JOSh Friends

Jesuit Communications
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JOSh Friends is your go-to podcast for a dose of inspiration, friendship, and spiritual wisdom. Join us as we explore the treasures of JesCom's Library through the voices of our diverse community. Each episode features guests sharing powerful excerpts from our books and musical pieces, bringing these words to life in a fresh, engaging way. Whether you're a long-time follower or new to the faith journey, JOSh Friends offers a welcoming space for reflection, growth, and connection. https://jescom.ph/josh

  1. 6d ago

    Sacred Space | A Psychology Student's Most Honest Prayer

    Someone sent her a passage. No long explanation. Just — I thought this might help. Bea Lao is a fourth-year BS Psychology student at UP Diliman, a mental health advocate, and someone who spends most of her days asking a question that doesn't have a clean answer: what are we asking people to cope with in the first place? For Bea, mental health has never been just a personal issue. It lives inside systems, cultures, and political realities that either support people or quietly crush them. Awareness is not the same as acceptance. Acceptance is not the same as access. And she believes the Philippines has been confusing these three things for years and calling it progress. But her biggest struggle right now isn't academic. It's the uncertainty of what comes after graduation. A field she loves, a future that feels heavy, and the question of whether she can build a sustainable career while staying true to why she entered psychology in the first place. It was in the middle of that weight that a friend shared a passage from Sacred Space 2026. "What sort of world are we living in?" She didn't expect to find that question in a prayer book. But there it was. Honest, unresolved, and sitting with her right where she was. In this episode of JOSh Friends, Bea reflects on a daily reading from Sacred Space — the internationally beloved Jesuit prayer book now available through JesCom Exclusives — and discovers that prayer doesn't require having the answers first. It just requires showing up. Weary. Questioning. Still going. For psychology students, advocates, and anyone carrying questions too big to answer alone — this episode is for you. Because a little is not nothing. And coming as you are has always been enough. Sacred Space is available through JesCom Exclusives at jescom.ph/josh. A daily companion for anyone learning to pray in the middle of a world that doesn't always make sense.

  2. Sep 21

    Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2027 | Exactly Where You Are

    Genina's day starts at 5am and ends at 8pm, when her kids finally fall asleep. For years she treated that quiet like a finish line. Now she thinks it's where the conversation starts. Genina Anne Viluan is a mother of two children with autism and a Master Instructor whose home-based beauty studio was only ever supposed to be temporary. Then her children were diagnosed, and the question stopped being how do I grow this, and became how do I keep going while being the mother they actually need. What she found in that shift is this episode. God let her build the whole thing before the diagnosis came, so she'd have something to stand on when life asked more of her. The setup she called a limitation was maybe just where she was supposed to be. She found Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2027 on one of those late nights, not looking for anything. Not a retreat. Not a complicated practice. A few intentional minutes a day. She also has something to say to any parent who has felt guilty for wanting something for themselves. Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2027 is out now at JesCom Exclusives. jescom.ph/josh

  3. Sep 2

    I Was Just Trying to Get Through It | Finding God in the Mess

    She didn't download Roblox because she was into gaming. She downloaded it because she had just lost her cat and needed somewhere to put her grief for a while. Millie Buen was just trying to get through the day without thinking too much. What she didn't expect was that in the middle of that ordinary, unremarkable evening, someone would find her there. In this episode of JOSh Friends, Millie reflects on the Individually Loved chapter of Finding God in the Mess by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds — a chapter about an old tree, tired and covered in vines, that still carries an identity tag. Still known. Still marked. Still loved by the one who tends to it. A friend sent her a line from the book during that season. Not with a long explanation. Just — I thought of you when I read this. "We may be tired. We may feel useless. We may be messy and living messy lives. But God knows each one of us and has marked each one of us." She read it a few times. And then she just sat with it. Millie's story isn't really about Roblox. It's about what happens when you log on looking for a distraction and discover that you were never as invisible as you felt. That grief doesn't disqualify you from being found. That sometimes the most unexpected places hold the most unexpected people — and the most unexpected grace. She met her boyfriend on the Philippine Roblox server in December 2024. They started as friends. They're still building something real across the distance, one routine at a time. For anyone who has ever turned to something small just to get through something big — this episode is for you. Because you don't have to announce yourself to be found. You just have to show up. Finding God in the Mess by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds is available through JesCom Exclusives at jescom.ph/josh. And this August, let Mahal Naming Ina by Fruto Ramirez SJ accompany your month — available on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming platforms.

  4. Aug 18

    Choosing Him Is How I Keep Going | Finding God in the Mess by Brendan McManus SJ & Jim Deeds

    She has lost a baby. She has lost her mother. And every morning, Rachel Villanueva-Cruz still chooses Victor. Not because the pain is gone. Because choosing him is how she keeps going. Rachel is a millennial wife and HR professional who has learned, slowly and not always gracefully, that grief and joy are not opposites. They are neighbors. And sometimes they share the same room. Her marriage to Victor isn't a highlight reel. It's food trips and anime nights and dog watching on lazy afternoons. It's the quiet presence of someone who can't fix everything but shows up anyway. It's the daily, deliberate choice to say — still you. Still this. In this episode of JOSh Friends, Rachel reflects on the Dark Night chapter of Finding God in the Mess by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds, a book a friend quietly passed to her during one of the heavier seasons. A chapter that didn't offer easy answers. Just an honest acknowledgment that darkness is real, that light returns, and that God doesn't wait on the other side of the mess to meet you. For millennial wives, for grieving mothers and daughters, for anyone navigating a season where loss and ordinary joy exist in the same week, the same day, sometimes the same hour — this episode is for you. Because moving forward doesn't mean forgetting. It means learning to carry the people you've lost into a life that still has room for love. Finding God in the Mess by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds is available through JesCom Exclusives at jescom.ph/josh. And this August, let Mahal Naming Ina by Fruto Ramirez SJ accompany your month — available on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming platforms.

  5. Aug 3

    The One Who Holds It All Together | Finding God in the Mess

    He's the one who filed the liquidation report before anyone noticed it was due. The one who buys food for his brothers, washes the dishes after, takes out the trash, runs errands for his mother's printing business — and still gets told he spends too much on himself. Lucky Agbalo is a Communication student at Trinity University of Asia, an auditor, a research head, and a quiet operator who has spent most of his life learning to hold things by himself. Not because he wanted to. Because reaching out usually ended in indifference. It was during his internship at JesCom that he came across Finding God in the Mess by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds. He wasn't looking for it. But sometimes the things you need find you in the right place rather than the right moment. In this episode of JOSh Friends, Lucky reflects on a book that didn't give him answers so much as permission. Permission to stop punishing himself for the mess. Permission to believe that God isn't waiting for everything to be sorted before showing up. Permission to receive the same care he quietly gives to everyone else. This Thursday, August 6, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration — the moment the disciples saw what had always been there. The light wasn't new. It was just finally visible. For Lucky, that's the question this week is asking. What has always been there in him that he hasn't let himself see yet? For students carrying more than their coursework, for the dependable ones nobody thinks to check on, for anyone who has gotten very good at holding things alone — this episode is for you. Because God doesn't wait for the mess to clear. He's already in it. With you. Finding God in the Mess by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds is available through JesCom Exclusives at jescom.ph/josh. And this August, let Mahal Naming Ina by Fruto Ramirez SJ accompany your month — available on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming platforms.

  6. Jul 28

    The Real Fight Was Never About Swords | Take and Receive by Bukas Palad Music Ministry

    He grew up on stories of knights and heroes. Characters who went against the grain to do what was right, even when it cost them. He didn't realize that was going to become his actual life. True Boo is the founding president of Knights, a Historical European Martial Arts club built around the study and practice of medieval sword fighting. Yes, there are actual swords. But what he was really building had nothing to do with blades. After years of joining organizations that fell short, treating people as lesser than, running on inefficiency and poor leadership, he decided to stop waiting for someone else to do it right. He drafted a constitution, gathered people he trusted, and built the community he wished he had always been a part of. A home for the nerdy, the creative, the geeks who grew up dreaming of something bigger. In this episode of JOSh Friends, True Boo reflects on Take and Receive by Bukas Palad Music Ministry, from the St. Ignatius of Loyola playlist on Spotify. A prayer rooted in the Suscipe of St. Ignatius of Loyola, asking God to take everything, liberty, will, mind, memory, and trusting that His grace alone is enough. What True Boo found in that prayer was the thing nobody warns you about when you build something from nothing. The moment you create it, you have to start letting it go. Delegating. Trusting. Accepting that the vision you carried will one day be carried by hands that aren't yours. He won't get to fully enjoy what he built. By the time Knights becomes what he knows it can be, he'll have graduated and passed it on. And somehow, that's the part that makes him most proud. For founders, leaders, builders, and anyone who has ever poured themselves into something bigger than themselves, this episode is for you. Because the truest form of leadership isn't holding everything together. It's building something strong enough to stand without you. Stream Take and Receive by Bukas Palad Music Ministry on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming platforms. Journey with us through the St. Ignatius of Loyola playlist on Spotify this Ignatian Month: open.spotify.com/playlist/3IyOsXuqJO6pNHqXdjk19P Support the ministry and explore more at jescom.ph/josh.

  7. Jul 13

    Ako Naman Po | Prayer for Generosity

    She designs film sets, manages campaigns, and leads creative teams in school. But if you ask Jazmine Bon what really drives all of it, the answer has nothing to do with grades or portfolios. It's the thought of one day looking at her parents and saying — ako naman po. Jazmine M. Bon is a Communication student at Trinity University of Asia, a production designer, social media manager, and creative leader who tells stories through visuals, design, and production. Behind every project she takes on is a motivation that runs deeper than any output she's ever submitted. Her papa works as a captain waiter. On top of that, he drives for Grab. Two jobs. No complaints. And he never finished college — but he made sure his daughters would. In this episode of JOSh Friends, Jazmine reflects on the Prayer for Generosity by St. Ignatius of Loyola, performed by Hangad, from the St. Ignatius of Loyola playlist on Spotify. A prayer asking God for the grace to give without counting the cost, to labor without asking for reward, to serve without seeking recognition. She didn't find this prayer in a retreat or a homily. It found her. And when it did, she heard her father's whole life in it. This Ignatian Month, as we journey toward the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola on July 31, this episode is for every student carrying more than their coursework. For every child of a parent who gave quietly and without complaint. For anyone still figuring out what generosity actually looks like when it's lived and not just prayed. Because sometimes the most generous people in your life never used that word to describe themselves. They just showed up. Every day. Without counting the cost. Stream the Prayer for Generosity by Hangad on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming platforms. Journey with us through the St. Ignatius of Loyola playlist on Spotify this Ignatian Month: open.spotify.com/playlist/3IyOsXuqJO6pNHqXdjk19P Support the ministry and explore more at jescom.ph/josh.

  8. Jul 7

    The Cannonball Moment | Ignite by Where's the Sheep?

    In this episode of JOSh Friends, Callum reflects on Ignite by Where's the Sheep? — the theme song from the film Ignacio de Loyola — a song that found him not in a moment of triumph, but in the middle of the quiet. And what it named in him was the one thing athletes resist most: surrender. Not giving up the fight. Giving up the illusion that you're carrying it alone. Callum "The Mighty" Roberts is 20 years old, a SEA Games Bronze Medalist in Greco-Roman Wrestling, multiple international gold medalist, and a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blue belt coach — all before most people have figured out what they want to do with their lives. But behind the medals is a stretch of time he doesn't gloss over: a sports depression that quietly hollowed out the drive, a major international loss that hit harder than expected, and the long, uncomfortable process of figuring out what he was actually fighting for. This July, we enter Ignatian Month — the whole month leading to the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola on July 31. And the parallel between Callum's story and Ignatius's own runs deeper than it first appears. A soldier who lost everything on a battlefield. An athlete who lost something quieter but just as real. Both finding their way back not through winning — but through letting go. For athletes, coaches, anyone who has ever gone through the motions of something they used to love — this episode is for you. Because the fire doesn't start when everything is perfect. It starts the moment you put down what you've been carrying alone. Stream Ignite by Where's the Sheep? on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming platforms. This Ignatian Month, journey with us through the St. Ignatius of Loyola playlist on Spotify: open.spotify.com/playlist/3IyOsXuqJO6pNHqXdjk19P Support the ministry and explore more at jescom.ph/josh.

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About

JOSh Friends is your go-to podcast for a dose of inspiration, friendship, and spiritual wisdom. Join us as we explore the treasures of JesCom's Library through the voices of our diverse community. Each episode features guests sharing powerful excerpts from our books and musical pieces, bringing these words to life in a fresh, engaging way. Whether you're a long-time follower or new to the faith journey, JOSh Friends offers a welcoming space for reflection, growth, and connection. https://jescom.ph/josh

Information

  • Creator
    Jesuit Communications
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    79
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Jesuit Communications
  • Show Website
    JOSh Friends