DOCTOR: "So what seems to be the problem?" PATIENT: "Mmhbbhhggr hhruuh engghhuu." DOCTOR: "I'm sorry I can't understand, but don't worry. Great singer Bob Dylan is in town. Go see his show and no matter what ails you, you'll feel better!" PATIENT (sadly): "Ehg ddnghh m'm Bddnnn."

Congrats to Saint Leo softball on winning the division II championship!

Also for those wondering, I am also working on a follow up about the pope busts at Buca di Beppo

“Meager”? We’re building up treasure in heaven!

Endorse

Reupping for the Monday crowd - my thoughts on Magnifica Humanitas

I revisited my predictions last year about an AI encyclical and offer three D's for thinking about Magnifica Humanitas stephenokey.substack.com/p/design-dev...

Finished writing substack on Magnifica Humanitas, so that will go out tomorrow. Sorry, @catholickungfu.bsky.social, I didn't make it until next week to have takes.

“Schools are not called to follow the pace of the digital world, but to offer that which the digital sphere by itself cannot provide, namely a shared time for learning and developing trustworthy relationships.” #MagnificaHumanitas 147

Someone alert Bishop Barron that demonization is happening.

My 6yo really likes the Saints Alive series on the Hallow App, so I had her draw while listening. Here, in order, is David meeting Saul, David fighting Goliath; and Goliath dead

Finished reading Proverbs today and wanted to share this

My institution is requiring us to get AI certified via IBM, which I’m fine doing since I research it too, but it just feels like an odd email to get the day after #MagnificaHumanitas comes out

In order to protect the human person in the age of #ArtificialIntelligence, we must once again reflect on the common good, the universal destination of goods, subsidiarity, solidarity and social justice. #MagnificaHumanitas

Spent some time this morning on the footnotes of #MagnificaHumanitas: Most cited authors: Pope Francis (63) John Paul II (40) Leo XIV (22) Benedict XVI (21) Documents of Vatican II (16) Paul VI (16) Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace/Compendium (12)

Nonsense, make the baby read it too.

Now feeding the baby while working on analysis of the footnotes for #MagnificaHumanitas. Will be happy to share my google sheet on this later.

Setting aside my #MagnificaHumanitas take-writing to sit on the floor and play with the baby

I could live on paragraph 30 the rest of my life: "Rerum Novarum thereby continues to remind us that there is no authentic evangelization that does not also affect the structures of human society." #MagnificaHumanitas

Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together. 1/2

Here’s my bridge: meet me on this bridge, federal government.

Happy Encyclical Eve to all who celebrate #MagnificaHanitas

Great last lap to the Indy 500 this year, and congrats to my mom for finally winning the family pool for the first time

It’s been 35 years since Centesimus Annus, which was the last Rerum Novarum-annoversary text

At my daughter’s kindergarten graduation and they have a tradition of the “litany of the kindergartners”, where as each one is called up they thank God for the child and for their particular gifts and interests. It’s really lovely.

Pope signed first encyclical on May 15, titled ‘Magnifica Humanitas;’ “amid the technological impact of artificial intelligence—this encyclical will address the challenges facing the world of work and the human person in the 21st century.” Release date May 25. www.religiondigital.org/el_baron_ram...

Of note, I recently procured a half gallon water bottle with both sip and chug options in the lid and it is amazing. It is also (unsurprisingly) the only water bottle my Girardian children want to drink from.

Really grateful to Pope Leo XIV for accommodating my travel schedule and not releasing the AI encyclical while I’m heading out of town to teach Christology

According to today’s episode of Inside the Vatican ( @colleendulle.com ) , encyclical is likely to be signed today but still has to be translated. So likely released by the end of the month. Gerry O’Connell also said he’s heard it’s a long encyclical

Wow

Grateful to @heidischlumpf.bsky.social and @commonwealmagazine.org for this piece on the Holistic Impact Report. Too much ROI focus loses what is distinctive about Catholic education, its work fostering meaning, purpose, ethics, and community. www.commonwealmagazine.org/schlumpf-cat...

Today:

Slightly increase a band U3

I wrote this morning’s opening prayer for the Senate meeting around the examen

I do this exercise w/ theology students: imagine in an important area of your life, you can only operate on what you understood at 14. Every other area, you grow in understanding, but in e.g. romance or finances? 14. How’s that part of life going to go? Now when do people stop learning re: religion?

I was unable to park when I got home because of this guy

“I will do my best to not substack about it until the next week,” I wrote over and over again on my chalkboard

Great it's releasing on a day I'll be traveling

Received word today that David Tracy's two volume work Fragments and Filaments will be available next spring in a paperback edition. The hardcover of Fragments has been out of print for a couple years, so this is good news.

1) The Last Jedi is the only interesting movie from the sequel trilogy 2) Rebels is the best Star Wars production post-OT 3) The only thing that post-OT Star Wars productions actually have in common is competing expressions of nostalgia 4) This is also the problem with Star Wars fandom

🛸

Some useful public speaking tips from Freud here.

Intelligent

Email from one of my old deacon students, and what a reminder of how great my job is

Listening to Aaron Copland while doing late night grading

I sometimes tell students (somewhat flippantly) that a problem for Christianity today is so much of our culture values "authenticity" very highly but so much of being a Christian is being a hypocrite (e.g. "the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do" Rom 7:19)

The temptations of Jesus

“The Universal Church can’t judge the morality of a specific instance in a category of things” is insane levels of moral relativism lmfao. Right wingers are glorified nihilists, total victory.

After going through RCIA in college, one of me close friends told me I wasn’t a real Catholic since I wasn’t raised Catholic. He’s still one of my close friends but it still makes me mad to this day. So I get defensive when other converts, even the ones I think are idiots, get called fake Catholics