The hardest part of grief is not always what happened. Sometimes it’s what it demands from you afterward: action when you have no tools, or patience when there’s nothing you can do at all.

We share a story drawn from the documented life of Jesuit priest Pedro Arrupe, told as historical fiction, set at the Jesuit novitiate outside Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Arrupe has enough medical training to be dangerous and just enough to be useful, and after the blast he finds himself responsible for young men and for a stream of wounded people when the city can no longer send help. With no supplies and no clean answers, he learns what compassionate presence really costs and why “staying” can be the most meaningful form of care.

Then the story widens to Nagasaki and the destruction of the Urakami Cathedral district, home to one of Japan’s oldest Catholic communities. Arrupe doesn’t witness it with his eyes, and that becomes the point. Hiroshima puts work into his hands. Nagasaki leaves him with only something to carry. We talk about that difference as a map for mourning, trauma, and spiritual direction: the gap between fixing and witnessing, between helping and simply holding grief without escape.

If you’re searching for grief support, Jesuit spirituality, or a clearer understanding of Pedro Arrupe’s “faith that does justice,” this episode offers a steady, human place to start. Subscribe, share with someone who needs gentleness this week, and leave a review with the line that stayed with you most.

CONTACT ME AT:  candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com

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Grief comes with a lot of advice, and most of it has the same hidden goal: get away from the pain. Stay busy. Distract yourself. Find a lesson. But what if the more honest move is the opposite, not as a dare, but as a practice of compassion?

We talk about Tonglen, a Tibetan Buddhist “sending and taking” meditation that turns our usual instincts upside down. On the in-breath, we breathe in the real texture of suffering, our own or someone else’s. On the out-breath, we breathe out relief, spaciousness, and tenderness. I walk through why this can be a powerful grief support practice, especially when you’re sitting with someone who is mourning and you don’t know what to say. Instead of fixing, we learn how to make room for grief to be exactly as large as it is, while still offering warmth.

We also get specific about what Tonglen is not. It’s not a technique for the rawest hours of acute trauma, and it’s not martyrdom or emotional self-sacrifice. The out-breath matters, and depletion is a signal to rest, not proof you’re doing it right. If you’re navigating overwhelming bereavement, I also share why pairing spiritual care and meditation with trauma-informed therapy or grief counseling can be the most supportive path.

Subscribe, share this with someone who shows up for others, and leave a review if it helps. What’s one thing you wish people would stop saying to grieving people?

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Some rooms don’t reward you for showing up. The person you’re there to support might be frightened, angry, sarcastic, or completely shut down and if your ability to care depends on being liked, you won’t last long. Today we are naming the kind of love that can actually hold up under end-of-life care, hospice chaplaincy, and bereavement support: agape.

Agape is love that doesn’t hinge on affection, attraction, familiarity, or shared theology. It’s a decision, repeated moment to moment, to extend care simply because someone exists and is suffering. That shift matters for compassion fatigue and burnout prevention because it keeps us from unconsciously rationing our presence, giving our best only to the “easy” patients or the most agreeable grieving families. We also talk about why agape frees us from measuring support by whether it “worked” whether the person felt better, thanked us, or received our words the way we hoped.

There’s a harder, honest layer too: agape isn’t something a finite person can manufacture forever from willpower alone. Sustainable spiritual care requires replenishment through supervision, community, prayer or spiritual practice, and rest that isn’t optional. And for survivors, agape means we can receive the full truth of grief guilt, rage, unfinished business, even relief without flinching, correcting, or pulling away.

If you’re walking with loss, supporting a dying loved one, or serving others as a caregiver, listen, share with someone who needs steadiness, and subscribe, rate, and leave a review so more people can find Solace.

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“Good faith” sounds like a legal phrase, but what happens when you treat it as a spiritual practice instead, especially in grief? Slow the phrase down until it shows its older meaning: *bona fides*, a kind of fidelity kept without proof. When life hurts, when doubt gets sharp, when the future won’t cooperate, good faith becomes less about winning an argument and more about how we stay authentic, honest and present with each other.

Explore what good faith asks of the person doing the accompanying, whether you’re a spiritual director, chaplain, pastor, or the friend someone trusts at 2 a.m. It means admitting you don’t already know where their story is going. Pattern recognition can be useful, but when we rush to the “helpful part,” we can quietly shift from accompaniment to management. Be uncomfortable with the clarity good faith requires: naming your limits, your differences, and your real vantage point so support doesn’t slip into persuasion with a hidden destination.

Good faith is asked of the seeker too. Are you bringing the real question or a safer version that feels more acceptable? Can you stay in the room when the guidance isn’t what you hoped to hear long enough to tell the difference between thoughtful disagreement and reflex? Underneath it all is a “third partner” that shares the search for what is true, even when proof is missing.

If this resonates, subscribe for new Friday episodes, share Solace:  Soul + Grief with someone who needs a gentler kind of support, and leave a review so more grieving hearts can find us.

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A funeral recording fails, years pass, and a question refuses to let go: what did I say, and what do I wish I had said?  I’m offering a do-over eulogy for my mom, Joanne Frances Kimmel Lucas, who died from cancer. If you’ve ever wanted a second chance with your words, this story meets you right where you are. 

Grief doesn’t stay polite.  We sit with Yeats’ line, “All changed, changed utterly. A terrible beauty is born,” and unpack why “terrible” belongs in our vocabulary of bereavement and coping with loss. The ache of parent loss is real, unapologetic, and allowed to sound that way. And still, beauty can exist alongside it, not as a lesson or a fix, but as love that refuses to disappear. 

What changes when a parent dies, especially the loss of the lifelong witness who carried your earliest chapters, and what does it mean to carry legacy forward in small, human ways?

If you’re looking for grief support, spiritual care, and honest language for mourning, press play. Subscribe, share with someone who needs gentleness today, and leave a review so this space of healing can reach more people.

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Grief can make your life feel like a place you don’t recognize. The sky looks different, familiar rooms tilt, and the road under your feet seems to belong to someone else. 

Walk down the Emmaus Road, where two grieving disciples leave Jerusalem after everything they hoped for collapses. A stranger joins them, listens before speaking, and stays with them mile after mile until a simple breaking of bread opens their eyes. Then comes the sting and the mystery: at the exact moment of recognition, Jesus disappears. We talk about why that pairing mirrors bereavement, and how presence can be real even when you can’t feel it yet.

A surprising image carries the heart of the message: Jesus leaves his sandals at the threshold. Not instructions. Not a neat explanation. Just something worn by real distance and real sorrow, still warm, already broken in. We explore what those sandals mean for Christian grief, spiritual care, and practical grief support: you are not walking barefoot, and you are not the first to cross this terrain.

If you’re grieving, let this be a companion for a few minutes of your day. Subscribe for more, share this with someone who’s hurting, and leave a review so others can find the show. What part of the road are you walking right now?

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(This one is best heard alone in private and not while driving.)

Some losses don’t just hurt, they shock the whole body. If you’re carrying a death that came too suddenly, too violently, or too unfairly, you may know that lonely feeling of waking up at 3 a.m. with grief in your throat and no words that fix it. We’re not going to make it easy. We’re going to make it honest and we’re going to stay with you.

We begin with an anchor from Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” We sit with what that does and does not promise. Then we turn to the shortest, sharpest grief line in the Gospels: “Jesus wept.” Even knowing how the story ends, Jesus chooses presence over bypassing. If your faith feels strong, worn thin, or somewhere in between, you’re welcome here exactly as you are.

From there, we share practical support from an emergency response toolkit for trauma and traumatic grief developed by Patricia Mathes Cane, PhD. (Dr. Cane's website is: www.capacitar.org)

If this brought you even a small sense of steadiness, subscribe so you don’t miss new Friday releases, share it with someone who’s grieving, and leave a review so more people can find a place to breathe.

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Grief doesn’t follow a clean five-step route, and a lot of people feel worse because they think it should. We start from a different place: Psalm 23 and the honest promise of walking through the valley, not around it. Here is something practical and gentle map that doesn’t pretend the terrain is easy, but helps you find your footing when life after loss feels unreal.

We talk about where the “five stages of grief” story came from, why it was never designed to describe the grieving, and why real mourning can look like accepting the loss at 9 AM and raging against it by noon. Instead of treating grief as a linear checklist that ends in closure, we reframe the grieving process as a landscape: quiet stretches, sudden cliffs, anniversaries, triggers, and blank spaces no one else can chart for you. If you’ve been searching for grief support that doesn’t shame you for cycling emotions, this perspective can be a relief.

Here are three landmarks you can return to. First, the weather changes even when the land stays, so a stormy day doesn’t mean you’re going backward. Second, Lois Tonkin’s model shows how grief may not shrink, while your life expands around it through new routines, relationships, and capacity. Third, modern grief research on continuing bonds gives you permission to keep a healthy connection to what you lost, through ritual, memory, and the voice you still carry.

If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with someone who’s grieving, and leave a review so more people can find this kind of steady companionship.

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Grief can knock you under when you least expect it, in the middle of a normal day, with no warning and no permission asked. A way to talk about loss is not as a wound you “get over,” but as an ocean you learn to swim in. When the waves hit, you are not weak. You are human.

Why does our culture’s timeline pressure make mourning harder, from casual expectations to clinical labels that sound like a countdown? The ocean doesn’t care about deadlines, and neither does love. Share the heart of the ocean metaphor, first named by grief counselor Lois Tonkin: grief doesn’t get smaller, we get bigger. That shift challenges the idea that acceptance is a finish line and replaces it with something truer, a life that slowly grows around what you carry.

You’ll also hear three practical anchors for coping with grief that show up in both research and lived experience: naming what you feel, finding “other swimmers” who can sit with you without fixing, and choosing continuity instead of chasing closure through continuing bonds. Learn to name the undertow that can come with traumatic loss, suicide, ambiguous loss, estrangement, or disenfranchised grief, and why therapy, grief groups, and crisis support can be a lifeguard, not a last resort.

If you’re grieving, fresh or old, you don’t have to feel better on command. Press play, share this with someone who needs gentle language for loss, and subscribe, rate, and review so more people can find grief support when the waves return.

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Grief has a way of slipping into the everyday, not as a problem to solve, but as a thread you keep discovering in your own hands. I watched the movie Odyssey with a fairly neutral reaction, yet one thing stayed with me: how clearly it portrays mourning as something communal, honest, and deeply human. That portrayal opens a fresh way to talk about bereavement, spiritual care, and what it means to carry love after loss. 

We walk through The Odyssey’s grief scenes with care: Odysseus weeping as his past is sung back to him, Penelope’s decades of waiting as a form of loyalty and resistance, and Telemachus living inside ambiguous loss without the certainty of a body or an ending. Along the way, we notice how the epic treats storytelling, meals, hospitality, and shared witnessing as part of survival. The takeaway is simple but countercultural: isolated grief can be more dangerous than shared grief, and community can help us bear what we cannot fix. 

Then we pull on the episode’s central image, weaving. Penelope’s shroud becomes a living metaphor for how mourning often works, making and unmaking, hoping and doubting, trying to shape meaning without rushing into false closure. That thread leads to a parallel story from 2 Samuel 21, where Rizpah keeps vigil in sackcloth for months, refusing to look away. 

Subscribe for weekly support, share this with someone who’s grieving, and if the words meet you in a tender place, leave a review so more listeners can find this circle of care.

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Grief does not end when the service is over, it keeps echoing in ordinary places, in old friendships, and even in the way we fall in love again. I’m Candee Lucas, a Jesuit-trained chaplain and spiritual director, and I wanted to add a postscript to my recent conversations with Sandi Moran Brafford, because people who are grieving deserve to hear a simple truth: there is life after. Not a neat life, not an unscarred life, but a real one.

We talk about why telling the story matters, especially when your mind keeps circling the details trying to organize what happened. Sandi shares a surprising and tender thread from her own grief journey: she worked at a funeral home, and that is where she kept running into John at funerals and visitations. Out of repeated moments of shared community and shared mourning, a relationship began, one honest conversation at a time.

If you’re looking for grief support, bereavement resources, spiritual care, or a gentle place to land, come join this circle of healing, love, and support. 

Subscribe for weekly support, share this with someone who’s grieving, and if the words meet you in a tender place, leave a review so more listeners can find this circle of care.

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Silence after a death can feel like the cruelest part, not just because you miss their voice, but because the world keeps asking you to “move on” while your heart refuses. Today we are holding space for that reality with a powerful reading from theologian Karl Rahner: “God of the Living” from Encounters with Silence. If you’re looking for grief support that doesn’t rush you, this is a steady companion.

Rahner paints an unforgettable picture of life as a long highway where the ones who began the journey with us slowly slip away into the night. He names what many grieving people know in their bones: there is no substitute for the one you loved. True love is specific, unique, and irreplaceable, which is why loss can feel like a piece of your own heart has gone missing. We explore how grief can become quieter without becoming smaller, and why “looking okay” doesn’t mean things went back to normal.

Turn toward the hardest questions of bereavement and faith: how do you live with the dead, and what do you do when they are silent? What do you do when God feels just as silent? Rahner offers a daring reframe, seeing silence not as abandonment but as the space where faith has room to exist, where love proves itself without constant reassurance. We close with prayer, gentleness, and a call to remember the dead as living in God.

Subscribe for weekly support, share this with someone who’s grieving, and if the words meet you in a tender place, leave a review so more listeners can find this circle of care.

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Death can feel like a doorway into total uncertainty, especially when grief is fresh and your mind keeps searching for a clear picture of “where” your loved one is now. Take a different approach by leaning on Catholic theologian Karl Rahner and his claim that transcendence is not a special experience for a spiritual elite, but the basic shape of human consciousness. If you have ever felt pulled toward something infinite in the middle of ordinary life, Rahner would say you are already living that orientation, even before you can name it.

According to Rahner’s 'Vorgriff auf esse',  the idea that every act of knowing or loving happens against an unlimited horizon of being. From there, reframe Sheol and the intermediate state: not as a cosmic waiting room, but as a way to talk about whether the soul’s openness to the infinite is complete or still obscured. Rahner’s view of dying becomes less about relocation and more about fulfillment, the moment when the direction in which your life has been moving becomes definitive.

As we build a bridge to Tibetan Buddhism and the Bardo Thodol, where the instructions around recognizing the clear light and resisting fearful projections also treat after-death “realms” as something deeply tied to mind and the death-preparation during life.  Recognize the real differences without pretending they disappear: personal God versus emptiness, resurrection and the redemption of history versus rebirth or liberation, and Rahner’s enduring subject versus the no-self doctrine. 

If you’re navigating grief and searching for language that is honest, spacious, and practical, this conversation offers a way to trade afterlife maps for a deeper focus on consciousness, love, and the horizon we move toward.

Subscribe for new Friday releases, share this with someone who’s asking hard questions, and leave a review so more grieving listeners can find the circle of support. What part of this comparison lands for you, and what still feels unresolved?

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Grief can feel like wandering off the road without noticing, then looking up and realizing it’s dark and you don’t know how to get home. That’s the emotional weather we step into today as I share a short, dreamlike excerpt from John Fosse’s novel "A Shining", chosen because sometimes someone else’s words can carry what we can’t say out loud.

The reading follows a son who sees his mother and father in the darkness and can’t tell whether he is remembering, imagining, or truly encountering them. He asks for answers, watches the night deepen, and finds himself alone again, listening for meaning in silence and wondering if God can be heard there at all. If you’re looking for spiritual comfort, bereavement support, and an honest companion for the grief journey, let this brief story be a steady hand for a few minutes.

If this resonated, subscribe, share it with someone who needs a quiet place to land, and leave a review so more grieving listeners can find us.

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A single word can quietly rewire an entire faith’s imagination of death. We start with Sheol, an ancient Hebrew concept that originally meant the realm of the dead, a shadowy destination shared by everyone rather than a place of reward and punishment. From there, we follow the translation trail that turns Sheol into Hades in Greek and infernum in Latin, and how that collapse of distinct ideas helps “hell” become a catchall in English, creating confusion that still shapes Christian afterlife theology today. 

We also talk through the major ways early Christianity reshapes Sheol: the harrowing of hell, the idea of an intermediate state, and the later distinction between a temporary abode of the dead and Gehenna as final judgment. Along the way, we name how different traditions handle these questions now, including purgatory, the grave as a metaphor, conscious waiting, and soul sleep. If you’ve ever wondered why Christians disagree so strongly about what happens after death, this language history is a big part of the answer. 

Then we widen the lens into comparative religion by bringing in the Tibetan Buddhist Bardo from the Bardo Thodol, often called The Tibetan Book of the Dead. We explore striking parallels with a Christian intermediate state, including transitional “between” space, imagery of reckoning, encounters with light or divine presence, and the role of prayers for the dead. And we get honest about the differences that matter: resurrection versus rebirth, a persistent soul versus no-self, and whether there is meaningful agency after death. 

If this kind of theology, grief support, and spiritual reflection helps you, subscribe, share the show with someone who’s curious, and leave a review so others can find it. What do you think: are Sheol and the Bardo pointing to the same threshold experience, or are they describing fundamentally different realities?

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Grief can change what you believe and how you talk to God, even if you never stop believing God exists. Candee sits down with Sandi Moran Brafford for a candid, tender conversation about faith after devastating loss: Sandi’s son died, and only a few months later her husband died too. What follows isn’t a clean spiritual comeback story. It’s the honest middle many people live in, where prayer feels different, trust feels risky, and your old religious instincts don’t fit the life you have now. 

Sandishares her path into Catholicism, from growing up with little formal religion to building a Catholic household, raising children in Catholic schools, and serving as a Eucharistic minister. We also talk about how disillusionment can start long before a death, including the shock of learning that a priest she trusted had harmed others. That kind of spiritual betrayal matters, because it changes the ground you stand on when grief hits. 

From there, we go straight to the hard questions: what happens when you make a bargain with God and it feels like God doesn’t keep His end? Sandi describes how her prayer life “contracts” rather than disappears, showing up in small rituals like saying a Hail Mary when she hears a siren and praying while making a bed with hospital corners. We explore why the saints can feel more accessible than God, why “I’ll pray for you” can sound hollow, and how forgiveness and attachment to God can remain even when the relationship feels clouded. 

If you’re searching for bereavement support, grief and faith resources, or a compassionate Catholic perspective on doubt, this conversation will meet you where you are. Subscribe for new Friday drops, share this with someone who’s hurting, and leave a review so more grieving listeners can find us.

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Grief can be hard enough when it comes once, but what happens when it hits again before you can even catch your breath? We pick back up with SandI Moran Brafford, whose year of loss includes the death of her son and, just months later, the sudden death of her husband Jim after a stage four cancer diagnosis and a surgery that was supposed to “help.” The speed of it all leaves no room to plan, no room to process, and a lingering sense of shock that many people recognize but rarely say out loud.

We talk about what support actually feels like on the ground, including the difference between a large widow/widower gathering and a more personal grief support program where people can open up over time. Sandi shares why telling your story matters, why some spaces feel scripted, and why honesty, especially around children, can cut through denial. We also touch the quiet regrets that can surface later, like wishing you had gotten more help for a family member who carried a traumatic piece of the loss.

From grief food and autopilot workdays to getting lost in books just to stop thinking for a moment, we explore real coping strategies without shame. We also name a frustration many mourners share: workplaces that offer a few days of bereavement leave, then expect you to return “back to normal.” If you’re searching for grief support, bereavement resources, spiritual care, or simply a reminder that it’s never too late to reach out, this conversation offers companionship and clear-eyed hope. 

ATTEND MY SUMMER WORKSHOP ON "SOULFUL LISTENING" THROUGH THE MARKEY CENTER AT SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY VIA ZOOM.

https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/359741-soulful-listening-workshops-on-the-ministry-of

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One small decision can become a lifelong memory. I sit down with Sandi Moran Brafford as she returns to the days surrounding the sudden death of her youngest son, Rich, and tells the story with a honesty that’s both tender and blunt. She shares what it felt like to cancel a simple lunch plan because she was new at work, then wake up to a family emergency that would change everything. If you’ve lived through sudden loss, child loss, or complicated bereavement, you’ll recognize the shock, the numbness, and the way time turns surreal.

We also talk about what happens after the phone calls and the gathering at the house when real life still demands you show up. Sandi describes grief at work in vivid, practical terms: crying on the drive in, slipping away to the bathroom, and returning to the schedule because bills don’t pause. Alongside the loss, she was finishing breast cancer radiation, adding physical exhaustion to emotional collapse, and she reflects on how compounded trauma can blur months into a haze.

Marriage and grief come up too. Sandi explains how her husband Jim struggled to talk about Rich, not because he didn’t care, but because his grief lived in quieter places and small acts. That difference could have split them, yet it ultimately pulled them closer, offering a real-life look at how couples navigate different grieving styles.

A turning point arrives with a “cheerbox” from Amanda the Panda, a grief support organization for children and families. That simple daily ritual opens a door to community, volunteering, and meaning-making through helping others carry their stories. 

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Some losses don’t arrive like a thunderclap. They slip in quietly when you realize you don’t live there anymore, you don’t talk to those friends anymore, or you’ve outgrown a version of life that once felt permanent. That kind of change can bring real grief, even when nothing “tragic” has happened. 

Spend time with words that help many people breathe again: readings from Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet --on Joy and Sorrow, and on Time. When Gibran writes that joy and sorrow are inseparable, it challenges the way we try to split our lives into neat categories. If you’re grieving, that tension may feel familiar: love makes life bigger, and loss makes it ache. Rather than treating sorrow as a problem to solve, explore how faith can help us hold both truths without breaking.  Turn to Ecclesiastes 3 and its steady reminder that there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. That wisdom gives us permission to be human, to recognize our memories, and to keep walking with God as time moves forward. 

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Death has a brutal way of time-traveling us back to the losses we swear we’ve already “made peace with.” I’m joined by my friend of more than 60 years, Sandi Moran Brafford, a writer who has been blogging for decades about the stories we carry and the ones that break us open.

Sandi reads a short, devastatingly honest blog post she calls “Sad Stories,” written after the loss of a dear friend and after hearing about a 19-year-old killed in a tragic car accident. Those fresh deaths reopen her own life-altering grief, including the death of her son, who died in his sleep at 30, and the memories that come rushing back with every funeral. Together we name the disorientation of grief, the way our culture tries to push death aside, and why walking into a church or funeral home can instantly plug us back into our own heartbreak.

We also talk about what actually helps when grief gets loud: permission to cry, to talk, to tell stories, to say their names, and to stop performing courage so others won’t feel awkward. Sandi shares the real, tactile ways mourners cope, like holding onto a blanket or a shirt, and why those physical anchors can matter. 

If you’re looking for grief support, bereavement resources, and honest conversation about child loss, sudden death, and healing that isn’t linear, this one will meet you where you are. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more grieving people can find this circle of support.

Sandi's blog can be found at:  https://sandimoranbrafford.blogspot.com/

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Grief advice is everywhere, and a lot of it sounds comforting until you try to live inside it. We keep hearing that grief moves in stages, that time heals all wounds, that you have to “let go” to move on, that grief only counts when someone dies, and that strong people stay composed. Those ideas can turn a natural human response into a private test you feel like you’re failing.

Here, we talk about why the five stages of grief became a cultural script, what Kübler-Ross actually meant, and why real bereavement is rarely linear. We challenge the hidden deadline inside “time heals” and name what tends to help more: attention, meaning-making, community, and steady presence, especially for prolonged grief.

We also explore modern grief research on continuing bonds, the idea that maintaining an inner relationship with a loved one who died is often adaptive and deeply meaningful. Then we widen the lens to include disenfranchised grief: divorce, infertility, immigration, estrangement, job loss, and other losses that don’t get rituals, casseroles, or sympathy cards. Finally, we address stoicism and grief suppression, including how unfelt grief can migrate into the body, relationships, and coping behaviors, and why vulnerability is a form of courage.

If you’re grieving, or you love someone who is, listen and share this with the person who needs gentleness more than advice. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: which grief myth has been hardest to shake?

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A line of fire trucks and police cars can feel like “something happening to someone else” until it’s parked on your own street; a stunned neighborhood, and a question that wouldn’t let go: what happened across the street, less than fifty yards from our ordinary lives?

I share the story of a little boy who suffered in ways no child should, behind a house that looked like any other from the outside. As the details surface, we sit with the heartbreak of not knowing his name, the heaviness of realizing we couldn’t see what was hidden, and the complicated truth that the person who caused his death was also a child living in pain. It’s a meditation on grief, child loss, trauma, and the “why” questions that rise up when meaning feels impossible.

Where was God in this? There are no easy answers, but the comfort of believing Jesus accompanies suffering, and acknowledging how inadequate  words can be when love has been so visibly absent. 

If you’re searching for a grief podcast that’s honest, spiritual, and grounded, listen and take what you need for wherever you are in your grieving process. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs a place to land, and leave a review so more grieving listeners can find this circle of support.

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Some of the most common grief “comfort” assume faith, and when the person you’re supporting doesn’t share that worldview, those attempts can land like distance instead of love. Learn how to show up for non-religious grief with honesty, steadiness, and zero agenda. I

Discover who secular grievers are and why this group is growing, then name what can be missing when religion isn’t part of their life: a ready-made narrative, familiar mourning rituals, built-in community, and shared language for loss. Here is a practical framework for grief support that works across beliefs: presence without trying to fix, validation of finality when the loss feels like a full stop, and meaning-making on the griever’s terms rather than others.

Learn to share secular grief rituals and memorial ideas, ways to keep someone alive in story and legacy, and reminders for companions about self-care, secondary grief, and the power of returning weeks after the funeral.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE :  candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com

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Love shows up most clearly when it hurts. When grief strips away the noise, we’re left staring at the one thing we can’t measure and can’t replace: the love that remains after someone is gone. We welcome you back to Solace, Soul Plus Grief with a gentle invitation into prayer, reflection, and spiritual companionship for the grieving heart. 

We move through a poetic meditation on the divine name, light, and the unsettling idea that only in us can God feel “lost” enough to ask questions. From there, we ask a blunt question that many people of faith avoid saying out loud: has “I love you” become more habit than experience? And if it has, what does grief reveal about what love truly is? These reflections connect directly to faith-based grief support, Christian grief resources, and the lived reality of longing after loss. 

The episode also wrestles with one of scripture’s hardest stories: Abraham and Isaac. We sit with the confusion, the missing voices, and the possibility that the real test is not performance but love itself. Finally, we name what grief teaches us in plain terms: love leaves an imprint, sometimes a scar, and tears become one honest way love is “measured.” If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with someone who’s grieving, and leave a review so more people can find this space.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE :  candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com

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What part of grief are you learning to meet gently?

Grief can make you feel like you’re failing at something you never volunteered for. When the tears rise up, or nothing rises up at all, the mind starts grading you: too emotional, not emotional enough, too attached, still stuck.  Those familiar thoughts offer a different frame, inspired by mindfulness teacher Sean Fargo: grief isn’t a problem to solve. It’s a natural expression of care, the heart’s response to meaningful change.

Reflect on Fargo’s experience at a retreat with Sabonfu Some', a renowned West African grief ritual healer, and how even a former monk can find grief “messy.” From that honesty, move into five simple mindfulness invitations you can use right now: name what’s here without judging it, give grief a little honest space, let it move the way it moves, support others with presence rather than fixing, and make room for resistance with gentle anchors that help your nervous system settle.

For anyone offering grief support to a friend or family member, learn about creating a safer, more sacred space instead of rushing toward advice or silver linings. Finally, a reading of Psalm 22 in Norman Fischer’s Zen-inspired translation, gives language to abandonment, longing, and the stubborn desire for connection when suffering feels near.

If this speaks to where you are in the grieving process, subscribe for new Friday releases, share the episode with someone who needs a softer way to breathe, and leave a review so more people can find this kind of grief care. What part of grief are you learning to meet gently?

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindful-grief/id1622236300?i=1000757095915

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE :  candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com

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Grief can make you feel like you’ve been exiled to a place no one else has ever been. When people try to help by saying “I know exactly how you feel,” it can land like a second loss, because your pain is not a template. I’m Candy Lucas, a chaplain and spiritual director, and I want to slow down with a part of the Bible that refuses quick fixes: the Book of Lamentations.

We walk through why Lamentations may be one of the most pastoral books in Scripture for Christian grief and mourning. These poems are born after Jerusalem’s collapse, written from inside the devastation, and they begin with a wound instead of a solution. We talk about how that honesty challenges the habit of rushing to Romans 8:28, and why real grief support starts with presence, not explanations.

Then we name what many believers are afraid to admit out loud: anger at God. Lamentations models raw prayer without pretending it is polished testimony, making space for faith and loss to coexist. At the center, we explore the famous line “Great is your faithfulness” and why it is not a mountaintop slogan but a remembered truth spoken from the rubble. We also face the book’s unresolved ending, and what it means to live a “theology of the middle” when your story is still unfinished.

If you’re mourning or walking alongside someone who is, listen and let lament speak. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs permission to be real, and leave a review so more grieving hearts can find the circle.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE :  candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com

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Grief shows up like a power outage in the middle of ordinary life: the silence after the phone call, the empty chair, the moment you realize the world has kept moving while yours has split open.  We turn to theologian Karl Rahner for language that doesn’t flinch at that darkness or try to hustle you into feeling “better.” He offers a way to tell the truth about love, death, and the ache that follows.

Walk through Rahner’s view of the human person as “spirit in the world,” grounded in bodies and time yet always reaching beyond what any finite thing can satisfy. That restless longing, Rahner says, is a clue to God as holy mystery, the horizon beneath every question and every desire. From there, explore why grief is not an accident but a disclosure, how the “hole” left by someone you love is shaped like them, and why the depth of pain can reveal the depth of the bond. Rahner reframes death, not only as something that happens to us, but also as a final human act of self-surrender, and how that can invite real hope without pretending to provide certainty.

We also push back on the modern pressure to compress mourning into a neat timeline. Rahner helps us see lingering grief as fidelity, a witness that people are not interchangeable and love is real. Drawing on the via negativa, consider how grief can hollow us out and, if we resist the urge to numb it, become a place where God can be encountered without blaming God for suffering.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE :  candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com

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Sometimes grief has a way of making us feel like we’re doing faith wrong, especially when we can’t “move on” or wrap our pain easily. On Good Friday, refuse to rush. Sit at the cross and let what is heavy be heavy, making space for the losses that can be named and the quiet ache that cannot. 

Start at a tomb in John 11, where the shortest line in Scripture becomes a lifeline: "Jesus wept". Not a polite tear, but real mourning. That moment reshapes Christian grief and pastoral care because it shows a God who does not stand far off from suffering. From there, move to the crucifixion and listen to Jesus pray Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Lament is in no way rebellion. It’s a spiritual message of telling the truth in God’s presence. The cross becomes the safest place to bring your questions, your anger, your tears, and your exhaustion. 

Then, Holy Saturday, the in-between space after devastation and before any sense of resurrection, when time feels strange and comfort feels delayed. If you’re there right now, you’re not falling behind. Grief does not run on a schedule, and Jesus’ blessing over mourners makes room for slow healing. 

Take a quiet moment, name what you’re carrying, and place it at the foot of the cross. 

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE :  candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com

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There’s a word for losing a parent. There’s a word for losing a spouse. But when a sibling dies, many of us are left with a strange, aching blank, and that cultural silence can make the grief feel invisible. We sit with that truth and name what so many people carry quietly: sibling loss is not “less than” other losses, and it deserves space, language, and care. 

Why are siblings often treated as forgotten mourners and how that plays out at funerals, in family conversations, and in the months after everyone else goes back to normal? We explore what makes a brother or sister different from any other relationship: they can be your longest bond, your keeper of childhood memories, and a living witness to your story. When that person dies, it can feel like losing part of your own history along with them. 

From there unpack the deeper layers of sibling bereavement, including grief for the person, grief for a complicated or unresolved relationship, grief for a family system that is permanently reshaped, and the sudden confrontation with your own mortality. Challenge popular myths about “stages” and explain why grief comes in waves, why the second year can hit harder, and why emotions like anger, numbness, relief, or even joy do not mean you’re doing it wrong. 

Offering practical, steadying tools: naming yourself as a bereaved sibling, using language that validates your experience, building continuing bonds that honor love in a new form, and finding support so you don’t have to carry this alone. 

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE :  candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com

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You know that split second after a vivid dream where it still feels real, like the person is still there? That’s the doorway we walk through today, because grief often behaves exactly like that: irrational, symbolic, and completely untethered from clocks and calendars. I

We talk about how both dreams and bereavement collapse time the past becomes present and the dead feel alive. Rather than treating that as weakness, we name it as the mind doing what minds do: trying again and again to metabolize a loss it cannot fully accept. 

We also face the hard part: the nightmare moments. Sometimes the most painful waves are the most honest, because they put us in direct contact with what’s real. I reflect on C.S. Lewis and the idea that love’s “impact” continues even after death the other is gone, but the impact remains. The takeaway is simple and sturdy: we don’t get over grief; we learn to dream differently, until this landscape becomes something we can move through without drowning.

If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with someone who’s hurting, and leave a review so more people looking for grief support can find it.one who is grieving. 

Subscribe for new Friday releases, and if you can, leave a review so more people searching for grief support and spiritual care can find us.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE :  candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com

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Grief can be loud, but it can also be quiet enough to hide in plain sight. Sometimes it settles into the corners of our lives like dust we promise we will deal with later, when we have more time, more strength, or fewer responsibilities.  What happens when we keep postponing mourning, and why the “later” we wait for rarely arrives on its own.

Start with a simple image that opens a big question: who and what lives at the corners of our lives? From there, we look at the corners where grief gathers, along with the complicated pieces that often come with loss like resentment, lingering harm, words we never said, and words we wish we could take back.  Grief has no clean endpoint, because love has no clean endpoint, and  avoiding grief can quietly intensify pain over years.

We also explore a faith-centered perspective through the story of Jesus and the woman at the well, where someone who might be treated as a “corner person” is fully seen. That becomes a guide for our own healing: the things we fear in our grief corners are not calamities waiting to destroy us. They are shards of living love, chipped from both hearts, and they deserve gentle attention. This is a simple, practical image to carry with you: hold a bright candle to the corner, and bring what you find into the sunshine.

If this speaks to you, listen, follow the show, and share it with someone who is grieving. 

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SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE :  candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com

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Grief rarely follows our plans, and neither does love. We step into scripture using Ignatian imaginative prayer and walk alongside Jesus as the caravan grows, the chores pile up, and friendship matures through late-night talks and hard truth. When a stranger brings the unthinkable news—John has been beheaded—the scene turns to lament: a howl in the dark, a body received with care, linen and balm prepared, prayers whispered at a rocky graveside. Rather than rush toward answers, we sit in the holy weight of mourning and notice how faith breathes through presence, not performance.

That tenderness meets a new test with the message about Lazarus. Should love hurry, or can delay bear a meaning we cannot see yet? We argue, plead, and name the fear in a mother’s eyes. The response points to a wider point of love, a horizon bigger than our urgency. This tension anchors a larger conversation about how believers wrestle with God’s timing: anger that tells the truth, hope that will not vanish, and trust that grows one honest prayer at a time.

To hold all this, we turn to Kahlil Gibran’s meditation on pain as the breaking of the shell around our understanding. The image does not excuse suffering; it invites us to recognize the physician within, the remedy that stings because it heals, and the seasons that pass over the heart as surely as winter yields to spring. Along the way, we offer grounded spiritual direction for mourners, simple practices for noticing God’s nearness, and a gentle reminder that community can carry what we cannot.

If this journey meets you where you are, subscribe, share this episode with a friend who is grieving, and leave a review so others can find a circle of support when they need it most.

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Happiness showing up in the middle of grief can feel like a breach of loyalty. We talk honestly about that knot in the throat—the moment a new baby, a friend’s engagement, or a quiet sunrise stirs warmth while your heart is still heavy—and we offer a way to hold both truths without apology. Drawing on Scripture and lived experience, we explore whether joy follows sorrow, lives inside it, or both, and why that tension is normal, human, and often holy.

We reflect on verses like “weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning” and Paul’s paradox of being “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” Rather than forcing a winner between emotions, we frame pain and joy as grounded in different realities: grief names what was torn; joy names what remains unshakable. Through a vivid boulder-in-the-storm image, we show how joy can be submerged by waves yet never dislodged, reappearing as the waters calm.

The goal is not to erase sadness but to keep joy from going, trusting that tearful joy can, with time, become more spacious and even, at moments, tearless.

If this conversation steadies you or someone you love, share it with a friend who’s grieving, subscribe for weekly solace, and leave a review with one moment of joy you noticed today. Your words may be the lifeline another listener needs.

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What if the center of your grief isn’t emptiness, but a voice that calls you "Beloved"? We explore a quiet, radical shift inspired by Ruben L. F. Habito’s Zen and the Spiritual Exercises, bringing Zen attention and Ignatian prayer together to meet sorrow without shame. Instead of ranking life by wins and losses, we invite you into a gentler metric—inner freedom rooted in identity rather than performance.

We walk through the baptism of Jesus as a living scene, not a distant story. With sensory imagination and simple breath, we step into the water, hear the heavens open, and receive the naming that steadies the heart: “You are my beloved; with you I am well pleased.” From there, grief looks different. Not smaller, but held. You’ll learn how contemplative stillness can soften the tight loops of comparison, how Zen’s don’t-know mind releases deadlines for healing, and how Ignatian discernment guides daily choices toward what actually brings life.

Across the conversation, we offer a short, practical practice you can repeat when waves rise: sit, breathe, listen, return. We talk about letting go of inherited rules about “strong” mourning, making space for tears without apology, and building a small rule of life—journaling after hard moments, naming the one you miss, and choosing companions who bring freedom. If you’ve ever wondered whether faith and mindfulness can speak the same language to a broken heart, this is a hand on your shoulder and a path under your feet.
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Grief can make the world feel loud and far away, yet there’s a quieter path that helps us hear what the heart is trying to say. We invite you into a reflective, conversation inspired by Mark Nepo’s "Seven Thousand Ways to Listen", exploring how care and kindness live beneath the ideas of fairness and deserving. Rather than trying to outpace loss, we focus on how love asks us to hold nothing back, how it lets beauty in even while we hurt, and how the simple practice of listening can help us endure what we cannot escape.

Together, we walk through powerful questions designed to open both compassion for others and honesty with ourselves. Are we leading with care or keeping score? What makes the effort to love feel like a lift rather than a burden? How different is the face we show the world from the one we show no one? These prompts offer a gentle structure for grief work, inviting you to notice the feelings that signal aliveness and the ones that warn of disconnect, and to hear what each is trying to teach.

We also unpack  a reflection on how modern life can split our experience into rooms of fear, anger, sadness, or worry. The risk isn’t feeling too much; it’s getting stuck in one feeling until isolation becomes a habit. By slowing down, our scattered emotions can reconnect, giving depth, coherence, and resilience. When we honor that slower light, kindness becomes a way of life, a lamp the heart carries for others and for ourselves. If you’re looking for grounded tools for grief, spiritual direction rooted in presence, and a reminder that there is no substitute for going through things together, you’ll feel at home here.

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and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

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Loss can make the world feel smaller, but something larger than sorrow keeps breaking through: a steady love that refuses to leave. We open a gentle path through grief by walking the terrain of Lent and Easter—naming the desert honestly and listening for the first hints of dawn. Along the way, we draw on Rumi’s striking line about love and separation and on Romans 8:35, asking what it means to be held when everything else feels unsteady.

Together we reflect on how Lent becomes less a ritual and more a refuge, a season that burnishes the heart rather than burdens it. The desert teaches us to travel light, to notice where God moves under the noise, and to accept help when it arrives. From there, Easter becomes recognizable not as a shortcut around sorrow but as the quiet recovery after deep mourning: one morning the light looks kinder, the load a shade lighter, and hope begins to sound like our own voice again. We talk about daily practices that anchor us—simple prayers, small acts of gratitude, and the healing repetition of one word that changes everything: beloved.

A blessing inspired by Jan Richardson meets listeners exactly where they are—offering rest, courage, and the promise that grace shows up on the road. If you’re carrying loss, longing for meaning, or needing a reminder that separation is not the final word, this conversation holds space for you.

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Some losses hit the national bloodstream and leave us reeling. The impact ripples beyond family and friends to anyone who sees their own hopes reflected in that life. We sit with that shock and name what it does to trust, to community, and to our sense of moral ground. Rather than drowning in  numbness, we slow down to ask what faithful, human grief looks like in public.

We talk frankly about the sanctity of life and why no cause, no grievance, and no ideology justifies taking it.  Wrestle with how to hold outrage and compassion at the same time. Drawing on the witness of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and other voices who refused to answer violence with more violence,  explore a demanding, practical pacifism: solidarity without scapegoats, courage without contempt, and action that honors dignity. The goal isn’t to silence anger; it’s to transform it into care for the vulnerable, support for the bereaved, and commitment to repair.

Along the way, we reflect on the psychology of collective mourning. Why do some of us rush to blame while others go numb? How can communities shape sorrow into rituals that heal—vigils, clear words, generous acts—so grief becomes connective rather than corrosive? We end in prayer, asking for the grace to remember love beneath the pain, to keep the loss human and not symbolic, and to let that memory guide how we live. If your heart feels heavy and you’re searching for a way to stand with others without losing yourself, we offer language, grounding, and hope.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

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The bells are quiet, the colors turn to green, and the calendar says ordinary time—yet your heart still feels anything but ordinary. We lean into that tension and talk honestly about the everyday weight of grief: the way a scent can stop you in a doorway, how an empty chair can crowd a room, and why the ache itself can be a sign that love is alive and doing its work. With clear, gentle language, we name what so many feel but hesitate to say out loud.

We explore how culture often rushes mourning, leaving people embarrassed by tears or unsure how to show up for each other. We reflect on Anderson Cooper’s evolving voice on loss and what changes when we finally give sorrow time and space. From there, we turn to faith and continuity—how Christians and people of other traditions find hope in the idea that love outlasts a heartbeat, and how that promise can steady us when anniversaries and sudden memories arrive uninvited. Along the way, we ask questions: How much does love weigh? What color is it? We can’t measure it, but we can feel how it binds us to the people we miss.

This conversation offers small, practical ways to make grief part of life without letting it swallow the day. Think simple rituals, quiet prayers, and intentional moments that honor memory while making room for new breath. The goal isn’t to move on, but to move with—allowing sorrow to soften, love to broaden, and hope to return in everyday places like kitchens, pews, and sidewalks under bright blue skies. 

If you’re carrying a loss that feels heavy and unspoken, consider this a welcoming chair at a table set for honesty and care.

We reflect on how grief becomes part of daily life, how faith and memory hold us, and why acknowledging sorrow is a sign of love, not weakness. From  hard-won wisdom to simple rituals that help us carry on, we make space for healing with honesty and hope.

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and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

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The calendar turns, but grief doesn’t follow dates. We open this new year by laying out seven honest, compassionate resolutions for anyone carrying loss—practices that respect your pace, honor your person, and rebuild daily life without pretending the hurt is gone. From the first minutes, we name a core truth: this is your grief and only you can know what helps.

Together we explore personal ritual as a lifeline—cooking a favorite meal, choosing a song, carving a quiet corner, or adopting visible symbols that speak without explanation. Beyond formal support, we talk about the humble power of community—book clubs, faith gatherings, bowling nights—to remind your nervous system what ordinary life feels like.

For those drawn to faith, we unpack spiritual direction as a gentle companion to therapy. You’ll hear how a director can help you notice where God feels near or far, how your spiritual life has shifted, and which practices might hold you now. We close with whole-self care you can actually keep: regular sleep, simple food, steady movement, and soothing hobbies that regulate the body and give sorrow room to move. 

If you’ve been told to “move on,” consider this your permission to move with—at your pace, with your rituals, and with community beside you. If this resonated, follow the show, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review so others can find these gentle tools too.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

UPCOMING WORKSHOP ON  SOULFUL LISTENING:  https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/359741-soulful-listening-workshops-on-the-ministry-of

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Today, my daughter-in-law, Rachel takes us through the intimate, complicated journey of losing her father to COVID and finding unexpected grace in hospice care. Along the way, Rachel names the ache of anticipatory grief, the way traditions become flashpoints, and how a single sentence from a nurse can rearrange your world.

What sets this story apart is the quiet courage in the details. Rachel’s father, a man who prized his intellect, drifts in and out of lucidity while she becomes his advocate and historian, translating his life for overworked staff. When a facility outbreak pushes him past the point of return, the decision to choose comfort over intervention becomes an act of love. A hospice worker asks for stories, hears about a grandmother’s gentle ear tug, and carries that ritual into the room so he doesn’t die as an anonymous patient—but as a father, a son, and a whole person. It’s a small gesture that turns a lonely goodbye into a sacred passage.

We reflect on how grief compounds over time, why losing the person who sees you best reshapes identity, and the practical steps that help families navigate chaos: insist on clear updates, prepare for abrupt transfers, and use simple rituals to anchor meaning when you can’t be at the bedside. If you’ve ever carried a phone under your pillow, saved a plate at the table, or wondered how to say goodbye when you can’t hold a hand, this conversation offers honesty, tools, and tenderness. 

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

UPCOMING WORKSHOP ON  SOULFUL LISTENING:  https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/359741-soulful-listening-workshops-on-the-ministry-of

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

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A nation’s grief can teach a child what silence looks like. With the Kennedy assassination as a first brush with public loss, we unpack how early experiences shape the way we mourn, speak, or go quiet when death enters the room. From the shock of seeing tragedy unfold on television to the private unsteadiness of waking beside a loved one who slipped away in the night, we explore how the manner of death changes the contours of grief without changing its weight.

We talk about what gets lost when families don’t name their sorrow, and what becomes possible when communities choose to gather, listen, and remember. You’ll hear how love persists through the numb hours, how hope survives as a quiet companion, and how simple routines—brushing teeth, checking the mirror, speaking a name aloud—become anchors in days that feel unreal.

If you’ve ever wondered why some losses feel harder to accept, or why certain questions won’t stop circling, this conversation offers language and gentle practices that honor both mystery and memory. The heart of it is simple: grief wants witnesses, and healing grows where love is named. Join us to find steadier footing, a kinder rhythm, and the stubborn jewel of hope you may have thought you lost.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

UPCOMING WORKSHOP ON  SOULFUL LISTENING:  https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/359741-soulful-listening-workshops-on-the-ministry-of

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

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Heartbreak doesn’t wait for perfect timing, and neither does grace. We open a gentle, practical pathway through grief by walking with the ten core elements of Ignatian spirituality—wisdom forged in the recovery of a wounded soldier who learned to listen for God in everyday life. This is a clear, story-driven guide to finding presence, freedom, and courage when the season feels heavy.

We start with Ignatius’s origin story to show why this tradition is so practical: it meets real people in real circumstances. From there, we explore how to recognize God at work in ordinary moments, cultivate a call-and-response rhythm in prayer, and use discernment to make sound choices when emotions run high. You’ll hear why the heart leads the journey, how imagination in prayer brings comfort and clarity, and why interior freedom—not clinging to outcomes—opens space for wiser decisions and deeper peace.

We unpack the Daily Examen as a five-minute anchor for reflection, gratitude, and next steps. You’ll learn the meaning of cura personalis—care for the whole person—and how Ignatian practice adapts to your pace, your story, and your limits. Community matters here: spiritual direction, collaboration, and shared mission keep us grounded and supported. Finally, we lean into the call to become contemplatives in action and men and women for others, finding God in family rooms, workplaces, hospitals, and holiday tables, and letting generous service transform sorrow into love.

If this conversation gives you language for your own healing, subscribe, share it with someone who needs hope today.

The ten elements help you notice God in daily life, make freer choices, and find a practical path through the holidays.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

A mother’s cry, a father’s silence, and a play that turned private loss into words the world still leans on—we trace the tender line from Hamnet to Hamlet and what it reveals about how we grieve. We open with the film’s intimate portrait of marriage under strain, childbirth risk, and a family reshaped by the death of a son. From a boy’s heartbreaking plea to save his sister to a mother’s raw lament, the story refuses neat answers and invites us to feel the full weight of love.

We then pivot to Shakespeare’s response: not a scene at a bedside, but the slow, deliberate work of writing. Hamlet becomes his container for sorrow, a place to test the edges of mortality, betrayal, conscience, and hope. Hearing the famous soliloquy through the lens of a grieving father changes everything; “To be or not to be” is no longer abstract debate, but a soul trying to stand in the storm. Along the way, we talk about how art can say what we cannot.

Throughout the conversation, we return to a simple truth: grief is personal and cannot be standardized. Your bond with the one you lost is singular; so is your way of mourning. 

Please support us by subscribing on Amazon Music or Spotify
We welcome suggestions for future episodes or reach out to us for one on one spiritual direction, individually or as a family as you travel through griefIf you have questions about spiritual direction while grieving, or grief support or grief groups in your community, my contact information is in the show notes.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

UPCOMING WORKSHOP ON  SOULFUL LISTENING:  https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/359741-soulful-listening-workshops-on-the-ministry-of

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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What miracle are we waiting for when the holidays feel heavier than ever? We open the door to that question and follow it through Advent’s candles and into the honest landscape of grief—where tears, memory, and hope share the same table. Guided by Isaiah 55, we explore how God meets thirsty hearts with real nourishment, how love takes on flesh in fragile places, and how the Advent wreath holds darkness and light together without rushing us to feel better.

The promise of scripture becomes more than poetry—it is a horizon for weary souls, a word that will not return empty, rain that soaks the soil of a broken season and brings seed for sowers, bread for eaters, and a path where peace brings us back.

We also reckon with the hard questions: Will we receive the gift of love, not as an idea but as a practice? Can mourning coexist with joy without canceling it? As we wrestle, we keep company with the God who draws near, the people we miss, and the community that holds us while we heal. By the end, you’ll have language for your lament, a gentler way to navigate holidays, and a renewed sense that hope can live alongside sorrow.

• Advent and grief held together as one path
• The question of the awaited miracle in a season of loss
• The Advent wreath as a model of darkness and light
• Traditions and the ache of empty chairs at the table
• Extending compassion to people on the margins
• Isaiah 55 as invitation to thirsty hearts
• God’s word as promise that does not return empty
• Honoring the dead while choosing love in the present

Please support us by subscribing on Amazon Music or Spotify
We welcome suggestions for future episodes or reach out to us for one on one spiritual direction, individually or as a family as you travel through griefIf you have questions about spiritual direction while grieving, or grief support or grief groups in your community, my contact information is in the show notes.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

UPCOMING WORKSHOP ON  SOULFUL LISTENING:  https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/359741-soulful-listening-workshops-on-the-ministry-of

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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Holiday glitter can sting when the heart is tender, so we slow down and name what’s real: Advent and grief both teach us how to wait. Remember the courage it takes to admit our limits, the grace of beginning with Jesus, and the honest paradox of holding sorrow and joy in the same hands.  And a hopeful way forward for anyone who feels out of sync with the season.

We explore the tension between cultural pressure to “make it magical” and the gospel’s invitation to place our grief beside us and wait anyway. Drawing on voices like Fr. David Barnes and Henri Nouwen, we look at how  paralysis becomes the doorway to grace, and how Mary and Elizabeth show us that community is a sacred space where we keep the flame alive for one another. Along the way, we highlight simple rituals—lighting the Advent wreath, reading a few lines of scripture, sharing one memory at the table—that ground us when the days are long and the nights feel heavier than usual.

If you’re carrying loss through the holidays, you’re not an outsider to hope—you’re exactly where Advent speaks the loudest. Listen, share with someone who needs a gentle word, and if this conversation helps you exhale, subscribe and leave a review so others can find their way to the light too.

We explore how Advent speaks to grief by inviting honest waiting, not forced cheer. We place sorrow beside hope, lean on community, and remember the light that darkness cannot overcome.

• Advent as a season for honest waiting
• the paradox of joy amid loss
• community as shared space to wait
• Advent wreath as a practice of hope
• the light shines and darkness cannot overcome it

If you have questions about spiritual direction while grieving, or grief support or grief groups in your community, my contact information is in the show notes.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

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A simple question can close a door—or open a life. After Lynn’s husband, Jim, died without warning, I thought giving space was kindness. I watched her carry herself with strength, and I told myself she’d ask if she needed me. What I missed were the quieter signs: a new sadness behind her eyes.

If you’re walking with someone widowed or grieving—whether it’s been weeks or years—this conversation gives you language, courage, and a way back to presence. Listen for practical grief support, faith-rooted encouragement, and a reminder that love is in the returning: ask, listen, remember, and come back again. 

The conversation moves from regret to a clear set of tools anyone can use to support a widowed loved one with care.

• sudden loss and the shock that follows
• giving space versus showing up with intention
• how outward steadiness can hide deep pain
• faith as a model for consistent friendship
• apologizing without excuses and making amends
• practical, specific questions that invite truth
• concrete offers of help and time-bound check-ins
• honoring memories and repeated storytelling
• committing to proactive, gentle outreach

Grief doesn’t follow rules, and it rarely shows up quietly. We open a  conversation about the last moments of life—what we witness in hospice rooms, what we fear in sudden or violent deaths, and the heavy shadow of suicide—and we offer an audacious hope: that God meets every soul at the threshold. Not as an abstract idea, but as a presence that brings a softening, a peace that settles over the body and face, a love that refuses to arrive late.

From years of bedside chaplaincy, we share patterns that return like tide: tension easing as life slips, a quiet that feels almost like being held. We explore how this witness can comfort families who were not in the room, and how it speaks to losses that feel unanswerable. The conversation moves into the raw terrain of suicide grief—where guilt often dominates and understanding feels out of reach—and gently reframes the final moment as encounter rather than abandonment. We do not minimize pain or gloss over the mystery of a broken soul; we simply insist that love keeps vigil even when we cannot.

To anchor the heart, we read Psalm 93 in a luminous translation, letting its language about steadfastness, lifted rivers, and an unshakable house steady our breath. Along the way we offer simple practices: imagine your loved one received; light a candle at dusk; pause for a line of prayer; let community hold what you cannot carry alone. Whether your loss came through illness, accident, fire, or the silence of despair, you are not alone here. Come sit with us in a circle of gentle presence, where mourning can turn toward comfort and memory can be held without fear.

If this spoke to you, follow the show, share it with someone who needs a soft word today, and leave a review so others can find their way to this space. New reflections arrive every Friday on Apple Music, Amazon Music and Spotify. 

If you have questions about spiritual direction while grieving, or grief support or grief groups in your community, my contact information is in the show notes.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

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We trace how fall’s shifts mirror grief, moving from the first sting of emptiness to practical safety steps, group support, and spiritual care. Poems by Paula Porter and a closing meditation widen hope, and we share ways to plan for the holidays with honesty and rest.

• honoring the rawness of early grief and the image of autumn’s balance
• fear named as part of grief and steps to face it
• practical safety ideas for living alone and learning new tasks
• asking friends and family to teach skills and share load
• joining grief groups and keeping a journal to track progress
• making flexible holiday plans with rest, ritual, and remembrance
• poetry as a container for feeling and a mirror for seasons
• spiritual support through Ignatian practice and community resources
• reminders that help, love, and change are already in motion

We talk about pacing your learning and honoring limits, because healing does not happen on a deadline. Journaling becomes a quiet partner that clarifies fears and tracks progress you might otherwise miss. With the holidays approaching, I offer a flexible planning framework that includes time with others, time to rest, and time to remember your beloved in ways that feel true. 

Please support us by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or Spotify.  If you have questions about spiritual direction while grieving, or grief support or grief groups in your community, my contact information is in the show notes.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

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We trace Rachel’s caregiving through COVID barriers, hospital chaos, and a rare moment of blessing from her father, who tried to dance in a neck brace on the day he came home. Fear, advocacy, and dignity shape a story that turns separation into a deeper kind of love.

• Rachel’s layered losses and why she chose to share
• COVID-era separation and window visits with her father
• the work of advocacy  • comfort versus intervention that reframed caregiving

Please support us by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or Spotify.  If you have questions about spiritual direction while grieving, or grief support or grief groups in your community, my contact information is in the show notes.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

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We explore grief’s gray spaces, where love does not disappear but changes form, and we practice seeing God’s presence in simple, daily ways. Thich Nhat Hanh’s cloud-to-rain teaching helps us notice our beloved in new forms while faith widens the heart that holds them.

• grief as gray rather than black and white
• shock, aftershocks, and anniversaries as normal rhythms
• love as the other side of grief that endures
• energy of love dispersing and widening beyond one person
• Thich Nhat Hanh’s cloud and rain metaphor for transformation
• practices to look deeply for presence in new forms
• faith as companionship with God
• self-compassion as we heal and remember

Please support us by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or Spotify.  If you have questions about spiritual direction while grieving, or grief support or grief groups in your community, my contact information is in the show notes.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

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We share a gentle guide to facing holidays and anniversaries after loss, with practical tools that reduce pressure and honor love. We explain why grief isn’t linear, how waves return, and how faith, ritual, and support help you endure and heal. (See:  hospicefoundation.org)

• choosing plans and rituals that fit your energy
• communicating needs and setting expectations with family
• compromising so different grief styles can coexist
• understanding anticipatory grief and the dual process model
• recognizing triggers and normalizing waves years later
• seeking professional help when function does not return
• practicing continuing bonds through simple, personal acts
• leaning on prayer and spiritual presence for comfort

If you have questions about spiritual direction while grieving, or grief support or grief groups in your community, my contact information is in the show notes.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

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We explore the raw, tender reality of losing a family pet and how everyday rituals make their absence feel vast.  We unpack disenfranchised grief, memorials, and how surviving pets can mourn too.

• why pet loss can feel as deep as any bereavement
• daily bonds that make absence hit hard
• urgent choices, and easing suffering
• parenting while grieving and holding space for kids
• coming home to an empty house and grief pangs
• disenfranchised grief and finding safe listeners

If you have questions about spiritual direction while grieving, or grief support or grief groups in your community, my contact information is in the show notes.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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Keeping vigil, reflecting on the gap between a rich life and a plain death, and wondering how faith, science, and ritual help us hold loss without letting it define us. The dead may be invisible, but we explore how their presence can still affect us.

• why stories of death need telling and retelling
• readings on the nearness of the dead and what comfort means
• the vigil: hospice, timelines, and private moments of farewell
• different grief responses within a family
• finding a language for dying after hospice work
• humor and ritual as meaning‑making
• how faith and non‑faith coexist in grief care
• integrating memory as an ongoing practice

If you have questions about spiritual direction while grieving, or grief support or grief groups in your community, my contact information is in the show notes.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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We share Rachel’s story of layered loss during 2020 and how a simple breeze became a faithful sign that love endures. We explore last words, waves of grief, and practical rituals to feel presence without denying absence.

• why naming love before goodbye brings peace
• how grief arrives in waves and why that is normal
• the role of nature and sensory cues in healing
• continuing bonds as a healthy way to stay connected
• building simple rituals to steady daily 

If you have questions about spiritual direction while grieving, or grief support or grief groups in your community, my contact information is in the show notes.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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Today we explore a traditional Rosh Hashanah reading from 1 Samuel about Jonathan's loyal friendship with King David, and; extracts powerful lessons for those on a grief journey. The biblical story demonstrates how love transcends hatred, and ultimately has the healing power to mend our deepest wounds. Especially grief.

• Examination of the biblical story of Jonathan protecting King David from King Saul
• Love is greater than hate, physical harm, and can heal all wounds
• Love, especially God's love, can accompany us through our grief journey
• True and faithful love for God rewards us both in this life and beyond


If you have questions about spiritual direction while grieving, or grief support or grief groups in your community, my contact information is in the show notes.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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Today we explore how our attachments to physical objects transform during grief. Loss requires us to reconsider what we hold onto and why, as we weave grief into the fabric of our lives rather than trying to overcome it.

• Grief isn't something to "get over" but something we integrate into our lives
• Moving to a new home revealed how many things I was willing to let go
• St. Ignatius teaches about "disordered attachments" that keep us from being closer to God
• Examining our attachments can help us move forward in grief

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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When we're grieving, our culture of rugged individualism often tells us to face losses alone, but healing requires the presence of others. This episode explores why seeking support during grief isn't weakness but essential wisdom for moving forward.

• Grief and loss are inevitable in life but nearly impossible to manage alone
• Many avoid seeking help due to fear of appearing weak, being vulnerable, or being judged
• Past experiences with grief can provide strength for facing present losses
• Journal writing helps put grief on paper and bring emotions into focus
• Taking the risk of being vulnerable is frightening but essential for healing
• Establishing your rights as a grieving person includes permission to express emotions your way
• Sharing tough questions with trusted companions helps process loss
• Feeling anger is natural, but talking about it helps break its grasp
• You have the right to be happy and to laugh even while grieving
• Seeking a prayer partner provides spiritual support when words fail
• Though loss changes us forever, our lives can be mended as we carry memories forward.

You can reach me at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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Today we explore how to walk with God during grief when prayer feels impossible and faith seems distant. Grief creates natural spiritual questions as we navigate the physical, emotional, and psychological shifts that come with significant loss.

• Picture God on your side rather than as the cause of suffering
• God's compassionate presence walks with us through our pain
• Trust God's nearness even when feelings suggest otherwise
• Call on good memories to help navigate present darkness
• Find at least one thing each day to be grateful for
• Pray your pain by expressing real feelings to God
• Try alternative prayer forms like walking, music, or open hands
• Look for God in unexpected ways like nature or acts of kindness
• Make time for solitude where invisible healing occurs
• Be patient with yourself as healing takes time
• Find support through others' stories of loss and resilience
• Remember God keeps vigil over you as a loving parent

You can reach me at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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Journaling serves as both a memorial and milestone marker on our grief journeys, allowing us to process complex emotions and track our healing progress over time.  Journal entries spanning several years document my experiences with various losses and the spiritual dimensions of grief.

• Grief journaling helps memorialize our journey and provides perspective on how far we've come
• Personal journal entries reveal the complex, non-linear nature of grief processing
• Spiritual themes weave throughout the journaling process, showing how faith can anchor us
• Metaphorical language helps express grief emotions that defy straightforward description
• The journey through grief includes moments of both profound despair and glimpses of comfort
• Writing creates a safe space to express emotions that might otherwise remain bottled up

A new episode drops every Friday morning on Spotify, Amazon, and Apple. If you have questions about grieving or spiritual direction, my contact information is in the show notes. Be gentle with yourself this week. Vaya con Dios.

You can reach me at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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Grief creates a profound rupture in our lives, affecting us spiritually, psychologically, emotionally, and physically. The 14th century spiritual classic "The Cloud of Unknowing" offers wisdom for navigating the darkness of grief through contemplative prayer.

• Focuses on prayer as an act of will and love rather than intellect
• Offers practical guidance for being fully present in prayer during difficult times
• Emphasizes that even short, simple prayers are sufficient for connecting with God
• Encourages embracing "the proper awe of the Lord" as foundation for wisdom
• Provides comfort in knowing that souls aligned with God "are immediately heard"
• Parallels between the "unknowing" in contemplative practice and grief journeys

Consider what helps you approach prayer with a willing attitude during your grief journey.  

You can reach me at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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We explore Karl Rahner's profound spiritual insights from "Encounters with Silence," focusing on finding God within the ordinary routines of daily life. Rahner, a Jesuit priest and influential 20th century theologian who helped shape Vatican II, offers wisdom particularly relevant to those experiencing grief.

• Karl Rahner entered the Society of Jesus in 1922 and was ordained in 1932
• Rahner's vision provided theological support for openness and dialogue between Christians
• His spirituality acknowledges the challenge of finding God amidst life's "empty noise" and "meaningless fury"
• Rahner personally experienced grief through the loss of relatives and friends
• He suggests the only path to God must lead "through the very middle of ordinary life"
• The interior person can find rest and activity unified in the same experience
• Divine love transforms routine activities into a "homecoming" to God

"https://www.amazon.com/Encounters-Silence-Karl-Rahner/"

You can find me on Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple. You can contact me through my email in the show notes. A new episode drops every Friday. 

You can reach me at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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Experience how St. Ignatius of Loyola would counsel someone experiencing fresh grief through spiritual wisdom, emotional sensitivity, and practical guidance based on his teachings and spirituality. These approaches help navigate grief by fostering deeper connection with God, finding meaning in suffering, and cultivating hope even in our darkest moments.

• Acknowledge pain and invite God's presence - bringing raw emotions to prayer
• Engage in discernment to navigate difficult emotions - distinguish between consolation and desolation
• Find meaning in suffering - connect grief to Christ's suffering while trusting in the promises of resurrection
• Cultivate gratitude and hope - recalling moments of love with the deceased
• Seek community support - avoiding isolation and finding ways to honor your loved one
• Trust God's providence - surrendering grief while taking one step at a time

You can find me on Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple. You can contact me through my email in the show notes. A new episode drops every Friday. 

You can reach me at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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Candee Lucas, a grief chaplain and spiritual director trained by the Jesuits at Santa Clara University, presents an imaginative interview with St. Ignatius of Loyola exploring spiritual approaches to grief and loss. The 500-year-old saint offers compassionate guidance for those experiencing profound sorrow after losing a loved one.

• Recognizing "desolation" - when grief makes us feel distant from God - and continuing simple prayer practices
• Using the Ignatian Examen to notice small glimpses of God's presence even in times of deep sorrow
• Viewing suffering as a path to growing closer to Christ, who also experienced human pain
• Finding meaningful ways to honor lost loved ones through volunteer work, charity, or personal rituals
• Practicing gratitude for memories and the continuing bonds of love that extend beyond death
• Praying the Suscipe to surrender grief while maintaining connection to both loved ones and God
• Looking for "consolations" - small signs of divine care that provide hope during dark times

You can find us on Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple. You can contact me through my email in the show notes. A new episode drops every Friday. 

For spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/344943-spiritual-accompaniment

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Grief presents itself in many forms, including the loss of control during difficult news. Explore how modern dependency on technology for answers differs from seeking spiritual guidance during times of uncertainty and fear.

• What might happen if we took our questions to God instead of Google?
• Spiritual answers may be different but more meaningful than information alone  • Connection to divine love is universal and available to everyone 
• Recognition that technology, while useful, cannot provide the living presence we truly seek

You can find us on Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple. You can contact me through my email in the show notes. A new episode drops every Friday. 

For spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/344943-spiritual-accompaniment

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Music creates a powerful pathway through grief, offering comfort and expression when words fall short. Ben Kweller, a singer-songwriter who lost his 16-year-old son Dorian in a tragic car accident, channeled his grief into creating the album "Cover the Mirrors," demonstrating how art can become a healing force.

• The "Impolitic" podcast with John Heileman features a poignant interview with Ben Kweller about his grief journey                                                                      •  Kweller wrote many songs in a grief "fog," a state many grievers may recognize
• Music can connect us to memories and validate our feelings of loss
• Personal grief experiences can be supported by exposure to meaningful music
• Apple Music offers a curated 'Grief' playlist with 111 songs spanning more than six hours
• Music serves as a channel through which God can speak to us and call us to open our hearts for healing

Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/344943-spiritual-accompaniment

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Grief rarely follows the patterns we imagine it will, often surprising us with unexpected moments of both pain and comfort that defy our expectations. Our personal experiences with grief become like unique coloring books that reflect our individual journeys rather than conforming to society's expectations.

• Childhood memories of a beloved sister who colored outside the lines
• How grief rarely stays within the boundaries we expect
• The unexpected comfort found in sensory memories after loved ones pass
• Finding peace in our own personal "grief books" with all their unique patterns
• Discovering that what we miss most about our loved ones often surprises us


Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/344943-spiritual-accompaniment

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Today explore the difficult questions that arise during grief and how our Catholic faith offers pathways for healing.  We examine how questions of "why" and "what if" can become poignant prayers and how sharing our stories helps us accept the reality of loss.

• Questions beginning with "why" are often not really questions but statements of protest or pain
• The sacrament of reconciliation helps those struggling with unresolved "what-if" questions and feelings of guilt
• Telling your story repeatedly is healing 
• Support groups provide safe places to share stories, express concerns, and feel a sense of belonging
• One-on-one counseling is available through Catholic Charities, hospital chaplains, and hospice services
• There is no "right" timeline for seeking support - this is a personal decision

This material comes from the book "Grieving with the Help of your Catholic Faith" by Lorene Hanley Duquin. (Available on Amazon)

Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/344943-spiritual-accompaniment

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Grief is the process by which healing takes place after loss, requiring time and space to work through the emotional wounds. The work of grieving involves accepting the reality of loss, experiencing the pain, recreating the person in memory, adjusting to life without them, and finding new meaning.

• The word "bereavement" means "to be torn apart"
• Emotional wounds from loss take longer to heal than physical wounds
• Grief helps you grow emotionally and spiritually despite the pain
• The full impact of loss typically hits between 3-9 months after death
• Grieving is your internal experience while mourning is the outward expression
• Jesus wept over Lazarus, giving us permission to express our grief
• Avoiding grief only makes the process longer and more difficult
• Pouring your heart out to God is one of the most powerful forms of prayer

This material comes from the book "Grieving with the Help of your Catholic Faith" by Lorene Hanley Duquin. (Available on Amazon)

Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/344943-spiritual-accompaniment

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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The loss of a lover represents the most intimate and personal of all losses, one that people rarely discuss even in grief groups or therapy sessions. Through Pablo Neruda's powerful love poems, we explore how poetry can give voice to the unique grief of losing a romantic partner and provide comfort for those experiencing this particular type of loss.

• Grief differs across various types of losses, requiring different approaches beyond a one-size-fits-all solution
• The intimate nature of losing a lover creates unique challenges in sharing and processing this grief
• Pablo Neruda's Nobel Prize-winning poetry offers powerful language that captures the experience of mourning a lost love
• Poetry provides a way to express complex feelings of absence, continuing bonds, and the contradictory emotions that characterize romantic grief

Remember I'm always available for spiritual direction by Zoom to those who are grieving.

Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/344943-spiritual-accompaniment

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

CAUTION: TODAY'S EPISODE DISCUSSES SUICIDE, PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND SKIP TODAY IF THE SUBJECT SEEMS TOO INTENSE.

Today, we explore the concept of "self-death" as an alternative term for suicide, reflecting onmy recent experiences supporting those grieving after suicide. The topic emerges from a week filled with suicide-related grief conversations and the loss of a work colleague, leading to deeper questions about how we support survivors and understand this form of loss.

• Unlike other losses, suicide involves someone taking themselves away rather than being "taken"
• The belief that God embraces those who die by suicide without judgment or limits
• Survivors of suicide loss often report having no safe place to discuss their grief
• The metaphor of "dismemberment" helps frame how suicide severs connections with loved ones
• Modern medicine has blurred the line between life and death, complicating our understanding and empathy
• Certainty lies only in divine love; everything else remains complicated and nuanced

Remember I'm always available for spiritual direction by Zoom to those who are grieving.
Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/344943-spiritual-accompaniment

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Grief often speaks in simple, powerful truths like "My son is still not here" - words that capture the relentless reality of loss that remains despite our healing efforts. Explore how we can live with these painful realities while still finding connection to God and our loved ones.

• Finding prayer in the darkness through simple pleas
• Acknowledging the difficulty of waiting for God's help 
• Remembering and documenting moments of love as a key to healing
• Reflecting on Meister Eckhart's poem about separation and reunion
• Understanding that our loved ones' essence waits in God's presence

Remember I'm always available for spiritual direction by Zoom to those who are grieving. Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/344943-spiritual-accompaniment

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Explore the profound nature of grief through poetic meditation, drawing on theological wisdom and personal imagery to create a space of understanding for those experiencing loss.

• Karl Rahner's reflection that "every one of the departed has taken a piece of my heart"
• The physical dimension of grief and longing to hold loved ones again
• Finding comfort in spiritual presence when the way feels lost

Feel free to send any questions you might have about grieving to my email. I'll try to answer any questions you have in the future. Remember I'm always available for spiritual direction by Zoom to those who are grieving. Please reach out to me if you have this need.

Remember I'm always available for spiritual direction by Zoom to those who are grieving. Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/344943-spiritual-accompaniment

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Finding peace through mindfulness is essential for grief healing. By grounding ourselves in the present moment rather than constantly doing, we can navigate even the most challenging situations with greater clarity.

• Welcome this space of healing, love and support for those experiencing grief
• Buddha teaches us to question our perceptions, as most are false
• Peace becomes possible when we return to ourselves in the present moment
• The quality of being determines the quality of doing - stillness has value
• Looking deeply reveals we contain everything needed for healing
• Nurture positive seeds of compassion, tolerance and love daily
• Practice being peaceful and solid as the foundation for all actions

Remember I'm always available for spiritual direction by Zoom to those who are grieving. Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/344943-spiritual-accompaniment

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Today we share profound verses from Rumi's "Fountain of Fire" that explore the intersection of love, life, and death. These ancient words offer comfort and new perspectives for those navigating the complex landscape of grief.

• Exploration of Rumi's poetic wisdom on how the known merges with the unknown
• Reflection on the continuity between this life and the next
• Reminder that the soul cannot be confined by physical death
• Encouragement to practice kindness
• Invitation to view death as transformation 

Remember I'm always available for spiritual direction by Zoom to those who are grieving.
Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/344943-spiritual-accompaniment

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Grief transforms from a static condition to an active process through the concept of "sorrowing"—a verb form shared by a friend also grieving the loss of parents. This perspective honors grief as a journey rather than a problem to solve, connecting us to spiritual traditions that recognize sorrow as a pathway to deeper wisdom.

• Ancient poetic texts illustrate how the soul might "take wings" even amid profound loss
• Biblical images of Mary at the cross demonstrate faithful presence in unbearable suffering
• Passages from Corinthians highlight how our experiences of affliction enable us to console others
• Modern grief understanding has evolved beyond linear models to recognize its complex, oscillating nature
• The concept of "sorrowing" gives permission to experience the full range of grief emotions without judgment or timeline

Remember I'm always available for spiritual direction by Zoom to those who are grieving.
Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/332001-spiritual-accompaniment
You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Spiritual wisdom transcends cultural boundaries when we face grief and loss. Ancient prayers and poetry from Buddhist, Christian, Shinto, Islamic, and Jewish traditions offer comfort by acknowledging pain while providing perspective on life's impermanence.

• Dalai Lama reminds us that suffering comes from wanting permanence in an impermanent world
• Christian prayers acknowledge Jesus who also experienced grief and wept
• Buddhist metaphor of cherry blossoms shows beauty and brevity go hand-in-hand
• Shinto prayer connects us as brothers and sisters across oceans
• Merit Malloy's poem encourages us to find the deceased in our connections with others
• Biblical lamentations honestly express grief while maintaining hope
• Common themes include accepting impermanence and finding meaning in loss.

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/332001-spiritual-accompaniment
You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6

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Experience the beloved 23rd Psalm as you've never heard it before through multiple translations that reveal new dimensions of meaning and comfort in this ancient text.

• Multiple translations showcase different interpretations while preserving the psalm's essential message
• The imagery of shepherd, green pastures, and still waters remains consistent across all versions
• Each translation highlights the psalm's movement from speaking about God to speaking directly to God
• Various phrasings of "goodness and mercy" pursuing us offer fresh insights into divine care
• Contemporary language makes the ancient text accessible while traditional wording preserves its poetry
• The promise of dwelling in God's presence serves as the culminating hope in every translation

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/332001-spiritual-accompaniment
You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

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We explore the barriers that prevent some people from fully entering the grieving process, particularly when complex relationships with the deceased create emotional blockages. Examining our hearts during Lent provides an opportunity to address unresolved wounds and cultivate the humility necessary for genuine healing and transformation.

• Complex relationships can create barriers to grieving fully due to unfinished emotional business
• Unexamined slights or forgotten relationship ruptures often prevent us from processing grief
• Lent offers a time to examine our spiritual life and relationships
• Those who guard their hearts most closely often struggle most with grieving
• Pride frequently stands in the way of honest self-examination and healing
• Humility puts our lives in proper perspective and opens us to growth
• Cultivating humility involves contemplating our true place in the order of nature

With thanks to Dr. Louis E. Newman and his book "Repentance".

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/332001-spiritual-accompaniment
You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Today journey with Jesus through his days in the desert, exploring his contemplation of suffering, sacrifice, and the transformative power of love. Jesus shares his ultimate teaching: that love is the only requirement in this life, and the only foundation that will endure.

• Jesus teaches that he loved and knew us before we were born, and wrote his name on our hearts
• Love forms the basis of our families, communities, religious practices, society, and even empires
• Towers not built on love will fall, families not built on love will crumble
• Jesus waits for us with open arms of love

Feel free to send any questions you might have about grieving to my email.

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/332001-spiritual-accompaniment
You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Grief and the Lenten season share profound similarities, inviting us to see Jesus as a companion in our desolation. We explore how Christ's 40-day retreat in the desert mirrors our grief journey—both experiences bringing us face-to-face with limitation, aloneness, and the search for meaning.

• The desolation of grief parallels Jesus' desert experience during Lent
• Jesus contemplated his limited time on earth, just as grief forces us to face mortality
• Ecclesiastes reminds us of God's constant presence
• Approaching grief as a shared journey rather than a solitary experience

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/332001-spiritual-accompaniment
You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE 

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction and for questions and concerns.
Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

EXPLORE with us profound ideas about brokenness and healing through Father Greg Boyle's wisdom, offering insights for anyone navigating loss or feeling disconnected in today's divisive world.


• Explore how the image reflects how God welcomes us with  enthusiastic love
• Uncover the universal feeling of brokenness that accompanies grief and loss
• Examineour collective societal brokenness and division in current times
• Reflecting on Father Greg's philosophy that "no one is healed until everyone is healed"
• Learning how recognizing the inherent worth in others can transform both them and ourselves

Feel free to send any questions you might have about grieving to my email.

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction and for questions and concerns.
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This episode invites you to explore how grief intertwines with daily routines and how God can be found in every moment of our lives. We share insights and practices to transform ordinary life into a spiritual journey.

• Understand the pervasive presence of grief in daily life 
• Explore Karl Rahner's teachings on the intersection of routine and spirituality 
• Practical steps to engage with God through everyday tasks 

Feel free to send any questions you might have about grieving to my email.

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction and for questions and concerns.
Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

This week’s podcast brings forth the gentle yet powerful theme of healing through words; as we engage in a heartfelt conversation and share insights and experiences, guiding us through the multifaceted nature of grief and the comfort that can be found within poetry and sacred texts.

- Explore the vital role of words in navigating grief
- Insights on the grieving process
- Highlights of poetic passages providing comfort and connection

Feel free to send any questions you might have about grieving to my email.

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction and for questions and concerns.
Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

This episode offers a compassionate exploration of grief, emphasizing the importance of open-heartedness, trust, and connection in the healing process; through thoughtful practices to reclaim love and compassion while navigating a personal journey of loss.  In this episode we:

 
• Emphasize the sacredness of listening during grief 
• Encourage curiosity about others’ experiences of faith 
• Focus on leaving behind fear and embracing trust 
• Highlight the significance of silent reflection and divine guidance 
• Invitie engagement and support from the community in healing 
• Offer practical insights for carrying lessons of love into daily life 
• Provide a safe space for sharing grief-related questions and experiences.

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction and for questions and concerns.
Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

This episode delves into the profound nature of love experienced during times of grief.  Explore imaginative prayer, the unbroken bonds of love, and how to find healing amid sorrow.

• Explore imaginative prayer for comfort 
• Understand the unbroken bond of love 
• Contemplate the nature of love and grief 
• Embrace uncertainty and the space for healing 
• Reach out for spiritual support

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction and for questions and concerns.
Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

This discussion centers on the healing process associated with grief, emphasizing the importance of love and radical honesty in navigating personal pain. Explore the complex emotions surrounding loss and the transformative relationships that accompany healing while being encouraged to reach out for support and spiritual direction. 

• Understand grief through a personal lens 
• The role of love and relationships in healing 
• Importance of radical honesty and naming fears 
• Seeking solace and support through faith 
• The power of self-reflection in the grief journey 

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction and for questions and concerns.
Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

This episode dives into the essential qualities that can guide individuals through their grieving journey, especially during holidays that amplify feelings of loss. We discuss nine practical tips for coping with grief throughout the year, encouraging listeners to embrace their emotions and seek support.

• Trusting grief as a vital part of healing
• Setting healthy boundaries and asserting limits
• Focusing on controllable aspects of life amidst loss
• Planning ahead to avoid needless anxiety
• Allowing oneself to feel a range of emotions
• Honoring the memory of loved ones in meaningful ways
• Creating new traditions that fit the current phase of life
• Acts of kindness as a touching way to cope
• Seeking help and building a support network
Please reach out with any questions or thoughts about grief support! I’m always here to listen.

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction and for questions and concerns.
Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

The episode focuses on navigating the spiritual aspects of grief through the concepts of consolation and desolation as taught by St. Ignatius. Listeners gain insights on how love persists even amid loss while recognizing the importance of addressing desolation to foster healing.

• Understanding spiritual consolation and its role in grief
• The significance of love in remembering lost loved ones
• Recognizing the nature of spiritual desolation
• Emphasizing love as a counter to feelings of despair
• Encouragement for seeking support throughout the grieving journey

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction and for questions and concerns.
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What if our deepest sorrows could transform into profound spiritual growth?  Let us share experiences with those who mourn, offering insights on how God’s unwavering love can guide us through the darkest times. Today, I reflect on the resilience found in faith and community, particularly during devastating events like the recent fires in Los Angeles. This episode invites us to reassess what truly matters—family, home, and those small, cherished moments that weave the fabric of our lives.

Drawing wisdom from scripture, explore passages from Isaiah and Psalm 66, discovering the assurance of divine presence amidst trials. I discuss the overwhelming nature of loss and how it ultimately draws us closer to God’s abundant love and healing.

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction and for questions and concerns.
Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Inspired by the heartfelt teachings of Father Greg Boyle, today we navigate the stories of loss, including the poignant experiences shared about his mother's passing.  Terry Jelley is back and together, we explore the power of simply being present—sometimes a silent hand can speak louder than words, offering a spiritual embrace during the darkest moments.  Father Boyle's philosophy of love and recognizing inherent goodness becomes a guiding light, showing us the potential for a world transformed by compassion and acceptance.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction.
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What if embracing your deepest fears could lead you to a path of peace and love? Today, we'll delve into the depths of Ignatian spirituality, focusing on the challenging concept of desolation in prayer during times of mourning. Drawing inspiration from the lives and teachings of Mother Teresa and St. Ignatius, we uncover the transformative power of surrendering to God's will, even in our most vulnerable moments.

Reflect on how fear intricately weaves itself into the fabric of grief, shaping our perception of the future, identity, and relationships. Inspired by biblical narratives and Mark Thibodeaux's compelling book, "God's Voice Within," consider the barriers fear creates in fulfilling God's plan for us. 

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction.
Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay:  Onetent

What if letting go of the past isn't an act of betrayal but a step toward healing?  Through the  verses of Micah, we explore how grief can feel like the last leaf in a storm, and yet, there is comfort in embracing the memories that continue within us. Come into our circle of healing, where we pray for the strength to move beyond pain, comforted by the promise of new life and faith in God

Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/332001-spiritual-accompaniment
You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

Art:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas

Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay/Hanami Zen Piano

Have you ever wondered how prayer can be a guiding light through the shadows of grief?  Discover through four key steps to connect with God's life-giving power, inspired by Agnes Sanford's teachings. Together, we reflect on the remarkable faith of the centurion in Matthew 8:5-10, illustrating how specific prayers can navigate the complexities of grief while cherishing the love and memories of those we have lost.
Let's walk this path of healing and hope together.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction.
Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay. (Good_B_Music)

Today I welcome back my dear friend Terry Jelley to share our heartfelt experiences of accompanying those during their final moments.  Stories from hospital rooms, capture the sacredness of death and the peace that can accompany it, even when loved ones aren't physically present.

Amidst the evident pain and sorrow, these narratives highlight the beauty of connection during life's final chapter.  Let this episode be a gentle guide to embracing love and healing as you navigate your grief journey.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction.
Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay.

Today we focus on the transformative power of acknowledging life's brevity through the teachings of the 14th-century classic, "The Cloud of Unknowing." As we navigates the profound wisdom of scripture, we can see how the eternal attributes of God—His length, breadth, height, and depth—offer a sanctuary of solace amid sorrow -- a spiritual toolkit to harness strength and healing.

In Ecclesiastes, we begin to see the outlines of the wisdom and growth that can arise in moments of mourning. We come to understand the significance of prayer, even the simplest utterance becomes a powerful act of connecting with the divine presence. Join us in this episode as we explore the beauty of spiritual practices that envelope us in God's unwavering love, reminding us that through the trials of grief, we are never alone.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction.
Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay.

Join us to illuminate the complex weave of grief and hope during the Advent season.  This time traditionally filled with joy and anticipation can be difficult for those mourning a loss. Advent, marked by a sense of waiting, mirrors the journey of grief—a process of waiting for healing and light to break through the sorrow.

Examine the paradox of celebrating during a season that amplifies the gap between the world's brokenness and the promise of renewal. We are reminded how community and spiritual traditions, like lighting the candles of the Advent wreath, can help nurture hope and courage, reminding us of the unyielding light that shines in the darkness. By embracing both sorrow and joy, we can find strength in the support of those around us, much like Mary and Elizabeth in their shared anticipation. Acknowledge the weight of grief while pointing towards the enduring promise of hope and light.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE

You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction.
Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay.