James Martin, SJ

"There's more to life than a little money." What Marge Gunderson of "Fargo" and Jesus's Parable of the Rich Fool have in common. There's enough and then there's too much. A meditation on today's powerful Gospel:
outreach.faith/2025/08/ther...

Wild Card with Rachel Martin NAMED A TOP 10 PODCAST OF 2024 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES There are interview podcasts and then there's Wild Card. Rachel Martin rips up the typical interview script and invites guests to answer questions ...

Also available on Spotify, Apple and other places. Links here: www.npr.org/podcasts/510...

YouTube video by NPR Podcasts James Martin on his rebellious streak and bringing comedy to The Vatican | Wild Card

Dear friends: I was so happy to be invited to Wild Card with Rachel Martin on @npr.org. Rachel asked me several surprising questions and I had a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU_r...

Happy Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus! May you find God in all things!

Sister Joyce Rupp, OSM, the well-known spiritual writer on the upside of aging. Listen to all of Sister Joyce's wisdom on the latest episode of "The Spiritual Life," now available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple podcasts:
www.americamagazine.org/thespiritual...

How spiritual writer Sr. Joyce Rupp finds joy and freedom in getting older Podcast Episode · The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J. · 07/29/2025 · 57m

Apple podcasts:
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Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7et2...

Sister Joyce, the author of many wonderful books on prayer and the spiritual life (many of which I've used on retreats), is the latest guest on "The Spiritual Life" podcast, which is available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple.

YouTube video by America - The Jesuit Review Joyce Rupp, O.S.M. | The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.

Dear friends: I'm delighted to share our conversation with the amazing poet and writer Sister Joyce Rupp, OSM, on a spirituality of aging, of being free of the need to please everyone and embracing your true self. www.youtube.com/watch?v=y34u...

Is it okay to ask God for help? - Outreach Even though Jesus says, “ask and you will receive,” sometimes we don’t.

Is it okay to ask God for help? Absolutely. After all, the Our Father is, in part, a prayer of petition. And Jesus says, "Ask and you shall receive." But what happens when it seems that we're not receiving what we asked for? A meditation today's Gospel. outreach.faith/2025/07/is-i...

Jesus felt deep compassion, in his guts, for anyone who was poor, sick, hungry or struggling in any way. For the Christian, then, empathy is not a sign of weakness but of strength, as we follow Jesus along the road of compassion.

(Image: "The Return of the Prodigal Son," by Rembrandt)

Sympathy is feeling how you would feel if you were suffering like the other person. Empathy is feeling how they would feel. Compassion is the willingness to suffer what they are suffering, alongside them.

In other words, Jesus himself felt compassion so intensely that he felt it in his guts. And his own parables invite us to feel that same compassion ourselves.

or the compassion of the loving father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:20).

That word is used repeatedly in the Gospels to describe Jesus's emotional reactions. Jesus himself also uses the same word in some of his most famous parables: for example, to describe the feelings of the Good Samaritan towards the man by the side of the road (Luke 10:33),

Basically, that word means that he felt compassion in his spleen, or as we might say, in his "guts," the seat of emotion in the Hellenistic world. It is an almost physical reaction to seeing someone suffer.

In Matthew 9:36, when Jesus sees hungry crowds, "like sheep without a shepherd," the Greek word used to describe his feeling is σπλάγχνον ("splagchnon").

Over and over in the Gospels, an important word is used to describe what Jesus feels whenever he sees someone who is poor, or hungry or struggling. Most English-language translations say that upon seeing suffering, Jesus's "heart was moved with pity."

Re: the idea that empathy or compassion is bad or even "toxic," a belief held even by some Christians today.

There is problem with that belief, and that problem comes from Jesus himself....

YouTube video by America - The Jesuit Review Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon | The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.

Dear friends: I'm so happy to share the latest episode of "The Spiritual Life": a conversation with Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago, a church leader whom I first came to know at the Synod of the Bishops. He is a remarkable person...

What is spiritual desolation—and how does God get us out of it? “The definition of desolation is notoriously slippery,” Father James Martin writes. “It is not simply a period of dryness in prayer, which is common to everyone.”

I really enjoyed my conversation with Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago on the latest episode of "The Spiritual Life." His description of his encounter with desolation was so helpful. But what is desolation and how do we work through it? www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/0...

The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J. The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J., is a podcast that focuses on how people experience God in their prayer and their daily lives.

More about the podcast and links to all our episodes here: www.americamagazine.org/thespiritual...

A Caribbean archbishop on spiritual darkness, gang mediation and nurturing an Podcast Episode · The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J. · 07/22/2025 · 53m

Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

A Caribbean archbishop on spiritual darkness, gang mediation and nurturing an "adult faith" The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J. · Episode

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/56Dj...

Be sure to listen to the wisdom of the man his friends call "Archbishop J," now available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple podcasts!

...with a fascinating past and a deep grasp of the spiritual life. Especially compelling is the story of his 16-year bout of dryness in prayer and his sudden experience of God, which ultimately led to his vocation as a priest, and his insights on what it means to nurture an "adult faith."

YouTube video by America - The Jesuit Review Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon | The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.

Dear friends: I'm so happy to share the latest episode of "The Spiritual Life": a conversation with Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago, a church leader whom I first came to know at the Synod of the Bishops. He is a remarkable person...

Richard J. Clifford, S.J.: Is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah about homosexuality? No. - Outreach The sexual assault on the two angelic servants is certainly not a warning against homosexuality, and all attempts to interpret the narrative in that direction seriously misread the story.

Anyone preparing homilies for this weekend will notice that the First Reading is Abraham's bargaining with God to prevent God's wrath against Sodom and Gomorrah. Here is one of the world's most distinguished Old Testament scholars on what the sins of those cities were. outreach.faith/2024/03/rich...

Let Martha show you how to be close to God - Outreach For Martha, openness, honesty and intimacy lead to an even closer relationship with Jesus. It’s the same in our spiritual lives.

For Martha, openness, honesty and intimacy lead to an even closer relationship with Jesus. It’s the same in our spiritual lives. A meditation on today's beautiful Gospel: outreach.faith/2025/07/let-...

Dear friends: Join us (after a two-week hiatus) for our Friday faith sharing and Bible study) at 3 PM ET on my Facebook page, when we'll discuss this Sunday's Gospel: Jesus's visit to the house of Martha and Mary (Lk 10). As ever, I'm looking forward to your insights!