"One of the best places to cultivate a Catholic worldview in the hearts and minds of young people … is in the backcountry," writes Fr. John Nepil in his recent release, To Heights and unto Depths.

Fr. Nepil, who has led dozens of group treks through the mountains of Colorado and said Mass atop every fourteener in the state, joins us to talk about adventure and a young man's theological education. The backcountry, he says, is rich in lessons of creation, dependence, suffering, and beauty—restoring our sense of being created and loved by a self-giving God.

Chapters:

5:18 What draws us to the mountains

9:04 "Nature" vs. "creation"

13:16 Fatherhood

16:00 Dependence

20:44 Cultivating a worldview

25:54 Guiding the conversation (or not)

28:13 Redemptive suffering

31:23 Starting with beauty

38:59 Physical vs. metaphysical limits

46:46 Men doing hard things together

48:29 The backstory of the book

50:39 A habit of reading

Links:

To Heights and unto Depths by Fr. John Nepil

Rethinking Mary in the New Testament by Edward "Ted" Sri

Daughter Zion: Meditations on the Church's Marian Belief by Joseph Ratzinger

Poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton

Also on the Forum:

Why We Go: Seven Benefits of the Backcountry by Elias Naegele

The Way of Encounter by Joe Breslin

Why We Need Exposure to Nature by Eric Heil

Featured Opportunities:

Convivium for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 13-15, 2025)