Exodus 90 Founder and CEO on asceticism, masculinity and becoming uncommonly free

Jesuitical

America Media

Spirituality, Christianity, News, News Commentary, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 949 Ratings

🗓️ 30 May 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Joining Zac and Ashley on this week’s episode of “Jesuitical” is Jamie Baxter, Founder & CEO of Exodus 90. The program, which helps men to strengthen their faith through prayer, asceticism and fraternity, faced some early skepticism from the Church—and the Jesuitical team—that led to valuable innovation. Zac, Ashley and Jamie discuss: Jamie’s conversion story, going to seminary and ultimately discerning out How the idea for Exodus 90 originated and the challenge of being an entrepreneur in the Catholic Church What asceticism can teach men about life, sacrifice, community and finding God Healthy (and unhealthy) “Catholic masculinity” and men’s spiritual formation BE PART OF THE FIRST-EVER JESUITICAL RETREAT! Join us at the studio and headquarters of America Media in New York City for two days of community, prayer and sharing stories of faith. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how we make the podcast, meet fellow young Catholics, pray with America staff and editor-in-chief Sam Sawyer, S.J., share meals and craft your own faith story with accompaniment from our team. Sign up here! We can’t wait to meet you. Jesuitical Young Adult Retreat: What’s Your Story? Open to ages 21-39 Friday, June 27th (evening) + Saturday, June 28th (all day) New York, NY Friday: America Media Office – 1212 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036 Saturday: Jesuits USA East Province – 39 E 83rd St, New York, NY 10028 Cost: $100 Housing: Participants are responsible for their own lodging in NYC Capacity: The retreat will be capped at 30 participants. First come, first served. Links for further reading: Jesuitical Storytelling Retreat Exodus 90 Jamie Baxter’s life and conversion story Do I really have to give up the big game during Exodus 90?! Fasting, praying and working out: What ‘Exodus 90’ gets right—and wrong—about asceticism for men Podcast: Prayer, fasting and...working out? What is Exodus 90? You can follow us on X and on Instagram @jesuiticalshow. You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/jesuitical. Please consider supporting Jesuitical by becoming a digital subscriber to America magazine at americamagazine.org/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	For nearly 500 years, Jesuit schools, social programs, and parishes have uplifted and transformed communities around the world.
0:09.1	American Jesuits International continues this faith-driven mission, serving as a bridge between the United States and Jesuit programs in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
0:20.4	Join us in building a brighter future for communities
0:23.0	on the margins. Donate, advocate, and pray with us at American JesuitsInternational.org.
0:44.7	Hello and welcome to Jesuitical, a podcast from America Media for Saints and sinners.
0:50.2	You can join us each week for honest conversations about the Catholic Church in our world today, sometimes over drinks.
0:54.9	My name is Zach Davis, and it is great to be with you this week, and I am thrilled to bring you a fascinating, wide-ranging conversation about a lot of stuff. And it's with
1:00.9	Jamie Baxter, who's the founder and CEO of Exodus 90. Now, listeners of the show might remember
1:06.0	we did an episode on Exodus 90 last year, where we talked about this new trend that is groups of men
1:13.5	getting together in the lead up to Lent for prayer and fasting and fellowship.
1:19.1	We were joined by Professor Terrence Sweeney.
1:21.8	I thought it was great episode, but I definitely heard from some listeners who they said it felt
1:26.4	like they were reading a review of a
1:28.3	restaurant that the reviewer had never eaten at, which is honestly fair because I've never done
1:33.9	Exodus 90. Ashley's not done Exodus 90. Terrence Sweeney, who he had on had not done Exodus 90.
1:39.1	So we wanted to bring on Jamie to really get the story about Jamie's story, his vocation story, it's fascinating.
1:45.6	I think he's one of the movers and shakers in the American church today, and I'm fascinated
1:49.9	by his journey and his entrepreneurship. But also, what's Exodus 90's story? Who are the people
1:55.8	that sign up to do it? What kinds of things are they looking for? How has Exodus 90 evolved?
2:01.3	I mean, really,
2:07.9	this is a story about how ministry happens in the church today. Exodus 90 is growing exponentially, and it's not really tied to any particular parish or diocese. I find that fascinating. I think you will,
2:16.1	too. We cover a lot of ground in this. We also get into
	...

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