Contemporary Spirituality

Dr. Allegre is a pioneer in the fields of hospice care and palliative medicine. She began her career in general medicine and soon became interested in palliative medicine as a result of a personal experience with life-threatening illness. She joined Kansas City Hospice and Palliative Care in 1995 and became its first director of medical programs. In 1999, she became the founding medical director of the Palliative Care Consult Team at Providence Medical Center in Kansas City. Colleagues praise her remarkable communication skills, her holistic and spiritual approach to her patients and their families, and her finely honed clinical expertise. Dr. Allegre is also an educator and mentor to other physicians. As an associate clinical professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Kansas, School of Medicine, she educates the next generation of physicians about end-of-life care. She is also active in the work of the Center for Practical Bioethics in Kansas City.

Tom Cordaro is the Justice & Outreach Minister for St. Margaret Mary in Naperville, Illinois. Tom coordinates the charity work of the parish and is responsible for educating parishioners about issues of justice and peace as they related to Catholic Social Teaching. Tom served on the national staff of Pax Christi USA and was also a founding member of the Pax Christi Anti-Racism Team which assist Pax Christi USA in transforming itself into an anti-racist multi-cultural Catholic movement for peace and justice. 

Tom has been involved with faith-based peace and justice work for over 40 years as a local, regional and national organizer, public speaker and writer.

Both Charles and Mike were part of a group that completed the Richard Rohr Living School in 2017. His journey includes business success, a battle with alcoholism and his resulting sobriety, including his thoughts on his current battle with cancer. Mike asked Charles to identify some key aspects of his journey and he provided the following – “Finding out I’ve always been okay; I just didn’t know it. Trudging the road of happy destiny. Giving up the merit economy so as to join the economy of Grace. Finally knowing God loves me because He is good not because I am good.”

Law and faith - journey of a preachers kid 

John has a trial lawyer’s skill, coupled with a servant’s heart. Below in John’s own words is a summary of the essence of his journey.

My feelings about my Maker and my faith seem like unto John Wesley’s expression of his “conversion” experience ---

Aldersgate Day is celebrated on May 24 (or the Sunday closest) to commemorate the day in 1738 when John Wesley experienced assurance of his salvation.  Wesley reluctantly attended a group meeting that evening on Aldersgate Street in London.  As he heard a reading from Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, he felt his "heart strangely warmed."   Wesley wrote in his journal that at about 8:45 p.m. "while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

I have been fortunate to have multiple such strange warmings of my heart throughout my life.   I live for them.   I treasure them.   Lucky me.

In this episode, Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) Executive Director Michael Poffenberger shares how they are building on Fr. Richard Rohr’s vision for the organization and its role in the future of the Christian contemplative movement.  Founded by Fr. Richard in 1987 as a “school for prophets,” today the CAC provides spiritual wisdom and guidance to millions of seekers around the world in support of inner and outer transformation.

Frank Cordaro 70 yr old Des Moines native, former Des Moines Diocesan Catholic priest for 19 years, co-founder of the Des Moines Catholic Worker in 1976.  Frank calls the Berrigan brothers Dan and Phil his rabbis. His 1st arrest on the steps of the Pentagon Aug 9, 1977. Frank’s been arrested hundreds of times, in lots of places, for a wide range of issues over the years, spending over nights, to months in jails or prisons.  Collectively Frank has done 6 years of jail and/or prison time, never more than 6 months at a time over the last 44 yrs.

Two weeks after 9/11 in 2001 Frank suffered a life threatening heartache. After a long recovery and an even longer decrement process Frank resigned from active priestly ministry in 2004. In a public statement he said he wanted to live, that his long standing conflict at maintaining celibacy was too much to bear.

Frank’s been living and working at the Des Moines Catholic Worker since 2004. Life at the Des Moines Catholic Worker has given Frank a place and tradition that allows him to remain Catholic and follow the radical Jesus he came to know in the Gospels and in the people he’s served over the years.

Interview with Cristo Rey's President, John O’Connor, and Director of Corporate Work Study Program, Ted Koppen. Cristo Rey Kansas City provides a Catholic, college and career prep education enhanced by an innovative corporate work study program to culturally diverse, ambitious students with economic need.

In 2006, Cristo Rey Kansas City opened its doors making an intentional investment in students of limited economic means across the metro area. Drawing on the educational experience of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth and the Cristo Rey Network, school leaders set out to make college and career-prep education accessible for ambitious students.

Biagio Mazza is Pastoral Associate for St. Sabina’s Parish in Belton, Missouri providing for the adult faith formation needs of the parish. Biagio has worked for the church in various positions for over 40 years. Before coming to St. Sabina in May 2006, Biagio was a staff member of the Center for Pastoral Life and Ministry in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, for over 17 years. Prior to joining the staff of the Center for Pastoral Life and Ministry, Biagio worked in catechetical ministry in the Archdiocese of New York for over 12 years.

Biagio published one book and contributed to another. Biagio authored a book in the Paulist Press Catechist’s Guide Series called How to Teach Scripture, published by Paulist Press in 2010. He is also a major contributor to books on Scripture backgrounds for Lectionary Years A, B and C, called Foundations for Preaching and Teaching, published by Liturgy Training Publications.

Biagio was an adjunct instructor in scripture, theology, church history, and Islam for the Institute of Religious Studies facilitated through Benedictine College for the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, as well as adjunct Theology instructor for both Rockhurst and Avila universities in Kansas City, Missouri. Biagio is active in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, especially with Jewish-Christian and Muslim-Christian dialogues.

Our podcast’s first panel features Jerusalem Farm founders in a discussion on the formation of the community and each of their journeys to JFarm. Sunny and Jessie were speakers when a Jerusalem Farm panel joined us at Avila in November of 2017, where they spoke about Laudauto Si.

David Armstrong has served as the Director of Mission Effectiveness and Campus Ministries at Avila University for the past 18 years. His personal experiences at Nazareth Farm in West Virginia and his relentless enthusiasm lead him to dream of an urban farm in KC.

Jessie Schiele is the Executive Director at Jerusalem Farm, which involves a lot of paperwork—her favorite of which is handmade & upcycled thank you notes. She and her husband Jordan currently have 5 children and spend their weekends electric biking around KCMO.

Sunny Hamrick has lived at Jerusalem Farm for six years and serves as the farm manager, coordinating the gardens and orchard. He is also a worksite leader (and JFarm’s best finisher—putting amazing detail into bathroom and kitchen remodels for low-income families). Sunny leaves time for rock climbing, music making, and fighting the broken systems as an anti-war activist. 

Jerusalem Farm is a Catholic intentional community located in the Historic Northeast Neighborhood of Kansas City MO. Built on the four cornerstones of Prayer, Community, Service, and Simplicity, we strive to transform our lives and the lives of those around us through service retreat experiences, sustainable living, and home repair. 

For those of you who do not know Nick, he is a local pastor, activist, performer, antiracism trainer, and real estate agent in Kansas City. He has over 10 years of experience doing antipoverty, de-escalation, and antiracism work. He serves on the board of Cherith Brook Catholic Worker, and is the founding pastor of The Open Table, a dinner church devoted to peace and liberation. Listen as we discuss how Nick came to be devoted action, contemplation and antiracism, both in his personal life as well as in the life of the church he pastors.

The day of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Kansas City Star columnist Bill Tammeus was assigned to write the lead commentary for a special edition of the paper to be published that afternoon. Partway through that task, he learned that his nephew was a passenger on the first plane to smash into the World Trade Center. Now, almost 20 years later, Bill recounts in his new book the multiple traumas his extended family experienced because of that. Love, Loss and Endurance: A 9/11 Story of Resilience and Hope in an Age of Anxiety, to be published Jan. 19 (but available for pre-order now on Amazon), also explores why some people get sucked into monochromatic religious thinking that can lead to violence and what we can do to stand against such extremism. Mike and Bill talk about all that and more in this podcast.

Sr Ilia Delio, a respected academic and theologian, is Josephine C. Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology at Villanova University and the author of nearly 20 books including Christ In Evolution, The Emergent Christ, The Unbearable Wholeness of Being and Making All Things New.  She is the founder and vision behind the Omega Center now Center for Christogenesis.  She is an internationally sought after presenter speaking on the intersection of Science and Religion and we were honored to have Ilia give weekend retreats in Kansas City (of course, before packed crowds) in 2017 and 2018.

Her recent memoir- Birth of a Dancing Star is just out. Regarding this book, Barbara Brown Taylor says the following “Thank God there is nothing linear in the lifeline of this book. Delio tells her rising, spiraling story with such transparent joy that she seizes every change of plan as a new dance move from God. Only out of chaos can a star be born, she says, welcoming us to take our own places in the rising, spiraling story of the universe.”

Hollis is a local Kansas City attorney whose career has included decades of premier trial work followed by decades of exemplar mediation/arbitration work. His work on sexual abuse cases in KC drew national attention. Hollis is most importantly a wise soul and a committed man of faith. 

For those who attended the nearly 20 Father Meninger retreats we did in Missouri and Kansas in 2014, 2015 and 2016- you will remember Dan. Dan has been organizing and attending these retreats for Father Meninger throughout the country and abroad since 2010.  Do yourself a favor and give this interview a listen. You will hear about Dan’s spiritual journey, his visits to Snowmass and interactions with Thomas Keating, Joe Boyle and others and his insights from over 100 retreats with Father William Meninger. Enjoy!

Rev. Kevin Kelly is a local pastor and  the leader of our Tuesday morning prayer group the Mystic Misfits (although he prefers to refer to himself as part of the leadership team). Kevin’s recently completed doctor of ministry work focused on spirituality in general and the Mystics specifically. Kevin was one of the original members of this contemplative group.  This interview includes his journey, vocation and insights.

Fr. Carl is a founding member of Contemplative Outreach and a longtime friend of Father Thomas Keating. In this interview, Father Carl- a funny,  warm and delightful wise soul, talks about his journey, centering prayer and his time with Thomas Keating. 

Sister Mary Agnes is the current Director of Development and former prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison Kansas. As a Benedictine nun for the past 51 years, you will not only hear her story but also the story of Mount St. Scholastica. So many of these  nuns (now about 110 in number), have been at the Mount for 40, 50 or more years and still “shine like the sun.”  Hope you enjoy!

Fr. Farnan, ordained in 1987, is pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish. After graduating from Rockhurst College, he received a Master of Divinity from University of St. Mary of the Lake, Chicago, and a Master in Christian Spirituality from Creighton University. He has served as pastor of several parishes, most recently St. Thomas More. Diocesan positions in which he served are Director of Vocations, Director of Priest Personnel, and  the College of Consultors. He established the Upper Room, an inner city literacy program for youth and their families. He is author of: Crossroads of Hope:A Priest’s Inner (City) Journey; This Bold Prayer: A Collection of Spiritual Essays, and A Parish for all Seasons: A Year in the Life of Saint Thomas More School.   

Fr William Meninger is an American Trappist monk who is a spiritual teacher and a principal developer of Centering Prayer, a method of contemplative prayer. 

After studying at St. John's Seminary in Boston, Meninger was ordained a priest in 1958 for the Diocese of Yakima in the State of Washington, where he worked on an Indian reservation and with Mexican migrant workers for six years. In 1963 he entered the Trappists at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, where he served in the guesthouse for 15 years, as well as teaching scripture, liturgy and patristics to the younger member of the abbey. He served as subprior, prior and dean of the junior professed monks, not yet in final vows.

Meninger came across a work by an English hermit of the 14th century, called the Cloud of Unknowing. It was written to help people living regular lives in the world develop and deepen their prayer lives. Meninger found that it taught contemplative prayer in a simple way available to anyone. He began to teach this method to the younger monks of the abbey and to the retreatants who had come to it for a period of spiritual reflection.

In 1974 Meninger developed the workshop on Contemplative Meditation (later known as Centering Prayer) which he now teaches worldwide along with workshops on forgiveness, the Enneagram of Personality, sacred scriptures, and prayer. His method was further developed and promoted by two other monks of his abbey, Thomas Keating (his abbot at the time) and Basil Pennington.

John Dear is an internationally known voice for peace and nonviolence. A peacemaker, organizer, lecturer, and retreat leader, he is the author/editor of 35 books, including his autobiography, “A Persistent Peace”. In 2008, John was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. John has been arrested over seventy-five times in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience for peace, and has organized hundreds of demonstrations against war and nuclear weapons at military bases across the country, as well as worked with Mother Teresa and others to stop the death penalty. A former Jesuit, John is a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Monterey, California, and on the staff of Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service and Campaign Nonviolence and is also part of the Vatican Nonviolence Initiative. See www.johndear.org

“Our task, in these dark times, is simple: to speak the truth, resist war and injustice, practice nonviolence, walk with the poor, love everyone, say our prayers, and uphold the vision of a new world without war, poverty or nuclear weapons. We are called to follow the nonviolent Jesus on the road to peace. If we can be faithful to the God of peace and the Way of nonviolence, we will be greatly blessed.” – John Dear