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In today's episode, my friend Kale and I reflect on paragraphs 16 through 23 of Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical letter on hope, which asks the question: how has the concept of Christian hope been transformed in the modern age? More specifically, how has modernity reappropriated the concepts of faith and hope in the service of secular goals?

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My friend Kale Zelden and I reflect on paragraphs 13 through 15 of Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical letter on hope, which asks the question: Is Christian Hope Individualistic? This question leads to a wide-ranging conversation about the role of Christian community, and its importance in our initiation and reconciliation with God in the Church.

Show notes/resources:
Confession and General Absolution

"Party of Christ... or Church of Jesus Christ?" in Called to Communion, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, 1996

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The music in the introduction and close of this podcast is provided by Dennis Crommett.

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Today, I'm posting a special episode on The Stations of the Cross.

What follows is a Stations of the Cross text I wrote in 2004, reflecting on the images Mel Gibson provided in his movie The Passion of The Christ. Each mediation also includes a quote from one of my favorite spiritual writers.

In the show notes, you'll find links to learn more about the Stations of the Cross, sources for the quotes used in the meditations, and a link to learn more about the album Via Crucis by Dick Le Mair. Many thanks to Le Mair for granting me the rights to include his music in this episode.

How Did the Stations of the Cross Begin? - Fr. William Saunders

“For God So Loved”: C.S. Lewis’s Four Loves and the Doctrine of Christ’s Atonement - Adam J. Johnson

The Four Loves - C.S. Lewis

Text of the meditations inspired by The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson

Quotation sources:

I - Into Your Hands, Father - Fr. Wilfrid Stinissen

II, IX, XII - Via Crucis - Saint Josemaría Escrivá

III - De Interpellatione David - Saint Ambrose of Milan

IV - Salt of the Earth - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

V, VIII - Transformation in Christ - Dietrich von Hildebrand

VI - De pauperum - Saint Gregory of Nazianzen

VII - The Jeweler's Shop - Karol Wojtyla

X - Interior Freedom - Fr. Jacques Philippe

XI - The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae) - Saint Pope John Paul II

XIII - The Splendor of Truth (Veritatis Splendor) - Saint Pope John Paul II

XIV - The Lord's descent into hell - ancient homily for Holy Saturday

Closing prayer - Meditations on the Stations of the Cross - Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman

Music: Via Crucis by Dick Le Mair

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