In this episode, I speak with Ana Chavarin. Ana Chavarin is a member of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Tucson, Ariz., and formerly an organizer for Pima County Interfaith. During her over 10 year tenure as an oganizer, she was awarded the 2019 Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award from the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Human Development. In 2018 she won a US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) award for Hispanic Catholic Leaders and was also recognized by the Arizona Daily Star for her community achievements. Ana has helped the immigrant community address issues of community safe ..read more

In this episode, I speak with Isaac Cuevas. Isaac is the director of the Office of Immigration Affairs for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The Office of Immigration Affairs was created as part of Archbishop Gomez’ vision for helping parishes and people in the LA community with immigration issues. Hiis office has developed a network of community leaders that implement workshops, develop programs, and provide resources for the largest immigrant community in the country. In addition to community outreach, Mr. Cuevas works as an immigration advocate, serving as the voice for the Archdiocese among ..read more

In this episode, you will meet William Becerra, the Bilingual Advisor for national Hispanic engagement with Catholic Relief Services. We talk about his upbringing in Colombia, his experience as a religious missionary, and more! Word of the day: Discernment Catholic Social Teaching Theme: Solidarity Want to connect with me? ReclaimingSJ@gmail.com Have feedback? Send your thoughts and recommendations here: https://bit.ly/reclaimingsjfeedback --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reclaimingsj/message ..read more

Today’s episode features a special guest, Jack Jezreel. If you a passionate social-justice-oriented Catholic, then you have probably heard of JustFaith. JustFaith Ministries creates transformative programs that inspire action to address the root causes of injustice while serving with love. Jack is the founder of JustFaith Ministries and was the first Executive Director of the organization. Jack is a popular speaker and author of the book, A New Way to Be Church: Parish Renewal from the Outside In. His work now focuses on presentations, workshops and training to introduce JustFaith programs and ..read more

Ever wonder, what, if anything, do Catholic seminarians learn about social justice? Tune in to this episode to find out. You might be surprised at the answer! Themes from the interview that connect to the themes of Catholic Social Teaching: The universal destination of goods Right to private property Subsidiarity Word of the day: Distributism Source: Does the Church Teach Distributism? By Dr. Jared Staudt Want to connect with me? ReclaimingSJ@gmail.com Have feedback? Send your thoughts and recommendations here: ⁠https://bit.ly/reclaimingsjfeedback --- Send in a voice message: https://p ..read more

In this episode, you will meet Amanda Montez. Amanda Montez Cobian is the director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Jesuit High School in Portland, OR. She recently finished her graduate degree at the University of San Francisco in international and multicultural education. Her research centers alumni of Nativity schools and how they transition to predominantly white high schools. As a bi-racial educator, she aims to create the classroom environment she wished she could have had as a student and works to create systems of racial equity at work, in research, and as a co-author of Jesuit W ..read more

In this episode, I speak with Annie Fox, the daughter of a Baptist mother and a Jewish father who has dedicated her life to interfaith relationship building and justice work.  She currently works as the Provincial Assistant for Social Ministry Organizing for Jesuits West. Fox has run grassroots campaigns focused on housing, homelessness, education, immigration, and mass incarceration. Here's our conversation at a glance: Favorite line from the prayer of Teilhard de Chardin Her upbringing in an interfaith family The multiple crises she experienced at the age of 7 and how her local school ..read more

Ana Ruiz is a young immigrant from Mexico who has spent most of her life directly or indirectly serving in ministry. Her earliest memory is at a retreat center where her parents served as marriage encounter leaders. Fast forward to today, she has recently graduated from Georgetown University where she majored in culture and politics and minored in theology and german and was the vice president of Catholic Women at Georgetown, a campus court of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas. She has interned at multiple well-known Catholic organizations such as the Catholic Labor Network and the USCCB ..read more

In today’s interview, you will meet Cecilia Flores. Cecilia is the daughter of Filipino immigrants and has spent 15 years working with communities of faith to address issues of poverty and injustice in the US and in Central America. In our conversation, we speak about her missionary experience in Honduras, what we really mean by the phrase “meet people whey they are at”, the importance of remembering her motherland, culture and how that intersects with social justice, her experience as a first-generation American, raising intercultural kids, unity, and much more!  Building a common langua ..read more

In this month's episode, you will meet Alex Quezada. Alex serves as Hispanic Ministry Coordinator at St. John Paul II Catholic Parish in Kankakee Illinois. Alex has also been working as Relief & Development Coordinator at the office for Human Dignity in the Diocese of Joliet since 20019. As an immigrant from Mexico, Alex works to promote social justice for all following the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Given our shared cultural identities, we talked a lot about the immigrant experience but also touch on racial justice in the black community as well. We talked about the importanc ..read more