The Weight of Glory

A younger version of myself confronts pre-synodal synodality in a suburban parish, In this episode (which I am reproducing here from my Substack feed), I describe a letter I wrote to an ex-priest who came to my home parish back in 1994 to offer an adult education series titled "A Church for Our Children."

Works Cited:

Flannery, Austin, ed. Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post-Conciliar Documents. 1975. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1980.

Hildebrand, Dietrich von. Image of Christ: Saint Francis of Assisi. 1963. Steubenville: Franciscan University Press, 1993.

John Paul II, Pope. Veritatis Splendor: The Splendor of Truth. Boston: Saint Paul Books & Media, 1993.

Closing song: "Do You Really Want to Know?" by Peter Mayer, from the album Heaven Below, copyright 2010. 

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Jack Sacco, an engineer and writer by trade, interviewed a multi-disciplinary group of scientists who were given access to study the Shroud in 1978. This two-hour presentation summarizes the remarkable findings of that scientific research. The venue for the talk was Saint Monica's Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California, and the speaker was introduced by Father Willy Raymond, CSC.

If you're enjoying this podcast, or wish to send along a question or friendly critique, drop me a note on Twitter @WeightOfGlory or send me an email at [email protected]. Also, please spread the word via your social channels. Most especially, I'd welcome reviews over at Apple Podcasts: that will help more people discover the show.

Music for this episode was provided by 3brass.

https://doxaweb.com/blog/2026/04/08/the-shroud-of-turin-2/

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For Holy Week, I'm posting a special episode on The Stations of the Cross. 

What follows is a Stations of the Cross text I wrote in 2004, reflecting on the images Mel Gibson provided in his movie The Passion of The Christ. Each mediation also includes a quote from one of my favorite spiritual writers.

In the show notes, you'll find links to learn more about the Stations of the Cross,  sources for the quotes used in the meditations, and a link to learn more about the album Via Crucis by Dick Le Mair. Many thanks to Le Mair for granting me the rights to include his music in this episode.

How Did the Stations of the Cross Begin? - Fr. William Saunders

“For God So Loved”: C.S. Lewis’s Four Loves and the Doctrine of Christ’s Atonement - Adam J. Johnson

The Four Loves - C.S. Lewis

Text of the meditations inspired by The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson

Quotation sources:

I - Into Your Hands, Father - Fr. Wilfrid Stinissen

II, IX, XII - Via Crucis - Saint Josemaría Escrivá

III - De Interpellatione David - Saint Ambrose of Milan

IV - Salt of the Earth - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

V, VIII - Transformation in Christ - Dietrich von Hildebrand

VI - De pauperum - Saint Gregory of Nazianzen

VII - The Jeweler's Shop - Karol Wojtyla

X - Interior Freedom - Fr. Jacques Philippe

XI - The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae) - Saint Pope John Paul II

XIII - The Splendor of Truth (Veritatis Splendor) - Saint Pope John Paul II

XIV - The Lord's descent into hell - ancient homily for Holy Saturday

Closing prayer - Meditations on the Stations of the Cross - Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman

Music: Via Crucis by Dick Le Mair

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In today's episode, Kale Zelden and I complete our discussion of Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical letter on Christian hope. In the last major section of the letter, Benedict XVI speaks of the experience of judgment as a setting for hope. We pick up our reading at paragraph 39.

This episode concludes the first season of the podcast. I'd really appreciate your feedback on the first season of this podcast -- what you liked, what you didn't, what you'd like to see in season two -- by taking a moment to complete a survey. 

Podcast Survey: doxaweb.com/survey

Until next season, be well and God bless.

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In today's episode, Kale Zelden and I resume our discussion of Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical letter on Christian hope. Specifically, we read and reflect on paragraphs 32 through 38: Settings for learning and practicing hope. Benedict XVI speaks in these paragraphs of prayer and suffering as two "schools of hope."

The music in the introduction and close of this podcast is provided by Dennis Crommett. Learn more about Dennis at DennisCrommett.Bandcamp.com or in the show notes. 

If you're enjoying this podcast, or wish to send along a question or friendly critique, drop me a note on Twitter @WeightOfGlory or send me an email at [email protected]. Also, I'd appreciate it if you'd spread the word via your social channels. Most especially, I'd welcome reviews over at Apple Podcasts. There are links in the show notes to make it easier to contact me or to spread the word.

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Today's episode will cover paragraphs 24 through 31 of Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical letter on hope, which asks the question: what is the true shape of Christian hope? 

I had recorded a conversation about these paragraphs with my friend Kale Zelden, but the audio somehow didn't survive the recording process, so today's episode is a simple reading of these paragraphs. But more than any other part of the letter, this section is the culmination of everything that has been discussed before, so it really needs no additional commentary. At the midpoint of the letter, with characteristically clear prose and depth of insight, Pope Benedict XVI brings to light the contours of Christian hope.

***

Spe Salvi (Saved in Hope) by Pope Benedict XVI, 2007

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In today's episode, my friend Kale and I reflect on paragraphs 16 through 23 of Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical letter on hope, which asks the question: how has the concept of Christian hope been transformed in the modern age? More specifically, how has modernity reappropriated the concepts of faith and hope in the service of secular goals?

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My friend Kale Zelden and I reflect on paragraphs 13 through 15 of Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical letter on hope, which asks the question: Is Christian Hope Individualistic? This question leads to a wide-ranging conversation about the role of Christian community, and its importance in our initiation and reconciliation with God in the Church.

Show notes/resources:
Confession and General Absolution

"Party of Christ... or Church of Jesus Christ?" in Called to Communion, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, 1996

If you're enjoying this podcast, or wish to send along a question or friendly critique, drop me a note on Twitter @WeightOfGlory or send me an email at [email protected]. Also, please spread the word via your social channels. Most especially, I'd welcome reviews over at Apple Podcasts: that will help more people discover the show.

The music in the introduction and close of this podcast is provided by Dennis Crommett. 

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My friend Kale Zelden and I continue our discussion of Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical letter on hope (Spe Salvi)  -- specifically, we read and discuss paragraphs 4 through 12, covering the concept of faith-based hope in the New Testament and the early Church, and the question about what eternal life is.

Show notes/resources:
The Still Point in the Turning World - T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets, "Burnt Norton"

The "already/not yet" tension of Christian liturgy and life:
"The Sanctification of Time and the Liturgy of the Hours," Fr. Hildebrand Garceau, O.Praem.

"Demonstrators burn two churches in Chile on anniversary of protests," October 19, 2020

The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston's Catholic Culture, Philip Lawler

Dante's depiction of Judas Iscariot in The Inferno

"I will never lose myself
for that which the senses
can take in here,
nor for all the mind can hold,
no matter how lofty,
nor for grace or beauty,
but only for I-don’t-know-what
which is so gladly found."
Saint John of the Cross, A Gloss (with spiritual meaning)

If you're enjoying this podcast, or wish to send along a question or friendly critique, drop me a note on Twitter @WeightOfGlory or send me an email at [email protected]. Also, please spread the word via your social channels. Most especially, I'd welcome reviews over at Apple Podcasts: that will help more people discover the show.

The music in the introduction and close of this podcast is provided by Dennis Crommett. 

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Together, long-time friend Kale Zelden and I read Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical letter on hope (Spe Salvi) and discuss the idea of faith-based hope. In today's episode, we break open the letter and unpack the first few paragraphs.

Show notes/resources:
Ave Maris Stella (Mary, Star of the Sea)

Angel prayer from Fatima

Jesus of Nazareth trilogy - Benedict XVI

God's performative word: Verbum Domini, Benedict XVI, paragraph 53

God's performative word - Isaiah 55:10-11

Saint Josephine Bakhita

Doubt as an avenue of communication between believer and unbeliever:
Introduction to Christianity, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Testimony of James Grein
Crisis podcast, episode 4
(12:30-14:00 into the episode)

The Heart of Man (film)

If you're enjoying this podcast, or wish to send along a question or friendly critique, drop us a note on Twitter @WeightOfGlory or send us an email at [email protected]. Also, please spread the word via your social channels. Most especially, I'd welcome reviews over at Apple Podcasts: that will help more people discover us.

The music in the introduction and close of this podcast is provided by Dennis Crommett. 

Support the show