The Pilgrim Soul

Join Giuli, Sofi and Adrianna for a conversation about identity. How is the identity of a Christian both a gift and a task? What falsehoods about identity tempt us away from this reality? Which experiences and relationships have built and revealed our identity to us? //Our media recommendation is Mike Posner’s song “I Went Back to Ibiza”, with his prior song “I Took a Pill in Ibiza” for context. And our monthly challenge is to reflect, at the start or end of your day, on your encounters and actions, asking the question: “What does this have to do with my identity?” //We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ or find us on Instagram at ⁠⁠@pilgrimsoulpodcast⁠⁠. Our website is ⁠⁠www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com⁠⁠. //Other resources we mention:Quo Vadis, Humanitas? (especially Chapter 3), a document released by the International Theological Commission led by our friend Fr. Javier PradesSt. Edith Stein’s “Essays on Woman”then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s collection of homilies ”In the Beginning” //Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.” 

Adrianna, Sofi, and Giuli have a conversation about failure. How do we, shaped by our modern culture, often face failure reductively? How does God respond to human failure? Is it possible for failures (ours and those of others) to be places of encounter with Christ? What helps us live with the posture of a beggar? //Our media recommendation is Rembrandt’s painting The Return of the Prodigal Son. And our monthly challenge is to pray with Habbakuk 3:17-18.  //We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram at @pilgrimsoulpodcast.  Our website is www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com. //Other resources we mention:- “Collected Works: Theology of the Liturgy” of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger- Sofia read Walker Percy’s quote about the sinners in the Church in an excellent essay by John O’Callaghan in First Things //Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.”

This month, we are discussing culture. What is the source of an authentically Christian culture? How does it differ from retreating into exile from the world, on the one hand, or conforming oneself to its mentality, on the other? What helps us judge everything in light of the Christian event? //Our media recommendation is the memoir The Shadow of His Wings by Fr. Gereon Goldmann. And our monthly challenge is to visit the cathedral of your diocese, ideally with a tour guide to explain its history and art. //Check out Sofi’s translation of Time and the Temple, published by Slant Books. The book is available for purchase on Bookshop or Amazon. A beautiful presentation of the text by Fr. Mauro-Giuseppe Lepori, in dialogue with high school students, is available on YouTube. //We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ or find us on Instagram at ⁠⁠@pilgrimsoulpodcast⁠⁠. Our website is ⁠⁠www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com⁠⁠. //Other resources we mention:- Luigi Giussani’s book “In Search of the Human Face”- The Beginning Day text for 2025, “Christ: The New Principle of Knowledge and Action” - Fr. Julian Carron’s letter at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic- Josef Zverina’s Letter to the Christians of the West - A Christmas homily by Bishop Erik Varden - Our episode on hope with Amanda Achtman //Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.” 

This month, we are discussing love for the poor—the subject of Pope Leo XVI’s first Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te. What does it mean that God ‘prefers’ the poor? How and why is our faith manifest in caring for those in poverty? Have we experienced  such charity as reciprocal? //Our media recommendation is Vincent Van Gogh’s The Good Samaritan. And our monthly challenge is to give alms, being attentive to spontaneous opportunities to do so. //We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ or find us on Instagram at ⁠⁠@pilgrimsoulpodcast⁠⁠. Our website is ⁠⁠www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com⁠⁠. //Other resources we mention:Fr. Luigi Giussani’s booklet “The Meaning of Charitable Work"The documentary “Outcasts” about the Franciscan Friars of Renewal (trailer here) //Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.” 

This month, to celebrate the end of the 2025 Jubilee of Hope, we have a conversation with our friend Amanda Achtman about her mission. Amanda is the founder of Dying to Meet You, a project of cultural renewal to prevent euthanasia and encourage hope. How did she arrive at this mission? What needs, desires, and forms of suffering has she discovered in the hearts of others–and her own? Where can any of us derive hope in the face of death? //Our media recommendation is Fr. Alfred Delp’s book of sermons Advent of the Heart. And our monthly challenge is to light a candle and ponder Pope Benedict XVI’s words that “dying is the way a candle gives light.” //We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ or find us on Instagram at ⁠⁠@pilgrimsoulpodcast⁠⁠. Our website is ⁠⁠www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com⁠⁠. Amanda’s website is DyingtoMeetYou.com. You can also find her on X-formerly-known-as-Twitter @AmandaAchtman, and read her writing in a variety of places including Public Discourse. //Other resources we mention:St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross’ meditation “The Hidden Life and Epiphany”A talk by Luigi Giussani to a group of students in 1976Pope Francis’ audience on August 27, 2022 Mother Teresa’s book “Heart of Joy”Amanda’s video vignettes of lives affected by euthanasiaPope Benedict XVI’s homily from the 2009 Easter Vigil Caryll Houselander’s work “The Way of the Cross”Pope Benedict XVI’s book “Introduction to Christianity” // Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.”