The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.

As a lay minister to  L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics, a faith-based community organizer, and an immigration attorney, Yunuen Trujillo wears many hats.  And as a member of these marginalized communities herself, she knows their struggles intimately.  ”I feel that when we minister to immigrants or L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics, I'm ministering from a place of an open wound,” says Yuenen,  “But it's a good thing because when you connect with your wound, then you're able to be hospitable to the wound of other people.” Yunuen joins host Fr. James Martin, S.J., on “The Spiritual Life” podcast to share her journey of finding a loving and merciful God who walks with her in her fight for justice in many arenas. 

Timecodes:

0:00 Jesus teaches us about love through the parable of “the Good Samaritan”

3:17 Can I be gay and Catholic?

6:40 Yunuen’s intersectional vocation as an immigration attorney and lay Catholic minister

13:20 Yunuen’s spiritual resources for the daily battles

17:46 Navigating righteous anger without succumbing to rage

28:00 How Yunuen found a loving and merciful God

43:30 Being LGBTQ isn’t an ideology

46:34 Audience Question: How can you use prayer to help you look forward in life as opposed to revisiting old transgressions or wounds?

Read Fr. Martin's article reflecting on this episode here

Yunuen Trujillo’s books:

⁠ LGBTQ Catholics: A Guide for Inclusive Ministry ⁠

⁠Católicos LGBTQ: Una Guía para Pastoral Inclusiva.⁠

Yunuen is the founder of @lgbtcatholics on Instagram

Link to Father Jim’s spiritual advice article on this episode⁠: "Bringing your full (wounded) self to ministry"

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From country club caddy to the Catholic Worker to “The West Wing”, Martin Sheen has been on a long and fascinating spiritual journey. The Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning actor and activist shares the major turning points in his faith with Fr. James Martin, S.J. on “The Spiritual Life” podcast. They talk about some of the most important influences in Sheen’s life, including the Jesuit activist Dan Berrigan and film-maker Terrence Malick, and how the Mass continues to nourish his faith. 

Timecodes:

0:00 How Martin Sheen’s faith was shaped by the Catholic Worker

2:00 Understanding the ploughshare movement

3:43 Discerning what activism our faith calls us to

6:50 Martin Sheen’s Catholic childhood

9:00 An epiphany in Paris and how Terrence Malick became a spiritual guide to Sheen

12:20 “Peacework must be as devotional as war”

22:30 Encountering community and solidarity at the Catholic Worker

32:25 Sheen is nourished by the mass

42:13 How Catholicism informed Sheen’s role of Pres. Josiah Bartlet on ‘The West Wing’

45: Audience Question: How can working people today take a personal vow of poverty or overcome a consumer culture?

Links:

Martin Sheen's podcast

Link to Father Jim’s spiritual advice article on this episode: ⁠https://www.americamagazine.org/podcasts/2026/05/18/martin-sheen-spiritual-life-james-martin

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If you’ve watched “The Bear” you’ve seen the incredible talent of the Emmy award-winning supporting actress, Liza Colón-Zayas, who plays Tina. But you might not know that Liza has overcome great spiritual hardship on her journey to noterirty. She joins her friend and host of “The Spiritual Life” podcast Fr. James Martin, S.J. to talk about her Catholic upbringing, how she escaped a cult, persevered through the ups and downs of the entertainment industry, and where she finds hope in her ancestral roots today.

https://www.americamagazine.org/podcasts/2026/05/11/liza-colon-zayas-spiritual-life/

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In this episode of The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J., Fr. Martin speaks with Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David, Bishop of Kalookan, Philippines. Elevated to the College of Cardinals in 2024 by Pope Francis, the ministry of Cardinal “Ambo” has been marked by a deep solidarity with those on the margins, with whom he’s established 21 urban mission stations in poor communities affected by violence.  With a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Catholic University of Louvain, Cardinal Ambo shares his Ignatian approach of “reading between the lines of scripture,” without forgetting the very important “dots” we connect through biblical scholarship. 

Timecodes:

0:00 Prayer is necessary to survive 

2:50 What’s an Ignatian approach towards scripture?

5:19 How Cardinal Ambo received his nickname and why he prefers it to “Your Eminence”

7:28 Cardinal Ambo’s early calling to the priesthood

14:05 Biblical scholarship establishes the dots, Ignatian Contemplation helps connect them

21:30 How studying Aramaic allows Cardinal Ambo to better understand Jesus

24:50 The urban mission stations that bring hope to the poor

30:40 What characterizes Filipino-Catholic spirituality?

32:30 Audience Question: How does Jesus’ resurrection change reality?

Read Fr. Jim's article on Ignatian contemplation

Do you have a spiritual question for Fr. Jim? You can write to us at: [email protected]

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James Martin, S.J., speaks with Andrew Sullivan, the renowned political commentator and Catholic writer, about faith, identity and spiritual transformation in this deeply personal episode of “The Spiritual Life” podcast. Having struggled through the AIDS crisis of the 80s and 90s, Andrew opens up about the initial fear of gay people in the Catholic Church and the remarkable shift that he believes has taken place over the past few decades.

Chapters

00:00 Who is Andrew Sullivan?

4:20 Homosexuality and the Catholic Church

11:14 State of the LGBTQ movement

15:35 How Pope Francis dispelled fear

21:38 God in the midst of agony

31:31 Andrew's turbulent Catholic life

41:04 Staying rooted spiritually

44:55 Reconciling personal experience in the church

Links:

Fr. Martin's spiritual advice column on this conversation: https://www.americamagazine.org/podcasts/2026/04/27/james-martin-andrew-sullivan-spiritual-life

“The Weekly Dish”: https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/

Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality: https://www.amazon.ca/Virtually-Normal-Argument-about-Homosexuality/dp/0679746145 

Interview: Andrew Sullivan on being openly gay and Catholic by Thomas H. Stahel: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/11/10/vantage-point-america-andrew-sullivan-244119

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Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago,  joins James Martin, S.J., on “The Spiritual Life” podcast to talk about his vocation story, the spiritual power of the Mass, and the necessity of  preaching the Gospel during  tumultuous political times. 

Cardinal Cupich is the Archbishop of Chicago, one of three U.S. cardinals who currently runs a diocese, and is also a member of the Dicastery for Bishops.

00:00 Who is Cardinal Cupich?

2:32 Explaining Lectio Divina

5:33 Explaining the Liturgy of the Hours

8:17 Cardinal Cupich's vocation story

12:32 Prayer isn't just personal

19:40 How the Mass changes your life

25:48 The spiritual life of a bishop

29:12 Working with Pope Leo XIV

32:32 Being political vs. preaching the Gospel

37:00 Audience question: Why is Confession important?

Links:

Fr. Jim’s spiritual advice column on the Sacrament of Confession

Cardinal Cupich's archdiocesan column

Cardinal Cupich on retrieving the Consistent Ethic of Life

Do you have a spiritual question for Fr. Jim? You can write to us at: [email protected]

Become a subscriber today at Americamagazine.org/subscribe

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The poet and theologian, Pádraig Ó Tuama, joins James Martin, S.J., on “The Spiritual Life” podcast to talk about how poetry and the Taizé community became a lifeline for Pádraig after he was subjected to multiple exorcisms, attempting to cast out his homosexuality as a form of conversion therapy.

Pádraig is the host of On Being’s podcast, “Poetry Unbound,” and has published volumes of poetry, essays, a memoir and has written on theological topics. His books include:

 Being Here: Prayers for Curiosity, Justice, and Love

Kitchen Hymns

Timecodes:

0:00 What do you really want?

1:25 The conversion therapies inflicted upon Pádraig Ó Tuama

7:00 Pádraig’s younger years among the Catholic charismatic movement

11:24 How Pádraig accepted his homosexuality and renewed his faith

17:40 Coming out as a poet and being haunted by Emily Dickenson 

25:44 Pádraig’s understanding of prayer

32:25 Practicing the Stations of the Cross 

37:45 Required spiritual practices for reconciliation

43:20 How to deal with criticism

51:40 Audience Question: What practices can I bring from retreats into my daily life?

Read Fr. Jim's article reflecting on poetry and prayer.

Do you have a spiritual question for Fr. Jim? You can write to us at: [email protected]

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James Martin, S.J., is joined by James K.A. Smith on the “The Spiritual Life” podcast. Jamie is a leading scholar of St. Augustine, and a professor of philosophy at Calvin University. He’s written several books—including Desiring the Kingdom, You Are What You Love, On the Road with Saint Augustine, and his latest, Make Your Home in This Luminous Dark: Mysticism, Art, and the Path of Unknowing. Together, they chart the contours of St. Augustine’s life, spirituality, and theological patrimony in the Church, along with Jamie’s own spiritual life.  

Timecodes:

0:00 Adopting a refugee spirituality

1:40 Introducing James K.A. Smith and Augustinian spirituality

6:39 Jamie meets God through his wife’s family

11:00 How St. Augustine became a spiritual lifeline for Jamie

13:30 A thumbnail sketch of St. Augustine’s life

19:10 “Everybody’s got a hungry heart” 

30:40 Praying with the German mystic Meister Eckhart

33:46 Tracking your desires in the spiritual life

36:10 The relationship between Pope Leo XIV, the Augustianians, and Augustine
45:15 Audience Question: How can we reconcile the "two churches" of today: a church that follows Jesus and a more "worldy church"?

Do you have a spiritual question for Fr. Jim? You can write to us at: [email protected]

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Editor-in-chief of Orbis Books, Robert Ellsberg cut his teeth as an editor of The Catholic Worker newspaper when he was just 20  years old. There he also traded literary notes with the great Catholic writer, activist and now “Servant of God,” Dorothy Day. On this episode of “The Spiritual Life,” Robert joins host James Martin, S.J., to share what he learned from Dorothy and his time at the Catholic Worker about ordinary holiness. 

Timecodes:

0:00 Spiritual improv at the Catholic Worker

1:15 Introducing Robert Ellsberg, Orbis editor-in-chief

3:15 A primer on Servant of God, Dorothy Day

7:00 How Robert Ellsberg fell into the Catholic Worker at only 20 y.o.

13:50 Robert’s spiritual crisis and eventual conversion to Catholicism

15:50 Life at the Catholic Worker and getting to know Dorothy Day 

22:40 “Don’t call me a saint” and Dorothy’s own expression of holiness

32:46 Letting go of the need to have the last word

35:33 Encountering God in nature

37:12 Audience Question: What saints can assist my prayer when I feel desolation around the church?

Read Fr. Jim's ⁠article on Dorothy Day

Do you have a spiritual question for Fr. Jim? You can write to us at: [email protected]

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American culture often tries to emphasize “learning lessons” in the middle of suffering. For example, “Everything happens for a reason.” But Kate Bowler doesn’t think those “lessons”  are coming from God; rather, God draws close to the brokenhearted and accompanies them. On this episode of “The Spiritual Life” podcast host James Martin, S.J. is joined by scholar of American religion history, Kate Bowler, who is also the creator of the popular podcast “Everything Happens” and the author of bestselling books including Everything Happens for a Reason (and Other Lies I’ve Loved) and No Cure for Being Human. Her latest book is Joyful, Anyway!

Timecodes:

0:00 God’s grace is not like math

1:05 Who is Kate Bowler?

5:22 How getting diagnosed with stage 4 cancer changed Kate’s faith

11:55 What not to say to someone who is suffering

19:38 How to accompany those who suffer

26:37 The problem with happiness and “good vibes only”

31:32 The paradox and practice of joy

44:10 Kate’s spiritual practices of honesty and service

47:35 Why its so hard to suffer in America

50:00 Audience Question: How do we believe in a just and loving God in the midst of an unjust and unloving world?

56:30 Kate’s blessing

Read Fr. Jim's article on suffering

Do you have a spiritual question for Fr. Jim? You can write to us at: [email protected]

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