A year ago, working with a wonderful team at Rockhurst, we activated a podcast with the same title as my blog: “Upon This Rock.” We began by interviewing Alvin Brooks, for whom the future Alvin Brooks Center for Faith-Justice is named; his life and inspiring words encourage us to lay rock-solid foundations in our society that support other important base values like family, education, religion, neighborhood, faith, and community. Now, with the help of friends and family, I am picking up and building upon those original episodes (which you can find on the Farnan Spirituality Center website), to advance the same values.
The recordings, which will be posted as we begin the Season of Lent, start with my sister, Barb, and me reflecting on growing up Catholic in a large family. Next, we talk with a father and daughter who look back to his parents and ahead to her children uniting generations of faith. Later we talk with married couples, friends, siblings, educators, and other spiritual sojourners. In these episodes, we discuss matters of faith, i.e., why faith matters to us, how it mattered in our households while growing up, and what issues of faith matter most to us today. We talk about ways that families honor ancestors and how we pass their spiritual grace along to descendants; we consider how Kansas City Catholics and others pay tribute to local history through stories of spiritual leaders who influenced us. We discern what our society most needs from the church and ways in which we can respond to what is most needed. You will know many of our guest contributors, voices in the crowd who, like us, stay connected with God through inherited circumstances and paths laid by their own upbringing and experiences, as well as through study of church teachings, spiritual experiences, imitation of mentors and influencers, religious routines, and through discussion groups, book clubs, prayer teams, and other associations.
I think you’ll enjoy listening to these friends, neighbors, and fellow faith travelers converse about the Mass, the rosary and other devotionals, various traditions, church teachings, viewpoints of religion, of how spirituality can impact our world, of how we might cope with distractions from social media and other diversions while trying to stay oriented toward heaven, and how we might better direct young people while also learning from them. My hope is that the podcasts will encourage listeners to have similar kitchen island conversations with loved ones and friends about the things that matter to us most. By talking with and listening to one another, we can elevate our thinking; and when our minds and hearts get united, we can enhance our personal and collective spirituality. In this way, we take part in shaping a church that is built upon solid rock.
