The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.
What is prayer and how can we pray? How do I know if God is responding to my prayers? What does it mean to live a spiritual life? “The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.,” focuses on how people experience God in their prayer and their daily lives. The show combines practical wisdom with deep reflections from spiritual masters and well-known seekers, all tracing the mystery of God’s activity in their own lives. You can visit the show's webpage at www.americamagazine.org/thespirituallife.
Episodes
December 10, 2025 • 65 mins
Fr. Jim introduces this special episode on "The Coventry Carol" which is part of a new season of the podcast, "Hark! The Stories Behind Our Favorite Christmas Carols," from America Magazine, the Jesuit Review (AmericaMagazine.org).
Listen to more episodes including, "O Holy Night," "The Little Drummer Boy," and "Silent Night" on:
Apple Podcasts, Spotify and at America Magazine: https://www.americamagazine.org/hark
Episode descri...
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October 28, 2025 • 63 mins
On our Season One finale of “The Spiritual Life” podcast, Host James Martin, S.J., welcomes the incomparable researcher and storyteller, Brené Brown.
Brené is a research professor at the University of Houston, the author of six #1 New York Times bestsellers and the host of two award-winning podcasts. In 2024, she was named as the executive director of The Center for Daring Leadership at BetterUp. In this open and courageous conver...
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October 21, 2025 • 69 mins
We’ve heard your questions about spiritual direction and have an episode that should answer (almost) all of them! To help us demystify the art of spiritual direction, host James Martin, S.J. speaks with Jesuit sociologist and trained spiritual director, Patrick Gilger, S.J., about:
What spiritual direction is and what it is not
What you can expect from a wise spiritual director
How spiritual direction helped both J...
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October 14, 2025 • 57 mins
Host James Martin, S.J., welcomes Br. Guy Consolmagno, a Jesuit brother, astronomer and the former director of the Vatican Observatory, to “The Spiritual Life” podcast.
With a Ph.D. in planetary science, Br. Guy has spent his career studying meteorites and asteroids, exploring the origins of the solar system, authoring more than 250 scientific publications and making science accessible to the public. Br. Guy has written several b...
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October 7, 2025 • 49 mins
Host James Martin, S.J., welcomes bestselling author and award-winning playwright, TV writer/producer, and filmmaker, Adriana Trigiani onto “The Spiritual Life” podcast. Adriana is a New York Times bestselling author of twenty-one books of fiction and nonfiction. Her latest novel is The View From Lake Como. This big-hearted conversation spans:
Adriana’s Italian-Catholic family roots
Her personal connection to the Euchari...
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September 30, 2025 • 56 mins
Host James Martin, S.J., welcomes Fr. Isaac Slater, OCSO, a Trappist monk, poet, and author of “Do Not Judge Anyone: Desert Wisdom for a Polarized World” to “The Spiritual Life” podcast.
This contemplative conversation includes:
The positive effects silence can have on our prayer lives
Why we judge other people and how to stop
How to create an environment that is more conducive to prayer, without becoming a monk...
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September 23, 2025 • 64 mins
Host James Martin, S.J., explores the mystical dimensions of the spiritual life with Mirabai Starr, an award-winning author, contemporary translator of sacred literature, and world-renowned teacher of contemplative practice and inter-spiritual dialogue.
They dive deep into:
- Daily practices that foster mystical experiences, including insights drawn from Mirabai’s latest book “Ordinary Mysticism: Your Life As Sacred Ground.”
- ...
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September 16, 2025 • 52 mins
On “The Spiritual Life” podcast, James Martin, S.J., talks with comedian and actor Jim Gaffigan about telling jokes about the church and sometimes feeling like a fraud in the spiritual life.
Together, they talk about:
- Jim’s journey through agnosticism and back to the Catholic Church
- Feeling like a fraud and nurturing a healthy spiritual life
- What spiritual practices Jim turned to when his wife, Jeannie, was diagnosed with...
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September 9, 2025 • 39 mins
On “The Spiritual Life” podcast, Fr. James Martin, S.J., talks to fellow a Jesuit and synod delegate, Cardinal Stephen Chow, S.J., who is the bishop of Hong Kong and was one of the 133 voting cardinals who elected Pope Leo XIV. He is renowned for his diplomacy and work fostering dialogue between the Catholic Church and China through educational outreach and cultural bridge-building.
Together, they talk about:
- Christian spiritua...
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August 26, 2025 • 56 mins
“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 pray...
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August 19, 2025 • 52 mins
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 Octo...
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August 12, 2025 • 66 mins
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 ...
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August 5, 2025 • 49 mins
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 relations...
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July 29, 2025 • 55 mins
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 La...
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July 22, 2025 • 53 mins
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 m...
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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...
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July 8, 2025 • 72 mins
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 an...
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July 1, 2025 • 62 mins
“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 b...
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June 24, 2025 • 49 mins
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 co...
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June 17, 2025 • 42 mins
Host James Martin, S.J., welcomes the multi-award winning actress, Whoopi Goldberg, onto “The Spiritual Life” podcast. This wide-ranging conversation includes:
Whoopi’s Catholic childhood and how her faith has evolved
The influence of Pope John XXIII on her life
What Whoopi shared with Pope Francis about Black Catholics
Watch a video recording of this conversation on America Media's YouTube channel.
Read Fr....
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