The Myth Pilgrim

Angels, guardian angels & fallen angels (demons) are truths upheld by the Catholic faith. Strangely today, its our myths and fairytales that proclaim their reality more than most churches. This episode uses these stories to rediscover the friends and foes in the spiritual realm. 

Excerpt from episode: "See, our myths and fairytales remind us what the Celtic Christians used to say: the world is porous and thin, and permeable by the spiritual realm. Whether we personally feel at peace or in conflict, there is a spiritual battle taking place which draws in the whole of creation. This certain enchantedness of creation is not only accepted within Catholicism but celebrated… we who have the most developed teachings of angelology as well as demonology, drawing from the accounts found in the scriptures, but also developed from theologians and the experience of the saints. I’ll divide up today’s episode into two sections then – beginning fist with angels, then moving onto fallen angels, before finally offering some reflections on their significance on this pilgrimage here on earth"

How does virtue carry a man through hellish injustice? Not only is Gladiator a profound spiritual allegory, Maximus' hero's journey illuminates the path we all must take as Christians.

Excerpt from episode: "What makes Gladiator mythical is that the Maximus returning from exile wasn’t the same Maximus as the one pre-fall but one infinitely greater, and that it was precisely through his suffering and death, that his true greatness was accomplished. Think about it: in the beginning when all was going well for Maximus, he served Rome well, was loved by his solders and helped extend Rome’s borders into Germania. But by the end of the movie, the returning Maximus doesn’t just serve Rome, he recreates Rome, by winning the hearts of the Romans and ensuring the end of its dictator, paving the way for the republic to be established. The dream of Marcus Arellius couldn’t be actualised when Maximus was simply being a mighty general, but when he was a lowly gladiator, it was accomplished."

Soundtrack: tracks used this episode from the Gladiator OST (Hans Zimmer): Now we are Free, Elysium, The Barbarian Horde, Victory theme, Earth theme 

The story behind the writing of 'O Holy Night' is as inspiring as the carol itself. God always uses the most unlikely of sources and circumstances for his glory! This Advent, reflect upon how "modern man cannot find God because he won't look low enough." 

Excerpt from episode: "However, when Cappeau officially walked away from the faith and became part of the French socialist movement, and church leaders discovered that Adam was a Jew, the Catholic church enforced a sudden ban upon the song. O Holy Night was officially blacklisted, for how could a hymn coming from such unholy origins be any good."

Music credits: 

• 'O Holy Night' vocal cover (Petronella and Paul Hoare)
• Night Garden Waltz (Rebecca E. Tripp)
• 'O Holy Night' (performed by National Philharmonic Orchestra)

Despite it's sci-fi trappings, Nolan's Interstellar is one of the greatest love stories ever told. Unpack how black holes, gravity and time travel illuminate the story of human salvation, and how the love of the Resurrection "transcends the dimensions of time and space."

"Stripped to its bare bones, Interstellar is a story about human salvation. Or more accurately a story about the desperate rescue mission to save humanity from extinction. As such, if I could summarise the story of Interstellar in one sentence, it is this: “how the faithful love between a father and his daughter, could overcome any physical force in the universe, so much so that this love saves the whole of humanity.” 

It always impresses me how this sci fi giant reveals a deeply human story about a father to his daughter, whose love remains the same even across the stars. Nothing separates the love between Cooper and his daughter, and as such, the great paradox of this sci fi epic is that it is one of the most human stories told in recent years. For Christians of course, the salvific love between father and child lies at the heart of our salvation story, one that involves God the Father, and us his precious children. Just as Cooper once made a promise to Murph “I love you, I love you forever, you hear me? And I’m coming back,” God the Father made the same promise to us his children that his love was forever. Unlike human love, which is so prone to become distracted and distorted and weakened over time, God’s love remains faithful forever, because it is a covenant love... "

Who is the greatest warrior against Sauron? Guest Danny Davis explores how two forgotten characters—Tom Bombadil and Goldberry—teaches us about the weapons of innocence and humour.

Danny's Book "Guests, Hosts and the Holy Ghost: Who Tolkien's Tom Bombadil and Goldberry are and why it really matters"
Here is an Amazon link to the book, with a foreword from Joseph Pearce! 

Emotions are barely discussed within the faith context, and if they are, often negatively. Pixar's Inside Out opens up much needed discussion about how emotions are misunderstood / misused, while also providing us a map for Christian holiness.

Further Reading (practical pilgrim reflection)

• Owning Your Own Shadow - Robert A. Johnson (Robert is a Catholic author who is also well versed in Jungian psychology)
• Atlas of the Heart - Dr Brene Brown (Brene is a bestselling TED speaker and author The Gifts of Imperfection which is also worth reading if you want to explore vulnerability and shame) 
• Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self - Fr Richard Rohr (Franciscan priest and author of many books such as Falling Upward)
• Sanctuary (video series) - Catholicism and Mental Health (It's a free sign up! Includes 8 well presented and researched videos, for private use, or for parish)

C.S. Lewis, the mind behind Narnia, did not have an easy life. See how God uses the crucibles of loneliness, challenging domestic life and existential crisis to forge one of the greatest authors and apologists of our times.

Short excerpt from episode: "... C.S. Lewis never had it easy at home or in the family life … right from childhood all the way to his death. After his mother’s ultimately death when he was nine, Lewis’s relationship with his father became deeply strained, as his father grew more and more distant. You could almost say he grew up with an absentee father, which we now know in some ways is even more painful than losing a father outright. And it wasn’t like Lewis wasn’t partly to blame for the estrangement: he would write later in life that the strain with his father was the greatest sin of his life. But luckily, they did get to reconcile shortly before his father died, where they could spent 6 golden weeks together. Two more significant domestic figures punctuate the decades of Lewis' adult years - his brother Warnie, and also a certain Mrs Moore, who shared a home with Lewis even throughout his years of fame. Mrs Janie Moore was a fascinating figure indeed… and also mysterious. During WWI, Lewis had made a promise to his friend Paddy, that should one of them perish, they would look after the surviving parent. True to his word, when Paddy died, Lewis took Mrs Moore into his home after the war, and lived with her until her own death, thirty years later. Moore in turn became the mother and father Lewis never had, and so, a psychologically complex sort of co-dependency developed. What was their relationship like?.."

Practical Pilgrim Reflection: Here is a YouTube link to the movie Shadowlands, which centres of C.S. Lewis' relationship with Joy Davidman. Anthony Hopkins plays a surprisingly satisfying Lewis! 

How do we navigate times of misfortune and suffering? Allow the wisdom of this Chinese fable to teach us patience and detachment. Learn how "Acting without forcefulness" helps us surrender to Divine Providence.   

Excerpt from episode: "After all, without the mind of God himself, can I truly judge an accident, or a missed opportunity or a broken relationship to be definitively bad? After all, if the horse hadn’t run off at the start of the story, the farmer’s son would probably be dead in the war. 

Chinese wisdom would suggest that this fable is actually not about whether or not good fortune is good, or bad fortune is bad. Rather, it is about learning to have a healthy detachment from either extremes. It is about learning to hold on to seemingly good and bad fortune lightly, so as to be always ready to flow with the Tao, a word which you may remember means the Way. Taoist philosophy invites us to live in accordance with the natural flow of things, trusting in the balance of the cosmos, and therefore to avoid making forceful, premature actions. Every season has its fruits, and try as we might to cultivate mangoes in winter, we will only work against the Tao, doing violence to ourselves and others. Better to grow mangoes in summer, says the Tao, and while in winter, to cultivate oranges instead. Or Mandarins. Tao is as much about knowing when to act, as it is about acting well. In reference to the horse fable, Taoist teaching warns us from making premature judgements about events, because from premature judgements flows premature actions..." 

Why is a captain obsessing after a whale considered a classical story? This episode will dive into the mythical and spiritual significance of Moby Dick, exploring our unconscious, forgotten images of God, the quest for self-knowledge, and the path to sanctity.   

Practical Pilgrim Reflection: Here are some favourite praise songs of mine, to boost you in your Practical Pilgrim reflection 

• Your Majesty (Jarred Cooper)
• King of Kings (Hillsong)
• Behold Him (Paul Baloche)
• Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Soundtrack credits:  Wellerman - Sea Shanty (cover by RochaMusic), Jurassic Park theme - John Williams, Nine Years On Shore (Matthew Ward, ft Sarah Carino and Rhiannon Gill), Now We Are Free - Hans Zimmer (cover by Hauser), Zora's Domain - Zelda Breath of the Wild  

Why did Tolkien make Frodo epic fail at the last moment? Today, we'll look at the 'failure' stories of St Charles de Foucauld, St Louise de Marillac and St Joseph of Cupertino. Be encouraged by the fact that "God doesn't ask us to be successful, he asks us to be faithful."

Excerpt from episode: "How I plan to structure this episode is as follows. First, I will tell you the stories of three saints who in the eyes of the world failed big time... this will make up the first half of the episode. Then, I will explain the significance of these stories for a proper understanding of holiness. And finally, in light of this, I will suggest why Tolkien is a genius for ending his story the way he did, and how his doing so sheds fresh new light on our being a saint..."

Practical Pilgrim Reflection: Movie of The Reluctant Saint (about St Joseph of Cupertino)