Speaking of Faith
May 6, 2008 by Amy
A few weeks ago, I told you that the public radio program Speaking of Faith was looking for Catholics to talk about being Catholic.
The program airs this week, but you can listen to it online and even, to save time, read the transcript.
Among the other resources, the program’s web page has a nifty Google Map of respondents beyond those on the program - click on the “pin” to read what people from your area said. Maybe you’re even on it! It’s an encourging spot to dwell for a few moments.
One of those featured in the program is long-time blogger and now Inside Catholic contributor Steve Skojec. Congratulations, Steve!
Trent Gillis, online producer of the show, comments that the map is dynamic and you can still participate - so go add your two cents!
Amy, thanks for the mention. I greatly appreciated your initial entry because it gave us a better opportunity to cover many Catholic voices that may not typically listen to SOF on the air and would not have responded.
The mapping application we created is dynamic in nature, and will continue to grow as people respond to our query. If any of your readers would still like to contribute, we’d welcome their thoughts (http://tinyurl.com/6c5lem).
I talked to more than 30 of the respondents (Steve could have been a show in himself!) and was moved by the diversity of thought and the common bond of certain themes, especially stories of the Eucharist. Now that things have settled down, I will be isolating each person’s recording and integrating them into their personal profile page and in the map itself. And, I am pursuing more interviews with respondents as they submit them.
P.S. Thanks to all of you who set me straight on incorrectly identifying the celebrants in our main image as deacons rather than priests. My mother would be so disappointed in me…
The piece I submitted got published here: http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/being_catholic/story.php?response=1046840
However, some HTML tags got misinterpreted toward the end - I meant to italicize the words “recognize” and “love” in the last sentence. I wrote to them to correct it, but I don’t know if they will…
Anyway, enjoy.
Goodness, I’m on there! Uncut! I respect NPR for once! When people simply tell their stories, a different picture of the church (or, I imagine, of any organization) emerges, much clearer and simpler than the media describes it.
I listened to the first half of the podcast on my way to work this morning. What’s always impressed me about the show is its refusal to deal with sound bites and simplification — they really give people space to tell their own stories, to get at the heart of the religious experience, what moves peoples’ souls. In our society, that’s nothing short of amazing.
This week’s show is no exception. We may have a lot of disagreements within the Church, but we are all in this together. In the end, we’re brought together into Christ by the Holy Spirit, not by our own efforts. But whenever the Holy Spirit asks for our help, He usually starts by asking us to listen.