All Shall Be Well: Spirituality, Aging, and Re-Enchantment with Fr Ron Rolheiser

Father Ron Rolheiser, a 78-year-old theologian and four-time cancer survivor, discusses his final book in a 25-year trilogy, exploring aging as a spiritual practice centered on forgiveness, gratitude, and learning to "give your death away." He offers a five-movement framework of the Paschal Mystery—naming deaths, claiming births, grieving, releasing the old, and receiving new life—and applies this not just to individuals but to institutions like Western Christianity, which he sees as undergoing a collective dark night of the soul. The conversation closes with reflections on re-enchantment, the discipline of "freesense" (activities that feed the soul without utility), and a call for leaders to cultivate resurrection-grounded hope rather than mere optimism. 00:00 Welcome & What We’ll Cover (Book, Re-enchantment, Paschal Mystery) 00:53 Introducing the New Book: ‘Insane for the Light’ (A Trilogy Finale) 01:26 Aging Into Generativity: Giving Your Life—and Your Death—Away 02:28 “Staring at the Light”: The Metaphor for a New Birth 04:56 Gratitude & Forgiveness: The Two-Word Vocabulary for Aging Well 06:43 Writing With Mortality in View: Cancer, Urgency, and Joy 07:44 Paschal Mystery 101: The Five Movements (Death to Spirit) 10:14 Ascension as Letting Go: ‘Don’t Cling to Me’ 11:20 The ‘If Only’ Trap: Bless the Past, Grieve It, Release It 12:11 Can Communities Go Through It Too? Church, Dark Night, and the Impasse 14:50 Road to Emmaus & Reimagining Faith After Deconstruction 16:16 Jesus as GPS: God’s Patience and the Church as ‘Recalculating’ 17:08 When the Church Feels Like It’s Burning Down: Resurrection Through Good Friday 18:24 Good Friday Before Easter: Naming Pain, Death, and Redemption 19:10 Midlife Wounds & the Work of Grief (So You Don’t Grow Bitter) 20:01 Worship as a Well-Balanced Meal: Joy and Lament Together 22:02 Re-Enchantment in a Disillusioned World: Moving Forward, Not Back 23:13 Second Naivete / Post-Sophistication: Recovering Wonder 25:49 Practical Re-Enchantment: ‘Free Sense’ and Soul-Feeding Habits 27:30 Notice the Burning Bush: Seeing the Familiar as Unfamiliar Again 30:24 Magic, Muck, Mystery: Dark Nights, Impasse, and Maturing Faith 32:34 A Word for Leaders: Hope (Not Optimism) Grounded in Resurrection 37:04 Keep On Keeping On: Final Blessing and Sending in Hope