Open Doors – Raised Catholic 200

Note: This will be the last post here for a while. To follow my work and keep up to date with our community, please become a free or paid subscriber over on Substack at kerrycampbellwrites.substack.com

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

Today is episode 200: Open Doors

Hi friend. Well, here we are, episode 200 and the last one, at least for now, of the Raised Catholic podcast. Today I’ll share with you some of what I’ve learned along the way, some truly grace-filled moments, and I’ll tell you where we’re headed as a community, but first I just want to say thank you. Thank you to those who have listened, shared and commented on these 200 episodes over the past four years. Thank you to those who have taken the time to encourage me along the way – that means so much more than you know. And thank you from the bottom of my heart to my friend Peter Vaughan-Vail, for immediately offering the beautiful harp music that has been the soundtrack to each episode of Raised Catholic. Peter, your gift of music has elevated this whole thing and given my words a grace that they would not have had on their own. Thank you.

If you’ve listened to Raised Catholic, then you already know how I love a metaphor. I’m always looking for themes and symbols to tie a story together. And so, as I sat getting ready to write today, I listened to episode one of this podcast: Notre Dame, looking for some kind of bookend or a bow to wrap this whole thing up. And just as our faith lives are never finished on this side of Heaven, I did not find that bookend or a completion of any kind, but there were two symbols that rose up and stood out to me over the course of making Raised Catholic, and they are tapestries and bells.

Each evening, one of my prayers is that in the day to come, that my grown kids will find connection with good people in good places doing good things. And by ‘good’, I don’t mean ‘decent’ or ‘perfect’, but light-filled and holy – holy people, holy places and holy things which are sent by God for their good and their growth as they walk out their paths in the world. I pray for good doors to open for them and for me too, and I pray that each one of us will meet God as a friend out there in the world in each day, and that God will walk us through those good doors that He opens.

When God answers a prayer like this in their lives, or in my life or in yours, we sometimes but rarely get to see it, though God is always at work making these tapestries of our lives and our connection to each other. In episode 127: The Great Tapestry of God, I describe how I saw my unexpected 2023 trip to Rome as a big part of my story, with people and connections and epiphanies and huge spiritual experiences woven in that I never could have expected or planned for myself.

What I could not have known then is that one of you listening, a young Dad whom I’ve never met, would listen to one of those Rome series episodes – it was number 132: Be Not Afraid – Rome Edition, and take it as one of a few signs that he should accept an invitation to attend the Synod on Synodality in Rome that October and to advocate there for women in the Church. And it is incredible, isn’t it, how our stories intersect and how any work we offer can continue to spread out like ripples in a pond, the impact of most of it we will never know.

I’ve heard other stories over the years, too, one from a friend who was listening on an early morning dog walk and at a pivotal point in the podcast found himself looking at the sunrise over the water and felt that God was speaking directly to him. Or several people who’ve messaged me to say that whenever they listen, it always seems to be on a topic that they really needed that day. I’ve heard some of you say that you take my voice with you on walks, or while ironing, or that you listen regularly with a partner and all of that would be kind of overwhelming honestly, except for my deep prayer and hoped-for reality that what you are hearing mostly is God-in-me. It has been my goal to get out of the way as much as I can. In this time of trouble in the American Church, I know that it’s hard for many of us cradle Catholics to hear the voice of God for ourselves, and I hope that we have learned together how to better wrestle, study, discern and listen for ourselves to where He is leading us in this time.

Now, before I get into the story of the bells, I do want to tell you where I and this community are headed. As for me, I will continue writing long-form weekly over on my Substack which is called My Little Epiphanies, and I really hope that you’ll join me over there at kerrycampbellwrites.substack.com by subscribing either at the free or the paid level. Whichever one you choose, each Tuesday, I will send a newsletter right to your inbox and that will look a bit like this podcast, actually. There, I will offer thoughts, meditations, and links to resources and some older episodes of Raised Catholic too, to help you to continue to know and own your faith for yourself and, friend, I really hope to see you there. Thanks in advance for sharing the Substack in your own communities, too. I really appreciate that.

If you listened to episode 198: How to Discern When it’s Done, then you will know that the decision to end the podcast, much like the prompting to begin it, really came from the Holy Spirit. I had a sense that I would need open hands to receive what is next and there is a synchronicity and a story here that I can’t share with you yet, but do I want you to know that I do see God weaving something new and opening new doors for me and my work in the last couple of weeks in a way that is truly unexpected and hopefully providential, so stay tuned on that, friend.

Okay, now let’s tell the story of the bells.

When I woke up this morning, I rolled over and my eye caught on a dusty, broken ceramic bell that I have on a shelf by my bed. The bell was a gift to me from my Mom who did ceramics weekly for a while there when we were younger. Well, this bell features Jesus as the Good Shepherd, and I know this because there are some lambs and a garden and children on the bell and I think maybe she gave it to me as a first Communion present, but the bell was broken in a fight at home maybe before I turned 12. And I remember being heartbroken by the break, and my Mom tried to make some repairs which are evident on the bell even today – pieces that were superglued with the yellowing glue of the early 80s. But there are a few pieces leftover which did not hold in that repair that I keep in a little jar next to the bell. And I’ve always meant to piece them in with new glue, but decades later, I have not done that. I think this is because I knew that even with those repairs, the bell still wouldn’t be complete. I don’t have all the pieces because some of them had shattered beyond the point of saving and I think I didn’t want to put in the work just for an incomplete ending. But this morning, something in me said it was time, after all these years, to put together what could be repaired, even if it won’t be finished. Now that’s a metaphor for our Church, don’t you think?

As I tried to fit these puzzle pieces together, I noticed the hand of Jesus on the shoulder of a little girl – one of the bottom pieces kind of fills in her mouth and the lower part of her body, and of course, I saw the metaphor immediately as a girl who had found her voice. When I’m done gluing what I can, the repaired bell will still lack a handle, and it will bear kind of a hollowed-out shape that will look like butterfly or angel wings. It’s broken and it’s incomplete and it’s a little dusty, sure, but it’s still a bell.

In episode 155: Retreat Takeaways – Bells, Time & Open Hands, I talked about the symbols that popped up over and over on a recent retreat I was on, and one of these symbols was a bell. At that time, I was feeling fatigued by the state of the Church and by my efforts to call attention to changes that needed to be made. I felt like a broken bell in need of a song. By the end of that story, and I’ll link that episode along with lots more in the show notes for you, I was shocked to find that a very important bell was being placed directly into my hands.

And we’re all broken bells, right? For people of faith, when we answer a calling to try to make or do anything for the benefit of God’s people or His Kingdom, when we express something, anything, even haltingly or nervously or imperfectly that comes from the very heart of us where God lives, that work is sacred, holy. Even broken bells can ring out, and you could say that humble and broken bells who know that we’re broken is what our Church most needs today. So, all of that to say, friend, if there is something on your heart, something you want to do or make or say, I encourage you today to move forward in it. My ‘yes’ to making the Raised Catholic podcast has yielded the most beautiful fruit in my walk with Jesus. It has been a big part of the tapestry that God is weaving in my life and maybe yours too, and if my ‘bell’ has effectively communicated His beauty and indescribable love to you in any way, it was well worth it. So, friend, be not afraid. Ring your bell – whatever it’s missing, and however it’s broken. Sing your song, and when you do, I hope that you’ll tell me all about it!

As I record this episode today, they’re putting in new paving stones around the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. They are making a safe and beautiful path for the people to make their way, once again, to a church that is restored, safe and welcoming. Notre Dame’s doors will open this year, December 8, 2024, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Similarly, my deep prayer is that the Raised Catholic podcast, and any work we do, would be paving stones on the path, and bricks in the building toward making a way for all of God’s people to find deep, authentic relationship with Him and a restored, safe and welcoming Church that reflects the kindness of Jesus and all He taught. Lord, let your Kingdom come. In His holy name today and wrapped in the mantle of our Mother Mary, let us pray together, friend, amen.

Well friend, thank you so much for listening today and for all of your support. I truly appreciate it. If you need me, you can find me on Instagram @kerrycampbellwrites, at Substack at kerrycampbellwrites.substack.com, or on my website at kerrycampbell.org. Each and every episode of Raised Catholic is still available wherever you listen, so please go on back and listen to the ones that you may have missed and continue sharing this podcast with a friend. Our community continues over on Substack at kerrycampbellwrites.substack.com so bring your friends over there, too and be sure to say hello in the comments. If you would like to support my work 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. But for now, let’s pray together.

Well, you know I can’t resist a bookend so today I’ll pray for you just as I did in episode one.

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

May the blessings of Almighty God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, descend upon you and everyone you love, now and forever. Amen.

Well, thank you so much for listening, friend. I hope to see you soon.

Show Notes

Well, we’ve reached the end (at least for now) of the Raised Catholic podcast. This week I’ll share some grace-filled moments from this four-year journey, my encouragement to you to say ‘yes’ to where God is leading you, and where I and this community are headed. Thanks so much for listening and for all of your support – it is truly appreciated.

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. Raised Catholic 127: The Great Tapestry of God – ⁠transcript with link to episode⁠

2. Raised Catholic 132: Be Not Afraid – Rome Edition – ⁠transcript with link to episode⁠

3. Raised Catholic 197: How to Discern when it’s Done – ⁠transcript with link to episode⁠

4. Raised Catholic 155: Retreat Takeaways – Bells, Time, and Open Hands – ⁠transcript with link to episode⁠

5. Reopening information from the ⁠Notre Dame Cathedral website⁠

6. Song: ⁠Be Not Afraid⁠, by Peace Together Choir

7. Song: ⁠Kind and Generous⁠, by Natalie Merchant