Fr. Cassidy Stinson and Shannon Monaghan host a Catholic conversation on living out holy friendship in the modern Church and the lives of the Saints.
Fr. Cassidy Stinson and Shannon Monaghan
Singleness and vocations / Shannon's experience with singleness and discernment / Fitting into the life of the Church / Focusing on the call to holiness / Radical honesty in prayer / Being a supportive friend if you're not single
Cliques vs. communion / Friendship as sharing of emotion and soul / Are friends more than the people with whom we share our hobbies and interests? / Detachment and spiritual directors / St. Therese and the struggle to center friendship on God / No one-sided friendships / Allowing others to show charity to us / Fr. Cassidy gets stressed out by small talk / "Salvific Disillusionment"
Life and travel updates / The compounding power of friendship / Charity close to home / Intuitive versus ‘Real' friendships / Slow growth relationships / Progressive growth in the spiritual life / Trusting the process of purification / How failure helps us grow in friendship / Self-awareness and detachment
The difficult choice to love others / Why community matters for our holiness / Therapy and friends helping us to detach and empathize / The ‘exuberant discovery' of friendship / Seeing the beauty in others that God sees in us / Loving each other on our worst days and in our brokenness / Shannon goes hiking
Lent and Easter, a brief retrospective / Introducing "But I Have Called You Friends" / Friendship is the common denominator in love / Taking a second look at relationships / Community as a source of purification / Get to know people, but don't make it weird
Praying for friends / Embracing the awkwardness of praying with other people / Intercession through the liturgy / Contemplation and intercession / "Offer it up" / Immersion in Scripture
Another life update / Mental health, and our different experiences / Vulnerability with God and each other / Being loved in our weakness / Self-mastery for human and spiritual flourishing---Here are some mental health resources we and others have found helpful:Books-St. Dymphna's Playbook: https://www.avemariapress.com/products/st-dymphnas-playbook-A Catholic Guide to Depression: https://www.amazon.com/Catholic-Guide-Depression-Aaron-Kheriaty/dp/1933184760Websites-self-compassion.org-the calm breathing bubble: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5DqTuWve9t8-https://www.crisistextline.org-https://www.catholichotline.org-psychologytoday.com-"How To ADHD" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HowtoADHDApps-Calm-HeadspacePhone numbers-988 crisis line Organizations-Local Catholic charities in your area -NAMI: https://nami.org/Home-RAINN: https://www.rainn.org
Priest senioritis / Chunky books / The story of Jacob's Ladder / Vertical and horizontal dimensions / Dependence on Christ acting in us / Pro-worm podcasting / Interceding for others / Only Christ can bring souls to himself / The grief and joy of death to self
Shannon shouldn't drink coffee / Introducing Fulton Sheen's 'The Priest Is Not His Own' / Priesthood and victimhood / Being a priest means being sacrificed / Sacrificial love and vocations / Learning to be a priest-victim / Fr. Cassidy's big news
We're back! / Liturgical music is awesome / Spiritual lessons learned / Christ living in the priesthood / The importance of silence / commemorating the Deposition and Burial of Christ / Supporting friends in carrying their crossesListen to Fr. Cassidy's series in episodes 12-14 of the Cor Christi podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cor-christi/id1560979444
Introducing Rachel / Cor Christi ministry / Friendship as a foundation for marriage / Early years in Rachel's discernment / Life in a ‘spiritual pressure cooker' / The value of spiritual direction in discerning marriage and vocational discernment / The initial excitement of a relationship exists at the service of a deeper friendship / Sacrificial dimensions of friendship in married life / Freedom in commitment / The temptations to get lost in the day-to-day activity of life
Introducing guests / Experiences of waiting / Video games are the secret to online dating / Growth through patience / Why does God make us wait for stuff? / Longing for heaven
Technical difficulties and Fr. Cassidy's confusion / Goals in our personal and spiritual lives / The role of community support / Peer friendship vs. mentorship / Characteristics of a good goal / Holy envy / Knowing your own style of motivation
Shannon returns to share her feelings about Spare Ribs / Introducing the Desert Fathers and their sayings / Patience, humility, and people who test us in both / Would you want to know the day and moment of your death ahead of time?
A long-awaited bonus episode featuring Fr. Cassidy and Brandon Ocampo on the challenges of rest, personal support systems, and spiritual health as a person in public ministry.
A joyous in-person meetup / One year of SBS! / Do nuns listen to podcasts? / Friendships with people older & younger than ourselves / Getting involved in your parish groups / Fr. Cassidy is (maybe) doing more media stuff
Unexpected confessions / Patience and the will of God / Charity and humility as keys to the virtuous life / Recommendations vs. commands / St. Francis de Sales doesn't like masks / Focusing on the ‘big things' in the spiritual life / Shannon's house got blessed
Catching up after downtime / Shannon's new home / Introducing Benedict and Scholastica / trusting God's weird providence / family dynamics / siblings and parents as spiritual friends / Sofa woes
Alacrity, or the lack thereof / Experiences with friends and loss / What to say (or not) in difficult times / Scriptural examples of hope in the face of the Cross / Ministries of presence / Pointing friends to Christ / A brief hiatus
Painting woes / Better to be done than perfect / Worries about life and family / Can you be friends with your spiritual director? / Shannon is mad at the saints / St. Francis de Sales needs more sleep / Using your imagination in prayer / liberty vs. laxity / Focus on small virtues before major changes
Shannon's big news / Castle ownership / Ordinations and friends becoming new priests / gifts and symbols / Trusting God to provide / the importance of gratitude / Handing on our spiritual gifts
Fr. Cassidy isn't very original / Bringing faith into your family / Detachment in relationships / Forming a spirit of interior freedom / Spiritual directors who make you mad / Being angry in a virtuous way / The relationship between joy and hope / Senses of God's will
Reopening our parishes / Transitions back to ‘normal’ life / practical advice on discernment / Complementary discernment speeds / Inner peace and God fulfilling our desires / Spiritual direction anxieties / Praying for friends as a priest / How to fight interior temptations / Penance and self-denial / Loving obedience / Fr. Cassidy can’t pronounce French / Encouraging vocations in the family
'Concerned Dad face' / Wedding joys and shenanigans / Being yourself online / Technology facilitating interpersonal communion / Breakups on SnapChat / Scripture Ain’t No Videochat / What makes Catholic community unique / Fr. Cassidy makes crazy predictions about the future
Celebrating St. Joseph / Easter and First Communions / Whether Teresa of Avila is a relaxing read / Discerning God's call / Friendship and charity enduring into heaven / Prioritizing relationships
Hiatus hijinks / Holy week reflections / Introducing St. Francis and St. Jane / Spiritual direction experiences as a priest and as a directee / Crises of mercy and predestination / Thoughts on their first spiritual direction letter / Celibacy, widowhood, and solitude / Flexibility and freedom in the spiritual life / Loving and praying for the Church
Reflections on the merits of snow / Fr. Cassidy does a parish swap / Friendships with priests / Whether Fr. Cassidy got a dispensation for his age before ordination / Shannon's reluctance to go to priest friends for confession / Spiritual fraternity among priests / Why you should invite your priests to dinner
Christmas season thoughts / Recap of St. Clare's letters / The mirror of eternity revisited / Poor Clare favoritism / House blessings / A new closing segment
Our Lady of Guadalupe / Fr. Cassidy's struggles to find rose vestments / The riches of holy poverty / St. Clare's "Mirror of Eternity" / Detachment in ministry / Our last 'One Thing' segment
Introducing Joe / Experiences with friends entering religious life / Joe meets the parish goats / Complementarity between vocations
Supporting friends in carrying the Cross / Joy in suffering / Witnessing to our enemies / Fr. Cassidy's possum
Helping friends in times of suffering / Accepting the help of others / Aspirations to martyrdom / Not waking up your friends' babies
Friendships between people of different faiths / Fr. Cassidy's martial arts sales pitch / When we get tired of talking about religion / Listening, humility, idolizing our faith identity
St. Clare and St. Agnes, Revisited / Holy poverty / Sacrifice and redemption / Chickens / Nalls Produce - fine gourds since 1961
Events in Assisi / Fratelli Tutti and obstacles to friendship in the media / Dunking, calumny, and other hazards / The joys of post-synodal apostolic exhortations / Star Wars, knowledge, and wisdom
Launch Week / Shark Week / Franciscan Week / Introducing the letters of St. Clare / Political drama / The joys of holy poverty / Friends as mentors / Vocational encouragement
Invitations into family life / desires and sacrifices / Stability and evangelization / Discernment stories
Parish celebrations / Continuing "Maurice and Thérèse" / Detachment is hard / Transcendent friendships / Shannon deletes her calendar
Pandemic woes / Introducing "Maurice and Thérèse / Helping friends through suffering / Supporting friends' vocations / Friendship in the communion of saints
Why and how to correct our friends / Stories of fraternal correction / Beginning with love / Correction in Scripture / Vulnerability / Social media mayhem
Introductions / How did Fr. Cassidy and Shannon meet? / Online friendships: are they real / Charisms and complementarity / Fr. Cassidy's questionable branding ideas / Goals for the podcast