Jesuitical America Media

What if you could pray with the Black Madonna of Montserrat, on the banks of the River Cardoner or the cave in Manresa where St. Ignatius developed the Spiritual Exercises—from the comfort of your couch? Today’s guest, Vivian Richards, S.J., wants to help Catholics do just that. Father Vivian is a Jesuit priest of India’s Karnataka province and part of the team of Jesuits who developed the JesuitPilgrimage app. The app provides photos, prayer and audio guides and interactive maps to bring users to the significant spots in the life of St. Ignatius and the Society of Jesus. We talk with Father Richards about how smartphones can help (and hurt) our prayer life, what it’s like to work at the Jesuit curia (a.k.a the home office) and what it means to take a “digital pilgrimage.”

And in Signs of the Times, Ashley and Zac discuss President Joe Biden’s asylum policy being at odds with Catholic teaching, the five lucky cousins who will receive an inheritance from the late Pope Benedict XVI and Georgetown University poaching the star coach of Providence College’s men’s basketball team.

Links from the show:
Bishop Seitz on Biden’s new asylum policy: Death cannot be the cost of our immigration laws
Five cousins of late Pope Benedict XVI may receive small inheritance
Georgetown hires Ed Cooley to revive Hoyas men's basketball
JesuitPilgrimage App
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Bishop Robert Brennan leads the most diverse diocese in the country: Brooklyn-Queens. Every Sunday, you are able to find Mass in over 25 languages throughout the diocese. Before coming to Brooklyn, Bishop Brennan was bishop of Columbus, Ohio (Zac’s hometown). This week, we talk to Bishop Brennan about the differences between Ohio and Brooklyn, what it’s like to switch dioceses as a bishop and the future of parish life in an era of church closings and reorganization.
In Signs of the Times, Ashley and Zac look at St. Patrick’s Day dispensations around the country and a new “cannabis studies” certificate offered by St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
Links from the show: 
Bishop Brennan Podcast: Big City Catholics
St. Joseph’s University has a cannabis certificate program, and some Catholics aren’t pleased
When St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Friday in Lent, should we eat the corned beef?
Jesuitical March Madness: Facebook
What’s on tap? 
Scotch! (We have a St. Patrick’s Day dispensation ourselves)
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Each year, during Holy Week, Catholics hear the story of Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the washing of the apostles’ feet, and finally, the betrayal, trial and crucifixion of Jesus. These events at the heart of our faith can become familiar, even sanitized after a while. But this year, we can hear them all anew thanks to “The Passion,” a new musical production from the Notre Dame Folk Choir.
Zac and Ashley talk with J.J. Wright, the director of the University of Notre Dame Folk Choir, and Tristan Cooley, the creative director and librettist for “The Passion,” about the origins of the album, how spending so many hours with these Gospel passages affected their faith and how current realities—clergy sex abuse, police brutality and ongoing discussions about the place of women in the church—shaped the production.
In Signs of the Times, we mark International Women’s Day by discussing the record number of female employees at the Vatican—as well the hope expressed during synod consultations for greater inclusion and leadership for women in the church. Next, newly discovered asteroids were named for three Jesuits and a pope. Why are there so many monuments to Catholics in space? And finally, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis and share what we remember most from his historic papacy.
Make sure to check our Facebook page to vote in the Jesuitical Saint Sixteen (and shout out to our organizers Chris Kinkor and Jeff Johnson!)
Links from the show:
10 years of Pope Francis: Significantly more women working at the Vatican
Synod working document for the continental phase
New asteroids named for 3 Jesuits and pope of ‘Gregorian calendar’ fame
Everyone has an opinion about the pope. But how does Pope Francis understand his past 10 years?
A Big Heart Open to God: An interview with Pope Francis
Tour dates for “The Passion”
Stream “The Passion” on Spotify
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Catholics love their saints. But it's not easy to become one. On this special Deep Dive episode of “Inside the Vatican,” we take you inside the grueling process of saint-making, which starts at a local diocese and involves dozens of people, a long paper trail with the Vatican, travel for miracle verification and a lot of money.
We’ll hear from Vatican historians and journalists about how the process evolved from folks being devoted to holy people in their cities to a codified Vatican process. We’ll talk with individuals who are working on Dorothy Day's canonization cause in New York about how the significant cost and local politics can lead to causes being delayed indefinitely. And finally, we’ll look into how miracles are verified—and why some people think that ought to change.
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This week, Zac and Ashley join forces with the hosts of the universe’s leading Jewish podcast, “Unorthodox,” for our annual Lenten conversation. As is custom, Mark Oppenheimer, Stephanie Butnick and Liel Leibovitz offer the hosts of “Jesuitical” their annual Lenten practices. 

Links from the show: 
Unorthodox
Tablet Magazine

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Catholics probably won’t hear hip-hop at Mass anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean the genre doesn’t have a lot to say about God and the plight of God’s people. Much like liberation theology starts from the experience of the poor when talking about God, hip-hop, which originated in the South Bronx in the 1970s, expresses the struggles for justice and freedom of people living on the margins of America. That’s the case this week’s guest, Alex Nava, makes in his new book, Street Scriptures: Between God and Hip-Hop. Zac and Ashley ask Alex about the history of liberation theology and about the liberating potential of hip-hop.

In Signs of the Times, we give an update on the crackdown Catholics and other opponents of the Ortega regime in Nicaragua and discuss the slick “He Gets Us” ads for Jesus at the Super Bowl. Were they an effective way to evangelize—or a massive waste of money?

Links from the show:
Pope Francis denounces imprisonment of Nicaragua’s Bishop Rolando Álvarez
What the Jesus Super Bowl ads get right (and wrong) about evangelization
Street Scriptures: Between God and Hip-Hop

What’s on tap?
French 75
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