How to do a spiritual reset for 2026

The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.

America Media

Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.9 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 January 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On our debut episode of 2026 and the second season of “The Spiritual Life,” host James Martin, S.J., welcomes Trappist monk, poet and photographer, Br. Paul Quenon, onto the podcast. Br. Paul entered the Trappists in 1958 at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, where Thomas Merton was his novice master. Together they discuss: - What it was like to have Thomas Merton as a novice master - How a monastery can be like a montessori school, where playing with different elements and forms of prayer, leads to one’s own spiritual practice - Responses to listener questions: how to do a spiritual reset at the beginning of a new year, how to build a personal relationship with God, and how to try to make sense out of tragedy. Link to Fr. Jim’s spiritual advice article on this episode: https://www.americamagazine.org/podcasts/2026/01/01/new-year-prayer-james-martin Do you have a spiritual question for Fr. Jim? You can write to us at: thespirituallife@americamedia.org Become a subscriber today at Americamagazine.org/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I think I came here looking for God's love, and since then I've discovered I am in God's love.
0:09.3	It's just a matter of me being attentive to it and open to it.
0:18.4	Welcome to the spiritual life. I'm Father Jim Martin. On this podcast, we reflect on how people
0:24.5	experience God in their prayer and in their daily lives. And I'm joined by my, I will say,
0:29.8	beloved producer, Maggie Van Dorn. Maggie, good to be back with you. Good to be with you, Jim. And
0:35.5	happy new year. Happy New Year to you too. It's really
0:38.8	exciting to start a second season. Yeah, we're back for our second season of the spiritual life.
0:44.2	And it should be noted that ordinarily we would release our episodes on Tuesdays, but we decided
0:51.5	to take advantage of the brand new year for a brand new season and release this on January 1st.
0:58.6	So the next episode you can expect in your feed on January 13th on our regular Tuesday release day.
1:05.3	Yeah. And it's a little New Year's present for everybody.
1:08.0	And we're starting with a fun show, something we've been thinking about doing and talking
1:11.7	about doing, which is a kind of question and answer session because we've received so many,
1:16.9	as Maggie knows, we've received so many questions from our listeners and viewers.
1:21.1	And we brought in a trappist monk, a brother Paul Quinnon, and he and I are going to
1:26.3	answer your questions today. So do you want to
1:29.6	tell us a little bit about Paul? Yeah, so Brother Paul Quinnon entered the Trappist in 1958 at the
1:36.6	Abbey of Githemone in Kentucky where the great spiritual writer Thomas Merton was his novice master.
1:43.4	That's a pretty big deal.
1:46.0	Brother Paul is a photographer and the author of several books of poetry, including Unquiet Vigil, named a Best Spiritual Book of the Year by Spirituality and Practice, and Best Poetry Volume of the Year by Hearts and Minds books.
1:59.5	Brother Paul co-authored carved in stone and also
2:02.7	contributed spiritual reflections to other books and his latest book is in praise of the useless life
	...

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