Church Life Today

When you think about what’s important for fulfilling the mission of Catholic schools, do you think about the spiritual leadership of principals, administrators, and teachers? Dr. Erin Barisano does. As the superintendent of schools in the Diocese of Orange, the 10th largest diocese in the US, and the 2nd largest diocese in California, after Los Angeles). Dr. Barisano is of course paying attention to what every education leader has to pay attention to (enrollments, budgets, staffing and retention, and supervision. But for her, the spiritual leadership of catholic educators is one of the key distinctive elements of what makes Catholic education truly Catholic. Dr. Barisano delivered a presentation on leadership and mission in Catholic education at the Called & Co-Responsible conference hosted by the McGrath Institute for Church Life. And today she joins me, Leonard DeLorenzo, to talk about her work, as well as Catholic education in her diocese and beyond.------Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer Radi

We all know that we need better leadership in the church. Of course that means that those we already recognize as leaders must be formed for and embody the highest levels of integrity, honesty, accountability, humility, and charity. But better leadership also means discovering new models of leadership, more co-responsible models. Whereby the gifts and expertise of both laity and clergy, professionals and pastors, men and women are brought together in service of the church’s mission of evangelization. So what role does managerial and strategic expertise play in this development of church leadership? The church is not a business, but parishes and dioceses face strategic challenges that call for the expertise of business professionals in an increasingly complex world. My guest today is not only thinking about these dimensions of leadership in the church, she also bears responsibility for them in the third largest diocese in the United States. She is Betsy Bohlen, Chief Operating Officer for the Archdiocese of Ch

Bishop Frank Caggiano came to the University of Notre Dame to deliver a major presentation about promoting co-responsibility between the laity and clergy for the mission of the church. That is, the mission of evangelization. In his own diocese of Bridgeport, CT, Bishop Caggiano has exercised both tremendous initiative for attempting bold new ventures in evangelization and simple humility in recognizing the ways in which that initiative has needed to be redirected or reshaped from time to time. But both the initiative and the humility are in service to a fundamental gospel ideal. As he said during his address at Notre Dame "The love that we have discovered has taken our life over and compels us to share it with others. That love has a face, and that face is Jesus Christ. The responsibility we all share is to witness to the one who saves us." Today Bishop Caggiano sits down with me, Leonard DeLorenzo, at the McGrath Institute for Church Life to talk about the mission of evangelization and co-responsib

Professor Richard W. Garnett teaches and writes about the freedoms of speech, association, and religion and constitutional law more generally. He is a leading authority on questions and debates regarding the role of religious believers and beliefs in politics and society. He has published widely on these matters and is the author of dozens of law-review articles and book chapters. Garnett is regularly invited to share analysis and commentary in national print and broadcast media, and he contributes to several law-related blogs, including Mirror of Justice and PrawfsBlawg.------Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer Radio on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@RedeemerRadioFollow McGrath Institute for Church Life on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@McGrathNDSubscribe to the Podcast:iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloudChurch Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Cath

Today I welcome a medical doctor and a bioethicist to talk about the developing situation surrounding the coronavirus outbreak. My guests are Dr. Kristin Collier , assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan, and Professor Charlie Camosy, associate professor of bioethics in the department of theology at Fordham University.Our conversation was recorded on March 13, 2020.------Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer Radio on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@RedeemerRadioFollow McGrath Institute for Church Life on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@McGrathNDSubscribe to the Podcast:iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloudChurch Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.

What is the meaning of time? I don’t mean that as an abstract philosophical question but rather an utterly practical one. How we measure time tells us a great of what we think like is all about, both on the grand scale and every day. Our guest today has developed a resource for helping us reclaim time as sacred—that is, as liturgical. Brandon McGinley writes about faith, culture, and politics from his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He works as Editor of EWTN Publishing, Inc., a book publishing collaboration between the global Catholic media network and Sophia Institute Press. He is the creator of the weekly newsletter “These Seven Days” and today he talks with us about how the reclaiming the rhythm of the liturgical calendar helps us to live our faith as Catholics.------ Live: www.redeemerradio.com Follow Redeemer Radio on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @RedeemerRadio Follow McGrath Institute for Church Life on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @McGrathND Subscribe to the Podcast: iTunes | Google Play | SoundCl

Fr. Mike Schmitz seems to be somewhere and everywhere at the same time. The “somewhere” is the Diocese of Duluth, where he not only serves as the director of the office of youth ministry, but also as chaplain for Newman Catholic Campus Ministries at the University of Minnesota Duluth. But it feels like he’s “everywhere”, because he has become one of the most prominent and effective public evangelists in the Catholic Church in America. His short, catechetical videos pop up on YouTube and all over social media all the time. He’s ministering to young people both where he lives and where the rest of us live—that is to say, he seems to be preaching and ministering to people everywhere. Today, he’s here with me in the studio for a conversation about the faith lives of young people, the importance of family, and a lot more. Thanks for joining me, Leonard DeLorenzo, and Fr. Mike Schmitz here on Church Life Today.------Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer Radio on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@RedeemerRadioFollow

If you could build a Catholic school from the ground up, what would you do? What would you emphasize? What would you leave out? What kind of vision would you have for how you want your students to be formed and what kind of culture you foster? I talk with someone today who had the opportunity to do something very much like that, when a couple years ago he took on the position of Headmaster at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic School. He was brought in, in part, to help build an upper school that went through to 12th grade, and he was charged with the mission of nurturing a small, family focused Catholic school. My guest is Thomas Curtin, joining us from his school community in Greenville, South Carolina. Prior to taking on his present role, Thomas was the principal of a well-regarded Catholic high school in the Atlanta area, and prior to that he served Catholic education as a teacher and in other administrative positions. Our conversation today will touch on the ideals of a Catholic education and the challenges

Is saintliness a pathway for inter-religious dialogue? A forthcoming conference at the University of Notre Dame will give us a chance to find out. The conference is “Ways of Perfection and Devout Lives: Saintliness across Traditions.” It convenes March 29–31, 2020.One of the organizers of this conference is our guest today. He is Professor Gabriel Said Reynolds, professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. Professor Reynolds focuses on Qu’ranic studies and Muslim-Christians relations in Notre Dame’s World Religions and World Church program. He joins me, Leonard DeLorenzo, to talk about this conference, the distinctiveness of theology, learning to disagree well, and much more, here on Church Life Today, a production of the McGrath Institute for Church Life.------Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer Radio on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@RedeemerRadioFollow McGrath Institute for Church Life on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@McGrathNDSubscribe to the Podcast:iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloudChurch Lif

We live in space, in time, among other people, with all kinds of needs and influence and desires. Our lives are connected, so that what we do and how we act impacts others. Even more, our environments matter. The places we live, the earth we inhabit, our homes. But do we think of ourselves in those terms when we consider media and communications? How do we practice responsibility for our communications ecology, especially in and for the Church? Our guest today is asking questions like that. He is Brett Robinson, director of communications and Catholic media studies at the McGrath Institute for Church Life. With a background in English and marketing, and a PhD in Mass Communication from the University of Georgia, he is leading a new effort to help parishes and dioceses develop practices and strategies for communications in a new media environment. In particular, he is developing a new program for “Church Communications Ecology” with funding from the Lilly Endowment. He joins me, Leonard DeLorenzo, on Church Li

“There are places in the heart that do not yet exist, and into them enters suffering, that they might exist.” Leon Bloy wrote that once. It is a perplexing quote, but it seems to have something to do with the fact that for us to be present to each other and, most importantly, to allow God to be present to us, we cannot hide from heartache or pain, but must rather embrace our vulnerability as creatures and as children of God. This is also a central insight and clear reality of the ministry “Mamas in Spirit”, founded by Lindy Wynne.Lindy holds a Master's degree in Pastoral Care and Counseling from the University of San Diego. Lindy has worked in professional ministry for over fifteen years, most recently as Associate Director of Campus Ministry at Loyola Marymount University. She has also worked as a teacher and campus ministry at two all-girls, Catholic high schools: Notre Dame, Belmont and the Academy of our Lady of Peace, San Diego.------Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer Radio on Facebook/Twitt

The beauty and challenge of Advent is to make room for Christ. We are called to be intentional with our time and to create intentional spaces that open us to his coming. On today’s show, we will explore traditional Advent practices of time and space with my friend and colleague, Carolyn Pirtle.Carolyn is the program director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy, here in the McGrath Institute for Church Life. She oversees the planning and facilitation of the Center’s signature events, including the annual summer symposium (“Liturgy Week”), and other annual events like the Marian Procession and May Crowning, and one of the topics of today’s show: the International Crèche Exhibit and Pilgrimage. She also happens to have a lot of degrees, including a master’s in music theory-composition, another master’s in sacred music, and a third master’s in theology. She brings all that wisdom and experience here to join me, Leonard DeLorenzo, on Church Life Today.------Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer Radio on Face

Can we learn some profound things about the impact of technology on our world and our lives from a voice that spoke out 100 years ago? How could someone writing in the 1920s possibly glimpse what we’d be facing in our highly technological world of as we approach the 2020s? Well, it may seem unlikely, but it is indeed true that the Catholic Priest, theologian, early media and technology scholar Romano Guardini glimpsed well in advance where we were heading in the modern world. My guest today is not Romano Guardini—he’s not available—but Robert Duncan, who is completing a documentary on Guardini’s “Letters from Lake Como”, that deal deeply with the questions of technology and culture. Robert Duncan is an award-winning multimedia journalist from the Rome Bureau of Catholic News Service. He was born and raised in North Carolina, he studied film, television, journalism and philosophy at New York University. He now resides in the countryside near Rome with his family.------Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer

The whole idea of social media is to make us more social to connect us, to bring us together. But do our experiences with social media tell us that’s what’s happening? Do we perhaps feel they’re actually instruments of isolation and division? Or on the other hand could social media really become a means of communion? My guest today is Father Harrison Ayre pastor of Holy Family Notre Dame Church in British Columbia who is also the cohost of the wildly popular podcast Clerically Speaking. Father Harrison recently participated in a panel discussion on the topic and friendship, communion and social media.------Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer Radio on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@RedeemerRadioFollow McGrath Institute for Church Life on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@McGrathNDSubscribe to the Podcast:iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloudChurch Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to l

For more than a hundred years, China embarked on a movement of forced secularization, with most religions heavily persecuted or banned. But religion is now back at the center of Chinese society and politics, with the country awash with new temples, churches, and mosques – as well as cults, sects, and politicians trying to harness religion for their own ends. Churches are being demolished and Muslims forced to attend reeducation camps, while the government is also promoting Buddhism and folk religion. How to reconcile these contradictory claims?------Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer Radio on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@RedeemerRadioFollow McGrath Institute for Church Life on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@McGrathNDSubscribe to the Podcast:iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloudChurch Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.co

Were there long-term consequences for Mary who carried the Son of God in her womb? We can actually say something about this not just theologically, but indeed medically. We are eventually going to talk about that on today’s show, after talking about the stunning connections between a mother and her unborn child, the role of religion and spirituality in health care, and the training of medical professionals today.This is Church Life Today, a production of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. I’m Leonard DeLorenzo, and my guest today is Dr. Kristin Collier, who is a practicing physician and assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan. Dr. Collier is also the director of the University of Michigan Medical School’s Program on Health, Spirituality and Religion.Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer Radio on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@RedeemerRadioFollow McGrath Institute for Church Life on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@McGrathNDSubscribe to the Podcas

This week we did something a little different Lenny was actually interviewed by Dr. Katie Cavadini about his book Work of Love and the Communion of Saints.Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer Radio on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@RedeemerRadioFollow McGrath Institute for Church Life on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@McGrathNDSubscribe to the Podcast:iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloudChurch Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.

What effect does the absence of fathers have on our society? What do you do to listen for God’s will? What’s the greatest threat to a family home? How can you recognize and draw out the talents of young people? These are just some of the questions I ask of our guest today, Joe Campo, in a discussion that touches on the intimate and the grand, the spiritual and the practical alike. Joe is the head of the St. Francis Home in Brooklyn, where young men in need of support and direction live together as a family, with Joe as a father who shares with them a life of faith. Joe is also the founder of Grassroots Films, which he started with some of the young men from his household. Grassroots has produced such films as The Human Experience, Outcasts, Fishers of Men, and Child 31.------Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer Radio on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@RedeemerRadioFollow McGrath Institute for Church Life on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@McGrathNDSubscribe to the Podcast:iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloudChurch

We talk today about the family, especially the expansive notion of the extended family and what this means for who we are as individuals, who we are responsible for, and what this means for our parishes.We are joined by Dr. Nichole Flores is an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia. She speaks, writes and teaches about the significance of Catholic and Latinx theology and ethics in plural social, political, and ecclesial contexts. She has published academic articles broadly and also popularly on such publications as America: The Jesuit Review of Faith & Culture. She is currently at work on her first book, To Lift Up the Lowly: The Aesthetics of Solidarity. In 2015, Dr. Flores was honored with the Catherine Mowry LaCugna Award for the best academic essay in Catholic theology from the Catholic Theological Society of America. Recently she joined us as a keynote speaker for the Liturgy and Domestic Church conference at Notre Dame.------ Live: www.redeemerradio.com Follow Redeem

What is the state of the family in the United States? What is the good news? What’s the bad news? And what does the Church need to pay attention to? W. Bradford Wilcox is Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia, Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Family Studies. Professor Wilcox’s research has focused on marriage, fatherhood, and cohabitation, especially on the ways that family structure, civil society, and culture influence the quality and stability of family life in the United States and around the globe.Live: www.redeemerradio.com Follow Redeemer Radio on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @RedeemerRadio Follow McGrath Institute for Church Life on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @McGrathND Subscribe to the Podcast: iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloudChurch Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcas