The following is a transcript of a Raised Catholic podcast episode. To listen to the episode, click here. Today is episode 173: Be Still Hi friends. In this perfect spring season where everything is coming up and blooming and gorgeous, I think the blooms themselves are a testimony to God and so, I don’t have a long episode for you today, but I do have a poem from Mary Oliver that I’d love to read for you. It might help us frame our spring and how we can receive from God instead of always doing. The poem is called “Praying,” by Mary Oliver, and I hope it will help you to notice the in ..read more

The following is a transcript of a Raised Catholic podcast. To listen to the podcast, click here. Today is episode 172: My Ministry Garden Hi friends. This week I returned from a rainy day run and was stretching my legs along the rock wall in front of my little house when I felt compelled to start a project that had needed tending for some time. The rock wall itself is old and in need of repair. Round stones from the middle and slate pieces from the top have found themselves expelled by the wall over time, due to the changing of seasons and the lack of good cohesion. The whole thing needs a se ..read more

The following is a transcript of a Raised Catholic podcast episode. To listen to the episode, click here. Today is episode 171: Faith is Not a Room Hi friends, happy Easter season to you and yours! I hope it was a really nice Easter for you. This year was the first one I can remember, in well over twenty years, I think, that I did not sing at any Triduum masses. That’s a big deal for a music minister like me. Instead, for Holy Thursday and Good Friday, I went to a local Catholic college for their beautiful services and then on Saturday, we went into the city to the most welcoming and joyful ch ..read more

The following is a transcript of a Raised Catholic podcast episode. To listen to the episode, click here. Hi friends, happy Easter! He is risen, alleluia! Today I have a repost of an earlier episode, it’s number 70 from way back in April of 2022. I hope it’s a blessing to you as you start off your Easter season, which is longer than Lent, by the way – good news for us all. I’ll be back with a new episode for you next week, but in the meantime, I am praying for resurrection in all of the places that you and I most need it. Here’s episode 70: What If Today is episode 70: What If Hello friends. B ..read more

The following is a transcript of a Raised Catholic podcast episode. To listen to the episode, click here. Today is episode 169: Lessons from Lazarus Hi friends. I have been thinking about the Gospel reading from the 5th Sunday of Lent now for a few days, and the lessons that I’m taking away from it are proving to be a good foundation for Holy Week, so I thought I would share these takeaways with you as we head into the week together. The long version of this reading is over 800 words and so, I thought it might take a little bit too much time for me to read it for you here. I would encoura ..read more

The following is a transcript of a Raised Catholic podcast episode. To listen to the episode, click here. Today is episode 168: The Spiritual Practice of Awe Hi friends. As we move toward Holy Week in this springtime of Lent, I find myself noticing the things that are bringing me awe, and I’m letting these moments point me toward what is good, true, and beautiful. Today, I thought I would share some experiences of awe that I had just this week in the hopes that it will help you to look for your own, and to wonder about just what these experiences are teaching you. This week I saw my first croc ..read more

Photo by Alex RiekeThe following is a transcript of a Raised Catholic podcast episode. To listen to the episode, click here. Today is episode 167: The Spiritual Practice of Being Wrong Hi friends. Today I thought I’d start with a couple of stories from when I was a kid. The first one was when I was in first grade at around age 5. I used to walk to our elementary school with my sisters and a group of kids from the neighborhood, and on that approximately half-mile route, we passed a small strip mall that in the warmer weather smelled to me like French fries and in rainy weather, the puddles were ..read more

The following is a transcript of a Raised Catholic podcast episode. To listen to the episode, click here. Today is episode 166: Church Clothes Hi friends. Recently I did something that I do not recommend, actually, and that is to engage with a contrary opinion on an Instagram post. This creator was well-meaning, but her take on this topic struck a nerve with me in a way that I found hard to ignore. In a nutshell, she was encouraging people to be more mindful about the clothing that they wear to mass. Seems pretty innocuous, right? Apparently, not for me. In this age of clericalism in the Catho ..read more

The following is a Raised Catholic podcast episode. To listen to the episode, click here. Today is episode 165: Music Ministers Hi friends. Today I’d like to talk a little bit about the experience of music ministry. Now, I am a music minister and I have been one for probably twenty-five years or so. I sing in a couple of different churches on a regular basis, and at funerals and weddings, but that is not exactly what I’m talking about here. Today, I’m using the word ‘minister’ as a verb, as in ‘it helps’. Because, in a very unique way, music does minister to God’s people. And I guess I’ll just ..read more

The following is a transcript of a Raised Catholic podcast episode. To listen to the episode, click here. Today is episode 162: The Delivery People Hi friends. As I mentioned in the last episode, this was the week we said goodbye-for-now to our friend Jim. There were so many rich words spoken at his wake and his funeral, so many lessons from his truly wonderful life, that I will carry with me. And since Jim never centered himself in any of his work while he was alive, I’ll not do that in his death. Jim would be the first one to say that he was simply a delivery person. My Brother’s Keeper, the ..read more