{"podcast":{"title":"Saint In Progress","slug":"saint-in-progress-7078297","podcast_index_feed_id":7078297,"rss_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/1581268/s/160236.rss","website_url":"https://catholictreehouse.substack.com/s/saint-in-progress","image_url":"https://substackcdn.com/feed/podcast/1581268/s/160236/df42838454430d3b4acefa44bea65a6b.jpg","author":"Michael LaMorte","episode_count":70,"summary":"Home of The Saint Challenge, Saint In Progress, and other articles and reflections about the Catholic faith.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/saint-in-progress-7078297"},"episode":{"title":"Rough roads and crosses of the spiritual life — Saint in Progress Episode #47","slug":"rough-roads-and-crosses-of-the-spiritual-life-saint-in-progress-episode-47","published_at":"2025-10-17T04:02:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/saint-in-progress-7078297/rough-roads-and-crosses-of-the-spiritual-life-saint-in-progress-episode-47","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/saint-in-progress-7078297","url":"https://catholictreehouse.substack.com/p/rough-roads-and-crosses-of-the-spiritual","audio_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/176347954/055482e30cd5a56e308a2d251bc0b8d6.mp3","summary":"The spiritual life can be a hot mess sometimes. Maybe it’s just distractions, maybe it’s a period of discouragement, maybe it’s something deeper and more difficult. This week Mike takes a look at: * Temptations to take a shortcut (or abandon the journey) * Spiritual desolation and consolation and St. Ignatius of Loyola * The dark night of the soul and St. John of the Cross * The three ages of the interior life * What to do when you’re on a patch of “rough road” in the spiritual life Episode Resources * Our birth defect, Saint in Progress Episode #2 * Our handicapped life, Saint in Progress Episode #3 * Getting to the root of it all, Saint in Progress Episode #4 * Obstacles to truth, Saint in Progress Episode #44 * The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living * Dark Night of the Soul Our work here on Substack is made available at no charge, but that doesn’t mean that it’s free to make. Your generous support keeps the lights on in the treehouse, and helps us deliver our content to thousands of people every day. Support our work with an annual or monthly subscription. Get full access to Catholic Treehouse at catholictreehouse.substack.com/subscribe","meta_description":"The spiritual life can be a hot mess sometimes. Maybe it’s just distractions, maybe it’s a period of discouragement, maybe it’s something deeper and more…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":761,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/saint-in-progress-7078297/episodes/rough-roads-and-crosses-of-the-spiritual-life-saint-in-progress-episode-47/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/saint-in-progress-7078297/rough-roads-and-crosses-of-the-spiritual-life-saint-in-progress-episode-47.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}