Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Ashley McKinlessMarch 23, 2018
Courtesy of Sean Bryan/Papal Ninja

What is a papal ninja and how do you become one? This week, we went straight to the source to find out. Sean Bryan competes on the hit NBC show “American Ninja Warrior,” where he takes on insanely difficult obstacle courses—for the greater glory of God.

And that’s just his side gig. Sean also helps lead the Lay Mission Project, which forms lay people to live out their faith and transform whatever corner of the secular world they work in. We ask Sean how to pray while doing pull-ups and which church leaders would make good ninjas.

And in Signs of the Times: It snowed. Again. The 4th Nor’easter to hit New York this March kept us out of the studio on Wednesday so just a couple of headlines delivered by yours truly: a Catholic school in Australia is in trouble for letting girls wear shorts; Pope Francis gives his imprimatur to tattoos; and World Down Syndrome Day gives us time to reflect on the human dignity of people with disabilities—in and outside the womb.

Once again, want to give a huge thank you to our Patreon supporters. You can check out the page here. Sign up ASAP if you want to take part in our first Jesuitical video chat at the end of the month!

As always, you can tweet us @jesuiticalshow or send us an email jestuical@americamedia.org. And please leave us a review on Apple podcasts and tell your friends about show.

Links from the show

Allowing shorts at a Catholic girls' school is sensible and without hidden intent
Pope Francis talks tech, sex and tattoos with young adults
‘Elimination’ of Down syndrome is a ‘great hate crime,’ says Holy See conference at the U.N.

What’s on tap?

Almost there. 

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Displaced Palestinian children run past tents at the Islamic University of Gaza compound amid the ongoing war in Gaza, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
The Israeli military began perhaps its most aggressive ground offensive so far in the war to root out what is left of Hamas, maintaining an almost daily pace of incursions and airstrikes. The results have been devastating.
Kevin ClarkeApril 11, 2025
Roosevelt understood, as few American presidents had before him, that there was no inherent separation between Christian charity and democratic citizenship.
Connor HartiganApril 11, 2025
In this image provided by Senate Television, Sen, Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, speaks on the Senate floor on April 1, 2025. The speech lasted 25 hours and four minutes, a record for the U.S. Senate. (Senate Television via AP)
Cory Booker and the Hands Off protesters prove that words still have power. But only if we accompany them with action.
Kathleen BonnetteApril 11, 2025
photo of the outside of the New York Armory during the New York International Antiquarian Bookfair 
At the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, you are guaranteed to find the following: a signed first edition of your favorite book, a celebrity (or two) and Bibles.
Mazie JonesApril 11, 2025