Catholic Comments

What is a permanent deacon in the Catholic Church? The Reverend Mr. Marty Smith of the Archdiocese of Omaha comes on the program to discuss his ministry as a deacon.

What does Journalism have to do with Theology? In this program, program hosts John O'Keefe and Wendy Wright discuss a "Backpack Journalism" project at Creighton. Backpack Journalism refers to the relatively recent phenomenon where high quality audio and video equipment can be easily transported in a small backpack, which dramatically decreases the cost and the complexity of creating multi-media journalism. In 2010, O'Keefe and two colleagues from the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Carol Zuegner and Tim Guthrie, brought students to the Dominican Republic where they, the students, created the mini-doc Esperanza. This short film profiles the ministry of Roman Catholic deacon Pedro Almonte, who works in an extremely poor neighborhood built next to the city dump in Santiago. In 2011, the course will travel to Uganda to chronicle the Church's efforts to foster peace and reconciliation after 20 years of civil war. For more information about the Backpack Journalism project at Creighton, please visit backpack.creighton.edu.

Homeboy Industries offers compassionate outreach and hope to young people seeking to escape from the cycle of gang violence in Los Angeles. In the program this week, Homeboy founder, Rev. Greg Boyle, S.J., discusses his work and ministry with young people who are trying to find a life after gangs. More information about Homeboy Industries can be found at their web site: http://www.homeboy-industries.org/

What is the value of "rounding up" at the grocery store? Creighton ethics professor Dr. Julia Fleming discusses a new way of thinking about small donations as part of the ancient practice  of almsgiving.

Creighton professor Dr. Ronald Simkins discuss the role played by modern archaeology in understanding the Bible. Simkins is a Professor of Scripture who specializes in the Old Testament.

February 23rd marks the feast of Saint Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr.  In today's program, hosts O'Keefe and Wright discuss the "the Martyrdom of Polycarp," an important early Christian text that describes Polycarp's death and offers important insight into the emerging Christian tradition. Photo: "Saint Polycarp" by "Nick in exsilio" from Flickr (Used under Creative Commons license)

Dr. Nicolae Roddy discusses the life and legacy of saints Cyril and Methodius, who are known as "missionaries to the Slavs." In the Western Church, their feast day is February 14th.

Teresa Monaghan, a faculty member in Creighton’s summer program in Christian spirituality, comes back to the show to discuss Our Lady of Lourdes. The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is February 11th.

Salesian priest and professor Rev. Joe Boenzi discusses the remarkable ministry of St. John "Don" Bosco. Catholic Comments program host Dr. Wendy M. Wright reached Fr. Boenzi at his office in Rome via Skype. Don Bosco's feast day is January 31st.

Franciscan priest Joseph Nangle discusses his experience in Latin America and how that experience led him to a deepened sense of the connection between spirituality and social justice. Rev. Nangle is the author of the book Engaged Spirituality: Faith Life in the Heart of the Empire.

Programs hosts John O'Keefe and Wendy M. Wright discuss the monastic legacy of St. Antony of Egypt. Antony's feast day is January 17th. Photo: "Lunch" by "Nick in exsilio" from Flickr (Used under Creative Commons license)

Eileen Burke-Sullivan joins hosts O'Keefe and Wright in a discussion of the meaning of Ordinary Time. Ordinary Time begins this week.

Rev Roc O'Connor, S.J. comes back on the show to discuss the meaning and significance of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

New Testament scholar and Creighton professor Bruce Malina discusses the Gospel of John. The discussion focuses on the historical context of this "fourth" gospel, which is quite distinctive from the synoptics - Matthew, Mark and Luke.

Frequent guest and liturgist, Eileen Burke Sullivan, discusses the different liturgies of Christmas day. According to Burke Sullivan, each of the masses has a particular texture and each emphasizes a different aspect of the mystery of salvation.