The following is a transcript of a Raised Catholic episode. To listen to the episode, click here.

Today is episode 196: Grown-Up Catholicism: Continuing Education

Hi friends. Today we’re wrapping up a recent series which is all about learning to own our faith for ourselves and we will get right to that, but please stay tuned to the end of this episode for a very important update on the podcast. Well anyway, in this series, we are discerning with the help of the Holy Spirit just what it is that we believe and how our beliefs and actions line up with the teachings of Jesus. Now, just a reminder here that this series is meant to be descriptive, not prescriptive, as I will model my process of discernment in these practical areas using scripture, contemplation, and prayer, but I will never tell you how to live out your grown-up Catholic Christianity as that is between you and God. 

So far in the series, we have covered voting and political engagement, leadership, communications, and this week is all about education, specifically our right and obligation to continue learning as people who profess Christian faith. And it’s all right there in the intro to this podcast, right, that just because we were ‘raised Catholic’ doesn’t mean that our journey is done. Does that sound familiar? Well, in something as big as a faith perspective that frames and motivates our one wild and precious life, it is up to each one of us to continue learning and growing with each day that God gives us. So, how do we do that?

First, as we grow in this life of faith, we should keep an open mind and remember a few things about God and His nature – that God is much bigger than we can even imagine, that He is all powerful and all knowing, and that He exists outside of time. While we ponder this bigness that is beyond the scope of anything we can imagine, we should remember and embrace our own littleness as humans. And let’s think about it this way: would it be possible for any person or group of people in one spot on the globe in one moment in time to get absolutely everything right about the nature and will of the God of the universe, and then to communicate for this mostly quiet God with 100% accuracy? I mean, honestly, friend. Bringing a sense of humility to our learning and cultivating what the Buddhists call a beginner’s mind – well, this would really serve us and the Church today, don’t you think? 

Next, when it comes to God and how we practice our faith, we should not take anyone else’s word for it. Even Jesus strongly questioned the authorities and religious leaders of the day, and He overturned some long-established systems along with a few tables. We ought not put God in a box, nor should we accept the neatly boxed-up God that anyone else is preaching or selling or offering for us. The early Celtic Christians called the Holy Spirit a ‘wild goose’, illustrating the unpredictability of God, and our openness to that moving Spirit is important to cultivate for ourselves. Remember when Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

So no, a ‘boxed-up God’ is always going to be too small, and usually a neatly boxed-up God will reflect something of the preacher or the salesman who’s offering it, and their will for our lives, too. We’re only human, right? Rather, we should investigate, pray, study, and wrestle and come to know God for ourselves. Because one thing I have learned, friend, is that He wants to be known by us.

As we study and wrestle, we can and should seek out people with perspectives that are different from ours. After all, we don’t know what we don’t know and opening ourselves up to wisdom from other faith traditions or even people in a different stream of our own faith tradition will always teach us something. I think about how much of my practice of yoga has informed and illuminated my Catholicism and how much wisdom I’ve gained from reading Protestant and Jewish authors. I have learned so much that has enriched my life, and I cannot imagine my faith without it. There is so much good just outside the doors that we can and should bring in, both to our life and to our church.

And I’ll link some helpful resources for you in the show notes of today’s episode, plus some authors and other voices I trust to help you in your process of continuing education, but I’ll touch on just a few here. There’s, of course, the ancient process of Lectio Divina which helps a reader to prayerfully take in a passage of scripture and hear what God is saying to them through it. There’s a group called The Bible Project which makes video and other content that helps people learn about the Bible without modern cultural bias, but rather an understanding of the original writer’s intent and audience. There’s contemplative prayer which I model for you in several episodes of the podcast in a series called Contemplative Summer. And in the show notes of each episode of these 196 episodes of the Raised Catholic podcast, you will find resources related to each and every one: songs, articles, books, videos, journaling prompts, and much more and I hope you will go back and take a look at all of those as they are helpful for you on your road. You can listen anytime or read the transcripts at my website, kerrycampbell.org and listen wherever you get your podcasts.  It is my mission to help empower you to come to own your own faith for yourself and to get to know this God who is so much bigger, so much more loving and personal than we may yet know. And you deserve to really know Him, friend.

And that brings me to the podcast update I teased at the beginning of this episode. Well, friend, after almost four years of weekly episodes of the Raised Catholic podcast (that’s almost 200 of them, can you believe it?) Well, after four years of this thing I never thought I’d do, I’ve decided along with the help of the Holy Spirit that it’s time to bring this project to a close. Episode 200 will air in four weeks, and I have a good bit to say about this whole adventure in the four episodes that remain, so I do hope that you’ll tune in for those. Suffice it to say for now that this thing I never thought I’d do has foundationally and totally changed me, and I hope it’s been helpful for you on your own faith journey. My deepest prayer throughout is that you have heard the voice of God speaking somehow in this podcast directly to you, in love. I’m grateful for each one of you who trusts me as a voice to accompany you a bit on your own road, and I do believe there will be a next chapter of this work in a form I have yet to discover. More on all of that, but today I’d like to ask for your prayers in this last stretch of the journey. It’s a little hard to let go of something that, though I never thought I could do it, has become a friend and companion of sorts to me and a place where I have learned so much. I’m grateful for Raised Catholic and I am grateful for you. 

As for today, thanks for being with me. If you need me, you can find me on Instagram @kerrycampbellwrites, at Substack at kerrycampbellwrites.substack.com, or on my website at kerrycampbell.org. Thanks you so much for rating, reviewing, subscribing and most importantly, sharing this podcast with a friend.  (Yes, still!) That makes a real difference in growing our community which I hope will live on, so thanks. If you would like to support this podcast financially, there are a couple of ways for you to do that in the show notes, along with some resources related to today’s episode, so do check all of that out, but before we go, let’s pray together.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Oh God, you call us to continue learning in this beautiful experience of life and faith. Help us to open doors to good sources of study and please guide us as we walk it out, step by step. Open our minds, eyes, ears and heart to the good that you have for us. And for us and our dear ones, we pray in the name of Jesus and wrapped in the mantle of our Mother Mary, amen.

Well, thank you so much for listening today, friend. I’ll see you next time. 

Show Notes

The Grown-Up Catholicism series wraps up with an episode on continuing education. As in each episode in the series, this one is descriptive not prescriptive in that I’ll model my own discernment on these issues with scripture, contemplation and prayer but I’ll never direct your grown-up Catholic choice as that’s between you and the Lord! I hope this episode is a blessing to you, thanks for giving it a listen.

If you’d like to connect with me, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find me on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠at my website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. If you’d like to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠help support this podcast financially⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, there’s a way to do just that ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on my page at buymeacoffee.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Thanks for sharing, subscribing, rating, and reviewing, as this helps our community to grow.

Thanks as always to my friend, Peter Vaughan-Vail, for providing the beautiful harp music you hear in this and every episode.

Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week’s topic in a deeper way for yourself:

1. ⁠The Bible Project⁠ – helpful videos and other content

2. Article: ⁠Lectio Divina beginner guide⁠ from Busted Halo

3. My website, ⁠kerrycampbell.org⁠ – find podcasts, transcripts, additional writings and more. Check out the show notes of each Raised Catholic episode for lots more resources.

4. A few authors/speakers/podcasters I recommend: C.S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, Kate Bowler, Rachel Held Evans, Fr. Richard Rohr, Shannan Martin, Henri Nouwen, Emily P. Freeman, Parker Palmer, Anne Lamott, Fr. Greg Boyle, Sarah Bessey, Eugene Peterson, Beth Moore, Timothy Keller, Annie F. Downs, Carlos Whitaker