Biagio Mazza is Pastoral Associate for St. Sabina’s Parish in Belton, Missouri providing for the adult faith formation needs of the parish. Biagio has worked for the church in various positions for over 40 years. Before coming to St. Sabina in May 2006, Biagio was a staff member of the Center for Pastoral Life and Ministry in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, for over 17 years. Prior to joining the staff of the Center for Pastoral Life and Ministry, Biagio worked in catechetical ministry in the Archdiocese of New York for over 12 years.

Biagio published one book and contributed to another. Biagio authored a book in the Paulist Press Catechist’s Guide Series called How to Teach Scripture, published by Paulist Press in 2010. He is also a major contributor to books on Scripture backgrounds for Lectionary Years A, B and C, called Foundations for Preaching and Teaching, published by Liturgy Training Publications.

Biagio was an adjunct instructor in scripture, theology, church history, and Islam for the Institute of Religious Studies facilitated through Benedictine College for the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, as well as adjunct Theology instructor for both Rockhurst and Avila universities in Kansas City, Missouri. Biagio is active in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, especially with Jewish-Christian and Muslim-Christian dialogues.

As you may recall, John Dear did our first interview (July 2020). He was with Pace e Bene then. Recently, on November 1st, John launched a new website www.beatitudescenter.org to offer a wide variety of online zoom programs, classes, workshops, retreats and classes.

Their mission is “To teach and promote the Gospel message that Jesus was totally nonviolent, and that all his followers are called to be totally nonviolent.” 

 And their vision is as follows: “We strive to help Christians study and live Jesus’ Gospel teachings of nonviolence, especially in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7), so that more and more people will practice creative Gospel nonviolence, like Gandhi, Dorothy Day and Dr. King, and work for the abolition of racism, poverty, war, nuclear weapons and environmental destruction, and for the coming of a new culture of justice and nonviolence. We use Pope Francis’ Jan. 1, 2017 World Day of Peace Message, “Nonviolence—A Style of Politics for Peace,” as a guidepost. We offer online and in person workshops, retreats and conferences, podcasts, videos, books, articles and consultation to help fulfill our mission.” 

Our podcast’s first panel features Jerusalem Farm founders in a discussion on the formation of the community and each of their journeys to JFarm. Sunny and Jessie were speakers when a Jerusalem Farm panel joined us at Avila in November of 2017, where they spoke about Laudauto Si.

David Armstrong has served as the Director of Mission Effectiveness and Campus Ministries at Avila University for the past 18 years. His personal experiences at Nazareth Farm in West Virginia and his relentless enthusiasm lead him to dream of an urban farm in KC.

Jessie Schiele is the Executive Director at Jerusalem Farm, which involves a lot of paperwork—her favorite of which is handmade & upcycled thank you notes. She and her husband Jordan currently have 5 children and spend their weekends electric biking around KCMO.

Sunny Hamrick has lived at Jerusalem Farm for six years and serves as the farm manager, coordinating the gardens and orchard. He is also a worksite leader (and JFarm’s best finisher—putting amazing detail into bathroom and kitchen remodels for low-income families). Sunny leaves time for rock climbing, music making, and fighting the broken systems as an anti-war activist. 

Jerusalem Farm is a Catholic intentional community located in the Historic Northeast Neighborhood of Kansas City MO. Built on the four cornerstones of Prayer, Community, Service, and Simplicity, we strive to transform our lives and the lives of those around us through service retreat experiences, sustainable living, and home repair. 

For those of you who do not know Nick, he is a local pastor, activist, performer, antiracism trainer, and real estate agent in Kansas City. He has over 10 years of experience doing antipoverty, de-escalation, and antiracism work. He serves on the board of Cherith Brook Catholic Worker, and is the founding pastor of The Open Table, a dinner church devoted to peace and liberation. Listen as we discuss how Nick came to be devoted action, contemplation and antiracism, both in his personal life as well as in the life of the church he pastors.

The day of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Kansas City Star columnist Bill Tammeus was assigned to write the lead commentary for a special edition of the paper to be published that afternoon. Partway through that task, he learned that his nephew was a passenger on the first plane to smash into the World Trade Center. Now, almost 20 years later, Bill recounts in his new book the multiple traumas his extended family experienced because of that. Love, Loss and Endurance: A 9/11 Story of Resilience and Hope in an Age of Anxiety, to be published Jan. 19 (but available for pre-order now on Amazon), also explores why some people get sucked into monochromatic religious thinking that can lead to violence and what we can do to stand against such extremism. Mike and Bill talk about all that and more in this podcast.

Sr Ilia Delio, a respected academic and theologian, is Josephine C. Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology at Villanova University and the author of nearly 20 books including Christ In Evolution, The Emergent Christ, The Unbearable Wholeness of Being and Making All Things New.  She is the founder and vision behind the Omega Center now Center for Christogenesis.  She is an internationally sought after presenter speaking on the intersection of Science and Religion and we were honored to have Ilia give weekend retreats in Kansas City (of course, before packed crowds) in 2017 and 2018.

Her recent memoir- Birth of a Dancing Star is just out. Regarding this book, Barbara Brown Taylor says the following “Thank God there is nothing linear in the lifeline of this book. Delio tells her rising, spiraling story with such transparent joy that she seizes every change of plan as a new dance move from God. Only out of chaos can a star be born, she says, welcoming us to take our own places in the rising, spiraling story of the universe.”

Hollis is a local Kansas City attorney whose career has included decades of premier trial work followed by decades of exemplar mediation/arbitration work. His work on sexual abuse cases in KC drew national attention. Hollis is most importantly a wise soul and a committed man of faith. 

For those who attended the nearly 20 Father Meninger retreats we did in Missouri and Kansas in 2014, 2015 and 2016- you will remember Dan. Dan has been organizing and attending these retreats for Father Meninger throughout the country and abroad since 2010.  Do yourself a favor and give this interview a listen. You will hear about Dan’s spiritual journey, his visits to Snowmass and interactions with Thomas Keating, Joe Boyle and others and his insights from over 100 retreats with Father William Meninger. Enjoy!

Rev. Kevin Kelly is a local pastor and  the leader of our Tuesday morning prayer group the Mystic Misfits (although he prefers to refer to himself as part of the leadership team). Kevin’s recently completed doctor of ministry work focused on spirituality in general and the Mystics specifically. Kevin was one of the original members of this contemplative group.  This interview includes his journey, vocation and insights.

Fr. Carl is a founding member of Contemplative Outreach and a longtime friend of Father Thomas Keating. In this interview, Father Carl- a funny,  warm and delightful wise soul, talks about his journey, centering prayer and his time with Thomas Keating.