Journey Together in Hope
Send us a text Jeff and Michalene discuss the beginning of the season of Lent and Pope Francis' 2025 Lenten message, "Let us journey together in hope." Click here to read the full message from Pope Francis.
Our weekly podcast from Holy Infant Catholic Church in Durham, North Carolina.

Send us a text Jeff and Michalene discuss the beginning of the season of Lent and Pope Francis' 2025 Lenten message, "Let us journey together in hope." Click here to read the full message from Pope Francis.
Send us a text Email us with a gift idea at podcast@holyinfantchurch.org for a chance to win a signed CD of Sarah Hart's new album "All the Earth Alive Rejoicing" Mother-in-law M: Body product from Glory & Shine J: 3 mo. Herbal Apprentice subscription box Grandkids M: Holy Pals PJs J: Reading Bug Box subscription , personalized Baby M: Montessori Spinning Devotion Drum J: Radio Flyer Classic Push Walker Wagon Teens M: Saints stickers (or socks!) J: Cameo from fav celebrity , Calm app , EarFu...
Send us a text As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Diocese of Raleigh, Jeff and Michalene recall some of the interesting history of Catholicism in North Carolina by enjoying various related brews: "Nightcap" from Edmund's Oast Brewing in Charleston A Bavarian Ale from Kloster Andechs monastery near Munich A Carolina gold lager from Mad Mole Brewing in Wilmington "Making Quiet Noise" from Edit Beer Co in Raleigh Join us next month for several special Advent and Christmas season episodes....
Send us a text Jeff and Michalene talk about future plans for the podcast and moving to a schedule where there is about one episode per month rather than weekly. Thank you so much for listening and supporting us!
Send us a text This week Michalene and Jeff catch up with Br. Mickey McGrath who is in Rome during the second Synod on Synodality meeting. Br. Mickey got to observe the proceedings for a short time last week. Click here to see some of the illustrations Br. Mickey showed us. We recommend following the Synod on the website Where Peter Is. Click here to go to their guide to the Synod, updated almost daily. Michalene's unpaid ad this week is for the book Visio Divina: Praying with Sacred Art ....
Send us a text This week Jeff and Michalene discuss "Dignitas Infinita", a declaration on human dignity released by the Vatican's doctrinal office last spring with Pope Francis' input and approval. Click here to view the document. Click here to listen to what the big bang sounded like (over the course of a few hundred thousand years)....
Send us a text As we celebrate our 54th anniversary on October 4th, we're re-sharing our two-part oral history episode from last season into one epic listening event. This episode is dedicated to our beloved Irene Dunbar, a founding member of Holy Infant who passed away this week, and who was an invaluable source of stories and information for us as we put this project together. We love you, Irene!
Send us a text This week Jeff speaks with Holy Infant parishioner Rondy Elliot about the place of animals in scripture and our Catholic theological tradition, as well as the state of the treatment of farm animals in the modern world and how we might start bringing our faith into the decisions we make. Rondy provided a few suggestions for further reading: - For Love of Animals by Charles Comosy - Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy by Matthew Scully - Chris...
Send us a text This week we speak to Tim Deveney, Senor Director of Outreach of Unbound, an organization that partners sponsors in the US to children and elders in need in the developing world. Fr. David Noone will be with us September 28/29 for Masses at Holy Infant to speak more about the important work of Unbound and how we can become a sponsor. Be sure to visit their website at www.unbound.org...
Send us a text This week we catch up with Fr. Robert for our regular pastor update. Next week join us as we speak with Tim Deveney, Senior Director of Outreach of Unbound, an organization that connects sponsors to children in need in 17 developing countries. Fr. David Noone of Unbound will be visiting Holy Infant the weekend of Sep 28/29 at all Masses to talk about how we might get involved in this great organization....
Send us a text This week Jeff speaks with longtime Holy Infant parishioners Brian and Roberta Brave who attended the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis this past July. You can learn more about the congress and the ongoing Eucharistic revival in the United States here: www.eucharisticrevival.org
Send us a text This week we go behind the scenes of a rehearsal to hear how the choir learns and works on songs for the liturgy, as well as hear from individual choir members on their favorite memories from the past year and why they enjoy being part of the music ministry. If you're interested in learning more about our music ministry, visit our website: https://holyinfantchurch.org/music-ministry Join us next week as we hear from parishioners Brian and Roberta Brave and their experience in Indi...
Send us a text This week Jeff spoke with Anna Lee, our Assistant Director of Catechetical Leadership, about her trip to the Paris Olympics this summer. Click here to see some of Anna's photos. Next week get a behind-the-scenes look (well, listen) of our music ministry!
Send us a text Today we onboard our new Assistant Director of Catechetical Leadership, Anna Lee! Next week tune in as we go behind the scenes of the choir and hear from many of our musicians about what they enjoy most about being part of the music ministry.
Send us a text This week as Amber leaves our parish staff, Jeff conducts a mandatory exit interview and we remember and reflect on the last two years at Holy Infant, including some podcast highlights. We enjoyed the red blend from Truth and Valor while we chatted.
Send us a text As we celebrate the great feast of Corpus Christi, Sarah Hart was kind enough to come back on the show to talk about music during the reception of Communion. Next week we'll share the Amber tribute episode that was supposed to come out last week, but there was just so much about Amber to celebrate, it was taking some extra time to get done! Join us in June as we wrap up the third season of Through the Grapevine!...
Send us a text As we celebrate this Pentecost weekend and conclude the Easter season, we check in with Lloyd Edwards, who coordinates our Bread for the World letter writing campaign to congress advocating for policies that will help to end hunger in our country and around the world. Then we share our episode from last year exploring the music of the Holy Spirit, from the ancient to the contemporary, with musicologist and composer Jonathan Kregor from the University of Cincinnati....
Send us a text This week Michalene talks with Trevion Woodward, one of our JYM teens who was Baptized, Confirmed, and received First Communion at the Easter Vigil after going through the RCIA over the past year. In the intro we enjoyed the Cotton Candy Original flavor wine from Duplin Wine Cellars in Rose Hill, NC
Send us a text This week we recall our own confirmations before hearing from Keira Hayes, who was just confirmed by Bishop Luis last month. Next week we speak with Trevion Woodward, one of our JYMers who was also Baptized, Confirmed, and received First Communion at the Easter Vigil this year.
Send us a text This weekend April 27/28 we're excited to welcome Br. Mickey McGrath back to Holy Infant for several special presentations . So we're replaying an interview Jeff did with Br. Mickey last summer at the NPM convention in Reno. But first, Michalene talks with Leanne Woodward and Jenny Dick from our Baptism Host ministry about how rewarding it is to serve families at Mass when they bring their child for baptism. Next week Amber will speak with Keira Hayes, one of 20 of our young membe...
Send us a text This week we speak with Josh Hey of Yes Solar Solutions based in Cary, the contractor that recently installed our solar panels on the roof of the church. Amber was inspired to try the Rose from Elouan Winemakers (Elouan means "good light") Check out the Apostolic Exhortation "Laudate Deum" offered by Pope Franci s last October on the Feast of St Francis Assisi assessing where we standing with the climate crisis and care of creation a decade after Laudato Si....
Send us a text This week Michalene speaks with two parishioners, Joe and Marisa Spina, who regularly help out at the Durham Community Food Pantry. Be sure to bring your donation to "fill the truck" to the Holy Infant campus this Saturday, April 13th!
Send us a text This week Michalene, Amber and Jeff return to Narnia to compare and contrast the 2005 film version of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" with the book, along with other musings on the film. Our wine of choice this week was "Triple Springs", a sweet muscadine white wine from Rock of Ages vineyard in Rock Hurdle Mills, NC. We'll be on break next week for the Easter Octave, but will return with a new episode on April 11th....
Send us a text After a short intro with some of the highlights for Holy Week this year at Holy Infant, we re-share our audio tour of Holy Week from last year featuring liturgist Andrew Cassad's commentary with music, prayers, and readings from the liturgies. We have a special episode for Holy Week next week as we provide a commentary on the film version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to put a bow on our Lent book series....
Send us a text Fr. Robert joins Amber, Michalene, and Jeff to discuss the exciting concluding chapters of C.S. Lewis' classic "The Lion, the Witch, and Wardrobe" as we close out our Lent book reading series.
Send us a text This week we're joined by our own Fr. Jack Kelly, discussing chapters 10-13 of "The Lion, the Witch, and Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis. We enjoyed Shamrock Shakes, available for a limited time at your favorite McDonald's in Durham, Paris, or possibly even Narnia. Join us next week for the exciting conclusion to our Lent book series!
Send us a text We continue our Lent reading of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis, discussing chapters 6-9. Michalene, Amber, and Jeff are joined by Lauren Sale, Producing Artistic Director of the Vault Theater . The Vault Theater is presenting an innovative retelling of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" right here at Holy Infant in the DeSales Center, Sunday, March 3, at 3pm. Purchase tickets online. This week we were drinking Collaboration Without Representation Chocol...
Send us a text This week we begin our Lent book series, discussing chapters 1-5 of C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" with our special returning guest Fr. Jim Sabak, Franciscan friar and director of the office of worship for the Diocese of Raleigh. Our beverage of choice was Edmund Oat's Sour Concord Grape ale. Join us next week as we discuss chapters 6-9 with Lauren Sale, artistic director of the Vault Theater , which is performing a two-person version of "The Lion, the Witch, ...
Send us a text Jeff and Michalene present part two of their oral history bonus episodes, in the works since the summer. Thank you to all of our special guests: Irene Dunbar, Carol Egan, Carol Owen, Lynn Sale, Fr. John McGee, and Fr. Robert Rutledge. A special thanks as well to Diana Zwilling for her help visiting the diocesan archives. Over the next few days we'll be posting more documents and pictures of many of the events, people, and places mentioned in the podcast on our website: https://hol...
Send us a text This week we're pleased to share Amber's conversation with singer and songwriter Sarah Hart, who will visit Holy Infant the weekend of March 9-10 . Sarah has written many of the favorite songs we sing for Mass including The Feast Meant For Everyone, Blessed Are You, The House That Love is Building, You Alone, and Hallelujah is Our Song, to name a few. This week we drank a Rosé from Songbird Wine Cellars . Thanks Ruth Stanton for the seemingly bottomless carrot cake from Favor Dess...