On the Way

The Chicago-created Theology on Tap summer series for young adults is 35 years old this summer and is undergoing a renewal. Host Beth White was joined by guest co-host Darius Villalobos from the Office for Lifelong Formation to discuss the changes to Theology on Tap in parish communities throughout the Archdiocese. Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB, Chief Executive Officer of Canada’s Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation will be the featured speaker at the July 10th Theology on Tap kick-off gathering. He joined Beth and Darius and spoke about his interesting roles at the Vatican, the positive and negative uses of social media today, and how much he has learned from working with young adults. In addition to Fr. Tom, guests included, Christina Bax, Pastoral Associate & Director of Evangelization at St. Clement Parish, and Bryan Fong, Coordinator for Young Adult Ministry in Vicariate 1 and parishioner at St. Hubert Catholic Church. They spoke about the exciting new changes to Theology on Tap and how they have participated in the renewal process locally.

At the Good Friday Walk for Peace 2017, more than 1500 diverse people from throughout the Archdiocese gathered to pray the Stations of Cross in the streets of the Englewood neighborhood. On today’s show, we listened to voices from the day, through recorded audio clips and conversations with live guests. Our guests were Ryan Lents, director for the Office for Human Dignity and Solidarity who also served as a co-host for today’s show. Ryan shared his experience of being on the organizing committee and the meaning of the experience for him. Additional guests included, Mearl Sledge, who grew up in Englewood, is a Chicago bus driver, biological and foster mother, and a parishioner of St. Thomas in Hyde Park; Tyrone Pittman, the Choir Director of the Chicago Black Catholic Choir, also directs the choirs of Holy Angels and St. Phillip Neri Catholic churches; and Laura Field is a business owner and spiritual director at her parish, Old St. Patrick’s, and at St. Benedict Catholic Church on the Northside. Each of these guests shared why they chose to attend the Walk for Peace, the hope they found in the experience, and the power that prayer has to transform each of us and our communities.

On today’s show, we highlighted four upcoming opportunities in our Archdiocese to discover language for sharing our faith. Our first guest, Fr. Don Nevins, pastor of Saint Agnes of Bohemia Parish, discussed how his parish joins with five other parishes in the Little Village neighborhood to bring the re-enactment of the Way of the Cross (Via Crucis) to the streets to more than 5,000 participants on Good Friday (April 14th this year) as a way to pray through movement and share their faith with the larger community. Michael Dopp, president of Redeemer Ministries, joined us to talk about the meaning of evangelization and the upcoming New Evangelization Summit on May 12-13th. The Conference, hosted in Ottawa, Canada, will be broadcast to more than 35 host locations throughout North America, including the Archdiocese of Chicago. Our final guest was Fr. John Kartje, president and rector of Mundelein Seminary/University of Saint Mary of the Lake. Fr. Kartje, who holds a Ph.D. in astrophysics discussed two upcoming events on faith and science, one to be hosted at the Seminary on March 16th & 17th and the other at Adler Planetarium on May 18th. He discussed the ways in which faith and science can dialogue and how both can show us how God is present in the world.

There are 66,000 Black Catholics in the Archdiocese of Chicago, served by 351 parishes, 38 of which are predominately African American. During February, which is Black History month, Fr. David Jones, the Director of the Black Catholic Initiative of the Archdiocese, spoke about ways in which Black Catholics are reaching out in our communities. Fr. Jones also gave an update on where we are in the process of Fr. Augustus Tolton’s Cause for sainthood. Our second guest was Ms. Kimberly M. Lymore, DMin, the Director of the Augustus Tolton Pastoral Ministry Program at Catholic Theological Union. She shared information about this unique and important graduate theology and ministry formation program for Black Catholics and their upcoming events.

On today’s show, we discuss the newest film by Martin Scorsese, Silence, and why it is important to utilize various forms of communication to evangelize. Fr. James Martin, SJ, who is a Jesuit priest, a writer and editor for America Magazine, and an author of several books, joined us to discuss his role as one of the spiritual and Jesuit advisors for the film. The movie, which depicts 17th century Jesuit missionaries in Japan, is a challenging film on faith that leaves viewers with many deeply thought-provoking questions. We take up some of those questions on our show today. Joining Beth White as a guest co-host is James Erler, SJ, Parish Vitality Coordinator for the Archdiocese.

For our Christmas episode, we focus on the theme of the Christmas story, following Mary and Joseph as they journey in anticipation for welcoming Jesus. We look at how we are called to help those who, like Mary and Joseph, are on the margins of our society, seeking help and shelter. We are joined by Arturo Gonzalez, Coordinator for Pastoral Migratoria to talk about the Immigration Posada; Sr. Stephanie Baliga from the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels to talk about the Mission's outreach to the West Humboldt Park community; and Ray Pingoy from the Office of Human Dignity and Solidarity to talk about the March for Life.

On today's show, we to take a moment to reflect on all the things we have to be grateful for, while also looking at the ways that our gratitude to God should move us to give back in loving service to others. Our guests will help us look at ways people and institutions are expressing their thanks to God by serving others. Our guests include Marie Jochum, Director of Volunteer Relations for Catholic Charities of Chicago; Fr. David Kelly, Executive Director of Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation (a Catholic Campaign for Human Development grantee); Ryan Lents, Director of the Office of Human Dignity and Solidarity to talk about the upcoming CCHD collection.

Beth Jennings White speaks with local artist John David Mooney and Amanda Hicks, Executive Director of Public Affairs, and Robby Sexton, Social Media Manager, from the Art Institute of Chicago. Together, they discuss how Marc Chagall’s “White Crucifixion” trip to visit Pope Francis inspired a unique collaboration between the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Art Institute of Chicago to create the Year of Mercy Art Tour. They explore how artists, museums, and the Church working together can help us find the way of beauty and love in our world.

Beth Jennings White and Darius Villalobos speak with John Angotti, Music Missionary and composer of our new theme song, "I Send You Out." We discuss his ministry, how to use music as a way to evangelize, and his musical "Job: the NOW Testament." We also speak with national speaker, Katie Prejean McGrady, and Joshua Smyser-DeLeon, Coordinator for Youth And Young Adult Ministry, about the upcoming event, Holy Fire. Katie will be a keynoter at the event and will speak about her ministry to young people as a high school teacher, author, and "theological comedian."

On the inaugural radio show for the Office for Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship, hosts Beth Jennings White and Darius Villalobos talk about the 2016 Olympics and "the catholic Olympics", World Youth Day 2016. They spend some time recapping some of the athletes that are sharing their faith on the Olympic stage at Rio. They are also joined by guests Melissa McGlynn from St. Genevieve Parish in Chicago and Kent Liederbach from St. Mary of Vernon parish in Vernon Hills, who were pilgrims that traveled to Poland for WYD 2016. They discuss the significance of the pilgrimage and how they are bringing the WYD experience home to share with their communities.