Church Life Today

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 Rom...

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...

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 Musli...

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 prof...

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 | SoundCloud Church Life...

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...

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 theol...

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...

Today we want to talk about the whole Gospel, and by that I mean contemplation and action, the Lord’s love and our response, life in the parish and life with the poor. Our guest is Aimee Shelide Mayer. Aimee is a graduate of Notre Dame’s Echo program, where she served in catechetical ministry in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for two years. Afterwards she lived in a Catholic Worker community in Sout...

The Reverend Dr. Daniel McClain is a theologian and priest in the Episcopal Church and serves as the Episcopoal Chaplain at the College of Wiliam and Mary. He earned his PhD in Historical and Systematic Theology from the Catholic University of America, then taught at Loyola University Maryland from 2012 to 2017, where he launched and administered Loyola’s Master of Theological Studies program. Dr....

Today we talk with a Catholic philosopher whose work brings her in contact with evolution, the image of God, and extraterrestrials. Marie George is Professor of Philosophy at St. John's University. In addition to holding a Ph. D. in Philosophy, she also holds Master's degrees in Biology and in Pastoral Theology. Her interests lie primarily in the areas of natural philosophy and philosoph...

On today's show, we're going to talk about genetic engineering, pursuing truth in a post-Christian culture and the search for Adam. Our guest is Father Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., is Professor in the Department of Biology of Providence College. He received his Ph. D. in biology from MIT and does research in experimental molecular biology. He is a Dominican priest and holds a doctorate in th...

Leonard DeLorenzo asks three questions in this episode:1.Did Darwin God?2.Is the soul real?3.Is there life before death? If you're listening, just buckle up and wait for the answers because today's guest is Conor Cunningham is Associate Professor in Theology and Philosophy, and Director of the Centre of Theology and Philosophy at the University of Nottingham. Prof. Cunningham has degrees...

Welcome to Church Life Today, a production of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. I'm your host, Leonard DeLorenzo. Do you want to know when human life begins? And how to explain that to other people? That's what I'm going to ask our guest today, Dr. Maureen Condic, Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the University of Utah Medical S...

Roy Petifils is a licensed counselor at Pax Renewal Center in Lafayette Louisiana. Roy studied ministry and spirituality at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and holds a masters in mental health counseling from the University of Louisiana. Roy has worked with youth and young adults for more than 20 years as minster, as teacher, school administrator, school counselor, and now as a cou...

In 1912, a priest named Fr. John Francis Noll worked up a plan to evangelize on a broad scale and respond to some of the pressing issues of his day facing the Church. His plan came into print as the Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly, which has been in print ever since. In 1915, as circulation and revenue grew from this and soon-to-be other publications, Fr. Noll innovated again, this time founding the...

Do you know how to talk about “gender” today? Does the Church? We might find ourselves caught up in language because we don’t know what to think about this stuff or how to think about it. What about feminism, women’s empowerment, or the question of identity? Pastoral responses, education, formation all seem to be hindered by our lack of competency and confidence. That’s why the work and witness of...

As Leonard DeLorenzo has mentioned before on this show, the McGrath Institute for Church Life is hosting its annual Lent-to-Easter lecture series this year on C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. We’ve welcomed two of this year’s lecturers to our show in previous weeks, and now we host a third. Dr. Rebekah Lamb is a lecturer in theology and the arts at the School of Divinity at the University of St....

Leonard DeLorenzo is joined today by Dr. John Cavadini, Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life and professor of theology at Notre Dame. He's here to talk with us about the tradition of Marian Processions and May Crownings, because he and the McGrath Institute are hosting one that you're invited to next Saturday, May 4th at 10:30 a.m. beginning at Notre Dame's Grotto. ----...

Our guest today is Obianuju Ekeocha: founder and president of Culture of Life Africa, an initiative dedicated to the promotion and defense of the African values of the sanctity of life, beauty of marriage, blessings of motherhood and the dignity of family life. Ekeocha is the author of “Target Africa: Ideological Neo-colonialism of the Twenty-first Century.” She has spoken before the United Nation...

As I mentioned several weeks ago on this show, each year, the McGrath Institute for Church Life hosts a lecture series that runs through Lent and Easter, which invites people everywhere to join in a communal reading of a spiritual work for the liturgical seasons. For this year’s series, we are focusing on C. S. Lewis’s beloved children’s stories, The Chronicles of Narnia. I’m so pleased to welcome...

In late February, Pope Francis called the heads of the national conference of bishops from around the world to the Vatican to address the sexual abuse and leadership crisis wracking the church and the faithful. From this side of news reports, it is something hard to know what really happened and what comes next. So we invited someone who was there to join us today to help us learn more. Kim Daniel...

We welcome Sarah Shutrop, Director of Campus Ministry at Immaculate Heart Academy in Bergen County, New Jersey. Sarah is a graduate of Rutgers University, where she studies English and Political Science, and she holds a masters degree in Theology from The University of Notre Dame. While there she focused on moral and systematic theology, she is here with us today to talk about what she is seeing i...

Can a time of crisis become a time of hope? Can we cultivate joy, not just after, but even in the midst of scandal? Can friendship teach us how to be authentically Christian, authentically human? Beginning from a place that we may not expect - a seminary. Joining us today to talk about a vision of education and formation of seminary that led to a new collaborative conference, is Dr. Eric Mabry. Ma...

Each year the McGrath Institute for Church Life hosts a lecture series that runs through Lent and Easter. Which invites people from everywhere to join in a communal reading of a spiritual work for the liturgical season. Two years ago, we focused on Donte’s Divine comedy, last year it was the book of Exodus, and this year it will be C.S. Lewis’ beloved children’s stories the Chronicles of Narnia. A...