Notre Dame - The Raised Catholic Story
on fires, renovations, and new beginnings
Hi friends. As you might have heard, we are in the final stretch (at least for now) of the Raised Catholic podcast. With four weeks left, the last episode, number 200, will air at the end of October 2024, and we have quite a lot of ground to cover until then.
This week I’ll tell the story of the Raised Catholic podcast through the lens of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and the fire there that started it all. (You know I love a metaphor.) And in the final two weeks, I’ll talk about my view of the future of the Church, the ongoing second meeting of the Synod on Synodality, and what’s next1 for me and for this community. I really hope you’ll give these episodes a listen.
I’m so incredibly grateful to all of you who have listened, shared, subscribed and commented on episodes of the Raised Catholic podcast over these four years, and to those who have reached out here in the final stretch to say hello and thanks. That is so meaningful to me, thank you! I want you to know that the episodes will remain available wherever you listen, along with lots of resources in the show notes of each episode so that you can dig into and study these topics for yourself. Find transcripts of all of them, plus a bunch of my other writing at my website, kerrycampbell.org. For those of you who have received the podcast via my Wordpress blog, now’s the time to come on over here to Substack as I won’t be posting over there, please and thank you!
Though the podcast is ending, my mission remains the same. As it says in the Raised Catholic intro2, my aim is to create a judgment-free place for you to explore and own your faith for yourself both inside and outside of church walls, and to encounter God who is crazy about you and who never leaves us alone on the journey. Though the road ahead will look a bit different, I hope we can continue to walk it together.
Listen to Raised Catholic episode 198: Notre Dame - The Raised Catholic Story on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts (or read the transcript) and then meet me back here in the comments and introduce yourself as we move into the next chapter this community together. I hope to see you there!
I have a couple of dreams for what’s next, but one thing I know for sure is that I’m going to be writing long form weekly here, so please make sure you’re subscribed either at the paid ($5/month) or free level and thanks for sharing with a friend!
The intro: “If you were born and raised Catholic, but now find yourself away from the Church or as an occasional or holiday mass-goer, this is a judgment-free place for you. In each episode of Raised Catholic, you’ll find space for your wandering, questions and frustrations plus encouragement and light for your particular faith journey. Despite what we may have been taught as kids, a life of faith is much bigger than rules and check-boxes, and there is room for all of us in the family of God. In each episode of Raised Catholic, you’ll hear a little reflection, a prayer or a blessing, and a practical step you can take today to engage in relationship with God both inside and outside of church walls. You and I were raised Catholic, but that doesn’t mean our journey is done. Today, let’s be raised just a little bit higher.”
*restored bells ready for re-installation to Notre Dame Cathedral. Photo IG @rebaitnotredamedeparis