources for Welcoming Lenten Visitors.” He talked with host Mike Jordan Laskey about the history of Ash Wednesday and what Paul thinks explains its enduring popularity. They also discussed the season of Lent and making our churches more welcoming places. For a rather solemn topic, our conversation was tons of fun. We also want to mention our special Lenten audio offering this year here at AMDG. Our host Eric Clayton interviewed what we call “professional Catholics” who work in ministry about how they keep Lenten observance fresh year after year. He’s lined up some super thoughtful and interesting guests for the series, which you’ll find here on the AMDG feed every Friday in Lent. Paul’s book, “Hope From the Ashes”: https://www.amazon.com/Hope-Ashes-Insights-Resources-Welcoming/dp/0809155753 AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project 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 www.jesuitmedialab.org/

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• Why the Supernatural Matters to Your Spiritual Life with Gary Jansen

  The communion of saints is an integral part of the Catholic faith—and I don’t just mean in a theological sort of way. What’s the name of your parish? Chances are, it’s a saint’s name. Have you looked closely at that prayer card on your shelf? I bet there’s a saint attached to it. How about the stained glass windows or the name of the local Catholic school or that prayer you mutter when you’ve lost something? The communion saints is engrained in our daily lives, names and half-remembered stories that float just at the outskirts of our memory. It's understandable. There are a lot of saints. We all have our favorites, our go-to team for prayer and inspiration. But for every saint we know well, I’ll be there are dozens more we’ve never even heard of from places we probably can’t even find a map. All this to say, the lives of the saints—these great tales of mysticism, faith and works of justice—can be fuel for our spiritual lives for days and weeks and months to come, if we but take the time to delve into their stories. That’s why our friend Gary Jansen is back on the pod today. Gary’s the director and executive editor at Loyola Press. And he’s the author of so many books it’s hard to keep track—one literally dropped while we’re having this conversation. But today, Gary is here to talk about his encyclopedic book on the saints, aptly called "Saints, Angels and Demons: An A-to-Z Guide to the Holy and the Damned." And hey—if you like what you here, pick up Gary’s latest book, "The Healing Power of Pray the Rosary." One more thing: Lent begins next week. As part of our 40-day journey, we’re dropping a new and limited podcast series right here in this feed called The Work of Lent. Every Friday, you’ll hear me talk with a professional Catholic—someone who makes it their life’s work to work on Lent. These are conversations about vocation, about balancing the professional and the personal and ultimately, how all these things can and do conspire together at Lent to give us an opportunity to grow deeper in our spiritual lives and help others along the way. Get Gary's Books: "The Healing Power of Praying the Rosary" https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Power-Praying-Rosary/dp/0829459006/ "Saints, Angels & Demons" https://www.amazon.com/Saints-Angels-Demons-Z-Damned/dp/0762484853/

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