Almost Good Catholics: Recent Episodes
Krzysztof Odyniec
Kevin Vallier is a philosophy professor and author of All the Kingdoms of the World: On Radical Religious Alternatives to Liberalism (Oxford UP, 2023), a new book about Catholic Integralism, a mostly online intellectual movement that thinks the church should take over the state, something that made sense fifteen hundred years ago after the collapse of the Roman Empire, but not so much day in our pluralistic, democratic age. Professor Vallier’s goal is to help us all talk together with patience and grace (which includes really listening) to people we disagree with and regard as eccentric. So why not talk it over on Almost Good Catholics?
Kevin Vallier’s faculty website at Bowling Green University, Ohio.
Kevin Vallier’s personal website.
Kevin Vallier’s blogs at Reconciled.
Fr James Rooney, OP, critiques Integralism, in the Intellectual Catholicism podcast with Suan Sonna.
“What is Integralism, Anyway?” by Charlie Camosy, at the Pillar.
Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Father Chris Pietraszko has been thinking about sin and redemption for the last year and a half as he has been writing a series of articles that will become a book. Relying on the Gospel, Catholic Doctrine, Thomas Aquinas, and his experience in the confessional, Father Chris explains the mechanism of sin, how it works in our lives, and how it is to be defeated. He reflects on his experience as a confessor and explains the relationship between the deadly and venial sins.
Articles by Father Chris Pietraszko from Missio Dei (including all of the ones about the Seven Deadly Sins)
Father Chris at the Kent Lambton Roman Catholic Family of Parishes
Many videos with Father Chris for listeners who would like to hear more
Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Philosophy professor Jacob Howland applies the lessons of Greek classics and Jewish scripture to this our curious moment at the inception of Artificial intelligence when computers are doing more and more work for us, and we humans—like miniature Gods—can make up new simulated realities and even identities for ourselves. There’s a word for when people worship the things they create: idolatry. Looking to the Bible (from the Garden of Eden, the Fall, Cain and Abel, the Tower of Babel, and the Golden Calf) and literature (from Homer, Plato, and Hesiod, all the way to Milton), Professor Howland and I talk about where we are, and where we might be headed.
Jacob Howland’s website and his faculty pages at the University of Tulsa and the University of Austin
Jacob Howland’s article, “AI is a False Prophet: Our enslavement to idolatry will end in disaster.” (Unherd, April 2023)
Jacob Howland’s article, “AI has always plagued mankind: Technological arrogance brought about our Fall.” (Unherd, July 2023)
Jacob Howland’s article, “Henry Adams and the Crisis of Education: How the famed historian foresaw our civilizational predicament” (City Journal, July 2023)
Jacob Howland and Russ Roberts on the EconTalk podcast (June 2023)
Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jonathon Fessenden, theologian and editor of Missio Dei, invited me to talk about The Fourth Wise Man, the 1985 film based on the 1895 Henry van Dyke novella, The Other Wise Man. It was a tale I had known as a children’s story, but it was a delight to learn more about it, to watch this movie (a few times), and to share this discussion with Jonathon. Martin Sheen plays Artaban, a Persian astrologer, a magus (one of the magi), who is following the star to the birth of Christ. But he arrives too late and spends the next thirty years pursuing Jesus, always one step behind, but always in His footsteps. The first link below is to the movie itself (71 minutes) on YouTube:
The film, The Fourth Wise Man, on YouTube, also on Formed, and on Amazon.
Our video of this discussion on the Missio Dei website and also on YouTube.
Henry van Dyke’s eulogy for Mark Twain from the New York Times.
Henry van Dyke’s poem, “Time Is.”
Henry van Dyke’s The Other Wise Man on Wikipedia.
Jonathon Fessenden on Almost Good Catholics, episode 37: Catholic Movies, Pt. 1: Silence and The Scarlet and the Black
Jonathon Fessenden on Almost Good Catholics, episode 49: Catholic Movies, Pt. 2: The Mission and A Man for All Seasons
Jonathon Fessenden on Almost Good Catholics, episode 58: The Book of Job: Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The poor have always been with us, even in a rich country and a prosperous time. I ask Ben Metcalf, former Secretary of Housing and Community Development in California, about the challenges and successes of the government in providing shelter for its people. Our conversation recalls the question from Matthew 25:37-38, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?’ I was pleased to see that many of my assumptions about homelessness were mistaken and even more pleased to hear about the things that are working well in places like Houston, Atlanta, and Salt Lake City, that can be replicated around the nation.
Ben Metcalf’s webpage at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley
Ben Metcalf’s webpage at the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley
The website for California’s Department of Housing and Community Development
The website for the national Department of Housing and Urban Development
Brother John Vianney Russel, OP, on Almost Good Catholics, episode 31: Chatting with the Homeless Looking for Jesus among the Least of Our Brothers
Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Bishop Todd Hunter is an Anglican Bishop in Tennessee and author of What Jesus Intended: Finding Faith in the Rubble of Bad Religion (IVP, 2023). He argues that, despite the troubles of the world and the messes we make, we should embrace Jesus’s invitation to follow him and live in his friendship and in his Kingdom right now. The goal is “being the cooperative friend of Jesus, seeking to live a life of constant creative goodness, for the sake of others, through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Bishop Hunter’s webpage on the Churches for the Sake of Others website.
Bishop Hunter’s new book: What Jesus Intended (IVP Press, 2023), including an excerpt.
Mike Angell, article: “The Accidental Anglican: Bishop Todd Hunter” (July 15, 2017)
Philip Kosloski, article: “Main differences between Anglicanism and Catholicism.” Aleteia (May 11, 2023)
Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Father Chris talks about his devotion to Our Lady, and what he has learned from St. Maria Faustyna Kowalska, the poor Polish country girl, whose visions of and friendship with Jesus gave us Divine Mercy Sunday. Father Chris calls it the “Extra Credit of Grace.” We also talk about suicide and intercessory prayer and why God choses to work with broken tools. Fr. Chris is Provincial Superior of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception in the United States and Argentina.
Father Chris’s page on the Marian Fathers’ website.
Father Chris’s video about St. Faustina.
St. Faustina’s Diary online (in multiple languages)
Father Joe Roesch’s podcast: St. Faustina’s Diary in a year.
Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Kimberly Bird is vice president of external relations of Live Action, an online media advocacy and education organization that works to shift public opinion on abortion and protect the lives of children between conception and birth. I ask her about the most effective ways she has found to change people’s minds, instead of just screaming at each other, or past each other. I also ask her who the women who are getting abortions and why (the answer surprised me), and about the places of agreement across the political spectrum on how we can support them.
Live Action website
What is Abortion? video series
Pro Life Replies video series
Can’t Stay Silent video series
Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Eduard Habsburg is Archduke of Austria and Hungarian Ambassador to the Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta. He’s also a husband, a dad, and a regular guy. He talks about Star Wars and Dune, Harry Potter and James Bond. He is probably the first member of the Order of the Golden Fleece to have written the screenplay for a zombie movie. I ask him about his family—both his happy marriage and six children, and also the dynastic history of the House of Habsburg. I also ask him his work as a diplomat working with Victor Orbán and Pope Francis, and his work as a writer, especially about his new book, The Habsburg Way.
Eduard Habsburg’s new book, The Habsburg Way: Seven Rules for Turbulent Times (Sophia Institute Press, 2023)
Eduard Habsburg on Twitter: @EduardHabsburg
First Things: interview with Mark Bauerlein, “Eduard Habsburg on the Habsburg Way of Life” (April 24, 2023)
The New York Times: an article by Jason Horowitz, “Hungary’s Habsburg Ambassador to the Pope, With an Offbeat Résumé” (April 27, 2023)
Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jonathan Fessenden, theologian and editor of Missio Dei, and I discussed this ancient and supremely interesting book on his podcast. The Book of Job is one of the oldest poems in our tradition. It is a joy to read and a puzzle to wonder about: why does God allow—even provoke—the Accuser to destroy Job’s life and test his faith? What does it mean for us when things are not going the way we hope? What is this troubled world, this vale of tears, for in the first place?
The video of our discussion of The Book of Job on the Missio Dei website and on YouTube
Jonathan Fessenden’s bio on Missio Dei
The Book of Job on the USCCB (US Conference of Catholic Bishops) webpage
The Book of Job (NABRE) on Bible Gateway
Professor Wesley Morrison, “God’s Answer to Job” (Cambridge University Press, 1996)
Bishop Barron’s sermon “Why Is Life So Full of Suffering” (2022)
Professors Sommers and Pizarro discussion on Job, “How Do You Solve a Problem like Theodicy?” on Very Bad Wizards (2019)
Jonathan Fessenden’s, on Almost Good Catholics, episode 37: Catholic Movies, Pt. 1: Silence and The Scarlet and the Black.
Jonathan Fessenden’s, on Almost Good Catholics, episode 49: Catholic Movies, Pt. 2: The Mission and A Man for All Seasons.
Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In his new book, Down Deep in My Soul: An African American Catholic Theology of Preaching (Orbis Books, 2023), Father Maurice Nutt, a doctor of preaching from the Aquinas Institute of Theology and a Redemptorist priest, teaches us about African American oratorical and homiletic tradition and shows how it can enrich preaching in every church. This is a discussion about history, cultural anthropology, and the Roman Catholic Church. As always, we ask how we got here and where do we go next. I also ask Father Maurice to respond to Pope Francis’s recommendation that homilies should be kept under ten minutes. Finally, Father Maurice gives guidance that will benefit all preachers—and, in fact, all public speakers.
Father Maurice’s webpage
Father Maurice’s book, Deep Down in My Soul (Orbis, 2023)
Father Maurice’s spiritual direction ministry
Father Maurice on Almost Good Catholics, episode 21: We Shall Overcome: Sister Thea Bowman and the Black Catholic Experience
Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tim Staples is Director of Apologetics and Evangelization at Catholic Answers. His piece, “What Happens in Purgatory?” is the most read article on the entire website. I ask him to explain what the Catholic Church says (and doesn’t say) about purgatory. How does purgatory work? ...and how about heaven and hell? How should we think about these ‘places’ and about eternity?
Tim Staple’s profile in Catholic Answers
Tim Staples’s article, “What Happens in Purgatory?,” in Catholic Answers, July 8, 2021.
What the Catechism teaches on the subject of purgatory (CCC #1030 – 1032)
1 Corinthians 3:11-15
Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sr Maria Catherine was looking for Truth in the wrong places when she started practicing witchcraft as girl. But she found her way out of the darkness and into the Dominican Order; today she teaches theology and literature at JSerra High School in California. We talk about that journey and about the challenges facing young people today, the generation we are both teaching. In the second half of the program we talk about her favorite movie, which I just watched for the first time, Babette’s Feast.
Babette’s Feast (Gabriel Axel, 1987) on Wikipedia and IMDB.
Babette’s Feast trailer.
Mark Le Fanu’s article: Babette’s Feast: “Mercy and Truth Have Met Together,” June 22, 2013, Criterion.com.
Sr. Maria Catherine on the faculty page at JSerra High School.
Sr. Maria Catherine on the JSerra Podcast.
Sr. Maria Catherine on the Lumen Ecclesia podcast.
Rich Meyer, director of JSerra High School, on Almost Good Catholics, episode 45: Education in the World not of the World: A School Director and Father Talks about Forming the Whole Child
Ronald Reagan’s joke about the atheist and the cook.
King David, Psalm 23
Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sr Nathalie Becquart explains the spirit of Pope Francis's Synod on Synodality, an endeavor she leads as Undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops. She's the first woman in church history to hold that office and to vote with that body of clerics.
Enlarge the Space of Your Tent, the Working Document for the Continental Stage (DCS) of the Synod: https://www.synod.va/content/dam/synod/common/phases/continental-stage/dcs/Documento-Tappa-Continentale-EN.pdf
About Sr Nathalie Becquart, Global Sisters Report:
https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/news/news/meet-sr-nathalie-becquart-woman-who-helping-reshape-catholic-church
About Sr Nathalie Becquart, Boston College Report:
https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/bcnews/faith-religion/jesuit-catholic/stm-student-appointed-to-vatican-post.html
This unusual episode begins with an important announcement about the show and then settles in to an amicable, if meandering, existential back-and-forth between your Catholic podcast host and his dear old friend, Peter Hall, an agnostic.
Archaeologist Ilka Knüppel discusses her master's thesis -- The Search for Jesus's Final Steps: How Archaeological and Literary Evidence Reroutes the Via Dolorosa -- and how she came to write it.
Ilka Knüppel's Thesis
https://www.academia.edu/33819798/THE_SEARCH_FOR_JESUS_FINAL_STEPS_HOW_ARCHAEOLOGICAL_AND_LITERARY_EVIDENCE_REROUTES_THE_VIA_DOLOROSA
Ilka Knüppel on Twitter
https://twitter.com/IlkannaJones
Professor Cathleen Chopra-McGowan unravels the clues in the layers and incongruities of our Bible, taken in the context of the Ancient Near East, showing how the stories and traditions of Israel resembled and borrowed from those of Babylon and Assyria.
Professor Chopra-McGowan's faculty webpage at Santa Clara University:
https://www.scu.edu/cas/religious-studies/faculty--staff/cathleen-chopra-mcgowan/
The earthquake that interrupted our talk:
https://stanforddaily.com/2022/10/25/5-1-magnitude-earthquake-in-san-jose-leaves-no-damage-on-campus/
St. Crispin's Day Speech by Kenneth Branagh (Henry V, 1989):
https://youtu.be/A-yZNMWFqvM
Historian John Jeffries Martin traces narratives of the Apocalypse over the last 500 years in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim traditions in his new book, A Beautiful Ending.
This discussion about the culture of Apocalypse follows (and is the second part of) an interview we began on the New Books in History Podcast which was a historical discussion: https://newbooksnetwork.com/a-beautiful-ending
Professor Martin's faculty webpage: https://scholars.duke.edu/person/john.j.martin
Thomas More, Utopia (1516): http://theopenutopia.org/full-text/introduction-open-utopia/
E. S. O. Martin, What We Talk About When We Talk About the Apocalypse:https://esomartin.com/book/what-we-talk-about/
Howard Zinn and Christopher Columbus on The Sopranos:
1.) https://youtu.be/udfsweRoops
2.) https://youtu.be/jBD61skoMk8
Dominican Friar John Vianney Russel has made a habit of talking with homeless people and shares what he has learned.
The forum that Br John Vianney referes to, Defenders of the Catholic Faith: https://forums.avemariaradio.net/
Paul VI, Populorum Progression (1967): https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_26031967_populorum.html
Lee Ohanian, Hoover Institution, "Despite Spending $1.1 Billion, San Francisco Sees Its Homelessness Problems Spiral Out Of Control" (2022):
https://www.hoover.org/research/despite-spending-11-billion-san-francisco-sees-its-homelessness-problems-spiral-out
Since 2016, and with the blessing of Pope Francis, Father Jim Martin has been talking with LGBT Catholics about their relationship with their church. That's the subject of his book, Building a Bridge, and also a documentary film by the same title; we talk about what the bridge is and where it might take us.
Fr James Martin at America Magazine: https://www.americamagazine.org/voices/james-martin-sj
Outreach, an LGTBQ Catholic Resource: https://outreach.faith/about-outreach/
Fr Jim's article on the Good Samaritan and the Road to Jericho: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/07/10/good-samaritan-scripture-james-martin-243328
Fr Jim's 2009 article, "What Should a Gay Catholic Do?":
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2009/11/13/what-should-gay-catholic-do
David Geisser was a Swiss Guard protecting Pope Francis and the Apostolic Palace between 2013 and 2015.
David Geisser's website: https://davidgeisser.ch/
David Geisser's YouTube channel, It's Cooking Time: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH__-J4nggNUlVxo8pUoDVIAtkjGcSCVc
National Geographic, "Inside the Vatican," 2021.
Episode 1: https://youtu.be/2gAYARJ5gLo
Episode 2: https://youtu.be/fUUv7aw9R8k
A Swiss public television documentary on the Swiss Guards (in German):
https://youtu.be/A0z4PUvwbpI
There's so much suffering and struggle in this life for all of God's children. In her book, Sweet Cross: A Marian Guide to Suffering,Laura Phelps, a 'Sandy Hook Mom,' reflects on how we can stand with Mary, Our Lady, our mother, on Golgotha.
Laura Phelps's website: https://www.lauramaryphelps.com/
Stabat Mater, Pergolesi (1736): https://youtu.be/qzOmPUu-F_M
Derya Little has been a Muslim, an atheist, and a Protestant; today she is a Catholic writer and apologist. She tells the story of her conversion, talks about faith, family, Islam, history, the role of women in our Church, and even riffs about Star Trek and some other science fiction narratives (through a lens tinted by Dostoyevsky).
Derya Little's website: https://www.deryalittle.com/
The Live a Little podcast: https://deryalittle.podbean.com/
Derya Little on EWTN's The Journey Home(2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT2X2LCGdi0&ab_channel=EWTN
"The Grand Inquisitor" from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1880): https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8578/pg8578-images.html
Ayyaz Gulzar, journalist and Catholic youth leader in Pakistan, describes the challenges and persecutions the Church faces in the Islamic Republic, as well as its many successes and joys.
Articles by Ayyaz Gulzar in UCA News (Union of Catholic Asian News):https://www.ucanews.com/author/ayyaz-gulzar/48
Caritas Pakistan: https://caritas.org.pk/
Jesus Youth, Pakistan, Facebook Page: https://www.ucanews.com/author/ayyaz-gulzar/48
Danielle Bean talks about everyday mysticism and learning to listen for God in her book – Whisper: Finding God in the Everyday – and she also talks about the special role that women play in the Catholic Church – the feminine genius – from the Virgin Mary to today’s busy moms.
Danielle Bean's website: https://daniellebean.com/
Whisper: Finding God in the Everyday,from Ascension Press: https://ascensionpress.com/products/whisper-finding-god-in-the-everyday
Girlfriendspodcast: https://media.ascensionpress.com/category/ascension-podcasts/girlfriends/
The Gist TV show on Catholic TV: https://www.catholictv.org/the-gist.html
Jeremy Christiansen's upcoming autobiography, From the Susquehanna to the Tiber, tells the story of his happy Mormon upbringing, the questioning of his faith, and his ultimate pilgrimage to the Catholic Church.
Sandman Books (publisher's website): From the Susquehanna to the Tiber: https://www.sandmanbooks.com/book/9781621645924
Father Joseph Horn explains the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where it comes from, how it works, and what many of us don't know about it.
Father Joe’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/joseph.horn.10
St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, California: https://stmichaelsabbey.com/
Father Joe's talk about Reconciliation for Theology on Tap: https://youtu.be/aSjCiUQkNq4
Confession scene from The Godfather Part III (1990): https://youtu.be/zhekpuDxiKM
Comic scene from The Mask of Zorro (1998): https://youtu.be/J2ZnJvnPgRY
Bishop Barron's remarks on etymology of 'Reconciliation': https://www.wordonfire.org/reflections/friday-june-3-2022/
In his new book, theologian Matthew Thomas takes on the big question of what the Apostle Paul means when he talks about "Works of the Law" -- as opposed to Grace -- in terms of Justification, addressing a long-standing debate between biblical scholars and using second-century sources to adjudicate the question. The stakes of the faithful, and what it means to be a Christian for the first-century Jews who founded the religion, could not be higher, especially when St. Peter slid back into the observation of Mosaic custom.
This is Matthew Thomas's third appearance on AGC: you can also hear him in episodes 02 and 03. The episode that we refer to with Fr Greg Boyle is episode 17.
Matthew Thomas's faculty website: https://www.dspt.edu/matthew-thomas
Matthew Thomas's book: https://www.ivpress.com/paul-s-works-of-the-law-in-the-perspective-of-second-century-reception
Father Maurice Nutt, redemptorist priest and former director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University in New Orleans, discusses the Black Catholicism in the United States, the Caribbean, and Africa. He also tells us about his mentor, Sister Thea Bowman, and the case he and others are making for her sainthood.
Father Maurice's website: https://fathermauricejnutt.com/about-father-maurice/
Father Maurice's spiritual direction ministry: https://copiosacare.org/
The case for Sr Thea Bowman's canonization: https://www.sistertheabowman.com/
Sr Thea Bowman addressing the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1989: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOV0nQkjuoA
Back when, Jeremy Holmes – who is today Theology Professor at Wyoming Catholic College – was studying scripture through the lenses of narrative criticism and theological exegesis, he needed a master to show him how the Word used words, so he went to St. Matthew.
Professors Holmes's faculty website at Wyoming Catholic College: https://wyomingcatholic.edu/person/dr-jeremy-holmes/
Professors Holmes's book, Cur Deus Verba: https://ignatius.com/cur-deus-verba-cdvp/
Bishop Don Hying of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, speaks about mysticism, evangelization, and his life and vocation.
Bishop Hying's recent letter on violence: https://d2y1pz2y630308.cloudfront.net/14385/documents/2022/5/2022-05-25%20Statement%20on%20Violence.pdf
Bishop Hying's article on St. Junípero Serra and recent vandalism of public monuments:
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/44966/i-cannot-remain-silent-madison-catholic-bishop-condemns-destruction-of-religious-statues
Chris Odyniec's article (p. 10) on St. Junípero Serra's canonization by Pope Francis in 2015: https://asphs.net/asphs-newsletter-vol-9/ (pp. 10-15)
Carlos Eire, author of The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila: A Biography (2019) and professor of medieval and early modern European history and religion at Yale University, discusses the life of St. Teresa and mysticism in sixteenth-century Spain. He also talks a bit about his immigration to the United States as a child refugee from Cuba in the 1960s.
Professor Eire's faculty webpage: https://history.yale.edu/people/carlos-eire
Father Grey Boyle S.J., founder of Homeboy Industries in East LA, the world’s largest and most successful gang intervention and rehabilitation program, talks about mysticism and its way of seeing God and God's people.
Website: https://homeboyindustries.org/
Vatican journalist Colleen Dulle discusses her biography of the French Mystic Madaleine Delbrêl, her career reporting on the Vatican, Pope Francis's new Apostolic Constitution, and her pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Colleen Dulle’s website: https://www.colleendulle.com/
Inside the Vatican podcast: https://www.americamagazine.org/topic/inside-vatican
The Pope’s Voice podcast: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/podcast/the-voice-of-the-pope.html
Colleen Dulle’s 2018 article, “Who is Madeleine Delbrêl—the “French Dorothy Day” Pope Francis made venerable this weekend?”
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/02/01/who-madeleine-delbrel-french-dorothy-day-pope-francis-made-venerable-weekend
“Go Rebuild My House Blog”:
https://sacredheartuniversity.typepad.com/go_rebuild_my_house/
New Apostolic Constitution (March 19, 2022): https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2022/03/19/0189/00404.html
Keith Berube, professor of Mariology, theology, and literature, explains how the Holy Spirit is at work in the scripture, tradition, and magisterium in the Catholic Church; he also tells the story of his own faith journey and conversion and we talk about miraculous encounters in daily life.
Mr. Berube's faculty profile at Queen of Heaven Academy:
https://queenofheavenacademy.org/faculty
Books by Mr. Berube available on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Keith-Berube/e/B06XDYMC43%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
Mr. Berube on EWTN's At Home with Jim and Joy:
https://youtu.be/09WsOXqdICQ
Makoto Fujimura, world-famous contemporary painter with global cultural influence, talks about his art, his thinking and writing about Shūsaku Endō's novel Silence (1966), and his work on Martin Scorsese's film Silence (2016), as well as his work with his wife, Haejin Shim Fujimura, for Embers International and Kintsugi Academy, protecting and serving women and children in the brothels of Mumbai who are in danger of exploitation and trafficking.
Makoto Fujimura's website: https://makotofujimura.com/
Embers International website: http://www.embersinternational.org/
Silence, official trailer: https://youtu.be/IqrgxZLd_gE
Art & Theology: Mr. Fujimura explains 'Kintsugi Theology': https://artandtheology.org/tag/makoto-fujimura/
Mr. Fujimura's essay, 'Kintsugi Generation':
https://makotofujimura.com/writings/kintsugi-generation
Mr. Fujimura's paintings, 'The Four Holy Gospels':
https://youtu.be/9eeGbVXM4fY
David Bates, Catholic apologist and CS Lewis expert, reflects upon Lewis's conversion (how he was 'surprised by joy,' how his reason confirmed his feelings, how his theology stands on the authority of the Church and the Patristic Fathers) and his own experiences as a 'restless pilgrim.'
David Bates's website: https://restlesspilgrim.net/blog/david-bates/
Pints with Jack (David's podcast about Lewis) website: https://www.pintswithjack.com/
Max McClean as CS Lewis in The Most Reluctant Convert: https://tubitv.com/movies/531785/c-s-lewis-onstage-the-most-reluctant-convert
David's conversation with Norman Stone, the director of the movie (https://cslewismovie.com/) that follows this play (above): https://www.pintswithjack.com/s5e7/
David's conversation with Joseph Pearce (who was the guest on Almost Good Catholics, episode 10): https://www.pintswithjack.com/pints-with-jack-s2e10/
How do we live sacramentally, seeing the numinous all around? How does the Rosary--this "Sacred Braille"--help us in our journey? Annabelle Mosely, poet, author, theology professor, talks about these and other themes.
Annabelle Mosely, Tour Guide of Wonder: https://www.annabellemoseley.com/
Annabelle Mosely, The Bethany Plan: https://www.bethanyplan.com/
CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (read by John Cleese): https://youtu.be/HEf7sdiohjk
Professor William A. Thomas explains today's Consecration (March 25, 2022) by Pope Francis of Russia and Ukraine which is part of a century-long story, one that started in the Portuguese village of Fátima in 1917.
Here is the film, Fátima, the Ultimate Mystery, which we discuss:
https://tubitv.com/movies/500601/f-tima-the-ultimate-mystery?start=true
Here is the Papal Consecration from Vatican News:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmyfVqZa220
Joseph Pearce, writer and literary scholar, leads us through CS Lewis's theology on the afterlife and the meaning of eternity (and what Catholics say about his views).
Joseph Pearce's website: https://jpearce.co/
Joseph Pearce's article, "The Mysteries of Atheism" (2013), that we refer to in our discussion: https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2013/11/mysteries-atheism.html
Joseph Pearce on Pints with Aquinas in February of 2022:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HowC0q1-XZI&ab_channel=PintsWithAquinas
Tassajara Zen Mountain Retreat Center: https://www.sfzc.org/practice-centers/tassajara
Archbishop Rummel High School: https://www.rummelraiders.com/
Joseph Nagel and Heather Skinner are principal and vice-principal of the School of the Madeleine in Berkeley, California; Mrs. Skinner was also once Joseph's teacher and mine (your host, Chris Odyniec) and has been at the school for 45 years. They reflect on school, its mission, politics, and role in forming the whole child with the love of God.
School website: https://themadeleine.com/
Robert Fastiggi discusses Catholic doctrine about the Immaculate Conception, Virgin Birth, Assumption, and Coronation of Mary, the Mother of God. He also reflects on his participation in ecumenical dialogues on these subjects and, finally, on how faith and reason are at work in our skeptical age.
Dr. Fastiggi's faculty website at Sacred Heart Major Seminary.
The Song of Bernadette (1943): https://youtu.be/wLKFAKIfn-w
Chris Padgett explains Catholic doctrine about the Virgin Mary and how both Sacred Tradition and Scripture inform the Magisterium. He also talks about his family and his conversion.
Chris Padgett: https://chrispadgett.com/
Happy Place Homestead: YouTube channel
Sanctify Your Marriage: https://chrisandlindapadgett.com/sanctify-your-marriage
Lauren Nelson discusses St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Way, the communion of saints, which is really quite close. She also talks about her ministries and classes and what St. Thérèse has taught he about life and being a mother.
Lauren Nelson's classes: https://coursecraft.net/users/Wfx
Coffee & Catholics podcast: https://coffeeandcatholics.podbean.com/
Gathering Manna: Facebook Community
St. Thérèse of Lisieux, The Story of a Soulonline text here from My Catholic Life and Project Gutenberg
audio recording here on YouTube
Author Heather King discusses St. Thérèse of Lisieux and the Little Way, the Communion of Saints, literature, women in the Church, and her journey from the alcoholic abyss to redemption and new life.
Heather King's website: https://www.heather-king.com/
(This is also where the title for this episode comes from, "Divine Intoxication.")
Professor Matthew Thomas discusses the transmission of the Gospels and Christian Tradition in the Early Church (and across time).
Link to early papyrus (P66) of the Gospel of John in the Bodmer Library, Switzerland:
https://www.artmyn.com/explore/viewer/119
Professor Matthew Thomas discusses the historicity and authorship of the Old and New Testaments.
Matthew Thomas's faculty website: https://www.dspt.edu/matthew-thomas
David Basile explains Thomas Aquinas's cosmological proofs for God and where we go from there.