Posts Tagged ‘News and Culture’
Getting your Foot in the Door w/ Sr. Rose Marie Tulacz | Understanding Our Apostolic Age
As we encounter others in this new Apostolic Age, it may be difficult to broach conversations and meet new people. Sometimes we need something that will get our foot in the door. For Sister Rose Marie Tulacz, SND, that something is her camera.
In this conversation, Darnell Miller, Creative Director at MAX Studios, and Sister Rose Marie talk about how the camera can be a tool for evangelization and how Sister Rose Marie has encountered humanity through her work and her travels.
Learn More about Sister Rose Marie Tulacz and her work with Notre Dame Creations here.
North Dakota’s Secret Power w/ Monsignor Shea | Understanding Our Apostolic Age
What is the value of education today? Moreover, what is the value of a Catholic education? Monsignor James Shea, President of University of Mary in North Dakota, sits down with Dr. Chris Evans, Vice President of Academic Affairs for University of St. Thomas - Houston, to explore that very question.
They discuss their particular philosophies of education and how, despite current trends in higher education, both universities have found growth, reaching and surpassing their enrollment goals.
Finally, they discuss the important formation that happens in college and how it helps to prepare young adults for fruitful and fulfilling lives.
Monsignor James Patrick Shea, President of the University of Mary
From Christendom to Apostolic Mission: Pastoral Strategies for an Apostolic Age | University of Mary
Catholic Ed for the Whole Life w/ Monsignor James Shea | Napa Institute Conference Series
Preparing Missionary Disciples w/ Dave Plisky of DeSales Media | Understanding Our Apostolic Age
How do we prepare people to have the skills and confidence they need to be missionary disciples, share their faith and invite others into it too? That has been the focus of Dave Plisky and DeSales Media. So they put together a questionnaire and asked people to evaluate their preparedness and identify ways they would like to develop their missionary skills. In this conversation Dave and Darnell Miller, Creative Director of MAX Studios at the University of St. Thomas - Houston, sit down and discuss the findings of that report.
Masculinity & Evangelization w/ Dcn. Michael Halbrook & Nick Meyer | Understanding Our Apostolic Age
Every year, in the 90 days leading up to Easter, the team at Exodus invite Catholic men across the world to deepen their spiritual life by participating in a challenge, Exodus 90, that draws men away from distractions in life - social media, video games and television amongst others - and prompts them to engage in a series of ascetic, spiritual and communal activities to transform their lives and deepen their relationship with God.
Darnell Miller, Creative Director at MAX Studios, sat down with Deacon Michael Halbrook, Exodus' COO, and Nick Meyer, Exodus' Head of Growth, to discuss the importance of understanding true masculinity and the importance of community and friendship.
The Beam in Our Eye w/ Sam Mazzarelli | Understanding our Apostolic Age
We must know our strengths and weaknesses before we can become better evangelists. At least that is the thesis behind the Catholic Leadership Institute's mission. In this episode, MAX Studios' Creative Director, Darnell Miller, sits down with Sam Mazzarelli, Vice President, Innovation and Development at Catholic Leadership Institute, to learn how they are working with parishes to identify their blind spots and help them better serve their community while preparing them to serve others.
Learn more about Sam Mazzarelli and Catholic Leadership Institute
The Art of Serving the Deaf Community w/ Fr. Sean Loomis | Understanding Our Apostolic Age
While in seminary, Fr. Sean Loomis, Chaplain Annunciation B.V.M Rectory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was approached and asked if he would be willing to learn American Sign Language and serve the Deaf community. He accepted and his since gone on to learn, understand and participate in their language and culture.
In this episode, Darnell and Fr. Loomis discuss the challenges that come with serving a new community and explore how the lessons Fr. Loomis learned in serving the Deaf community can be applied in any mission.
Accompanying Parents Through Loss w/ Kelly Breaux | Understanding our Apostolic Age
After losing a child of her own, Kelly Breaux realized there was not sufficient support in her church community. So she set out to create Red Bird Ministries, where she trains others, priests and lay alike, to accompany families through the struggles that come with miscarriage and loss of a child.
In the this conversation, Kelly shares her story of loss, why she believes it is important to empower the priests to accompany families and what she has learned in serving.
What Does it Mean to Live in an Apostolic Age w/ Jason Simon | Understanding Our Apostolic Age
We are in the midst of an Apostolic Age.
But what does that mean?
We headed to Dallas to attend The Evangelical Catholic's Conference: Priests for An Apostolic Age to find out. There we had the opportunity to talk to experts - lay and religious - about what it means to live in an apostolic age and how they are using their ministries to "Go Out" and reach people for Christ.
In this first episode we talk to Jason Simon, the President of The Evangelical Catholic, and organizer of this conference, about what it means to be in an apostolic age and why it is important to empower priests to develop new styles and tactics for outreach. We also discuss the fundamental shift of our understanding of parish life that needs to happen if we are going to prepare the laity to go out and evangelize.
Video Games as a Vehicle for Community
Videos games affect all of us - whether we play or we interact with someone who plays regularly. They are a big part of our culture from playing Fortnite on a PC to Candy Crush on your phone. Taking time to think about how video games can be a vehicle for community and then, in a bigger way, a way to minister to others, can literally change the world.
MAX Studios Creative Director Darnell Miller sits down with Jonathan Blevins, @BeardedBlevins , a popular Catholic Twitch streamer and CEO of Little Flower Media, and Joseph Bionat, formerly Marketing Coordinator with Word on Fire Institute and now Director of Marketing with St. Ann Parish in Dallas, Texas, to talk about video games and how they affect the culture.
They discuss how gaming affects young people, the real stats about who is actually playing video games, the difference between people being non-playable characters and a real life person, anonymity versus authenticity online, and how Christians are called to be who God called them to be while interacting in digital spaces. They also shout out Catholic creative organizations like Flocknote, Hallow and Word on Fire's "God and Gaming" YouTube series.
Extras:
The Bearded Blevins Stream Team
New Media, Technology & Young Adults – Interviews w/ Texas Bishops
How often do you get to ask your bishop questions about their diocese and young adults in the Church? In September 2022, University of St. Thomas-Houston hosted the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops for their annual General Assembly. We took the opportunity to ask a few Texas bishops and a couple of others a few questions:
- “Describe your diocese in a few sentences.”
- "What is an innovative initiative in your diocese?"
- “What do you hear or what questions do you have for young adults?”
Here are the bishops who willingly stepped up the mic:
- Bishop David Toups, Diocese of Beaumont
- Bishop Daniel Flores, Diocese of Brownsville
- Bishop James Tamayo, Diocese of Laredo
- Bishop Michael Sis, Diocese of San Angelo
- Bishop Brendan Cahill, Diocese of Victoria
We also interviewed a couple of others:
- Fr. Jacob Koether, Diocese of Victoria
- Amy Auzenne, Director of Evangelization and Catechesis, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
We at MAX Studios were also pumped to give a presentation at the event on "Evangelization in the Digital World" focusing on how dioceses can utilize digital (primarily social) media to share the Gospel far and wide. Jonathan "Bearded Blevins" joined us for that presentation.