God does not make us suffer in order to teach us lessons. Rather, if we are open to it, and with God’s grace, we will learn from experiences of suffering.
Podcasts
America offers a number of podcasts. To learn more about each individual podcast series and subscribe for free, please visit http://americamagazine.org/podcasts
Posted inPodcasts
Martin Scorsese on imaginative prayer and being a Catholic filmmaker
You don’t have to be a world-famous filmmaker to get something out of imaginative prayer.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Is there an ‘upside’ to aging? Sister Joyce Rupp thinks so.
Nothing in my life has been as freeing as the realization that not everyone is going to love, like or approve of me.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
What is spiritual desolation—and how does God get us out of it?
“The definition of desolation is notoriously slippery,” Father James Martin writes. “It is not simply a period of dryness in prayer, which is common to everyone.”
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Father James Martin and Anthea Butler on the problem with the prosperity gospel
If we imagine ourselves as satisfying a God who will “give us” things only if we do the “right things,” then our relationship with God becomes less a friendship and more a chore.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Who is Pope Leo? | The rapid rise of Cardinal Prevost
From priest to pope—will his missionary past define him as the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics, or will Pope Leo become something entirely new?
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Who is Pope Leo? | The Peru Years: A dictator, terrorists and a missionary priest
Father Robert Prevost’s early years in Peru shaped his ministry and vision for the church—but few know the brutal reality he encountered there in the 1980s and 1990s.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Who is Pope Leo? | From Chicago’s South Side to Augustinian Priest
No one ever expected a U.S.-born pope. In this first-ever I “Inside the Vatican” Deep Dive series, those who know him best reveal who Pope Leo XIV—“the American pope”—really is. In Episode 1, we hear from the genealogist who uncovered his Louisiana roots, a teacher, and fellow Augustinian friars and friends.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
The mystical experience that brought Stephen Colbert (back) to the Catholic faith
This week on “The Spiritual Life,” Father James Martin speaks with Stephen Colbert about his experience of being a “fallen away” Catholic and returning to the faith.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Mary Karr on being brutally honest with God
“One of the things I find most appealing about the award-winning writer and poet Mary Karr is her forthright, almost brutal, honesty.”