Juan Miguel Alvarez was born in Jalisco, Mexico, and raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is the director of Haciendo Caminos, an initiative at the University of Notre Dame that seeks to identify and empower the next generation of Catholic Latino ecclesial leaders in the United States. He earned his B.A in theology and his M.Div. degrees from the University of Notre Dame. Juan Miguel previously ministered in the Archdiocese of Chicago for six years; his positions included director of faith formation at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and theology teacher at St. Rita of Cascia High School and Cristo Rey Jesuit High School.
In this episode, we talk about the models of faith in his family, being the only Catholic at a protestant school, his education in theology and experience ministering in a church where everyone, regardless of their job title, was responsible for worship and justice work. He shares a powerful story of the parish’s response to gun violence and gang activity. We also get into the growth of the hispanic community in the united states and how the haciendo caminos initiative is trying to respond.
In this episode, I speak with Ana Chavarin. Ana Chavarin is a member of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Tucson, Ariz., and formerly an organizer for Pima County Interfaith. During her over 10 year tenure as an oganizer, she was awarded the 2019 Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award from the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Human Development. In 2018 she won a US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) award for Hispanic Catholic Leaders and was also recognized by the Arizona Daily Star for her community achievements. Ana has helped the immigrant community address issues of community safety, drug abuse, rights of the undocumented, and how to become a citizen. Most recently she helped launch the first printing of parish identification cards in Tucson. In our conversation we talk about her religious upbringing and the influential roles her grandparents paid in her youth. Additionally, she shares the story of how she originally came to the United States. Other themes our conversation touch on includes the importance of getting involved in your community, speaking up when you see injustice, and not just that, taking concrete steps to change those conditions.
In this episode, I speak with Isaac Cuevas. Isaac is the director of the Office of Immigration Affairs for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The Office of Immigration Affairs was created as part of Archbishop Gomez’ vision for helping parishes and people in the LA community with immigration issues. Hiis office has developed a network of community leaders that implement workshops, develop programs, and provide resources for the largest immigrant community in the country. In addition to community outreach, Mr. Cuevas works as an immigration advocate, serving as the voice for the Archdiocese among policy leaders and civil rights groups. Prior to this, he worked in the Entertainment industry making movies and television shows. In our conversation, we talked about walking away from his successful career in holywood. By listening to this episode you will hear the first person account of someone who works directly with migrant bus arrivals. We will talk about how the immigrant experience has changed over the decades and what Catholics should consider when thinking about this issue during the coming general election.
In this episode, you will meet William Becerra, the Bilingual Advisor for national Hispanic engagement with Catholic Relief Services. We talk about his upbringing in Colombia, his experience as a religious missionary, and more!
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Today’s episode features a special guest, Jack Jezreel. If you a passionate social-justice-oriented Catholic, then you have probably heard of JustFaith. JustFaith Ministries creates transformative programs that inspire action to address the root causes of injustice while serving with love. Jack is the founder of JustFaith Ministries and was the first Executive Director of the organization. Jack is a popular speaker and author of the book, A New Way to Be Church: Parish Renewal from the Outside In. His work now focuses on presentations, workshops and training to introduce JustFaith programs and local leadership & networking.
Word of the day: Love
Catholic Social Teaching Theme: Option for the poor
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Ever wonder, what, if anything, do Catholic seminarians learn about social justice? Tune in to this episode to find out. You might be surprised at the answer!
Themes from the interview that connect to the themes of Catholic Social Teaching:
Word of the day: Distributism
Source: Does the Church Teach Distributism? By Dr. Jared Staudt
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In this episode, you will meet Amanda Montez. Amanda Montez Cobian is the director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Jesuit High School in Portland, OR. She recently finished her graduate degree at the University of San Francisco in international and multicultural education. Her research centers alumni of Nativity schools and how they transition to predominantly white high schools. As a bi-racial educator, she aims to create the classroom environment she wished she could have had as a student and works to create systems of racial equity at work, in research, and as a co-author of Jesuit West's Community Organizing for Racial Equity (CORE).
Snippet from the interview:
"When I look at the seven principles of [Catholic Social Teaching], I think being able to name all humans have inherent dignity. To me, it's like that is the black lives matter movement; when I think about like preferential option for the poor and vulnerable that is saying by BIPOC right? It's not just saying people of color right. It's centering black and Indigenous and then people of color. I think that there's a lot of overlap actually."
Themes from the interview that connect to the themes of Catholic Social Teaching:
Resource mentioned in the interview
Are Critical Race Theory and Catholicism compatible? | Think Like a Jesuit, Episode 3
Word of the day: Encounter conversations/One-on-one relational meetings
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In this episode, I speak with Melissa Lowery. Melissa was the first Black woman to work as the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Jesuit High School, and is currently the Director of Equity and Community Engagement at Central Catholic High School in Portland. Her career in DEI at Catholic institutions was sparked by the creation of a documentary about her life growing up as Black girl in West Linn, Oregon. Listen to this episode to hear what inspired her to create this documentary about her life and how that led to the social justice work she now does with students.
Snippet from the interview
"So what if his skin turned the same color as yours? What's the big deal?"
Learn more and watch Melissa's documentary
Word of the day: Advocacy
Catholic Social Teaching Themes:
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In this episode, I speak with Annie Fox, the daughter of a Baptist mother and a Jewish father who has dedicated her life to interfaith relationship building and justice work. She currently works as the Provincial Assistant for Social Ministry Organizing for Jesuits West. Fox has run grassroots campaigns focused on housing, homelessness, education, immigration, and mass incarceration. Here's our conversation at a glance:
Snippet from the interview
"I remember my mother saying to me, “Annie I don’t know who I am if I don’t have a suit to put on in the morning.” […] I did not want my life or my mother’s life to be defined by whether or not we got to put a suit on in the morning. […]Any version of my life where my dignity is defined by whether or not I get to put on a suit in the morning is a fake dignity. My dignity comes from because I am a child of God.”
Word of the day: Activism
Catholic Social Teaching Themes:
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Ana Ruiz is a young immigrant from Mexico who has spent most of her life directly or indirectly serving in ministry. Her earliest memory is at a retreat center where her parents served as marriage encounter leaders. Fast forward to today, she has recently graduated from Georgetown University where she majored in culture and politics and minored in theology and german and was the vice president of Catholic Women at Georgetown, a campus court of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas. She has interned at multiple well-known Catholic organizations such as the Catholic Labor Network and the USCCB, has helped organize the annual catholic social ministry gathering, and participated in a virtual synodal session with Pope Francis last February 2022.
In our discussion, we talked about all these personal and professional experiences, but we also talk about why she stays Catholic and works for justice despite coming into adulthood during one of the most difficult periods of history for everyone, but in particular Catholics, She has a very powerful, yet simple answer: It’s all about Jesus.
Excerpt:
"Jesus' mission was not only to transform our hearts and minds but transform the world and transform those who are kind of stuck under these structures of sin that we are all responsible for. [...] It’s something Jesus did. The call to our faith is to model Jesus and so we have to model him in that way."
Word of the day: two feet of love in action
Related Episode:
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In today’s interview, you will meet Cecilia Flores. Cecilia is the daughter of Filipino immigrants and has spent 15 years working with communities of faith to address issues of poverty and injustice in the US and in Central America. In our conversation, we speak about her missionary experience in Honduras, what we really mean by the phrase “meet people whey they are at”, the importance of remembering her motherland, culture and how that intersects with social justice, her experience as a first-generation American, raising intercultural kids, unity, and much more!
Building a common language segment: Community Organizing
Source:
Catholic Social Teaching Segment
Source: Dialogue between generations, education and work: tools for building lasting peace
Related Episodes:
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In this month's episode, you will meet Alex Quezada. Alex serves as Hispanic Ministry Coordinator at St. John Paul II Catholic Parish in Kankakee Illinois. Alex has also been working as Relief & Development Coordinator at the office for Human Dignity in the Diocese of Joliet since 20019. As an immigrant from Mexico, Alex works to promote social justice for all following the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Given our shared cultural identities, we talked a lot about the immigrant experience but also touch on racial justice in the black community as well. We talked about the importance of names and the different ways immigrants like him have to put aside core parts of their identity just to be able to fit in to this country. We also talk about a really tough question his daughter once asked him while in High School and how she’s developed into an anti-racist advocate.
Key Points
Building a common language: Anti-Racism
Source:
Related Episodes:
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In today’s episode, I speak with Tom Ulrich. Tom Ulrich has over 40 years of professional experience in assisting faith communities and national organizations develop their social justice ministry efforts. Tom is the author of two books: Parish Social Ministry: Strategies for Action. (2001) and recently released ‘On Earth As It Is In Heaven’ - Organizing Social Justice Ministry in Faith Communities: A model that works. (2021). We cover the main themes and topics of his most recent book, of course, but we also touch on his own upbringing as a Catholic and how he was introduced to Catholic Social teaching. One of my takeaways from this conversation was the way he constantly links his work on social justice back to his family and vocation.
Learn more about Tom Ulrich HERE
Purchase 'On Earth As It Is In Heaven' HERE
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It's the end of season 2! Check out this special episode featuring two clergies who share their different but complimentary perspectives on the immigration issue. Included in this episode is an apology/explanation for being MIA the past two months!
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In this episode, I speak with Molly Sheahan. Molly is the Associate Director for Life and Family Advocacy at the California Catholic Conference. She has an extensive lobbying portfolio, including legislative and grassroots advocacy on pro-life policy, foster care, human trafficking, domestic violence, bioethics, disability rights, end-of-life care, and the death penalty. Molly speaks nationally on human dignity concerns, and her writings have appeared in The Public Discourse, Angelus News, Grotto Network, Rehumanize International, and other publications. She is also the founder of We Are Pro-life Women, a new media movement highlighting the stories of underrepresented pro-life women.
In our conversation, we cover topics like what it was like growing up pro-life, How the unborn and elderly have been impacted by the pandemic, Underrepresented women of color behind the pro-life movement, A pro-life saint you might have not heard about before, and The lessons mary teaches us about what it means to be pro-life.
This interview is particularly timely and relevant given the recent leak of a draft opinion on Roe vs Wade. I hope that this episode helps us recognize that no matter what happens, we still have work to do to ensure that we live in a world where everyone is allowed to survive and flourish.
Snippet from the show
"Everyone deserves to live free of aggressive violence. But it doesn’t stop there. We’re supposed to be looking for a world that celebrates human dignity and human goodness and allows us to flourish. That’s the catholic vision: is to see people as good and worthy and deserving all that meets the reality of their human goodness."
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In this episode, I speak with Jaqueline Romo, a Chicago-based Latina young adult catholic who combines her artistic skills with her faith and developed the artwork of “The Passion of the Monarca Migrante”, which is a contemporary interpretation of the stations of the cross that uses the monarch butterfly, a symbol of the resilience and resistance of the migrant communities, to depict Jesus on the stations of the Cross in his Passion. Jacqueline has inspired many young adults and members of Academia with her artistic and theological work. The original artwork is permanently displayed outside the chapel at Dominica University, the school she attended and created this artwork, and the second set of prints resides outside a chapel in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In addition to talking about her art, we also spend time reflecting on the role language plays in our faith and struggle for justice. This is also a perfect episode for Easter season that we’re in because one of the themes you hear from Jaqueline is that suffering is never the end. We have the hope of the resurrection to look forward to. I left the interview inspired and my experiences affirmed so I am excited to share this episode with you.
Snippet from the show
"As Latinos we identify with [Jesus] in the struggle. But we also know and sometimes forget that the resurrection comes in the end."
Learn more about Jaqueline and "The Passion of the Monarca Migrante": https://romojaqueline.myportfolio.com/work
Reference from Teaching Segment: https://chalicepress.com/products/the-wolf-shall-dwell-with-the-lamb
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This episode was recorded and is being released during women’s history month so we talk about influential women from her life, the blessings and challenges she has experienced as a woman in the church, and more broadly the role of women in the church. In the month of March we also solemnly remember and celebrate the lives of Blessed Rutilio Grande and Saint Oscar Romero, both martyrs from El Salvador, so we talk a bit about them and the impact their stories have on Salvadorans today.
Snippet from the show
"If you don't see women sitting at the table...invite them in. Look around you."
"They weren't casualties of war. These were men that the government found to be threatening because they were raising their voices for the atrocities that were being committed against the Salvadoran people. [...] They serve to be images of hope that we can aspire to be the voice for those that don't have a voice"
Quotes used in the teaching segment: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pPG255bTOg9VlM8N9MkmSQP9cyx63DsXQKrspsvH1eg/edit?usp=sharing
Read or listen to all of Romero's homilies at: http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/homilies-and-writings/homilies
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Learn about the Good News People, a small-group process of prayer, reflection, and action coming to St Anthony this Easter. Not a member of St Anthony? This episode might still be interesting to you because it deals with questions of our time like: Where are all the families? Why aren't they coming back? What can we do to attract them back to the church?
Registration form to sign up for Good News People at St Anthony Catholic Church in Tigard: https://forms.gle/zbyqyJHPcQfjsn3ZA
Hear the not so unusual story of a black man in the church. Auxiliary bishop of New Orleans, the most reverend Fernand Cheri, joins the podcast to share his lived experiences of racism in the seminary as well as the parish. He describes specific moments of crisis he has gone through in his ministry. Such as when he was refused ordination and the time he was ousted from a parish for bringing “strangers” to the church. He also talks about the difficulties of obedience and the power of trusting in God’s providence.
Snippet from the show
"I'm a priest today not because of the seminary. I think I'm a priest today because my story as a black man in the church is not an unusual story. Many of the Black priests that were ordained before me had the same story."
Quotes from Brothers and Sisters to Us used in the teaching segment:
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In this episode, you will meet Yohan Garcia from the USCCB. He talks about his experience growing up, who and what inspired him to live a faith that does justice, and the theology of Samaritan he has developed.
Snippet from the show
"Our ticket to heaven is not going to depend on how many masses, how many rosaries, how many liturgies I went to but rather whether you were able to see the needs of those living on the road, the needy, with so many necessities. So for me, our faith has to be a mature faith that is able to take action. And that is done through the works of mercy and actions of social justice."
Excerpts from the teaching segment:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oKLNnWsnYPKZnbwkc72mqqy0GUTjGm1RmRWSs6gGfCs/edit?usp=sharing
Sign up for the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering:
https://web.cvent.com/event/cf67da4e-97ce-46ab-945e-8e38fcb03447/summary
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