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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

If you're enjoying this podcast, or wish to send along a question or friendly critique, drop me a note on Twitter @WeightOfGlory or send me an email at weightofglorypodcast@gmail.com. Also, please spread the word via your social channels. Most especially, I'd welcome reviews over at Apple Podcasts: that will help more people discover the show.

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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My friend Kale Zelden and I continue our discussion of Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical letter on hope (Spe Salvi) -- specifically, we read and discuss paragraphs 4 through 12, covering the concept of faith-based hope in the New Testament and the early Church, and the question about what eternal life is.

Show notes/resources:
The Still Point in the Turning World - T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets, "Burnt Norton"

The "already/not yet" tension of Christian liturgy and life:
"The Sanctification of Time and the Liturgy of the Hours," Fr. Hildebrand Garceau, O.Praem.

"Demonstrators burn two churches in Chile on anniversary of protests," October 19, 2020

The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston's Catholic Culture, Philip Lawler

Dante's depiction of Judas Iscariot in The Inferno

"I will never lose myself
for that which the senses
can take in here,
nor for all the mind can hold,
no matter how lofty,
nor for grace or beauty,
but only for I-don’t-know-what
which is so gladly found."
Saint John of the Cross, A Gloss (with spiritual meaning)

If you're enjoying this podcast, or wish to send along a question or friendly critique, drop me a note on Twitter @WeightOfGlory or send me an email at weightofglorypodcast@gmail.com. Also, please spread the word via your social channels. Most especially, I'd welcome reviews over at Apple Podcasts: that will help more people discover the show.

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

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Together, long-time friend Kale Zelden and I read Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical letter on hope (Spe Salvi) and discuss the idea of faith-based hope. In today's episode, we break open the letter and unpack the first few paragraphs.

Show notes/resources:
Ave Maris Stella (Mary, Star of the Sea)

Angel prayer from Fatima

Jesus of Nazareth trilogy - Benedict XVI

God's performative word: Verbum Domini, Benedict XVI, paragraph 53

God's performative word - Isaiah 55:10-11

Saint Josephine Bakhita

Doubt as an avenue of communication between believer and unbeliever:
Introduction to Christianity, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Testimony of James Grein
Crisis podcast, episode 4
(12:30-14:00 into the episode)

The Heart of Man (film)

If you're enjoying this podcast, or wish to send along a question or friendly critique, drop us a note on Twitter @WeightOfGlory or send us an email at weightofglorypodcast@gmail.com. Also, please spread the word via your social channels. Most especially, I'd welcome reviews over at Apple Podcasts: that will help more people discover us.

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

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My friend Kale and I discuss a broad range of topics, including: the self-conscious church; the church as an expert in humanity; self-exploitation and social media; and Catholic identity and liturgy.

Kale's interview with Paul VanderKlay (Sept 3, 2020)

Katie Van Schaijik - Theology of the Body: A Cure for Clericalism (2019)

Ernest Hemingway - The Sun Also Rises (1926)

Pope Francis - Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), paragraphs 93-97 (2013)

Pope John Paul II - Pastores Dabo Vobis (I Will Give You Shepherds), paragraph 21 (1992)

Theological Integration Paper - from chaplaincy training program (1995)

Pope John Paul II - Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth), paragraph 3 (1993)

C.S. Lewis - The Abolition of Man (1943)

Richard John Neuhaus - The Naked Public Square (1988)

Bret Weinstein's Dark Horse podcast with Matt Taibbi, Corruption and Its Consequences (2020)

Eric Weinstein's Portal podcast with James O'Keefe, What Is and Isn't Journalism in the 21st Century (2020)

Ryan T. Anderson interview, Natural Law and Public Affairs (2020)

John Paul II on Love and Responsibility, publication of the Love and Responsibility Foundation (2002)

Tom Holland - Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World (2019)

Saint Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, Book X

Bishop Robert Barron, Pope Francis and Vatican II, Napa Institute Keynote (2020)

Kilian McDonnell, OSB and George Montague, SM - Christian Initiation and Baptism in the Holy Spirit (1991)

Pope Benedict XVI on the hermeneutic of continuity: Christmas Greetings to the Roman Curia (2005)

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In this episode, I offer a reflection on Holy Communion -- the Body and Blood of Christ -- as it relates to life in the Body of Christ... quoting from not only C.S. Lewis, but also Pope Benedict XVI in Deus Caritas Est.

I also include a rendition of Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, as performed by Fernando Ortega.

Additional music for the podcast has been provided through the generosity of Jeremy Casella.

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In 2008, during a Holy Week RCIA retreat, I led a reflection on The Last Things -- death, judgment, heaven and hell. Rather than diving right into a discussion of things ultimate, I decided to provide some context, and some of that context came from C.S. Lewis. In The Weight of Glory, Lewis observes that "we are halfhearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Music for the podcast has been provided through the generosity of Dennis Crommett. Check out his music over at DennisCrommett.com.

Resources:

The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis

the upset of Easter, and the last things

on the passage through life

Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 988-1014; 1020-1050

Fundamentals of the Faith: Essays in Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft

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