Join us for the first-ever in-person episode of The Pilgrim Soul! During their vacation together in Idaho, Giuli, Sofi and Adrianna had a conversation about leisure. What is leisure? How are we tempted to distort it? What instead is its right relationship to prayer, work, and community? How are we educated in a true use of our free time? //

Our media recommendation is Louis Armstrong’s song What a Wonderful World, which you can find on Spotify or on YouTube. Our monthly challenge is to take a moment one evening to look at the stars. //

We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at pilgrimsoulpodcast@gmail.com or find us on Instagram at @pilgrimsoulpodcast. Our website is www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com. //

Other resources we mention:

• Josef Pieper’s book “Leisure, the Basis of Culture”
• Fr. Luigi Giussani’s book “The Religious Sense”
• The Diary of St. Faustina Kowalska
• An excerpt from The Portal of the Mystery of Hope, a poem by Charles Peguy \\

Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks."

This month, Adrianna, Sofi, and Giuli are joined by their friend Fr. John Nepil for a conversation on how the encounter with Christ transforms the experience of the wilderness. Fr. John is a priest of the Archdiocese of Denver, a member of the Companions of Christ, and co-host of the podcast Catholic Stuff You Should Know. This conversation draws on his excellent book “To Heights and Unto Depths: Letters from the Colorado Trail” which was recently published by Ignatius Press and is also available on Amazon. //

Fr. John’s media recommendations are the writing of Wendell Berry, such as the novel Jayber Crow (or Sofi’s favorite is his book of sabbath poems, A Timbered Choir), and the music of Gregory Alan Isakov. His monthly challenge is to reread Chapters 1-2 of Genesis in a place of creation, whether the backcountry or your own backyard. //

We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at pilgrimsoulpodcast@gmail.com or find us on Instagram at @pilgrimsoulpodcast. Our website is www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com. We’d be happy to pass on any questions to Fr. John. //

Other resources we mention:

• Luigi Giussani’s book The Religious Sense
• Pope Benedict XVI’s address “The Feeling of Things, the Contemplation of Beauty”
• Romano Guardini’s book The Essence of Christianity
• The testimony of Jone Echarri about her paralysis \\

Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.”

This month, we’re sharing a talk Sofi gave to the Word on Fire Institute on Our Lady as “The Certainty of Our Hope”. You can find a PDF of the paintings Sofi references on our website. //

The great desire of the human heart is for perfect happiness, total love, lasting fulfillment—for union with God. This destiny is possible in Jesus Christ. But we can lose hope, stumbling or growing discouraged over the ordinary challenges of life. Mary, the Mother of God, gives certainty to our hope. Mary stands at the heart of salvation history as the one through whom God fulfills his promises. Throughout her pilgrimage of faith, from the Annunciation to the Cross to her Assumption, her virginal surrender to the Mystery gives form to His presence in the world and strength to those who believe in Him. In her, each member of the Church discovers a mother who accompanies, educates, and sustains us on our path to our destiny. //

We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at pilgrimsoulpodcast@gmail.com or find us on Instagram at @pilgrimsoulpodcast. Our website is www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com. //

Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.”