A Conversation with John W. Martens on the Liturgy and Life Study Bible, featuring Fr. Nick Meisl

What Matters Most

This is the twenty-second episode of the second season of What Matters Most, featuring me speaking with Fr. Nick Meisl! Why? I was interviewed by Father Nick Meisl, my colleague and friend, who appeared on episode 13 of season 2 of What Matters Most. The original interview took place on June 3, 2024, at St. Mark’s Library for the book launch of the Liturgy and Life Study Bible, which was just awarded first place for Excellence in Catholic Publishing 2024 in the Liturgy category by the Association of Catholic Publishers on May 31, 2024. Fr. Paul Turner and I were the general editors for this 6 year long project. You’ll learn all about the study Bible in this episode.

We had a lovely crowd to celebrate the event and we taped it for your listening pleasure and…it did not record! So, on June 7, Nick and I recorded the conversation again, which you are listening to right now.

If you are interested in checking out more of my writing, please check out my author page on Amazon, my blog Bible Junkies, and my page at America Magazine, where I wrote over 600 pieces. If you want to hear a little more of me, check out Jesuitical and Outside the Walls.

I mentioned the story of Eutyches in this episode and said I thought it came from Acts 21, or Acts 20. It is actually from Acts 20: 7-12. I was close!

Finally, check out the new CCE website, designed by Kenton McDonald-Lin! It is still in development, but look around, check it out, and let us know what you think.

And now some news on upcoming podcast episodes:

I have already spoken to Dr. Sara Parks of St. Francis Xavier University, so get ready for that terrific discussion coming soon. We discussed her book Gender in the Rhetoric of Jesus, Women in Q, historical Jesus research in general, was Jesus a feminist, and what exactly is Q.

There will be a hiatus of recording new episodes with guests at some point this summer, but we are going to get you new material all through the summer. We will be making available the keynote lectures from our Pope Francis conference from May 2023, featuring Massimo Faggioli, Emilce Cuda, and Cathy Clifford.

Some upcoming events:

We will be having some new events starting in Fall of next year, including a joint presentation on September 13 on AI with regent College and VST. In October, date to be determined, we will have a webinar on the American election featuring Steve Millies and his new book, A Consistent Ethic of Life: Navigating Catholic Engagement with U.S. Politics. We will also have a Canadian respondent. Much more to come on Fall 2024 and other speakers!

Finally, the CCE is presenting a conference in 2025, The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. Please consider sending in a proposal for a paper. If you are a graduate student and we accept your proposal to present a paper, we will cover your conference registration fees and the cost of the conference banquet. You do not have to present a paper to come. You can purchase a conference pass and simply attend all of the sessions. Consider joining us in Vancouver in 2025.

Three Confirmed Plenary Speakers:

Dr. Margaret MacDonald, St. Mary's University, Halifax

Dr. Samuel Rocha, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo, De Paul University, Chicago

What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation.

Thanks to Martin Strong, Kevin Eng, and Fang Fang Chandra for all of their help and support in crafting this and all the other episodes. I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. In addition, the Cullen Family, Mark and Barbara, continue to support the work and outreach of the CCE, particularly in our lecture series.

Since St. Mark’s Centre for Christian Engagement seeks to enable the creation of a culture of encounter and dialogue, let me invite you into that discussion. Send me questions, send me ideas for guests, send me comments. Please follow me on Twitter @biblejunkies, or on Facebook, at Biblejunkies, or on Instagram @stmarkscce. Or email me or Ms. Fang Fang Chandra at [e-mail]. Let us know what you think.

I also want to thank people who have been rating the podcast. The ratings have grown in number and they remain at 5 stars. Thank you so much for your kind support. ask you to help out by letting people know about the podcast. If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. You can also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. This lets people find the podcast more easily and lets people like you enjoy the work that we are doing. I think these are important and inspiring discussions and I would like people to have a chance to listen in!

John W. Martens

Director, Centre for Christian Engagement, St. Mark's College at UBC