『What Matters Most』のカバーアート

What Matters Most

What Matters Most

著者： John W. Martens
無料で聴く

What Matters Most is focused on listening to people and what is on their minds, particularly dealing with the big questions of religion and spirituality. It emerges from the Centre for Christian Engagement, a Centre at St. Mark's College, the Catholic college at UBC, but our programming is intended for all interested parties, Catholic or not. In the What Matters Most podcast, we talk to people, some well-known, some not so well-known, some Catholic, some Christian, some not affiliated with any religion, some affiliated with other faiths (Muslims, Sikhs) to find out what matters to them. It is a podcast focused on spirituality and faith, but truly focused on listening to others, to learning from those connected to the Church and to those who are not. It is grounded in personal conversations that ask guests to talk about what has motivated their vocations or their work and what gives their lives meaning and purpose. The format can best be described as a conversation that allows us to get to know our guests.2024 キリスト教 スピリチュアリティ 聖職・福音主義
エピソード
  • The Joys and Limits of Humanity: A Conversation with Drs. Tisha Rajendra and Ruben Rosario Rodriguez on Magnifica Humanitas

    The Joys and Limits of Humanity: A Conversation with Drs. Tisha Rajendra and Ruben Rosario Rodriguez on Magnifica Humanitas
    2026/09/02
    Welcome to Season 5, Episode 1 of What Matters Most! In this episode I welcomed Dr. Tisha Rajendra and Dr. Ruben Rosario Rodriguez to discuss Pope Leo's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas. I delved into the encyclical on my own a couple of months ago, but I wanted to bring in experts in Christian ethics to discuss the encyclical on AI, migration, war, and whatever else came up for them in their readings. Dr. Tisha Rajendra is an associate professor at Loyola University Chicago. Tisha M. Rajendra is the author of Migrants and Citizens: Justice as Responsibility in the Ethics of Immigration (Eerdmans, 2017) and has published academic articles in the Journal for the Society of Christian Ethics, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice and Political Theology. Her writing for general audiences has been published in Sojourners and the Los Angeles Times. She also has a new book coming out soon: Immigration: An Ethics of Resistance. It covers recent immigration enforcement, the history of Christian complicity with evil (German church, third Reich), a biblical theology of resistance, and virtues of resistance: solidarity, humility, magnanimity, prudence, hope and resistance. Dr. Rubén Rosario Rodríguez, Ph.D. is a Professor of Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics at Saint Louis University, where he previously held the Clarence Louis and Helen Steber Chair in Theological Studies and is currently the Coordinator of Graduate Programs in the Department of Theological Studies. He recently published his fourth and fifth monographs, Theological Fragments: Confessing What We Know and Cannot Know about an Infinite God (Westminster John Knox Press, 2023), and Calvin for the World: The Enduring Relevance of His Political, Social, and Economic Theology (Baker Academic, 2024). This fall he is a fellow in residence at the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey, while he completes work on his next book titled, Between Despair and Complacency: Reclaiming the Theology of Hope (under review at Cambridge University Press). I appreciated the passion and thoughtfulness they brought to the entire discussion of MH, including towards the end when they questioned why the image of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was the biblical counterpoint to the Tower of Babel, the confusion of languages, instead of the account of Pentecost, as Ruben proposed, when the Holy Spirit came and everyone could understand each other. I do suspect that it has to do with the image of hands on, human building, but Tisha raised an important point about the fact that Nehemiah 13 (and Ezra 9–10) address intermarriage by urging the community to cast out their foreign wives to maintain their religious identity. While it does not appear in these early chapters, it casts a pall on this image as one of humanity working together, especially in a document where a positive assessment of migration plays such a central role. The encyclical, for any of its weaknesses, remains a powerful and essential document. Ruben noted that "it has been incredibly popular on social media and in particular with the younger generations. And first things interviewed a young person, Gen Z, and the response was people have really been looking for a response to AI. This was the first, at least in my sphere of the world, the first time a world leader made an announcement of this magnitude. And so, people are wanting more guidance, more of a response, a balanced response to AI. So kudos to the Pope for taking the lead on that." I agree. I also resonated with Tisha's comment, reflecting on Augustine, as probably the only Catholic feminist who loves Augustine, that "the earthly city is where we live right now. human finitude, fallibility, vulnerability, embodiment are where grace is. And I think it's true to say that some of the turn to AI is this temptation to escape finitude and to escape vulnerability. And the Pope is saying, well, embrace it. sure, one day we will shuffle off this mortal coil and we will be with God and we will be basking in the beatific vision, right? But none of us knows what that will be like. And right now we encounter grace through our.... in the midst of and with our mortality and vulnerability and finitude. And that's the one thing that AI will never cherish and it will never help us do that." I thought this was powerfully said. Finally, the need for education is greater than ever. Tisha noted that "Leo says in 140: education is a long journey requiring patience. It needs time for development and engagement with reality beyond appearances." We need to offer our students time, we need to offer ourselves time to learn, to reflect, to think. Do not miss the joy, do not let AI steal the joy of learning and truly knowing something deeply. One last thing: When Tisha mentioned racist immigration policies in Canada, especially regarding South Asian immigrants, I noted an early 20th century incident in Vancouver. That was the The...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1 時間 37 分
  • Apocalypse and Liturgy in Orthodox Christianity: A Conversation with Fr. Matthew Francis

    Apocalypse and Liturgy in Orthodox Christianity: A Conversation with Fr. Matthew Francis
    2026/08/19

    Welcome to Season 4, Episode 29 of What Matters Most!

    In this episode I speak with Fr. Matthew Francis about Orthodox Liturgy and about the connections between Orthodox Liturgy and the book of Revelation. Fr. Matthew is currently completing his book Apocalypse and Liturgy and we delve into some of that fascinating world.

    Fr. Matthew Francis serves as the Parish Priest of Holy Apostles Orthodox Church in Chilliwack, BC, and since 2019 has also served as the Regional Director of the Canadian Bible Society, for BC and the Yukon.

    There were so many questions I wanted to ask Fr. Matthew so we will have to have him on another time to discuss questions about Orthodox Christianity in Canada and North America, especially as to what connections there are to Orthodox churches in North America and those abroad like the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches, about some differences between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, and about the state of the Orthodox church in North America today. But that was a nice intro I think to the beauty of Orthodox liturgy and its deep connections to the Apocalypse of John or Revelation. Orthodox liturgy has this mystical sense that does seem to be paralleled by the mystery of Revelation. And the deep ties between Christian worship and Revelation are sometimes overlooked or people are unaware of them. I look forward to Fr Matthew's book and, in the meantime, I refer you to two books that he mentioned that offer some of the historical background to understanding Revelation: Imperial Cults and the Apocalypse of John: Reading Revelation in the Ruins by Stephen Friesen and Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor by S.R. F. Price. The article I was thinking of was indeed by David E. Aune, "The Influence of Roman Imperial Cult Ceremonial on the Apocalypse of John."

    A few thanks are in order. First of all, I am grateful to Martin Strong, who guides me in the podcasting world and joins me for the Pop Culture Matters regularly. Second, the episodes are edited, engineered, and produced by Kevin Eng who is the first listener to all the episodes and my consultant for each episode, especially with the snippets that begin each episode. Thank you, Kevin, for all of your expertise and support and especially for saving this episode when I could not convert it to a listenable or viewable file. Finally, to the Fang Fang Chandra, the CCE assistant, who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.

    I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.

    If you would like to support the work of the CCE, become a new member of CCE Patreon, First Engagers, supporting the podcast and the Centre for only $5.00 CAD a month. For that 5 dollars, you will get a live monthly podcast discussion via Zoom, free exclusive member merchandise, be able to suggest guests and topics for What Matters Most. And the first ten Patrons, apart from the other merch they will receive, such as water bottles, tote bags, etc., will get awesome, I mean it, awesome, CCE hoodies. Orange hoodies with the CCE logo in green, orange and blue. Do it, become first engagers! If you are simply interested in donating to the CCE, please check out the CCE website where you can find the donate button on the top right corner. We are a non-profit organization, and all donations over $20.00 are tax deductible. But think about the Patreon too!

    Since St. Mark's Centre for Christian Engagement seeks to enable the creation of a culture of encounter and dialogue, let me invite you into that discussion. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. We'll post there with a question as to what you are most interested in. Or email us with your suggestions to jmartens@stmarkscollege.ca or cceconferences@stmarkscollege.ca.

    John W. Martens
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1 時間 2 分
  • The Dying Child and the Personhood of Children in Ancient Judah: A Conversation with Dr. Kristine Garroway

    The Dying Child and the Personhood of Children in Ancient Judah: A Conversation with Dr. Kristine Garroway
    2026/08/05
    Welcome to Season 4, Episode 28 of What Matters Most! T In this episode I welcome my friend and colleague Kristine Henriksen Garroway to discuss her recent book The Dying Child: The Death and Personhood of Children in Ancient Israel (Oxford UP, 2025). Kristine is a prolific scholar and a ground-breaking archaeologist who works to bring to life ancient children, so often forgotten in archaeological and textual research. Kristine Garroway is Professor of Bible at the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion's Skirball Campus in Los Angeles where she joined the faculty in 2011. She received her doctorate in Hebrew Bible and Cognate Studies at the Hebrew Union College/Cincinnati in 2009. She has spent time studying and researching in Israel and has participated in excavations at Ashkelon, Tel Dor, and Tel Dan. Garroway's scholarship focuses on children using archaeology and texts of ancient Israel and Mesopotamia. She has published in various scholarly journals and is a regular contributor to thetorah.com. Garroway's books include: Children in the Ancient Near Eastern Household (Eisenbrauns 2014) and Growing Up in Ancient Israel: Children in Material Culture and Biblical Texts (Society of Biblical Literature 2018). She is the recipient of the Biblical Archaeological Society's 2019 Publication Award for Best Book Relating to Hebrew Bible. The loss of children was something the ancients had to consider more often than we do, thankfully, but death is something none of us will escape and we probably do not think about it or consider it enough today. What does it mean to us? What does it mean that we will all die? This is something the ancients faced head on and I think we should consider in the same way. As Kristine writes, "The archaeological remains in the Judahite bench tombs show care for all members deposited there, stressing the importance of the continuity of the Judahite family unit and personhoods, including infants and children, in life as well as in death." Thanks to Kristine Garroway for bringing these questions and the ancient children to us. Persons every last one of them. A few thanks are in order. First of all, I am grateful to Martin Strong, who guides me in the podcasting world and joins me for the Pop Culture Matters regularly. Second, the episodes are edited, engineered, and produced by Kevin Eng who is the first listener to all the episodes and my consultant for each episode, especially with the snippets that begin each episode. Thank you, Kevin, for all of your expertise and support and especially for saving this episode when I could not convert it to a listenable or viewable file. Finally, to the Fang Fang Chandra, the CCE assistant, who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly. I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas. If you would like to support the work of the CCE, become a new member of CCE Patreon, First Engagers, supporting the podcast and the Centre for only $5.00 CAD a month. For that 5 dollars, you will get a live monthly podcast discussion via Zoom, free exclusive member merchandise, be able to suggest guests and topics for What Matters Most. And the first ten Patrons, apart from the other merch they will receive, such as water bottles, tote bags, etc., will get awesome, I mean it, awesome, CCE hoodies. Orange hoodies with the CCE logo in green, orange and blue. Do it, become first engagers! If you are simply interested in donating to the CCE, please check out the CCE website where you can find the donate button on the top right corner. We are a non-profit organization, and all donations over $20.00 are tax deductible. But think about the Patreon too! Since St. Mark's Centre for Christian Engagement seeks to enable the creation of a culture of encounter and dialogue, let me invite you into that discussion. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. We'll post there with a question as to what you are most interested in. Or email us with your suggestions to jmartens@stmarkscollege.ca or cceconferences@stmarkscollege.ca. John W. Martens
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1 時間 28 分
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
まだレビューはありません