Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
JesuiticalJune 14, 2024
Steve Javie, a former NBA referee, wearing his referee uniform during a basketball game.(Wikicommons)

[CLICK HERE to complete the 2024 Jesuitical listener survey]

Basketball fans know Steve Javie as a longtime N.B.A. referee and a frequent commentator on ESPN and ABC. But for the parishioners at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Newtown, Pa., he’s Deacon Steve.

In the midst of the N.B.A. finals, Deacon Steve took some time out of his busy schedule to chat with Zac and Ashley about life on the court and in the pulpit.

They discuss:

  • His journey from zealous rookie ref to humble officiator in the N.B.A.
  • The dangers of turning sports into your religion
  • How his career in refereeing has informed his ministry as a permanent deacon

In Signs of the Times, a second miracle has been attributed to Blessed Carlo Acutis. Zac and Ashley discuss the life and legacy of the Italian teenager on track to be the first millennial saint. Plus, Pope Francis has again used a homophobic slur in a discussion about admitting gay men to seminary. How are Catholics supposed to understand these comments from a pope who famously said about gay priests, “Who am I to judge?”

Links from the show:

What’s on tap?

Miller Lite—on ice

More: Sports / Deacons

The latest from america

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks with other members of the House July 3, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington after final passage of U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping spending and tax bill. (OSV News photo/Jonathan Ernst, Reuters)
“Deep cuts” to SNAP and Medicaid will “inflict real suffering on these families…. SNAP and Medicaid are not luxuries, they are lifelines for millions of children across our country.”
Kevin ClarkeJuly 03, 2025
It was one of the first times Leo has spoken unscripted at length in public, responding to questions posed to him by the children.
The Vatican has named the judges that will preside over the trial of disgraced Father Marko Rupnik.
For so many of us, Roger Haight marked off a breathtakingly wide horizon in which we, agreeing with him or not, could fulfill our mission for God’s people.