What would St. Augustine have to say about freestyle rapping? It’s a remarkable talent that reveals more than just a rapper’s skills, like those showcased by the great Harry Mack. It can reveal how we are created in the image and likeness of God. And Augustine shows us how.

Most existing histories of Jesuit slaveholding prioritize the actions and voices of Jesuit slaveholders, and not the people they held in bondage. Ayan Ali tells about her research with the Jesuits’ Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation Project which seeks to address this historical bias by conducting extensive historical research with an intentional focus on the lives of enslaved people.

I’ve been throwing pottery for over a year now. For a while, I had the technique down, or at least down enough to center the clay and build from there. But lately, I have had the worst time centering the clay. As I sit with my struggles to center the clay, my mind wanders to the world around me: does anything feel centered these days?

“Have you been saved?” It is a question we might not like to be asked by a stranger, but it is a question worth pondering over. Have we been saved? What does it mean to be saved? And what does the Church teach about salvation? This addition to the Catholic 101 series provides some helpful insights on the Church’s teaching about salvation.

A certain memory of Peter Claver is often used by Catholics to distance themselves from actually engaging in ministry or relationships with Black Americans. Yet this false image of Claver, rather than absolving Catholics of their responsibilities towards Black people, is rather an even more scathing indictment of our indifference. Our image of Claver is a call to all of us Catholics to be who he was not.