Mission Outlook

This is the first increase in poverty after five consecutive annual declines, according to the latest Poverty and Income U.S. Census Report. The most significant data is that in 2020, there were 37.2 million people in poverty, approximately 3.3 million more than in 2019. In this episode, I interviewed Lisa Trusas, recovery coach and warmer shelter manager in Milford (MA). She shared her over 20-year-long experience helping people in need.

The recent choice of President Biden to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan led the Taliban to take over Afghanistan. This situation has raised several questions: Who are the Taliban? How was possible for them to take over the country so quickly? How will life change in Afghanistan now that they have control? This and more questions will be addressed in this episode. Farida and Murtaza - two young Afghan adults shared with Mission Outlook their powerful stories. Listen to the episode to know more. At this link, you will find the full interview to Murtaza - https://bit.ly/3t0NbZy

People are leaving the Catholic Church. Why is this happening? What are disaffiliated folks seeking? Why is the Church not able to dialogue with them? What are the reactions of Catholic families before children leaving the Church? In this episode, I interviewed fr. Carl Chudy - a Xaverian Missionary who just graduated from Hartford Seminary (Connecticut) with research on disaffiliation in the Catholic Church. Fr. Carl addresses these and many more questions in the interview. The study, “Secular Catholicism: Toward a Renewed Pastoral Understanding and Praxis in Catholic Families with Disaffiliated Children in the Archdiocese of Boston,” is accessible at this link: https://bit.ly/3iqU16R

The US is experiencing a time of struggle and internal division. The recent Capitol Riots and Black Lives Matter demonstrations are proof of the tensions that this country is undergoing. Arthur P. Ciaramicoli, Ed.D., Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist formerly on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. He recently wrote the book, “America Reunited – A Relational Solution to Bridging the Political, Social, and Personal Chasm Dividing our Nation,” in which he gives a possible solution to this internal conflict from his professional experience.

Since 1948 an endless conflict hit the region of the world known as Israel or Palestine. But what are the reason for this endless war?  Why Israelis are fighting Palestinian and vice versa? Is there any solution to this conflict? In this episode, I'll address all these questions with the help of Hiba, a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon.

Since April 28 the Colombian people are protesting against a new tributary law made by Ivan Duque’s government. The law raised taxes for low and medium-wages. As a consequence, inflation has grown as never before. Food, water, gas, and other goods of primary importance are not affordable anymore. However, after just a few days of demonstration, the government had to withdraw the law. But why are people still protesting in the street? Now it’s almost a month, and demonstrations are still going on in Colombia. In this podcast episode, Colombians living this situation from there or living abroad share their voices to explain what’s happening in their country. Guests in this episode: (Instagram) @mariap9197 @sebxss @vanecabag @camila_lunav For more information or comments: Pietro Rossini, SX – butros92@gmail.com

Ph.D. Rocco Viviano is a Xaverian Missionary who currently works in Japan. He got a Master's degree in Missiology and a Ph.D. in Interfaith Dialogue. What is interfaith dialogue? How does it work? How to become people of dialogue? Is dialogue part of the Christian faith? Is the dialogue in opposition to the proclamation of the Gospel? These and more questions are answered in this episode...

When we think of Climate Change and Global Warming, usually cities, planes, cars, factories, and many other technologies come to our minds. But do you know that rural areas have an enormous impact on Climate Change as well?

Why being a missionary? Why leave your country, friends, and family? What is the work of missionaries? In this episode, Fr. Edgar Nava, Xaverian Missionary, shares his work with the poor in a slum area of Bangkok (Thailand).

Isabel Wilkerson is an American journalist. She wrote "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents." A best-seller where she highlights the permanent caste system in the US.

During the lockdown, Pope Francis wrote down some reflections to help our world to be a better place after the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2020, Francis published a book containing a new path after this time of crisis: “Let Us Dream – The Path to a Better Future.” In this book, Francis asserts that the pandemic is a time of crisis and that every crisis is a time of change. It is an opportunity to change our daily habits and routines. The Pope addresses this book to all humankind proposing new paths to build a better world after this pandemic.

"I don’t have anywhere to go. I've been sleeping outside since March because I lost my house. And now things are getting worse with the winter coming.” Bob is a 66 years-old man who had to leave his house last March just right before the pandemic. He found a spot in the woods on Route 16 in Milford, Massachusetts. He installed a big umbrella as a refuge for the rain. For he is afraid to install a camping tent because the landowner may send him away. Unfortunately, Bob is not alone. According to endhomelessness.org, there are more than 20,000 homeless in Massachusetts. It means that 29 people out of 10,000 are homeless in the state. However, these numbers are going to increase precipitously due to the pandemic and the end of the moratorium on evictions. Moreover, there are many stereotypes about homelessness. How to overcome them? Listen to this episode to have a different outlook on homelessness.

Joe Biden is the 46th president of the United States of America. And Kamala Harris is the first woman, and a black woman holding the office of vice president. However, Trump - the former president - doesn't want to concede. This is an unprecedented situation for the US. What America and the world will look like after these elections? Listen to this episode to know more... 

David Sulewski is a member of the Saint Egidio Community. This community is spread worldwide with the mission of bringing peace to the world. To know more listen to this episode and visit: https://www.santegidio.org/ For any feedback or comment about this episode: David Sulewski (speaker guest) - djsulewski@gmail.com  Pietro Rossini (host) - butros92@gmail.com

Liseli A. Fitzpatrick is a Trinidadian-scholar in the field of African Diasporic cosmologies and sacred ontologies. In May 2018, Fitzpatrick made history as the first Ph.D. in the Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS) at The Ohio State University (OSU). Fitzpatrick is passionate about cultivating sacred consciousness, not limited to religiosity, and is a cultural enthusiast at heart. Her penchant for spirituality paired with her altruistic spirit informs her life path and dedication to humanity. Spirituality, family, altruism, and culture are, therefore, positioned at the epicenter of her existence. (source: https://www.wellesley.edu/africana/faculty/fitzpatrick) In this Mission Outlook's episode, Liseli explains what is African Cosmology and why it is so important for our society facing racism and division. Listen to the episode to know more... For any feedback on this episode, please, email: Liseli: lfitzpa3@wellesley.edu Pietro (podcast's host): butros92@gmail.com

In a new documentary about his life, Pope Francis made this declaration: "Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it. What we have to have is a civil union law—that way they are legally covered. I supported that.” With these words, Pope Francis formally supports civil union laws for gay couples. This is not the first time that he does it. However, it is the first time that he does it in front of the cameras. To know more about this story, listen to this episode...

The world of Social Media reshaped our daily lives.  Before their creation, our routine sounded very different.  They reshaped our outlook on life, our way to think about "sharing", and our management of time. But, what's behind Social Media? Why are they free? Why are they so popular? Why almost everybody has a social account? Who works behind the scenes? And what is their purpose? "The Social Dilemma" is a new documentary made by Jeff Orlowski on Netflix this year (2020).  This movie answers all these questions and much more. Many experts from Silicon Valley, creators of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and others, explain how they would never guess what Social Media would have become today.  In this podcast episode, we try to understand what is Social Media? Are these tools, or place to live in? And what can we do to make these better places? What can we do to be less addicted to them? Listen to the episode to know more...

In the US, "the American Dream" represents the hope for everybody who came to this country to find a better life. However, "the American Sin" is a tremendous hurdle for who tries to reach this goal. Kitty Baker, an American educator, speaks about how racism affects people's lives in the US. She is from a biracial background, and she traveled across the country teaching in many different educational environments. In this exclusive interview, Kitty asks us to take action in changing this unfair system. Listen to the interview to know more...

Layli Maparyan, Ph.D., is the Katherine Stone Kaufmann ’67 Executive Director of the Wellesley Centers for Women and Professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. She is best known for her scholarship in the area of womanism and is the author of two groundbreaking texts in the field of womanist studies, The Womanist Reader (Routledge, 2006) and The Womanist Idea (Routledge, 2012); a third book is forthcoming. Maparyan has also published significantly in the areas of adolescent development, social identities, (including biracial/biethnic identity and the intersections of racial/ethnic, sexual, spiritual/religious, and gender identities), Black LGBTQ studies, Hip Hop studies, and history of psychology. Maparyan’s scholar-activist work interweaves threads from the social sciences and the critical disciplines, incorporating basic and applied platforms around a common theme of integrating identities and communities in peaceable, ecologically sound, and self-actualizing ways. (source: https://www.wcwonline.org/Active-Researchers/layli-philips-maparyan-phd) In this episode, I interviewed Layli about antiracism in the Baha'i faith. She shares with us a powerful approach to this issue accessible to everybody. Listen to the episode to know more...

In the history of Christianity, there are many lies about Christians, but there is one more than others that prevent us to achieve the true happiness. Mattew Kelly is s an internationally acclaimed speaker, author, and business consultant. His books have been published in more than 25 languages, have appeared on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller lists, and have sold more than 40 million copies. In 2018, he wrote the book: "The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity". In this book, he shares a very important insight that every Christian and every people should know to live a better life. Listen to this episode to find it out...

Indonesia is the country with the biggest number of Muslims in the world. Fr. Matteo Rebecchi, Xaverian Missionary, worked in the interfaith dialogue with Muslims for many years. In this episode, he shares with us powerful stories fruits of this dialogue.

Lucio Kangela is a Congolese activist. He works with people in need in his country. For this reason, he founded a national organization that improves the lives of many people with several projects. If you want to support him and your projects, please email him: kikunilucio@gmail.com

Fr. Alessio Crippa, Xaverian Missionary, shares his experience in Thailand. He arrived five years ago. He lived in a community in Bangkok with local people and other Xaverians.  Now he moved to the North in a new mission between the tribes who live into the forest.

Rev. Debbie Clark is a woman pastor married to another woman who works in the interfaith dialogue. Her story opens our mind touching these topics: LGBTQ leadership and interfaith dialogue. Listen to the interview to know more!

Bridget Mary Meehan is a Catholic Woman Priest. In this episode, she shares with us her experience and vocation... Are you curious to understand how it is possible that a woman is a priest in the Catholic Church?  Listen to the episode to know more!

Fr. Michael Davitti is a Xaverian Missionary who worked in 4 continents: Africa, Asia, Europe, and America. In this episode, he shares with us his missionary experience with joy and gratitude.

Have you ever thought about spiritual life?  What if, you will find out that a good spiritual life may lead you to become the better version of yourself? Listen to the episode to understand how it is possible...

Br. Erasto Torres, Xaverian Missionary in the Philippines, shares his experience in the 30-Days retreat, part of our training as missionaries. Those exercises are useful for everybody, not just for priest or religious people. Listen to this episode to understand why...

Fr. Yohannes Leonardus Suharno, indonesian Xaverian Missionary, shares his experience in Indonesia and the situation of his country during the pandemic.

Fr. Giovanni Gargano, Xaverian Missionary in Bangladesh for 14 years, shares with us his experience in this country. During this time of pandemic life changed all over the world, but for many people in Bangladesh is not possible to live the lock-down, listen to understand why...

In this episode, Fr. Thierry Kamga, SX tells us about his experience in Thailand as a black missionary priest. A story between prejudices and love! For the series: #blacklivesmatter

George Floyd murder showed up injustices around the world against the black community. Why racism is still present in our society? What are its roots? What can we do to stop this plague? Everything in this new episode of Mission Outlook Podcast...

Fr. Alex Brai, Xaverian Missionary in Thailand, tells us about our job in the mission. A powerful story of hope and charity during this time of pandemic!

Fr. Simone Piccolo, Xaverian Missionary went back to Italy for vacations last December, but after the outbreak he was stuck at home with his Filipinos friends... In this episode he will tell us how they are living this situation!

How is going the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines? Fr. Francisco Xavier Béltran, our confrere tells us how people are dealing with that... Listen to get a awesome story of hope and perseverance!

In this episode I interview Rev. Bonnie Hauser Steinroeder, pastor of the First Congragational Church in Holliston. As a Christian leader she tells us how to be community also in this time of pandemic. Listen to this inspiring story to know more...

In this episode I'm not alone! Here with me there is fr. Carl Chudy, Xaverian Missionary, who created a special interfaith project... Listen to know more!

In this episode I want to share with you a special characteristic of our vocation as missionaries, the dream of our Founder Saint Guido Maria Conforti: “to make the world a single family!” Keep listening to know more…

This week we’ll take a break from the Coronavirus news. All the world is tired to listen to the same plot again and again. I want to share with you something different: this week as Xaverian Missionaries here in US, we had a chance to celebrate a virtual “Iftar” with our Muslim friends that are living the Ramadan season. So, in this episode I want to share a true story of one of my Muslim friends…

Many countries are lifting the stay-home orders, about 30 states in US are doing that and Italy while we are recording this episode is preparing to the “fase-2” the “second-step”. But are we ready to reopen? Is it time to do that? Let’s going to talk about that…

Between Hope and Social Distancing This week COVID-19 virus predominated the daily scenario, as well. All the news talked mostly about that. If think you have seen the slogan: “Social distancing = communism” – and the other one – “Sacrifice is a weakness”. Only few examples of the protest we had in United States against “social distancing measures” adopted by many governments around the world. Moreover, we attended a comedy show when Trump said that we can try to inject the disinfectant to cure the virus… what? When I heard for the first time this news, I thought was a fake, but then unlikely I found out that it was true! How can a president talk about that? Is he not aware of his words’ risks? Sounds a similar choice when he suggested a malaria’s treatment to cure the Coronavirus, people died for that advice… in which school did Trump study medicine? In this week, we celebrated also, the 50th anniversary of the Earth Day. April 22nd, 1970, was the first event! Fifty years later, the COVID-19 pandemic is the starkest example of natural disasters foretold but not prepared for. The destruction of unique habitats, logging of rainforests and consumption of displaced wildlife has led to most of our recent viral outbreaks, from AIDS and Ebola to the Coronavirus. This only confirms the scientific consensus that human health and prosperity depend on a healthy environment. To put it in the words of Pope Francis: “we believed we could live healthy in a sick world”, but we were wrong. As a result, there was a big flood in Republic Democratic of Congo: more than 3.500 houses destroyed and more than 77.000 people displaced… but no one told about that in the news, because we are only concerned about the Coronavirus… instead, this is the time to say: we are adding fuel to the fire! Coronavirus didn’t stop the injustices around the world, perhaps it has made them even more prominent. Changing the subject, April 24th started the Ramadan season for our Muslims friends. It could sound like a joke, but in this time where everybody is locked at home, seems that we are closer than the “normal life” we were used to. In effect, both the Ramadan for Muslim and Lent for Christians happened during this secluding time. It might seem a strange coincidence, but actually, it is another instance that help us to see that we are together on the same boat. How to see all these events with the hope’s sight? The Gospel of John can help us in this situation, we are in the chapter 3, where he says: “though the light has come into the world, people have preferred darkness to the light… but whoever does the truth comes out into the light, so that what he is doing may plainly appear as done in God.” (Jn 3:19b,21) Though we are living a dark moment of the history, we have to remember that we are born for the light: we need good news, we cannot survive only listening to bad ones. Without hope or creativity we cannot survive. Because the light is the love, and the love is always creative! I hope you can look at this new week with this light: the light of love. May the creative light of the love shine in the darkness of this pandemic time through you! My friends, have a good week with this new outlook… Because the life is always a matter of outlook!

In these days all the world is close in their own houses, our life is changed after the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our life is changing rapidly, we are working and studying from home, we can’t go to restaurants, pubs, movie theaters, because they are closed. The doctors and nurses are doing a very hard work; the hospital and medical systems are overwhelmed… The world is changing. We are changing. How we are spending this time? What are we doing? Sometimes, we can be frustrated because we don’t know what to do; how to cope this situation, but there is something that we can do, and we find the answer in the Bible: We can read in the first letter of Thessalonians, chapter 5 verse 16: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances” And my friends, it doesn’t matter if you are Christian or Muslim or Jew, or Buddhist or whatever: give thanks and everything will be alright!

You will find this and much more on Mission Outlook Podcast!