Glad You Asked

One of the best-known of Jesus' parables is the story commonly referred to as the "Parable of the Good Samaritan." The story is intended to teach the disciples what loving your neighbor really means, but we can't fully appreciate the moral without recognizing that Jesus' audience would not have expected the Samaritan to be the moral hero. Contemporary audiences might not know exactly who or what a "Samaritan" was but might envision someone socially outcast, even morally dubious.

This isn't the first time Samaritans appear in the gospels. Jesus shocks his disciples by lingering in conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. When Jesus heals 10 lepers, the only one who comes back to thank him is a Samaritan. In these instances, it's clear that the Jewish disciples and followers of Jesus do not hold Samaritans in warm regard, and we're meant to be surprised when scripture highlights their acts of faith or justice.

However, Samaritans are not Gentiles like Romans or Canaanites. Clearly the Jews and the Samaritans have a lot of commonalities, culturally and religiously. But there is evident animosity between the two groups.

On today's episode of Glad You Asked, hosts Emily Sanna and Sarah Schueller talk to guest Alice Camille about who the Samaritans were and why they and the Jews didn't get along. They also discuss the theological significance of the Samaritans who appear in stories about and by Jesus.

Camille is an award-winning writer, an educator, and a retreat leader. She has written extensively about scripture for U.S. Catholic and elsewhere and works on developing catechetical materials.

You can learn more in these links:

About Alice Camille https://alicecamille.com/about/

"Why didn't the Jews and Samaritans get along?" By Alice Camille https://uscatholic.org/articles/202005/why-didnt-the-jews-and-samaritans-get-along/

"The rift between Jews and Samaritans" By Pat McCloskey, O.F.M. https://www.franciscanmedia.org/ask-a-franciscan/the-rift-between-jews-and-samaritans

"The last of the good Samaritans" By Judith Fein https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180828-the-last-of-the-good-samaritans

Glad You Asked is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries. https://www.claretiansusa.org/

Different Christian denominations have different ways of interpreting and honoring Jesus' actions and words at the Last Supper. The Last Supper itself, according to the synoptic gospels, was a Passover meal and would have been celebrated according to specific rubrics within the Jewish tradition. Today, denominational groups have developed their own rubrics, some more specific than others. Some churches celebrate communion casually and infrequently, whereas for others this ritual is at the heart of their religious celebration.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, communion is central to churchgoing. Since the first or second centuries, Catholics have referred to the entire communion service itself—not just the bread and wine—as eucharist, which derives from the Greek eucharistēsas, meaning "giving thanks."

The Roman Catholic church has developed specific guidelines about how the communion bread, typically referred to as a host, is made. These small round paper-like wafers don't look a lot like bread as we ordinarily experience it and are clearly not made in the manner we might bake a loaf of French bread or challah. So who makes them? What kind of rules do they have to follow? Why don't Catholics use regular bread they could bake themselves? And what about people who can't eat wheat—are they unable to partake of communion in a Catholic church or are gluten-free options available?

On today's episode of Glad You Asked, hosts Emily Sanna and Rebecca Bratten Weiss talk to Sister Mary Catherine of the cloistered community of Passionist Nuns in Kentucky, whose community makes wafers for communion. Sister Mary Catherine explains the church's traditions and guidelines for making communion hosts as well as the logistics and mechanics involved in the process.

You can learn more about this traditions and regulations regarding communion hosts in these links:

"Where do hosts come from?" By Victoria M. Tufano https://uscatholic.org/articles/201706/where-do-hosts-come-from/

"The story behind a communion host" By Catholic Digest https://www.catholicdigest.com/faith/201001-26the-story-behind-a-communion-host/

"Norms for the Distribution and Reception of Holy Communion under Both Kinds in the Dioceses of the United States of America" https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/norms-for-holy-communion-under-both-kinds

Monastery of the Sacred Passion, Erlanger, KY http://www.erlangerpassionists.org/

The Making of the Communion Bread for Holy Communion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryL3xLPAPqk

Glad You Asked is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries. https://www.claretiansusa.org/

"As in all the churches of the saints, women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as the law also says."

Probably every Christian woman is familiar with this verse from 1 Corinthians. Or perhaps with a similar verse from 1 Timothy, which states that no woman can teach or have authority over men but must instead keep silent.

These and other verses have been used as the basis for countless arguments that women can't be leaders in faith communities or be allowed to preach in church. They have even been used to justify excluding women from positions of authority in civil society.

But these ideas seem to contradict much of what Jesus taught and modeled in his earthly ministry. They even seem to contradict Paul's own instructions in other letters. So how should we approach those verses in the Bible commanding women to be silent and submissive? And how should we regard the fact that in our churches today women serve as lectors, teachers, and worship leaders? Are contemporary Catholic churches disobeying the Bible? What is the church's real teaching on the role of women in faith communities and the world?

In today's episode of Glad You Asked, hosts Emily Sanna and Sarah Schueller talk with educator, scripture scholar, and award-winning writer Alice Camille about this controversial passage in scripture.

You can read some of Alice's writings on the Bible, and learn more about this topic, in these links:

"Does the Bible really tell women to be silent in church?" By Alice Camille https://uscatholic.org/articles/202101/does-the-bible-really-tell-women-to-be-silent-in-church/

"What is a 'house church' in the epistles?" By Alice Camille https://uscatholic.org/articles/202008/what-is-a-house-church-in-the-epistles/

"The Bible is far more than history. It is legendary." By Alice Camille https://uscatholic.org/articles/202103/the-bible-is-far-more-than-history-it-is-legendary/

"Jewish Women in the New Testament" By Amy-Jill Levine https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/jewish-women-in-the-new-testament

"Dr. Amy-Jill Levine on the Bible, Women and Violence" By Dr. Lo Sprague https://theguibordcenter.org/amy-jill-levine-bible-women-violence/

Canon 766: Lay Preaching https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/canon-law/complementary-norms/canon-766-lay-preaching

About Alice Camille https://alicecamille.com/about/

Glad You Asked is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries https://www.claretiansusa.org/

In 2016, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick ignited controversy when he knelt during the National Anthem to protest police brutality and racism. In 2015, Joseph Kennedy, an assistant football coach in Washington, was fired for kneeling after games in prayer (and encouraging others to join him).

In both cases, kneeling is a way of demonstrating these men's heartfelt beliefs and of literally embodying their moral and spiritual commitments.

As Catholics, we are very familiar with the act of kneeling in prayer—it's something we do every time we go to Mass. But what exactly is the significance of kneeling? Does it matter what you do with your body while you pray? And why kneeling, specifically?

This week in Glad You Asked, hosts Emily Sanna and Rebecca Bratten Weiss talk to Kevin Considine about how kneeling helps us focus on God's presence among us.

Considine is the director of the Robert J. Schreiter Institute for Precious Blood Spirituality at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. As well as contributing regularly to U.S. Catholic's monthly print Glad You Asked column, he is a frequent contributor on topics of ecology, anti-racism, and popular culture.

You can find out more about the topic and what the church teaches about embodied prayer in the links below:

Desiderio Desideravi (On the Liturgical Formation of the People of God): https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_letters/documents/20220629-lettera-ap-desiderio-desideravi.html

"Why do we kneel in church?" by Kevin P. Considine https://uscatholic.org/articles/202112/why-do-we-kneel-in-church/

"Virtual liturgy is still embodied, says this Yale liturgist," a U.S. Catholic interview

https://uscatholic.org/articles/202012/virtual-worship-is-still-embodied-liturgy-says-this-yale-liturgist/

Unions were once an essential component of the U.S. economy. For generations, unions safeguarded the rights of workers and ensured a better way of life for working-class families. Although not everyone regarded unions with uncritical approval, many families were proud of their union affiliation.

But in recent decades, things have changed. Unions have less influence than they once did, fewer workers are union members, and even working-class citizens often eye unions with distrust. Many Catholics, especially those who are politically conservative, are likely to be wary of unions.

But should they be?

In this, the pilot episode of the Glad You Asked podcast, hosts Emily Sanna and Rebecca Bratten Weiss ask Stephen Schneck how Catholics ought to regard labor unions.

Schneck formerly taught politics at the Catholic University of America, where he was also the Director of CUA's Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies. He has served on the Board of Directors for Catholic Mobilizing Network and for Catholic Climate Covenant, Sojourners, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, and for Democrats for Life of America. He served as national co-chair of Catholics for Obama in 2012 and Catholics for Biden in 2020. He has also been executive director of the Franciscan Action Network. And in June 2022, the White House announced Schneck's appointment to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Schneck has also written extensively for U.S. Catholic on topics relating to politics, church teaching, economics, and labor.

You can find out more about this topic, find out what the church officially says about labor, and read some of Stephen Schneck's articles in the links below:

"Does the church support unions?" By Kevin Considine https://uscatholic.org/articles/201602/does-the-church-support-unions/

"Catholic priests and the labor movement" A U.S. Catholic interview https://uscatholic.org/articles/201509/priests-and-the-labor-movement/

"Labor Day reflection: Ora et labora" By Stephen Schneck https://uscatholic.org/articles/201509/labor-day-reflection-ora-et-labora/

"Fair wages are more than a living wage, Pope Francis says" By Stephen Schneck https://uscatholic.org/articles/202005/fair-wages-are-more-than-a-living-wage-pope-francis-says/

"How Catholics should think about politics and government" By Stephen Schneck https://uscatholic.org/articles/201711/how-catholics-should-think-about-politics-and-government/

Rerum Novarum (On Capital and Labor), Leo XIII, 1891 https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html

Laborem Exercens (On Human Work), John Paul II, 1981 https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091981_laborem-exercens.html

Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), Benedict XVI, 2009 https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate.html

Glad You Asked is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries.https://claretiansusa.org https://myclaret.org

Have you ever had a question about Catholicism that you couldn't find an easy answer to? Or a question about a teaching or tradition that seemed to have five different answers, none of them satisfactory? Or maybe you even had a question you felt you weren't allowed to ask. The new podcast from U.S. Catholic, Glad You Asked, may be just what you are looking for. Join U.S. Catholic editors Emily Sanna and Rebecca Bratten Weiss as they explore the questions about Catholicism that don't have easy answers.

Credits:

Production: Emily Sanna, Rebecca Bratten Weiss, Nathaniel Hunter

Music: Musictown

Graphic Design: Megan Avery

Glad You Asked is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries. https://www.claretiansusa.org/