Summary: This conversation was between myself and one of the most eminent scholars in the early church fathers- a man who also happens to be my father: Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio “The Greyer” as we call him. He was the valedictorian of Catholic University of America, he holds a PHD in Theology, is currently is professor at Catholic Distance University and is a renowned speaker. He runs Crossroads Initiative, which started out doing youth and young adult ministry as a rock band in the 80’s, and that is transmuted into an organization dedicated to helping the world rediscover the adventure of the Christian faith. We asked him to come onto the podcast because, one of the major conversations happening in the group and in the Church at large is centered around the question: How should we deal with secular, pagan culture? Implicit in this question is another- There is this tension between tradition and creativity- how do we value the treasures of the church that we know and love, while at the same time valuing and adapting to modern secular culture for the sake of innovation? This tension is especially present when we grapple with conversations about liturgy. For those of us that are grappling with questions of how how do we integrate cultural art with our Catholic heritage, I wanted to bring Dr. Italy onto the cast so that we could talk about how the early church approached these questions. The conversation was deeply enlightening. Crossroads Initiative Christians, The Soul of the World - Letter from Diagnetus News: As a community of creators of artists of freethinkers, we are seeing our movement grow in the church. Unity between artists and people within this grassroots coalition is happening: collaborations between members have sky rocketed in the last year. But for all of this to move to the next level, and for us to really see the New Renaissance realized, we need to connect with the Medicis of our age- the successful business owners, executives, and financiers who can invest in the ideas and projects. Finally, big news- as you know, we have pledged to pick a single project that we believe could make massive impact in culture and that could facilitate collaboration across all types of creatives within the group. So the news is that we have found that project and been working behind the scenes to get it ready for your involvement. SO. We have a huge collaboration stewing right now. We will have news for you on that in the coming weeks. But consider this the teaser. If you want an opportunity to work with amazing people, to grow in community and in your skill sets… its coming.
