UCA News Podcast

Today's Gospel reminds us that regardless of whatever else we may do in the interim, we are waiting. The servants may have a dance party while awaiting the master's return, but they still keep an eye out for that return. So, where is he?   About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia. For news in and about t...

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes. The offer made by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, which came after he announced a six-month extension to the current state of emergency and execution of four political prisoners, was too little too late, say rights groups. This and much more on today’s podcast. Filed by UCA News reporters, compiled by Rock Ronald Rozari...

The love of God guarantees life. Might it be that I am greedy because deep down I am not yet ready to rely upon the love of God? Do I really believe that this world is the whole story? About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in an...

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes. Myanmar’s military regime executed four political prisoners including a former minister and a veteran activist, drawing shock and revulsion at the ‘cruel’ use of capital punishment in decades. This and more in today’s podcast Filed by UCA News reporters, compiled by Rock Ronald Rozario, edited by Anosh Malekar, presen...

Jesus is telling us disciples that we need not worry that God will not understand our prayers. We do not have to use proper formulas, the right words. God loves us so much that our inadequate prayers suffice. About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.uc...

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes. Gotabaya Rajapaksha is gone, but the 22 million people of the island nation are in no mood to trust his successor to lead them out of the terrible mess he left behind. The country’s worst-ever economic crisis has reduced Sri Lankans to buy less, eat less and work less. This and more in today’s podcast Filed by UCA New...

Pope Francis has appointed three women to a key office in the Vatican. It is a small step toward the long delayed acceptance of the radical equality between male and female disciples that marked the ministry of Jesus. Father William Grimm, who lives in Japan  shares some thoughts on this. Produced by Binu Alex For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about th...

Today, as the attitudes toward women that subverted the practice of Jesus are changing in many places, we in the Church are being challenged to once again accept the fact that Jesus still has something to teach us that seems subversive of the so-called "normal" ordering of society and the Church. About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mos...

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes. Sri Lanka’s debt-laden economy has collapsed, its president on the run and the island nation is now on the verge of political instability. These and more in today’s podcast Filed by UCA News reporters, compiled by Rock Ronald Rozario, edited by Anosh Malekar, presented by John Laurenson, background score by Andre Loui...

As followers of Jesus, we are commissioned by him to serve any need we see, no matter what reasons we think there may be for passing by. About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.co...

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes. Father Stan dedicated his life to ensure the constitutional rights of indigenous peoples as equal citizens of India. The Jesuit was a modern-day martyr who followed Jesus, who became a threat to the discriminatory social, political and religious system of his time. This story and more in this week’s podcast. Filed by...

Most of Japan’s Catholics are not Japanese. They have come to alleviate a shortage of native workers. While the Church has tried to respond to their pastoral needs, little has been done to integrate them into the life of the Church as a missionary presence. There is a tendency on the part of local clergy to treat foreigners as a pastoral problem to be handled rather than as a missionary opportunit...

We must teach the world's wolves a new way of living. We must teach respect for the weak and service to them. We must teach the wolves that lambs are not for devouring, but for showing us something about God. About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.uc...

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes. Hong Kong marks the 25th anniversary of the British handover to China as pro-democracy campaigners lament the erosion of the once-vibrant city’s freedom and rights. This story and more in this week’s podcast. Filed by UCA News reporters, compiled by Rock Ronald Rozario, edited by Peter Hill, presented by John Laurenso...

What do we think we are doing when we pray to saints? Are we applying extra pressure on God? Are we relying upon some sort of magical powers that we think a saint might possess? Does the communion of saints that includes all of us offer a better understanding of what we are doing? Father William Grimm, who lives in New York,  shares some thoughts on this. Produced by Binu Alex For news in and abou...

When the Lord calls us, it is because he wants a response in action from us now, not a minute from now, not an hour from now, not next week or next year. He does not call upon us by appointment. He will not be penciled into our over-full schedules. About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia. For news in an...

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes. Natural disasters have hit Asian nations, affecting millions of people from Afghanistan to Bangladesh, India and China. These stories and more in this week’s podcast. Filed by UCA News reporters, compiled by Rock Ronald Rozario, edited by Peter Hill, presented by John Laurenson, background score by Andre Louis and pro...

God's love and blessings are not limited by the belief of the men and women through whom God chooses to work. A pagan priest-king not only has a place in the building of the Reign of God, but God uses him to bless believers. About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia. For news in and about the Church in As...

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes. Rising attacks against Christians have triggered alarm in India and Myanmar. These stories and more in this week’s podcast. Filed by UCA News reporters, compiled by Rock Ronald Rozario, edited by Peter Hill, presented by John Laurenson, background score by Andre Louis and produced by Binu Alex for ucanews.com For news...

Whether or not they really exist, ghosts teach us something about what is happening in the Church. The Church as we have known it is dying in much of the world. We can, like ghosts, hang on to what and where we have been. Or, we can trust that the pattern of Christ’s cross, grave, and resurrection is the way that God is drawing us into a new creation. Father William Grimm, who lives in Japan,  sha...

Our glory as Christians is that God has chosen us to carry on the mission of the Son to be the love of God incarnate in creation. Our shame is that we so often fail as a Church and as individual Christians to live that mission. About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia. For news in and about the Church in...

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes. The Indonesian government has invited Pope Francis to visit the world’s largest Muslim-majority country. This story and more in this week’s podcast. Filed by UCA News reporters, compiled by Rock Ronald Rozario, edited by Peter Hill, presented by John Laurenson, background score by Andre Louis and produced by Binu Alex...

Today's feast is a celebration of our mission as Church to proclaim to the whole world that Christ is risen. Since it is also a day on which we recall Christ's gift of forgiveness, we must reflect upon the sins that might hinder that proclamation. About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a Maryknoll Missioner of 40 year’s experience in Asia-mostly Japan, Hong Kong and Cambodia. For news in and...

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes. Catholics in Asia cheered as Pope Francis named six new cardinals from the continent including the first cardinal from the marginalized Dalit community. This story and more in this week’s podcast. Filed by UCA News reporters, compiled by Rock Ronald Rozario, edited by Peter Hill, presented by John Laurenson, backgroun...

The world is in an ecological disaster and needs the People of God to show a way of hope. However, it is unlikely to be heard because those who speak too often do not speak to be heard. As a result, when Pope Francis actually does speak to be heard, we are ill-equipped to listen, let alone respond. Laudato si’, his response to the ecological disaster, must have a greater influence on Christians if...