Sons of Ignatius

This week Fr. Niall is joined by Eamonn and Piotr (aka DJ Peter), two Jesuit scholastics (Jesuits studying for the priesthood) from his community in Dublin .  To mark the feast of All Saints of the Society of Jesus, Niall asks them to talk about a Jesuit saint who inspires them. Eamonn talks about St. Alberto Hurtado, a Chilean Jesuit of the 20th Century who did just about everything. Piotr/D...

In this week's episode, Fr Niall Leahy SJ and the Gardiner Street NET team continue their discussion of Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). Today, they narrow their focus to the Church's mission to young people in particular, drawing from Evangelii  Gaudium paragraphs 105 and 106. The way in which we go about sharing the faith with young people is vi...

In a somewhat unexpected turn of events, Sons of Ignatius Podcast is back this week with a slight plot twist! This week's podcast features Fr Niall and members of the NET team who are serving at his parish in Gardiner Street, Dublin this year. The NET team are an amazing group of young people who have taken a year out of their lives to serve God through mission. The NET team share their experience...

Hello listeners! After the summer break there is lots of news to report. Fr. Dave and Fr. Niall are back for another season of Sons of Ignatius. Fr. Dave is moving from Miami to Madrid to start his doctoral studies, but he stopped in Dublin en route to visit Niall and see the land of saints and scholars for himself. So for the first time ever this episode was recorded live and in person and IN THE...

As Fr Niall and Fr Dave wrap the podcast up for the Summer, they reflect on what they have learned from the series on Catholic Social Teaching and the importance of moving forward to live it out in our daily lives as missionary disciples.

Fr. Dave and Fr. Niall get into Catholic Social Teaching and the dignity of life, which is topical at the moment in both Ireland and the USA. It’s good to talk about these things.

Given that we spend so many hours of the day working, shouldn’t the church say something about work? It has! Fr. Dave and Fr. Niall share some Catholic theology of work and discuss some of the real issues affecting workers today.

Fr. Dave and Fr. Niall catch up after Easter and dive into Laudato Si', Pope Francis' encyclical on the care of creation. If we are going to be disciples that care for the Earth, then we need to see clearly, judge wisely, and act justly.

How is Christ's death and resurrection present in the life of the missionary disciple? In this Good Friday episode, Fr. Niall looks at the lives of St. Ignatius, St. Bernadette, and Fr. Peter McVerry through the lens of the Paschal Mystery. Death and resurrection is all that Jesus promises us, so it's really important that we come to recognise it in our own lives and welcome it. AMDG.

In this episode Frs. Niall and David recap the four pillars of priestly formation and go deeper into pastoral formation, focusing especially on the social and collaborative dimensions of pastoral life. They then transition to their new topic for the next four episodes, introducing Catholic Social Teaching and its general approach to addressing social questions.

In this episode Fr. Niall is joined by Eamonn Walls who is a Jesuit novice. They talk about St. Ignatius's conversion and how being a pilgrim was an important part of his spiritual journey. Eamonn shares about two pilgrimages he has done and how they helped him get in touch with and accept his deepest desires. His advice is simple: follow the little yellow arrows!

In this episode, Fr David flies solo and gives a quick overview of Pastoral Formation, which is the subject of the last episode in their series on the stages or pillars of formation in Pastores Dabo Vobis.

Being spiritual doesn’t mean that we are not human. And having lots of missionary zeal and high ideals does not mean that you don’t have needs. If we want to be missionaries for the long run then we need to be aware of and attend to our human needs. Grace perfects nature, it doesn’t replace it!

In order to be a missionary you have to learn about Christianity and also about the place where you are a missionary. At the end we give some book recommendations.

We have both been through 10 years of Jesuit formation, a formation process which is a preparation for mission. So in this episode we share what we have learned about spiritual formation for mission.

Acceptance, assimilation and adherence—three terms given to us by Pope Saint Paul VI. It’s very simple: in order to change the world for the better, WE have to be changed, both as individuals and as communities.

Witnessing with our lives is essential…but it’s not enough. If we are to evangelise then Catholics also need to talk about God! So let’s talk about talking about God. Proclamation comes in many shapes and sizes. Experience teaches us what is the most appropriate way to proclaim (or not proclaim) the word in a given circumstance.

If we want to evangelise the world, then witnessing to the love of Christ with our lives is essential. What does it mean to be a good witness to Christ? Or a bad one for that matter? The love of Christ makes us both refreshingly normal and strangely abnormal, but always more human.

In this first episode we introduce ourselves and our new podcast. Fr. Niall is Irish and Fr. Dave is a US American, and we met while studying theology in Canada. So we bring some cultural breadth to the discussion of the Church and the Church's mission. We are Jesuits so we also bring the St. Ignatius of Loyola angle to the table. For Fr. Niall, simply saying "God loves me" can be an inadequate wa...