Mike Jordan Laskey

Young Voices: I like to think I have strong memories of listening to "Smooth" as a 13-year-old and that the song really is the quintessential tune from that era of my life. 

Young Voices: I have learned to embrace what I think evangelization means, even if I still get the heebie-jeebies a little when I say it. Here are three points that have helped bring me around.

The Gospel of Sports: How does a small, Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, end up competing so strongly with the Dukes and North Carolinas of the world? I reached out to Peter Woodburn, who runs the Gonzaga SB Nation site, The Slipper Still Fits, to find out more.

Young Voices: Nostalgia is a common affliction for millennials. I guess it's a classic coming-of-age feeling for any generation, realizing the comforts of childhood are gone and not coming back.

The Gospel of Sports: I don't think about the painful end of Notre Dame's football season every day, probably. But I have been thinking about how my fandom fits with my Catholic faith.

Young Voices: The video clip on Twitter made me gasp: Jeff Bridges once again playing "The Dude" from 1998's "The Big Lebowski." Unfortunately, it's for a Stella Artois Super Bowl ad.

The true countercultural move isn't to say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays." It's to keep celebrating Christmas into 2019. 

The Gospel of Sports: Playing trumpet in the Notre Dame marching band taught me five things about life in community. I don't think I've ever been part of any other group that had such a developed leadership system. It was a great model.

Young Voices: In times of scandal, the question: Why am I a Catholic? Why stick around? Two reasons go back to my Irish-Catholic grandmother who was born 100 years ago this week. 

Our older daughter, who turned three this week, has a new favorite bedtime prayer tradition that my wife started with her. The kiddo calls it "Dear God," and she requests it by name most nights.

The Gospel of Sports: What is it like for Mexican-Americans to root for the Mexican men's national soccer team during this era of pervasive anti-immigrant sentiment here in the United States?

Young Voices: As summer unofficially starts, here are my listening recommendations: five podcast episodes from five different shows, each of which explore what it means to be human.

Gospel of Sports: "Trust the process" is a 76ers rallying cry born out of a losing streak, a shout that is emblematic of the weird, nerdy, passionate community that has grown around the 76ers over the past five years.

The Gospel of Sports: In an interview, Sexton says, "Simply the exercise of playing or caring about baseball is an exercise in community. … I don't think there's any question that it can elevate us."

The most dramatic week of the church year is strikingly different when you have kids. 

New series 'The Gospel of Sports': Politics and sports, both in the public realm, are bound to mingle. While we're watching political arguments play out in the sports world, the influence could run the other direction. 

Young Voices: Living a few miles from the Philly Eagles' stadium, I feel the Super Bowl excitement, but also chatted with Charles Camosy, a football fan who has reconsidered his passion.

Young Voices: Advent is a criminally underrated liturgical season. Beyond the obvious "get to Mass on all the Advent Sundays and every Sunday" exhortation, here are 10 simple tips for your Advent observation, from one busy person to another.

Young Voices: A John Prine song got me thinking about the troubling American Christian tradition of draping Old Glory around Jesus Christ's shoulders in a marriage of nationalism and religion.