For our small town, the Bicentennial Wagon Train was a big deal. It would be a cavalcade of horse-drawn covered wagons originating in California, Washington, Nevada, Montana, Colorado, and other states where the wagon trains of old had ended their pioneering journeys.
James Martin, S.J.
The Rev. James Martin, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, author, editor at large at America and founder of Outreach.
David Brooks on desire and longing in the spiritual life
Desire and longing are some of the main ways that God draws us closer. “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O Lord,” as St. Augustine wrote. How else would God draw us closer than by awakening in us the very desire for the divine?
How I learned to stop judging loud (and late) kids at Mass
As a celibate priest, I had little to no knowledge of what it really meant to raise a young child. That did not, of course, prevent me from having some uninformed opinions!
Robert George and the importance of charitable disagreement among Catholics
I find that desire for dialogue increasingly important in the church, which is one of the many reasons I was happy that Professor Robert George joined us this week on “The Spiritual Life.”
Why should anyone listen to what Pope Leo says about AI?
Almost immediately after Pope Leo released “Magnifica Humanitas,” critics asked what the Holy Father could possibly know about a topic as complex as artificial intelligence.
Bringing your full (wounded) self to ministry
If seen in the light of God’s grace, our wounds can humble us, help remove a sense of arrogance and, above all, make us more sensitive to others who struggle.
A capitalist (priest) reads ‘Magnifica Humanitas’
Pope Leo XIV’s superb new encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” is the most cogent Catholic critique of capitalism that I have ever read.
What makes Stephen Colbert one of today’s best Catholic evangelists
As “The Late Show” comes to an end, Father James Martin writes that Stephen Colbert’s smarts, humor and experience of suffering make him one of the most effective public Catholics out there.
To protest or not to protest? Martin Sheen and discernment
This week on “The Spiritual Life,” Father James Martin asks Catholic actor and activist Martin Sheen: Does everyone have to protest?
‘The Bear’ actress Liza Colón-Zayas’s spiritual journey—to agnosticism
My friend Liza Colón-Zayas is the first guest on “The Spiritual Life” podcast who is, by her own admission, an agnostic.
