The season of Advent is a time for looking inward — a time to take stock of where we are in our faith journeys and our relationships with God and neighbor.Those of us at Catholic Mobilizing Network — who’ve been working behind the scenes to bring you Encounters With Dignity — have been looking inward too. As we conclude Advent and move into a New Year, we will begin a process of exploring what the future holds for this podcast. In the meantime, our podcast host, Caitlin Morneau, has some ideas for how you can continue learning about restorative justice and discerning ways to bring restorative practices to your community. And when we are ready to announce “what’s next” for Encounters With Dignity, she’d like you to be the first to know.Tune in to hear how you can stay engaged in this transformative work, and join CMN via email at catholicsmobilizing.org/join.

Throughout this first season of Encounters With Dignity we have heard many stories about how  restorative justice can be used in response to harm or injustice. These examples have taken us through the criminal legal system, the education system, and even Indigenous communities grappling with multi-generational harms.But restorative justice need not be limited to only those times where a rule or law was broken. Restorative justice can be part of our everyday — a way of being, a way of living. In this episode, we hear three wise teachers discuss how we all can live restoratively in every aspect of our lives. Dr. Desireé Anderson, Fr. Jeff Putthoff, and Jerry Tello discuss the importance of community building, self-care, and honoring our cultural histories as just a few stepping stones toward living a restorative life.

It can be tempting to think about restorative practices as something that we do. More broadly, restorative justice is about how we are in relationship with one another — as individuals, yes, but also as institutions.At a university, this can include addressing conduct violations, but also community building and classroom environment. Dr. David Karp and Christian Santa Maria are putting restorative practices to work on their Catholic college campus in each of these situations.In this episode, they share how restorative practices are taking shape at the University of San Diego in alignment with their university’s mission and Catholic identity.

Tragedy struck for two families when Ann Grosmaire was shot by her fiancé, Conor McBride. In the wake of her death, Ann's parents were moved to forgiveness through their Catholic faith.All harm — and especially a death like this — impacts more than just the victim alone. The Grosmaires, McBrides, and their whole community lost two cherished young adults the day Ann was shot. Justice would not be found without including each of these involved parties in a healing process.In this episode, Kate and Deacon Andy Grosmaire, Julie and Michael McBride, and their facilitator sujatha baliga share the story of their restorative justice circle that shaped Conor's sentencing.Their testimony is witness to the possibilities of a justice centered in restoring relationships and creating opportunities for healing.Kate tells this full story in her book, Forgiving My Daughter's Killer: A True Story of Loss, Faith, and Unexpected Grace.

Too often as a society we are quick to judge, cast-out, and ostracize members of our community. At Homeboy Industries, Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J. has built a culture of radical compassion and kinship, welcoming every person in their wholeness.In this episode you'll hear Fr. Greg share stories of walking with formerly gang-involved and incarcerated individuals as they seek healing, growth, and reintegration with their community.The work of Fr. Greg and Homeboy Industries is inherently restorative — respecting the dignity of all and working together to repair the effects of harm.

Maka Black Elk and Deacon Andy Orosco intimately understand the impacts of the historical harm that has been inflicted on Native communities.In this episode, Maka and Deacon Andy will discuss the history of the Catholic Church and Native American boarding schools, the resulting harm these schools caused in their community, and the restorative approaches they are implementing to work towards healing. These Catholic Indigenous leaders illuminate how restorative justice paves a way of healing from intergenerational trauma — for all of us.

Danielle Sered knows what it looks like for a person to be accountable for the harm they caused. She's spent more than a decade facilitating restorative justice solutions to violent crimes through her organization, Common Justice (plus she identifies as a crime survivor herself).In this episode, Danielle explains why accountability is so important to a restorative justice approach, where it is often missing from our criminal legal processes, and how it is rooted in human dignity.Her insights invite people of faith to discern where accountability can play a deeper role in our own lives — in our relationships with God and neighbor alike.

It's not hard to see ourselves in the familiar story of the Good Samaritan. At different times in our lives, we've likely identified with each of the parable's characters — the wounded traveler, the robber, the unconcerned passerby, and the Good Samaritan himself.In this episode, Most Rev. Robert McElroy, Ordinary Bishop of San Diego, challenges us to sink into these ever-shifting identities, and to find within them "a new generosity of heart, rejection of judgmentalism, and thirst for reconciliation within our own lives and that of our society as a whole."To learn more about restorative justice, visit Catholic Mobilizing Network's website at catholicsmobilizing.org.

After 29 years of incarceration, Ernie Garcia shares his journey from a childhood where violence was the norm toward his ultimate transformation and reintegration with his community.Ernie talks about how his faith played a pivotal role in helping him understand his traumas, take responsibility for his harmful actions, and commit to making things as right as possible. His story is a powerful testament to the inner, spiritual work of restorative justice, and how reliance on God can lead us to break destructive cycles of harm and violence.

In this episode of Encounters With Dignity, you'll hear from Christina Swarns, a defense attorney and current executive director of the Innocence Project, and Sheryl Wilson, a victim outreach specialist and current executive director of the Kansas Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution. Together they tell the story of restorative justice happening in one of the most unlikely places: a death penalty case at the U.S. Supreme Court.Capital punishment in the U.S. is a system built on racism and a misguided belief that killing is an appropriate response to killing. Seeing this firsthand in the case of Buck v. Davis, Christina realized she had a greater responsibility than simply defending her client. She invited Sheryl to work alongside the defense team to try to address the unmet needs of those affected by a terrible crime and ultimately break the cycle of violence.What they learned along the way can help all of us hold space for suffering.To learn more about restorative justice, visit Catholic Mobilizing Network's website at catholicsmobilizing.org.

Fr. David Kelly is the founder and executive director of Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation (PBMR), a restorative justice ministry and community center serving several neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago. He has also worked as a parish-based jail minister in the Archdiocese of Chicago for more than 30 years. In this episode, Fr. David shares about the five pillars guiding PBMR's work: radical hospitality, accompaniment, relentless engagement of young people and their families, relentless engagement of stakeholders and systems, and collaboration. His stories and insights illuminate how in instances of harm, simply asking the right questions can help us embark on a path of restoration and healing — a path that models Jesus' reconciling way.

Learn more about Encounters With Dignity, the new podcast on restorative justice from Catholic Mobilizing Network.