Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
JesuiticalNovember 19, 2021
iStock

Unless you are a saint (and maybe even if you are one), there is probably someone in your life, whether a relative on Facebook or a person you’ve never actually met on Twitter, who makes you think...less than charitable thoughts. While self-righteous take-downs of your political opponents can feel good in the moment, they are unlikely to change anyone’s mind—and probably aren’t great for your own emotional well-being either.

Our guest this week, Kirsten Powers, shows another way forward. A political commentator for places like Fox News and CNN, Kirsten has been at the center of our toxic national discourse for years, and in her new book, Saving Grace, she provides hard-earned wisdom for dealing with people across political and cultural divides.

While self-righteous take-downs of your political opponents can feel good in the moment, they are unlikely to change anyone’s mind—and probably aren’t great for your own emotional well-being either.

In Signs of the Times, the debate over the bishops’ document on the Eucharist ends in a whimper, our friend and colleague Michael O’Loughlin gets a letter from Pope Francis and Zac and Ashley discuss an increasingly popular practice in Italy: “de-baptism.”

Thanks to everyone who is supporting Jesuitical on Patreon. We have a new bonus episode dropping for you soon! If you’re not yet a member of our Patreon community, sign up here today.

Links from the show:

What’s on tap?

Margaritas on the rocks

The latest from america

At a Mass for the Jubilee of Youth outside Rome, Pope Leo exhorted over a million young people to be "seeds of hope" and a "sign that a different world is possible."
Gerard O’ConnellAugust 03, 2025
Perhaps it is the hard-won wisdom that comes with age, but the Catholic rituals and practices I once scorned are the same rituals and practices that now usher me into God's presence, time and time again.
Maribeth BoeltsAugust 01, 2025
"Only through patient and inclusive dialogue" can "a just and lasting conflict resolution can be achieved" in the long-running conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, said the Holy See's permanent observer to the United Nations.
This is the movie poster for “The Bad Guys” (CNS photo/DreamWorks Pictures)
The ”Bad Guys” films ask, how do we determine who the “bad guys” are? And if you’re marked as “bad” from the start, can you ever make good?
John DoughertyAugust 01, 2025