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

“The Spiritual Life” host James Martin, S.J., talks with famed spiritual author and guide, Ron Rolheiser O.M.I., about:

Different habits of prayer, including discursive and centering prayer

Staying the course when your vocation feels boring or dry

What we have misunderstood about chastity and celibacy

Why praying relentlessly about your problems might not be spiritually wise and what to do differently in prayer

Ron’s books mentioned in the episode: 

The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality

Sacred Fire: A Vision for a Deeper Human and Christian Maturity

Domestic Monastery: Creating a Spiritual Life at Home

Link to Fr. Jim’s spiritual advice article on this episode: https://www.americamagazine.org/podcasts/2025/08/26/father-james-martin-ronald-rolheiser-spiritual-life

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

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Host James Martin, S.J., talks with Julia Osęka, one of the youngest delegates at the Vatican Synod on Synodality which sought to increase participation in the Catholic Church. They reflect upon:

How Julia’s childhood faith that ‘checked all the boxes’ matured into a relational faith between herself, God and other people

Both the inspiration and challenges Julia felt as a young delegate at the Synod on Synodality in October of 2023 and 2024.

Julia’s way of incorporating Ignatian principles of consolation and desolation, along with The Examen (St. Ignatius’ review of the day), into her prayer life.

Link to Fr. Jim’s spiritual advice article on this episode: Coming Soon

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

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Host James Martin, S.J. welcomes New York Times Opinion columnist and host of the “Interesting Times” podcast Ross Douthat onto “The Spiritual Life” to talk about:

- The eclectic variety of religious experience Ross encountered as a child through his parents’ exploration of charismatic and Pentecostal communities and his family’s eventual conversion to Roman Catholicism. 

- Ross’ five-year struggle with Lyme disease, detailed in his memoir The Deep Places, and where he found God amidst his mysterious illness.

- The importance of finding gratitude for the ordinary pleasures in life. 

Read Fr. Martin’s spiritual advice column about this episode here: https://www.americamagazine.org/podcasts/2025/08/12/ross-douthat-james-martin-spiritual-life-suffering

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

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Academy-Award winning filmmaker, Martin Scorsese, joins James Martin, S.J. to talk about:

Scorsese’s Catholic childhood against the backdrop of the mean, mafia-run streets of the Lower East Side, NYC, and the priest who guided him through it.

How spiritual themes naturally emerged in his acclaimed films.

Scorsese’s experience doing the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and how they affected his personal relationship to Jesus.

Link to Fr. Jim’s spiritual advice article on this episode: https://www.americamagazine.org/podcasts/2025/08/05/martin-scorsese-catholic-filmmaker-prayer-imagination/

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

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The long-beloved spiritual writer Sr. Joyce Rupp, O.S.M. joins Fr. James Martin, S.J. to "The Spiritual Life” podcast. They talk about:

- How to face the challenges of aging without harboring anger and bitterness

- The opportunities for interior freedom and delight that come with age

- How grief and loss changed the way Joyce prays 

Some of our favorite books from Sr. Joyce Rupp’s:

Vessels of Love: Poems and Prayers for the Later Years of Life

Praying Our Goodbyes: A Spiritual Companion Through Life’s Losses and Sorrows

Fragments of Your Ancient Name: 365 Glimpses of the Divine for Daily Meditation

Link to Fr. Jim’s spiritual advice article on this episode: https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2025/02/13/review-james-martin-aging-rupp-schultz-junger-249872

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

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Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, discusses his journey of faith, from his Catholic upbringing in the Caribbean to his experiences with the charismatic renewal and his challenging call to the priesthood.

Together with Father James Martin he discusses:

- How to answer a call from God

- Paying attention and staying committed during periods of intense spiritual darkness

- How working in gang mediation and serving the poor shaped his spiritual life

Read Father Jim’s spiritual advice for this episode: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/07/22/father-james-martin-desolation-spiritual-life-251166

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

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“Spiritualizing” something usually makes it less concrete, less “real.” Not for Anthea Butler, the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought at the University of Pennsylvania. In this episode of “The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.,” Anthea shares her journey from Catholicism to Pentecostalism and back to Catholicism, crediting the Catholic Church’s rich intellectual tradition and dedication to working with the poor and marginalized.

They discuss:

- Anthea’s Black Catholic heritage in Louisiana and Texas

- The great, yet relatively unknown, Catholic intellectual tradition

- How evangelical theology seeps into the Catholic Church in the United States

- Spirituality lived through action on behalf of the poor

Link to Father Jim’s spiritual advice article on this episode: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/07/15/anthea-butler-james-martin-spiritual-life-251125

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

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Stephen Colbert joins host Jim Martin, S.J., on “The Spiritual Life”!

Colbert is well-known for his satirical comedy on The Colbert Report and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.  The conversation dives into:

- The personal tragedy that marked Colbert’s boyhood- losing his father and two brothers in a plane crash – and how his mother’s faith helped shape his spiritual perspective.

- The atheism that plagued his college years and what brought Colbert back to his Catholic faith.

- The interplay between Colbert’s Catholicism and his comedy

Read Fr. Jim’s spiritual advice article on this episode, or visit this link: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/07/08/stephen-colbert-james-martin-spiritual-life-251084

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

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“The Spiritual Life” host James Martin, S.J., talks to Mary Karr, author of New York Times best-selling memoirs The Liars' Club, Cherry, and Lit, as well as the Art of Memoir, and five poetry collections, most recently Tropic of Squalor. 

Mary Karr shares:

How her son and a humble parish priest impacted her conversion to the Catholic faith

Her experience doing the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and coming to know both the depths of her own sinfulness and the abiding love of God

Her encounters of extraordinary grace at Mass, on the subway, and in ordinary life.

Read Fr. Jim’s spiritual advice article on this episode

Link to Fr. Jim’s book, “The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life” 

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

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Pete Buttigieg –  the 19th U.S. Secretary of Transportation and the 32nd mayor of South Bend, Indiana – joins host James Martin, S.J. on “The Spiritual Life” podcast to talk about his faith journey, including:

A high school Old Testament teacher who shaped Pete’s understanding of a faith that does justice 

Pete’s appreciation of the liturgy and subsequent conversion to the Episcopal church 

Coming out as gay and coming out as Christian in political life

How becoming a father has deepened Pete’s lived-experience of the triune God.

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

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