Host Jim Martin, S.J., talks with Julia Osęka, one of the youngest delegates at the Vatican Synod on Synodality which sought to increase participation in the Catholic Church.

00:00 Who is Julia Oseka?
1:53 Audience Question: How can I better focus and find myself in the presence of God during prayer?
5:58 Growing up as a Catholic in Poland
7:57 The life changing discovery that faith is relational, not a checklist of prayers to recite
13:35 How God reveals God's self, and why we can't know God fully
20:42 How Julia became a delegate to the Synod on Synodality
24:52 The feeling of being afraid at the Synod and becoming friends with Bishops and Cardinals
29:31 When Bishops speak in dehumanizing ways...
32:41 How Julia deals with her frustrations about the synod (and with the Church)
36:09 What bishops misunderstand about young people
38:29 The decision to move from studying physics to theology
40:49 Audience Question answered by Julia: How can I better focus and find myself in the presence of God during prayer?

Link to Fr. Jim’s spiritual advice article on this episode: https://www.americamagazine.org/podcasts/2025/08/19/father-james-martin-julia-oseka-spiritual-life

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