Catholic Comments

Douglas Burton Christie from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles discusses his work on "contemplative ecology." Burton Christie is interested in how ancient Christian contemplative traditions can be employed to cultivate a greater ecological sensibility.

Dr. Eileen Burke-Sullivan comes back to the program to discuss the feast of the Ascension of Lord. Burke-Sullivan points out that, liturgically, the Ascension is as important as Christmas, but most people are unaware of the feast's significance.

Terence Rynne, founder of the Marquette University Center for Peacemaking and author of "Gandhi and Jesus: The Saving Power of Non-Violence" joins hosts John O'Keefe and Wendy Wright to discuss his work.

Prof. Sarah McFarland Taylor discusses her book Green Sisters: A Spiritual Ecology, which explores a growing ecological awareness in communities of American religious women. Listeners may be interested in these websites, which were mentioned in the program: Genesis Farm: http://www.genesisfarm.org/ Santuario Sister Farm: http://www.sisterfarm.org/books2.html

Sr. Helen Prejean comes on the show to discuss her work advocating for the abolition of the death penalty. Sr. Prejean is the author of the book Dead Man Walking, which was made into a feature film by the same name in 1995. During the interview Sr. Prejean mentioned several websites that may be of interest to our listeners: - Catholic Mobilizing Network to end the use of the death penalty - Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty.

Creighton professor Michael Legaspi discusses his recent work on wisdom in the biblical tradition.

Rev. Anand Pereira, S.J. discusses the church in his native India. The Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus has a twinning relationship with the Kohima Region in Northeast India, where Fr. Pereira works. Fr. Pereira is currenlty in residence at Creighton University.

As we approach Easter, Professor Rusty Reno joins hosts John O'Keefe and Wendy M. Wright to discuss the meaning of the Paschal Mystery.

The feast of the Annunciation is March 25th.  Scripture scholar and Creighton professor Dr. Susan Calef joins John O'Keefe and Wendy M. Wright to discuss the function of this story both in Luke's gospel (where it appears) and in the Catholic tradition of interpretation. Photo: "The Annunciation" by "Mr. Ducke" from Flickr (Used under Creative Commons license)

Rev. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, S.J. joins host Wendy M. Wright to discuss his work as a the new provincial of the Jesuit province of East Africa. The province includes the countries Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Sudan. Rev. Orobator is the author of the book, Theology Brewed in an African Pot, published by Orbis Books in 2008.

Hosts John O'Keefe and Wendy M. Wright interview their colleague Dr. Richard Miller on the topic of the Church and climate change. Many Catholics are unaware that the Church supports strong climate action by governments. Likewise the traditions of Catholic Social Teaching have recently been expanded to insist that Catholics have a moral duty to protect creation similar to their duty to care for the poor. This new teaching can be seen in Pope Benedict's encyclical Caritas in Veritate and in his recent (January 2010) World Day of Peace message, If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation. Listeners may also benefit from visiting the web site of the Catholic Climate Covenant, whose director we interviewed last year on this program.

In this program, recorded last year, hosts John O'Keefe and Wendy M. Wright discuss the early Christian martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas. The stories of the martyrdoms of these two women are exteremely important sources for our knowledge of the history of earliest Christianity.  The stories also maintian a remarkable ablity to move people, even after nearly two thousand years. The feast day of Perpetual and Felicitas is March 7th. Photo: "Study for Christian Martyrs Last Prayer by Jean Leon Gerome French 19th century OIl" by "mharrsch" from Flickr (Used under Creative Commons license)

Roger Bergman, director of Creighton's Justice and Peace Studies Program, comes back to the show to discuss Pope John XXIII's important encyclical Pacem in Terris. Published in 1963, Pacem in Terris is one of the few encyclicals to gain a wide audience beyond the Catholic faithful. It was also the last major publication of this remarkable pope, who died in the same year, 1963. This program is part of our ongoing series on the Church's social encyclicals. The other programs can be access by clicking on the category "Catholic Social Teaching." Listeners who wish to read the encyclical can find it at the Vatican web site.

Dr. Eileen Burke Sullivan joins host John O'Keefe and Wendy M. Wright to help us prepare for Lent, which starts on Wednesday.  Today's discussion focuses on the lenten fast. Listeners may also enjoy some our our previous programs on Lent: * Ash Wednesday * The Spirit of Lent * Lent 2007 and 2008.

Dr. Brian Loggie and Nurse Anesthetist Teresa Keefe were part of Creighton University's first medical mission to Haiti, arriving just days after the earthquake. In this week's podcast, Loggie and Keefe discuss the mission and how it impacted them personally. The medical team staged out of Creighton's  ILAC Mission in Santiago, Dominican Republic and then shuttled to the border town of Jimani to care for the injured.