Marcus Mescher

V. 14. no. 2 features a 3-article symposium that emerged from the @sofcethics.bsky.social on "Christian Family Ethics and Shame." In his introduction, Marcus Mescher contextualizes the topic & provides an overview of the conversation. @mmescher.bsky.social

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YouTube video by Catholic Women Preach July 13, 2025: Meghan J. Clark Preaches for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

As always, lots to learn from @drclarkm1.bsky.social on the parable of the Good Samaritan:

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How to Really Understand the Parable of the Good Samaritan This Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 10:25-37) might be Jesus’ best-known story. How many times have you heard the phrase, “Good Samaritan”? Even non-Christians know the term suggests someone who is kind, ge…

ICYMI: this summary offers a deep dive into the depth of the challenge to “Go and do likewise” as a practice of Christian discipleship today:

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Today’s gospel is often domesticated, reduced to random acts of kindness or helping in an emergency. Jesus’ command to “Go and do likewise” is to emulate the Samaritan’s compassion, courage, and boundary-breaking solidarity in our own context. There is no “us” and “them” in God’s eyes. Just us.

Inhumane Profits Imagine this scenario. Your daughter is a newlywed. While she is not a US citizen, her husband is, and she is trying to navigate the legal system to adjust her own status. She shows up at the immig…

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The most sobering part about becoming 1930’s Germany is realizing that no one is going to come here and liberate those being brutalized. If this historically inhumane regime is going to be overthrown, We The American People are going to have to do it.

USAID cuts could lead to 14 million deaths over the next five years, researchers say An analysis published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet projects that cuts to the agency will lead to more deaths from diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

I really don’t understand how anyone in this administration, or anyone who supports them, sleep at night.

On hearing Trump invoke God after bombing Iran on the feast of Corpus Christi How should American Catholics respond to the U.S. attacks on Iran? Perhaps the Feast of Corpus Christi offers a counterpoint to the god of war, power and vengeance invoked by so many today.

On hearing Trump invoke God after bombing Iran on the feast of Corpus Christi

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Bishop Seitz: “We remain resolute in our call for protection of refugees amid their disparate treatment by our government.” Pope Leo has said: “Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for ‘security’ zones, for the exclusionary mindset that is emerging in political nationalisms.”

"In the name of human dignity and international law, I reiterate to those in positions of responsibility the frequent warning of Pope Francis: 'War is always a defeat!' And that of Pope Pius XII: 'Nothing is lost with peace. Everything may be lost with war.'" #PopeLeoXIV #PrayForPeace

#PopeFrancis brought humility and reform to the papacy. In word and action, he modeled a steadfast commitment to mercy, solidarity, and hope. In this Easter Season of new life, let us pray for him. And let us answer his call to radical love in service to those in greatest need and our common home.

Join Mairead Maguire in fasting for children of Gaza Pax Christi International's Catholic Nonviolence Initiative sent out the following message today. Pax Christi USA encourages our members and supporters to prayerfully consider joining in this powerful witness: We invite you to accompany and support the 40-day fast of Mairead Maguire for the children of Gaza. Mairead is a Noble Peace Prize laureate and a member of the Advisory Council of Pax Christi’s 

Join Mairead Maguire in fasting for children of Gaza

Pax Christi International's Catholic Nonviolence Initiative sent out the following message today. Pax Christi USA encourages our members and supporters to prayerfully consider joining in this powerful witness: We invite you to accompany and…

The Unfinished Work of Saint Óscar Romero Two unfinished Masses are linked to the legacy of Saint Óscar Romero, pointing to his unfinished work to see Christ in and be Christ for the poor, marginalized, and excluded. Forty years ago, Óscar…

It’s not enough to remember #SanRomero. He urges us onward to be witnesses of the Gospel in the face of corruption, injustice, and violence; to dignify those who are humiliated, vulnerable, and oppressed. May his unfinished work move us to collaborate for peace

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Oscar Romero: More Than a Saint I still remember the first time I watched the movie “Romero.” It opened my eyes to the realities of people living in conditions I could hardly imagine, growing up in the Midwest. I was moved by Rom…

Visiting El Salvador is always a gift of love. It’s moving to see Romero’s image everywhere: in people’s homes, on neighborhood murals, and in churches. He’s so much more than a saint for Salvadorans: he’s a witness of faith-that-inspires-solidarity.

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“Our persecution is nothing more nor less than sharing the destiny of the poor … if they kill me, I will resurrect in the Salvadoran people … may my blood be a seed of liberation.”

Let us remember St. Óscar Romero, killed while celebrating Mass 45 years ago today.

Opinion | If Elon Musk Were Empathetic (Gift Article) Valentino Deng also has roots in Africa, but he exudes the empathy that Musk scorns.

Elon Musk warned that "the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy," so I'm hoping he reads this, for I found his opposite: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...

Religious Freedom as a Defense for DEI? Georgetown University cited its Jesuit mission in responding to Trump administration critiques of DEI. Could religious freedom protect against attacks on diversity practices?

My Jesuit university, and our university president, made it into mainstream higher ed news, in a good way: www.insidehighered.com/news/institu...

In El Salvador this week, I met with neighborhood leaders, non-profits, and base ecclesial communities. All lamented the drastic and draconian cuts to USAID. It means less access to water, food, healthcare (especially for women and children), and legal rights. It will also cause preventable deaths.

A gift to be in Paisnal to commemorate the 48th anniversary of the murder of Fr. Rutillio Grande, S.J., and his companions, Nelson and Manuel. #presente

It was great fun talking about my @orbisbooks.bsky.social book, “The Ethics of Encounter,” at the University of Notre Dame. I loved the questions from students about how to apply Pope Francis’ culture of encounter and why we must keep expanding our imagination of what solidarity can make possible.

New anthology alert: "Accountability, Healing, and Trust" on the Catholic Sex Abuse Crisis, featuring
@mmescher.bsky.social 's chapter "Walking with Survivors: What Are We to Do with This Pain?"
Don't miss it!

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Dorothy Day insisted, “It is by the Works of Mercy that we shall be judged." Well done, good and faithful servant. #RIP Jimmy Carter

Mary Oliver had it right:

Around me the trees stir in their leaves and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It's simple, they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light,
and to shine.”

I went forest bathing and it was such a moving experience to use my senses and feel so deeply connected to nature, even in this late fall season when trees are bare, leaves are brown, and life seems to be retreating. The squirrels were still playing, the birds still singing, and I can carry on, too.

Let us honor the Four Church Women martyred in El Salvador on this date in 1980 by remembering the poor people of El Salvador for whom they lived and died.

Sr. Maura Clark, MM
Sr. Ita Ford, MM
Sr. Dorothy Kazel, OSU
Ms. Jean Donovan

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I’m with your husband

Ice Cream, Gustavo Gutierrez, and a God That Delights in Us Since I learned that Gustavo Gutierrez passed, I’ve been thinking of him and the time I spent with him at Boston College in the summers of 2008 and 2010. I’m still amazed at the joy he …

One month ago, Gustavo Gutiérrez joined the communion of saints. I’ve been thinking about him almost every day, especially what he taught me about the gratuitousness of God’s love and God’s desire for each person to enjoy the fullness of life—and ice cream, too!
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I’m thankful to share my research on moral injury in Santiago, Chile. The conversations at Pontifical University, Alberto Hurtado, and Silva Henriquez have been invigorating. Building bonds across institutions (and continents) illustrates Greg Boyle’s claim, “it is the relationship that heals.”

Remembering the UCA Martyrs: The Costliness of Jesuit Education I’ll never forget standing in the rose garden at the UCA—the Jesuit university of El Salvador—and being hit with the costliness of Jesuit education. On November 16, 1989, six Jesuit priests, their …

“… We must work for a new world in which greed and selfishness will finally be overcome.”

May the memory of the UCA martyrs fill us with hunger for justice. Or, as Jon Sobrino insists, “May they rest in peace but not let us rest in peace.”

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