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Lent Pray40: The Return
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Join Jonathan Roumie, Fr. Mike Schmitz, Mark Wahlberg, Chris Pratt, Mother Olga, Sister Miriam, Jeff Cavins, and more this Lent for Pray40 — a journey back home to the Father with The Brothers Karamazov and the Return of the Prodigal Son by Fr. Henri Nouwen. We’ll see how Dostoevsky’s famous novel brings the Parable of the Prodigal Son to life like never before, showing us how we’re all farther from God than we need to be. The good news is God is waiting for us each with open arms, running out to meet us while we are still a long way off. We’ll step into the lives of the characters together and discover the ways their struggles and brokenness mirror our own. We’ll let go of what holds us back, return home to the Lord, and let Him send us out as His hands and feet. Join us today. You can get your copy of The Brothers Karamazov here: https://hallow.com/karamazov
47 sessions
1To Dust You Shall ReturnWelcome to the Lent challenge! Join Jonathan & Sr. Miriam as we begin with ashes, humility, and hope. Today invites you to take the first step home through the Litany of Humility, discovering how even death can become the soil where new life begins.
Day 1: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
2The Prodigal SonDive into the heart of the Prodigal Son and The Brothers Karamazov with Jonathan and then pray with Sr. Miriam to step out of the role of observer and into the story—where God’s mercy meets both our rebellion and our pride.
Day 2: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
3Fasting FridayToday begins our weekly fast with Mark & Chris and a simple prayer: Lord, empty me, fill me, use me. We’re invited to detach from what clutters our hearts so God can make space, bring freedom, and bear fruit through us.
Day 3: Mark & Chris
4InterviewJoin us for an exciting interview about how to put active love intro practice.
Day 4: Jeff & Guest
5HomilyJoin us for a Sunday homily from Fr. Mike on the Parable of the Prodigal Son and the call to ongoing conversion. We’ll explore returning to the Father, taking responsibility for love, and following Christ through prayer, fasting, and trust this Lent.
Day 5: Fr. Mike
6The AnswerJoin Jonathan & Sr. Miriam as we follow the early life of Fr. Zosima and the moment that reshapes his heart. Through his brother’s unexpected conversion, we’re introduced to a radical truth: we belong to one another, and our lives ripple outward in love and responsibility.
Day 6: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
7The Way HomeWalk with Jonathan & Sr. Miriam as Fr. Zosima leaves home, wrestles with pride and anger, and faces the weight of his sin. In a moment of humility, his life turns toward repentance, revealing how acknowledging guilt can become the doorway back to communion.
Day 7: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
8The BowReturn with Jonathan & Mother Olga to Fr. Zosima as an elder and spiritual father. Through his witness of active love, we explore what it means not only to come home to the Father—but to become like Him, stepping into mercy, patience, and responsibility for others.
Day 8: Jonathan & Mother Olga
9Story of ReturnJoin us for a Story of Return. We'll hear a firsthand story of what it looks like to return home to the Father.
Day 9: Special Guest
10Fasting FridayJoin Mark & Chris for a Friday Fasting Challenge on humility—taking the last seat, fasting from comparison and judgment, and praying “Lord, empty me.” With Scripture and Fr. Zosima, practice pausing before you judge and choosing humble love.
Day 10: Mark & Chris
11InterviewJoin us for an exciting interview about how to put active love intro practice.
Day 11: Jeff & Guest
12HomilyJoin us for a Sunday homily from Fr. Mike on the Younger Son as we explore the choice to leave home and the longing that drives us into the “distant country.” Through the Transfiguration and Mitya’s story, we’ll reflect on identity, desire, and what happens when we forget who we are.
Day 12: Fr. Mike
13My Most Grievous FaultToday, we meet Mitya—the “younger son” of this journey—and watch how private choices ripple outward. With guidance from Jonathan & Sr. Miriam, we’ll enter the storm of desire, shame, and longing, and ask what’s missing when confession stops short of mercy.
Day 13: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
14Our InheritanceJoin Jonathan & Sr. Miriam as we follow Mitya to the edge: family wounds, inherited brokenness, and a moment where anger threatens to take over. In prayer, we’ll hear God name our truest inheritance—living hope, freedom, and a new identity as His beloved.
Day 14: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
15The PigstyToday, Jonathan plunges us into a night of chaos with the Karamazovs. While there's a flicker of hope and repentance, an arrest that shakes everything. Then we’ll pray with Mother Olga from the “pigsty” of the prodigal and discover Jesus already there—meeting us in the mud and calling us home.
Day 15: Jonathan & Mother Olga
16Story of ReturnJoin us for a Story of Return. We'll hear a firsthand story of what it looks like to return home to the Father.
Day 16: Special Guest
17Fasting FridayThis Friday, you're invited by Mark & Chris into a deeper letting go. As the prodigal leaves the pigsty behind, we’re challenged to double down—fasting not only from comforts, but from every attachment that keeps us from freedom. Through Scripture and prayer, we practice dying to the old self so Christ can clothe us with compassion, humility, and love.
Day 17: Mark & Chris
18InterviewToday, we dive into an exciting interview.
Day 18: Jeff & Guest
19HomilyThis Sunday, we turn with Fr. Mike to the elder son—the one who stayed, obeyed, and yet grew distant in heart. Through Ivan’s story, we’ll reflect on pride, resentment, and hardened hearts, and listen for the Father’s invitation to step out of isolation and back into joy.
Day 19: Fr. Mike
20Faith vs. ReasonStep into Week 3 with Jonathan & Sr. Miriam to meet Ivan: a brilliant mind wounded by suffering. Hear his outrage over innocent pain, the temptation to judge God, and the elder son’s pride that keeps us outside the Father’s joy.
Day 20: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
21Love Is a PersonJoin Jonathan as we hear how Ivan puts Christ on trial over freedom and suffering—then meets a shocking reply: not an argument, but love. Bring your hardest questions to the cross in prayer with Sr. Miriam.
Day 21: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
22Pride and the Elder SonCome along with Jonathan as Ivan’s “just ideas” collide with real consequences as Smerdyakov acts on “everything is permitted.” In your prayer with Mother Olga, you'll ask yourself: will pride keep you outside, or will you come home?
Day 22: Jonathan & Mother Olga
23Story of ReturnJoin us for a Story of Return. We'll hear a firsthand story of what it looks like to return home to the Father.
Day 23: Special Guest
24Fasting FridayThis Friday go with Mark & Chris to the root of all sin: pride. As we reflect on Christ who emptied Himself, we fast from ego and self-exaltation—choosing humility, generosity, and love that turns us outward toward God and others.
Day 24: Mark & Chris
25InterviewToday, we dive into an exciting interview.
Day 25: Jeff & Guest
26HomilyFr. Mike's homily today turns our gaze to the Father—his mercy, patience, and joy—and to the path of becoming like him. Through Alyosha, we glimpse a life lived not apart from God, but with Him: loving, bearing burdens, and choosing the light.
Day 26: Fr. Mike
27Love Where No One SeesJoin Jonathan & Sr. Miriam to meet Alyosha, the unlikely “hero” of Brothers K. Fr. Zosima sends him from the monastery into the messy world to practice “active love”—small, unseen obedience that mirrors Christ’s own descent to bring the lost home.
Day 27: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
28Loaves and FishesIn today's session, Jonathan & Sr. Miriam show us how Alyosha tries to live Zosima’s “humble love” amid family chaos—kissing his raging father, mediating broken relationships, and searching for Mitya. He offers what he has, loaves-and-fishes style, before grief shatters everything.
Day 28: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
29Becoming the FatherJoin Jonathan as one of the novel's most climactic event unfolds: Zosima dies—and scandal follows as decay and gossip erupt. Alyosha’s faith buckles, and he rebels. In prayer with Mother Olga, we stand with the Father, learning obedience that waits, loves, and trusts without guarantees.
Day 29: Jonathan & Mother Olga
30Story of ReturnJoin us for a Story of Return. We'll hear a firsthand story of what it looks like to return home to the Father.
Day 30: Special Guest
31Fasting FridayThis Fasting Friday with Mark & Chris marks a turning point: after weeks of emptying ourselves, we pause to receive. Scripture reveals the Father’s steadfast love—pursuing the lost, carrying us home, and inviting us to rest in His mercy and be filled.
Day 31: Mark & Chris
32InterviewToday, we dive into an exciting interview.
Day 32: Jeff & Guest
33HomilyThis Sunday homily from Fr. Mike reflects on conversion and the courage to return home. Through the prodigal sons and the brothers’ encounters with grace, we’re invited to take our final step—accepting mercy, rising to new life, and choosing communion over isolation.
Day 33: Fr. Mike
34Wedding at CanaJoin Jonathan & Sr. Miriam as we step into Alyosha’s turning point: grief and scandal pull him toward temptation, but unexpected mercy meets him first. A single “onion” of love opens a vision of Cana, where sorrow yields to joy and God fills what’s empty.
Day 34: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
35This Risen ManCome with Jonathan & Sr. Miriam to find Mitya into the interrogation room: humiliation, accusation, and powerlessness strip him down. Then a dream of a freezing “wee one” awakens tenderness and responsibility. He accepts suffering as purification—and begins walking home with love for the poor.
Day 35: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
36Enter the FeastJonathan & Mother Olga invite you dive into Ivan’s crisis: his guilt over his role in tragedy shatters the armor of intellect. A tormenting encounter exposes pride’s loneliness, and the clock runs out. He chooses to speak, to risk shame for love—one step across the threshold toward mercy.
Day 36: Jonathan & Mother Olga
37Story of ReturnJoin us for a Story of Return. We'll hear a firsthand story of what it looks like to return home to the Father.
Day 37: Special Guest
38Fasting FridayStep into this Fasting Friday with Mark & Chris as the final prayer takes shape: use me. Having been emptied and filled, we’re sent to love—patiently, humbly, concretely—starting not far away, but with the people directly in front of us.
Day 38: Mark & Chris
39InterviewToday, we dive into an exciting interview.
Day 39: Jeff & Guest
40HomilyJoin us for a Fr. Mike's Sunday homily on life inside the Father’s house. Through Alyosha and a wounded community of boys, we see how forgiveness restores joy—and how God invites us to become spiritual fathers and mothers who gather others into the feast.
Day 40: Fr. Mike
41Where Grace AboundsJoin Jonathan & Sr. Miriam for Holy Week as we journey to the Cross and watch as sin’s ripple reaches a wounded boy—and grace ripples back.
Day 41: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
42Seek Happiness in SorrowToday, we'll hear from Jonathan & Sr. Miriam how grace gathers a broken group of boys around a sick child. We witness reconciliation, a friendship returning, and mercy that heals shame. Then we pray for those God places on our hearts—especially the forgotten.
Day 42: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
43Hurrah for KaramazovStep into the final pages of The Brothers Karamazov with Jonathan & Mother Olga: a graveside farewell, “memory eternal,” and hope beyond death. We pray with our memories—joyful and painful—asking God to redeem our past and lead us toward Easter.
Day 43: Jonathan & Mother Olga
44Story of ReturnJoin us for a Story of Return. We'll hear a firsthand story of what it looks like to return home to the Father.
Day 44: Special Guest
45Fasting FridayJoin Mark & Chris this fasting Friday—Good Friday—to mourn the Cross and receive hope. Pray Luke 23, ask Jesus to remember you, and let His costly love teach you to love for all time: empty me, fill me, use me.
Day 45: Mark & Chris
46InterviewToday, we settle in for the final Pray40 Interview!
Day 46: Jeff & Guest
47HomilyCelebrate Easter with us as we rejoice in the Resurrection and new life. Having returned home this Lent—emptied, filled, and sent—we now live in the Father’s joy, celebrating the feast and carrying His love into the world.
Day 47: Fr. Mike