Catholit Podcast: Recent Episodes
German Lopez
Taking a break from the interviews, I wanted to tell a few stories, recount a few memories to you all. Give you a little window into the Germ I am today, and what made me that way. In the interest of this, I am releasing this continuing series: Germories. Recounting the good (and bad) times that taught me a lot about my faith and its importance in my life. Kicking it off in this first episode is a story that every UD Rome student shares, yet is completely unique to every individual- the story of my 10-day trip. I had so much to say, I'm filling two episodes' worth of time with the stories. This is part one, the first 3-4 of my travels, which took me not very far from the Eternal City itself. I hope you find some value and reflection in this story!
Welcome to a new episode of the Catholit Podcast!
A different format for today's episode: no guests! Just me today, talking to you about some big things in the world from my point of view. I hope y'all enjoy this special 4th of July episode of the podcast!
Welcome back to a new episode of the Catholit Podcast! In this series, we're going to be taking a look at a huge part of any young Catholic's life: vocational discernment. For most people, this discernment ends in marriage and a family. But for a few men and women, the path of their lives lead to the religious life, to a life devoted to serve God and his people. In this episode, we hear from two men who have done just that in the UD community, Fr. Thomas More Barba, O.P. the chaplain of the Church of the Incarnation on campus, and Fr. Thomas Esposito, O. Cist, assistant professor of theology and Scripture at the university. The premise of this episode is simple, really: talking to priests about being priests! What inspired them to choose to be a priest, what it's like to serve as a priest, their favorite experiences from their times as priests...what a priestly time this episode is! However, what I think I'm most grateful for is Fr. Thomas Esposito not mentioning the assignments for his class that I procrastinated on this semester; really, very kind of him to do that. But there's more, much more than that on this episode, so make sure to give it a listen, and enjoy the conversation!
Welcome back, one and all, to the Catholit Podcast! This is the second in a two-episode mini-series covering the relationship between the pro-life movement and the Catholic faith.
For this second and final episode, we are once again breaking new ground on the podcast! Today, we have the first guest that falls out of the UD bubble in Nic, a good friend of mine who attends Texas A&M Corpus Christi and is the president and leader of the pro-life club on that campus. Accompanying him, we have another officer from UD's Crusaders for Life Club, Hailey! Hailey was actually not on campus this past spring semester, instead she was living out what must be one of the strangest Rome semesters in the history of the university, having her time in Italy cut short by COVID-19 and finishing the Rome semester out from her home in Louisiana.
While we talk about the same topic in this episode, Nic offers a very unique, contrasting perspective to mine and Hailey's as a student at a public university where the attitude towards abortion is one of either indifference or outright support for the pro-choice side. Hailey has had similar encounters through some of her work outside of campus, and this makes a very fascinating conversation about how to change the culture, not simply the law. Enjoy the conversation!
Welcome back, one and all, to the Catholit Podcast! This is the first in a two-episode mini-series about the pro-life movement and its relationship to the Catholic faith.
For this first episode, we're bringing back some guests and adding a distinguished new face. That's right, not one, not two, but THREE guests are making an appearance for the first time! We have three very honorable officers from the pro-life club on the campus of the University of Dallas, Crusaders for Life! Kateri and Sam, the president and prayerful presence officer, respectively, will already be a little familiar to those of you that tuned in to the second episode of the catechesis series, but making her debut on the podcast is Erin, the publicity and social media officer for the club!
Among other things, we talk about their experience serving within the movement, discuss the relationship between faith and the pro-life movement, and offer some good tips about how to balance faith and involvement with the movement, as well as some steps you can take to learn more and do more for this issue. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we had recording it, enjoy the conversation!
For this five-episode series, I'm interviewing ten of my friends at the University of Dallas over their personal experiences with catechesis, their opinions on various things about catechesis, and offering their personal suggestions for improvement in this important area of the faith.
We are at the end of this series, folks! It has been so much fun recording these podcast episodes, and I have had some real fun, interesting, enlightening conversations. Suffice to say, my final project for my catechetical ministry course is going to be a success. A word or two about this podcast moving forward: as of right now, my plan is to record two episodes each month on a particular topic concerning both the faith and young people. Episodes would be released bi-weekly, but I do want to get some input on things you want to hear be talked about! I'll leave a poll within this blog post in order for any suggestions to be submitted! Don't be shy!
Now, a little about this final episode in this series covering catechesis! My guests for this finale are Luke and Maggie, the former being the captain of the intramural soccer team that I WOULD have played on this semester if COVID-19 hadn't shattered our dreams of glory, and the latter being a fellow theology major, graduating senior, and one of the smartest people I know. Both of course, are fantastic friends. It's always a joy to sit down with them, and I think that made for quite the fun conversation. Enjoy the last episode in the catechesis series! We'll be back in a couple of weeks with some more episodes, God bless you all!
For this five-episode series, I'm interviewing ten of my friends at the University of Dallas over their personal experiences with catechesis, their opinions on various things about catechesis, and offering their personal suggestions for improvement in this important area of the faith.
In this fourth and penultimate episode of the catechesis series, my guests are two of my oldest friends from UD and Budapest buddies, Teresa and Maureen! Teresa, as a fellow theology major, offers her own personal perspective on how her schooling influenced her decision to pursue theology at UD, and Maureen shares her unique experience as a Byzantine Catholic learning about the sacraments in a Roman Catholic parish. Despite the technical glitches, both of these ladies offer fantastic contributions to the discussion. Many laughs, but even more wisdom. Enjoy the conversation!
For this five-episode series, I'm interviewing ten of my friends at the University of Dallas over their personal experiences with catechesis, their opinions on various things about catechesis, and offering their personal suggestions for improvement in this important area of the faith.
In this third episode, the guests joining me from the safety of their own homes are Alex and Colette, two compatriots of mine from the fall Rome class of 2018! Among other things, we dish on the relational aspect of ministry and catechesis, the unique aspects of receiving your faith education at home instead of a parish, and some ways to help increase volunteers for catechesis within parishes. Don't tell the canon lawyers, but these two ladies even take a (purely hypothetical) swing at exercising papal authority! Make your quarantine that much better by listening, enjoy the conversation!
For this five-episode series, I'm interviewing ten of my friends at the University of Dallas over their personal experiences with catechesis, their opinions on various things about catechesis, and offering their personal suggestions for improvement in this important area of the faith.
In this second episode, my guests are Kateri and Sam, the president and prayerful presence officer, respectively, of Crusaders for Life, the pro-life club on the campus of the University of Dallas. Quarantine has us all in different places, which is a bit of a sad situation; I miss laughing and talking with these guys on campus so much! Even so, what a great time it was recording this episode. Kateri tells us about being put in charge of a catechism class in high school, and Sam drops several references to philosophers that fly right over my head. Can you tell why I love talking with these pals so much? You're in for a great listen, enjoy the conversation!
I am so very excited to bring a new dimension to the writings of this blog in the form of a podcast! This project, at least for now, is part of my final project for my ministry class, but I had so much fun making these episodes that I'm hoping to take this forward as a podcast in and of itself over the coming months. It's always been an idea in the back of my head, combining the written or typed thoughts on the blog with spoken thoughts on a podcast, but I had never had the opportunity to really jump into it until now.
For this five-episode series, I'm interviewing ten of my friends at the University of Dallas over their personal experiences with catechesis, their opinions on various things about catechesis, and offering their personal suggestions for improvement in this important area of the faith.
In this first episode, my guests are Patrick and Joe, who volunteer at a local parish in the Irving area during the school year teaching a confirmation class to high schoolers. These two fellas touch on what that experience has been like, what they've learned from it, and how it's influenced their view of catechesis in the church. Enjoy the conversation!