We don’t use religious words anymore. That’s a problem.

When was the last time you talked about faith with a friend? If you’re listening to this podcast, maybe you don’t mind dropping words like “sin,” “grace” and “confession” in casual conversations. But most Americans, according to Jonathan Merritt, have forgotten or never learned how to “speak God”—and that’s bad news for people who care about the future of the church.

We ask Jonathan, an award-winning religion writer, podcast host and author of the new book Learning to Speak God from Scratch, why spiritual conversations matter, how we can save endangered sacred words and what distinguishes Catholic and Protestant approaches to language.

This week in Signs of the Times we focus on one story that’s been on all of our minds: the unfolding sexual abuse crisis in the U.S. Catholic Church. We bring you up to speed on developments since the release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report on Aug. 14, ask how the church got here and discuss possible ways forward as the church seeks to bring healing to victims and accountability to priests and bishops who for decades committed and covered up horrific crimes against children.

Let us know how you are processing the news and let know when you are (or aren’t) finding God in all this by reaching out in our Facebook group and Twitter @jesuiticalshow or emailing us at jesuitical@americamedia.org. Please consider helping Jesuitical keep the mics on by supporting the show on Patreon—every little bit helps!

Links from the show

Pennsylvania report documents over 1,000 victims of priest abuse
Vatican: Pope Francis is on the side of the victims of Pennsylvania abuse
Bishops around U.S. respond with ‘sorrow’ to abuse report, vow to act
Pennsylvania prelate says bishops who hid abuse should resign
Pope Francis issues new letter on sex abuse: ‘We showed no care for the little ones’
Don’t blame the sex abuse crisis on queer Catholics

What’s on tap?

Brooklyn Brewery East IPA