The CC Podcast Returns for a special edition of the Catholic Creatives podcast.

What do JP II, Greek baths, and Catholic Creatives have to do with each other? Well. Quite a lot, turns out.

It’s been a minute, but because of the feast of JPII, we decided to dust off this interview that Matt Meeks and Anthony D’Ambrosio did with Christopher West. Christopher discovered a retreat that JP II gave to artists, and had it translated to English and published for the first time ever, complete with commentary from himself and some other notable theologians. The conversation got into some really interesting and very vulnerable waters. What JPII outlines is a path for us creatives and artists to use our creative gifts in ways that can us from our culture’s distorted and shamed relationship with the human body. As usual when talking to Christopher, the Holy Spirit revealed some profound truths to us.

The book is called God is Beauty, and you can find it at bit.ly/godisbeauty

Before we jump in, just a note from our sponsors:

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Welcome back creatives!

As you may know, there have been some big changes happening in the community recently. Anthony D'Ambrosio is stepping down from leadership to be a member of the Catholic Creatives community and Matt Meeks from Catholic Ventures has come in to help shepherd this community into the next phase of our mission to bring beauty back to the Church. Transitions can be hard, bumpy and confusing but they always bring new life.

For Catholic Creatives…

We are already dreaming of a new and rebooted summit,
We are dreaming of a new and improved podcast,
We are dreaming of a new way for people to belong in the community
We are dreaming of more crowdsourced projects
We are dreaming of a way to get our creations out there to the rest of the world.

And, we finally have long needed support to make a lot of these dreams a reality. We see God moving to make all these dreams happen and more through this new partnership.

And we are excited to bring you a new episode of the Catholic Creatives podcast today. In this episode we hear from both Anthony D'Ambrosio and Matt Meeks of Catholic Ventures as they discuss their history together, challenges building the CC community, and the future with Matt in this new role. This was a great interview with a few tears shed, and we see God’s heart leading these men and the Church as a whole.

A program note, the audio is a little rough at times, as this was a zoom call recording. We’ll make sure to get all the bugs ironed out for our next episode.

What are you most excited about on this next phase of the journey?

Let us know @catholiccreatives and for anyone who has specific questions, concerns or wants to connect on the next phase of the community, Matt asked us to include his email for you all to reach out to him directly: [email protected]

To learn more about Catholic Ventures, checkout the media release here.

Since his 2008 major label debut, Matt Maher has become a staple in the artistic and songwriting community. A nine time-GRAMMY® nominee and three time-GMA Dove Award winner. Matt Maher shares how his experience with tragedy and trauma has made him a better artist. In this conversation, he and Anthony D’Ambrosio talked on Facebook Live about how they are approaching quarantine, and about their hopes for how Catholic creatives will use this time to truly grapple with their own heartbreak.

We hope this conversation encourages you to share your creations with us and the world. Be part of the Through Fire campaign by posting your work with #ThroughFire and #CatholicCreatives.

Thanks to our sponsor The Little Catholic Box, who is offering a $20 discount on your first order of a new quarterly subscription when you use the code CCBEAUTY at checkout. And grab one of their new, limited-time “Be Not Afraid” mini-box.

Amanda and Charles Shepard share stories of their experiences curating, running, and building up the Fort Wayne Museum of Art — and why they believe art and beauty are no less important in these days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Charles has been the President and CEO of the museum since 2003, after multiple directorships throughout the country; Amanda, Vice President and COO, studied studio painting at Notre Dame before joining the FWMoA staff in 2007. They share how necessary it is to continue patronizing artists, appreciating beauty, and creating our own work.

We hope this conversation encourages you to share your creations with us and the world. Be part of the Through Fire campaign by posting your work with #ThroughFire and #CatholicCreatives.

Thanks to our sponsor The Little Catholic Box, who is offering a $20 discount on your first order of a new quarterly subscription when you use the code CCBEAUTY at checkout. And grab one of their new, limited-time “Be Not Afraid” mini-box.

In this special episode of the CC Podcast, Marcellino D’Ambrosio, Anthony D’Ambrosio, and Cody Barras break open the Catholic Creatives family values they’ve been uncovering over the past few months. They read the “manifesto” and tell the stories underneath the ideas — stories of learning to be vulnerable, own desire, and embrace the wonder of each human person.

Read along with the values here, and sign up for the CC Summit here.

Thanks to our sponsor The Little Catholic Box!

Resources mentioned in this episode: "The Church Needs Innovators” — Jason Shanks CC Podcast; “The Why of Our Lives” — Wesley Bancroft CC Podcast; “Reawakening the Desire to Dance” — Christopher West CC Podcast; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

At the CC Summit in 2018, Jeff Schiefelbein and Matt Pinto led a panel on entrepreneurship and making your crazy dreams work. Matthew Pinto is a speaker, author, and the founder of Ascension Press; and Jeff Schiefelbein is the Chief Culture Officer of 5, an energy consulting firm. Together, they shared their best practices for running businesses, sticking to your convictions, and tempering activity with receptivity.

To hear more talks like this, get an invite to the 2020 CC Summit! It’s going down in Dallas from April 30 - May 3.

Thanks to our sponsor The Little Catholic Box!

Support Catholic Creatives by donating or leaving a review.

Resources mentioned in this episode: The Vocation of the Business Leader

Additional music provided by Blue Dot Sessions.

Bradley Santos is the lead designer for the University of Washington central marketing team and the creative director of One Secret Mission, a creative studio leading a conversation to Christ with beauty. Bradley’s work in photography, graphic design, and art direction — and his Filipino background — help him tell untold stories and see beauty in new places. He joins us in the Narthex to geek out about Kanye and tell his story.

Thanks to our sponsor The Little Catholic Box! Visit their website now and click the pink banner along the top to have a chance at a free year’s worth of boxes.

Resources mentioned in this episode: Cory Heimann CC Podcast Episode, The Freshest Kids breakdancing documentary, God Is (Acoustic Cover) by Noah Pepmeyer

Additional music provided by Blue Dot Sessions.

Thomas Yep is a partner and the CEO at the Archetype Group, a Catholic business incubator, accelerator, and holding group that helps launch businesses to grow the economy of salvation. Together with his wife Christina (Archetype’s Chief Creative Officer), he is a father to four children.. Thomas works with entrepreneurs to coach them through the process of running a profitable business while bringing eternal value and human dignity to the culture, making a way for creative business owners to bring goodness, beauty, and truth to the world.

Check out this episode’s sponsor, The Little Catholic Box, and order your first box before they ship in early February 2020!

Resources mentioned in this episode: As Kingfishers Catch Fire, Gerard Manley Hopkins; Start With Why, Simon Sinek; Why Your Critics Aren’t the Ones Who Count, Brene Brown; Abiding Together Podcast

Additional Music from Blue Dot Sessions

In the Narthex this month is spoken word artist and thrifting queen Clare McCallan! Clare has traveled all over performing poetry, serving, and bringing the mic to underrepresented voices. She joined us in the Narthex to share stories of her Brooklyn adventures before she jetted off to Washington to be the Grunewald Guild artist-in-residence. If you’d like to bring Clare to perform poetry at your church, school, or home, get in touch with her through Instagram or email.

Thanks to this month’s Narthex sponsors: The Little Catholic Box and Sock Religious!

Blue Dot Sessions provided select music for this episode.

Andreas Widmer and Luke Burgis work at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at the Catholic University of America. Andreas founded and directs the Ciocca Center; he is the author of The Pope and the CEO. Luke is the current Entrepreneur in Residence at the Ciocca Center and co-authored the book Unrepeatable: Cultivating the Unique Calling of Every Person.

Together, they teach the popular “Vocation of Business” course. Luke is now adapting that class for a high school course called the “Catholic Entrepreneurship and Design Experience,” or CEDE.

Additional music from this episode provided by Blue Dot Sessions.